The second box office week of the summer season passed quickly without even realizing it.
From the week of May 20th to May 26th, the new film "Speed", which opened last Friday, relied on its strong creative lineup and excellent media reputation to successfully top the single-week box office list, earning 32.17 million US dollars in the first seven days. Although it was not as good as "Stargate"'s first-week sales of $36.61 million, it still reached the average sales level of $11,000. The market performance was basically in line with MGM's expectations.
Moreover, the box office of "Speed" was not as good as "Stargate" in its first week. This is actually due to the intensified competition in the theater market this week.
"Marvel", which was released at the same time as "Speed" and had a production budget of US$75 million, did not even get the second place on this week's list.
"Stargate" directed by Michael Bay saw its box office drop by 31% in its second week of release. It took in US$25.26 million at the box office the following week, ranking closely behind "Speed" in the list.
In two weeks, the cumulative box office of this wormhole concept science fiction adventure movie has reached 61.87 million U.S. dollars. Even if "The Dark Knight Rises" is still eyeing the release on June 3, the film's domestic box office is already certain to exceed 100 million.
In the past, "Stargate" has developed into a very large series with movie sequels and TV changes. This time, after the film's box office success, Daenerys Entertainment also began to consider the possibility of developing sequels, producing TV series and even developing game peripherals. .
Richard Donner and Mel Gibson's "Marvel" failed to replicate the success of the "Lethal Weapon" series. It had a production budget of US$75 million and a promotion of US$30 million. In the end, it was only released for Warner Bros. Pictures. The film brought in a box office of US$20.72 million in its first week, with an average theater average barely exceeding US$8,000, and it only ranked third in the single-week box office list.
The box office in the first week was only 20.72 million US dollars. Considering the upcoming "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" on June 3, Time Warner's huge loss on this project is almost inevitable.
In Simon's view, Hollywood westerns in the blockbuster era of heavy investment and special effects are just like the martial arts films after the new century on the other side of the ocean. They are destined to be a type of movie that is difficult to attract the interest of the core young audience.
After the top three, the fourth-ranked romance film "When a Man Loves a Woman" starring Meg Ryan began to lag behind significantly in box office performance. The film's box office dropped 32% the next week, with box office revenue of only 7.67 million U.S. dollars, with a total of 1,896 in two weeks. million, which is not even as good as the first-week results of any of the top three movies on the list.
The fifth place on the list is not Spike Lee's new film "The Great Race," which opened in the first week of the summer season on May 13, but "Phantom", which was released in its seventh week. The film's box office dropped by 25% in the past week. %, and collected another US$4.51 million, bringing the cumulative box office to US$87.73 million.
Although it is only a little over 12 million US dollars away from breaking 100 million at the box office, considering the release of "The Dark Knight Rises" on June 3, Jim Carrey's low-brow spoof comedy is still very unlikely to achieve a local box office of over 100 million. big.
There are a total of 16 mainstream theater movies released in North America at the same time this week. The cumulative box office of the top five films in a single week has reached 90.33 million U.S. dollars. Although the single-week box office of the remaining 11 films is less than 5 million U.S. dollars, the cumulative box office is also 22.79 million U.S. dollars. The week from May 20 to May 26 became the first seven-day box office week in 1994 with a total of over 100 million U.S. dollars, and the single-week box office total reached 113 million U.S. dollars.
On May 27, the week before "The Dark Knight Rises" was released, all the films that were unwilling to be crushed by this super blockbuster that was destined to be a phenomenon next week were avoiding it, which resulted in only a few films opening this week. Non-mainstream films with a scale of hundreds or tens of dollars were released.
Highgate Pictures this week launched "Cowgirl Blues" directed by the famous independent director Gus Van Sant, starring Uma Thurman, telling the wandering story of a girl with a deformed thumb. The film started filming The screen size is 327.
This is already the second film that Gomen Pictures has collaborated with Gus Van Sant, who first attracted the attention of the industry with "The Cowherd".
Gus Van Sant's last widely acclaimed "Unruly Skies" was invested by Gomen Pictures and starred Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix. As a low-cost literary film, several The main creator took the initiative to cut his salary to star in the film, with a budget of only US$3 million. After the film was released, it made a box office of 7.28 million US dollars in North America alone. Relying on River Phoenix's Venice Best Actor and the film's own literary and artistic themes, it sold better in Europe, which is considered a small success.
As a result, the production budget for "Cowgirl Blues" increased to $8 million.
The film was completed last year, and the response from several film festivals was very mediocre, so we chose the May 27th release date.
The popular summer movies are very friendly to commercial films. As for literary and artistic films, especially niche literary and artistic films with no big-name starring actors and very average reputations, basically there will be no blessing. Gaomen Pictures chose this schedule just in case. In the past, small films with unknown actors and actresses with generally good reputations have not failed to succeed. Maybe the audience will like it
Simon doesn't have any expectations for "Cowgirl Blues". It's a small loss before "The Dark Knight Rises". It's like burning incense and making an offering. After all, you can't always make money all the time. It's beneficial to pay money once in a while. body and mind.
Also released at the same time as "Cowgirl Blues" was "The Princess and the Goblin," an animated film invested and distributed by the independent British film company Hemdale.
Helmdale is very unfamiliar to most people, but this film company invested in a famous science fiction film in the 1980s, James Cameron's "Terminator."
The North American theatrical distribution of the first "Terminator" was handled by Orion Pictures, but it was Helmdale Company that invested in the production, and the original copyright was also in the hands of the other party. When making "Terminator 2", Fox spent US$3 million plus 5% of the net box office profits to obtain the rights from Hemdale.
According to the original agreement, after "Terminator 2", the rights to this science fiction series were shared between Fox and Daenerys. The global box office of "Terminator 2" exceeded US$500 million, and the potential value of this IP copyright has directly risen to tens of millions. Of course, neither Fox nor Daenerys has plans to sell this copyright.
This time "The Princess and the Goblin" does not have any of the sales of "Terminator". It is produced and sold by Helmdale Company, and the number of opening screens is only 769.
In addition to the two new films with screen numbers reaching hundreds of dollars, there are three other niche films with openings of only a few tens of dollars, which are not worth mentioning. All in all, this week can basically be regarded as the calm before the storm, and it also gives room for the last week of box office performance of new films released half a month ago.
Simon returned to Los Angeles with Janet on Friday, May 27. The family spent the weekend together and did not leave the West Coast again in the new week.
Mainly to attend the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, which is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1st.
Last week, Janet personally rushed to Washington to communicate with Congress about the merger of the asset management department of State Street Bank. Unfortunately, there has still been no progress. However, some people have privately offered a 'price'. In order for Congress to approve this transaction, the Westeros system must first give up interfering in this year's mid-term elections.
Apparently many people have felt pressured by the political offensive of the Westeros system during this period, and there have even been rumors that Congress will investigate the Westeros system's illegal interference in political campaigns.
Simon isn't actually worried about the investigation.
Simon is young enough now and has enough time to lay out the political power of the Westeros system. There is no imminent crisis at the moment, so he has no reason to deliberately use illegal methods to interfere in the election.
Moreover, the political lobbying activities of the Westeros system are monitored by a dedicated compliance team at all times. Perhaps many small actions are inevitably ignored, but this is just like the various tax avoidance methods in this country. It may not be legal, but it is not illegal either. , basically a gray area within everyone’s default game rules.
The biggest reason why many people in Congress feel threatened is that the capital strength of the Westeros system is too strong.
In this era when many of the top richest people still only have billions of dollars in net worth, Simon's total personal assets have reached a terrifying US$200 billion, and the entire Westeros system is even larger. As a result, other top political donors can spend tens of millions of dollars in cash to support campaigns every year, which is already a lot of money, but the Westeros system can easily mobilize hundreds of millions of dollars in funds.
Realizing the fundamental obstacles in this matter, the couple discussed and finally gave up on using prosecution to resolve the matter.
For mergers and acquisitions involving tens of billions of dollars in assets, if a lawsuit is actually launched, the result will definitely be more protracted. If you don't have one or two years to get results from Washington, it is better to wait patiently for half a year.
After the mid-term elections in November, think about the 1994 mid-term elections in which the entire American political class was silent on the National Rifle Association. As long as the "sniper plan" of the Westeros system can be completed, many people in Congress should reconsider offending the Vigilantes. Consequences of the Stroll System.
After waiting for as long as half a year, it is difficult to ensure that there will be no changes.
The result of the discussion between the Simons and the Cersei Capital team was to start cooperation with State Street Bank as early as possible to prevent the acquisition from being ruined within six months, which was considered to be a warm-up for the merger of the two parties in advance.
Of course, in the past six months, the lobbying attempts will not stop.
Although unsatisfactory, this is undoubtedly the best solution to the whole thing.
As for the Hearst Group, after more than a week of silence, the Hearst family once again took the initiative to contact Simon, trying to lower the conditions previously offered by Simon through negotiations.
Simon simply ignored it.
Faced with the pressure of fierce public opinion, the French government finally issued an expulsion order for William Hearst III, who fled to Paris, requiring him to leave France before May 31. This man has recently lost control of his family business and has a large personal portfolio. The former head of the Hearst family, whose assets were also frozen, had to hide in Morocco when other major European countries were unwilling to accept him.
After all, the public is forgetful.
After a month of intense speculation, the public opinion storm caused by the murder of Doris Fetcher has gradually cooled down.
If that were the case, perhaps it would be like the News Corp. that experienced the eavesdropping scandal in Simon's memory, losing a newspaper but not losing its vitality. However, a series of official investigations, claims and lawsuits, partner abandonment and other crackdowns against the Hearst Group have not ended. This is the fundamental damage to the Hearst Group.
On the other hand, two reporters from The News-Times in Danbury, Connecticut, who were very interested in the Woodfield Manor bombing, quietly left Pittsburgh in disgrace after some strong pressure from the paper's management. Some other media outlets that originally followed the bombing gradually gave up following up.
The cooling of the media's popularity is not only the result of the quiet operation of the Westeros system, but also a scene that the officials hope to see.
Many important clues in the bombing case have been unsustainable after some investigation. To continue the investigation forcefully will not only consume a lot of government resources, but it is really difficult to achieve any results. Even if the federal officials in Washington have a rough understanding of the vague inside story, they would like to investigate the case. The Stroll system was in trouble, and they did not dare to rashly lift the lid without any solid evidence.
After all, this accusation is too serious.
If it is revealed rashly, the Westeros system may be disgraced, and for some people who cannot produce evidence, their political career may be completely ruined.
It is impossible to reveal the truth even indirectly through some tabloids in the form of conspiracy theories.
Tabloids are after all looking for money.
The fundamental purpose of exposing various conspiracy theories is to create gimmicks and boost newspaper sales.
Typically, tabloid conspiracy theories point to the federal government. Including the president, Congress and various other government departments, the public likes to hear this kind of gossip, and Washington usually does not take it seriously.
However, if it is aimed at a large chaebol with assets reaching hundreds of billions of dollars, then it is not seeking wealth, but completely playing with fire.
If such an incident is revealed and the Westeros system pursues it fiercely, it will definitely not be enough to close a newspaper. A lot of people will be in bad luck, and the person behind the exposure of the operation will not be able to escape easily. Many truths that seem to be deeply hidden are only for the general public who lack information channels. It is not difficult for the powerful Westeros system to get to the bottom of something, and no evidence is needed at all.
Think of an assassination that didn't even make a splash and triggered a series of vicious revenge.
Exposing this matter may only bring ashes to the face of Westeros, but the person who is behind the scenes may lose his own life or even the life of his family. Anyone who knows the inside story of the Woodfield Manor bombing will probably not think that Simon Westeros is not capable of such a thing. Everyone has a big business and there is no need to kill Westeros if they can't bring it down. .
As time goes by, more traces will be erased, and there will no longer be any truth in this matter.
It’s a new week and time is quickly entering June.
On Wednesday, June 1, International Children’s Day, the much-anticipated premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” will be held at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles at 6 p.m. West Coast time.
However, on this day, former record industry tycoon David Geffen, legendary Hollywood director Steven Spielberg and former Disney production department head Jeffrey Katzenberg were early in the morning on the East Coast. Created a huge piece of news.
Three entertainment industry figures who are also important supporters of the Democratic Party were originally guests at the White House the previous weekend. At ten o'clock in the morning on the East Coast, the three people suddenly held a press conference in Washington, announcing that they would work together to establish a new Hollywood film company. Company, DreamWorks.