Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

 Chapter 476 New movie released

The sunshine was nice in Los Angeles. Link got up early and ran nearly 20 kilometers along the Santa Monica Bay Highway, and he was covered in steaming sweat.

 When she got home, Ivaca got up, wearing a sports vest and elastic pants, sitting cross-legged on the lawn to practice simple yoga movements.

Link did not disturb her, and made a simple breakfast in the kitchen. After finishing it, he called Ivaca to eat, and Ivaca walked in. Her cheeks were rosy, her forehead was slightly sweaty, and her body curves were fuller and plumper.

 “Are you okay today? My dear.”

 At the dining table, Ivaca asked while eating vegetable rolls.

 “Nothing much, except training.”

Link thought for a moment and said.

Now that the competition is over, the new album has been released, and the filming of "Avengers" will not start until next month. During this time, apart from filming the MVs for several number one singles from the fourth album, there are no other plans.

 “The Help is released today, do you want to watch the movie together?”

 “That’s a good idea.”

Link nodded and agreed. He practiced for four hours in the training room in the morning and took a nap with Ivaca at noon. Ivaca became more lethargic than before after becoming pregnant and slept for more than half an hour at noon every day. She looks very lazy and charming, and Link often hugs her and doesn't want to let go.

 After getting up from a nap, the two of them drove to a shopping mall theater in Santa Monica at around two o'clock to watch "The Help" which was released today.

 This film is exclusively produced by Palm Beach Pictures, with a production cost of US$25 million, and the distribution company is Lionsgate Pictures, with a preliminary publicity cost of US$8 million.

 The movie stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain and others.

It tells the story of Mississippi, the United States, in the 1960s. Female college student Gist (played by Emma Stone) cannot stand the unfair treatment of black maids in American society, so she plans to write a book to help these maids get out of trouble. During the process of writing the book, I encountered a lot of resistance, but I finally completed the book with the help of black maids. After the book was published, it caused a great response.

The plot is in line with the main theme of American society, and it is a very positive and uplifting feature film.

Link and Iwaka felt pretty good after watching it.

“Dear, the media said that you are good at guessing the box office. Can you guess how much the box office of this movie is?”

 After the movie ended, Ivaca held his arm and asked.

“I only guessed right once, and the time for “Bridesmaids” didn’t count. I was told that I would guess the box office.”

Link said helplessly.

“Guess what, I guess the global box office is over 100 million, what’s your guess?”

“One hundred million is about the same, so I’d guess 101 million.”

 “You’re almost as guessed as I am, you’re cheating.”

Evaka gave him a blank look.

Link saw that she seemed to be acting coquettishly, which was very interesting, and he said with a smile: "This is called a husband and wife who are of the same mind."

Ivaca smiled slightly and held his arms tightly with both hands.

"The Help" opens on Friday, October 21, along with Paramount Pictures' "Paranormal Activity 3," Summit Entertainment's "The Three Musketeers," and Universal Pictures' "Boycott." 2", as well as "Ultimatum" starring Kevin Spacey, the literary film "Martha" starring Elizabeth Olsen, etc.

In addition, last week’s sci-fi blockbuster "Iron" and the musical "All Over" were released, and the Weinstein Films' "My Week with Marilyn" is also very competitive at the box office.

"The Help" grossed US$27.05 million in 2,834 theaters in North America during the three-day weekend, ranking second in the weekly box office rankings. The champion was "The Ghost Story 3" with a box office of US$47.5 million in 3,341 theaters.

 Last week's box office champion "Iron" ranked third with 20.24 million US dollars, "The Three Musketeers" ranked fourth with 8.63 million US dollars, and "My Week with Marilyn" ranked 10th with 627,000 US dollars.

 Other movies have relatively average box office results.

Just three days after "The Help" was released, the box office performance exceeded the production cost. After the data came out, it caused a great sensation in the industry. Many media predicted that the North American box office of this movie would be more than 100 million US dollars.

Although a box office of 100 million is nothing in the annual box office rankings, there have been 21 movies with a box office of more than 100 million in North America this year.

But this movie is the third movie produced by Palm Beach Pictures. The revenue of the first one was more than 20 times, the second one had a global box office of 360 million, and the third one made back its money within three days of its release. It looks like a dark horse of the year. This makes many colleagues grit their teeth with envy.

Since the success of "Scandal Project" last year, many colleagues have been looking forward to Palm Beach Pictures' next film to hit the streets. But when the second film was released, they found that the box office performance was better. Everyone waited for the third film and found that the box office performance was better. The results are still very good.

Everyone was looking forward to it, but saw nothing. It was understandable that they were disappointed.

In addition to the box office, "The Help" also has a good reputation, with a comprehensive media review of 81 points. 22 newspapers including the "Chicago Tribune", "Washington Post" and "New York Times" scored more than 85 points. Other newspapers such as "Los Angeles Times", "Movie Variety" and "Complete" scored 81 points. Movies", "Baltimore Sun" and other 18 newspapers and magazines rated it above 75 points. Rotten Tomatoes has a fresh rating of 78%, with 32 people in favor and 12 against, and Yahoo viewers rated it B+.

 The overall evaluation is very good.

"The New York Times" commented that Palm Beach Pictures has produced another high-level movie, "It is not only a classic that exposes the ugliness of the times, but should also be called a stunning, warm and sweet song of hope." There is a reason. Rate it one of the must-see movies of the year.

"The Washington Post" commented that the three female characters in the movie were portrayed as extremely plump. In a sense, these roles made the movie possible. The performances of actors such as Emma Stone were also very exciting and unique, adding a lot to the movie. Highlights: Several leading actors are also strong contenders for this year's Oscar Actor Awards.

 The review in Total Film magazine is about Palm Beach Pictures.

"The Help" is Palm Beach Pictures' third film after "Scandal Project" and "Bridesmaids." Although these three films have different themes, they have one thing in common: they all focus on female characters.

The first film is about the discrimination and prejudice that women encounter in the group. The second film talks about the difficulties that women encounter in daily life. The third film incorporates the discussion of racial issues, and the theme is more profound than the first two films.

“Complete Films” believes that Palm Beach Pictures has been at the forefront of its peers in exploring female themes and is worth learning from.

In its second week of release, "The Help" opened in 3,141 theaters. The box office did not fall but rose. It earned 42.17 million U.S. dollars in North America, surpassing "The Haunted Man 3" to become the weekly box office champion.

This film cost 25 million US dollars to produce and 12 million US dollars to promote and distribute. The North American box office in the ten days after its release was 69.22 million US dollars. The media predicted that the North American box office of the film would be more than 150 million US dollars.

 There is no doubt that it is another blockbuster movie.

 The success of "The Help" has also allowed Palm Beach Pictures to once again steal the spotlight.

More film companies are waving checks in the hope of cooperating with Palm Beach Pictures. Some film companies have even proposed that Palm Beach Pictures be responsible for preparing and producing the film, and they will invest and give Palm Beach Pictures no less than 20 yuan afterwards. % box office share.

Catherine said that she now receives hundreds of phone invitations every day, including from film companies, directors and screenwriters who specialize in female themes, and many actresses who also want to cooperate with Palm Beach Pictures.

Link also received a lot of calls here.

There are colleagues in the industry, such as Leon Cavanaugh of Relativity Pictures, who invited him to a party and said they wanted to talk about film cooperation. There are also actresses, both familiar and unknown, who are trying to show their favor to him in various ways. .

If Link were a casual guy, he could wake up next to a different woman every day.

  Comparatively speaking, Emma Stone benefited the most from the film’s success.

Starting from last year's "Scandal Project", Emma has starred in several subsequent movies that all have a box office of over 100 million. "Bridesmaids" has a global box office of 360 million. "Crazy, Stupid Love" was released in July with a global box office of 140 million. This "The Help" North America The box office forecast is 150 million.

Four consecutive blockbuster movies have made Emma Stone the brightest among young actresses.

Although she is not as famous as Kristen Stewart for the time being, her acting skills in the movie have been recognized by many people and she is considered a powerful actress. She is also the first among the new generation of actresses to win an Oscar. .

Emma Stone even called her specifically to ask if she had a chance to win an Oscar.

 Link said that yes, the company would do public relations, but she was still young and shouldn’t expect too much.

Emma Stone happily said that she would be satisfied as long as she could get the nomination.

Link smiled lightly and asked her to remember this sentence.

 In October, director Zhang Damou called and said that the post-production of "The Thirteen Hairpins" was completed and he wanted to discuss the issue of North American distribution with Lionsgate Pictures.

Link arranged for the head of the international business department, Jamie Jones, to take a team to China to see how the movie was and how much commercial value it had, and to try to win the North American distribution rights of the movie at the lowest price.

  After Jamie Jones led the team to China, he said that the working team’s evaluation of the film was B-.

 The advantage is that the artistic level of this movie is relatively high, and Link’s participation gives this movie a certain box office guarantee.

The disadvantage is that Chinese anti-Japanese films have little prospect in the North American market, and war films focus on a group of prostitutes. Due to cultural differences, not many North American audiences can understand them.

  The overall evaluation is that you can give it a try, but the box office won't be too high.

When acquiring the North American distribution rights of the film, Jamie Jones proposed two options to the producer, one is a copyright fee of 3 million US dollars, and the other is a 25% share of the North American box office.

 The producers of "The Thirteen Hairpins" chose the second one after careful consideration, and they also wanted to give it a try.

But he was worried about being cheated at the box office by the United States. Director Zhang Da called Link many times to reminisce about old times, asking him when he would come to China, and wanted to treat him to a drink. He also mentioned that the movie was expected to be released in China in mid-November. Ask him to go over and do publicity.

Link didn’t refuse, but he just wanted to reassure Director Zhang that when working with Lionsgate Pictures, you don’t have to worry about box office sharing. How much box office you get will be how much you get in the end.

 (End of this chapter)