Five Hundred and Forty-Eight - Provocation Requires a Price

Whether it is the new generation of Jewish directors in Hollywood that are being hyped in the media, versus the established Jewish directors, or the gimmick of the handover of power between the new and old top directors in Hollywood, as many media and film critics have said, all of this is It shows that even in the process of "Batman: The Dark Knight" sweeping the theater market, people are still full of expectations for "Jurassic Park 2".

On Thursday night, May 22, 1997, the movie that made all kinds of dinosaur toys go crazy four years ago returned again. While the grand premiere was held at the Temple Theater in Los Angeles, "Jurassic Park 2" also At the same time, more than 3,200 advance venues have been opened to all of North America.

Similar to the choice of "The Dark Knight", theaters owned by Universal Pictures and the Cinema Alliance did not choose to open midnight screenings for the film. Instead, they chose to open early screenings in major cities simultaneously.

After tonight, the film will be released on a large scale in about 3,650 theaters on Friday morning. At that time, the theater market will usher in the most important war since the beginning of the summer season. Even if the two The popularity of this movie is very high, and generally no famous person dares to predict the results in advance.

This time it is rare that even third-party forecasting companies and even Las Vegas gambling groups have canceled bets on the box office performance of the two films this weekend.

"The tickets for the VIP theater have been booked long ago. This is the only one I bought through a scalper at a higher price."

In the presidential suite on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel, Charles Rowan had a helpless tone in his voice. While handing a few movie tickets to Nina, he looked at Wayne who was putting sunglasses on his face, and he obviously wanted to say more. I ordered something, hesitated for a moment, and then swallowed it.

"Honey, I've done it, let's go."

The door to the master bedroom opened, and Naomi Watts took off her usual gorgeous clothes and completely transformed into a girl next door. Her figure was well maintained and she didn't look like a woman who had given birth at all. . Simple skinny jeans, a white T-shirt, a baseball cap with DC letters behind it, a simple and refreshing ponytail, and large sunglasses of the same style that can cover most of the face.

Similar to Australian actresses who dress like a girl next door, Wayne also rarely wore a tough dark custom-made suit. He also wore jeans with white half-sleeves and a baseball cap with DC letters. Compared to him, His usually mature and steady image now looks more like that of a young man who has just graduated from college.

Seeing the two people holding hands and walking out of the presidential suite with the assistant, Charles Rowan shook his head helplessly, grabbed Sergey who was following behind him, and looked up at the bear-like man with a serious face. The Russian security guard whispered:

"Listen, don't leave Wayne's side even a step, and make sure he is always in your sight. Damn it, this is Chicago, and the chaos at night will definitely exceed your imagination!"

"Okay, don't worry."

Nodding, Sergey grinned, giving the other party a smile that he thought was reassuring. He stepped out with his long legs and quickly chased after the three people who had left in front of him.

Not long after, a business car provided by the hotel quietly drove out of the underground parking lot. The rest of the crew, who had been exhausted by intensive promotional activities in one city every day, or even two cities a day, obviously didn't. People are concerned about their fate and are seizing every minute to rest.

The car did not drive too far and stopped in front of a theater owned by the American Artists Cinema chain, three and a half blocks away from the Hilton Hotel. Before getting out of the car, Wayne and the others checked their attire again to make sure they were not After being recognized by the movie fans, he opened the car door and walked towards the cinema hall.

"Shit, maybe I shouldn't have brought Sergey out with me."

While slowly moving forward with the long line of movie fans, Wayne whispered something to the woman next to him. Nina and the three of them were okay and basically didn't attract much attention, but the tall Russian bear has always been the focus of many people's eyes. He even heard some young movie fans whispering that this guy could You can't kill a cow with one punch.

"Come on, boy." Naomi Watts held the man's arm with one hand and rolled her eyes covertly while slowly moving forward. "This is Chicago. Do you think Charles and the others would dare to let you leave the hotel alone at night if you don't take Sergey with you?"

Wayne shrugged and did not continue the topic, and the silence between them returned again. Listening to the movie fans around him discussing all the topics related to dinosaurs, his thoughts slowly began to wander.

In his memory, he has actually only watched the first film in the 1993 film series "Jurassic Park", followed by "Jurassic Park 2" and "Jurassic World". He has not watched them all. Pass. Taking advantage of the fact that he had just arrived in the city of Chicago and there was no announcement at night, he wanted to get to know his competitor in advance.

He doesn't know much about this upcoming film, but when it comes to "Jurassic Park" that came out in 1993, Wayne has a very deep memory. And having lived in this era myself, I can better understand the difficulty of making that film.

You know, at that time in the early 1990s, computer special effects were far less developed than in the past two years. That "Jurassic Park" was completely made using models and animation, this rough special effects production technique. However, the technical limitations did not diminish the viewing experience of that movie at all.

At least in Wayne's vague memory, he has heard friends mention it more than once. Compared with the increasingly realistic special effects that followed, the story and images of the first "Jurassic Park" were actually more powerful.

As for that movie back then, he only remembered the rough story. A scientist used the genes in amber to create a giant dinosaur. People circled various dinosaurs on the island and built Jurassic Park. The control system was paralyzed, and dinosaurs came out to cause destruction and eat people everywhere. Several protagonists had a natural aura of immortality and finally escaped from the island. "What are you thinking about?"

After the movie officially started, Naomi Watts and Wayne sat in the corner of the last row. The Australian actress took her attention away from the big screen, glanced at the silent man next to her, and joked: "Why? Like? Are you shocked by the movie? Are you starting to worry about losing to Steven? It doesn't matter, if you are so scared that you cry, I will never tell anyone."

The woman's words interrupted Wayne's thoughts. What made him dumbfounded was that the woman not only teased him unscrupulously in words, but also took substantive actions, opening her arms to him as if comforting an injured child. Same, giving a warm embrace.

"F**k you! Nami." While changing into their usual dresses, the two of them seemed to also put down their usual masks. Wayne unceremoniously reached out and knocked off the woman's arm, and placed a finger on the woman's arm. A tap on the forehead. "Damn it, don't treat me like a kid."

"Aha? Are you sure you want to be here?" Naomi Watts had a playful smile on her face, as if she had succeeded in a prank. She suddenly lay on his shoulder and blew gently in his ear. One breath. "We haven't tried it in a movie theater yet, but my former high school classmates told me that it's very exciting here. Do you want to try it, boy?"

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Helplessly pushing away the woman's approaching face, Wayne subconsciously looked around and made sure no one noticed him before letting out a sigh of relief. "Crazy woman, do you want to create big news that will completely detonate North America?"

As soon as he thought of the headlines in tomorrow's newspapers such as "The famous Hollywood director Wayne Greenberg and the famous Hollywood actress Naomi Watts had a wild night in the dark in a movie theater late at night!", he immediately hit the headlines. A shiver.

Yes, this circle is basically full of assholes, and no one is any better than anyone else. People in the circle look at each other and mess around, which is hardly news worth reporting, but with the current situation of "Batman: Darkness" "Knight" is so popular that if the film director messes around on the set of a competitor's movie, then the two of them will definitely become the talk of the entire North America.

"Ha, coward." Naomi Watts tried hard to hold back her laughter. She suddenly felt that occasionally provoking this old man-like young man next to her like this would definitely bring a lot of fun to her future life.

"See a movie!"

Wayne stretched out a hand, pressed it on the woman's head, and pushed it in the direction of the big screen. At the same time, he also cast his eyes on the big screen again, and at the same time deliberately lowered his voice and muttered: " When we get back to the hotel, shit, I swear I will make you regret it, stupid woman.”

While watching the movie, he kept observing the reactions of the fans. After the movie was over, everyone gave the movie warm applause. They also clapped along with the audience's applause. Judging from the response from fans at this already sold-out advance screening, the film was at least a success in terms of entertainment.

After quietly leaving the theater with a few people and getting into the car, Wayne's brows slowly relaxed. Based on his movie-watching experience, he can now confirm that this film has not escaped the curse of Hollywood sequels. No matter what, The audience's reputation and professional reputation will definitely decline significantly compared to the previous film, but this does not mean that the box office will be low.

Based on his memories of the first "Jurassic Park", he summarized several particularly important elements. First, the movie is exciting, humorous, curious, and suitable for both boys and girls. The movie as a whole takes the word "family fun" to the extreme.

Second, the film has always told the audience that going against the laws of nature will definitely not end well in the end. Third, the film also consistently expresses human greed. Fourth, the film never deviates from Hollywood's most enduring formula. Human love can conquer all, and humans are loving. This is demonstrated very well by the protagonists' perseverance and mutual help.

Compared with the first film, "Jurassic Park 2", which I just watched, has some innovative attempts, basically these four tones have not changed at all and still exist in every aspect of the film. Corner, obviously, Steven Spielberg is well aware of the reasons for the huge success of the first film.

But after watching the film in its entirety, Wayne was relieved that his next film, "The Dark Knight," would have a head-on collision with this film, because according to his current premonition, the film's box office revenue would be completely underwhelming. It may explode globally like the first film, and it will be very difficult to catch up with Batman, who has already created greater brilliance.

"There are a lot of humanistic feelings that Steven wants to express." Looking out the car window at the receding night view of Chicago, Wayne murmured to himself in a low voice, attracting the attention of the Australian actress.

"What?" Naomi Watts held his arm, took off her baseball cap and threw it aside, and asked curiously: "What's wrong? Do you expect the box office of this movie to pose a threat to us?"

"Nami, in the theater market, or in the commercial field." Wayne shook his head with a smile and said: "No one can underestimate Steven! My feelings about the movie definitely cannot represent this movie. box office trends."

Speaking of this, he paused, recalling the shocking scene he had just watched, and commented: "It's just a personal feeling that the humanistic care Steven added in the film this time is a bit heavy, and it may cause people to walk into the film while running for family fun. Some movie fans operate, causing a dislocation in the movie-watching experience.

Also, notice how real those dinosaurs are? Compared with the first film, this film has made huge progress in special effects. However, if it focuses too much on the display of special effects, it will inevitably sacrifice part of the story. This is also the most uncertain part. It is possible that movie fans came into the film based on the realistic special effects. In the theater, what kind of story is not a story is completely unimportant in the eyes of this part of movie fans. Finally, there is another point. Compared with the first film, the excitement the film brings to the audience is not enough, and it is not big and intense enough. This is a common problem with sequel films. If you want to continue the success factors of the previous film, you will inevitably have the current situation. Condition. However, these are my personal feelings. The reputation is very likely to drop, but no one dares to judge the box office performance. "

"It seems that in the past two years, the sequel films produced in Hollywood will have a decline in reputation among movie fans, media, and film critics." Naomi Watts nodded. It was obvious that she had similar feelings, but she looked at the man next to her. With a strong face, the Australian actress showed a sweet smile. "Honey, in the field of sequels, no one can do a better job than you. "The Dark Knight" has said it all!"

"Thanks."

The lack of good sequels has become a common phenomenon in Hollywood in the mid-to-late 1990s. This is related to the production company's conservative production strategy for sequel movies, and it is also related to the business strategy of the production company in the entire industry.

To put it bluntly, there is only one ultimate goal for Hollywood film companies to make movies, and that is to make profits, and the biggest way to ensure profits is to continue the elements of already successful movies, whether it is due to the lack of surprises, the cliché of the story, or the audience's aesthetics Fatigue is the reason why the so-called sequels are not good.

But this kind of business strategy can ensure that the risk of large investments is minimized. Hollywood's decades of experience tell production companies that this is the safest way to make money.

The business car quietly drove back to the hotel parking lot. Charles Rowan, who had been standing by the window, finally breathed a sigh of relief. As a producer, he had been worried all night. This was not their base in Los Angeles, and he had never seen anyone. The billionaire was looking for this kind of excitement most of the night. After confirming that several people had returned safely, he walked into the bedroom and fell asleep deeply.

The time has begun to approach midnight, and the mist is steaming in the bathroom of the Hilton Presidential Suite. From time to time, a sound like the roar of a wild cat can be heard. Occasionally, two slender white handprints would appear on the glass shrouded in fog. After a while, they would disappear on the glass wall as the sound became sharper.

Tonight, the two of them took a bath for nearly an hour, and it ended amidst the crazy yelling of the Australian actress. The two of them knew each other very well, and Naomi Watts enjoyed some slight bathing most of the time. It's a taboo little game, but when she personally releases the beast in a man's heart, she will be at a loss to switch from provocation to supplication and abuse.

"F**k, if you hurt me, all the promotions will be ruined, Wayne, you animal!"

The man gently wrapped the woman in a bath towel, picked her up and walked to the balcony together, blowing in the midnight breeze of Chicago. When he heard the woman grinding her teeth and swearing, he seemed to have not noticed the other's resentment and felt refreshed. I lit a cigarette and puffed away, enjoying the mental relaxation after the indulgence.

Naomi Watts rolled her eyes, adjusted her posture on the recliner, stretched out a white arm, unceremoniously snatched the just-lit cigarette from the man's mouth, and stuffed it into her mouth. , imitating the other person's appearance, taking a big sip with a comfortable expression.

In the light smoke, the Australian actress's white fingers brushed the corners of her eyes. Even if this face does not need to be painted with exquisite makeup, it is definitely beautiful, but every woman knows in her heart that no one can maintain their youth forever. , especially her age, which is actually not considered young anymore. "Wayne, maybe I should think about my plans after the shelf life of my face."

"Nami, believe me, your face can withstand more beatings than most local women in North America." Wayne had just lit his second cigarette, and when he heard the other party's emotion, he raised his head and glanced at her white face in surprise. And those charming blue eyes, smiling and saying: "I swear to God, in a few years, you will be even more beautiful than you are now."

In his impression, Naomi Watts can definitely be regarded as a representative of late-blooming actresses. When she became famous all over the world, the Australian woman was already over thirty years old, but her image on the big screen, especially Later movies such as King Kong are still the dream lovers of countless men around the world.

Compared with local women in North America, it seems that Australian actresses who come to Hollywood are much more attractive in terms of appearance. For example, Mrs. Cruise, for a long time after her divorce from Tom Cruise, was called The most poisonous box office poison, but as time goes by, this woman who has found her place in Hollywood again, the image she presents on the big screen is far stronger than that of local North American female stars of the same period or even younger generations.

"Don't lie to me, boy." After listening to his words, Naomi Watts raised her eyebrows happily at first, and then rolled her eyes without any scruples. "Everyone gets older, and no one can change the rules of nature. This is much crueler to women than to men."

She understands the man next to her very well. Even if she has a special status in his heart, even if she gives birth to a child for him, when one day she is really old and has wrinkles on her face that need to be covered up by makeup, the other person will I will definitely choose other young and beautiful faces without hesitation, and young and beautiful faces will always be the most indispensable thing in Hollywood.

In fact, based on the women Wayne has had affairs with in the past, countless gossip media have carefully analyzed the preferences of this young Hollywood boss. Those entertainment paparazzi have interviewed Charlize Theron, Jennifer Connelly, etc. countless times. After seeing a woman, I finally came to the conclusion that this man is very dedicated, so dedicated that he is only interested in beautiful young girls!

Not only the women around him know this, but Naomi Watts, who stays with him most of the time, knows even better. No one knows what kind of weak character this guy has better than the Australian actress. "Don't think too much, Nami." Wayne's eyes gradually narrowed, and his mind began to replay the scene in the bathroom involuntarily. His eyes also began to wander on the woman on the recliner, especially since she was lazy now. His delicate temperament stirred up his violent emotions little by little.

"Damn, what do you want to do?!"

Naomi Watts' eyes widened suddenly. By the time she noticed the familiar ferocious look in the man's eyes, it was already too late. Under Wayne's ferocious look, the woman sighed helplessly. She could already Imagine what you will face. "F**k! I already regret provoking you in the cinema tonight, ugh..."

Seeing the woman sliding from the recliner to the carpet as if her bones had been removed, Wayne slowly raised the corners of his mouth, stuck out his tongue and licked his lips greedily.

Different from the passionate scene in the Chicago Hilton Hotel in Vice City, in Glendale, DreamWorks Industrial Park, in an office in the live-action film production area, Steven Spielberg leaned on the sofa, with a rare lack of choice. Go home, even though it's past midnight.

Secretary Sanders hurriedly walked through the corridor, holding a fax document in his hand, and stood in front of Steven Spielberg's office door. He tried hard to adjust his breathing before reaching out and saying "Dong, dong, dong." Knocked on the door.

"come in."

The voice of a good Jewish man immediately sounded in the office. Secretary Sanders opened the door and went directly to the sofa resting area where the other party was.

"Boss, the fax sent by Universal Pictures is a rough statistical report on the advance screening of "Jurassic Park 2."" After putting the fax paper on the table, without waiting for Steven Spielberg to watch it in person, Sanders, who knew his habits, took the initiative and said:

"Jurassic Park 2 has simultaneously opened 3,215 advance screenings in major cities in North America, and the theater company's box office revenue is approximately US$12.4 million."

"Hmm, not bad."

Steven Spielberg nodded slightly. This result was indeed a little higher than what he and Universal Pictures expected. This shows that the audience is full of expectations for this movie. "Keep talking."