Chapter 1716 1716 Road

The morning sun in 1997 came to the southern hemisphere, and the northern hemisphere also sent away the last ray of winter in 1996. There are only the last three years left until the millennium, and the 20th century has come to an end in a blink of an eye. The long century will soon turn a new page. Rumors about the transition of the century began to emerge one after another. The news of Bill Clinton's re-election as US president did not cause enough sensation. The United States was calm, on the contrary. The entertainment industry has ushered in earth-shaking changes, welcoming the arrival of the "new century" with earth-shattering gestures.

Following last year's challenge to the authority of the uncrowned king and overwhelming social issues, 1996, which was supposed to be calm, has become the most shining moment since the 1990s, all because of one name: Hugo Lancaster!

From the beginning of the year with the power of "death row walk", the winner of the Berlin Film Festival and the Oscar winner successively, to the birth of "Independence Day", and then to the battle of the century and the final showdown in the second half of the year, and finally in Mala Khanna drew the perfect ending. Hugo was the key point in the entertainment industry throughout the year, setting off stormy waves.

This is a year that has brought about historical changes in the North American film market. The annual box office of the film reached 6.3 billion US dollars, breaking the 6 billion mark for the first time in film history, an increase of 11% over last year. For the first time since 2009, the annual box office growth rate exceeded 10 percent.

"Independence Day" has become the writer of film history. This work produced by 20th Century Fox at a cost of 100 million US dollars has not only become the first film in film history to exceed 400 million at the box office, but also continues to record film history in one go. It has been raised by a whole level, with a North American box office of 535 million US dollars, without any suspense, crowned the North American box office champion in 1996, and has also become the box office champion of film history.

Unexpectedly, this is the first time in history that a work starring Hugo has won the annual box office championship, although previous works such as "Schindler's List", "Speed ​​of Life and Death", and "Seven Deadly Sins" have created box office successes. Myths, but they all encountered more powerful opponents, and they were never able to win this honor for Hugo. Now, "Independence Day" has won the annual championship with a destructive attitude, and no one is convinced.

Compared to the glory of the box office, the real achievement of "Independence Day" is far from this, because no matter how good the box office is, there will be a day when it will be broken, if not before the end of the twentieth century, it will come after that. The biggest contribution of "Independence Day" is to change the operating model of the entire Hollywood.

The first is Hugo’s $20 million remuneration. After obtaining a handsome return, it completely broke the Hollywood remuneration pattern, and will also have a profound impact on the investment amount of the film company. More importantly, all aspects of the Hollywood behind-the-scenes production team Income will also change accordingly. This is an industry-wide change.

The second is Industrial Light and Magic, which is widely known with the success of "Independence Day". Although computer stunts have been developed in Hollywood for many years, this is the first time after the computer stunts have matured that they have successfully completed a big hit with the film crew. Purple works. The entire Hollywood industry is aware that the maturity of computer stunts will bring earth-shaking changes to film technology, film modes, film types, and more. "Independence Day" can be regarded as an epoch-making work. Based on this, the film has entered a completely different era.

If the influence of "Pulp Fiction" on the film industry is that the rain is silent, the rise of independent films, the richness and variety of scripts, changes in shooting techniques, etc., will be revealed in the long-term development of the film industry; then The impact of "Independence Day" on the film industry is like lightning, whether it is the expansion of remuneration, investment, or changes in shooting methods and film themes, you can feel it almost immediately.

There is no doubt that Independence Day made 1996 special, and gave it its own character in the star-studded 1990s. All of this is due to Hugo's strong appeal. In a trance, Hugo has had a subtle influence on the North American film industry in terms of appearance and connotation, and such influence is second to none even in the long history.

In addition to the thriving "Independence Day", this year's North American films also ushered in a bumper year. The box office of "Tornado" is as high as 241 million US dollars, although it is far less powerful than "Independence Day". But it also proves once again that commercial blockbusters are gradually adopting computer special effects. In addition, there are thirteen films that have exceeded 100 million at the box office, which is also a new high.

Among them, "Mission: Impossible", "Mr. Sweetheart", "Ransom", "101 Real Dogs (101. Dalmatians)", "Breaking the Dead Island", "The. Nutty. Professor" )", "The Birdcage (The. Birdcage)", and "The Killing Moment" respectively ranked in the top ten with excellent box office data.

Among them, "Professor Fatty" led by Eddie Murphy, "Fake Phoenix" starring Robin Williams, and "101 Real Dogs" adapted from cartoons defended the status of comedy films. It took three spots in the top 10 and brought in two top comedy superstars.

After Eddie's "Beverly Hills Detective", he made a classic masterpiece; Robin continued the strength of last year's "Skinny Daddy", and for the second year in a row, the popularity, word-of-mouth, and box office blossomed. It was also the pinnacle of comedy films in the 1990s.

But at this time, it can be seen that action genre films are seizing the market. "Mission Impossible", "Ransom Storm", and "Brave the Dead Island" are all typical action films. Sean Connery starred in the lead role, but Alexander Lorraine won a high popularity and successfully entered the ranks of first-line actors.

Of course, whether it's Eddie, Robin, or Alexander, they obviously can't compete with Hugo. Throughout the year in the film market, the only top star who can challenge Hugo is Tom Cruise! To be more precise, this is actually Tom's year.

A "Mission Impossible" opened the territory of Tom's action superstar, ranking third in the year-end list with $180 million; a "Mr. Sweetheart" once again proved Tom's infinite charm, sweeping 150,000 With three million dollars, it won the runner-up of the annual box office chart.

In the whole year, there were only four movies with a box office of more than 150 million, and Tom alone occupied two places. More importantly, "Mr. Sweetheart" gave Tom a good reputation. Many people think that This work could earn him his second Oscar nomination for acting. This is undoubtedly a huge breakthrough for Tom.

In the past two years, Hugo's momentum has been strong, and it has not only stole most of Tom's light, but also achieved a go-ahead with an absolute advantage. Now Hugo not only has two golden figures in his hands, but also has three works with a box office of more than 200 million yuan. Whether it is box office or awards, he is far ahead of Tom. What's more, there is also the "Independence Day" that made history this year.

On the other hand, Tom, after experiencing the praise of "Interview with the Vampire", can almost be said to have been silent for two years. Even Brad Pitt has come from behind, stealing most of his shine and becoming People's Sexiest Man of the Year last year. In the iron triangle of Brad, Tom and Hugo, Tom has always been on his own. Absolute advantage.

But now, Tom is announcing his strong comeback to everyone with two $150 million works, occupying the third and fourth places on the annual box office charts respectively. A good lesson for Brad, who has an unstable foundation, and let Brad know that he is still a long way from Tom. There are only two of Brad's works that have grossed more than 100 million at the box office, namely and "The Seven Deadly Sins" with Hugo and "Interview with the Vampire" with Tom.

It can be seen that, not only the box office, but also not only word of mouth and awards, but also the influence on the entire market, Brad still has a long way to catch up.

The two works "Mission Impossible" and "Mr. Sweetheart" had a good box office reputation, and in one fell swoop Tom returned to the peak of his career. If it weren't for the box office record created by "Independence Day", it was too incredible, even Hugo was in front of Tom. All stand aside. In fact, Hugo only had one film work in 1996, and "Independence Day" definitely couldn't make a difference in awards season. On the contrary, "Mr. Sweetheart" won enough attention for Tom, and his name was still in the awards season. It will continue to appear in the major media.

So, from this perspective, Tom has the opportunity to pull back the advantage again and find the balance between him and Hugo again. As for Brad? He can try harder.

However, it is precisely because of Tom's strength that "Mission Impossible" and "Mr. Sweetheart" have two prongs, but they still haven't been able to shake Hugo's king status. Therefore, the name "Hugo Lancaster" is affecting the world in a visible manner. From the thrilling epic acting of "Death Ramble" to the box office driving force of "Independence Day", he is making the movie This culture affects everyone's daily life.

In 1996, this also completed the last piece of the puzzle, making Hugo the first Uranus superstar to truly influence the entire era since Marlon Brando in the 1950s! Not even Harrison Ford, not even Tom Cruise, not even Tom Hanks.

Interestingly, Hugo's influence is so deeply embedded in every detail of life today that People magazine had a hard time picking the 1996 "Sexiest Man of the Year" title -- it seemed they had no choice at all. . In the end, People magazine awarded the title to Denzel Washington -- making Denzel the first black actor to be elected since the selection's inception.

This is a choice that people can't agree with but can't object to, and they have to admire the cleverness of "People" Weekly.