Chapter 891 891 Fierce Confrontation

The North American film market in the first week of June was completely detonated by the "speed of life and death", and the total box office of this week increased by 40% compared with the same period last year, and the total box office of the top 12 increased by 97%. , which shows how lively the first week of June in 1994 was.

"Life and Death" conquered audiences with its actual performance, and it also proved that 20th Century Fox's previous hype was correct: It was indeed a work of excellent quality, and audiences who watched it during its opening weekend were quick to accept the film. The excellent word of mouth of the film spread, and the news that the film also received unanimous praise in the eyes of film critics made countless audiences flock to it.

How attractive is an action movie that even critics praise, an action movie that even female audiences like, and an action movie that is completely different from today's mainstream? The box office performance of the first three weeks is only the first step. How good the box office drop in the second week is, this is the point!

The so-called box office decline is actually the long-term selling ability of a film. Art films rely on word-of-mouth and film reviews, and popcorn movies rely on audiences, special effects, and topics. Generally speaking, the normal box office drop of popcorn movies is controlled between 30% and 40%, which is a good performance, but this cannot be generalized.

For example, after entering the 21st century, for those works whose first premiere box office exceeded the threshold of 100 million, it is very good data to control the box office drop of less than 60% in the next week. For example, comedy movies and horror movies, because The target audience is a specific group, so as long as the decline in the next week can be controlled to around 50%, it will be a victory.

The box office decline is linked to the theme itself and the box office performance in the first week, and with the advancement of time, the box office decline in the next week and the box office decline in the third week will also be measured. The next week's box office decline is controlled below 30%, which can be called "excellent", which also means that the film's long-term selling ability has withstood the test, and the film's final box office is a figure worth looking forward to.

This is also the reason why major film companies are so sensitive to movie schedules, because the works released in the next week will have a huge impact on the next week's decline in the works released this week. For example, if "True Lies" is released in the next week, then It is a victory for a new film to be released this week to control the next week's decline to 45%.

Therefore, in the calculation of the movie schedule, everyone regarded "speed of life and death" as a soft persimmon, because "action movies made at a low cost" really did not have box office appeal, even if Hugo starred.

But the actual situation is that the performance of "Life and Death" is so good that the major production companies gouge out their eyeballs. On the one hand, Columbia Pictures is glad that "Wolf" does not have to face the competition of "Life and Death" head-on, but on the other hand On the one hand, he began to worry that "Wolf" will fight to the death with "Speed ​​of Life and Death" in the next week.

This is the focus of the media in the second week of June. When "Wolf" meets "Life and Death", when Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer meet Hugo Lancaster, When Mike Nichols faces Hugo Lancaster again, when a $70 million production meets a small budget of $28 million, and most importantly, when the premiere tackles the following week The show, what will be the result?

Originally, the media were optimistic about the success of "Wolf" without any suspense, and at least they can expect a 20 million-level premiere at the box office, and everyone believes that after the second week of "Life and Death", it is likely to be affected by similar works." The violent impact of "Wolf", the box office fell by more than 50%, and the box office completely collapsed.

But now, no one dares to cut it straight. "Speed ​​of Life" has a box office of 10 million in the first three weeks. Even if the box office drops by 50%, it will have a box office of 15 million in the next week. Whether "Wolf" can have enough impact is still in accordance with the expectations of the media. The 20 million-level premiere box office has become a huge doubt.

But the "New York Post" still put all its hopes on the "wolf".

In the face of the box office explosion of "Speed ​​of Life" in the first week of its release, it is difficult for the "New York Post" to use any negative words to describe it, because the box office is always the most convincing data, and black and white are all expressed through numbers. , there is no room for sophistry and no room for justification. That's why The New York Post chose the box office to set up the game, because the results are obvious.

Colin Meyer originally wanted to use the box office to silence Hugo and make Hugo's eloquence useless, but now he seems to be shooting himself in the foot in the face of the "speed of life" first. With a box office of 30 million yuan, they really have no way to make any effective comments.

Since he could not attack the premiere box office of "Speed ​​of Life and Death", Colin naturally put all his expectations on the box office drop in the next week, that is, he hoped that "Wolf" could complete the sniping of "Speed ​​of Life and Death", although this seemed a daunting task. task, but not impossible.

Therefore, the "New York Post" specially wrote a review to praise "Wolf", from the investment to the cast, from the script to the production. It is possible to achieve an excellent level of more than 25 million!

If "Wolf" performed well at the premiere at the box office, then it is natural that the box office of "Life and Death" led to an avalanche-like decline. According to the "New York Post", the next-week drop of "Life and Death" is likely to exceed 60%, which is a possible drop for a commercial action movie, and once "Life and Death" drops more than 60% 60%, which means that the hope of 100 million box office is completely dashed.

Therefore, the "New York Post" pinned all its hopes on the strong sniping of "Wolf".

Although everyone knew what the New York Post article meant, the media did not refute it, because they were all looking forward to the outcome of the confrontation between "Life and Death" and "Wolf". Box office gamble? This is the focus of curiosity for everyone, and the media itself is no exception.

Even more interesting is the highly anticipated comedy, "City. Slickers II: The. Legend. Of. Curly's. Gold", which premieres in the second week of June.

"City. Slickers" is a work released in the summer of 1991, starring Billy Christo, and the investment of 27 million finally exchanged for a box office of 124 million US dollars. A well-known comedy work, and this work also won Jack - Palance (Jack. Palance) the sixty-fourth Oscar for the best supporting actor. It is a model of fame and fortune.

Now, three years later, the sequel, "Urban Hillbilly 2," is on the scene, still led by Billy, and while the comedy sequel may be a bit less of a hit at the box office, it's still highly anticipated.

Originally, "Wolf" was scheduled for the second week of June because it believed that "Life and Death" and "Urban Hillbilly 2" could not pose a threat. This was generally considered a wise move by Columbia Pictures, and even forced "Life and Death" to advance the schedule. Go head-to-head with two comedy films.

But now the situation seems to have turned upside down. How much energy can be released by "Speed ​​of Life and Death", which is showing in the second week, has become the biggest suspense, while "Urban Hillbilly 2" has become a time bomb. Next, what kind of strength the "wolf" can exert, people have to put a question mark.

But it is undeniable that the confrontation between "Speed ​​of Life and Death" and "Wolf" has also extended the noise of last week to this week, making the North American film market continue to be hot in the second week of June.

On June 8, "Wolf" took the lead in China. The National Theater held a grand premiere. This fiery premiere called "Beyond the Speed ​​of Life and Death" gathered nearly 2,000 fans, and the scene was even more famous, attracting nearly 70 people. The reporter went to the scene to conduct interviews, and even a video of Hugo's congratulations was played on the scene, which really surprised the media.

After the premiere, Hugo, who returned to the "Road to Glory" tour, unfortunately missed the premiere of "Wolf", but due to Jack Nicholson's friendship, Hugo still personally Recorded a congratulatory video and sent my own blessings.

Under such circumstances, "Wolf" has at least caught up with its competitors "speed of life and death" on the topic, and severely suppressed "Urban Hillbilly 2". Billy, who attended the premiere, laughed and joked. , "It's a pity that I haven't worked with Hugo yet, but I will try to find some opportunities through Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner."

Nora and Rob once collaborated with Billy on the classic "When Harry Met Sally", and they collaborated with Hugo on the classic "Sleepless in Seattle". you.

However, after the premiere of "Wolf", there was a disappointing situation. The media was generally dissatisfied with the work. The "New York Times" even considered "this is the worst role Nicholson has ever played". This has already made Columbia Pictures half-cold, and when the opening weekend came to an end, Columbia Pictures was completely depressed.

The media's comprehensive evaluation was 58 points, and the theater's score was "B". Such an evaluation is really unreasonable, and the relevant comments of the two top actors Jack and Michelle are also whining all the way. The scary thing is that Mike Nichols, both as a director and as a producer, seems to have lost the brilliance of the past two decades as he entered the 1990s.

Mike's current productions since 1990 have failed to live up to expectations, and he has collaborated with Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, Harrison Ford, Annette Bening. . Bening), Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and other top big names, but unfortunately the results are still disappointing.

Obviously, "Wolf" is hard to please with film critics, and it is not on the same level as "Speed ​​of Life and Death" at all, but the reason why reporters think this week's box office competition is fierce is because even if film critics don't buy it, But the production cast of "Wolf" is still very attractive to the audience. Whether it is Jack or Michelle, they are currently the most popular actors, and their ability to drive the box office of the premiere cannot be underestimated.

So, what is the result of the New York Post's expectations?