Seven Hundred and Three

With the release of "The Matrix: Revolutions", in fact, the entire North American summer season, which is also the hottest period in the North American film market, has slowly come to an end.

The time has arrived in late August before you know it. It can be said that the most fierce competition in the summer season has gradually calmed down as time goes by. The blockbuster bombardment of the theater market by major Hollywood film companies is also coming to an end.

According to the normal trend of the past few years, everyone will calm down all fights at this point in time and prepare for the last fiercely competitive period of the year in North America, the Christmas season.

But this year, due to the extremely crowded summer season, even in late August, high-profile movies were released one after another.

The first is the much-anticipated "The Matrix 3: Matrix Revolutions", the final film in the "Matrix" trilogy, which officially premiered in North America on August 20, and 2,700 advance screenings were also opened that night.

On the second day, which was Friday, the first holiday, the film had 2 draws in mainstream commercial theaters in North America. The first two films of "The Matrix" have accumulated a huge number of die-hard fans for the film, so that when the film was released, it was difficult to get a ticket.

Hollywood sequel movies have generally been criticized by movie fans. Over time, it seems that the quality of sequels is getting worse and worse, which has become an iron rule in the industry. However, "The Matrix" obviously was not affected by this aspect. When the third part of the series was released, it rarely received widespread praise from movie fans.

"According to information released by Warner Bros. this morning, the reputation of fans of "The Matrix Revolutions" is extremely strong. After the film was screened on the first day, the average score among fans remained above A, and most of the reviews from fans were "refreshing and still refreshing." The words "perfect ending" and "enjoyable" are formed.

Contrary to the strong market reputation among movie fans, the film released by Warner Bros. once again received dissatisfaction from many well-known film critics. Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" said in his column, "Zach Snyder is just a low-level director who abuses action shots and endlessly abuses special effects. He is still difficult to break the habit of a commercial director. In this way This approach is a serious waste of fans' love for "The Matrix".

Pete Travers, the film critic of the famous magazine "Rolling Stone", also commented in his column, "The first part of "The Matrix" was the peak, and the two subsequent parts were completely made into vulgar commercial popcorn. It was produced into a Hollywood stereotype of a vulgar science fiction commercial film, and it was also an R-rated vulgar commercial film. ’

Bob Strauss, a special contributor to the Los Angeles Daily News, also said this morning that Zack Snyder personally ruined "The Matrix," which was supposed to be a great philosophical movie that will go down in film history. However, in the last two parts, the philosophical speculation of the film was completely abandoned. He also believes that Zack Snyder only learned the superficial aspects of his teacher from Wayne Greenberg and did not have the great film art in his head at all! "

In Beverly Park at the foot of Beverly Hills, Harvey Weinstein's huge body was sitting on a bench in the park, with a small stack of today's latest newspapers beside him. These newspapers cover almost all mainstream media in North America.

After seeing the review of "The Matrix 3: Matrix Revolutions" by the film critics, an unabashed sarcastic smile appeared on Big Fat's face. He threw the "New Yorker" aside and picked up another one. newspaper.

"Harvey, regarding the reputation of The Matrix, the polarization between fans and professional ratings is serious!"

His younger brother Bob Weinstein, who was sitting next to him, tilted his head and glanced at the newspaper that his brother had just put down, and joked in a low voice: "If those film critics and fans don't go to watch this movie, they will live on the top of the mountain. Will the dark tyrant encounter Waterloo for the first time?"

"It's still summer time, Bob."

He turned his head and glanced at his brother. Harvey Weinstein curled his lips and said: "With the foundation of the first two films of 'The Matrix', there can be no so-called Waterloo. Now is the summer season, and this is not the awards season for film critics to do whatever they want!"

While casually chatting with his brother, he raised his wrist, glanced at the time, and then frowned slightly. It was already ten o'clock in the morning, and apparently the person they had an appointment with was late.

However, this time, Harvey Weinstein was rarely easy to talk to. Even though the appointment time had passed, he did not curse or even complain.

"Attention, Bob. Have you seen any company's big project scheduled to be released this weekend or next weekend? Without enough competitors, even if the film critics described "The Matrix" as a pile of shit, it still wouldn't Ways to prevent the film's market performance.

Besides, film critics not only gave "The Matrix" negative reviews, but other films released by Warner Bros. this summer, without exception, also received unqualified reviews. "The Blast", "Saving Private Ryan", "Ace vs. Ace", "Electronic Love Letter", "The Love of Angels", "Supernatural", etc., etc., which movie did you watch and was spared? "

Bob Weinstein gained enough information from casual conversations with his own brother. As long as he recalled it a little, he discovered that this was really how things developed.

The weekend when "The Matrix: Revolutions" was released, there was not a single major production from other medium- or large-scale film companies. Even next weekend, there was only one film of sufficient quality, MGM and United Artists' "The Incredibles." "", this can fully explain many problems.

Yes, both MGM and United Artists were once considered the leading companies in Hollywood. However, they had already declined many years ago. Now no one has combined MGM and United Artists. Put it in a big company lineup.

Moreover, from his brother's narrative, he also discovered one thing, that is, Warner Bros.'s output is increasing year by year. Most of the people whose names have just been called by Harvey Weinstein are basically those who have done well this summer. You know, the ones who haven't been called include "The Flash", "Charlie's Angels" and "The Matrix" The finishing touch.

Laughing and shaking his head, Bob Weinstein joked: "Since Warner Bros. didn't invite film critics on a large scale at the premiere of "The Flash," this group is like abandoned resentful women. Let’s vent our grievances whenever we get the chance..."

"That's right."

Harvey Weinstein was also amused and nodded seriously. "For the entire Hollywood film company, Warner Bros. has made a good start and set a very good example for all medium-sized and above film companies. Warner Bros. told all companies that this public relations fee was actually given to film critics. , can be saved completely.

But for the film critics group, this is an out-and-out job-killing act. In the past, Roger Ebert accepted public relations from Warner Bros. and other film companies all year round. Looking back now, at least in this commercial-oriented period, many companies in Hollywood have begun to cancel the review of film critics. The public relations. "

In fact, many studios, including Harvey Weinstein's Miramax, are well aware that critics have little influence during the summer season.

However, no company took the initiative to cancel public relations for film critics. The reason is very simple. Tens of millions of dollars are often invested in a commercial blockbuster, and the publicity and distribution expenses are about one-third to half of the production cost.

In the context of such a huge investment, the million-dollar investment of public relations and film critics seems insignificant. No one wants to take the risk of being the first to break the decades-old advertising and distribution habits of the film industry.

Everyone knows that those good words from film critics may not increase the box office revenue of the movie much. But if those mad dogs bite randomly and keep throwing dirty water on the film, the losses will be big or small. It is better to maintain the status quo and feed these vampires first.

However, when Warner Bros. proved in this summer's summer season that even if they did not publicize them, they would not have an impact on the box office, a series of consequences began to appear. More and more major commercial projects were temporarily canceled this year. PR for film critics.

This is the reason why the film critic group is always staring at Warner Bros. films, and it is also the reason why every time a Warner Bros. film is released, it will inevitably face negative reviews from film critics the next morning.

"check it out."

Seeing that it was already early ten in the morning, Harvey Weinstein lowered his head helplessly and continued reading today's newspaper. But two minutes later, he handed the "Movie Review" in his hand to his brother again.

Taking the newspaper from his brother, Bob Weinstein lowered his head and immediately noticed a row of dazzling numbers.

'The third part of the film "The Matrix", invested, produced, and written by Wayne Greenberg and directed by Zack Snyder, officially opened at the Beverly Kodak Theater at 7 p.m. Western North America this Thursday. Premiere. This high-profile science fiction movie opened 2,700 advance screenings in North America that night.

"The Matrix 3: Revolution" continues the consistent production style of the first two films. It is a well-made R-rated science fiction film with excellent actors. With the accumulation of the previous two films, "The Matrix: Revolutions" took in 11 million US dollars in 2,700 advance screenings on Thursday, showing amazing box office potential.

On the Friday when the film was officially released, many mainstream commercial theaters had been queuing up to buy tickets since the morning. In some theaters in popular areas, it was even hard to get a ticket. The box office explosion of "The Matrix 3: Revolution" can be expected. Yesterday, the film's first day of release, the North American box office reported a whopping US$24.31 million!

Including the US$11 million in advance screenings, the first-day box office of "The Matrix: Revolutions" surpassed US$35 million in one fell swoop, reaching a terrifying US$35.31 million. No one can ignore that this is an R-rated film with strict viewing requirements, and the box office performance it achieved on the first day...'

"fxxk! The first-day box office of the R-rated film exceeded $35 million?!"

Raising his head in surprise, Bob Weinstein looked at his brother and said in disbelief: "Is this the Zack Snyder the film critics say? This is the Zack Snyder they say they only scratched the surface of from Wayne Greenberg. Zack Snyder?!”

"Only a fool would think that a director who came out of the team behind that dark tyrant had only learned the basics!" Harvey Weinstein curled his lips and shook his head.

"It seems that Zack Snyder has only learned how to play with bloody violence and large-scale shots. In fact, he is a very talented director. Let's see, after the "Matrix" trilogy, his information will be included in many movies. Film company archives."

There is no doubt that even if it is not Zack Snyder, any director in Hollywood, as long as he can continuously produce films with such box office performance as "The Matrix" trilogy, will definitely be able to gain a foothold in the industry and become a major player. Potential partners for film companies.

Especially "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolutions", which has just been released for one day. With the audience disadvantage of an R-rated film, it took in a terrifying US$35 million at the box office on the first day. This is something that 99% of directors will never be able to touch in their lifetime. threshold.

The reason why summer vacation is called summer vacation is from May to September every year because the vacation time of primary and secondary schools in North America is from the end of May to September, and because the vacation time of North American universities is from May to September. Mid-month to September.

It can be seen from this that the main audience for summer movies is basically composed of young people between the ages of 4 and 24. This is also the reason why family-friendly commercial films can repeatedly reap terrifying box office results in this period.

But an R-rated movie will naturally exclude more than half of the mainstream summer audience. For North American teenagers, the correct way to watch an R-rated movie is always to wait for the movie to be released and find a way to get it from the video tape, Get it at the DVD rental store. The main reason is that if they want to enter the theater, they must be led by a guardian.

In fact, the term summer season, or summer season, the largest movie season in North America, has not been around for a long time. It was first due to the release of Steven Spielberg's "Jaws", that is, 1. Since seeing the box office miracle of "Jaws", major film companies have become accustomed to investing in one film each year, and gradually all Scheduled for June and July.

The summer season was quickly formed. The very name of the summer season fully indicated that the target audience was young people and teenagers from primary and secondary school students and college students.

Gradually, due to the intensive release of commercial films, more types of movie fans were attracted, such as family fans, fans in groups of friends and classmates, etc. However, for any blockbuster film in this popular period, the main box office contributors are still teenagers and young people. This is still the case even twenty years later.

"Harvey, actually, I prefer to hand over our new film to Universal Pictures or Disney's Buena Vista International for distribution." Seeing that the time was almost half past ten, the person they were waiting for had not yet appeared, Bob - Weinstein observed his brother's face and said tentatively:

"The two films we released consecutively this year, "Teachers Are Not Human" and "Ghost Hunting Day", were all squeezed by Warner Bros. Pictures."

In fact, Harvey Weinstein certainly understood what his subtext was. The two films "Teachers Are Not Human" and "Ghost Hunting" have strong Miramax attributes, low budget, and cult attributes. , genre films, etc., it can be said that Miramax has a small and broad base.

Although both of Miramax's two films have temporarily entered the top 30 of the 1 rankings, basically achieving the goal of using small to make a big impact, these two films are not precisely influenced by Warner Bros. Instead of being squeezed by distribution, it was squeezed by Wayne Greenberg.

"Rebirth of the Great Era of Fighting Waves"

"Teachers Are Not Human" has a North American box office of just over 40 million US dollars and a global box office of 1.1. "Teachers Are Not Human" has a North American box office of 55 million US dollars and a global box office of 117 million US dollars. It seems to have performed completely in line with Miramax's expectations and even had some surprises.

However, based on the momentum of the two films when they were released, the former ran into "Charlie's Angels", and the latter simply ran into "Saving Private Ryan". As for why "Saving Private Ryan" was not handed over to Paramount for distribution, but instead The reason for partnering with Warner Bros. is no secret within the industry.

"Saving Private Ryan" has so far grossed more than $400 million in global box office. Many rumors are circulating. It is said that Paramount CEO Shirley Lansing, a powerful woman, now hates Wayne Green. Berg gritted his teeth with hatred.

"Bob, those are just minor problems. We need a way out. You should make it clear what I mean."

While talking, a red Chevrolet car finally slowly drove into Beverly Park. Seeing this car, Harvey Weinstein frowned slightly, but immediately relaxed, picked up the newspaper next to him, and whispered to his brother:

"Okay, that's the end of the discussion on this matter. Don't let this woman hear you."

Seeing the red Chevrolet approaching, Bob Weinstein nodded slightly and sighed secretly. With the current status of myself and my brother in Hollywood, and the unscrupulous way they usually act, it has been many years since I had such a good temper, waiting for a late lady.

As for the retreat mentioned by his brother, he actually understands it very well. Miramax seems to be unique among medium-sized film companies, and its profitability is to a certain one-sided extent, even comparable to Sony Columbia.

However, crises from within, invisible to outsiders, continue to erode the company that the two brothers worked hard to build. The better Miramax performs, the greater the pressure from Disney. Especially this year, Disney has gone too far, frequently attacking Harvey Weinstein on the board of directors.

"Hi Harvey, good morning Bob."

A red Chevrolet car stopped in front of the two of them, and when the window rolled down, a woman with long blond hair was revealed. "Sorry, I've been too tired from filming during this period. I kind of overslept."

"It's okay, Kate, let's go up now."

At this time, Harvey Weinstein was particularly easy to talk to. He just looked at the woman deeply, then took the initiative to open the back door of the car and lifted his legs to get in the car.

In front of outsiders, Bob Weinstein, who has always been dominated by his older brother, also followed his brother's footsteps and got into the car. Although he was uncomfortable with the woman's lateness, he never meant to show it. He knew very well that this woman was nothing in front of the two brothers, and the man behind the woman was the one who allowed them to express their goodwill.

After picking up the two brothers, the red Chevrolet sedan drove along Beverly Park toward the top of the mountain without stopping. The car drove to the end of Mulholland Drive, and Cate Blanchett skillfully greeted the security staff. Without any obstruction, the Chevrolet drove into the small parking square of Greenberg Manor.

"This woman is really brave. I heard that she claims to be best friends with Naomi Watts. Isn't he afraid of running into the half-mistress of Greenberg Manor?"

When the car stopped, Cate Blanchett handed the two brothers to the housekeeper Hela and walked alone towards the awning in front of the garden. While observing the huge estate, Bob Weinstein muttered some gossip under his breath.

"As far as I know, Naomi Watts is still in Australia."

Harvey Weinstein curled his lips and whispered back. "Even if the Australian female star is in the manor, if Wayne wants to, you don't really think she would dare to express anything, do you?"

While the two were joking casually, they saw Cate Blanchett waving to them under the awning in the distance. Harvey Weinstein shook his head slightly and walked towards the lawn in front of the garden. "Okay, let's go. It seems we made the right move. This woman's interests are now consistent with ours."

Bob Weinstein nodded, thinking about his brother's words, with a smile that every man understands. He knew that the reason why his brother knew Wayne Greenberg was probably because the two men's code of conduct was not much different, except that his brother was more arrogant and domineering, and that man's media and public image were good enough.

In the minds of old-school Hollywood bosses like them, I am afraid that in the eyes of ordinary people, female stars are just pets or toys...