Chapter 625： Troy

2004 was an ordinary year, but it was different for Hollywood.

The difference is that there are so many commercial blockbusters released this year, which can be called the highest average investment in history and the craziest time ever.

Maybe after a few years, when looking back, Hollywood industry insiders will find it incredible.

"Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith" has been released. The production cost is 120 million U.S. dollars. The total cost must reach 200 million U.S. dollars, and the film was refreshed in the first week. The North American weekly box office record, the North American box office exceeded 200 million U.S. dollars in ten days, which seems to be a good start for the next blockbuster.

But will it really be like this?

Even if professional organizations predict that the total box office in North America will exceed $10 billion this year, the market cannot accommodate so many big productions, some of which will inevitably become cannon fodder.

This is Ryan's thoughts after sitting on the plane and seeing the list of movies to be released this year.

Not to mention those literary and artistic films and pornographic films that do not account for much market share, but those commercial films that cost hundreds of millions of dollars in production, even if he is a bit stunned.

Let's take a look at the movies released by Disney this year.

"The Superman Family", the production cost of 100 million US dollars, will be released in early June.

"Spider-Man 2", the production cost is 150 million US dollars, and the release date is set in July.

The production cost of "X-Men 3: Last Stand" was US$200 million. In order to avoid the fierce competition in the summer file, Surprise delayed the release time of this movie.

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", which cost $100 million to produce, will be launched on Thanksgiving Day.

The production cost of "The Day After Acquired" was $125 million, and it was selected to be released after "Spider-Man 2".

The production cost of "National Treasure" was 100 million U.S. dollars and was released in early November.

This does not include a series of films with no more than 100 million investment such as "The Bournemouth 2", "Escape from Tehran", and "Princess Diaries 2".

This is just the Disney family, and the following list is even more terrifying.

Warner Bros.'s "Troy", the production cost of 175 million US dollars. Coming soon; "Alexander" production cost 155 million U.S. dollars, released in October; "Polar Express" production cost 180 million U.S. dollars; "Catwoman" 100 million U.S. dollars, "Wonder Woman" 115 million U.S. dollars...

There are other companies, "King Arthur", "Van Helsing", "Mechanical Enemy", "Garfield", "Happiness Terminal" and so on.

The production costs of these films are more than 100 million U.S. dollars, and if the promotional expenses are included, the average investment per film must exceed 200 million U.S. dollars.

among them. How many can be successful at the box office? How many peripherals are needed to achieve profitability in the later period? How many years or even more than a dozen years before the cost can be recovered? There are still some who still have huge losses in the past thirty years...

The most typical one is "Catwoman", which has already been discontinued in North America. This big production led by Harry Berry has only recovered $40 million in the box office, and Warner Bros.’s first shot was lost. A comic hero that has to be re-examined.

At the same time, it also made Hollywood realize that finding a black actress as the only protagonist in a commercial production is a very unwise choice.

of course. All the filmmakers believe that their big productions will be successful. The box office results of "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith" show that the audience is still very much buying the money for the big productions.

After returning to North America, Natalie joined Catherine Kennedy and Sophia Coppola. Starting to prepare for "The Hunger Games", Ryan accepted the invitation of Time Warner President Don Logan to participate in the premiere of "Troy".

In terms of investment, this movie can be regarded as the peak of Hollywood commercial production. In addition to the production cost, Warner Bros. also issued a huge publicity expense of 125 million U.S. dollars, pushing the total cost to a terrifying figure of 300 million U.S. dollars.

The goal of Warner Bros. is simple. Create the "Titanic" from the epic war movie!

"According to our estimate..."

In the front hall of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Brad Pitt said to Ryan, "The box office will reach at least 100 million US dollars in the first week!"

This project was almost promoted by him, and he also served as a production manager.

Nodded, Ryan turned to him, "Hello, Jane, it seems this is the first time we have seen each other."

"Hello, Ryan." Jennifer Aniston took the initiative to stretch out his hand. Ryan shook it lightly, and suddenly remembered something, and said seriously, "Jane, and Pete, are interested in acting together. A movie?"

"We?" Brad Pitt was stunned.

"Yes! You guys..." Ryan pointed at him and Jennifer Aniston with his index finger, "the hero and heroine!"

"of course!"

What does his invitation represent, who in Hollywood doesn't know, Jennifer Aniston, who is eager to transform, said quickly, "I have no problem."

After speaking, she looked at Brad Pitt.

"As long as you need it!" Brad Pitt is not a fool.

"This will be a gunfight action movie." Ryan held his chin and thought for a while. It would be more appropriate to wait for "Troy" to be released for a period of time before negotiating the contract. "Sometimes Disney people will come to you."

"Waiting at any time."

With a wave of hands, Ryan walked into the theater's main hall. Movies like "Smiths", from creativity to the stage to the fight, there is almost nothing new, and more shows the commercial appeal of Hollywood superstars, and past lives. The influence of that super gossip.

Um... you can set a heavyweight female role for the villain, and invite Angelina Jolie to play it. If the scene of catching the **** in bed is staged again, the box office of the movie will definitely not be a problem.

That's it.

It wasn't until the beginning of the movie that Ryan temporarily threw these thoughts aside.

This is a fairly good commercial film. Although the scene is not as good as "The Lord of the Rings", the close-in cold weapon combat of tens of thousands of soldiers can still touch people's audiovisual nerves. The yellow city, the blue sea, and the magnificent battlefield. , The scene almost did the description of Homer's epic.

But the movie’s problems are equally prominent, the rhythm is too slow, as if it is something that can be said clearly in one sentence, it is necessary to say five sentences.

Secondly, some sensational techniques are too low-level, such as repeated use of frontal close-ups of spectators, and these actors' performances are too straightforward, with wide-eyed brows and frowns doing sobbing, lacking like Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" , Aragorn, Hidden and other characters.

At the same time, the main line of the story is not clear, and each character is only clicked. Even the most important role of Achilles is not deep enough. His mother flashed past and seemed inexplicable.

Also, the essential vases in commercial films are not beautiful enough.

Probably because of improper makeup, lighting, and lens use, Helen, who can trigger a war, no matter his body or appearance, looks pretty pretty. It is estimated to be two blocks away from the beauty. The girl that Clius fell in love with was unbelievably like a sloppy slave girl, and one had to doubt the beauty of this epic hero.

Fortunately, the filmmakers did not let the Greek gods come out to make trouble. If they were loyal to Homer's original work as suggested by some film critics during the screening, it would really become an incurable hodgepodge.

If the investment in the film can be cut in half, perhaps "Troy" will become a successful commercial film, but having said that, if the investment is reduced, it is impossible to make such a grand production.

Perhaps these wars that have nothing to do with the Americans really do not invite North American audiences to wait. When Achilles played by Brad Pitt and Hector played by Eric, the audience in the back row was actually duel. There was a rare burst of mocking laughter.

You know, North America is a mature film market, and these whistling laughter are often treated as bad films.

Ryan's gaze swept away from him, and the faces of several Warner executives sitting here with him were not pretty, and the subsequent North American box office also confirmed this.

Two consecutive days of more than 17 million US dollars in a single day is not bad, but on the third Sunday, when the movie box office should be the most powerful time, the box office of "Troy" fell to 12.05 million US dollars.

The box office in North America in the first week of 46.86 million US dollars, just a little more than the first week of "Star Wars Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith", and a far cry from the US$100 million expected by Warner and Brad Pitt.

Although "Troy" pulled "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" from the North American box office champion, the box office results are really a bit horrible compared to investment.

Of course, this is just the beginning, and there are also movies that have made great efforts to achieve a big box office harvest in the later period of history.

For example, in the previous life "Titanic", UU Reading only had a poor box office of more than 28 million US dollars in the first week. It was unanimously ridiculed by film critics. Later, like the Star Wars series, it crushed what the critics said. Vision and dignity make Oscar bow his head.

But will "Troy" be the "Titanic" of the epic war movie?

The biggest competitor of this film now is "Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith", "Troy" box office in the second week of 32.61 million US dollars, "Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith" box office in the fourth week 34.45 million US dollars, successfully regained the box office champion.

The North American box office of "Troy" was less than US$80 million in two weeks, in stark contrast with the US$338 million in the four weeks of "Star Wars Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith".

Only two weeks later, Warner Bros. was prepared that the North American box office of "Troy" would not exceed the production cost, and understood that this movie would definitely not recover the cost at the box office.

Because there will be two more major productions to be released in succession, after entering June, Disney Pictures’ "Superman Family" and Sony Columbia’s "King Arthur", which was heavily invested by Sony Columbia, will land on North American theaters every other week. (To be continued...) ()