American fame and fortune.

Chapter 879 A qualified popcorn thriller

The beach, surfing, bikinis and great white sharks constitute the most eye-catching elements of the premiere poster of "The Shallows".

Huge posters hung from the roof of the El Capitan Theater, covering all the walls above the main entrance.

Hundreds of young girls gathered on both sides of the long red carpet. Each of them held high a poster of Blake Lively with various slogans written on it.

“Women are independent and strong!”

“Women help each other!”

"Girls helping girls!"

The role of the lace leader Blake Lively in this film is packaged as an independent woman by publicity and marketing.

When Blake Lively walked on the red carpet, the girls let out a series of piercing screams.

She excitedly came to the girls and signed autographs for them.

The host asked Martin: "It is said that you decided that Blake would be the heroine before the movie was approved?"

The host was very cooperative: "Next, we have to see how you fight the shark."

Bruce said: "Why do you feel that Robert is the key to your success?"

Martin dialed Robert's number, waited for the call to come through, and said, "It's me, are you ready?"

What Martin wanted was peace of mind: "Okay, just do it according to your ideas. This is what you are best at."

Robert Egger's emotional intelligence is not generally high: "No, I always think that you will become the new generation of Clint Eastwood, and you even have advantages that Eastwood did not have back then."

The crew and creative staff are all here.

This is Martin's first film as a director, and it has one more element than the previous ceremony.

The scale of the premiere was not large, and there were basically no invited guests except for the main creative staff of the show.

Martin found Robert Egger sitting next to him and said, "Bob, are you here too?"

"This is your directorial debut." Robert Egger smiled: "I can't miss the opportunity to witness history."

He looked at Blake and praised: "Blake is the only heroine. If she didn't star, there wouldn't be this movie. And during the filming, the crew witnessed Blake's perseverance. She is very strong and very strong." clever."

Strictly speaking, Blake Lively has been in the industry for ten years, and this is the first time she has played an absolute heroine in a movie.

Martin stopped, opened his cell phone, looked at it, and said to Blake, "I'll make a call."

Robert actually doesn't know the specific effect.

Behind him, Alan Horn came over to say hello.

The brief interview ended, and Martin and Black entered the theater together.

The group photo ended, and the host was left with Martin and Blake Lively.

Over in Los Angeles, Martin put away his phone, feeling somewhat more confident about the film.

Martin smiled: "What you said is too exaggerated."

"To be precise, it was because of Blake that the "Shark Tank" project came about." Martin knows how to create a topic: "While preparing for "John Wick 3", Blake once talked to me about her. I was practicing swimming and surfing, and I thought surfing was a good subject, so I imagined how to make a movie about Blake surfing. It happened that she was scared after watching "Jaws" the day before, so she came up with the initial idea for "Shark Beach" ”

Blake said with a smile: "Sharks can attack at any time, so be vigilant and focus!"

The two came to the side corridor, met the crew, and entered the screening room together.

Just like when Martin got his first major role, the glass bottle of Coca-Cola he touched played a key role.

Blake nodded slightly: "I'll go in first and wait for you in the screening room."

The other side responded: "Okay, I'll start now."

But Martin said he was going to do it.

Blake Lively was in a great mood and kept one arm on Martin's arm.

The host turned to Blake Lively: "On social media, your fans are paying attention to this film. Do you have anything to say to them?"

Peachtree Street, Atlanta.

He took out a glass bottle of Coca-Cola produced in 2003, smeared it with the corresponding olive oil, placed it on the wooden table altar in front of the poster, and whispered: "Best seller at the box office! Big seller at the box office..."

Amid warm applause, Martin waved frequently to the back and took his seat in the first row.

"With your good words, I hope this film will be successful." Martin is self-aware. Clint Eastwood has directed nearly thirty films, let alone a director with an actor background, even professional directors in Hollywood, There are not many people who can compare to it.

Next, there is a short interview.

Martin chuckled and said: "You feel right. Without Robert's performance back then, I would definitely have to make many detours."

Bruce followed from behind, handed the phone to Martin, and whispered: "Robert just sent a message."

Martin made his final appearance, walked down the long red carpet, drank Coke with members of the Coke Cult, and entered the media area.

Everyone came together to take a group photo in front of the sponsor’s backdrop.

Robert knew very well that one of the great values ​​of his existence was to make Martin feel at ease.

Robert, the high priest of the Cola Cult, said: "I have slightly changed the ceremony, so it should be fine."

At the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Cult, Robert swayed his bare head and pasted the "Shark Beach" poster that Martin had mailed to him on the wall behind the altar.

One aspect of the old cowboy's ability to be smelly and hard is that he really has the chops.

The movie was about to start, Martin said a few words and turned back.

Blake Lively came over and said, "I forgot to ask, what are your estimates for this film?"

Davis Studio and Disney Pictures both made market prospects for the film's test screenings and pre-sales, and both sides came to similar conclusions.

"The pre-sale box office of the film is close to 1000 million U.S. dollars." Martin said simply: "The opening weekend in North America is estimated to be more than 2000 million U.S. dollars. In the end, it is not easy to say, because most of the fans who paid for the film in the first week are fans of you and me."

Black understood: "The future box office trend will also depend on word of mouth?"

“Word of mouth is important,” Martin said.

Just behind them, in the second row, Robert Egger and Alan Hawking were also whispering.

The topic that the two discussed was naturally Martin's debut film as a director.

"I suggest adding a condition to the cooperation between Disney Pictures and Martin." Allen Horn said softly: "Sign a director-distribution contract with him."

As the CEO of a large company, Robert Iger naturally considered it from a commercial perspective: "Let's wait a little and see the market response to this film."

Of course Alan Horn would not object and responded: "Yes." In Robert Egger's eyes, no matter how many experienced helpers Martin found, he himself as a director cannot be ignored. Martin has money and resources and can This is the ability to effectively integrate these into a film that is a hit at the box office.

This is a one-man show. From the beginning to the end, 99% of the scenes are in the bay.

There are no more than ten human characters, most of whom are soy sauce villains who only make a few appearances, the targets of Jaws' revenge.

This is a story about Beauty and the Beast. There is no male protagonist in the film, only the female protagonist's desperate game with the shark.

Blake Lively appeared in a bikini throughout the show. She has a hot and charming figure, and is brave and resourceful. After being seriously injured, she persisted in dealing with the ferocious shark for two days, and successfully killed the shark and completed her own rescue.

This is also in line with the main theme of the current movie market. Princesses and fairies no longer passively wait for the prince to rescue them, but will take the initiative to save themselves.

In the past, Blake Lively was just a mere vase, playing the same roles.

Although there are suspicions of being a vase in this film, her performance is much improved than before. Her fear, despair, bravery and determination are all performed very realistically, making people follow her fate from beginning to end, and feel terrified.

It is no exaggeration to say that Martin helped her complete a qualitative leap in acting.

When the subtitles fell, Robert Egger whispered: "The film is well-made, not a crude blood film. Every shot, every special effect, every soundtrack is very careful."

Allen Horn said: "This film cost $2500 million to make. Bob, you see, everything from the water to the sharks to the wounds is extremely realistic. Martin spent the money where it should be spent."

Robert Egger nodded: "This is rare for a new director."

A director like Martin who has a lot of power and can control the budget himself is actually very scary.

When most people sit in the director's seat, they will become bastards who let themselves go, with no one to hold their head back, spending money inexplicably, and driving investors crazy.

If you ignore the success after release, James Cameron is a typical example.

There’s also the pair that Wachowski doesn’t know are brothers or sisters. The investment in each film is terrifyingly high, and the results are incomprehensible.

The applause broke out, and many spectators stood up and applauded.

Some of them just applauded politely.

This film is very interesting to shoot, but to say how amazing it is is nonsense.

The quality of the film is not out of control and is above the basic level, and it can still be somewhat surprising to people watching, which is already very good.

In the eyes of movie fans, this is a high-quality, refreshing sea monster thriller.

During the applause, Martin stood up and hugged Louise on the left first: "Thank you, without you this film would not be possible."

Louise encouraged: "You did a great job."

Although his talent is mediocre, Martin has really worked very hard to be able to do this.

Of course, banknote ability cannot be ignored.

Martin hugged Blake again: "Thank you."

Blake patted him on the back with a backhand.

Martin let go of Black, hugged Robert Eggers, Joel Negron and other crew members one by one, and thanked him sincerely.

The crew is a team, and movies have always been the product of teamwork. For a new director like him, without these experienced players, this "Shark Beach" would not be possible.

Martin waved, led the creative team on stage, and bowed to the audience.

The warm applause lasted for a long time.

But the success or failure of a movie has little to do with the applause at the premiere.

The specifics will depend on the audience's reputation after the screening.

After the premiere, Disney Pictures staff were already in action, quickly collecting questionnaires distributed to fans upon entry to collect relevant post-screening feedback.

Martin received the feedback data before he even left the El Capitan Theater.

Louise asked: "What's the feedback from the site like?"

Martin put away his phone and said, "The overall fan reputation is A-."

"It's okay." Louise said truthfully: "It's better than outside expectations."

Martin said: "You don't have high expectations of me."

Louise made a circle gesture: "This aspect is very good, but the directing aspect is average."

Martin went out and saw Bruce driving over and said, "I'm going home. No matter how much you say, I won't go with you."

Louise shook her head, got into her Rolls-Royce, turned on her phone, and scrolled through relevant comments on social media.

Reviews of the film were mostly positive.

"Martin's debut film was as exciting as expected. He did not simply use blood plasma to stimulate the audience's adrenaline. Instead, he designed it more sophisticatedly, bringing a strong sense of visual oppression to the audience, and excellently created a tense and thrilling atmosphere. "

"I really didn't expect Martin to control his directorial debut so well. "Shark Tank" can be called the sexiest thrilling escape movie in recent years."

"Blake Lively is great. Have you noticed that she has a strange feeling with sharks: if you feel like it, you come up vs. if you feel like you come down!"

But there are also negative reviews.

"Martin Davis is still more suitable as an actor. His talent as a director is average. This film is too simple to be called a movie."

"Blake Lively has a criminally good figure, but Martin's routine of a beautiful woman tearing apart a great white shark is really too cliche."

"Did Martin and Blake Lively accept an advertisement for some big-name swimsuit? The whole film was shot like an advertisement."

Louise checked it on her mobile phone. As the number of fans who saw the film increased, the IMDB score dropped to 7.8.

But overall, "Shark Beach" still maintains a good reputation among audiences.

Compared with IMDB, the film has a better reputation from critics. One day after the premiere, the freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes remained at 80%.

There are constant praises such as "suffocating, outstanding acting" and "very sensory impact".

"Los Angeles Times" film critic Kenneth Turan's comments are representative.

"Martin Davis's directorial debut is not a classic horror film that can be savored for a long time, but it is definitely a qualified popcorn movie."

Todd McCarthy, who was not very optimistic about Martin in his column before, also changed his opinion somewhat in the latest "Hollywood Reporter".

"Martin's film is very cliché and not a stunning work, but he knows how to create a sense of tension in this type of subject. He uses multi-layered shots to show the suspenseful and tense atmosphere, and the film is very well-made. The whole film is both beautiful and terrifying, and there are often unexpected scares.”

At the end of the column, he emphatically wrote: “I have to admit that Martin Davis has injected fresh energy and life into the nearly extinct shark-themed movie, which not only revived the original thrilling attraction, but also pointed out the A new direction for this subject.”

(End of this chapter)