Five Hundred and Forty-Six-Come on, Come on, Wayne, Keep Doing It!

The plane landed in Phoenix smoothly, and the airport lobby was still crowded with media reporters. After the news spread that the box office of "The Dark Knight" exceeded 200 million US dollars in its first weekend, the stars of the crew, big and small, became the media's pursuit. focus.

The figure of 200 million is unprecedented in its persuasiveness and unprecedented influence. Unfortunately, something happened that disappointed the reporters. As one of the protagonists, Wayne passed through a special passage after getting off the plane. Got in the car and headed to the hotel.

Fortunately, except for director Wayne, everyone else on the crew was there. Everyone was surrounded by excited reporters and fans who were jointly surrounded by airport security personnel. They kept answering various questions. This time even several behind-the-scenes staff were not spared.

Compared to the cast members who were wandering between pain and joy, in a car driving quietly to the Hilton Hotel, Wayne was talking on his mobile phone.

According to the original plan, he also had the task of accepting media interviews. The publicity purpose of "The Dark Knight" was to increase exposure. In order for the movie to have more box office, he would certainly not be an exception.

But when I got off the plane, I first received congratulatory calls from several Warner Bros. executives, and then some calls from friends in the industry. It can be said that the phone never stopped ringing. He simply handed over the crew to the leadership of Charles Rowan. He took Nina and Sergey with him, chose to leave alone, and returned to the hotel first.

"You have to come back for the movie premiere. It's best to come back a few days before the premiere." Zack Snyder's voice rang on the phone. Obviously, his main purpose was not to congratulate him, but to prepare for the release of "The Movie" next month. The Matrix 2: Reloaded".

"I will try to get back to Los Angeles as soon as possible." Looking at the receding street scene outside the car window, Wayne thought for a moment and replied: "The promotion task of "The Dark Knight" is also very heavy, so I will try to take as much time as possible."

Not only is it related to the release of "The Matrix", but in fact 20th Century Fox has also been urging "X-Men" and some work on "Charlie's Angels", which is destined to be after the hot period of "The Dark Knight" release. , he will quit the publicity team early and return to Los Angeles to handle other work.

"The test screenings of 'The Matrix: Reloaded' have some bad reviews." Zack Snyder's voice on the other end of the phone was filled with undisguised resentment. "Several film critics said that the film should increase philosophical thinking, instead of showing off special effects, action scenes and being cool in order to please the audience. It's a bunch of bullshit..."

Listening to the complaints coming from the phone, Wayne's mouth showed a deep sarcastic smile, and he said unceremoniously into the phone: "To hell with those people's opinions, don't pay attention to their thoughts. Gram. This is a commercial science fiction film. The first thing we need to please is the ordinary audience, never the so-called professionals. As long as those audiences are willing to pay for tickets, peripherals, and information about "The Matrix" "Everything about it, let those film critics say whatever they want."

Of course he knew that Zack Snyder would have some minor emotions. The main reason was that the first part of "The Matrix" was so successful. At that time, this movie was a dark horse that no one expected, and it not only won theaters continuously The weekly box office champion in the market, its professional ratings have been soaring, and it has received praise from countless film critics.

In fact, to put it bluntly, this is a pure American entertainment movie. Wrapped under the cloak of those gods and goddesses, it is almost no different from traditional American science fiction popcorn.

If I have to talk about its characteristics, it would be the way the film uses special effects and is full of refreshing fighting methods. The audience has long been tired of American fist-fighting action scenes, and kung fu routines are everywhere in this movie. In the eyes of the audience, they are not only gorgeous and smart, but when combined with the cyberpunk style, they also have a strong sense of nostalgia. cool feeling.

This is the main reason why the movie can be successful. The so-called artistic elements such as human nature thinking, philosophical speculation, etc. are just embellishments at most. If you don't let go of these, the movie will become farther and farther away from the audience.

Different from traditional American science fiction films, "The Matrix" has added many new elements, and the crew also put a lot of effort into the makeup of several protagonists. The looks of the protagonists are cool enough, especially Neo who wears a windbreaker and sunglasses, and Charlize Theron, who wears a tight black leather outfit and shows off her long legs at all times. Whenever there is an action scene, she will be in the camera The former is so cool that it makes male movie fans drool.

Although the movie is cloaked in the guise of a sci-fi wasteland and is filled with all kinds of silly dialogues, if you observe it, the story has never deviated from the traditional formula of Hollywood movies. For example, the savior saves the world and all mankind. Although this setting is very cliché, it is precisely the routine that best suits the taste of mainstream audiences. Even after more than ten or twenty years, it is still common in movies.

In fact, in this regard, the one Wayne admires the most is the bombshell. Almost all of this guy's works will be ridiculed by film critics as soon as they are released. Those people are no longer commenting on movies fairly. They are mindlessly belittling and belittling movies. He even directly attacked Michael Bay personally.

But the fact is that after experiencing an unforgettable failure, Bang Bei is still the madman who can only explode. It is by relying on cliché plots and nerve-stimulating explosion art that the production company has made a lot of money after several big productions. It was full of pots and pans, and at the same time, it allowed myself to successfully turn over.

Therefore, Wayne's goal is very clear when it comes to the choice of Greenberg Studio investment projects, which is commercialization. The purpose of all films invested by the studio is to earn more income and continuously increase its own weight. After comforting Zack Snyder, Wayne went to the hotel room, dove into the bedroom to catch up on his sleep, and fell asleep within a short while.

"Last weekend, North America's annual traditional summer season finally ushered in the long-awaited "Batman: The Dark Knight" by movie fans. After the annual summer season begins, there will be super-large productions in preparation almost every weekend. The high-profile release is the most important schedule in North America, but this year is the opposite. Major Hollywood production companies have announced early that they will avoid May. The reason for this result is because of this "Batman: "The Dark Knight" is scheduled to be released..."

In an office located on a high-rise building in Times Square, New York City, Kevin Tetsuhara smiled and took a sip of his coffee, his eyes never leaving the Los Angeles Times in his hand. The entertainment section was specially published for "The Dark Knight" 's special issue.

"Amid much attention, Wayne Greenberg's new film "The Dark Knight" was screened on a large scale in 3,700 theaters in North America early last Friday morning. After three days of the first weekend, reports It grossed US$200.81 million at the box office, and the single-box box office exceeded US$54,000. It undoubtedly topped the North American box office rankings!

The figure of 200 million US dollars happened to be Warner Bros.’s total investment in “The Dark Knight.” Wayne Greenberg’s crazy break in all records related to the box office also meant that it only took three Oh my god, the large amount of money Warner Brothers invested in the film was easily recovered. Such market results are simply like a dream.

Also due to the box office explosion of "The Dark Knight," last weekend's total box office production value in the North American theater market set a new record, becoming the highest total box office weekend in the North American movie market so far. The market-crushing performance of "The Dark Knight" strongly boosted the North American film market this weekend, reaching an astonishing $249.8 million, an unprecedented achievement.

The reason why "The Dark Knight" achieved such results in its opening weekend is that this newspaper's investigation found some necessary conditions. Contribution to the basic base of movie fans. This group of people is composed of die-hard movie fans of director Wayne Greenberg or several movie stars. They are basically young people with movie-watching habits and spending power. They also choose to enter the movie for the first time. A workhorse in cinemas.

What is surprising is the family movie fans. As we all know, family movie fans have always been the largest potential consumer group of Hollywood movies. They can be found in every film that has achieved high box office results. In the past few years, Wayne Greenberg didn't have a deep connection with this movie-going group because of his production style, but this time there has obviously been a change. "The Dark Knight" became the centerpiece of countless family entertainment and gatherings in North America last weekend. First choice.

According to data analysis by a third-party research company, the composition of fans of "The Dark Knight" is very balanced, with male viewers accounting for about 57% and female viewers accounting for about 53%. Covering ages 7 to over 60, it can be said that the film is rare for both men and women, old and young. This is the first time this has happened in Wayne Greenberg's works.

At the same time, it cannot be ignored that the previous "Batman" and the excellent works of director Wayne Greenberg in previous years have laid a solid fan base for the current "Batman: The Dark Knight". Greenberg's production is equal to The concept of high-quality movies has almost become a subconscious idea among movie fans, and the strong brand effect of movie directors is also one of the reasons why the movie box office continues to rise.

Because of the special style of his previous directed films, once Wayne Greenberg's films are released from theaters, they usually become the main force in the video rental business. He has dominated the video tape market for many years, providing him with a huge fan base. What's more, he has a huge die-hard fan organization that is rare for a director, as well as a terrifying box office appeal. With the blessing of various favorable reasons, the film has an unprecedented first weekend box office of over 200 million.

In terms of reputation of the film, the audience score of the emerging authoritative online movie database IMDB hovers between 9.7 and 9.6. It only took three days to rank third among the TOP250 must-see movies. It is worth mentioning that the second place is also the same. It is a film directed by Wayne Greenberg, "Joker" in 1993. In the entire TOP250 list, the only one ranked above Wayne is "The Godfather"!

This newspaper has collected the ratings of the film from more than 90 authoritative entertainment media on the market. Taken together, the average rating of professional media is as high as 90. It can be said that this movie has not only won an explosive reputation from the audience, but also gained a lot of praise from film critics. unanimously recognized by professionals. In particular, "The New Yorker", "Hollywood Reporter", "Variety", "Premiere", "Los Angeles Times", "Time" and other authoritative large media directly gave the film a perfect score of 100!

"The Dark Knight" continues to crush the market. Professionals from multiple professional forecasting agencies claim that before this Friday, the film's total box office in North America will definitely exceed the US$300 million mark. All records related to box office will be raised to an unattainable height by Wayne Greenberg!

Judging from the current market trend, if the new film "Jurassic Park 2" released this weekend cannot stop "The Dark Knight", the 1997 North American summer box office champion will be booked almost at the beginning of the summer season . According to information revealed by Warner Bros., the film will be released in dozens of overseas markets simultaneously this weekend. As for the film's global box office performance, can it become the third film to exceed one billion US dollars, or even break Wayne- Greenberg's previous records, all this is very possible..." Seeing this, Kevin Tetsuhara threw the newspaper back on the desk with a smile on his face. You can see on the table There are other newspapers and magazines, including almost all North American mainstream media. Faced with the US$200 million box office of "The Dark Knight" in the first weekend, most of them tacitly chose to issue additional special issues and report and analyze it.

Due to the composition of the Time Warner media group, Warner Brothers occupies a very important position in it. As the head of the Time Warner media group, he is now very sure that the tens of billions market that the young man described for himself back then The blueprint is being realized step by step, which makes him feel very proud because it was he and that young man who first laid a solid foundation for the DC universe.

The great success of each Warner Bros. movie not only affects Warner Bros.'s stock price, but also affects Time Warner's market value. Now Kevin Tetsuhara believes that if it continues to develop smoothly and according to plan, Time Warner, a media group, is very likely to become the world's largest market capitalization in his hands.

He stood up from his desk and took a few steps to the large floor-to-ceiling windows. He looked out at the 24-hour busy Times Square and muttered in a low voice: "Come on, come on, Wayne, that's it, keep going. Keep doing it, you are not yet thirty years old, we have a lot of time to create a more brilliant future..."

The same special issue report of the "Los Angeles Times" has completely different moods in the eyes of different people. In the CEO office of Universal Studios Headquarters Building, 100 Plaza Avenue, Universal Studios, Los Angeles, CEO Ron Meyer , slowly put the newspaper on the table, falling into deep self-doubt.

It was he who made the uncompromising proposal at the board meeting to put "Jurassic Park 2" in theaters the weekend after "The Dark Knight". It was also he who gave "Jurassic Park 2" a pre-announcement of more than $50 million. At least until he sees this historic $200 million weekend box office figure, he is still very confident.

But now, he had an illusion of impending doom. With the strong competition from "The Dark Knight", can "Jurassic Park 2" achieve similar results in its first weekend box office? I am afraid that even director Steven Spielberg would not dare to boast about this Haikou.

Since March, the hot box office performance of "The Big Talk" has been the source of all Ron Meyer's confidence. Previously, the criticism caused to him by the company's senior executives and the board of directors due to the bloodbath in "The Incredible Hulk" has also followed the "Hulk". The success of "The Big Talker" gradually disappeared.

He needs "Jurassic Park 2" to defeat "Batman" head-on. Only if this decision continues to be successful, and head-on defeating Warner Bros., which has ranked first in revenue in recent years, is the best way for him to prove his ability to the board of directors. The success of just one "Big Talker" is not enough.

But the dazzling $200 million figure in the newspaper made his confidence less firm at this moment. Ron Meyer knew very well that if he insisted on going his own way this time, "Jurassic Park 2" would not reach the goal. When it comes to the company's expected performance, it is far from being as simple as a failure. I am afraid that the shareholder representatives on the board of directors will immediately cast a vote of no confidence in themselves.

By then, the bloodbath of "The Incredible Hulk" will be revealed again. The director can be blamed for the failure back then. If "Jurassic Park 2" fails to achieve expected results this time, no one can compare with him. More suitable to be responsible.

Sitting in the office chair, Ron Meyer frowned, deeply doubting whether he really made the wrong move this time.

"Dang Dang Dang"

There was a gentle knock on the office door. After a few knocks, a white woman wearing a business suit walked in. Without any polite greetings, the woman sat down behind the desk and stared at the CEO of Universal Pictures with serious eyes. Said directly: "We must change the schedule of "Jurassic Park 2", we must!"

"Catherine, does Steven know you are going to do this?" Ron Meyer shook his head, sighed inwardly, looked at the woman in front of him, and said, "It's too late, Catherine, the company is "Jurassic" More than 50 million US dollars have been invested in the promotion and marketing of "Park 2". If we announce a change in the release schedule now, not only will this investment be in vain, but the theater companies will also not be willing."

"Shit, everyone else chooses to stay away from that dark madman, how about you?" Katherine Kennedy curled her lips, with obvious anger in her voice. "Ron, I have consulted with many third-party companies today. According to the current market trend, once "Jurassic Park 2" is released as scheduled, it will face the madman Wayne Greenberg's "The Dark Knight" If they collide, there is an 80% chance that the movie fans will be divided and both parties will suffer losses!"

As a woman and the most successful female producer in Hollywood, Kathleen Kennedy has her own unique market vision. The projects she personally produces rarely fail. In terms of ability, she definitely exceeds 90% of the men in the industry.

As early as the early 1980s, she established the famous Amblin Entertainment together with Steven Spielberg, and her first film as a producer was the highly successful "Foreign Films". Star"! Like "Schindler's List", "Jurassic Park", "The Bridge", even the big-mouthed "Pretty Woman", and the hugely successful "Twister" the year before last, all of them They were all made by this woman.

And this woman is also a rare and powerful figure in Hollywood, a male-dominated place, who can achieve great success, whether in "The Sixth Sense", "Munich Massacre", "War of the Worlds", "Treasure" Raiders", "The Past of Benjamin Button", "The Adventures of Tintin", and she was even the main planner of the reboot of "Star Wars". Finally, she took the position of CEO of Lucasfilm. Her level of prowess is evident. ! Faced with the anger in the woman's tone, Ron Meyer twitched the corner of his mouth twice, but chose to calm down the atmosphere, simply showed a smile, and joked: "There is an 80% chance of diverting movie fans and hurting both sides? Isn't that something else? Is there a 20% chance of suppressing "The Dark Knight"? Don't worry, Catherine..."

"No, you are wrong!"

Katherine Kennedy sneered twice, shook her head, and interrupted the other party before he finished speaking. "The remaining 20% ​​is that "The Dark Knight" remains strong the next weekend, and our "Jurassic Park 2" can only become a foil for a great record! In the following weeks, Run with me!"

"No, you should believe Steven."

Ron Meyer's face also became quite ugly, and he replied harshly. "Like I said, it's too late to change any plans now. Let's go back and prepare for the premiere. We should all believe in Steven's ability. He has succeeded countless times and will never do it on a young back. He fell into a trap!"

Katherine Kennedy looked at the other person deeply and calmed down. She stood up and walked directly out of the office without saying hello.

It wasn't until she left Universal Studios that she parked the car on the side of the road and slapped the steering wheel angrily. "A fool!"

In fact, she had already tried to communicate with her old partner Steven Spielberg before, but that stubborn guy would rather take the risk of a big fall and also disagreed with her plan. This is what she The main reason to walk into Universal Studios alone.

From a market perspective, isn’t it right to stop losses in time? Katherine Kennedy sighed helplessly and started the car again. The premiere of "Jurassic Park 2" is coming soon. Since nothing can be changed, we can only make more preparations on our side.