~： seven hundred and three

With the release of "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution", in fact, the summer season in North America, which is the hottest season in the North American film market, has slowly come to an end.

The time has unknowingly arrived at the end of August. It can be said that the most fierce competition in the summer season has gradually subsided as time goes by. And Hollywood's major film companies' bombardment of blockbuster movies in the theater market is also coming to an end.

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

But this year, due to the extremely crowded summer season, even in late August and even September, there are still some high-profile movies released one after another.

First of all, the highly anticipated "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution", the finale of the "Matrix" trilogy, officially premiered in North America on August 20, and opened 2,700 advance screenings that night.

On the second day, the first day off on Friday, the film officially opened in 2,950 theaters in the mainstream commercial theater chain in North America. The first two films of "The Matrix" have accumulated huge and incomparable die-hard fans for the film, resulting in a hard-to-get ticket at the beginning of the film's release.

Hollywood sequel movies have always been criticized by movie fans. After a long time, it seems that the quality of sequels is getting worse and worse and it has become an iron law in the industry. However, "The Matrix" was obviously not affected by this aspect. When the third part of the series was released, it rarely received large-scale praise from fans.

"According to the information released by Warner Bros. this morning, "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution" has a very strong reputation among fans. After the film was shown on the first day, the average rating of fans remained above a, and most of the fans' comments were 'refreshing' 'Perfect ending' and 'desirable' words.

Contrary to the strong market reputation of 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. This is a serious waste of fans' love for The Matrix'.

"First Evolution"

Peter Travers, a film critic of the famous magazine "Rolling Stone", also commented in his column, "The first part of "The Matrix" was the pinnacle, and the two subsequent films were completely made into vulgar commercial popcorn. It has become a stereotyped vulgar science fiction commercial film in Hollywood, and it is still an R-rated vulgar commercial film. ’

The special filmmaker of the "Los Angeles Daily News", Bob Strauss, also said this morning that Zach Snyder personally ruined "The Matrix", which should have been a great philosophical film that has been famous in film history. But in the last two films, the philosophical speculation of the film is completely abandoned. He also believes that Zach Snyder only learned the fur of his teacher from Wayne Greenberg, and did not put the great movie art into his head at all! "

In Beverly Park at the foot of Beverly Hills, Harvey Weinstein's huge body is sitting on a rest 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.

When he saw the review of "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution" by film critics, the big fat face showed an undisguised sarcastic smile. He threw the "New Yorker" in his hand and picked up another one. newspaper.

"Harvey, in terms of word of mouth for The Matrix, there is a serious polarization between fans and professionals!"

The younger brother Bob Weinstein, who was sitting on the side, tilted his head and glanced at the newspaper that his brother had just put down, and said in a low voice: "If those film critic supporters don't watch this film, they live on the top of the mountain. Will the dark tyrant of the world encounter Waterloo for the first time?"

"It's still summer, Bob."

Turning his head, he glanced at his brother. Harvey Weinstein pouted 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, not an awards season for film critics to do whatever they want!"

While chatting casually with his brother, he raised his wrist, glanced at the time, and then frowned slightly. It was ten o'clock in the morning, and it was obvious that their appointment was late.

However, this time, Harvey Weinstein was rarely good at talking. Even if the time for the appointment had passed, he did not curse or even complain.

"Look, Bob. Have you seen any big projects from any company that's set to come out this weekend or next? There's not enough competition, even if critics describe The Matrix as a piece of shit. Ways to stop the market performance of this film.

Besides, film critics not only gave "The Matrix" a bad review, but other films released by Warner Bros. this summer were also given unqualified reviews by them without exception. "Bombshell", "Saving Private Ryan", "Ace Vs Ace", "Electronic Love Letter", "Angel's Passionate", "Super Power Pleasure" and so on, which movie did you watch that survived? "

From the casual chats of his own brother, Bob Weinstein has gained enough information. As long as he recalled a little, he found that things really developed like this.

"The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution" was released this weekend, and there was no major production from other medium and large film companies released. Even next weekend, there will be only another film of sufficient weight, "Cold Blooded" by MGM United. will", which has been able to fully explain a lot of problems.

That's right, whether it was MGM or Lianmei Pictures, it can be regarded as one of Hollywood's leading companies, but as early as many years ago, it has already declined. in the lineup of large companies.

Moreover, from his brother's account, he also discovered one thing, that is, the production of Warner Bros. is increasing year by year. The people who were named by Harvey Weinstein just now were basically all good grades this summer. You know, "The Flash", "Charlie's Angels" and "The Matrix" were not named. Closing.

Shaking his head with a smile, Bob Weinstein joked: "Since Warner Bros. did not invite film critics on a large scale at the premiere of "The Flash", this group is like an abandoned grudge, caught When you have the opportunity to vent your grievances..."

"That's right."

Harvey Weinstein was also amused and nodded earnestly. "For the entire Hollywood studio, Warner Bros. got off to a good start and set a very good example for all mid-sized and above studios. Warner Bros. told all the studios, in fact, this PR fee for film critics , can be completely saved.

But for the film critic group, this is an outright job-smashing behavior. In the past, Roger Ebert accepted the PR of Warner Bros., and also accepted the PR of other film companies. Now, at least in this business-oriented period, many Hollywood companies have become accustomed to canceling film critics. 's PR. "

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

However, that company did not take the initiative to cancel the public relations for film critics. The reason is very simple. A commercial blockbuster often invests tens of millions of dollars, and the cost of publicity and distribution is about one-third to one-half of the production cost.

Against the background of such a huge investment, the million-dollar investment of public relations film critics seems insignificant. No one wants to take the risk and be the first to break the decades-old publicity habit of the film industry.

Everyone understands that the good words of those film critics may not add much to the film's box office revenue. But if the group of mad dogs crawled around and bit and kept pouring dirty water on the film, the losses could be big or small. It is better to maintain the status quo and feed the group of vampires first.

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

This is the reason why film critics always keep their eyes on Warner Bros. films, and it is also the reason why when Warner Bros. releases a film, it will inevitably face bad reviews from film critics the next morning.

"see this."

Seeing that it was already early ten in the morning, Harvey Weinstein helplessly lowered his head and continued to read 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 immediately found a row of dazzling numbers when he lowered his head.

'The third part of the film "The Matrix" directed by Zach Snyder, invested, produced, and written by Wayne Greenberg, officially opened at the Beverly Kodak Theater at 7:00 p.m. Premiere. This high-profile sci-fi film simultaneously opened 2,700 advance screenings in North America that night.

"The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution" continues the consistent production style of the first two films. This is an R-rated sci-fi film with excellent production and excellent actor performance. With the accumulation of the first two films, "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution" won $11 million in 2,700 advance screenings on Thursday, showing an amazing box office potential.

On the Friday when the film was officially released, many mainstream commercial theaters had queued up to buy tickets from the morning, and even in some popular theaters, there was a scene where tickets were hard to get. The box office explosion of "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution" is already predictable. Yesterday, the film's first day of release, the North American box office reported as high as 24.31 million US dollars!

In addition to the $11 million in advance, the first-day box office of "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution" surpassed $35 million in one fell swoop, reaching a terrifying $35.31 million. No one can ignore, this is an R-rated film with strict viewing requirements, and the first-day box office results created by it...'

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

Raised his head in surprise, Bob Weinstein looked at his brother and said incredulously: "This is Zack Snyder in the mouth of the film critics? This is the one in Wayne Greenberg who only learned the fur. Zach Snyder?!"

"A director who can come out of the dark tyrant's behind-the-scenes team, a fool will think that he has only learned the fur!" Harvey Weinstein pouted, shook his head and said:

"It seems that Zach Snyder has only learned to play with **** violence and large-scale shots, but he is actually a very talented director. Look, after the "Matrix" trilogy, his material will be included in a lot of Archives of a movie company."

There is no doubt that even if it’s not Zack Snyder, any director in Hollywood, as long as he can make consecutive films with box office performance like the “Matrix” trilogy, will definitely be able to gain a firm foothold in the circle and become a major player in the industry. Potential partners of film companies.

In particular, "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution", which was just released one day ago, with the audience disadvantage of an R-rated film, received a terrifying $35 million at the box office on the first day, which 99% of the directors will never touch in their lifetime. threshold.

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

It can be seen from this that the main audience of summer movies is composed of young people between the ages of 4 and 24. This is also the reason why family fun commercial films can repeatedly reap the horror box office in this schedule.

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

Actually, the term "summer vacation", or "summer vacation", the largest movie period in North America, has not been around for a long time. The earliest was because Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" was released in June 1975. Since seeing the box-office miracle of "Jaws", major film companies have become accustomed to arranging their annual productions for June and July.

The summer vacation stall has also been formed quickly. The name of the summer vacation stall itself has fully indicated that the target audience is the young people and teenagers of the primary and secondary school students and college students.

Gradually, due to the group release of commercial films, it attracted more types of movie fans, such as family movie fans, movie fans with groups of friends and classmates, etc. However, for any blockbuster film in this hot period, the main group contributing to the box office is still the group of teenagers and young people, even after 20 years.

"Harvey, in fact, I prefer to hand over our new film to Universal Pictures or Disney's BWI International for distribution." Seeing that the time is almost half past ten, the people they are waiting for have not yet appeared, Bob- Weinstein observed his brother's face and said tentatively:

"The two films we released in a row this year, "Teachers Are Not Humans" and "Ghost Hunting Festival", were all squeezed by Warner Bros. films."

In fact, what is his subtext? Of course Harvey Weinstein heard it. The two films "The Teacher is Not a Man" and "The Ghost Festival" have strong Miramax attributes, low cost and cult attributes. , genre films, etc., it can be said that Miramax is the basic plate of Miramax.

Although more than half of 1998 has passed, Miramax's two films have all temporarily entered the top 30 of the North American annual box office rankings in 1998, basically achieving the goal of being small and big, but these two-step films, To be precise, it was not squeezed by Warner Bros. distribution, but by Wayne Greenberg.

"Teacher Is Not Human" topped $40 million at the North American box office and $116 million worldwide, while "Ghost Festival" grossed $55 million in North America and $117 million globally. It seems to have performed exactly as Miramax expected, and even There are also some surprises.

However, with the momentum of the two films when they were released, the former encountered "Charlie's Angels", while the latter simply hit "Saving Private Ryan", as for why "Saving Private Ryan" was not handed over to Paramount for distribution, but instead The reason for collaborating with Warner Bros. is not a secret in the circle at all.

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

"Bob, those are just small problems. We need a way out. You should tell me what I mean."

While speaking, a red Chevrolet car finally drove slowly into Beverly Park. Seeing this car, Harvey Weinstein frowned slightly, then immediately eased away, picked up the newspaper beside him, and whispered to his brother:

"Okay, the discussion of this matter ends here, don't be heard by this woman."

Seeing the approaching red Chevrolet as well, Bob Weinstein nodded slightly and sighed secretly. With the status of himself and his brother in Hollywood, and the unscrupulousness of their usual actions, it has been many years since they have 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 extent, comparable to Sony Columbia.

But the crisis from the inside, but in places that outsiders can't see, continues to erode the company that the two brothers worked hard for. The better Miramax does, the greater the pressure from Disney, especially this year, when Disney has gone too far and repeatedly fired on Harvey Weinstein on the board.

"Hi Harvey, good morning, Bob."

The red Chevrolet car stopped in front of the two, and the window rolled down, revealing a woman with long blond hair. "Sorry, I'm too tired to film this time, I overslept a bit."

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

At this time, Harvey Weinstein was very talkative. He just took a deep look at the woman, then took the initiative to open the back door of the car, and got into the car with his legs up.

In front of outsiders, Bob Weinstein, who has always been dominated by his brother, also followed in his brother's footsteps and got into the car. Although he felt uncomfortable about the woman's late arrival, he never showed any intention. He knew very well in his heart that this woman was nothing in front of the two brothers, and the man behind the woman was the object of their kindness.

After picking up the two brothers, the red Chevrolet sedan drove along Beverly Park to the top of the mountain without stopping. The car drove all the way to the end of Mulholland Drive. Cate Blanchett skillfully greeted the security personnel. Without any obstruction, Chevrolet drove into the small parking plaza of Greenberg Manor~www.novelhall.com ~ This woman is really brave. I heard that she claims to be a best friend with Naomi Watts. Isn't he afraid of bumping into the half hostess of Greenberg Manor? "

When the car stopped, Cate Blanchett handed the two brothers to the housekeeper Hela and walked to the awning in front of the garden alone. Bob Weinstein murmured a gossip while observing the huge estate.

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

Harvey Weinstein pouted and replied in a low voice. "Even if the Australian actress is in the manor, if Wayne thinks about it, you don't really think she dares to say anything, do you?"

When the two were teasing at random, they saw Cate Blanchett wanting to wave to them under the awning in the distance. Harvey Weinstein shook his head slightly, raised his legs and walked towards the lawn in front of the garden. "ok, let's go, it seems that this move is the right move, this woman's current interests are the same as ours."

Bob Weinstein nodded, thinking about his brother's words, a smile that every man could understand appeared at the corner of his mouth. He knew that the reason why his brother knew Wayne Greenberg was probably because the two people's behavioral principles were not very different, but his brother was more arrogant and domineering, and the man's media and public image were good enough.

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