It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 907: 'Beiyang Trilogy'? A loss of 2.2 million US dollars?
The director of "Ben-Hur" is Timur Bekmambetov, a Russian director who has directed and written many high-quality blockbusters and holds a high status in Hollywood's epic film system.

The script of this movie was derived from the 1959 version of "Ben-Hur". At that time, the film won the Oscar for Best Picture that year, which was a great success.

Let’s talk about the male lead Depp. He is Captain Spike in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and is as famous as "Harry", "Iron Man", "Batman" and "Spider-Man".

Therefore, no matter from which perspective, "Ben-Hur" has very high elements and conditions for success.

Coupled with the failure of "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword", Megan Ellison accumulated a lot of experience in film promotion and marketing, and invested all of it in "Ben-Hur".

From this point of view, the probability of success of this movie is extremely high.

In fact, if you look at it from an objective point of view, this movie is quite well made, and all the advantages that should be reflected are fully demonstrated.

The director has given his all.

However, one thing that cannot be ignored is that it is a remake of the movie, so the audience who come to watch the movie will inevitably have a comparative mentality.

This will result in any slight flaw in the film being magnified infinitely!
Only one-third of the way through the movie, Fade Chen had already sentenced the film to death with a very professional eye.

There were already very few audience members in the theater, and halfway through the show, many young viewers left in disappointment, bidding farewell to the movie completely.

2/3 of the screening was over and Natasha was already bored and scrolling through Twitter.

Fade Chen noticed her behavior and stood up and said, "Let's go. We can go back to the company and rest for a while. Let's not waste time here any more."

"Okay, I've been wanting to leave for a long time."

Natasha felt as if she had been pardoned and quickly got up and walked out.

Arriving at the parking lot, Fade Chen took off his hat and mask and sat in the driver's seat.

"This movie is so boring." Natasha was still complaining, her tone filled with disgust.

"Haha." Fade Chen shrugged. "Isn't this exactly what we want to see?"

As he spoke, he took out his cell phone and sent a text message to the person in charge at Netflix, indicating that the other party could start to reduce the price of the online on-demand licensing of "Ben-Hur".

The vehicle started and drove towards Walt Disney Studios.

Natasha was still browsing Twitter, and at the same time, she was reciting to Chen Fei the real film reviews that had just appeared online:

"Bellman from Washington said that the film was just a remake, but the climax was too simplified, making it difficult to reproduce the exhilarating viewing pleasure of the 1959 version, and the overly straightforward and stiff lines made the overly exaggerated brotherhood become very awkward..."

Chen Fei agreed with this evaluation very much, because this was also his idea.

In fact, remaking a movie is like a double-edged sword.

Excellent remakes can stand on the shoulders of giants to add icing on the cake, or have a different flavor, but this remake of "Ben-Hur" did not give the audience more exciting scenes, and it was undoubtedly a failed remake.

And the most unacceptable thing is that the film, from the director to the leading actors, seemed to be in a hurry, as if there was no time at all to show the romance and the establishment of faith, so that every shot change was very stiff, and it felt like it was just reading from a script, without any heart at all.

The most important thing is that Depp’s brain has already been damaged by the drugs.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not show the effort and hard work that Ben-Hur showed in his revenge, or his bravery in fighting in the arena.

He seemed to have been deeply trapped in the image of a "weirdo" and could not extricate himself, and his whole body exuded a kind of alternative weirdness.

……

With the release of "Ben-Hur" in more than 3000 theaters in North America, the film's relatively good reputation that had been carefully built up collapsed completely in an instant.

The freshness of Rotten Tomatoes went from fresh to rotten, dropping rapidly from 85% to 39%.

On the first night of Friday, the lMDB score on the Internet dropped sharply from 8.4 to 5.9. From websites to social media, all kinds of negative reviews came like a hurricane.

"Obviously, this is another long, boring epic farce. I fell asleep in the theater after watching it."

“It can be seen that the director has been looking for the epic feeling of the original film, but unfortunately, this film does not have such a heavy epic feeling, but only a narrow and messy feeling.”

"For those who haven't seen the original, this movie is pretty good. At least the special effects are the only thing that surpasses the original. Then take a look at the story structure, it's so ridiculous that it can circle Los Angeles 10 times!"

"This is a magical movie. It tells us: You must find a good mother-in-law, otherwise you will be betrayed by your own brother after fighting for three years. You will be innocently made the villain and revenged. You will lose the status and honor you have worked so hard for, and have one leg crippled. When you are depressed and ready to hate your brother for the rest of your life, you will be forgiven by your brother for no reason, and live a beautiful and happy new life with your one-legged horse!"

"This isn't Ben-Hur, this is Les Miserables, right? I'm completely speechless."

"When I saw Depp, I felt it was too out of place. What role was he playing? It was clearly a captain who came to ancient Rome. I couldn't relate to him at all."

Although many Depp fans on Twitter said that no matter how bad a movie he makes is, they will support him wholeheartedly.

But it is obvious that these people alone cannot support a big-budget movie.

What's more, whether these people are just talking big or really supporting it is still unknown at the moment.

Because according to media reports, the attendance rate of "Ben-Hur" was pitifully low!
……

After a night, Amber Heard got up early and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, checking the first-day box office performance of Depp's new movie.

She first prayed to God, and then nervously opened the website.

However, the next second, the numbers flashing on the screen made her gasp.

The box office data of "Ben-Hur" was not as optimistic as she expected. The box office growth of the film was very slow, far from expectations.

Amber frowned, she knew very well the importance of word of mouth to a movie, and the overwhelming negative reviews of "Ben-Hur" on the Internet undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the box office!
After turning off the screen of her mobile phone, she turned to look at the scenery outside the window, feeling mixed emotions.

She knew in her heart that she needed to make a final decision now: should she continue to bet on Depp's future or look for other ways out?
You know, Depp has been on a downward spiral since 2013, when "The Lone Ranger" starred him and suffered a loss of $1.9 million.

Although he starred in many movies afterwards, the box office was declining.

All this seems to indicate that Depp's future is no longer promising, but is officially heading towards an endless abyss.

At this moment, Amber suddenly recalled the promise Musk made to her a few days ago after a crazy night with her.

He said he would take care of himself for the rest of his life.

Compared with the other party's elegant demeanor and endless wealth, Depp is just like a ragged beggar, which couldn't be worse.

This drunkard, drug addict, rotten guy whose career is beginning to slide to the bottom, this idiot, is not worthy of who I am now!

Thinking of this, Amber immediately opened the bedroom door and came to the living room.

At this time, Johnny Depp was lying on the carpet with his arms and legs spread out, drunk. He was holding a bottle of wine in his arms and vomiting everywhere, so that the whole living room was filled with a sour smell.

Seeing this scene, Amber was immediately furious!

She grabbed a bottle of red wine on the coffee table, uncorked it, and poured it over Depp's head.

The dazed Depp opened his eyes due to this operation, and used his hands to support the ground to avoid the pouring red wine.

When he saw that it was Amber who disturbed his sleep, he was immediately furious: "Damn it! What are you doing? Why are you disturbing my rest?" Amber yelled at him: "Depp! Can you wake up? The first-day box office performance of "Ben-Hur" was only 423 million US dollars. This movie is finished! It's completely ruined!"

"So what?" Depp didn't mind. "Anyway, I've already received my salary. Losing money is the producer's business. What does it have to do with me?"

"Don't you know that when you've made a certain number of bad movies, no investor will be willing to pay you a high salary? Can't you cheer up a little?"

"Don't worry, it won't happen." Depp waved his hand: "Disney has signed a cooperation agreement with me for Pirates of the Caribbean 5. I can still enjoy a high share of the box office."

"Fuck! You damn bastard, can you stop being so lazy?"

Amber didn't know why, but she was so angry.

She really wanted to have a big fight with Depp, and it would be even better if he could commit domestic violence against her.

But unfortunately, she couldn't anger Depp, so she could only sulk by herself.

……

In a blink of an eye, three days passed.

Back home, the new Shanghai International Film Festival has officially kicked off.

Many blockbusters that will be released in the second half of the year, such as "Legend of the Gods", "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back", "The Great Wall", "I Am Not Madame Bovary", "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk", "Jade Dynasty", "The Candle in the Tomb: Palace of Kunlun" and other movies have already begun promotion.

In addition, many films have officially announced their project preparations at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

"The script of the new film "Hidden Heroes" written and directed by Jiang Wen has been approved. The story is still based on the Republic of China. It will form the "Beiyang Trilogy" together with the previous two films "Let the Bullets Fly" and "One Step Away"... It is reported that the estimated investment amount of the film is 4 million RMB!"

"Ningying Film Studio officially announced that the oriental fantasy special effects masterpiece "Asura", which is exclusively produced by its company, will officially start the casting plan from now on.

It is reported that the movie "Asura" is the first in the "Asura" trilogy, with an investment cost of 7.5 million yuan and a target box office of 20 billion yuan! "

"Bona, together with Edko Films and Jingxi Film and Television Culture, announced that they will jointly invest in a film project adapted from the story of 'Investiture of the Gods'. The specific details will be officially announced after the release of 'Investiture of the Gods'."

Looking around, this year's Shanghai International Film Festival is quite lively, with various film and television news emerging one after another, which can be said to be wonderful!
However, things are not that simple.

Because within a very short period of time, the team of Da Wan Kuan Mian issued a statement, firmly denying the existence of Xiao G Na, saying that she was completely fabricating facts to attract attention.

This statement was like a heavy hammer, causing Xiao G Na's credibility to collapse instantly, and netizens began to doubt her authenticity.

But at this moment, the plot turned again!

Waves of girls from all over the world came forward, claiming that they had also had intimate relationships with Da Wan Kuan Mian, and posted various bed photos, audios, photos and other evidence.

These evidences were like sharp swords, pointing directly at Da Wan Kuan Mian's moral bottom line, causing his image to plummet in an instant!

However, what many industry insiders did not expect was that in the face of so much evidence, fans of Big Bowl of Wide Noodles began to engage in "technical" operations.

A large number of female fans of Da Wan Kuan Noodles began to use technical means to carefully analyze these audios frame by frame...

After some effort, they finally concluded that these audios were carefully synthesized based on the interview content of Da Wan Kuan Mian, and they also confidently listed a large number of variety show clips, such as "Day Day Up" and "Happy Camp".

Immediately afterwards, the Big Bowl Wide Noodles team issued another statement, confirming the fans' analysis with certainty.

His agent said that these audios were indeed synthesized maliciously, and their sources included dialogues from many well-known film and television works.

At the same time, they also stated that they would take legal action to hold those who spread the rumors accountable.

As the person involved, Da Wan Kuan Mian would pretend to be bullied in front of the media from time to time, which successfully attracted the comfort of a lot of mother fans and sister fans.

"Hey? I slept with a fan and actually got myself a wave of traffic?"

Chen Fei looked at the various entertainment gossip news on the Internet, as well as the many whitewashing operations of the Internet's Internet trolls, and felt that his eyes had been opened.

He could see that there seemed to be a powerful force behind this person that was trying to clean up his name, but he didn't know who it was.
Turning his attention back to Hollywood, Chen Fei laughed out loud at the first weekend box office of "Ben-Hur".

Three full days have passed, and the box office for the first weekend was only 1209 million US dollars. Compared with the investment of more than million US dollars, the gap is so big that it is difficult to measure!
You know, in today's North American film market, if a film that is released widely but has a failed start wants to make a comeback, it not only needs explosive word of mouth, but also requires super good luck.

The difficulty of "Ben-Hur" turning the tables is undoubtedly as difficult as ascending to heaven!

This film is actually very similar to Johnny Depp in some ways. It has a certain appeal in certain circumstances, such as starring in "Pirates of the Caribbean", but once it is taken out of the specific environment, it can only be described as "bad".

With the box office failure in the first three days of the weekend, Depp suffered the biggest public attack since his debut.

Many media outlets directly attributed all the reasons for the box office failure to him, and were eager to nail him to the pillar of shame, or even eliminate him from Hollywood.

Domestic entertainment and Hollywood are actually very similar. The principle that when a whale dies, all things come to life can also be applied to Hollywood.

As long as Depp falls, many second-tier Hollywood male stars will surely be able to reap the benefits!

Under the premise of everyone pushing the wall down, some media even dragged out River Phoenix, who died in Depp's bar in 1993, saying that it was the bar owner Depp who gave River Phoenix too many drugs, which led to the tragedy.

At this moment, looking at the online comments and actions against Depp, Chen Fei suddenly thought of a sentence Huang Bo once said in an interview with the media.

When an actor can continuously create huge commercial value, then all the people around him must be good people.

Just like when Depp was popular in the past, even his behaviors such as drug abuse and alcoholism were touted by the media as his tenacious struggle against alcohol and drug addiction.

But now, as he began to hit rock bottom, a host of opponents suddenly appeared around him!

At this point, even if Depp just spits on the street, the media can magnify it into him endangering the environmental safety of Los Angeles, and the local government can sue him.

Although there are still many fans supporting Depp, his own inaction and laziness have made it very difficult for his fans to counterattack.

And when all these formed a chemical reaction, the one that was ultimately unlucky was "Ben-Hur".

On the fourth day of its release, with the end of its first weekend, the film's single-day box office dropped significantly, earning only 169 million US dollars.

At this point, unless God himself comes to campaign for Depp and "Ben-Hur", there is no possibility that this movie will be revived.

The box office results created by "Ben-Hur" also shocked the entire Hollywood!

Especially Disney, they seemed to have once again witnessed the box office disaster that occurred when "The Lone Ranger" was released.

At that time, even under the operation of Disney, "The Lone Ranger" suffered a loss of 1.9 million US dollars. Now that "Ben-Hur" has fallen into the hands of Annapurna Pictures, I am afraid it will only lose more!
Now it is the fifth day, and under the “attention of all”, the Cinemascore website announced the film’s audience ratings in theaters.

Like "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" produced by Annapurna Pictures, "Ben-Hur" also has the lowest Cinemascore rating of "C".

Some experts even predicted that the film's North American box office might not exceed 3000 million US dollars.

However, its production cost was as high as $2 million, and another $5000 million was invested in publicity and promotion.

Want to make a profit?
Give back the shit!

……

(ps: Second update, please vote for me!!!)
(End of this chapter)