Made in Hollywood

"Here is a report sent by Warner TV from the Man's Village Theater in Westwood. Behind me, the premiere of "The Matrix 2: Reloading", which is highly anticipated by audiences worldwide, is underway..."

The camera lens turned to the red carpet, and the reporter used a voice-over to explain.

"Today can be described as shining stars. The actor Keanu Reeves in the film came to the scene in person and waved to the fans present, which made the atmosphere of the scene soar. The heroine Charlize Theron appeared gorgeously, and the male audience on the scene was almost attracted by it. Crazy..."

"Other actors of the film such as Hugo Weaving, Monica Bellucci and Jada Smith also attended the premiere. And Jada Smith and her husband Will Smith both attended the show. Singing with husband. In addition, many stars and directors have also appeared on the red carpet before, such as Demi Moore, George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh. It can be seen that the charm of the film cannot be resisted."

"It is understood that in "The Matrix 2: Reloading", Keanu Reeves’s most classic picture is one block and one hundred, one person singles out one hundred copies of Agent Smith. For this battle picture, Keanu Levi's has been training with 12 martial arts instructors for 12 weeks. He confidently stated in the interview-my action scenes are much better than the first episode."

※⊥, "In this battle, there were more than 700 consecutive fighting moves. Director Zach Schneider required that the fighting moves not only be thrilling, but also to the flesh. In order to integrate violence and aesthetics, Keanu Reeves and action director Tiger Chen Yu His action team worked without sleep for several months. After filming, Keanu Reeves soaked in ice cubes almost every day to relieve muscle fatigue."

"When filming the first episode, Keanu Reeves and the other main actors in the play received nearly half a year of combat training. When the sequel "The Matrix 2" received combat training again, everyone was mentally prepared. Director Zach Schneider Said-The training of "Reloading" and "Matrix Revolution" is several times more difficult than the first, and there are many more fighting and special effects scenes for the characters."

"Zach Schneider has served as Duke Rosenberg’s deputy for a long time, and his film philosophy is the same. The sequel to The Matrix, which he took over, received unanimous praise from the media and audiences during the trial screening. The theater and audience scored a+ This sequel will not disappoint hacker fans who have been waiting for a long time..."

Duke came earlier. After arriving in the interview area, he basically stood behind Ivanka. "The Matrix" has long become a famous sign. He is just a producer, and there is no need to stand in front to grab the limelight of actors and directors.

In addition, the crew did quite a lot to promote hype and gain attention.

Monica Bellucci and Jada Smith staged a black-and-white kiss, and the media and the audience were almost maddened by the hot tongue kiss; the twin actor Lemont brothers performed close combat on the spot, and the two showed a unique tacit understanding. The actions are almost exactly the same; the guardian angel Zou Zhaolong performs a 360-degree flying kick in front of countless cameras, causing a scream of ‘cool’...

As for the heroes and heroines Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, they don't need to do anything at all. Just standing here is enough to arouse fanatics.

"Let's go in."

After the drama group filming, Dukla left with Ivanka first, entered the theater, and walked towards the VIP lounge.

Duke has already watched "The Matrix 2: Reloading". I'm not very worried about the film, not to mention the expectations after the first one. He and Zach Schneider have worked together for many years. The concepts of the two parties cannot be said to be completely the same, but they are also extremely similar. The final adult film has more commercial elements, and those tricks are almost endless, the discussion of the so-called philosophy. Nor does it exceed the level of the first part.

In this world, 99% of the time, the simpler the plot, the less likely to be seen by film critics, but the easier it is to achieve commercial success.

Whether it is Duke. Or Zach Schneider, knows this very well.

Especially Duke, who holds the final editing rights in his hands, will certainly not let the film go the same way as the Wachowski brothers and sisters.

No one can deny that there are many directors who care about the professional evaluation of film critics. The Wachowski brother and sister should be one of them. Once the brother and sister succeeded, they were overwhelmed by the praise of film critics. In some ways, it was even brought into the ditch by the rather small group of film critics.

The works written and directed by the brothers and sisters later, from "V-Vendetta" to "Cloud Atlas", the professional reputation is quite good, but the market response is very ordinary, the mainstream audience basically does not buy it, which makes them enter the high professional reputation And the vicious circle of low business feedback, finally had to eat the foundation of The Matrix.

They are not the first director to be brought into the ditch by film critics, nor will they be the last.

After all, it is useless to have a professional reputation. If the director's film can't bring real income, it is impossible to get the investment of the production company.

Throughout Hollywood, directors like Duke who invest in their own films can be described as extremely rare, whether they are top directors like James Cameron and Steven Spielberg, or those obscure b-level film directors. , Most of them are following the default rules in the director circle-directors do not invest in their own films.

Most Hollywood directors would rather invest in other industries such as the stock market and real estate than invest a dollar in their own films.

To put it bluntly, making a movie is similar to gambling in a sense.

Entering the VIP lounge, Duke had just a brief socializing circle, and Steven Soderbergh walked over.

"I never said thank you."

The bald director is very friendly, although his face is always unsmiling, his tone is somewhat close, "If you need anything, just speak up."

"You are too polite, Steven." Duke politely placed himself on the same line as the opponent, "We are all victims."

"Yeah, Duke is right."

George Clooney came over at this moment, "We are all victims."

After speaking, he reached out to Ivanka, "Hello, Miss Trump, it's nice to meet you."

Ivanka shook his hand lightly, "Hello, George, I am also glad to meet you."

Steven Soderbergh is different from George Clooney. He is a relatively silent person. After saying a few words, he voluntarily left. George Clooney is very talkative, and his words are faint to please Duke. meaning.

This actor with a vaguely A-grade star posture can be said to be quite disturbing. The business that had risen rapidly in the 1990s was almost destroyed in the hands of "Batman and Robin" until last year's "Eleven Arhats" With the thigh of Steven Soderberg in his arms, he got rid of the depression completely.

Frankly speaking, Duke doesn't like him very much. George Clooney will be more like a politician in the future than an actor. He can become an A-rated star, and the appeal of movies and the market is only part of it.

Just like getting an Oscar for best actor and actress, there are many ways to become an A-rated star and maintain your status. For example, Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron, etc., are using fashion to brush themselves There is a sense of existence, and George Clooney chose an easier path to success for actors, using politics to brush his style.

Of course, perhaps this might not have the idea of ​​becoming the next Ronald Reagan.

Similar to Harrison Ford, George Clooney has a wide network of relationships in politics. Duke has no conflict of interest with him, and even if he dislikes him because of his previous opinions, there is no need to engage in hostility.

If you use the position and viewpoint of the previous life as a measure to determine your position, then the entire Hollywood is basically his enemy.

Standing in the present position, Duke knew exactly what to do to best serve his own interests.

"Oh, yes, I haven't congratulated you yet, Duke."

George Clooney is quite clever. He talks about movies. "The "Two Towers" is a big hit at the box office and its surroundings, and it will definitely surpass "The Fellowship of the Ring."

"Thank you." Duke smiled and nodded at him.

After a few more conversations, George Clooney left with a wink.

Later, Demi Moore, Mickey Locke and others came over to say hello. These people will finally mention the box office and surroundings of "The Two Towers". After all, how to look at Duke's film will be the biggest summer file. Winner.

After the release of "Spider-Man", the box office of "Two Towers" continued to decline, but it also remained at a certain level. In the past three weeks, it has won nearly 60 million US dollars in box office, and the North American box office has accumulated 436.79 million. US dollars, the global box office is as high as 999522 million US dollars.

The trend and decline of this magical masterpiece are very healthy, even for the Las Vegas market, as early as half a month ago, it no longer accepted the US$500 million in North America and the US$1.1 billion in the world. .

It is clear to both inside and outside the industry that "The Two Towers" will inevitably surpass "The Fellowship of the Ring" regardless of whether it is at the North American or global box office. Even in the eyes of professional media such as "The Hollywood Reporter", it has already been booked. Won this year’s North American and global box office champions.

In terms of peripherals, although most of the licenses were sold during "The Fellowship of the Ring", which led to a significant decrease in license revenue, the sales of various peripheral products are still amazing. In two months, the global peripheral sales have been infinitely close Four hundred million dollars!

Now Hollywood has long formed a consensus that the margins around it are much higher than the box office.

Speaking of surroundings, one cannot fail to mention DVDs, one of the pillars of Hollywood movies.

Before the Oscars, "The Fellowship of the Ring" has sold more than 24.2 million sets of discs worldwide, with sales of up to 497.3 million US dollars!

Afterwards, the crew members entered the lounge. After a while, the people in the lounge entered the theater, and the Matrix came again! (To be continued...)