The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1199: Key Turning Point
Strong, stable, durable——

Who would have thought that this was used to describe the box office performance of "Elephant"?

It wasn’t until the third week of its release that the weekend box office data of “Elephant” finally saw a decline for the first time. Finally!
"Vanity Fair" even reported that the increase in weekend box office data was not news, but the decrease was. Such a grand occasion has not been seen since "Titanic", but now it is repeated in an independent art film, which is really laughable.

The box office results far exceeded expectations, but HBO still did not get carried away.

"The Elephant" never entered the stage of full public release. The peak number of theaters showing it was in the ninth week, with 1,233 theaters. In the following week, HBO did not continue to expand the screening, but began to shrink the scale of screening, and gradually tightened the number of theaters in an orderly manner, extending the release period.

Firstly, HBO doesn't think that other passers-by will like it, and still holds the same judgment, so there is no need for a full public release.

Secondly, HBO believes that the market potential has been almost fully tapped and there is no need to be greedy. Instead of expanding screenings across the board and taking a gamble, it is better to reduce the scale of screenings and take it slow over the long term.

Facts have proved that HBO's judgment was correct, rational and calm, sharp and accurate. Although the film was not fully released, the box office curve of subsequent screenings remained stable, with no backlash in word-of-mouth and no cliff-like drop in data. The entire screening cycle ended perfectly.

HBO taught Hollywood film companies a good lesson by relying on precise market positioning and clear prediction of wind direction.

HBO's distribution strategy allows "The Elephant" to continue to shine, and its subsequent market potential will ferment bit by bit. In contrast to the quick success and instant benefits of other award season works, it actually explores more possibilities in the market.

"Elephant" was eventually screened in the North American film market for a full twenty weeks, starting in Los Angeles and New York, and ending in Los Angeles and New York.

The cumulative box office in North America has reached 72 million US dollars!

For this reason, Entertainment Weekly wrote an interview in a teasing tone.

"Anson Wood suffered his first career defeat -

A disruptive, epic success.”

Judging from the numbers alone, this is the first work in Anson's career that has not been able to break the $100 million North American box office. After four consecutive works that created brilliance and miracles, unfortunately he did not continue his strong performance like Tom Cruise and Will Smith, and only stopped in the fourth film.

But is this really a Waterloo?

Obviously not.

With an investment of three million U.S. dollars, the final North American box office revenue reached seventy-two million U.S. dollars, a full twenty-four times increase.

According to industry insiders, HBO earned nearly 30 million US dollars from this movie.

Judging from the revenue figures alone, it is still not as good as the "Butterfly Effect"; but in terms of making the most of a small investment, "Elephant" is better. HBO can almost be said to have won without any effort, and the movie also won the Palme d'Or.

Not long ago, everyone envied New Line Cinema for being the biggest winner of the holiday season; but now it seems that HBO is the real winner at the end of the year.

What's more, "Elephant" also has overseas box office.

HBO once again demonstrated its wisdom. "Elephant" still has the potential to explode at the box office in North America. After all, the movie is based on real events. However, in overseas markets, other countries and regions have strict controls on guns, and the audience's resonance and connection with the movie are insufficient.

Therefore, HBO did not spend any effort preparing for overseas distribution, but sold the overseas distribution rights of the film as early as the Cannes Film Festival.

However, as a Palme d'Or winner, "Elephant" still has a certain appeal and was eventually released in 37 countries and regions overseas.

Of course, unlike "The Butterfly Effect", "The Elephant" was also released in art theaters in overseas regions. The entire distribution and promotion seemed much more low-key, and the difficulties faced were always objective. It is conceivable that the box office prospects of the film face more challenges. Distribution companies in different countries and regions mainly promote around the Palme d'Or and Anson, and then hope that the "Butterfly Effect" craze can help.

Judging from various signs, "Elephant" may not make much splash in overseas markets. However, after lowering expectations, the movie actually brought pleasant surprises.

In the end, the overseas box office figures of "Elephant" were fixed at 39 million US dollars, mainly from Europe. The screening period was even longer than that in North America. It was screened in France for a whole year and in the UK for more than 35 weeks. A series of small surprises successfully formed an unexpected big surprise.

It's eye-catching.

Compared with the crazy reaction of the overseas market to the "butterfly effect", the performance of "Elephant" is naturally not worth mentioning, and it cannot be compared with the North American data at all.

However, such an experimental independent film, relying on the aura of the Palme d'Or and Anson, finally made all the distribution companies in 37 countries and regions overseas profitable. It was definitely a huge victory. For a while, industry insiders in the distribution companies all cast their eyes on it.

Anson Wood.

After this battle, the value of this name in the international market has become completely different.

It is rare to find superstars like Tom Cruise and Will Smith who can drive the box office of genre films, but it is only once in a decade to find superstars like Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep who have the box office appeal of both genre films and art films.

After "Titanic", Leonardo Dicaprio became extremely popular, and the entire industry was paying close attention to him and looking forward to his future development.

It's a bit of a pity that it was not until last year that Leonardo finally recovered from the impact of the fame and fortune and returned to his acting work. "Gangs of New York" officially debuted, and next Leonardo will continue to cooperate with Martin Scorsese to shoot a biographical film "The Aviator".

And now, Anson has come from behind and continued to produce after the popularity of "Spider-Man". In a blink of an eye, he can be compared with Leonardo. Anson is also about to star in a biographical film "Sing Along". Does this mean that Anson is ready to challenge Leonardo's position in the industry?
Rubbing hands in anticipation.

In this way, when everyone's attention was focused on the hustle and bustle of the award season and took it for granted that "The Elephant" was ignored, this Palme d'Or-winning work quietly gained attention in the art film market, and the film's global box office eventually incredibly exceeded the 100 million threshold.

One hundred and eleven million U.S. dollars.

Jaw dislocated, glasses shattered, eyes gaping.

Wait, how much?

One hundred million?
How can it be?

Is this the elephant we are talking about?

Even seeing the statistics in person still seems outrageous. This movie actually became the second work in Gus Van Sant's career to gross over 100 million yuan.

The first one is "Good Will Hunting".

Not to mention the media and professionals, even Gus himself had the first reaction when he received a call from a reporter: "Happy April Fools' Day."

Everything seems incredible.

There is no doubt that this is a surprise and a shock. So, does this mean that Anson's acting career has ushered in an important turning point?

It's not just about box office appeal, there's also... the vase label?
(End of this chapter)