Six Hundred and Fifty-Two - Requires a Certain Age and Experience

On May 8, 1998, "Collision", which had undergone intensive publicity in a short period of time, officially premiered at the Hollywood Temple Theater.

At the invitation of Paramount Pictures, starting at 7 o'clock that night, a group of celebrities in the industry, led by Tom Cruise and others, stepped onto the long red carpet in front of the theater. In order to increase the influence of this film, Paramount spent a lot of money on this premiere, and more than 100 media were invited to the scene.

The fans who were present were happy. They frequently had close contact with the stars on the red carpet, and there were also many lucky ones who got autographs.

From the moment the stars walked on the red carpet, the premiere seemed to have officially ignited the flames of the summer season. The enthusiastic fans and media all symbolized that this year's movie-going carnival was about to begin at the Temple Theater in Los Angeles.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the much-anticipated summer sci-fi masterpiece "Collision" officially started screening. At the same time, commercial theaters in major mainstream cities across North America have simultaneously opened 2,300 advance screenings.

"The director is a woman after all, and some things are still..."

In the screening hall of the Temple Theater, the main venue for the premiere, Tom Cruise, as a close collaborator of Paramount Pictures, was also invited to participate in the platform. The movie was already halfway through at this time. His brows were slightly furrowed on his sunny and handsome face, and he shook his head slightly.

"Honey, do you think there's something wrong with this film?"

Nicole Kidman, who was sitting nearby, felt a sense of discomfort when she heard her husband's disdainful mutterings about women. However, her expression did not change. She turned to look at the man next to her and asked in a low voice: "In the columns of major newspapers, film critics have given this film good ratings..."

"Film critic, huh."

Tom curled his lips disdainfully, glanced at the woman staring at him with wide eyes, turned his head and continued to look at the big screen, and whispered in his mouth: "Those are just a bunch of leeches lying on the movie company, sucking blood like crazy. , this is not awards season where they have huge influence.”

Initially, it was the Hollywood studios that discovered that once the annual summer season in North America enters, the influence of film critics will decline rapidly. In the past two years, many celebrities in the industry have also discovered this. Not only during the summer season, but also during the Christmas season, the influence of film critics will decrease sharply.

But Hollywood's inherent film promotion channels include the columns of major film critics in newspapers, and this inertia is unlikely to disappear for a while. Compared with the production cost and huge publicity investment of a film, the "direction funds" given to film critics are not so conspicuous. Therefore, so far, no big company that is not short of money is willing to take the risk of this film. A swarm of "leeches" strip the film out of distribution.

"Swallowing the Starry Sky: Sign in to Become a God"

Everyone knows that the effect of this group of "leeches" working together to help promote publicity cannot be said to be greater or less. But once this group of "leeches" are excluded from the film's publicity and distribution channels, making them unable to make money, the effect of them throwing dirty water on the film will definitely be terrible. This is human nature, and there is no way to properly solve it.

"The director's idea is very good. The first half of the film almost shows the reaction of human nature after facing a disaster from different angles."

Looking at the movie on the big screen, Tom Cruise continued to talk to his wife in a low voice. "Unfortunately, the effect is not perfect at all, and it also causes the film to be very draggy from the beginning, which is not friendly to ordinary viewers at all!"

There are also some things that he has not said out loud. In his opinion, the slow pace of the film in the early stages has become an unstable factor for the film in the theater market. After all, this is a science fiction movie that is marketed as a commercial masterpiece. Business, before science fiction, is very important.

Other aspects such as the film has nothing new, similar stories are familiar, and film routines are common in Hollywood. Compared with the above, it seems to be unimportant.

In fact, many people at the scene knew very well that such a production method that is basically impossible to fault, or a production method that is not innovative, is the first choice of a large company like Paramount, because at least the things that appear in the film now are all Elements that have been proven successful countless times by Hollywood.

For big projects invested by large film companies, stability is the overriding theme. They don't need the director to produce any new ideas. With such a large investment, it is impossible for the director to take risks and try new ideas. As long as the film can meet the aesthetics of the mainstream market, it will enough.

Nicole Kidman took a deep look at her husband. No one knew better than her. The outside world's views on Tom Cruise as arrogant, conceited, and eccentric actually concealed this man's smart mind and sharp market insights. A superstar who can reach the forefront of Hollywood cannot be a real fool.

Especially his sentence "The director is a woman after all." Although this sentence made her feel uncomfortable, she had to admit that it was easiest for a female director to overly elaborate the expression in the movie, causing the overall story rhythm to be slow. Mistakes made.

These are rare advantages in independent literary films, but once they are put into commercial popcorn movies, the effect is hard to say.

"Can't Paramount executives see these problems?"

Nicole Kidman was stunned for a moment and asked the man next to her in a low voice.

"Of course it can be seen that there is never a shortage of senior film viewing experts within large film companies."

He let out a long breath, and a smile appeared on the corner of Tom Cruise's mouth, but his tone of voice was ridiculing with unclear meaning. "Actually, if this film were to be seen in Hollywood as a whole, its slightly slow pace would not be noticeable. Similar films abound. The reason why I say this is to see whose film it is compared with!"

After hearing what her husband said, Nicole Kidman blurted out: "Wayne Greenberg!"

"That's right."

Tom Cruise moved his butt slightly, readjusted his sitting posture, nodded slightly, and said: "If this movie is put together with Wayne's movie, the slow pace will become a fatal flaw. Do you want to fight?" A bet, Nicole?”

Others may not know this, but Tom Cruise, as a business superstar, understands it very well. Especially after their personal relationship with Wayne became better and better, the two exchanged their opinions on the movie many times.

"no!"

Nicole Kidman shook her head directly. She had witnessed with her own eyes how the King of Darkness rose. It could be said that all normal market rules were useless when applied to the other party. She was not willing to hit anyone on her own. Don’t believe in a winnable bet.

After recalling it for a moment, she suddenly looked at the man next to her and whispered: "I remember that some of Wayne's films also had slow story rhythms, right? Just like that "Joker"..."

"He is more aware than anyone else and understands what the audience wants to see."

With a look of compassion, Tom glanced at the center of the front row, where the creative team of "Collision" sat, especially the female director Mimi Ryder. Then he leaned towards the woman beside him and explained in a low voice:

"The two of us have talked about this issue more than once before. When Wayne is making slow-paced stories that need to be told to the audience, he usually pulls the entire audience into the rhythm of his story at the beginning of the film. , just following the movie’s protagonist through everything, and he’s good at that!

Nicole, think about it carefully. In recent decades in Hollywood, Wayne can be said to be the best director in using "empathy". It is precisely this that others cannot learn. It depends entirely on talent! And when he started with the Batman series, he combined this unique talent with modern commercial elements.

In fact, if you are careful enough, you can see the effect from the "Joker" movie back then. It is because of his innate storytelling ability, coupled with the increasingly fast pace of modern commercial films, that the great "Batman: The Dark Knight" appeared. "

Listening to the man's narration, Nicole Kidman nodded silently. There were some things that no one mentioned clearly and might always be ignored. She laughed at herself. People only saw that man in the movie. The dark style is astonishingly intense, but it is always overlooked that he is a serious traditional academic director, the kind of traditional academic director who is the best at telling stories!

Perhaps only by reaching the same level can we understand the thoughts of the King of Darkness. For example, the top superstar in the industry next to her. To a certain extent, they are the same type of successful people, and their perspectives on affairs can also be different. Understand each other.

It seems that when people mention Wayne Greenberg, they can’t wait to blurt out terms such as dark film master and art master. However, through Tom Cruise’s narration, it is clear that Wayne has never ignored commercial elements and is not stingy in using these ordinary elements. The vulgar elements in human eyes.

Thinking of this, Nicole Kidman's eyes immediately widened, and she instantly turned to look at her husband beside her. Staring at the man's handsome face in surprise, she asked: "What if Wayne abandoned the so-called artistic elements and let go of the commercial elements?" If used to the extreme, wouldn’t that be..."

"Don't doubt it, it's The Flash!"

Tom Cruise looked at his wife with deep admiration in his eyes. There were not many people in the entire industry who could understand this.

It seems that everyone has been misled by the "gossip" in the industry. A dark king who suddenly changes his dark style will inevitably encounter Waterloo for the first time in his life. But Tom Cruise never thought that way. He always felt that , Warner Bros. is letting off smoke bombs.

After speaking, there was a sarcastic smile on the corner of his mouth, and he continued to look at the big screen, no longer paying attention to his wife who suddenly realized it. Some things are actually very simple once you figure it out. Only a few people who can figure it out are waiting to see the fun. No one is stupid enough to say it, right?

After the screening of "Heaven and Earth" ended, Nicole Kidman once again saw the duality of men. When Tom Cruise held her arm and came to the main creative staff to send blessings, the man was smiling and greeted her enthusiastically. Director Mimi Ryder shook hands and said loudly:

"A great science fiction film that makes people cry! Director Ryder, you used delicate techniques to depict how family, friendship, love, etc. are different from the past when people face the end of the world! I wish you a box office success Sell."

The man's completely different tone of voice did not surprise Nicole Kidman. She just looked at the rare female director in the circle in front of her with a hint of pity.

Under the guidance of the staff, when he left the theater and walked to the hotel, Tom Cruise ignored Pat Kingsley, who was inseparable. He turned to look at his wife, shrugged and said:

"Don't look at me like this, Nicole, what I told Mimi Ryder is the truth. There's just one thing, you need a certain age and experience to patiently understand what I said... ..”