Huayu Zhihao

Chapter 243 Best Science Fiction of the Year

The popularity of "The Ninth District" box office in North America's first weekend is still fermenting in China, but Chen Hao, who is far away in North America, is also busy with other things besides promoting the movie.

"Hello Mr. Chen!"

"Please sit down, Mr. Smart." Chen Hao looked at the middle-aged man opposite and smiled.

As Liang Tianchi Films has successively produced "Chain Saw", "Taken", "Chain Saw 2" and "District [-]", it is no longer just a shell company at the beginning.

Although the four films produced by Liang Tianchi Films are all low-cost films, their return on investment ratios are quite good, and it can even be said to be enviable and hated.

Although Liangtianchi Films has only been established for less than 2 years, its profitability has already reached the upper-middle level among many independent film companies in North America.

Moreover, relying on the outstanding profitability of the previous three films, Liangtianchi Films has continuously received acquisition invitations from many Hollywood giants and capital.

As a result, there was no doubt about it, Chen Hao rejected them all.

Liang Tianchi Films is Chen Hao's base of making money in North America. If it is not a last resort, he will naturally not want to redistribute the profits.

And as Liang Tianchi Films gradually became famous, it was already considered a well-known star enterprise, and Chen Hao couldn't let Liang Tianchi become so shabby anymore.

The previous Liangtianchi Pictures rented a large warehouse as an office, and there were only 5 people including Chen Hao.

The current Tianchi is different. It has moved to Santa Monica, California, next to Lionsgate and many other film companies.

Chen Hao thinks about it, and feels that even if the mainland film market rises in the future and the focus returns to China, the North American film market still cannot be given up.

After all, there is Hollywood sweeping the world, and there are also Oscars that countless filmmakers yearn for.

Therefore, the measuring scale will still play a huge role in the future.

In addition, Chen Hao is planning to operate the copyright of Marvel superheroes and other blockbuster movies, and his future movies will also be released in North America.

Therefore, Chen Hao has to manage the Tianchi carefully.

Therefore, the first thing Chen Hao did was to find a professional manager to help him run and manage Liangtianchi Pictures.

The United States is different from China, and many situations and rules are quite different. In addition, Chen Hao himself is not very good at managing companies, so it is essential to find an American professional manager.

And the Smart in front of him was found through a headhunting company. He was also the general manager of a film company before, but later the film company was acquired, and he was excluded as the general manager.

According to the introduction of the headhunting company, he has enough experience in company management, and he managed the previous film company well.

It's a bit similar to Lionsgate and many other independent film companies, all of which operate small-budget thrillers, pornographic and violent R-rated films, hoping to make a big fortune with a small amount.

Smart's company had developed well before, but it was bought by a big company before it had the opportunity to continue to grow.

This is also the norm in all walks of life. When you see a newly developed company with good prospects, you will immediately merge it. This will not only eliminate a potential competitor, but also expand your own strength. Big fish eat small fish!

"I have read your company development report, it is very good!" Chen Hao nodded with a smile.

Smart is already the deputy general manager of Liang Tianchi Films, and when Chen Hao was filming and promoting "The Ninth District", he had already straightened out the company.

Of course, although the current staff of Liangtianchi has expanded, there are no more than 20 people, so it is not too difficult to get started.

However, Chen Hao asked Smart to give him a plan for the company's future development. Obviously, this plan made Chen Hao feel good.

"Thank you for your approval." Smart smiled.

"Your plan can be implemented, but I still need you to help me with one thing." Chen Hao said.

"Say it!" Smart heard the words and leaned forward, as if listening.

Chen Hao smiled when he saw this, "I want to buy some film and television copyrights of Marvel superheroes, please help me to operate them, here is the specific list."

After Chen Hao finished speaking, he handed a simple plan to Smart, which included the Marvel superheroes to be purchased and their current ownership companies.

Smart heard the words but frowned and took the plan, and then read it.

When Chen Hao saw Smart's appearance, he knew that he should not agree to buy the copyright of Marvel superheroes. After all, although Tianchi was developing well, he was not yet able to invest in superhero movies.

After watching it, Smart pondered for a while and said, "Although the company is making good profits, shooting superhero movies is too risky. If we are not careful, we will go bankrupt and go bankrupt."

"I know your worries, but don't worry, this is my personal hobby, and I will secure the funds even if I bid for the auction, and I won't draw blood from the sky. You can continue to manage the company according to your plan. " Chen Hao said.

Although Smart still had some doubts when he heard the words, since the boss said so, he could only nod in agreement.

"The matter should be sooner rather than later. I hope there will be preliminary news before I return to China." Chen Hao said.

"Then when will you return to Huaxia?" Smart asked.

"Next Monday, I'm going back to China." Chen Hao said.

Smart nodded upon hearing this, "I'll do it now!"

After sending Smart away, Chen Hao turned and looked out the window, where he could clearly see the Lionsgate logo.

In his previous life, Chen Hao became the major shareholder of Lionsgate Films. Do you want to do it again this time?

……

The Christmas season in North America is in full swing, and the competition among major movies is fierce.

And "The Ninth District" has also entered its second week of release, and there are gradually more and more reviews about the film.

"The director used the pseudo-documentary + news interview style to shoot, which enhanced the sense of immersion. Most viewers will be disgusted by the appearance of the alien prawn at the beginning of the film, but as the plot progresses, they gradually develop a sense of sympathy and pity.

Showing humanity and exploring social issues (racial segregation, the gap between minorities and major populations) under the shell of action science fiction, it is very thoughtful, and the filming is also very in-depth! "
-
Chicago Tribune

"Thanks to the pseudo-documentary shooting method of this film, the whole film presents a sense of reality like hard news, and the audience is brought into the face of the established facts from the very beginning: a spaceship full of aliens is flying What should I do when I arrive at the refugee camp in the ninth area of ​​the earth?
As a result, aliens were isolated as animals and exploited and discriminated against by humans!
Where there is injustice, there will be resistance, and the aliens are no exception. When they use their brains that surpass the wisdom of the people on the earth to start wits in a hurry, the hero's mistaken collision is unfortunately infected.

This scene is relatively disgusting because we see a hard carapace growing under the intact skin.

What's more disgusting is that we found that human beings began to dissect aliens in various ways, abuse them, experiment in various ways, so, compared with ugly carapaces, humans are more disgusting.

They tried to catch the male protagonist as a combination of earthlings and aliens to start research. It is a great irony that the male protagonist, an earthling, feels safe only when he goes to the aliens.

The occurrence of this scene is very similar to Kafka's "Metamorphosis"

Perhaps what the director wants to express at this moment is exactly the case. The male protagonist grows a thick carapace from a human being, becomes an alien, and learns to use alien weapons. Those who have not turned into a beetle will also be 9 years later. It is 2012 when the end of the world comes and dies.

When the male protagonist assisted the aliens to escape, I believe that most of the audience has already sided with the aliens. Are they on the wrong team?
Or we were on the wrong team from the start!

This is undoubtedly the most dramatic presentation of racial discrimination, and the hypocrisy and the sinisterness of the human heart are undoubtedly revealed.The aliens in the film are obviously disgusting, but what is even more disgusting is the human heart!
The director used stories in the cloak of aliens, but they were all about human nature.

The director constructed such a huge alien, but deconstructed people, which is the value of this film.

At the end of 2003, Chen's "The Ninth District" shamed the whole Hollywood!
Chen, and this cinematic masterpiece, both deserve two thumbs up! "
-
Roger Ebert (film critic)
"It turns out that science fiction doesn't have to be star-studded, big-budget, visually appealing, and outright entertaining.

"District [-]" is a true, authentic sci-fi movie that captivates you from the very beginning and keeps the audience hooked until the moment it's over.

It is a film with forward thinking and an allegory about life.

"District 2003" is bound to be one of the best sci-fi movies of [-]! "
-
"New York Times"

……

The media and film critics definitely praise "The Ninth District"!
Under the cloak of science fiction, it tells about racial discrimination, but the audience finally sided with the disgusting aliens, which shows the film's analysis of the ugliness of human nature.

This must be in line with the appetite of film critics, as can be seen from the two thumbs of well-known film critic Roger Ebert.

Many other film critics also gave "The Ninth District" a high score, and many of them thought it was the best sci-fi movie in 2003!

In 2002, Chen Hao's "Moon" was named the best sci-fi film of 2002 by the North American media!

And this year, with "The Ninth District", Chen Hao is very likely to win this huge honor again!
At the same time, the IMDB score of "The Ninth District" also reached 8.5 points, and the number of people who scored has exceeded 1, reaching 12358.

This number is definitely not as good as "Lord of the Rings 3" which broke the 3 mark in the first week and 2 days, but it also shows the popularity of "The Ninth District".

And 8.5 points is Chen Hao's current highest IMDB score, and directly ranked 250th in the IMDB top24!
Of all the movies this year, "The Ninth" is the highest-ranked movie except "Lord of the Rings 3"!

Of course, as time goes by, the score will naturally continue to decline.

But according to the current optimism of film critics for "The Ninth District", this sci-fi masterpiece is likely to maintain the same score of 8.0 as "Moon".

At the same time, the 5 films that Chen Hao has shot so far are all ranked among the top 250!

In addition, on Tomato.com, another major film and television scoring website.

There have been 202 film reviews on "The Ninth District", of which 180 were positive and 22 were negative.

In other words, the rotten tomato index of "District 89.1" is [-]%, which is a fresh and rosy tomato.

Corresponding to this is that the audience scored 4.6/5 points, which is 92 points when converted into a hundred points system!
At the same time, the popcorn index of "The Ninth District", that is, the audience love rate reached 88%!

From the two major film and television rating websites in North America, it can be seen that both media film critics and audience fans have given high praise to "The Ninth District".

These reviews mean that "District [-]" has a good reputation, and in a long-term blockbuster holiday season, this is extremely beneficial to the film's box office.

At the same time, the high evaluation of the film also means that it is likely to be shortlisted for the two most famous film awards in North America, the Golden Globe Award and the Oscar Award!

The holiday file is next to the two major awards that are usually held around January and February, which is why most of the Ao Jia films will be in the holiday file.

Especially the Oscars, if "The Ninth District" can be successfully nominated for an Oscar, and even go one step further to win an Oscar.

Then the release time of "The Ninth District" will be relatively extended, and the box office should be able to increase by about 3000 million US dollars accordingly!
It is a pity that the Golden Globe Awards has announced the nomination list on December 12, and there is a reason why "Lord of the Rings 18" was released on the 3th.

And "The Ninth District", which was released on December 12, obviously missed the Golden Globes early next year.

However, as long as it is released before the end of December, you can sign up for the Oscars at the beginning of the second year, so "The Ninth District" may still be nominated for Oscars.

Facing the praise of "District [-]" from media critics, Chen Hao and Davis were naturally very happy.

Although there is a "Lord of the Rings 3" that is always on top, but there are greater expectations for the next week's box office of "The Ninth District" and the final box office.

A week has passed, and the new week's box office results are freshly released!

北美电影市场周末票房排行榜（2004年1月2日-2004年1月4日）：

No. 1, "The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King", released for 17 days, New Line, with a weekend box office of 3080 million US dollars, a cumulative box office of 29200 million US dollars, and 4500 theaters;
No. 2, "The Ninth District", released for 10 days, Tianchi Films, with a weekend box office of 2254 million US dollars, a cumulative box office of 6061 million US dollars, and 3700 theaters;
No. 3, "A Basket of Children", released for 10 days, 2190th Century Fox, with a weekend box office of 5662 million US dollars, a cumulative box office of 3600 US dollars, and [-] theaters;
No. 4, "Love is a Compromise", released for 24 days, Sony Columbia, with a weekend box office of 1020 million US dollars, a cumulative box office of 5043 million US dollars, and 3400 theaters;
No. 5, "Cold Mountain", released for 10 days, Miramax, with a weekend box office of 950 million US dollars, a cumulative box office of 2850 million US dollars, and 3000 theaters;
……

(End of this chapter)