The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 325 Skyrocketing
Then--

Amid the rush of people coming and going and the heat wave, the North American weekend box office rankings for the second week of August are released.

Winner, "American Pie 2," $ million.

Runner-up, "Rush Hour 2," $ million.

Second runner-up, "The Princess Diaries," $28 million.

Silence fell.

A moment of astonishment.

It is really difficult to understand the shock and admiration of the media just by reading this set of data. After a little analysis, you can understand the true reaction of the market.

"American Pie" had an outstanding performance of 45 million US dollars in its opening weekend. Although the production cost of the sequel tripled to 30 million US dollars, the sequel's ticket sellers did not live up to expectations and once again produced eye-catching products. The data is undoubtedly in the first echelon this summer.

Good start!

As expected, "Rush Hour 2" had a box office crash the following weekend. Not only was the media receiving negative reviews, but the general public's response to the movie was generally lower than expected. This directly led to the movie's box office plummeting 50.9% in the second weekend, compared with the first weekend. It fell by more than half during the opening weekend, with serious blood loss and lower than expected.

Generally speaking, when the opening weekend box office exceeds the threshold of 40 million U.S. dollars, the box office drop in the next week often needs to be controlled within 30% to be a healthy box office trend. If it can be controlled below %, it means the audience's reputation Excellent, the movie has long-term box office staying power.

However, "Rush Hour 2" lost more than half of its blood, and the outlook is not optimistic.

Originally, "Rush Hour 2" had the highest performance of this summer season during its opening weekend, which also meant that the film had a head start in the competition for the summer season championship and even the year-end box office championship. It is not impossible to achieve a box office of million U.S. dollars in North America. ; But now, all plans have been disrupted.

That’s not to say it’s a failure, it’s just that New Line Cinema needs to adjust its expectations.

In fact, "Rush Hour 2" is far from a "failure."

Although the box office dropped severely over the next three weekends, the box office figures from Monday to Thursday were still impressive. The cumulative box office in the two weeks since its release has easily reached US$133 million. US$200 million in North America is still the ultimate goal. .

but.

The production cost of "Rush Hour 2" was as high as million U.S. dollars. Coupled with the huge investment in publicity, the box office collapse in the next week really worried New Line Cinema.

And "Princess Diaries"?

The box office decline in the next week was controlled at an incredible 19.6%. Comparing it horizontally with "Rush Hour 2", you can immediately see the clear gap.

Although the reputation of "Princess Diaries" was mediocre and did not win applause from film critics, the film still relied on accurate market positioning to find its target audience. The spark in the "New York Times" also spread like a prairie fire, laying the foundation for the film. The basis for the shocking box office drop the following week.

In the two weeks since its release, the cumulative box office of "The Princess Diaries" has soared to 90 million US dollars, and the box office threshold of 100 million US dollars is already within reach in the blink of an eye.

Compared with "Rush Hour 2", "The Princess Diaries" with a production cost of only million US dollars has already announced that it has entered the profit stage. Withstanding schedule pressure and publicity disadvantages, the film has written an incredible box office trajectory and has become a The first highlight of the summer season in August.

Even "Rush Hour 2" and "American Pie 2" were overwhelmed.

So, the question is - can Gary Marshall replicate the miracle of "Pretty Woman"?
At that time, "Pretty Woman" was so popular that the North American box office finally reached 1990 million US dollars. In , it was million US dollars, ranking second only to "The Last Days" in the North American box office rankings that year. ; and earned Julia Roberts her first career Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

As for "Princess Diaries", Oscar nominations aside, will this film be able to replicate the miracle of "Pretty Woman" at the North American box office?
At least for now, hope still exists——

Those who went to the theater because of "The New York Times" and because of Anson gave positive feedback, and there is no doubt that it once again aroused heated discussions.

Judging from Nicholas's writing, Anson's edges and colors are particularly distinctive. It is obvious that this is a young actor with an extremely rich and profound spiritual world; but in the movie, the role limits his development.

The narrative focus of "Princess Diaries" is not on him, but Anson still gives the character soul in his own way and expands the possibilities——

Leaving aside the other scenes, people generally think they are due to the director or editor, but the scene with the mask left a deep impression.

From the eyes to the movements to the temperament, the moment is stunning. It not only makes Michael complete, but also makes the interactive arc between Michael and Mia full. More importantly, it makes the character of Mia richer, which makes the audience I can’t help but think back to that interview in the New York Times.

Anson is searching and exploring, trying to explore the space between appearance and character, injecting soul into the performance with his own colors.

Therefore, in "The Princess Diaries", the most touching scene is the moment when Anson covers his cheek, which gives the movie more room for interpretation.

Going from reality to film, and film to reality, is certainly a pleasure.

Of course, it is not a one-sided review, and it is not liked by everyone. In the final analysis, the market positioning of "Princess Diaries" is very clear and it is not suitable for everyone; but the current discussion is enough.

Following the premiere and the New York Times, the third wave of heated discussions came again, which also kept "Princess Diaries" on the forefront.

Then, Disney takes action—

They made an incredible move and released a new trailer, this time a music video version, with Anson as the protagonist.

Or Anson’s Michael.

The trailer features Michael's band, editing their rehearsal footage as a video to create a version of the "She's So Cute" music video, showing the weird highlights of Michael, Mia, Lily and other characters, paired with "She's So Cute" The lyrics are an alternative interpretation of the adjective cute.

Moreover, the most special thing is that Disney did not promote the movie in the same way, but promoted it with the debut single of the new punk band Hawaiian Pizza, including the MTV channel.

Anson expressed complete ignorance of this——

How come he didn't know he was debuting as a singer?
Miraculously, the song "She's So Cute" unexpectedly became widely loved. Unbelievably, it was played on demand by countless listeners in major movies. For a while, it was unclear whether it really happened or whether it was controlled by Disney itself.

but.

I’m afraid Disney themselves didn’t expect that “She’s So Cute” would unexpectedly enter the Billboard charts. Although it was not ranked high, it was temporarily ranked at No. 96 on the singles chart, barely making it into the top 100; Disney is still confused, should they release the soundtrack?
This is not in the plan.

It is a regular routine for Disney movies to release soundtracks, and it is not unusual. It is just that there is no arrangement for "Princess Diaries" this time. However, there is no rush to discuss this matter for now, at least Disney has taken the first step:
Increase the number of screening theaters.

(End of this chapter)