Simon flew back to Los Angeles with Girl A in the afternoon. It was Thursday, July 27, and when the film was about to open on a large scale the next day, a small premiere was held in Los Angeles. Simon did not attend.
It's not a blockbuster after all.
Speaking of which, the New World Pictures team originally considered whether to conduct some pre-screenings of Kung Fu in order to accumulate word of mouth.
In the end it was not implemented.
Because it's not necessary.
Since its premiere in Cannes in May, news about kung fu has been spreading in the North American entertainment circle. Even though the star Zhou Xingxing is not as well-known in the United States as Jack Cheng, Jet Lee and others, the information has continued to wash out over the past few months. From the film itself to the leading actors, anyone who has paid a little attention to the Chinese-language film screen is already very familiar with it.
In addition, recently, the film has frequently set box office records in the Chinese-speaking regions on the other side of the ocean, creating a low-cost but highly effective publicity topic here.
Even the premiere on July 27th.
Although Simon did not attend the premiere, not only a large group of Chinese faces who are familiar in North America, but also many local Hollywood stars were arranged to attend the premiere. The last wave of assists and promotions on the online platform were even more impressive. widely.
In short, a movie has accumulated enough popularity and reputation before it is released. It even has the popularity foundation laid by Chinese films in this period in previous years. Next, all you need to watch is the movie itself. market performance.
Friday, July 28th.
In the new box office week, Kung Fu officially opened in North America with 2,509 screens. For a Chinese-language film, this opening scale is enough.
Meanwhile, there's also a box office week that just ended.
The Black Dahlia directed by Brian De Palma unsurprisingly successfully reached the top spot. However, this is obviously because the summer season has entered the second half of the season. Coupled with its own subject matter limitations, the performance of The Black Dahlia is far inferior to that of June or even the first day of July. The series of blockbusters was so strong that the box office in the first week was US$43.91 million.
Within expectations.
The final box office of the film in North America is probably around the 100 million threshold. Compared to the production cost of The Black Dahlia, which is US$50 million, the early production investment can be recouped only in the North American theater stage, and overseas can enter the profit cycle in the same period.
As the second project of the "L.A. Trilogy", it is expected that it is unlikely to win the Oscar this time. At most, it will only be Mia Kirschner's Best Supporting Actress nomination plus one or two technical awards, but commercially Still successful. Of course, it was a moderate success, not a dark horse, but there was nothing unsatisfactory about it.
Then, Daenerys Entertainment’s own The Hangover 2 is worth mentioning. In its fourth week of release, it collected another US$16.43 million, bringing the cumulative box office to US$166.19 million.
Due to a deep 55% drop in the previous week, The Hangover 2 has no hope of hitting 200 million US dollars. However, based on the current trend, the final local box office will be between 180 million and 190 million US dollars.
Not only that, judging from overseas feedback in recent weeks, The Hangover 2's overseas box office is expected to reach between US$300 million and US$400 million, eventually pushing the film's total global box office to more than US$500 million.
With a total investment of US$80 million in production and promotion, the global revenue exceeded US$500 million. It is expected to earn a net profit of US$150 million in the theater stage alone, making it a great success.
With the huge sales of The Hangover 2, as expected, Ukraine has become a very popular tourist destination this summer, especially Rivni in Rivne Oblast. The recent increase in tourists has increased by more than 300% compared to the same period last year. For a while, I couldn't handle it.
At the same time, the success of the film itself has also made the third part the focus of many people's attention.
Not only the main creators of the project and Daenerys’ internal team, the outside world is also paying close attention to the next sequel project of this series, because Atlantic City in the first part and Rivny in Ukraine in the second part are both due to their roles in the movie. The filming has received good publicity, and some cities have even taken the initiative to contact them, hoping to become the filming location for The Hangover 3.
Simon was not very interested in this.
Not only was the previously set strategy of delaying the development of the sequel, the first two films were so successful, it is inevitable that the production cost of The Hangover 3 will further increase to more than 70 million. It is considered a public announcement, and the final investment is likely to reach more than 100 million US dollars.
Although as long as there are no big mistakes, even if the cost increases significantly, it is still not difficult to make a profit. Moreover, compared with various original projects, the risk is actually quite small, but after all, it feels like a waste of food and a pity to abandon.
In short, Simon has no plans to start a sequel in the short term as long as there are no shortage of other better options.
Next up is Charlie's Angels 2.
In the fifth week of its release, Charlie's Angels 2's single-week box office dropped to 13.49 million US dollars. However, compared to The Hangover 2, which unfortunately stopped within the 200 million threshold, and also started at the 90 million level in its first week, Charlie's Angels 2 had a box office of $13.49 million in the previous week. It has successfully exceeded the 200 million domestic mark, and this week's box office went further, reaching 220.22 million US dollars.
It is expected that there will be a box office potential of about 20 million in the follow-up, and the final box office will be around US$240 million.
In addition, the overseas performance of Charlie's Angels 2 is also better than that of The Hangover 2. According to overseas feedback in recent weeks, the final overseas revenue is expected to be more than 400 million US dollars. All theatrical releases will be completed, and the global box office will eventually reach 600 million to 700 million. Dollar.
The last thing worth mentioning is Finding Nemo.
This 3D animated film, which opened in early June, has made exactly 10.01 million U.S. dollars in just the past week, and will slip into the box office range of 10 million U.S. dollars this week.
In the eight weeks since its release, Finding Nemo has grossed a total box office of US$332.66 million, and is expected to collect another US$20 million in the future, pushing the film's total local box office to US$350 million. This is not a big problem.
In addition, in the past two months, the overseas box office of Finding Nemo has exceeded US$400 million, and it is expected that it will earn another US$200 million, and the overseas box office will eventually reach US$600 million.
350 million locally, 600 million overseas, and more than 900 million US dollars globally. It is obvious whether we can finally break through the 1 billion threshold. Although everyone is looking forward to it, we have to admit that it seems that the door is right in front of us. In fact, if we want to cross, It's not easy after all.
Regardless, Finding Nemo is already the most successful movie of 2000 so far.
What's a bit regretful is the surroundings.
During this time, clownfish from all over the world were sold to the extent that animal protection organizations jumped out to protest, but Daenerys Entertainment could not do this live fish business after all.
With the release of Kung Fu, the 2000 North American summer season has entered the final stage, and at the same time, the time has quickly come to August.
In the new month, Simon's first concern is another G8 summit from July 31 to August 2.
This year's G8 Summit was held in Okinawa, Japan. There were two main topics, one was still globalization, and the other was new technology.
Simon has participated in the excitement of G8 in the UK and Germany in the past two years. It stands to reason that this year's topic will also include new technologies, so he should attend.
However, I didn't go.
Apart from the US military base, there really isn’t much else to pay attention to in Okinawa, not to mention that I had only been to Asia not long ago and was too lazy to travel again.
Of course, on the other hand, Japan does not want Simon to appear.
The Westeros Effect is so scary.
In fact, I have also thought about doing this on purpose. I don’t care if you are afraid or not. But, we are all adults and so busy, so forget it.
Although Simon did not attend, the three-day meeting was quite lively.
In addition to Clinton and other heads of state from the seven countries who will soon arrive in Vietnam, where the Westeros system is more concerned, leaders of many regional countries have also been invited.
Then, a group of small countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia also issued a communiqué before the G8 communique was released.
The content is mainly condemnation.
Condemn developed countries for failing to fulfill their commitments to help reduce the debt of developing countries.
This is actually a topic that has been covered at G8 conferences for several consecutive years after the Asian financial crisis. But of course, everyone is just talking. In this regard, the spokesperson of the G8 meeting also publicly stated that developed countries can only provide assistance and reduce debt, and mainly rely on the efforts of developing countries.
Saying it means not saying it.
Then there are the residents of Okinawa who are protesting against the stationing of US troops in Okinawa as usual. Another troublesome incident happened recently. A US soldier in Okinawa, well, according to the official words, forcibly had sex with a local middle school girl. He should not have been wearing something, otherwise It certainly doesn't count.
In short, it once again caused public dissatisfaction.
Not only that, South Korea, which has always been at odds with Japan, still echoes this from a distance.
Seoul residents protested against the local garrison's destruction of the environment and the direct discharge of untreated formaldehyde and other toxic substances into the Han River.
Speaking of which, when Simon saw this kind of news, he immediately understood the source of inspiration for the Han River monster in the original time and space.
It's exactly the same.
In addition, there are actually details. Formaldehyde and other substances emitted by the US military seem to be used to preserve corpses. As we all know, high-concentration formaldehyde is formalin. As for why corpses are preserved and what corpses are preserved, Simon did not inquire in depth. After all, it affects appetite too much.
Two things that happened at the same time ended up with a good result.
Apologize.
Local U.S. military representatives in Okinawa and Seoul have apologized and stated that they will conduct an investigation and strictly deal with those responsible.
Barabara.
Speaking of which, it has become a habit for the US military stationed in Japan to apologize. Anyway, it will definitely not change.
However, in Seoul, according to the news, this is the first time that the US military has publicly apologized for its actions since the US military stationed in South Korea in 1945.
first!
The treatment is clear at a glance.
Regarding my own son, I am not doing well here, so I will express it to some extent.
Yes, Simon didn't know how to describe it. In short, it was the first apology in half a century.
However, as the largest country in the universe, by extending time to the 20 billion-year life span of the universe, the US military, which has only been stationed in South Korea for half a human century, is equivalent to an apology in an instant, which is definitely a big gain. Totally victorious.
Therefore, local newspapers in South Korea generally reported the incident in a triumphant tone.
After paying attention to the excitement on the other side of the ocean from afar, Simon's attention turned back to North America again.
The box office week from July 28th to August 3rd ended quickly.
The much-anticipated Kung Fu did not disappoint. In its first week of release in North America, it successfully earned a box office of US$37.93 million, with an average theater average of US$13,000, which is quite a hit.
Speaking of which, both Simon and the publicity team were a little worried that North American audiences would not adapt to Zhou Xingxing's acting style. Even though Zhou has quite restrained his personal characteristics in this movie, fortunately, the worries did not happen. .
37.93 million in the first week. It may be difficult to break 100 million, but there will be no problem if it reaches 80 million US dollars.
On par with a hero.
After all, the production cost of Kung Fu was only 25 million U.S. dollars. Previously, it was only in mainland China. It is estimated that the box office of 500 million yuan has already recovered most of the cost. In North America, whatever it takes is profit.
Of course, Simon's personal satisfaction does not mean that everyone is satisfied.
Compared with the regrets of the main creators and other relevant parties, including Zhou, Simon has always remained sober.
After all, Chinese movies just opened a "Kung Fu" label in North America.
Although Simon is not like some people in the original timeline thought, Westerners have watched a few movies and lost interest, thus causing Chinese-language films to lose the market in Hollywood. In fact, it is just that Chinese-language filmmakers themselves have failed to make good films. And carry out good publicity, but if you can't get rid of this label, after all, it won't last long.
Simon, on the other hand, was initially enthusiastic about the incident.
Gradually, however, there was inevitably some struggle.
After all, it is a fish that has landed.
In any case, let’s talk about the future in the future.
Things are happening one after another at the moment.
For example, this weekend, I did not leave Los Angeles and worked as usual. In the morning, I decided to watch the documentary Brahmaputra Grand Canyon, which has entered the final stage of release.
This is a project that comes right after last year’s Everest.
Speaking of which, if it succeeds, even if it is slightly worse than last year's Mount Everest, as long as it arouses enough response, it can create a small label for Chinese films that is not too mainstream.
The film's creative team has obviously worked hard towards this goal.
At the previous premiere of Kung Fu, Jiang Mi not only dressed up as the star of the Brahmaputra Grand Canyon and stunned the audience, but even for the first time, as a premiere film, it also included a trailer. It is this A trailer for the documentary.
In short, Brahmaputra Grand Canyon, scheduled to be released on August 18, has attracted a lot of attention with the gimmick of succeeding last year's Mount Everest, coupled with a series of recent small-scale promotions.
Although the release was so close that it was certainly too late to make changes, Simon still planned to see it for himself.
Unexpectedly, not long after the documentary started playing in a small screening room at Daenerys Studios, Simon was suddenly knocked on the door by a woman.