America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM.

Chapter 309 307. Big Change, Liu Yifei Shows Her Skills

"The Hunger Games" in its original time and space, as a movie adapted from a novel, is somewhat similar to "Harry Potter".

By first building a huge fan base and laying a solid foundation, the movie will naturally attract many book fans to buy tickets, and teenagers and young people will be the mainstream audience group.

The most direct manifestation is the box office. Of the global total box office of US$7 million, North America accounted for nearly 60% and overseas accounted for 40%.

For a movie with such a high box office, the proportion is actually very unreasonable.

Box office hits like "The Matrix", "Harry Potter", "The Lord of the Rings", "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Transformers" all have overseas sales accounting for more than 60%.

Ultimately, novels sell best in North America, but are less popular worldwide.

The production cost of the original film did not reach A level, and was relatively high among B levels.

This results in very poor special effects and not many big scenes, and instead the main focus is placed on aspects that could be cut, such as the relationship between men and women, which wastes time.

You should know that one of the major selling points of "The Hunger Games" is the battle royale mode. Many viewers who have not read the novel were attracted by this gimmick.

And you show me this? I want fistfights, fights and escapes, get my adrenaline pumping!

However, Gadot's version does not have the solid foundation of the novel, so it is not strong enough in nature and must make up for it in other aspects.

Therefore, the focus of the film's promotion was the exciting fighting, and MGM invested $1.1 million in it.

If this money was invested in 2012, it would be enough to make two Hunger Games versions of the film.

After the film came out, he personally reviewed it from beginning to end. Sure enough, the 2004 film, whether it was the picture, sound effects, scenery or props, it crushed the 2012 version in all aspects.

Especially in the big scenes, it is unambiguous and focuses on special effects.

The film industry is a money-burning business. Even if there is a difference of ten years, the technology has already advanced three or four generations. It’s useless if you are reluctant to spend money, and the effect will be worse than before.

In response to this, all the ancient costume fantasy idol dramas bowed their heads in shame.

Of course, the movie has not given up on the grand background of political struggle and war. These are foreshadowings for the sequels that will be explored in depth later, but the time is compressed shorter.

Grand narratives can indeed make stories more exciting and profound, but first you have to trick the audience into the cinema.

Our mainstream audience is teenagers. How many of them will pay attention to political struggles?

It’s not that this thing won’t be discussed, but it will be placed in the second part.

Eric did not change the story framework of the original work, he just made more appropriate additions and deletions based on the actual situation.

"Ok?"

Suddenly feeling his left hand being tightly grasped, Eric turned his head to look at Liu Yifei beside him. She indeed looked very excited and nervous.

He patted the back of her hand gently, signaling her to relax.

Look at Gadot on the right. She looks very natural and her attention is completely focused on the big screen.

The beginning of the movie is different from the original version. It chooses a narration style, using one minute to roughly explain the background of the world, and then slowly fills it in with details later.

Natural disasters, man-made disasters, explosions, nuclear disasters.
Humanity screams and wails, technology regresses, order collapses, and a new country is re-established.

The grand special effects make a striking first impression and instantly grab the audience's attention, ensuring that everyone can clearly understand this background introduction to facilitate their understanding of the subsequent story.

After explaining the origin of the Hunger Games, the scene jumps to the coal mining area where the heroine is located, and introduces a hunting perspective.

Gadot was seen moving flexibly among the mountains and forests, and the dense trees could not stop her steps at all.

The arrow was shot out with a quick frame-by-frame editing, and the arrow pinned the running rabbit to the ground.

"Wow! She looks amazing!"

"Katniss is a great hunter, didn't you see the trailer?"

"I mean Gal Gadot, didn't you notice? She did it herself, without a body double. The final jump and arrow shooting action is very difficult, and most people can't do it."

"Gadot is already great. I've been following her Facebook account and she often posts about her fitness routine. She has great muscle definition in her vest and arms."

"Is this true? Can Eric Cooper beat her? With such great physical strength, ordinary men can't withstand it."

"Ugh shut up you!"

Just one appearance is enough to establish Katniss as an expert archer and an excellent hunter.

While the heroine was bringing the prey home, the hero and the second male lead also appeared online.

The male lead, Peeta, was recommended by my father’s acquaintance, Jesse Eisenberg.

Not familiar? He's the guy from Now You See Me, Zombieland, and The Social Network.

He also plays Lex Luthor in the DCEU. Does he remember?

Even though he was cast through connections, Eric felt that he was quite suitable. Jesse Eisenberg has been in the industry for five years and has the acting skills.

Eric has also seen his niche movie "The Double", in which the young man gave a very contrasting performance.

Considering that the protagonist Peeta will be brainwashed later and has a lot of scenes of extreme struggle, like a mental patient, it would definitely be okay to use Jesse Eisenberg's words.

The second male lead was auditioned, and the final winner was Chris Hemsworth, who is Thor in Marvel.

He just debuted this year and went to the audition with a give it a try mentality. Unexpectedly, he was so lucky to be selected. I heard that his agent has been training him as a treasure.

Just now on the red carpet, he humbly came up to Eric and said a few words to him, and asked the reporters to help take a photo with him. He looked so happy and silly, like a little fanboy.

Little did people know that the original actor was his younger brother Liam Hemsworth. After many twists and turns, it finally fell into their family. It can be said that you can't write two words "hai" with one stroke.

If this movie performs well, it would be a good choice to promote him to play "Thor" next year.

Then a high-tech spaceship landed in the coal mining area, making the audience realize that this was actually a science fiction film, and they were even more amazed at the huge difference in development between regions.

The appearance of the Queen of Hearts, with her exaggerated Elizabethan attire, makes people remember this supporting role at first sight.

The younger sister was chosen by lottery to replace the heroine, and just ten minutes into the story, the plot has entered the capital stage.

Then came the CP hype stage. The various commercial operation modes in the movie made the audience sigh, is this a death game or a variety show?
Liu Yifei also made her first appearance at the training ground. Her weapons were two swords, a longer Tang sword suitable for chopping, and a shorter Nepalese machete suitable for fighting.

In the test, she finally got a high score of 10 points, second only to the heroine Katniss's 11 points.

At the same time, her weaknesses were also revealed. During a talk show interview, the host told her that she couldn't tell the difference between blueberry jam and strawberry jam.

The film also shows life in the capital region, a metropolis that is no different from modernity, where people live extravagantly, in stark contrast to other regions.

It's chilling to watch people in the capital region opening the odds and placing bets, treating the Hunger Games like an amusement park.

For any civilized world, treating human lives as a gamble or a game is unacceptable and has crossed the moral bottom line.

Interspersed throughout are brief memories of the hero and heroine, making the audience realize that Peeta does have feelings for Katniss.

As the president and the designer communicated, the essence of the Hunger Games was revealed.

“Why does the game have to have a winner?”

"If we just want to intimidate the people in District 12, we can just ask them to sacrifice two people every year and then execute them publicly."

"This not only saves time and effort, but also has the most direct deterrent effect. But we chose to hold the Hunger Games. Why?"

“The answer is hope!”

"Hope is something more terrifying and more powerful than fear."

"If we give them a ray of hope and allow them to enjoy the last bit of warmth in despair, these people will not rebel." "But if we use fear to drive them into a desperate situation, the rebellion in District 13 will surely happen again."

"Just be careful about the timing. Too much hope can be dangerous."

"You can have a spark, but don't let it start a prairie fire!"

After watching this set of shots, young audiences didn't feel anything, but film critics were all impressed.

This movie seems to be getting more and more interesting, with more profound thoughts mixed in with the commercial elements. It is eye-catching but not stealing the show.

The Hunger Games officially began 40 minutes into the movie. The original version took more than an hour to finish, and the audience was getting impatient.

"Countdown to 1 minutes!"

"60!"

"59!"

"58!"

In the picture, the Capital District is shouting wildly and continuing to bet on the opening.

People in other districts looked miserable, as they would soon watch their children die.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

As the countdown ended, a group of people rushed to the center to grab resources. The male protagonist Pita had been hiding his abilities and was the first to escape.

The heroine follows the mentor's teachings carefully. You can take advantage of opportunities but don't rush in directly. You are a hunter, not a melee expert.

As an alliance, the people from District One and District Two were all bloodthirsty and very powerful. They immediately hacked the three people to death in a pool of blood.

But they are not the most terrifying. The camera turns to Liu Yifei.

As a contestant from the Textile Zone of District 7, her fighting ability was even better. She first grabbed a handy weapon as quickly as possible.

Then he turned around and killed one with a knife. He picked up the backpack with Tang Dao and put it on his back. He swung out Nepal's sword and stabbed it directly into the head of a male player.

She drew out her dagger coldly, and faced the professional tribute brother and sister in the area in front of her without fear. She drew the knife flowers handsomely and looked at the two of them.

Even though the brother and sister tributes were holding weapons, they were frightened by her murderous aura and did not dare to force their way forward.

The other contestants even avoided the three and ran away.

It was not until two contestants from Area 2 joined in that Liu Yifei, facing the siege of four people, made a feint and turned around and quickly dived into the woods.

Before leaving, he suddenly turned back and stared coldly at the four people who were working together to kill, as if he had regarded them as his biggest competitors.

This section is specifically designed to highlight Xiao Liu's skills, and by shocking the four-member group, her character as the most capable fighter is established.

The effect is also immediate.

"Wow! She's so gorgeous!"

"This actress is so cool, especially the one who uses the long knife to lift the backpack. It's so elegant and beautiful. What's her name?"

"No wonder she was given 10 points. Her close combat ability is really explosive."

"The foursome were all frightened by her. She was so ruthless when she killed people, but how could the heroine win against such a powerful contestant?"

"The heroine is an archer. Archers are good at close combat. She must have been shot to death!"

"That shot of Crystal Liu looking back is really cool, she looks like she has her eye on the foursome."

"I watched the trailer. The character is called Vanshia Ghost and is of Indian descent. The actress is Crystal Liu, who starred in Supernatural."

"Oh my god! This battle royale looks really exciting. Half of the people were eliminated right from the start."

"Well done!" Eric pinched Xiao Liu's thigh and praised.

"Hehe. When I was filming this scene, my leg was poked by my opponent. It hurt for several days."

"Hmm? Then why don't you say anything?"

"I'm sorry, I don't want the crew to think I'm a delicate young lady, and it's not too serious."

Although the two spoke quietly, Gadot could still hear them.

She hadn't realized that Eric and Liu Yifei were already having an affair. As a sister who had worked with them for several months, she still had a good impression of the humble and beautiful Liu.

"Liu, you should speak up about this kind of thing. This is the normal right of an actor."

"Besides, the crew has a doctor and we are all covered by insurance. If something goes wrong, the crew will not only not thank you, but will blame you."

"Huh? Why?"

"If you don't mention the delay, the union will also cause trouble, and in the end you will offend both sides and be in trouble with both sides."

"Yeah, I see, thank you Gadot."

"The rules in Hollywood are different from those on the other side. You have to learn how to adapt," Eric said.

The plot then develops from Katniss's perspective, fully demonstrating the cruelty of this game.

As the heroine was pushed in front of the foursome by the staff's intervention, her strategy of surviving to the end failed.

The audience also saw more clearly the shameless behavior of the organizers.

Katniss was chased all the way to a tree by the foursome, and she was even more sad when she saw that the male protagonist had also betrayed them and joined the foursome.

Some viewers couldn't help but scold Peeta for being a traitor, saying that his so-called love for the heroine was all fake.

but it is not the truth.

The original version handled this plot very stupidly. Faced with a heroine climbing a tree, the four people were helpless even with weapons in hand.

Even if you are mentally retarded and don't have the throwing skill, you can't even do something as simple as setting fire?

This is indeed a commercial film and we don't pursue excessive rigor, but the plot that challenges the audience's IQ is still too rubbish and shameless.

So this part of the plot was changed, and the protagonist Peeta left marks along the way, secretly luring the strongest hunter, Vanxia Ghost, over.

Because when he first robbed the supplies, he had already discovered that Vanxia would definitely not tolerate the group of four and would definitely find a way to kill them.

After the plot was changed, Peeta's wisdom was clearly reflected.

Sure enough, just when the foursome was about to kill Katniss, one of the female team members was suddenly shot in the head and fell to the ground, with the Nepalese machete stuck in her eye.

Then a cheetah-like figure jumped out of the bushes, cut off the arm of a male team member holding a gun with a knife, and kicked him over.

With such serious injuries, he will definitely not survive.

The sudden change caused the scene to become chaotic, and while the two sides were fighting, Peeta shouted and ran.

He helped Katniss up after she jumped down from the tree, and the two of them hurriedly hid, secretly watching the battle, preparing to take advantage of the opportunity later.

(End of this chapter)