Chapter 1934: 1934 New Year Is Coming
In 1997, the rest of the time passed quietly. Before people had time to lament the passing of time, the dawn of 1998 had shrouded their heads. The historical moment of the turn of the century was gradually approaching, which made people excited stand up.
Although the rumors about the "Year 2000 Bug" have been gradually bubbling up, for most people, the rumors of the end of the world sound too far away. Relatively speaking, people are more keen to discuss that in the past 1997, the world has been turned upside down—it seems that there is no need to wait until the 20th century enters the 21st century, and the wheel of history has already entered a new era.
After the North American film industry ushered in a year of full-scale explosion in 1994, independent films headed by "Pulp Fiction" officially entered the stage of history; although the subsequent year 1995 fell back slightly, it can be regarded as a small year for films; However, 1996 became a groundbreaking year in film history with the "Independence Day", and this year continued the glory of last year, truly declaring that the North American film market has entered the "blockbuster era".
Ever since Independence Day came out, people have been wondering: Is this the norm or the exception? Can computer special effects really bring the film industry into a new era? Is the increasing investment and increasing cost a distortion of film art? Most importantly, can "500 million box office in North America" really become a dream within reach of every movie?
For the first three quarters of 1997, or more accurately, until the last week of 1997, the answers to these questions were negative, as if "Independence Day" was a shooting star, fleeting. , Let the glory of the film industry be frozen in 1996 forever, and it cannot be one step closer. But history is so interesting. Before the end of 1997, a completely different answer was handed over.
The birth of "Titanic" not only gave a slap in the face to the media, but also strongly announced the arrival of the blockbuster era.
With an unprecedented high investment of 200 million US dollars, "Titanic" earned 600 million US dollars in the North American box office. From 300 million to 500 million, and then to 600 million, the North American box office market was completed in just three years. The triple jump was almost astonishing. "Titanic" not only easily surpassed the highest-grossing film history of "Independence Day", but also raised the original benchmark to a higher level, achieving supreme glory.
The huge success of "Titanic" has brought the debate of the entire film industry to an official end. Even if there are only two works that have created such brilliance, this is enough to make major production companies flock to them; even if the current use of computer special effects Still immature, but studios are more than willing to dig a little deeper.
Invest $1 million and get $100 million at the box office; or invest $100 million and get $300 million at the box office. In fact, this is a very easy math problem. Everyone knows that the profit of the former is much higher than that of the latter. If it is "profit first", then it is wise to choose the former; With many, many additional factors, most Hollywood studios would go for the latter.
Because high investment also represents a hot topic, which is a huge boost to the entire company's personnel and the entire film industry chain, and its additional benefits are far higher than low-cost productions; because although small and big can win big, But the probability of victory is too small, far less than the temptation of high investment and high returns. Confused, if ten works with an investment of 100 million US dollars can produce a work of 300 million US dollars, then only one hundred works with a cost of less than 10 million US dollars can produce a work of 100 million US dollars.
Therefore, the success of "Independence Day" and "Titanic" has given the whole Hollywood a major inspiration, not only high investment and high returns, but also the fact that the film industry represented by computer special effects has entered a new stage. Xinzheng has really changed the operation mode of the entire industry.
Carrying a strong momentum of 600 million US dollars, "Titanic" undoubtedly became the annual box office champion in 1997, igniting all the enthusiasm of the North American film market for the second consecutive year, even for professionals who have no interest in box office figures. Film critics also have to admit that the huge box office success of the two previous works has brought the film market into unprecedented prosperity, which is a good thing for the entire film industry - not only can it attract more funds into the industry, but also attract more More talents joining the film can stimulate more outstanding genre films. After all, this is an ending where the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
In addition to the dominance of "Titanic", "L.A. Confidential" took the runner-up position in the North American box office of the year with no inferiority, which is even more shocking than the box office of 600 million US dollars.
Because "L.A. Confidential" is a suspenseful drama movie, with almost no computer special effects, it completely relies on the meticulousness of the script and the brilliant characters, and has won super high support. This can be said to make the retro tradition A work that has been carried forward by the film has made people realize deeply: the reason why the film can entertain the public and at the same time bring thought shock is because the film itself is a kind of artistic platform!
What's even more frightening is that "LA Confidential" was released in the autumn file, which is bound to become another miracle in film history and really ignited the excitement of the autumn file.
Occupying the third place on the annual North American box office list is "Men in Black". This work unexpectedly surpassed many competitors, with a score of 250 million US dollars, only behind "LA Confidential" with a final box office score of 10 million US dollars. , climbed to the third place at the end of the year, which was indeed a huge surprise, and it also made Will Smith appear in the North American market as a "box office superstar" for the first time.
"Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World" was not able to break the history under the high expectations, and regrettably ranked second. Although the performance is still excellent, compared with the stunning performance of the previous work, it still lacks an unexpected surprise. Despite this, I heard that Universal Pictures has submitted the plan for the third episode to the table, but whether Steven Spielberg will return is temporarily unknown.
After that, Jim Carrey's "Liar," Harrison Ford's "Air Force One," Jack Nicholson's "As Good as It Gets," Matt Damon's "Good Will Hunting," "Star Wars "Reboot" and "My Best Friend's Wedding" each occupy the remaining six spots in the top ten.
In the top ten of the North American year-end box office rankings, many interesting things can be seen. First of all, although there are as many as 17 works with a box office of over 100 million in North America this year, and as many as four works have exceeded 200 million US dollars. , both created a new record in film history, but "007: Tomorrow's Empire", "Face Changing", "Prison in the Air" and other highly anticipated works all fell off the horse. The top ten, especially the menacing "Batman and Robin" ended up only earning a box office of 107 million US dollars, ranking 14th on the year-end list, which is very disappointing.
The second is that George Clooney's rise plan failed. Both "Batman and Robin" and "Peacemaker" suffered from Waterloo. In the case of the media's constant pursuit, they failed to achieve corresponding results. In the end, Desperately returned to the field of TV dramas, looking for psychological balance on the small screen.
Star-making projects have never been so simple.
But unintentionally, the two newcomers Will Smith and Matt Damon, relying on the outstanding performance of their starring works, not only ranked among the top ten in the year-end box office list, but also became the first-line enough to hit the top. actor. Will, in particular, left a deep impression last year when he played a small role in "Independence Day". , Brad Pitt and others are the top candidates.
However, it was Leonardo DiCaprio who really turned out to be, this handsome and handsome young guy soared to the sky by relying on the "Titanic", it can be said that he was so popular that in the New Year For a while, even Hugo couldn't compete with Leonardo. The super popularity made Leonardo almost sweep the top quickly, and he became one of the top actors, even surpassing the one who hadn't been able to go further. Brad, Tom and Hugo formed a new iron triangle.
This was a huge surprise indeed. The competition in the North American film market has changed the situation again, and no one can predict the next development curve-can Leonardo continue to be strong? Can Brad make a strong comeback? What kind of results will Tom and Hugo deliver? In addition to Hugo, who is currently in the leading position, the duel between Tom, Leonardo and Brad is becoming more and more passionate! All of this is exciting.
Then there is the strong return of a group of veteran actors. Jim Carrey swept away the decline by relying on his outstanding performance in "Liar". Harrison Ford's "Air Force One" once again proved that he is not old, and Julia - After five years of silence, Roberts regained her ranks among the top actresses with "My Best Friend's Wedding"-Cameron Diaz's success in the top spot was also a surprise, which also opened up competition for the seat of America's Sweetheart again.
In addition, there are also Robin Williams, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg and others who have always maintained a consistently high standard, continued the previous strong performance, and once again ranked in the year-end list Occupy a favorable position in the list.
But if discussing the biggest winner in 1997, except for "Titanic", no one can ignore the existence of Hugo. For Hugo, it was a year to improve his career, because this year, Hugo occupied an irreplaceable position on the year-end list as the producer of two works!