1novels Chapter 135 Christmas Box Office Championship
Chapter 135 Christmas Box Office Championship
After the first day of release of "Titanic", all the media gave higher evaluation than "Tomorrow's Empire".On Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, where netizens gather, "Titanic" has received even more positive reviews.After all, although "Tomorrow's Empire" is Pierce Brosnan's best performance so far, how can spy movies have a wider audience than romance movies?What's more, the two selling points of the deep-water adventure scene at the beginning of "Titanic" and the restored appearance of the Titanic can kill young and old.By the end of the first week of the release of the two blockbuster films, "Titanic" became the North American weekend box office champion with a box office of 2864 million; and "Tomorrow Never Die" followed closely with a box office of 2514 million.Last week's weekend box office champion "Scream 2" was squeezed by two films and the box office dropped by 1392%, ranking third with only US$606 million.However, the results of the top three are still eye-catching, because the fourth-ranked "Mousecatcher", which is also a new film, only had a box office of [-] million US dollars.
Since both "Titanic" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" failed to break last week's "Scream 2"'s 3000 million weekend box office results, some newspapers and periodicals have published commentary articles, thinking that "a big production may not necessarily have a big box office".This far-fetched comment immediately angered MGM and Galaxy Films. The two film companies responded through different channels, "If 2500 million box office is not a big box office, how much box office is a big box office?"
Jed also learned from other sources that most of these media have been bought by Sony Pictures Entertainment Group, because this week Columbia Pictures will have a romantic comedy "Love is Hard to Say", which will be released if MGM is not hit a little bit. And Galaxy movies, where is the way out for this romantic comedy?It's a pity that the audience often has no resistance when facing big productions.In the second week of its release, the accumulated word-of-mouth of "Titanic" made its box office rise 24% against the trend in the second weekend, and won the championship with a box office of 3546 million US dollars; while the box office of "Tomorrow Empire" fell 19%, but It still won the runner-up with a box office of 2048 million US dollars.However, Columbia's new film, "Love Is Hard to Say", has a box office of only 1260 million.
"Hollywood Reporter" published a cover article, "Hollywood's 'Giant Ship Cannon' Era is Coming!" This article is considered to carry forward the concept proposed by "Los Angeles Times", but it puts forward more industry analysis. "Hollywood Report" believes that any kind of art must keep pace with the times in order to maintain youth forever and be loved by the people forever.From silent films to sound films, from black-and-white films to color films, every advancement of film has brought new opportunities and challenges to the entire film industry.And what will the era of "big production" set off by "Titanic" and "Tomorrow Never Die" bring to the film industry?Of course, the survival pressure of small and medium-sized production companies will increase, but it does not mean that they have no chance to survive.Think about the "Scream" series of Dimension Films. When did they not get high box office at a low cost?But this will be an opportunistic approach in the future, and future box office performance will be directly linked to the cost of film production.The increase in the cost of movies is not the end of the film industry, because we have seen the major expenditures of the two major movies are to make the movies more realistic.For example, "Titanic" restored the luxury cruise ship of the year, the Titanic; while "Tomorrow Empire" lost several luxury sports cars in the car chase scene.Beneath these seemingly "wasted" expenses, we see more realistic and intense cinematic footage.Modern movies are no longer the era where you can put a few pieces of furniture in a small room and start shooting. You must have an imagination beyond ordinary people, and at the same time you must have enough funds to turn these imaginations into reality.
The "Hollywood Report" seems to have opened up the entire American entertainment media's touting of high-budget movies. Presumably, last year's Oscars were almost all for low-budget movies, which made American movie fans depressed by various low-budget movies.Unexpectedly, by the end of the year, MGM and Galaxy Films would start fighting for wealth.It’s okay for me to hit a BMW for fun, but for you to repair a giant ship and sink it... This is what American audiences want, and regardless of whether the movie is good or not, in short, the high cost is in line with the aesthetics of American audiences.Do you think about why brands like Hummer and Harley are loved by Americans?In terms of beauty, they are not as good as Italian cars, in terms of safety, they are not as good as German cars, and in terms of heritage, they are not as good as British cars... But the United States just loves Hummers and Harleys, and they are not so generous!We Americans like to waste oil for nothing, what's wrong?It is we Americans who burn a lot of money!
Under this circumstance, "Titanic" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" continued to hold the championship and runner-up for the third week in a row.Finally ABC's Good Morning!America couldn't help interviewing Jade online. "How many weeks do you think "Titanic" will be the weekend box office hit in a row? Also, does Mr. Sherman think that low-budget movies have no future?"
Sitting in his office, Jed answered after thinking for a while, "I personally think that "Titanic" should be able to win the weekend box office championship for at least ten consecutive weeks, and maybe fifteen weeks. As for the cost of the film , I think the most suitable is the best. The real soul of a movie is the script, and the production cost is only used to set off the script."
"Mr. Sherman, it has been rumored that you invested [-] million U.S. dollars in "Titanic" and used unknown sources, and some media pointed out that the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Reserve are investigating you. This is true. Is it?"
"Rumors! I will let my lawyer follow up on this matter. We will not let go of any media that tries to discredit me." Jed said coldly, "I have never been short of money, and my accountant can Provide my tax returns to any regulatory agency. If I am really financially dirty, the IRS should be the first to let me go, right? As far as the Treasury or the Fed are investigating me, I have so far No formal notification has been received."
Just after Jed finished the interview, the issue of "Titanic" funding suddenly became louder. Not only Jed Sherman had a headache, but even Galaxy Movies and Paramount Movies were also very depressed.In the case of several invalid declarations, Jade United Galaxy Films and Paramount sued all the media involved in the relevant reports.This joint prosecution immediately caused an uproar in the media, and many media believed that this prosecution was using capital to fight against press freedom.However, Jed's legal team believes that freedom of the press should be based on the premise of respecting facts and personal freedom. Since there is no conclusive evidence to prove that the source of funds for "Titanic" is unknown, and whether there is any federal investigation involved Now, is the media's pretentiousness responsible?The important thing is that under the premise that the parties have not been respected after several clarifications, litigation is the last resort.
Amid the strife, "Titanic" continued to be the weekend box office champion in the fourth and fifth weeks, and the cumulative box office of "Titanic" also exceeded 2 million US dollars, so this movie will not be a loss movie .What makes Galaxy Movies and MGM even more happy is that with the popularity of "Titanic", some second-round theaters and theaters in remote cities have also joined the ranks of all love to release, so the release of "Titanic" The number of theaters has not decreased but increased, so many media lamented, "Maybe the ten-week champion is really not a problem. What we should think about is, can "Titanic" win the weekend box office champion for [-] consecutive weeks?"
"Mr. Sherman, Mr. Soros and two government officials said they want to see you?" Just as Jed, Shannette, and John were discussing the priorities for next year, a secretary passed the message.Jed frowned, and then ordered Shannette to leave temporarily, while his private secretary, John, naturally stayed by his side.
In fact, Soros is not a hideous person. Perhaps he is a big devil in the hearts of Southeast Asian people, but in the United States, he is a hero.He may be controversial, but his contribution to American philanthropy is still very high.Soros's life is actually quite simple. He basically donated all the income from looting the wealth of Southeast Asian countries.Reminiscent of Buffett's reminder, Jed also guessed the purpose of Soros' visit.The last Southeast Asian financial crisis was anticlimactic because of my participation. Obviously, the US government is still not happy. I guess it hopes to join hands with me this time.
After Soros sat down with two government officials, Soros introduced: "This is Mr. Simpson, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, and the other is Mr. McClaren, Assistant to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Presumably, Mr. Sherman knows our purpose. Bar?"
"Know a thing or two." Jed said lightly.During business negotiations, the more information you keep, the stronger your final initiative will be.In front of Soros, Jed is a very mysterious investor.Then Jed doesn't mind continuing to play this role, otherwise he really has very little power in front of the behemoth Quantum Fund and the two state machines of the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Reserve.The only way is to pretend that he is very powerful, hoping to bluff the three people in front of him.
The Fed's McLaren said with a smile: "Mr. Sherman is the first expert I have seen who has not entered the Morgan Club but has been investing smoothly, although Mr. Sherman has many offshore companies. It’s complicated, but I believe that we still understand more than [-]% of the information here. I can only say a word about it, admiration.”
Jed's face suddenly turned cold. Of course he knew that it was impossible to keep a secret in front of the United States, a superpower. entertainment business.Fortunately, Jed still has a very top-secret fund in a Swiss bank account, otherwise Jed is really worried about living in the United States.
Seeing McLaren's words made Jed's face turn black, Assistant Minister Simpson quickly comforted: "The government will protect the legal income of all citizens, but at the same time we also hope that patriotic citizens can participate in national actions."
Jed knew that the US federal government was going to negotiate terms with him, so he sneered and said, "Then offer your terms."
"Cooperate with the Quantum Fund simultaneously, and strive to collect a sum of money from Asia in the first half of 1998. The government will provide important information and provide policy assistance at critical moments. [-]% of your profits will belong to us."