Chapter 153： Private visit

"So, Hugo, what do you think will be the box office for the premiere?" Alex asked in a low voice while drinking the coffee in his hand.

"Oh, my God." Joseph and Carl wailed at the same time, obviously not optimistic about Alex's proposal at all, Hugo smiled and shook his head, "I don't know how to play this kind of game. Not those boring media."

At this time, Hugo and other five people were sitting in the cafe on the third floor of the Universal Cinema in the city center, waiting for the "Yihai Xiongfeng" at 4:30 in the afternoon.

The screening industry in the United States is controlled by several large theaters, including GM, United Artists, Carmack, Marcus, and so on. There are currently about 20,000 screens in the United States, of which 45% are controlled by these theaters, which have accumulated more than 80% of the box office revenue.

Of course, in addition to large-scale commercial chain theaters, there are always some independent and art theaters in the American film industry. These art theaters provide strong support for the establishment of film research courses in American universities. The number one art theater in the United States is the landmark (laark) theater. Although this Canadian theater established in 1965 currently has less than 30 theaters in North America, its support for art films is beyond doubt. of.

However, the location of movie theaters in the United States is quite special. They are generally located far away from the city. The main reason is that supporting commercial areas including parking lots and shopping centers will be developed around the theater, thus forming a large entertainment facility. Just need to drive to the cinema, you can satisfy a whole day of leisure and entertainment. Therefore, movie theaters are rarely arranged in the city center.

The situation in Los Angeles is slightly different. In fact, there is no urban center in Los Angeles. Rich people live on the outskirts of the city. The city center is just a place for work or business, while ordinary old residents will settle in the city center. Nearby, the city center mentioned here is just a geographical location, just a region that'radiates' out of the city hall as the center.

In fact, Los Angeles is a typical homonuclear city cluster. From a formal point of view, Los Angeles has the establishment of various systems of cities and counties; but from the urban form, Los Angeles is a metropolis composed of nearly one hundred homonuclear cities. These cities are arranged compactly and orderly on rectangular plots of nearly 10,000 square kilometers, with clear outlines. The city hall is a central point that plays a dominant role, shouldering the mission of an administrative region.

Therefore, when Hugo and his party wanted to choose a place to watch movies, they chose the city center, which is relatively sparsely populated. There is a general cinema here, and the surrounding facilities are also very complete. It is also the most prosperous old city. Of an area. Drive for half an hour from Sunset Plaza to the Universal Cinema located in the financial area of ​​the city center. You can overlook the little Tokyo and Central not far away. National City, the surrounding high-rise buildings are obviously much more than the area near Beverly Hills, but compared to Manhattan in the center of New York, it seems to be up. Hai He Shao. There is no comparable'sexuality' at all in the difference of Xing.

"Come on, guess what you want, and choose a number." Alex still didn't want to give up. This was the biggest fun before the movie was released.

"Don't scare him anymore, Alex." Charlize joked with an unscrupulous smile on his face, which immediately made Hugo frowned. "When was I scared?" Hugo was dissatisfied. Said with a smile, "I know that the premiere weekend will be a success. This is an inevitable result that can be expected."

Hugo hasn't forgotten to remind Charlize, "Don't forget, the premiere the day before yesterday received a lot of praise! I won't worry about it."

"Then pick a number anyway." Alex chased happily, making Carl and Richards sit opposite and giggling, but Joseph's facial expression was very stiff, it looked rainier. The fruit is even more nervous.

Hugo looked at Alex’s smile and shook his head to express his helplessness, "Okay." Then he thought about it, but when it comes to the box office, Hugo really can’t remember too much. For details, he remembers that "Avatar" has a global box office of 2.78 billion, but he can't remember the specific numbers every weekend. What's more, the memory of "Yihai Xiongfeng" is originally very vague, so rain Guo thought for a while, "Ten million, huh?"

Hugo remembered that the "Los Angeles Times" predicted 12 million before the movie was released, so he said a safer number, and then looked at Joseph, who was too nervous, "Is that all right?"

Joseph shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." His expression was not much. Today, because of tension, his facial lines became more and more rigid. "If the premiere box office is 10 million, then we have to look at the back. The box office has dropped, you know, investing 40 million is not a small sum."

"Then how much do we need?" Hugo knew that Joseph and Columbia Pictures had a close relationship in the past two days, and he was obviously talking about this.

"Twelve million, and the box office decline in the second week cannot be more than 20%." Joseph said worriedly, "If you pass 15 million, then the situation may be easier."

"Fifteen million?" Karl is an industry insider, he couldn't help but curled his lips when he heard this number. After September, there were only three movies that premiered at the box office of over 10 million. They were " For a full fourteen-week schedule of "Deep Dragon Booming", "Four Hundred Years of Vampire Zombies..." and "Home Alone 2", only three movies broke through 10 million at the box office when they premiered, "Yihai Xiongfeng" It is definitely an arduous and unusual task to achieve this result for such a plot movie with no action, no explosion, and no special effects.

"Fuck his 15 million, I made a prediction myself." Alex said triumphantly, "Three thousand one hundred and twelve thousand eight hundred and eighty-three dollars..."

It was actually one dollar, which was unexpected, "How did it come?" Joseph looked over with a surprised look.

"One dollar more than the box office of the premiere of'Home Alone 2'." Alex laughed immediately, "Yihai Xiongfeng will become the premier box office champion of the autumn and holiday seasons!"

"Are you serious?" Hugo was amused by Alex's words. "Home Alone 2, but a sequel. The first one was very popular. This time it was based on the mass base to reach this box office number. I think the 15 million that Columbia Pictures said is a bit more reliable."

This is true. The premiere weekend of "Home Alone", which swept the US $280 million in the box office two years ago, was only 17 million. This time, "Home Alone 2" has the advantage of a sequel and only won three thousand. The box office of the premiere of more than 10,000 yuan is naturally not comparable to "Yihai Xiongfeng".

"Don't think about surpassing Kevin. It's better to aim for twelve million dollars." Kevin, this refers to the name of the hero of "Home Alone". Joseph said that he just doesn't want to continue to impose the box office. Stressed, for Hugo, for himself.

The box office is not a movie. Movies can be controlled by the producer and director, but the box office is in the hands of the audience, which is simply uncontrollable. In many cases, a film company confidently launches a work, and the result is smashed. Who can predict it?

"I think no matter what your predictions are, it's time for us to discover the results." Charlize pointed to the clock on the wall. "At least five of us contributed to the box office, didn't we?"

"This is true. Seeing five people sitting in the movie theater, I am obviously more relieved, at least not at all." Hugo nodded seriously and said, directly angering Charlize and raising his feet. Give Hugo a kid, but for more than half a year, Hugo has learned to be smart, and he avoided shooting.

Charlize looked at Hugo with a smile on his face, grinded his teeth, stood up, and ran after him. Hugo ran away quickly, and the two ran towards the entrance of the cinema. Seeing the two playing and fighting, the remaining three shrugged at the same time, and Karl didn't forget to say, "Children are always naughty..."

After the five people walked into the cinema, Hugo began to look around, and then whispered to Joseph, "There are so many people coming to the cinema today. This is a good sign, isn't it?" At this moment, the cinema crowd is surging, and The theater that Hugo and others entered is almost full, and there are still five minutes before the movie starts. This shows that no one is late and the attendance rate is very high. This news is really good.

Joseph nodded, "I asked Rick for the ticket, because I heard that several large theaters are starting to line up." Originally, Joseph thought it was a joke from Rick and Rosen, but now he sees it with his own eyes. After that, my heart became more at ease.

"I just saw it. At half past four, all the tickets for the'door' are sold out." Charlize patted Hugo's arm and said in a low voice.

Although Hugo had been pretending to be calm just now, only he knew the tension in his heart. After witnessing the attendance rate of more than 90% at this moment, the boiling mood finally calmed down. But Hugo couldn't help but wipe his sweat. It turned out that box office pressure is such a thing. It can't be seen or'touched', but it's as heavy as a thousand and can't breathe.

I used to see an actor becoming a star in a movie and I felt that the scenery was infinite, but now I finally realize the hardship behind it. Actors who cannot be the lead have their sadness, and the actors who play the lead also have their own worries.

Hugo chuckled at Charlize, "I hope that this situation is not because they knew that I was coming to this theater to make it deliberately." Hugo remembered that he was in the country before the leader went to the countryside to inspect, and the local government wanted to create To create a prosperous scene, we will convene and take care of the beautiful side for leaders to visit. That's why Hugo made such a joke.

As a result, Charlize rolled his eyes, "If you think there is too much money to spend, I don't mind helping."

"Me too." Alex's voice suddenly came from Richards's left hand, with a big smile, which made Hugo's smile stuck directly at the corner of his mouth.