I’m in Hollywood

Los Angeles.

In the rich area of ​​the northern half of the city of Santa Monica, although it is already late at night, Amy Pascal is still reading the negotiations with the basic cable company about Rainbow Media.

As a woman, although she gave up the high-paying position of Columbia Film Company and helped Drew to establish the flower film industry, she was given the opportunity to meet one of the top seven film companies MGM today, but Amy· Pascal did not have a slack mind. Regardless of the field, it is always more difficult for a woman who is in a high position to be recognized than a man. After many years, Amy Pascal has not cared too much attention, but she still wants to prove to everyone that she is not Will be worse than any man.

On the other side of the study, Amy Pascal’s husband, Bernard Wilbur, checked the newly completed press release and looked at the electronic watch on the table, which was already at zero o'clock. At this time, they should have rested. However, he also knows that if his wife can’t wait for the first day of the Royal Casino’s box office data, it will be difficult to sleep. Hesitated for a moment, without disturbing his wife who read the materials carefully. Nad Winlaub picked up a book from the table and looked at it quietly.

Amy Pascal noticed her husband's movements and looked at the watch. He turned and said, "Bernie, it's better to go to rest first, I might have to wait a little longer."

Bernard Wirabur shook his head and smiled. "No, I really want to know how many box office I can get on the first day of Royal Casino."

Amy Pascal smiled softly and didn't persuade. She got up and went to the kitchen to cook a pot of hot coffee and poured a cup of herself and her husband.

Bernard Winlaub took the coffee cup and looked at the wife sitting on the other side. "From today's film review, this should be the best live-action movie in the summer. You think it can take it. How many box office?"

Amy Pascal shook her head. When she talked about this topic with other people, she always showed confidence. But in the face of her husband, she didn't have to force herself to be confident. "This question is really very good." Difficult to say, two years ago, "Golden Eyes", the reputation of all aspects also reached 8 points, but the global box office is only 350 million, mainly because the 007 series is not so popular in the most important North American market. Although "Royal Casino" has a better reputation, there are many other positive factors, but we are not sure whether the audience will buy it. In addition, from the "Five Elements" in May, the continuous disappointing low-profile real person Movies may also reduce viewers’ interest in Royal Casino."

Bernard Wilbur, a playwright and a film business journalist for The New York Times, listened to his wife’s somewhat pessimistic tone and thought about it. “I think it’s the opposite of what you think. The demand for live-action movies by the audience is definitely greater than that of animated films. The continuous bad film impact will make the market more hungry for high-score commercial movies."

Amy Pascal smiled and said: "I hope the situation will be as you said, but the total investment in the production and declaration of Royal Casino is $160 million, which is equivalent to the total investment of Goldeneye. Times, the company's pressure is still very big. If the Royal Casino's box office performance is not good enough, even if it is only general, the subsequent production plans may not be so smooth."

"Oh, is the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy that you said last time?"

Amy Pascal nodded, but did not say anything more. Although she was her husband, but too detailed details, she was not convenient to disclose to the other party.

Bernard Wilbur did not ask, and arbitrarily removed the topic.

Unconsciously, after waiting for more than half an hour, Amy Pascal’s cell phone on the desk finally shook. She picked up the phone and connected it. She talked a few words and gradually raised her eyebrows. Repeatedly asked for some details.

Bernard Wilbur had heard a set of numbers from his wife’s conversation and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Although he felt that after a series of bad movies in the summer, the Royal Casino’s box office performance would be better than expected. Better, but still did not expect the first day box office number to be so high.

When Amy Pascal hangs up, Bernard Wilbur can't wait to ask: "$30.5 million?"

Amy Pascal put the phone back on the desk, took a breath and relaxed, with a clear excitement on his face, nodded and said: "Yes, it is 5.3 million in the morning and night, the first day at the box office is 30.5 million US dollars, God. It’s unbelievable, $30.5 million. I have been thinking that if there is $20 million on the first day, everyone should be very satisfied. You know, the first day of the Golden Eye’s box office was only 9 million. God, 30.5 million, incredible."

Bernard Wilbur heard that his wife kept sighing and didn't feel that she had any disappointment. As a film business reporter who is very familiar with Hollywood, Bernard Winlaw's shock is no less than his wife. .

You should know that the best performance of Godzilla on the first day of the summer file, with the high-end midnight box office data driven by the indiscriminate bombing campaign, the first day at the box office was only 23.75 million US dollars. Even if it is the "Hypospheric Story" of the biggest black horse in the summer, the first day of the box office is still only $20.2 million.

With its excellent reputation, "Royal Casino" will definitely not go out of the bleak box office curve of "Godzilla" or "Batman and Robin."

Then, the first day at the box office of 30.5 million US dollars, Saturday and Sunday two days at the box office will certainly not be much worse than the first day, even if the average value of 30 million US dollars per day, "Royal Casino" first weekend box office will reach 90 million US dollars The high position, the first week of breaking billions is no suspense. Even Royal Casino will definitely create another series of box office records.

Because this box office data was too unexpected, while Amy Pascal got the news, inside and outside Hollywood, many film company executives and newspaper reporters were also woken up by the phone ringing in the middle of the night. Some people were mixed and excited. Difficult to sleep, and even some people suspect that this is a prank, countless newspapers in North America re-write the press release overnight.

In the case of a horrible box office in the summer, the first day of the Royal Casino was undoubtedly dazzling in the eyes of many people. Therefore, the next day, there was even a lot of questioning on the first day of the Royal Casino. News from the box office.

However, the reality quickly made these media shut up.

After the first day of 30.5 million, on Saturday, the "royal casino" single-day box office not only did not fall, but reached a new high, reaching $33.85 million. On the following Sunday, although the box office decline was somewhat obvious, the one-day box office was still as high as $26.7 million.

Three days from June 27th to June 29th, the Royal Casino's first weekend box office reached an unprecedented $9105 million. Even "National Mobilization" was hit by "Royal Casino". The third-week weekend, the three-day box office fell to 40%, only 28.38 million. The box office data of "Batman and Robin" released in the second week was even more miserable. Compared with the first weekend, the box office fell 63%, and the next three days, only $15.73 million was credited, and the 10-day cumulative box office was $75.2 million. The Royal Casino is not the same as the box office at the first weekend.

When the Royal Casino’s first-quarter box office data was released, the media that had stereotypes about the box office data had to start to question in the face of reality and began to analyze the reasons for the ultra-high box office of the Royal Casino in the first weekend.

“Perhaps, from the beginning, we have far underestimated the commercial potential of the MGM movie universe.”

"In retrospect, when the new James Bond jumped from the cliff in the first egg of "Charlie's Angel", Eric Williams began to lay out the layout for this huge film project. Several sequels to the "Mission Impossible", "Jiao Jiaowa" and "007" series, MGM has been using the egg form to let the three major agents interact with each other. Through this immortality, the three major agents originally did not have The associated popularity began to merge. Eventually, when MGM officially announced the agent's film universe plan, the fans of the three major agents had formed a very large potential audience.

"Here, we have to mention another small seemingly insignificant thing that occurred during the MGM's announcement of the Special Agent's film universe in July 1995. According to media reports during that period, MGM had $2 million. The price buys all the copyrights of the 'Ghost Party' from Kevin McGrawley. The twists and turns behind this incident are going back to decades, we will not mention it for the time being. However, I am sure that Kevin· McGrawy will definitely regret this business in the future."

“Back to the topic, when I bought the copyright of the 'Ghost Party', MGM, Flower Film, DreamWorks and the three film companies merged under the control of Eric Williams. The three agents series With the 'Ghost Party' as the ultimate villain, from the "Mission Impossible 2", officially opened the agent film universe cross-integration plan. Until the "Royal Casino of 007" was released, the MGM movie universe has actually relied on "霹雳娇娃1", "Mission Impossible 1", "Golden Eyes of 007", "Jiao Jiaowa 2", "Mission Impossible 2" five films, laid a deep popularity base. "007 Royal Casino" bursting box office data It is these three series of special agents that originally had a strong box office appeal. After a few years of popularity, the more powerful box office becomes a reality."

The article in "Hollywood Reporter" deeply analyzes the deep-seated reasons for the high box office of "Royal Casino". This article has made Hollywood's thoughts that the boxing stimulus of the Titanic has not cooled down. Retrieve the movie copyright library for the existence of a series of auctions that can build a movie universe.

Although Firefly’s plan to create the Marvel movie universe has not yet been officially announced, this news is no secret in the circle. Inspired by a producer of Warner Bros., a DC was quickly submitted to the group’s top management. The report of the movie universe, unfortunately, "Batman and Robin" has just experienced a fiasco. Warner Bros. is unlikely to launch DC's movie in the next few years. The report written by the producers staying up late is directly thrown into by Time Warner executives. The trash can.

"Hollywood Reporter" analyzes the reason for the box office of "Royal Casino". At the end of the first week of "Royal Casino" release, another important Hollywood magazine, Variety, also published an opinion on the Royal Casino's ultra-high box office. .

"'The audience is looking forward to a good movie. If the film company only has the ambition to catch up with the "Titanic" box office, but does not pay the sincerity of "Titanic", then they are doomed to failure." Eric Williams The answer to the reporter's question at the Royal Casino's London premiere is undoubtedly the most realistic commentary on the performance of this summer file.

“It’s true that when a film company invests tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in a movie, it’s impossible to stop doing the film. But as we all know, since the birth of the film, the budget has always been There is no direct relationship between the quality of the film, and the ability of film characters, such as screenwriters, actors, directors, producers, etc., has a strong influence on a film. Before the Royal Casino, two other ambitious films were published. Godzilla and Batman and Robin have more budgets than Royal Casino. But among them, only Casino Royale perfectly realizes the elements that a commercial blockbuster should have. The plot, the hot scenes, the meticulous lines, the three-dimensional characters, etc. Through the "Casino Royale", Eric Williams, who regained the guide after four years of silence, once again perfectly showed his director and film. The amazing talent in production. In four years, when we thought that this once relied on "Little Ghosts", "Ghosts", "Tornados" The young people who have stepped into the peak of Hollywood, such as Jurassic Park, will accumulate a huge amount of wealth, and will rely on a phoenix-like series of old-fashioned agents who have continued for 30 years. Redefining, Eric Williams once again showed us what is called the return of the king."

"Although the two boxing movies of "Lion King 2" and "Finding Nemo" performed very well at the box office in June, this does not change the market position of live film as the mainstream demand for the movie. However, this should be the most live-action movie. The summer file of the best-selling period, a series of mediocre movies that are mediocre or poor or awkward, have repeatedly hit the confidence of fans into the cinema. According to statistics, from the summer of May 30 to the release of "Royal Casino" before Last year, the number of people in the northern beauty of the four-week period dropped by 18%. This is still not the case of the two major movie "Lion King 2" and "Finding Nemo".

"However, although the summer movie live-action movie is continuously disappointing, as the necessary entertainment activities in people's lives, the movie-shaping demand for fans has not disappeared. The word-of-mouth "Royal Casino" turned out to fill the summer file. A large number of market vacancies accumulated in the early stage. So, in the eyes of everyone's horror and even questioning, "Royal Casino" broke the deadly box office with a first day of $30.5 million, the first weekend of $91.05 million, and the first week of $117.51 ​​million. All box office records in Hollywood."