Chapter 1148 What's Good?
From being selected last year to now, it has been more than a year since Li Youhu participated in this debut work. For the girls of the Guofeng Art Troupe, it feels like it has come out after a long wait.
Because of Li Youhu's luck, Wei Canchai and the seven girls in the screening hall felt somewhat complicated.
I hope this Chinese-language film from the motherland will be a success, but it’s inevitable that I don’t want it to be too successful. With these thoughts in mind, the girls’ viewing attitudes are inevitably more contradictory than those of other audiences, and there is some scrutiny in their expectations. .
However, when the first wonderful fighting scene of the film ended, the audience spontaneously applauded in the screening hall, and suddenly felt a little proud again.
The mentality also changed again.
In any case, it is something to be proud of for a Chinese film to be recognized overseas. What's more, they have received a lot of similar applause during the tour in the past half a year.
Then it is relatively pure viewing.
Follow the narrated stories, shuttle between the deep house, the Gobi, the grassland, and the bamboo sea, the sons and daughters of the rivers and lakes, love and hatred.
During the period, the audience burst into applause again and again, which made all the people involved in the film feel confident. Ella Deutschman, the president of Gaomen Films, who came to attend the premiere in person, also specifically explained his Assistant, remember that tomorrow's publicity draft must emphasize the on-site feedback of the audience's spontaneous applause.
Eight o'clock at night.
At the end of the two-hour screening, amidst the last burst of applause from the audience, the main creator began to take the stage for interviews. Even Martin Scorsese, who came to join us because of favors, asked for the microphone and asked Ang Lee How was the scene of the protagonist's confrontation in the bamboo sea filmed, whether CG special effects were used, etc.
Scorsese was quite surprised when he learned that the only "special effect" was to erase the wires. He expressed his hope to make an appointment to have an in-depth discussion with Ang Lee, and Ang Lee agreed.
This conversation was naturally recorded by many media at the scene.
Because the interactive scene was too enthusiastic, the exchange time scheduled for half an hour was delayed for more than 40 minutes, and the premiere ceremony finally ended.
Then came the after party officially arranged by Daenerys.
This time, Li Youhu was unable to ask for invitation letters for the seven friends. Of course she wanted to attend, and she took the time to say goodbye. The girls regretted this and had to leave.
Instead of going to Li Youhu's residence, he returned to the apartment building that Simon intended to buy for them in Midtown.
Because it is in the rest period, there are some other girls on the Manhattan side.
The seven girls did not disturb others, but gathered in Wei Canchai's apartment in a tacit understanding, turned on the TV, and found snacks.
The topic is still about the movie I just watched.
"To be honest, I think it's great, the scenery is so beautiful, and the action scenes are also very exciting, but overall, I don't feel too much," Su Fengnian, who was holding a bag of potato chips, spoke first, and did not forget to add: "I don't mean to be sour, it really feels like this."
"Your feeling is correct, and I feel the same way." Ouyang Mili, who was holding a fruit plate next to him, said, and then looked at Wei Cancha: "Zancha, what do you think?"
Wei Can can only sit on the carpet without grabbing the sofa again, and he looked at Ouyang Mili, whose eye sockets are on his favorite single sofa on weekdays, and said: "This shows that your aesthetic level is too low, and you are only suitable for watching popcorn." Movie."
"Tsk, then tell us, what's so good about it?"
Wei Canchai arrogantly ignored him.
For some reason, Yu Xuanniao, who doesn't have a strong sense of presence in this small circle, said weakly: "Actually, Feng Nian just said that the scenery is beautiful and the action scenes are exciting. Isn't this the advantage of this movie? Ordinary popcorn movies, people tend to watch them after they’ve seen them, and it’s hard to leave any impression on people.”
Yin Caiwei also said: "I think so too."
Gu Yaoyao, who happened to be holding a box of popcorn, waited for everyone to finish speaking, then suddenly changed the subject: "I wonder if Simon will appear at the after-party?"
Chen Xingwei, who was next to Gu Yaoyao, grabbed a handful of popcorn from Gu Yaoyao's box, and joked, "Why, do you want a man?"
Gu Yaoyao blushed slightly, but she didn't hide it: "Think about it, don't you think so?"
"You two, don't be wrong."
Wei Cancha interrupted, and glanced at Caiwei and Yu Xuanniao.
At this time, five of the seven girls in the room had been eaten by a man, but Yin Caiwei and Yu Xuanniao had not been taken. These things are not a secret in the Guofeng Art Troupe, but It's also not suitable for random discussions and jokes.
However, since the topic was poked open by Gu Yaoyao, the atmosphere was inevitably a little delicate.
So they got together for more than ten minutes, and then everyone dispersed, leaving only Wei Cancha and Gu Yaoyao.
They are a couple.
Nothing to say all night.
Early the next morning, Gu Yaoyao woke up and found that there was no sign of Wei Cancha around her. After dressing and washing, she went to the living room and found Wei Canche was lying on the sofa and flipping through a stack of newspapers.
Knowing roughly what her partner was reading, Gu Yaoyao also took out a newspaper, flipped through it, and quickly gave up. Her English ability has not yet reached the level that Wei Cancha can read newspapers, but she can understand some by forcing it. . But why bother?
So he asked directly: "How is the evaluation?"
"Very good," said Wei Canchai, and read a passage from a film review in The New York Times: "Li has successfully broken through the limitations of the oriental China-specific martial arts genre and created a gorgeous,
A poetic, romantic and profound film, the beautiful natural scenery in the film is like a scroll falling into reality, and the creative action scenes are both unbelievable and natural and smooth. "
Gu Yaoyao listened next to her, and tilted her head: "This evaluation is too high."
"It's a very good movie," Wei Canchai continued flipping through the newspaper in his hand, and said, "All the articles I just read were full of praise, and it was predicted that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" would become the best-selling Chinese movie in North America. .”
"How much box office can that sell?"
"Who knows, there must be tens of millions."
"It seems that the cost is 15 million US dollars?"
"It's not just North America, Europe, and China. In short, it must be very profitable."
When the two girls were discussing in their apartment, on a new day, the media and public opinion about "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" also spread rapidly. After all, last night's premiere ceremony invited more than 100 media from various platforms such as TV, newspapers, and the Internet. , After everything is spread out, as long as the public pays a little attention to movie information, they will not be able to escape the news brainwashing of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Oscar-nominated director's new film, premiered in New York, and the audience spontaneously applauded many times, and the response was enthusiastic."
"Martin Scorsese asked Ang Lee for advice at the premiere, asking how to shoot the film's wonderful stunts."
"Jack Cheng and Jeter Lee, two Chinese male stars, joined hands to support the film."
"Roger Ebert praised "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as Ang Lee's self-transcendence."
"Background decryption, the heroine of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is from the Guofeng Art Troupe."
"..."
"..."
In just one day, many people knew that an excellent oriental film was about to be released, and the film's super high film score of 9.7 points after comprehensive evaluation by various media also made more people want to buy tickets to enter the theater.
However, after the ferment of public opinion on Thursday, when Friday came, some viewers discovered again that the film had only arranged 143 screens in several core cities such as New York and Los Angeles in the first week.
The hype was so high, but many people were unable to buy tickets in the first place.
It's a scam.
This is naturally also a deliberate arrangement for Daenerys' entertainment.
In the final analysis, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a literary film after all. After so many years of exploration, Hollywood has already summed up a progressive long-term distribution model for the distribution of literary films.
Although awards season is the best time for this release model, it is also valid at other times.
Simon is very aware of the box office potential of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". It is actually no problem to intervene and spread it directly on a large scale like some other films in the past. However, the reason why he did not do this again this time is mainly to maintain The fixed distribution mode of literary films.
More importantly, there is also the intention to gradually let go of Daenerys Entertainment, allowing the company to run more and more on its own.
To achieve this goal, rules must be established.
Otherwise, if you think that a film can be a big hit, you will break the distribution rules, and the effect will be imposed on you. Sooner or later, your own company will lose.
On the other hand, Daenerys Entertainment currently possesses strong distribution capabilities, and can also accurately and flexibly adjust the subsequent release strategy of the film, just like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". In one week, more than 1,000 yuan of screening screens can be arranged, and even more can be added quickly in the future, so that the film's box office potential can be maximized.
Simon did not attend the after party for the New York premiere of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as Gu Yaoyao guessed.
On July 23, Irene Lauder gave birth to a boy again, who happened to be Simon's 10th child. The name had already been chosen, Noah Westeros.
Only Lin Su was left.
Because Irene was emotionally unstable before and after giving birth, Simon stayed by her side for the next few days, and had no time to pay attention to other women, and even turned off a lot of work.
Hollywood is still paying close attention to the summer of 1997, which is entering the second half.
The key, of course, is the box office.
With the release of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" on July 25, the box office of the week from July 18 to July 24 has also been released.
The blockbuster "Independence Day" directed by Roland Emmerich, which started painting on July 4, still leads the way.
After the box office of 91.07 million in the first week set a record for the opening of a film in 1997, the box office of "Independence Day" in the second week was even better than that of "Tornado" despite the hot word of mouth and lack of competition, with a drop of only 23%. The income is still as high as 70.12 million US dollars. In the third week that just passed, the decline of "Independence Day" slightly expanded to 33%, and it received another US$46.98 million.
In three weeks, the cumulative box office of this $90 million blockbuster quickly exceeded 200 million, reaching $208.17 million.
overwhelming.
The second place on the list is finally no longer Daenerys Entertainment's other films, but a new Fox film "Spawn" on July 18.
This is a comic book movie.
It tells the story of the hero Al Simmons who signed a contract with the devil after being framed and died, and was reborn in the world to start revenge. Obviously, the idea is similar to Marvel's Ghost Rider.
Fox invested a production budget of 50 million U.S. dollars for "Spawn", which can be described as an important attempt in recent years to try to follow DC's comics.
The gimmick of the first comic book with a black protagonist.
Relying on 2762 opening screens, "Spawn" won a box office of 25.31 million US dollars in the first week.
Obviously not up to expectations.
Even if the film has a good start, the domestic box office will probably stop at around 50 million U.S. dollars.
The third place on the list is a comedy "Nothing to Lose" produced by Disney, which is also a new film that started drawing last week.
To put it simply, this is a male version of the comedy-style "Thelma and Louise" story. It tells the story of Nick, the actor starring Tim Robbins, who drove away from home because of his wife's betrayal, and was robbed by a robber played by Martin Lawrence. Finally, they accidentally partnered with each other and started a crazy journey.
With a production cost of 25 million U.S. dollars, "Nothing to Lose" won a box office of 17.55 million U.S. dollars in the first week of painting.
Moderate.
The fourth place is "American Pie", which is finally back in the hands of Daenerys Entertainment.
Released on June 20, this low-cost youth sex comedy can be described as the biggest dark horse of this summer. In the fifth week of its release, the weekly box office of "American Pie" fell back to the range of tens of millions of dollars for the first time, earning $9.16 million. But it just happened to break through the 100 million yuan threshold, reaching 100 million 610 thousand US dollars.
The total investment in production and publicity is only 20 million US dollars, and Daenerys Entertainment has already made a lot of money with only local distribution.
A sequel is already in the works.
The fifth place is "Tornado", which is entering the final stage. It is also the first time to fall back to the box office range of tens of millions. In the seventh week of its release, "Tornado" earned 9.03 million US dollars, which is not far behind "American Pie". The $100 million blockbuster film has grossed $256.16 million domestically.
After all, it was still under the impact of "Independence Day". Judging from the current trend, the local 300 million is hopeless.
Of course, Daenerys Entertainment has basically recovered the total cost of production and publicity of 150 million US dollars only at this time with a domestic box office of more than 250 million US dollars. Counting the same rising box office overseas, this blockbuster has already entered profitability. cycle.
In addition to the top five, it is worth mentioning the 7th place "Flying Eagle Project".
That's right, the one starring Jack Cheng.
Jack Cheng was able to attend the premiere of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" on July 23, precisely because he was involved in promoting the project the week before.
The film was released in Hong Kong in 1991. It was also a project that New World Pictures bought in a package. Because of the success of "Young Huang Feihong: Iron Horse", New World Pictures temporarily added this project, which is similar to "Spawn". Like "Nothing to Lose", it was released on July 18, with a total of 1,317 screens and a box office of 6.17 million US dollars in the first week.
An average of about US$5,000 is not considered a success. However, considering that the average buyout cost of the film after packaging was less than US$500,000, even if US$2 million was invested in this release, only US$6.17 million was earned in the first week. Cost has been recovered.
It earned more than $6 million in its first week, and the film's total North American box office is expected to be around $10 million. Including the follow-up video revenue, it is still a dark horse with a fairly high return on investment.
Coincidentally, like "Iron Monkey", "Flying Eagle Project" still comes from Golden Harvest.
Hong Kong Golden Harvest made a fortune with "Police Story 4", which was released on May 16. Unfortunately, the total box office of "Police Story 4", which has already been released, is only 53.46 million US dollars. Considering that it is 25 million US dollars for Hong Kong films The high cost, and the profit must be shared with Disney, the publisher. Even if the follow-up channels are counted, the final net income will not be much higher than "Flying Eagle Project".
If "Flying Eagle Project" and "Iron Monkey" are added together, it can directly blow up "Police Story 4".
Even Simon, who was far away in North America, heard that Boss Zou was in a very bad mood recently, so he directly fired a Golden Harvest executive who was in charge of the copyright transaction.
Then came "Face Changing".
"Face Changing", which was in its ninth week of release, only earned 1.79 million US dollars in the past week, and it will be closed soon. The cumulative box office of the film is 198.38 million US dollars, a difference of less than 2 million. Threshold is not a problem.
New week of July 25th.
Because several new films got together last week, apart from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which was screened on 143 screens, there was only one low-cost black comedy "Hamburger Story" produced by Paramount that cost only 9 million U.S. dollars. Nothing to worry about. The ones that can pose a threat to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" are "Independence Day" with Yu Wei still there, as well as last week's "Spawn" and "Nothing to Lose".