Chapter 1167: Big Ship Premiere
It was evening in Europe when Simon welcomed the eleventh child of House Westeros in Greenwich.
Venice, Italy.
The 54th Venice Film Festival in 1997 is drawing to a close.
Just like the 50th Cannes where films such as "Six Heroes of Light Pig" and "The Girl Who Moved the Soul" appeared in May, there are also many topics in Venice this time.
The reason has to start with Cannes in May.
Under the strong public relations of Daenerys Entertainment, the British film "Six Heroes of Light Pig" won the Palme d'Or in the 50th Cannes, relying on the halo of this award, coupled with the hot social discussions caused by the film itself, on August 8 After opening in the UK, the box office has been booming all the way, becoming the biggest box office dark horse in the UK in 1997.
In the box office week ending September 11, the UK box office of "Six Heroes of Light Pig" has reached 50.41 million pounds, equivalent to about 77 million U.S. dollars, which has set a record for a movie with a rating of 15+ in the UK.
The production cost of "Six Heroes of Light Pig" was only 2 million pounds.
Considering that the box office of the film still reached 4.62 million pounds in the last week, and there will be at least 10 million pounds in the follow-up, it is expected that the total box office in the UK will exceed 60 million pounds, which is close to 100 million U.S. dollars.
Affected by the Palme d'Or halo and the phenomenal sales in the UK, "Six Heroes of Light Pigs" has reached the highest expectations in many countries and regions around the world. According to feedback from some theaters during the day, the film can be expected to sell at least 50 million in North America. Moreover, in the eyes of many film critics, this film is basically locked in an Oscar nomination for Best Picture in 1998.
According to feedback from the UK and North America, worldwide, this low-cost feature film with an investment of only 2 million pounds is expected to reach a global box office of 300 million US dollars.
The box office cost-return ratio is close to 100 times.
No one will deny that the beginning of all this is the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
The award aura of the Palme d'Or has at least saved tens of millions of pounds in advertising costs for the promotion of "Six Heroes of Light Pigs" in the UK, making the film's reputation reach its peak without fermentation.
The same is true.
In Simon's memory, the British box office of "Six Heroes of Light Pig" was about 52 million pounds. This time, compared with the original time and space, it is expected to be 10 million more pounds. This is the gain brought by the Palme d'Or.
Moreover, the value of the Palme d'Or is more outside the UK.
After all, it is a film with strong regional characteristics, just like American bad boys movies, French literary films and so on.
If there is no aura of the Palme d'Or, even if the overseas box office will also be a hit because of the phenomenal box office in the UK, it will be greatly restricted after all. , the UK’s phenomenal box office, coupled with the highly recognized Palme d’Or aura around the world, compared to the previous historical global figure of 257 million, this time the global box office volume of "Six Heroes of Light Pig" is 300 million Estimates at the dollar level are actually still conservative.
On the other hand, this year's Cannes Film Festival not only created "Six Heroes of Light Pigs", but also "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which premiered in Cannes, also created an overseas box office record for a Chinese-language film.
There is also "The Girl Who Moved Soul", which won the best actress double yolk eggs from Mia Kirschner and Angelina Jolie in Cannes. It was released in North America on August 22, and it has been screened for the past three weeks. Time, the cumulative box office reached 34.16 million US dollars, the North American box office is expected to be around 50 million US dollars, and the global box office can reach more than 100 million US dollars at least.
The production cost of the film is 20 million US dollars, and North America alone has already started to make profits, and the successive overseas distribution will also bring more lucrative returns.
It can be said that in one Cannes, the three films "Six Heroes of Light Pig", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "The Girl Who Moved the Soul", with a total cost of 40 million US dollars, are expected to bring Daenerys Entertainment 600 million worldwide. The box office is equivalent to the volume of a super blockbuster at the level of "Tornado".
So, what will happen to Venice this time?
You know, in the 54th Venice Film Festival that is about to pass, Daenerys Entertainment's film lineup is almost exactly the same as Cannes.
Two films shortlisted for the main competition unit, one is Giuseppe Tonadore's new work "The Pianist on the Sea", and the other is "Life is Beautiful", which is written, directed and acted by the famous Italian actor Roberto Bernini. "Six Heroes of Light Pig" and "The Girl Who Moved Soul" at the Cannes Film Festival.
Moreover, the two films have received wide acclaim after their premiere at the film festival. Among them, the premiere of "Life is Beautiful" not only won a standing ovation from the audience for a long time after the broadcast, but also made many people applaud this touching movie. The story burst into tears.
Furthermore, similar to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Daenerys Entertainment's long-delayed $200 million new film "Titanic" chose to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this time.
It is today.
Whether it's film and television-related media, movie fans who pay more attention to industry trends, or even the organizing committee of the Venice Film Festival, their perceptions of Daenerys Entertainment are very complicated.
On the one hand, if Daenerys Entertainment can replicate the success of the previous three films in Cannes, it can largely demonstrate the value of the film festival in all aspects.
On the other hand, if Daenerys Entertainment is successful again, it will inevitably give people a feeling that Daenerys Entertainment is the only one in the major film festivals. So, will others still play? With such a huge film festival market, even if Daenerys Entertainment is huge enough, this company alone will definitely not be able to support it.
Lido Island Cinema Palace, the world premiere of "Titanic" begins at 5:00 pm local time in Venice.
First up is the red carpet ceremony.
Under the strong appeal of Daenerys Entertainment, the jury headed by Jane Campion, famous filmmakers from all continents in Venice, film critics and media reporters from all over the world joined in this film festival.
Because of the positioning of "Titanic" as a commercial film, a large number of lucky fans were invited to watch the movie together this time. The official also distributed questionnaires to fans who had the opportunity to watch the movie in advance, in order to make possible final decisions about the movie based on this public screening. Adjustment.
The red carpet ceremony lasted for an hour, and near six o'clock, the three main creators, James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio and Rachel Weisz, appeared on the red carpet, announcing that the red carpet ceremony would also come Came to an orgasm.
Unlike Xiao Lizi and Rachel, who are relatively relaxed, James Cameron, who has been suffering for more than a year, is now basically in a mood of breaking the can.
Anyway, finally freed.
Leading the male and female protagonists all the way through the red carpet, politely interacting with fans, and cooperating to take pictures, James Cameron completely ignored the hoarse questions from the reporters in the media area. After all, since the project got out of control last year, even with Daenerys Entertainment trying to control it, he still saw too many negative comments about this project in the media.
What can I say now, is it useful?
Just don't say it.
The kind that loves to do whatever, the big deal is not to be a director.
Entering the movie palace, the broadcast link is about to begin.
In addition to the unclear attitude, not just sitting on the Diaoyutai, but also the boss who is also broken, no one in Daenerys Entertainment is optimistic about this movie. However, in terms of publicity, they still did not slack off because of the rules set by Simon. In this way, you can have problems with ability, but not with attitude.
Therefore, Mark Belford, the vice president of global operations of Daenerys Entertainment, came to arrange to host the premiere in person.
Mark Belford caught Simon's attention with the announcement of "Scream" and has been promoted all the way. Over the years, he has been in charge of Daenerys Entertainment's global production and distribution network outside of North America, and has also extended his business to games. The two major fields of music and music have made outstanding contributions. They belong to Daenerys Entertainment Insider, the fifth executive after Simon himself, Amy Pascal, Nancy Brill and Robert Iger.
Mark Belford is personally responsible for the operation of the premiere of "Titanic", which also shows that Daenerys has not given up on this project.
In fact, it is easy to understand.
Who dares to give up on a record-setting super blockbuster that cost 200 million?
It's just that only each person knows whether he is doing his best and obeying the destiny.
At least some media have judged that Daenerys Entertainment's confidence in "Titanic" is obviously insufficient based on various clues.
For example, if the film chooses to premiere today, it is neither the opening nor the closing of the film festival, which is obviously a bit uneven.
With the energy of Daenerys Entertainment, it would be a no-brainer to snag a festival opening or closing film for Titanic, if it wanted to.
In addition, the film did not use the first hall of the movie palace, which can accommodate thousands of people, but the sub-hall with 1032 seats, so it is not full, except for more than 200 guests from all walks of life, they are just carefully selected 500 ordinary movie fans, less than 800 in total.
This series of actions actually shows that Daenerys Entertainment is obviously keeping a low profile on purpose.
Why keep a low profile?
obvious.
In case the word-of-mouth of the film is not recognized after the premiere, it can also be handled in a low-key manner, so as not to completely rot before it is released at the end of the year.
Inside the Venice Film Palace.
Seeing Cameron and the others appear, Mark Belford left Jane Campion and the others who were chatting, walked to this side, and greeted Cameron with a warm smile. any negative emotions.
Others entered the screening hall one after another, and Mark Belford personally checked the preparations of the publicity team responsible for the questionnaire survey, including the small gifts that the audience could get after submitting the questionnaire, and finally stepped on the lights Just entered the screening room when it was dark.
It was six o'clock.
On the big screen, the opening title of Daenerys Pictures' Phoenix Reborn appeared, announcing the official start of the film.
Under Simon's personal intervention, not only the heroine was replaced by Rachel Weisz, but also many details of the new version of "Titanic" are inevitably different from the original version. However, as before, this new version of the ship is still 194 hours long minute.
At 3 hours and 14 minutes, for a commercial film, it is suicide.
Many executives of Daenerys even felt that their boss probably gave up on this film completely, which is why they made such a movie that lasted more than 3 hours.
One of the important questions in the batch of public questionnaires planned this time is whether the audience thinks the length of the movie is too long?
If everyone thinks so, next, there is still time to shorten the movie.
Of course, Simon definitely didn't intend to shorten it.
As the film screening began, in the lobby, James Cameron stared straight at the big screen and let himself fall into a situation of forgetting both things. In any case, this film is like his child, and it may be him in The Last 'Kids' of Hollywood, Regardless of the Others
How to see, Cameron is very satisfied with this "child", he has done everything he can.
The film begins with an expedition to find the famous gem "Heart of the Sea" that is said to have been silent along with the Titanic.
The treasure hunting team found a safe. After opening it, instead of finding gems, they found a sketch of a woman, which attracted a centenarian who claimed to be the person in the painting.
With the memory of the old man, a past event that has been dusty with the Titanic for decades is revealed to everyone.
Inside the screening hall of the Cinema Palace.
The movie lasted until 20 minutes. In the camera, on the crowded pier, the audience finally saw the big ship half a century ago for the first time.
Some journalists or film critics who are inevitably prejudiced against this project have the first feeling that they understand where the 200 million US dollars was probably spent. Such a big ship with such a real texture is obviously not something that can be made by pure CG. In fact, it is located in The big ship model on the Gold Coast, a resort south of Brisbane, Australia, has been exposed by many media, and it still exists.
It's just because of the out of control of this project, under all kinds of negativity, since it is a 'loser', not many people pay attention to the big ship model.
However, those who hold prejudices are a minority after all. Most people in the screening hall, especially ordinary fans who are lucky enough to get the chance to watch the movie, see the huge body of the Titanic on the big screen for the first time. Immersive shock.
After all, even if the tonnage of cruise ships has reached more than 200,000 tons at this stage, there are still a small number of people who have taken giant cruise ships.
Then, Rachel Weisz and Xiao Lizi, both of whom are at the peak of their looks, appeared on the stage one by one. Together with the giant oil tanker itself, they became three good catalysts, making most of the audience in the screening hall fully integrated into the smooth plot. .
I don't feel the passage of time.
Rhythm.
In the final analysis, it is rhythm.
Simon has always promoted the kind of film that can make people forget the time. Among them, Cameron's first "Terminator" is an extreme. The whole story is completed in one go. When the subtitles rise, the audience realizes that the movie is over. Even if "Titanic" is as long as three hours, James Cameron actually did the same.