Full-time actor

Chapter 676 [102] The record of "Fast and Furious 3"!

"When I saw the credits, I was disappointed that Paul Walker and Vin Diesel were not in the cast, but Heal Chan's performance really shined!"

"Listen, I miss the protagonists of the first two movies, but I feel it was a misstep to set this one in Asia. Fortunately, Chan's acting saved me!"

"This Fast and Furious movie has a tougher racing style than the previous two. I saw more exciting drifting and racing!"

"To a large extent, this is of course my personal opinion, it is the most outstanding racing movie I have ever seen on the big screen, a landmark masterpiece!"

"..."

The next day, after Chen Yu attended the New York premiere, the Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating had risen from 65% to 71%.

I don’t know whether it was Universal’s public relations that worked, or the movie itself that changed the media’s film reviews.

Many viewers who watched the film in advance gave it very good reviews.

In this regard, Rotten Tomatoes does a better job than IMDb, which is why the weather vane of overseas film viewing has never been IMDb, but Rotten Tomatoes.

Because many movie fans like to read some real reviews.

Many people in the media are unwilling to believe it.

But some people are just the opposite. They like to read reviews from the media or even film critics.

Especially some authoritative certifications, which include well-known film critics loved by many movie fans, or more famous and fair media.

Therefore, Rotten Tomatoes has made a very good separation between the media and individuals. Movie fans can see all kinds of reviews that they want to see. Although there are not many personal reviews, most of them are positive. Of course, this is also because many of them are fans of Chen Yu.

Of course, they want to watch the film in advance as soon as possible.

For the next week, Chen Yu basically spent the week at the premiere. After traveling to major areas across the United States, he would head to Asia. China, Japan and South Korea were the most important box office bases for "Fast and Furious 3".

Especially China and Japan, these two regions together may account for more than half of the box office of "Fast and Furious 3".

This is the conclusion reached by a Hollywood market analyst after analyzing several of Chen Yu's previous works.

Especially since this movie was shot in Japan, and the focus is on Tokyo drift; so Universal gave one week for promotion in these three places, including four days in China, two days in Japan, and one day in South Korea.

Next are several regions in Europe and South America.

The publicity cycle is actually similar to that of Mission: Impossible 3, and Liu Yifei is mainly in North America, Europe and China.

It is totally inconsistent with Chen Yu’s promotion time.

Fortunately, Liu Xiaoli was the lead actor, so she accompanied us both in China and in Europe.

Even though Liu Yifei had an assistant to provide security, Chen Yu was still a little worried.

The first weekend box office of "Rush Hour" has been released, 6320 million US dollars, which is similar to the market forecast, slightly lower than "Rush Hour 2", and significantly higher than "Rush Hour 1" and "Rush Hour 3"!
This result was actually beyond New Line Cinema's expectations. With the hot market influence of "Cars", "Taken" was able to achieve such a good result, which is enough to show the reputation of this movie.

Overall, its market performance far exceeds all the movies starring Cheng Long before, including "Taken 2".

After all, the release date and screening schedule of "Peak Season 2" that year were much better than "Escape Plan".

Moreover, according to the ratings on several film review websites, this is also Jackie Chan's highest-rated film in Hollywood.

IMDb gave the film a score of 7.3 upon its opening, and anything over 7 is actually considered quite outstanding.

"Fast and Furious 3" currently only has a score of 6.9, which can barely be considered a good work.

Currently, "Escape Plan" has grossed 1.2 million yuan including pre-sales, and the total box office is 9030 million yuan. It is likely to exceed million yuan tomorrow.

If the attendance this weekend can exceed that of last week, "Taken" can have a pretty good long-term follow-up, and it is not impossible that the total box office in the North American market will eventually exceed 2 million US dollars.

If it's 1.8-1.9, I guess New Line will have to ask Chen Yu and a few other companies to contribute money and try to get the box office to over 2 million first.

In the North American market, 2 million+ is the dividing line between a movie box office hit and an average one.

Anything over 2 million will create a huge impact in the market, and there are only a few films in North America that can break 2 million a year. If it’s a good one, there are more than 30, and if it’s a bad one, there are only a little over 10 a year.

This watershed is currently recognized as the benchmark for a blockbuster in Hollywood.

2 million+ is a box office hit, and a sequel will definitely be launched.

The box office revenue in other regions of the world is all derived value; compared with the North American market, many Hollywood film producers pay more attention to the local box office situation.

"I don't think I need to worry too much about this one!"

"It all depends on how much the global box office can be in the end..."

Chen Yu estimated that 3 million might not be enough and it might reach the 4 million range, mainly in the domestic market, where Liu Yifei still has a certain box office appeal.

Add in Jackie Chan, it won't be a problem for the two of them to make 3 million in the mainland.

There are also several areas in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Japan and South Korea should be able to have 4 to 5000 million US dollars.

“It depends on how much Europe can have!”

Chen Yu put away his phone and prepared to welcome the North American release of "Fast & Furious 3" with Canadian audiences.

In the early morning, more than 4100 cinemas across North America will simultaneously screen "Fast and Furious 3". Now Chen Yu, director Justin Lin and other main creative staff are conducting a roadshow promotion at the Langley Theatre, the largest theatre in Vancouver.

"Whoo~~~"

It can be seen that everyone is quite nervous, because the negative reviews of "Fast and Furious 3" on the Internet have suddenly increased in recent days.

The main reason is that the die-hard fans of "Fast and Furious" were dissatisfied with why Paul Walker and Vin Diesel did not participate in the film, so they boycotted the film.

Although positive reviews are the majority, there are more and more fans boycotting the show.

Plus the directors, regions, etc. were all changed, which made them even more unhappy.

Most satisfied fans are silent; while the dissatisfied ones make up a small minority, but they can set a big trend.

“So midnight and the opening weekend become particularly important!”

"Let's go, let's go up. We'll know whether he's dead or alive in two hours..."

The current pre-sale is actually not very ideal, only more than 1000 million, and only more than 100 million were sold at midnight in the early morning.

Among them are die-hard fans of "Fast and Furious" and of course Chen Yu's North American fans.

But when added together, it's still too little.

After Chen Yu, Lucas Black and others finished interacting with fans in Vancouver and sat in the cinema waiting for the North American release of "Fast and Furious 3", Justin Lin and Chen Yu both received messages from Ryan.

The box office of "Fast and Furious 3" during the midnight slot is almost certain, 301 million!
It is slightly worse than "Escape Plan", but if we look at the schedule and opening time, it is much worse. Because "Escape Plan" opened in more than 2200 theaters, while "Fast and Furious 3" opened in more than 4100 theaters, almost twice as many.

But even this is still less than “Emergency,” and that’s very telling.

"In terms of influence, you're still not as good as Brother Long!"

"Plus, 'Escape Plan' is a takeover of the IP of the Peak series, and the lead actor, Cheng Long, has not been replaced!"

These are all influencing factors.

Chen Yu is aware that his appeal in the North American market cannot compete with Cheng Long. Although "Mission Impossible 3" has a global box office of over 8 million, he is still the second male lead. His popularity has indeed increased greatly, but not as good as Universal had imagined.

There is another reason, and that is the type.

If Chen Yu continues to play the role of an agent or an action film, it might be better to open the film at midnight.

But now that we have changed to a racing movie, which is equivalent to changing the track, the number of fans attracted by "Mission Impossible 3" is indeed limited.

All of the above, coupled with the replacement of actors in "Fast and Furious 3", the negative reviews, etc., led to the less than ideal midnight box office at the opening of this film.

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The previous version of "Fast and Furious 3" actually died due to these reasons.

In this life, Chen Yu wanted to change his fate. The plot and reputation were much better than in his previous life. Whether it was his performance, the plot, publicity, etc., they were all better than in his previous life. But the final result was -

It’s an improvement over the previous life, but not much.

Chen Yu is not sure about the midnight slot of "Fast and Furious 3" in its previous life, but it only had a pitiful 2600 million in its first weekend!
The final box office performance was a loss, even though it grossed 1.6 million worldwide and over 6000 million in North America, but the investment and publicity was as high as over 1 million; now based on the 301 million midnight show, it should be able to hit around 4000 million in the first weekend.

Ultimately, reaching 1 million+ in North America is still a possibility, but it depends on the momentum in the next few days.

There shouldn't be any losses because there is still the Asian market.

But it probably won't be able to surpass its predecessor in North America. "Fast and Furious 2" earned 5210 million in its first weekend, and "Fast and Furious 1" earned 4010 million!
“It’s actually not bad!”

Justin Lin suddenly whispered to Chen Yu that he had also received the box office information for the midnight show.

"With you as the protagonist, it's normal that the box office in the North American market didn't exceed that of the first two films!"

"Our focus should be on Asia!"

Justin Lin was comforting him, and Chen Yu knew that what he said made sense, but the box office was indeed far from what he had imagined.

Originally, he thought that the opening, investment, etc. would all surpass "Taken". If not surpass it, it should be almost the same; but the final situation showed that he still had to continue to explore the North American market.

Although the effect of "Fast and Furious 3" seems to be mediocre, it is still more or less helpful to Chen Yu's market recognition and improvement.

Because Universal's overwhelming publicity is centered around him.

That is to say, if Chen Yu's first major Hollywood film in the future is likely to be labeled "Fast and Furious 3", this will be his first leading male role in Hollywood.

"Let's see if we can rely on word of mouth to boost the box office in the future!"

Although it is difficult, North America is a very realistic market. Once your box office is not good, the film scheduling, opening of theaters, etc. will be affected.

There are very few movies that can make a comeback in North America, unlike China, which still has a chance to make a comeback and reverse the decline by relying on word of mouth.

In North America, the first weekend box office basically determines the life or death of a movie.

Except for many movies that have few theaters at the beginning, films like "Fast and Furious 3" that have a mediocre box office response despite their full release will see a sharp decrease in screenings after the first weekend, and then slowly fade out of the audience's sight.

Of course, there are exceptions to everything. Although there are many cases where films failed due to poor opening in the North American market, there are still counterexamples.

For example, "Bumblebee" had 2100 million in its first weekend, and finally 1.3 million, totaling 4.49 million worldwide!
Its second week performance, on a weekday Monday, was higher than the box office on its premiere day.

There are also "Night at the Museum", "Zootopia", "Coco" and so on.

The most crucial reason why these films can make a comeback in the North American market is their ratings.

Especially "Zootopia" and "Coco", both of which are masterpieces with scores above 9 points, and they have carved out a niche by relying on word of mouth; although "Fast and Furious 3" cannot reach such impressive scores as Zootopia and Coco, it can completely replicate the curve of "Bumblebee".

When "Bumblebee" first came out, it received a lot of negative reviews and many fans boycotted it.

It's quite similar to the concept of changing roles in "Fast and Furious 3".

The protagonist was changed into Bumblebee, which made fans of Optimus Prime and others unable to accept it, so they gave bad reviews, which made many neutral fans choose to watch the movie conservatively; in the end, the word of mouth actually went up all the way, and an IP derivative film earned 4.5 million US dollars.

Its reputation and film reviews were not good in the beginning, but gradually the trend changed and it became popular.

However, the situation in North America is very different from the subsequent rise in mainland China in that the mainland's recovery is relatively slow; this reversal may take a week or even longer to manifest itself.

But North America is very fast.

"Bumblebee" made a comeback after 3 days, while "Zootopia" and "Around the World" took 1 day and 2 days respectively.

That said, the transition in North America has been rapid.

Because the North American market is so sensitive, once investors discover the slightest movement in the film, they will find ways to spend money to change the direction of public opinion, which is much faster than in China.

North America does need this speed because there are too many movies and new films are released one after another.

Just look at "Fast and Furious 3" now. It will face the release of "Caribbean 2" next week. If the wind direction is reversed after a week, even if the word of mouth is amazing, there is no possibility of a comeback.

The schedule is there, you can't shake the strength of "Caribbean 2", how can you reverse it? !
Therefore, "Fast and Furious 3" only has a maximum of 3 days, and the limit is 5 days.

If word-of-mouth reverses box office performance during this period, Universal and the cinema chains will definitely take action.

This is actually the case with Bumblebee.

You may be wrong for 3 days on the first weekend, but if you are wrong for a week, it will be 100% lifted, and there will be no possibility of any waves.

“I hope the daytime box office can be better!”

"Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will be even better, then we'll be stable!"

Chen Yu walked out of the Langley Cinema and looked up at the inky black Vancouver sky at 3 a.m. He obviously had not given up on Fast and Furious 3.

He must be dissatisfied with the North American box office of around 1 million for a movie he starred in.

Although for a "newcomer" who has just stepped into Hollywood, this answer is already good enough, at least better than Jet Li, and second only to Jackie Chan who is entering Hollywood for the second time.

The first time Cheng Long's film "Killer Trench" was not a success.

But if it can be better, he will certainly try!
(End of this chapter)