Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 289 Risks and Opportunities

Another week has passed, and it's the third week since "Juno" was released. In fact, "Juno" has only been in theaters for fifteen days.

The latest North American weekend box office rankings have been released.

Juno grossed $2600 million over the weekend, dropping to third place.

Compared to last week, the drop was 45%, which is considered a normal range.

The second place went to "The Da Vinci Code," which grossed 3350 million over the weekend, a drop of exactly 50%, which was larger than the drop of "Juno."

This is also related to the fact that the film was criticized by many film critics.

The Da Vinci Code was not only bombarded by many film critics at Cannes, who considered it a failed imitation, but it was also criticized by many film critics in the United States.

Most film critics felt that the movie relied too much on the original book and risked misleading those who hadn't read it, adding that the actors didn't create any chemistry.

In short, the reputation is extremely polarized.

At the top of the list is the newly released "X-Men 3". The film's box office performance in its opening weekend exceeded most people's expectations, achieving a remarkable 1.07 million yuan in three days.

So far, its opening weekend box office performance ranks fourth in North American film history, behind only Spider-Man's $1.15 million, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Fallen's $1.08 million, and Shrek 2's $1.08 million.

However, although X-Men 3 had a high box office, it did not receive good reviews.

There are still a few dozen theaters showing "The Promise". As for the box office, let's not talk about it.

Old Chen and Sister Hong had already returned to China, which relieved Cao Yang.

Although most couples in the entertainment industry lead separate lives and are quite open about their own affairs after marriage.

But this is his senior brother.

Even though, according to Sister Hong, her senior brother had a woman outside of his marriage, and another woman who wasn't actually a woman, Sister Hong always had a resentful expression when she mentioned it.

Cao Yang was completely dumbfounded, thinking that Sister Hong might be talking nonsense.

But people can't... or at least shouldn't... Sigh, regardless of whether it's true or not, let's encourage each other, senior brother.

Cao Yang blamed himself for his lack of willpower, for giving in so easily after being caught red-handed, and for doing something outrageous with "Bai Zhi".

But as a man, when the other party repeatedly emphasized that she was "Bai Zhi" and made such seductive gestures, Cao Yang was really overwhelmed by the stimulation!

I regret my lack of resolve!
I will definitely correct this shortcoming in the future.

With the later stages of "Inception" nearing their end and "Juno" becoming a huge hit, Cao Yang has been very busy lately.

One task was to wrap up the film "Inception," and the other was to deal with the attempts and attempts by many Hollywood film companies to win him over; too many companies had designs on him.

At first, Cao Yang thought that these film companies were all after his novel, but he didn't expect that there would be exceptions, and that some of them were not after the novel, but after him.

Disney wanted to reboot "Pirates of the Caribbean" and asked him to direct it, which was something Cao Yang hadn't expected.

He had someone check and found out that when he was filming the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, he beat Disney to it and invited Depp to film "The Dirty Milk," so "Pirates of the Caribbean" missed out on Depp.

Although Johnny Depp wasn't officially the male lead in the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, anyone who's seen it knows that Depp's neurotic performance was the soul of the movie, and it was Depp's presence that made the film a global phenomenon.

Disney isn't stupid, so in the subsequent sequels, they began to downplay the male lead, the blacksmith, making Depp the undisputed male lead.

Even with its high profile within Disney, "Pirates of the Caribbean" without Johnny Depp flopped.

Cao Yang even found the DVD to watch. The movie was made into a genuine adventure film, and "Captain Jack" was portrayed as a proper pirate.

The highlight is the little blacksmith's adventure.

Pirates of the Caribbean featured extensive special effects, resulting in a production cost of $140 million. However, the film only grossed $80 million in North America and less than $200 million worldwide.

Recovering costs is a long process.

The failure of the first film makes rebooting the second film very risky and highly uncertain.

Because of preconceived notions among the audience, Cao Yang felt that even if he cast Johnny Depp in the lead role, the audience might not necessarily accept a neurotic Captain Jack Sparrow.

It's fair to say that risks and opportunities coexist. If he can successfully reboot the franchise, his status and influence in Hollywood could very well rival Spielberg's.

If it fails...

He certainly won't suffer like John Woo and Li An. "Cao Yang's Fantastic Journey" is his guarantee of status in Hollywood.

Of course, the negative impact will also be significant; there won't be as much power and freedom to film A-list or higher productions.

In short, rebooting the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise presents both risks and opportunities.

On the contrary, the situation at Warner Bros. is much more stable.

Needless to say, the novel "Gravity" is by Cao Yang, and the copyright is entirely in his hands. How it is adapted or filmed is entirely up to Cao Yang.

Most movies, if they can tell a clear story and the actors' performances are at a normal level and don't pull the audience out of the story, are already 80% successful, provided there are no constraints.

The rest depends on the influence of the director and actors, as well as the level of publicity.

As for "Batman," the situation is definitely much better than that of "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Director Nolan has already set the tone for the film and laid a solid foundation. As long as it doesn't try to be too unconventional, it will be easily accepted by the audience and more likely to succeed.

It must be said that Nolan is indeed a very talented and imaginative director.

However, since neither "Batman" nor "Pirates of the Caribbean" are Cao Yang's films, he certainly won't have the same level of autonomy as when he was making "District 9" and "Inception".

It's also impossible to give out too much box office revenue.

Whether they can even get a share of the total box office revenue is still unknown.

Comparatively speaking, the more difficult "Pirates of the Caribbean" might be easier to discuss.

Let's discuss all three movies.

Although Cao Yang did not join a Hollywood talent agency, he has his own team in Hollywood, which was assembled by Berman, who is in charge of managing "Cao Yang's Fantastic Journey".

Let Bellman handle this; these things are never resolved overnight, so let's take it slow.

Just as June began, post-production on "Inception" was finally completed, and several high-ranking executives from Columbia Pictures held a preview screening in a small screening room.

They will evaluate the film, and this evaluation will determine how much manpower and resources the company will invest in its promotional efforts.

Not only was Amy Pascal, Vice President of Sony Pictures Entertainment and President of Columbia Pictures, present at the preview screening, but Michael Linton, CEO of the parent company Sony Entertainment, was also there.

Also present were Columbia Pictures executive director Tom Rothman and Columbia Pictures senior vice president Gareth Wigan, who is in charge of the company's marketing and distribution.

Even though everyone present knew the novel and had read the screenplay, they were still deeply moved after watching the movie once.

The visual impact is unmatched by novels or screenplays.

"It's incredible! Cities can be folded in half, streets can be rolled up like paper, and dreams can even have layers... This is simply mind-blowing, an unparalleled imagination."

Amy Pascal began by saying that, as president of Columbia, she initially had reservations about Tom Rothman's strong support for Cao Yang.

In particular, the film will give Cao Yang a whopping 13% of the global box office revenue and subsequent profits.

However, given the success of District 9, which was jointly promoted by Tom Rothman and Cao Yang, even as the president of Columbia Pictures, she couldn't stop an executive director from pushing forward with the project.

After watching the movie, as a seasoned filmmaker, she was almost certain that it would be a success.

It's so shocking, so imaginative—that's what she really thinks.

clap clap...

Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Linton was the first to applaud.

Tom Rothman glanced up at Amy Pascal and chuckled silently.

Then, applause echoed continuously in the small screening room, lasting for a long time.

(End of this chapter)