The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1197: Expanding Footsteps
After more than 30 years of development, the North American film market has gradually figured out its own rules, and its distribution strategies have become increasingly mature. It has learned lessons from its mistakes and finally developed a system.

It is precisely because of this that the distribution strategies for works during the holiday and summer seasons are all traceable.

The same goes for previews.

However, considering that the market segmentation of art films is more complex and difficult, the preview strategy is still in the exploratory stage and requires ongoing exploration.

Before "The Elephant" came out, the top four single box office rankings during the live-action movie previews were:
"Evita", "Moulin Rouge", "Edward Scissorhands", "Love Disorder".

The strategies for the first three films were similar, showing them in a few theaters for a week or two to test the waters, and then releasing them on a large scale in multiple theaters.

The only difference is in the scope of release. "Evita" is more conservative, with more than 700 theaters; "Moulin Rouge" is the most confident, with more than 2,000 theaters; and "Edward Scissorhands" is in the middle, with more than 1,000 theaters.

However, the final results were almost the same, with the final cumulative North American box office of the three films being around 50 million US dollars.

"Edward Scissorhands" later became a classic through word of mouth and DVD release; "Moulin Rouge" relied on Nicole Kidman's peak charm and won success in the overseas market with 120 million US dollars; "Evita" received a series of Oscar nominations but was controversial and failed to win more attention. In the end, only the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was widely circulated.

The 2002 film "Dysfunction of Love" was slightly different. It was screened in a few theaters for a whole month, hoping that the outstanding performance of the single-theater box office during the preview stage would evolve into word-of-mouth reputation and finally turn into box office data. It was not until the fifth week that it was widely released in theaters.

Unfortunately, the result was a bit disappointing. This film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Adam Sandler won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival that year, but the final North American box office was only 17 million US dollars.

It should be said that as of 2003, the distribution of art films has made great progress, but Hollywood is still in the exploratory stage.

The fundamental reason is that the North American film market is becoming more mature, mainly in terms of genre films; but in terms of aesthetic taste for art films and independent films, there is still a clear gap between North America and Europe. Not to mention France, Germany, and Italy, even in markets such as Spain, the United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe, the aesthetic taste of veteran movie fans easily surpasses that of North America.

Therefore, the film festivals with far-reaching influence around the world are mainly in Europe.

Naturally, when distributing companies arrange art films to explore the market, they still need to continue trial and error, as their market foundation is still far from enough.

Some movies performed well in the preview stage, with impressive word of mouth and single-theater sales. However, after the full-scale release, they flopped miserably.

For some works, their performance in the preview stage is worth looking forward to, and the distribution companies spend countless energy and patience to promote them, but in the end the film's performance is lukewarm.

The final box office of "Evita", "Moulin Rouge" and "Edward Scissorhands" can be considered a huge success, and the film companies have made money, but when put together with those genre films, they are simply not comparable and cannot be compared with the outstanding box office data of a single theater.

This is also a kind of "disappointment".

Now, it's the elephant's turn.

"Elephant" can be compared with "Love Disorder". It is also directed by a North American director, starring a popular male lead, and it also won awards at the Cannes Film Festival. It also brought surprises in the preview stage, and it also entered the awards season without any hope.

However, "Love Disorder" only grossed $17 million in North America and $7 million overseas, for a total global box office of $24 million.

disappointing.

Of course, "Love Disorder" is still popular among movie fans and has achieved good results in the DVD market; but with an investment of 25 million US dollars, Paul Thomas Anderson was the director and won the Best Director Award at Cannes, but in the end the film failed to make a profit at the box office and did not win more attention during the award season.

Disappointment is inevitable. So what about the "elephant"?

With no expectations, the single-theater box office of "Elephant" roared through like a tornado, turning the entire Hollywood upside down and expectations instantly skyrocketed.

Naturally, people are curious about the subsequent box office performance of the movie.

Although the whole of Hollywood knows how difficult it is for independent films to carve out a niche in the market, after all, there is only one "Pulp Fiction".

But now, the single-theater box office has exploded with such energy, with the support of the Palme d'Or and Anson, plus HBO's accurate promotion and positioning assistance——

Maybe?

Who knows, maybe “Elephant” can bring more surprises?
Suddenly, Hollywood was bustling inside and out. Not to mention "The Lord of the Rings 3" and "The Butterfly Effect", even the award season movies were no longer popular.

Coincidentally, 2003 ended and we entered 2004, and the winter season began. The North American film market fell into the most depressed and deserted period of the year. Instead of paying attention to those old-fashioned works, it is better to expect "Elephant" to bring some extra surprises and see if the North American market hides more energy.

The scene was bustling with excitement.

However, HBO, at the center of the storm, seemed exceptionally calm, even a little too calm.

That nonchalant and unhurried attitude contrasts sharply with the passion and turbulence of Hollywood, which is really laughable.

HBO is a battle-hardened and experienced person. They did not make a fuss or get ecstatic. Even though "Elephant" set a new record in box office at the single-theater preview, they did not get carried away by the enthusiasm.

Firstly, the production cost of "Elephant" was only 3 million U.S. dollars, and HBO would be able to make a profit no matter what happened next, so there was no need to rush.

Secondly, the box office of art films is often like this: the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Although "Elephant" seems to have occupied all the favorable positions, it may not win the hearts of the market in terms of film style and subject matter, including passers-by who are eager to see Anson become the soul of the film.

What's more, the sensitive subject matter of the film itself is destined to have mixed reviews from the audience, and controversy runs throughout. Such a situation is difficult to avoid after the expansion of the screening.

Therefore, planning is still necessary, but the premise is to remain calm and rational. Instead of rushing to release the movie to the general public immediately, it is better to slow down and let word of mouth ferment, so as to prepare the audience mentally.

HBO's strategy is to attract the target audience who are truly interested in the film, thereby avoiding those passers-by who go to the cinema with high expectations but end up cursing because of disappointment, causing the controversy over the film to continue to ferment.

They are not greedy and do not pursue an all-round box office blowout, they just aim at the target audience.

Otherwise, the final box office data of "Private Love Disorder" will be right in front of us.

Amidst the jubilation and noise, HBO has always remained low-key and calm.

In the first week of 2004, which was also the second week of the release of "Elephant", HBO continued its pace of preview screenings and released the film in seventy theaters.

(End of this chapter)