Chapter 998
The concept of independent film originated in Hollywood in the middle of the century, and after 30 years of development, it has formed a force with the establishment of the Sundance Film Festival, but so far, independent film is still an absolutely disadvantaged group in Hollywood. Independent films often mean that there are no investment targets, no distribution companies, no publicity channels, and no box office results. This is just a channel for filmmakers to realize their own ideals.
There are two signs that independent films have really entered the mainstream of Hollywood. One is "Little. Miss. Sunshine" in 2006. This film has achieved a huge response at the box office, which means that independent films also have a strong Box-office driving force; one is the 2008 eightieth Oscar "No Country. For. Old. Men" won the best picture.
Since then, independent films have become an integral part of the world's film scene, even rivaling commercial popcorn films. At that time, independent film was no longer synonymous with "non-mainstream", but a representative of the director's ideological talent with a strong personal style.
But back in the early 1990s, independent films were still a group that was not accepted by the market and was ignored by people, a niche among the niche. This point is vividly reflected in the film "Once Upon a Time in America". The greatest failure in American film history was trapped in its own independent attributes. Warner Bros. could not understand the director's intention and talent, so it was simple according to the commercial intention. Brutally "raped" the film, brewing a regrettable tragedy for life.
This is also the reason why the entire film market was in consternation when Hugo took on "Pulp Fiction". Because in the traditional impression, independent films are shoddy, and only second-tier actors are willing to take up independent films - don't you see Robert De Niro's career declining rapidly after starring in "Once Upon a Time in America", independent films are simply not accepted by the mainstream Heterogeneous... At that time, Hugo, whose career was on the rise, was willing to appear in independent films, not to mention mainstream film critics, even Quentin Tarantino himself was surprised.
In the history of independent film development, Quentin Tarantino is also a maverick existence. His debut work "Reservoir Dogs" amazed four, and his second work "Pulp Fiction" opened up independent films. The country's success has made the entire North American film market notice the existence of independent films, thus starting the long road for independent films to enter the mainstream market.
"Pulp Fiction" is considered to be the starting point for independent films to break into the mainstream.
But how did this statement come about? Why is "Pulp Fiction" the starting point? Is it because "Pulp Fiction" created a new narrative technique, or is it because "Pulp Fiction" is exceptionally artistic? Obviously not, independent films have never been short of bold and innovative works, and there are no shortage of masterpieces whose artistic achievements have gone down in history.
The reason why "Pulp Fiction" is regarded as the starting point for independent films to officially enter the mainstream market is because the film has found a balance between business and art, and its outstanding box office performance has made everyone realize: independent films It can also attract a large number of audiences, independent films can also create box office, and independent films can also be profitable!
Before "Pulp Fiction", no independent film had ever crossed the 100 million threshold, never! This is the fundamental reason why independent films are called "the niche of the niche".
Now, three weeks after its release, "Pulp Fiction" has brought its cumulative box office to $57 million, although it is very difficult to hit the 100 million threshold purely in terms of box office numbers, and there is little hope; but no one Will forget the movie's huge response among critics and audiences, so maybe this tiny hope can be turned into a reality!
Once "Pulp Fiction" made $100 million at the box office, it was the film's greatest triumph in nearly a century. Therefore, the weekly release and box office accumulation of "Pulp Fiction" is a historical step. It is always on the road of creating history, and every audience is the founder of this history!
This possibility has made the entire film market boil. They can not only witness the birth of history, but also become the creators of history. In an instant, not only the executives of major production companies, film critics, and independent filmmakers They have all cast their attention, and even ordinary audiences are watching the growth of the movie box office with anticipation.
Such momentum is indeed a wave higher than a wave.
This really makes "Cosmic Shock" a little embarrassed. Even if it defeated "Pulp Fiction" and won the North American Box Office Weekend Championship in the fourth week of October, it still loses to "Pulp Fiction" in terms of topicality and attention, let alone "Pulp Fiction". The opening weekend box office has created incredible results but still can't surpass the depression of "Pulp Fiction".
In the first week of November, the box office of "Universe" dropped by 35%, and it won the weekend box office of 10.4 million US dollars. But still not the focus.
And the two new releases this week, "Mary. Shelley's. Frankenstein" and "The. War," didn't work wonders either.
"Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" invested 45 million, and found Robert De Niro and Kenneth Branagh (Kenneth. Branagh). It was released in 200 theaters, but only made $10 million at the opening box office.
"War", starring Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood (Elijah. Wood), sets its sights on reflecting on the Vietnam War. The film is distributed by Universal Pictures and has 1,200 theaters. Slightly conservative, the result was only $5 million at the box office, and the results were unsatisfactory.
On the contrary, the "Pulp Fiction", which has been rising in momentum, once again handed over a sky-high 9% drop, breaking the curse of all the crows.
After the 30% drop in "Pulp Fiction" last week, many media criticized the film's prospects, believing that its box office is impossible to make history, and it will face a catastrophic failure. It is not easy for an independent film to please a large audience, not to mention that a work with a strong style such as "Pulp Fiction" is destined to be a niche.
But now, the 9% drop has immediately silenced all doubts, and the weekend box office of 9.74 million has once again flooded the praises like a tidal wave.
Just a week's difference, the cumulative box office of "Pulp Fiction" quickly rose to 69 million US dollars. Although the increase may not appear to be a big increase on the surface, all professional box office forecasters have changed their tone. , that the probability of "Pulp Fiction" breaking 100 million at the box office has exceeded 50%. The main reason is because of the sky-high decline in "Pulp Fiction", this movie will have an innate advantage in long-term sales.
In the first week of November, "Spacecraft" won the championship in a thrilling manner, "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" can be said to be the runner-up regrettably, but it can also be said to be the runner-up in danger, and "Pulp Fiction" is dignified standing on the third runner-up throne. The gap between the top three is no more than half a million dollars. Such a small gap is definitely a rare sight in the deserted autumn file, which is really an interesting picture.
"War" is far behind, ranking third.
"Pulp Fiction" only took four weeks to establish an unshakable reputation image, and the cumulative box office has soared towards the threshold of 100 million, which also makes "Pulp Fiction" a film that cannot be ignored in North American October film history. The record created by the film will not be broken until many years later, but the unique and unique attribute of "independent film" will not be able to find a successor until after the 21st century.
The topical "Pulp Fiction" was hit by "Interview with the Vampire" in the second week of November after dominating the spotlight list for four weeks.
There is no doubt that "Interview with the Vampire" is coming on the Halloween schedule. David Geffen, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are on the stage aggressively, whether it is a super high investment of 60 million or a strong The cast, including the vampire theme, is enough to keep this work in the spotlight before its release.
Although "Interview with the Vampire" once invited Hugo to play the leading role, David did not hype it up; but "Interview with the Vampire" was inevitably compared with "Pulp Fiction" - naturally not Compare cost and cast, but rather topical.
The two handsome guys Tom and Brad in "Interview with the Vampire" joined forces, which has already sparked countless discussions during the publicity stage, but the whole is divided into two viewpoints. Some people think that this will be a visual feast, and the movie is worth looking forward to; others think that The movie will be completely reduced to the boring appearance of the vase, and the essence of the original book will be destroyed. Both views are quite extreme, but they have supporters, which also makes the movie more and more popular.
When "Interview with the Vampire" started its first wave of publicity, it happened to be the period when "Pulp Fiction" was released. The media noticed it almost immediately. Tom, Brad and Hugo, the three actors are about the same age Big, their temperament overlaps with each other, but each has its own merits and markets. It is the most competitive group of actors among male actors in their thirties.
So, this time Tom teamed up with Brad to fight against Hugo; or, in other words, Tom and Brad formed a confrontation, and Hugo joined the battlefield at the same time, what kind of situation would it eventually show?
Originally, the two films "Interview with the Vampire" and "Pulp Fiction" should not be comparable at the box office, because how does an independent film compare to a movie produced by a big company like Warner Bros. People want to see two more The battle of word-of-mouth for the film and the battle of performances between the three actors, but who could have predicted that "Pulp Fiction" also showed great energy at the box office.
This time, "Interview with the Vampire" and "Pulp Fiction" have formed a full-scale confrontation. Even though the latter has been released for a month now, there is no direct comparison, but this topic still attracts everyone's attention.