Chapter 1085： Controversy and box office

With the last words of Brian O'Donnell, the screen was dark, and the lights in the auditorium had not yet had time to light up, and it had already sounded awkward arguments.

The audience who can participate in the premiere are either special guests and media reporters, or loyal fans of the special movie universe. Everyone recognizes it at a glance. The petite girl in the egg is Angela Linde in the Royal Casino of 007 two years ago, the sister of the heroine Wisper Linde, a geek full of children. A talented girl, she is also a backup angel of Charlie's detective agency.

At the end of "The Royal Casino of 007", Bond handed Angela Lynn to the trio for care, but this character did not appear in the summer release of "Charlie's Baby 3".

Although Angela Linde’s role is rare in the Royal Casino of 007, it is quite eye-catching. Many loyal fans of the movie universe hope that the girl can return, but she did not expect that she will appear in the egg of "Speed ​​and Passion", so it is impossible to guess the story that may happen in the future.

Of course, in addition to the role, there are also many people who think of Angela Linde's actor, Christina Aguilera, one of the young pop singers that Firefly Records has been promoting, the first few of the last two years. Qudu has achieved a very good response, and it is said that the first album will be released soon.

In the sound of discussion, the lights lit up, the main creatives came on stage again, and there was a warm applause in the auditorium.

After the simple curtain call and media interaction, the premiere ended and most of the audience began to leave. The other invited guests also began to transfer to MGM's Yuxing party for the premiere.

Since all the audiences in the premiere were carefully selected, the next day, the comments on "Speed ​​and Passion" in the media were basically praise-based, and the expectations of fans were getting higher.

Two days passed quickly. After the first wave of propaganda, the "New Year's Day", "Speed ​​and Passion" was officially released in 3,100 theaters across the United States. At the same time, the film's comments and reputation were also Large-scale deployment.

"...a perfect popcorn movie created by a traditional Hollywood three-stage script layout. The world view of the film is very perfect. Each protagonist has its own past, present and future. What is even more rare is that such a perfect world view. The layout, but did not affect the narrative rhythm of the movie, the hot and exciting chase scene, even more people are immersed in every second."

"... There is no shortage of car scenes in Hollywood movies. The film that focuses on this subject and succeeds in business is rare. To many years ago, Tom Cruise’s Thunder is more like a literary art. In the film, Jane De Bonte’s “The Speed ​​of Life and Death” has more criminal elements than the car. In comparison, “Speed ​​and Passion” undoubtedly created a precedent for a subject. It is conceivable that there will be several consecutive car games in the film. Become the imitation of many similar films in the future."

"...The scene of the speed and passion of the car is undoubtedly exciting, but at the same time, the film is equally good in terms of details. Perhaps many people have not noticed that at the Dominica party, noisy music and conversations are covered up. The sound of the TV set, but the news of a serious fight in a nightclub played on the TV screen is undoubtedly the scene of the three-person group raiding the peripheral base of the ghost party in the opening of "Jiaojiao 3". Moreover, if my guess is correct Brian O'Donnell, who mentioned the childhood playmate Roman more than once in the film, will definitely play in the sequel of the film. Of course, if there is a sequel, however, there seems to be no suspense in this matter."

"... Over the years, Robert Cohen has finally come up with a work that breaks through the self. MGM's newcomer who was launched in the controversy also submitted a fairly satisfactory answer."

Although most traditional film critics have not had much affection for pure popcorn movies, in a good voice, Speed ​​and Passion has achieved a very strong media score of 8 points.

No film in the world has ever been recognized by everyone. Therefore, although the word "Speed ​​and Passion" is overwhelming, another criticism of the film has followed.

Or, criticism is not accurate. As a popcorn movie that MGM has crafted after years of working as a special agent for the film universe, there are few places in the film that are worthy of attention. Therefore, the media’s criticism of Speed ​​and Passion is said to be more controversial.

"...It is undeniable that Speed ​​and Passion is a very good movie. However, it is unacceptable that MGM has forced the film and agents to extract more profits from the agent's film universe. The movie universe is related. After watching the film, I really can't think of how many car-riding parties can relate to the agent's movie universe. Is it necessary for James Bond or Ethan Hunter to have a driver? Although MGM has already Many times, the "Speed ​​and Passion" series will not have too much intersection with the agent movie universe, but this statement undoubtedly shows MGM's guilty conscience."

"...The agent movie universe is definitely a very great pioneering work in the history of Hollywood movies. However, Megumi, who is a profitable figure, is destroying all of this. Linking a street car movie with the three classic series, it is almost I am tired of it. Undoubtedly, next, we will see a variety of 'Agent Film Cosmic Derivative Series', I believe that there will always be a audience that will completely disappoint the brand."

Although it was expected from the beginning, the critics' skepticism about linking Speed ​​and Passion to the Agent's film universe is far beyond MGM's expectations. This controversial trend even spread to the Internet very quickly, and although most netizens are used to watching the lively, the voice-sounding fans are very clear about whether Speed ​​and Passion can join the agent movie universe. Either strongly support or resolutely oppose it. The two factions were so arguing over the major movie community forums on the Internet and quickly became a hot topic on major news portals.

"Why can't we link, is it because Dominic didn't save the world? If so, the agent movie universe simply changed its name to save the world."

"Although I was also in the cinema, I was also excited by the heroes of the male and female protagonists. But after calming down, I had to think about it. What does this have to do with the movie universe? Angela Linde’s appearance in the film is even more People feel awkward. I was very much looking forward to the return of this role. It seems that MGM is forcibly destroying all this."

Hollywood has always had a very common rule.

A movie, if the word of mouth is bad and the topic is very low, then it is doomed to fail. If the word of mouth is very good and the topic is very low, then its box office will only be quite satisfactory. If the word-of-mouth is overwhelming and the topic is equally bursting, then the box office of this movie will undoubtedly explode.

Although it caused a strong controversy, the "Speed ​​and Passion" series is undoubtedly in the last state.

In a hot media discussion, the film won a $53.73 million box office in three days. In the first seven days, the box office easily broke through 80 million, reaching $81.21 million.

Although it did not reach the box office score of more than $87 million in the first week of the Easter season "Teddy Bear", the first week's box office exceeded 80 million US dollars, which is far beyond MGM's expectations. After all, "Teddy Bear" has a very wide popularity and popularity. The film's subversion of the teddy bear image is even more impressive, so the first week's ultra-high box office is also reasonable.

In comparison, although the name of the agent's film universe derivative series, "Speed ​​and Passion" has a natural shortcoming. That is, in the Western world where vehicles are very common, people’s interest in racing movies is never high, just like you are used to eating bread every day, seeing others eating the same food, even if the other’s bread is more fragrant, Will produce too much envy. Many ordinary people even hated the car party.

Moreover, although Hollywood does not lack films such as racing cars, this type has always been a niche, and there has never been a fixed basis for watching movies.

Therefore, MGM's box office forecast for the first week of "Speed ​​and Passion" was originally only 60 million US dollars, the total box office in North America is expected to be between 120 million US dollars and 150 million US dollars, and the global box office is expected to be around 300 million US dollars. The company only hopes to lay the foundation of popularity through the first part, and although the budget cost is 60 million US dollars, but because of car sponsorship and advertising implantation, MGM invested in the production of only 40 million US dollars, accounting for another 30 million The total cost of the US dollar is only $70 million. As long as the film's North American box office exceeds 120 million US dollars, the film basically equals the cost recovery. The overseas distribution and future periphery will directly bring a huge profit to MGM.

The current situation is far from the expectations of the fireflies, but this is not over yet.

Due to the increase in word-of-mouth and topicality, many passers-by viewers who were not interested in racing movies gradually joined the audience.

Moreover, after the New Year, there is no more empty market for heavyweight films, which undoubtedly gives more space for "Speed ​​and Passion".

Therefore, after the first week of 81.21 million US dollars, according to the usual commercial film box office curve, "speed and passion" the next week's box office decline should have been around 50%, but in fact, the film's second week box office fell only 38%, and then received 5035 Ten thousand dollars, just two weeks, "Speed ​​and Passion" North America's total box office has reached $131.56 million, which has exceeded MGM's all box office expectations for North America in this film, just two weeks at the box office, Michael Mei has already recovered all costs and achieved profitability.

The first week is 80 million US dollars, the next week is 50 million US dollars, the decline is kept within 40%. It is conceivable that according to this box office trend, "Speed ​​and Passion" will undoubtedly become the first film in North America to break through 200 million US dollars in 1999. .

The outstanding performance of the North American box office will undoubtedly greatly stimulate the attention of overseas markets to Speed ​​and Passion. Even though the controversy over whether Speed ​​and Passion can join the MGM movie universe has always existed, there is no doubt that this series is already a hit, and even if MGM really cancels the series and the movie universe, It will not affect the future of the box office in the future.

With the success of the "Speed ​​and Passion" series, several rookie actors in the film have also become the quasi-line coffee in Hollywood.

In the original time and space, Van Diesel's success in the "Speed ​​and Passion" series was directly due to the issue of pay and the global cinema, until the third part returned. But after experiencing a series of lessons in the development of the agent's film universe, MGM will naturally not make the same mistake again this time.

Before the film began, MGM had signed a strict series of contracts with Van Diesel and Paul Walker, and even broke through the tradition of Hollywood tradition to sign up to three films in advance. Eric originally only wanted to sign three films with the two, but under the operation of Shantou and Amy, the contract directly became six, "Spiderman" signed with Stewart Langkel and Firefly. "The film is similar, but Stewart's contract is only three crosses plus three crosses, and the fireflies also generously gave Stewart a certain bargaining power. But as a Hollywood rookie, Paul Walker and Van Diesel naturally don't get these benefits.

It can be said that this time, Van Diesel and Paul Walker are directly tied to the series directly.

With the success of the "Speed ​​and Passion" series, although all parties have signed a confidential contract, such a contract equal to the sale of the contract is still quickly excavated by the vast media. In connection with the current power of the Firefly system in Hollywood, some media even began to exclaim, Hollywood era will return again, Hollywood stars will once again become the signing actor of the big studio.

This very market-oriented argument quickly spread.

In recent years, the power of the firefly system in Hollywood is well known.

Especially after the acquisition of Columbia Pictures last year, the pattern of the seven major Hollywood film companies, the firefly system has already occupied four, which is equivalent to controlling more than half of the two, so no one will doubt that the firefly system already has Once again changing the potential of the Hollywood rules.

Therefore, with the return of the media's "big film era", some people have begun to discuss whether to limit the expansion of the firefly system.