Chapter 742 Downhill
In recent years, George Lucas has not made any major directorial debuts. Even after he re-edited the screens of Star Wars with modern technology, some fans of the original trilogy regarded him as the Lord of the Sith criticize.
However, in the industry, George Lucas and his Lucasfilm established the model of today's Hollywood blockbusters, which can be described as a consensus.
Even someone like James Cameron is full of praise for him.
At the Avatar promotion meeting that Duke and James Cameron attended together, the king of the world once expressed his gratitude and respect to Lucas was unlimited.
He developed digital effects, digital editing, digital sound, and digital photography with the resources available, and he opened the door for me to shoot what I had in mind.
Although Lucas's ability to tell stories was not mentioned, James Cameron spoke highly of his creation and innovation of Hollywood film technology-I think everything he contributed to the entire film industry is far more than what he received He is the Thomas Edison of the film industry.
As a director, George Lucas is not top-notch; as a screenwriter, some of George Lucas’s works are unqualified, especially when dealing with emotional dialogue is at the kindergarten level; but as a filmmaker, George Lucas is definitely a genius , an outstanding god-level existence.
He has had as much influence on cinema as Coppola, Cameron, Hitchcock or anyone else.
More importantly, George Lucas not only revolutionized the entire film industry with special effects technology, but also promoted the development of film peripheral products.
James Cameron can be said to be another pioneer of Hollywood film technology after George Lucas.
On December 16th, there was a huge crowd of people in front of the Chinese Grand Theater in Hollywood. The scale and liveliness of the premiere was no less than that of the Oscars. Hundreds of well-known Hollywood figures have already walked into the theater one after another. Just like ordinary audiences, Hollywood stars seem to want to watch this biggest production in history as soon as possible.
Can one person really change the whole world? At least from James Cameron, the answer we got is yes.
in the interview area. Facing the microphones of countless reporters, Duke did not hesitate to praise James Cameron, Because this Avatar will upgrade the entire industry to an unprecedented height!
He tried his best to promote this film, and he was not worried that it would end up being a laughing stock. The quality of the film is the source of confidence.
During the period before the release of Avatar, many strange voices circulated on the Internet or in the media. For example, just the scale of investment in publicity has been spat on by the few veteran film critics, but their current influence can only be said to be better than nothing, and it will basically not affect the market response of the film.
Some people also expressed their views on the film in the media. For example, some independent directors claim that Hollywood film companies are simply crazy to invest such a huge amount of money in making a film, if these funds are transferred to the independent film circle. How many literary films or low-budget independent films can be shot?
But anyone with a clear head knows that if Hollywood film companies really invest this money in literary films. That's crazy.
Furthermore, many people and the media expressed their disapproval of this film, thinking that the investors' money would definitely be in vain.
Investors such as Duke, Warner Bros., and Twentieth Century Fox were too lazy to respond to such remarks.
Looking back at James Cameron's filming history, starting with Terminator 2. From True Lies to Titanic, the investment amount of blockbuster films has repeatedly been refreshed. Every time before the release, a large number of so-called professionals think that it will fail badly at the box office and so on.
The most typical example is Titanic. At that time, film critics said that James Cameron was the biggest idiot in the world, and Titanic would be the biggest box office disaster of this century... But after the film was released, these people were collectively dumb Mouth, the film's box office ruthlessly shattered their last bit of face, and it also made people realize that professional film critics are actually nothing.
Everyone knows that James Cameron is a money-burning machine, but he has the ability to double the investment money, and even if he puts his own salary into it, he must make the most perfect effect in his mind.
When he walked to the poster to take a group photo, Duke saw an interesting scene. Suzy Amis and Catherine Bigelow stood beside Cameron, taking a photo with the King of the World without any suspicion.
It's not uncommon for ex-couples or ex-boyfriends in Hollywood, it's such a big circle, especially the top tiers, and it's always those people who come and go, often meet in public.
Duke and Catherine Bigelow, who was in the independent film circle, were not familiar with each other, so they just nodded and walked into the theater together with the crew.
The main hall of the Chinese Grand Theater in Hollywood has long been transformed into an IMAX movie hall by IMAX Corporation. IMAX Corporation has placed more expectations on Avatar, hoping that this super giant system can quickly spread the global IMAX3D craze after Transformers Totally pushed to the top.
You're late, Duke.
Just sitting in his seat, someone next to him greeted him, and Duke replied with a smile, You came early, Doug.
The person next to him was Doug Walter, CEO of Warner Bros. He said with emotion, It's a pity that such a huge production is not completely owned by Warner Bros.
Duke smiled, but said nothing.
Doug Walter said to Duke again, By the way, the DVD sales of Fury Road in the first week have been calculated, and they did not exceed 100 million US dollars.
The future will only be lower. Duke is not surprised, The entire DVD industry is going downhill.
Although the upsurge of Fury Road has long passed in North America, in some local theaters that specialize in showing cut films, it was not released until the beginning of December. The best of R-rated films.
In addition, the film has basically ended its overseas screenings, with a cumulative overseas box office of more than 350 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office successfully crossed the 600 million U.S. dollar mark, with a reported revenue of 642.1 million U.S. dollars!
That's not an easy feat for an R-rated movie, and it's a figure that would make it into the top five of the top-grossing R-rated movies.
After chatting with Doug Walter, Duke didn't have to wait long, and the screening of Avatar kicked off. Except for minor changes, the film was basically the same as the preview version he saw in Wellington. There are too many differences. The film is definitely a huge breakthrough in film technology. The story and plot are still thin, which makes Duke, who prefers human beings, feel helpless.
No matter what meaning James Cameron gave to the Na'vi, in the minds of people like Duke, being a human is much better than being something else.
As for the picture and technology of the film, it cannot be described in words at all. Even if a thick pile of gorgeous words is piled up, it is not enough to describe the Pandora planet shown in the film.
Having said that, when watching a movie, few people hope that the protagonist will die. After all, that is where he is substituted. But even though Duke has watched the sample, when he sits here and looks at the male protagonist, he still desperately hopes that he will be killed. The human mechs were killed.
The time gradually turned to early morning, and a villa in Beverly Hills was still brightly lit. Vin Diesel was sitting on the sofa in the lounge, quietly waiting for relevant information to come. What he was concerned about was Avatar!
As far as he knew, Duke Rosenberg had invested a huge sum of 200 million U.S. dollars in this project. If the film failed, such a loss would be extremely painful even if it was his own fortune.
People are always affected by the environment. The media and movie fans frantically compared Fast and Furious 4 with Furious Road, and kept using adjectives like 'mother', which seriously affected Van Di According to Searle's perception of Duke, Avatar staged a box office disaster, which is the result he wants and is very happy to see.
I don't know how long it took, but Vin Diesel gradually fell asleep, and his upper eyelids kept falling. Just when he was about to fall asleep in a daze, there was a knock on the door, and he immediately He stood up and shook his head to make himself more conscious.
The door was pushed open, and Vin Diesel's personal assistant walked in.
Are the statistics out?
Seeing the assistant holding a fax in his hand, Vin Diesel took two steps forward and grabbed it directly. After seeing the number on it, even if he was as calm as him, he couldn't stop a surge of joy in his heart. Could it be that his thoughts really Achieved? Two people who have never failed in commercial masterpieces in the past, are they really going to encounter Waterloo?
The moment his mind relaxed, Vin Diesel's hands trembled slightly with excitement. The box office of the midnight show of Avatar was a mess.
$6.75 million!
This is the total midnight box office of Avatar in 3,652 theaters in North America. For a sci-fi movie that has no prequels, no original works, no big stars, and a story that lacks audience recognition, this achievement is not easy.
but!
Compared with the huge investment figure of this film and the audience's expectations for this most expensive film in history, this figure is very unsatisfactory.
Vin Diesel had a light and relaxed smile on the corner of his mouth.
At the same time, in a luxury apartment far away in New York, Natalie Portman broke free from the entanglement of the man opposite him, regardless of the surprised eyes of the ballet dancer after being awakened, like a queen who controls everything , put on pajamas and walked out of the bedroom, dialed the phone number of agent Martin Miller, and after a few simple inquiries, she got the same number as Vin Diesel.
After hooking up the phone, Natalie Portman's mouth curled into an extremely beautiful arc. The facts seemed to prove to her that no one can succeed forever, even Duke Rosenberg is no exception.
The other party is indeed not the director of Avatar, but he has invested a huge amount of money in it, which is well known to everyone in Hollywood.
Duke? Rosenberg lost an astronomical sum of investment, Natalie? Portman is still very willing to see. (to be continued ^)
PS: Ask for monthly and recommendation tickets!