Perhaps trying to dispel the fright caused by the LA riots, crowds flocked to theaters on May 15 when crime-action film Lethal Weapon 3, the third installment in Warner's classic series, took in more than $40 million in its opening week The box office was a good start for the 1992 summer film, and it also relieved many Hollywood film companies who were worried that the Los Angeles riots would affect the summer film box office.
On May 22, the third part of another classic series was released. However, "Alien 3" did not have such a good fate. Half, but the sequel cost 1.5 times as much as Lethal Weapon 3.
Although I have an impression in my memory, Eric still took the time to go to the cinema to watch this movie in person, because "Alien 3" is the same as the first two, and still has a famous director, David Fincher. As a director who started out shooting MVs, David Fincher seems to have become another person after picking up the film guide tube. Although it is the first film, "Alien 3" has already reflected David Fincher's classic dark thriller style.
The US$20 million first-week box office was far below Fox's expectations. Considering the reputation of the film, the North American box office of this sequel is 3□, and it is likely that it will not even reach the cost line. If there is no external interference, David Fincher will definitely have to return to his old job in MV for a few more years. One week after the movie was released, Eric heard that Fox had terminated the contract with David Fincher and was kicked out at the same time. There is also an executive of the Fox production department who recommended David Fincher as the director.
Although Eric was very interested in David Finch, he was not in a hurry to let people get in touch with him. Anyway, in a short time. No studio will ever invite the rookie director who just blew up the Alien franchise.
Disney originally planned to release the "Crazy Nun" in the last week of May. However, after Eric specifically warned, in order to avoid hitting the blockbuster that will be released intensively in June, Disney rescheduled "The Nun is Crazy" to July 10th.
Since the end of May, Eric has led the production team of "Tornado" to start the final publicity of the film. Although Eric's films have never had a fixed style, with the excellent quality of each film, he is still satisfied. Accumulated a large number of fans, coupled with the movie released after two years, and the visual impact of the trailer that was once on the Super Bowl. Movie fans are generally full of great expectations for "Tornado".
At the end of May, after several rounds of screenings, film reviews about "Tornado" also appeared in the media one after another. Although many film critics did not speak highly of this popcorn movie without any connotation, they cannot deny that the scene in the film With amazing realistic CG special effects, "Tornado" has also won a good reputation under the public relations of Firefly.
With everything in place, the month of May finally passed, and the rumors about the Los Angeles riots seemed to have completely died down, whether it was in the newspapers or on TV. They rarely mention this big event that shocked the world, after all. This matter is not too glorious either internally or externally.
However, it is not always easy to forget the things that have happened. Not only that, some people even want people to remember these things more deeply, hoping to bring some reflection.
For example, in front of you, there is such a person sitting in Eric's office.
a woman.
He is tall, with a straight back, and a bit of heroism in his beautiful face.
Black slim jacket, dark blue jeans, and a pair of hard-soled leather boots on the feet, it seems that he is always so meticulous.
"This is a very heart-wrenching turmoil. If we could pay attention to many links before the incident, this tragedy will definitely not happen again. But now it seems that no one is willing to carefully reflect on this tragedy. So I want to make this into a documentary, and the specific materials are here."
Catherine Bigelow said as she pushed a thick file bag in front of Eric, retracted her hand, and then added with some hesitation: "This documentary will definitely not affect the production of "Saving Private Ryan", I will Get the documentary out by the end of the year, and only... with a budget of $5 million."
Eric nodded, opened the file bag, took out the thick printed materials inside and looked down.
Catherine Bigelow couldn't see Eric's expression when he lowered his head, so he turned his attention to the hand that turned the page. Eric didn't turn the pages fast, but he was also dissatisfied. Catherine Bigelow After waiting quietly for a while, I suddenly couldn't help but said, "You don't know already, do you?"
Eric looked up at the woman, closed the project information in front of him, opened the filing cabinet next to him, and quickly took out two similar file bags from it.
For some reason, Catherine felt a little guilty when she saw this, and rarely had the urge to lower her head to avoid Eric's gaze.
"I got this one from Warner President Robert Daly a week ago, and this one was given to me by Fox. It's so sad, Catherine, I can't think of me as your last choice. I've always been I thought we were good friends," after noticing the subtle change in the woman's expression, Eric deliberately showed a sad expression.
"That's not the case. The reason why I contacted Warner and Fox first is because Warner's n and Fox's Fox News have sufficient news materials available," Catherine Bigelow explained in a slightly faster tone, but she She quickly noticed the unconcealable smile on the corner of Eric's mouth, and realized that the little man had started to tease herself habitually again. The woman immediately put away her expression: "Eric, you are like this again, you..."
The woman was clumsily searching for the appropriate words of condemnation, and Eric had already raised his hand in surrender: "Okay, Catherine, no kidding, let's talk about the documentary."
Catherine froze for a moment, a little helpless, but still made a please-saying expression: "Okay."
Eric twisted the paper in front of him with his fingers. He said in a serious tone: "Although some media have attributed this incident to the high unemployment rate in the past few years and the huge immigrant smuggling group in Los Angeles. But in fact, everyone knows that the root cause of the riots in Los Angeles is the deep-rooted racial conflict. , this issue is so sensitive that even Bush Sr. did not dare to bluntly address this issue in his televised speech, so what are you going to do?"
"I don't intend to express any opinions, I just want to show the ins and outs of this matter. Show it in a documentary from the perspective of a complete bystander," Catherine said, suddenly remembering the original intention of this idea, or from Ai Rui Some words about her movie that Ke once said to her, thinking of these, the woman couldn't help but looked up at the young man opposite, and moved away quickly the moment their eyes met.
Eric didn't seem to notice this detail, and continued: "The timing is very sensitive now, and the presidential election is coming soon, whether it is the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. They are unwilling to express too much opinion on this matter, and everyone is working hard Play it down."
"Eric. I'm not a politician," Catherine said seriously.
Eric looked at the woman's firm gaze, sighed in his heart, and said, "Catherine, you should know that there are always too many people in this world who are used to speculating about the motives of certain things with the most malicious thoughts."
Catherine shook her head: "I don't care."
"Okay, let's do it," Eric stuffed the information back into the information bag: "I will help you contact Fox News and let them release the news materials accumulated some time ago to you. If there are not enough, n over there I can try it too."
"Thank you, Eric," Catherine was a little moved in her heart. Apart from preparing materials, she spent most of her time in contact with Warner and Fox this month, but she kept running into walls. Both film companies were indifferent to her documentary plan. , Warner is concerned about the impact of this incident. After all, if Warner's n has not released the incomplete law enforcement video first, the disturbance will not be so big. During this time n has been under tremendous pressure from all parties , Now that things have finally calmed down, Warner hopes that everyone will forget about this matter. Fox, on the other hand, could not see the profit prospects of this documentary. Although the investment of 5 million U.S. dollars was not large, Fox also felt that it did not have the hobby of using money for nothing.
Eric put away the materials and said with a smile: "Is it just a verbal thank you? I thought you would at least treat me to a meal. I'm going to be off work now."
Catherine thought for a while, then nodded and said, "Then... okay."
Eric put the documents back in the file cabinet, and took out two movie tickets from it: "In return, after dinner, I'll treat you to a movie, and "Tornado" will be screened."
"Ah, no need for this," Catherine was stunned, and found a reason: "I don't like going back too late."
"Of course I know. It won't delay your rest. I can take you home personally."
"I... I have a car, so I can go back by myself," Catherine's tone was almost flustered.
Eric looked at his watch and said, "That's it. Where do you like to eat, I'll do as I please."
Catherine followed Eric to stand up and said, "A friend recommended a nearby Chinese restaurant, we can go there."
The two left the Firefly headquarters in this way, and came all the way to a well-decorated Chinese restaurant. However, although Eric saw that there were not too many customers in the Chinese restaurant, after ordering, it took a long time for dinner to be served come up.
Looking at the bony dumplings on the plate and another plate of scattered tomato scrambled eggs, Eric couldn't help but start complaining: "Catherine, I really have some doubts. You recommend this restaurant."
Catherine also had a little embarrassment on her expression. When she got along with him in New York last year, she vaguely remembered that Eric preferred to eat Chinese food, so she brought him here specially. Now she also feels cheated.
"Maybe we didn't order the right dishes. Doesn't it mean that many Chinese restaurants have some... specialty dishes, and other dishes are often more common. Why don't you order something else?"
Eric looked around. At this time of the evening, if the food in this restaurant is very delicious, the surrounding area must be full, but now there are not even half of the customers.
"Forget it," Eric looked at the woman's embarrassed expression, shook his head, picked up a dumpling with chopsticks skillfully, tasted it, and said, "It's actually not bad, I can eat it with another order full."
"Then order another one," Catherine said, beckoning to the awkwardly dressed waiter in Tang suit not far away, ordered a few words, and then said to Eric: "I've never been here, next time , I invite you to eat at a restaurant I am more familiar with."
"Of course no problem, don't forget, my memory is very good," Eric said with a smile.
"No," Catherine followed Eric's example, picked up the chopsticks next to her and tried to pick up the dumplings on the plate, but finally gave up and changed to a familiar knife and fork.
Perhaps the crappy dinner diverted some attention, and the two chatted slowly and acquaintedly. For more than a year, Catherine led a team that has been collecting information about the Second World War, and regularly Submit the collected information to Eric. However, because Catherine deliberately avoided, the two of them have not met a few times.
Eric could only attribute the reason to the difficulty of guessing a woman's mind. He could see that Catherine didn't dislike him, but maybe it was because of the big age difference between the two that they always had some estrangement when getting along.
After dinner, Eric and Catherine drove to a theater on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The tickets in their hands were for the 8 o'clock show. When the two arrived, it was still a quarter past eight, and they hurriedly bought some popcorn They went in together.
Although there are still a few days before the release of "Tornado", due to the absolute confidence in the quality of the film "Tornado", small-scale screenings have already started a week before the release. For a movie of poor quality, order screening will only lose word of mouth among the audience in advance, but for a good movie, a proper movie will instead accumulate the audience's enthusiasm for watching the movie. Although "Tornado" has no depth and connotation, But it's a standard premium popcorn movie.
"The official release date is June 5th. However, so far, "Tornado" has accumulated more than two million US dollars in box office, and it has only been screened in less than fifty theaters." After the two found their seats, Eric said with a little pride. (To be continued..)