Chapter 357: 357
As we all know, North America is currently the most mature film market in the world. Thanks to the great commercial success of American films in the 1970s and 1980s, the film industry has also entered a new era of rapid development. There are many excellent American films, although the commercial films are the major successes, and there is still a gap in art compared to European films, but this is still enough to make Hollywood the center of the world's films.
The development of modern American films has experienced many ups and downs, but what really made the entire North American film market enter a stage of rapid development was the sensational "Godfather" released in 1972, this film directed by Francis Ford Coppola , released by the century-old crocodile Paramount, this is also the first work in Hollywood that truly operates according to the rules of modern blockbuster. The first round of the theater chain system began to implement the nationwide simultaneous premiere.
On the other hand, distributors have gradually realized that they should launch specific types of films targeting different audience groups in a specially arranged time period to ensure success at the box office. Since then, the concept of "movie schedule" has officially entered the film. field. Since then, American films have gradually formed a complete and mature market operation mechanism, gradually developing the North American film market into the center of the world.
The development of the past two decades has basically formed the schedule of the North American film market. The whole year is divided into five schedules: winter, spring, summer, autumn and holidays.
The winter season generally starts from January to March 10 each year, and the specific division is from the end of the New Year's holiday to the second Thursday in March. During this period of time, a large number of awards ceremonies such as Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy sum up the work of the whole year, occupying all the attention of people on weekends, so the film market is relatively deserted.
The spring season is from March 11th to May, which should be the day after the end of the winter season to the first Thursday in May. During this period, heavyweight sports competitions are the protagonists. Football's Super Bowl, NBA playoffs, and various operations such as baseball and ice hockey have become the focus of people's lives. At this time, the movie market is deserted. It is still the same, but it is starting to recover gradually. A small number of works suitable for all ages or works targeting women and children will choose this schedule to be screened.
Summer vacation is undoubtedly the top priority of every year. The first Friday in May to the first Monday in September can be counted as summer vacation. Due to the hot weather during this time, people are willing to end their hibernation and go out of their homes. With a wide variety of outdoor activities, movies have naturally become an indispensable part of recreational activities, which has also made the summer box office bursting, almost accounting for more than 40% of the total box office, entering the 20th After the first century, this situation has intensified, and there is even a saying that "the summer vacation will win the world".
Movies released in the summer are undoubtedly locked in the main box office market of men. Action films, sci-fi films, and adventure films have become the main theme on the big screen. This is also one of Hollywood's unspoken rules: major film companies always believe that men are the best. The main force of the film market, the films that can really drive the box office are often men as the main target group. It was not until more than half of the first decade of the 21st century that major film companies paid attention to the pulling power of the female box office market, and a small number of films with women as the main target also left the spring or autumn and entered a big hit. of summer.
After entering the fall season, during the period from the first week of September to Thanksgiving, on the one hand, because the students start school, and on the other hand, other audiences return from vacation, the entire movie market is very depressed, especially since the summer season has consumed the entire market. The main energy of the autumn gear is even worse than that of the winter gear. During this time, small independent films became the mainstay of the screen.
The last holiday period is relatively special. During this period, the three major festivals of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year are first included. This is also a time period for family fun, and all kinds of works suitable for all ages will be launched. Cinemas grab the box office, which is also an important period of the year that can be compared with the summer period. Last year, the top three box office "Aladdin", "Yihai Xiongfeng" and "Home Alone 2" all came from the holiday period, which made people look at it. And the summer box office champion "Batman Returns" can only be ranked fourth.
In addition to the fierce competition at the box office, the holiday schedule also undertakes another task, that is, films that hope to make a difference at awards ceremonies such as the Golden Globes and Oscars will also choose to be released during this time period. Since the nomination votes are held at the end of the year, the films released at the end of the year have an advantage in terms of impression depth and publicity, which also makes many awards ceremonies choose to be released in this schedule.
However, at present, the concept of "awards season" has not really been formed, so the "award-seeking works" released on the holidays are not crowded, and major film companies have not deliberately set the release dates of these award-winning movies. Scheduled at the end of the year. The holiday season of the 21st century has been reduced to a lively scene of awards season works gathering together for the time being.
But even so, the liveliness of the holiday season is still comparable to that of the summer season, and it is the busiest time of the year.
In the five schedules of the year, the target audience groups are different. All major film companies have figured out a set of experiences in the long development process. The schedule arrangement of any film is very particular. Only the schedule arrangement can make the movie box office burst into greater energy. Of course, the wrong schedule arrangement can even ruin a movie, causing the film company to lose money and be rude. Distribution has gradually become one of the most important aspects of major film companies.
The summer of 1993 is still the same. The comedy film "President Fog Water (Dave)" successfully unveiled the annual summer battle, and then relying on "Ben. Can" quickly ascended to the top Sharon Stone brought the same type of movie "Voyeur". (Sliver)” created the topic again, while two other action-packed blockbusters “Dragon: The. Bruce. Lee. Story” and the 1980s’ highest paid superstar Sylvester Stallone led "Cliffhanger" also achieved good results.
After entering June, Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" easily became the focus of the world's attention, breaking the record of the highest premiere in film history just created by last summer's "Batman Returns". With a $47 million opening box office, it was the first to stand out, and it also added another great feat to Steven's box office record. Of course, this is not the end, and then "Jurassic Park" easily won the championship with an incredible drop of 18%, and the cumulative box office easily reached 120 million in two weeks, creating a new myth in the history of movie box office. .
Under such a situation, "Sleepless in Seattle" officially premiered. This romantic chick movie actually chose a summer season full of monsters. All professionals think that Columbia Pictures, which is responsible for the distribution, is crazy. , and completely regarded "Sleepless in Seattle" as an abandoned child in a situation that was not optimistic.
In the history of the North American box office, the chick movies "Pretty Woman", "The Secret. Of. My. Success", "Moonstruck", "Bird", "The. Secret. Of. My. .On.A.Wire)" and "Mermaid (Splash)" generally choose the spring season, and occasionally choose the holiday season for family carnivals. This is also because the female audience market has not received enough attention at present. Location not found.
The only exception is "When Harry Met Sally", which was originally selected to premiere in the second week of July, but it didn't premiere on a large scale at that time. After the reaction, this was expanded to an unexpected success.
In the summer vacation, this is a field that belongs to men. It is impossible for chick movies to find a place here. This is an experience left by time. And now, Columbia Pictures actually put "Sleepless in Seattle" on the June schedule, and before the oppression of "Jurassic Park", there is a comedy movie "Naughty Adam (Dennis. The. Menace)" in the same period After the competition, there is the threat of the summer blockbuster "sugar-coated trap", which is obviously an abandoned schedule. Columbia Pictures' utterly shattered release attitude has made box office forecasting professionals wailing.
It is also worth mentioning that the summer season is a season that relies on male actors to drive the box office, and the importance of the male protagonist is particularly prominent. "Sleepless in Seattle" was originally a chick movie, which weakened the male protagonist's pulling power, and this Once the male lead was Hugo Lancaster, which made people sneer even more.
Before that, Hugo had challenged the summer file three times before and after. "The Detective", "Hudson's Eagle" and "Dead Poets Society" were all works released in midsummer, even if it was the best "Death Poem" Society" has not been able to get a box office of over 100 million, not to mention the other two works that Hugo has taken the lead. "Fiasco" is the only adjective.
Although "Righteous Sea Heroes" and "Smell the Fragrance and Know a Woman" gave Hugo a successful turnaround, they were all works of the holiday stalls. Although the holiday stalls were lively, their competitors were completely different from the summer stalls. a grade. What's more, after the Golden Globes event, Hugo did not have the scenery that people expected for half a year. Instead, he was disgraced, and "Sleepless in Seattle" was not favored by people. Schindler's List" filming, anyway, with the great director Steven at the top, Hugo's current situation is estimated to be even worse.
So, when "Sleepless in Seattle" is about to hit theaters, it's fair to say that no one is optimistic about the film's prospects, including Columbia Pictures itself, even though the Los Angeles Times and Us Weekly surprisingly remain on the sidelines. , but still can't resist the five million premiere box office forecast given by box office forecasting professionals, which is really bleak.