The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1496 The homeless
Alfonso Cuarón sat quietly at the dining table in a daze, staring at the empty bowl of cereal in front of him. His mind was blank, so clean that he had no thoughts at all. He just sat there in a daze, without even a trace of emotion.

To be precise, it's not that I don't have any emotions at all.

at a loss.

I just feel confused, the kind of confusion that makes me unsure of my next step.

Two weeks ago, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" premiered, marking the first time a film in the series left the holiday schedule and joined the fierce competition of the summer season.

The unanimous praise and affirmation have made the market full of expectations for the film's box office prospects, including Alfonso as the director.

During the three days of its premiere weekend, the film swept the summer box office with a fierce momentum, earning 93 million US dollars in one go, setting a new record for the premiere of the series of films, and everyone in the crew was jubilant.

However, the joy only lasted for one weekend.

Entering the second week of its release, the market backlash was overwhelming, with protests from family audiences and complaints from passers-by, and criticisms that the film was too dark, too heavy, and too scary.

As a result, the film's box office plummeted 62.7% in the second weekend, earning only million US dollars. In the same period of release, the box office was already behind "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and was only slightly ahead of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets".

disappointing.

As expected, this week, weekend box office data continued to plummet and could not be stopped. The 48.4% drop brought the film to the bottom.

After three weeks of release, the cumulative box office of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" in the same period has fallen behind the first two films in the series; and the gap is not just a little bit, and the gap has now widened to more than 20 million US dollars.

In other words, despite the breakthrough in the box office on its first release, the follow-up was weak and the cumulative box office curve was far below expectations. It has been slow to break through the $200 million threshold, which early determined the film's fate of creating a new low for the series.

failure?

It’s hard to say.

But without success, there is no hope.

Moreover, anyone with a little common sense knows that the movie box office did not collapse completely because of the powerful influence of the original novel in the "Harry Potter" series. Even if the quality of the movie is terrible, the box office will not be ruined. If the movie does not detonate the box office, it is a failure.

So, what is the root cause of failure?
The arrow was pointed silently at Alfonso.

In fact, as a director, Alfonso's work has been recognized by many professional film critics and veteran movie fans; however, "Harry Potter" is a series that has attracted worldwide attention, and the film targets the youth and children's family market, so their opinions may not have much to do with film art.

Is the movie too dark, not commercial enough, not marketable enough?

But looking at it from another perspective, does the movie delve deeply into themes and ideas? It seems not.
This put Alfonso in a state of confusion:
Where is his position?

In terms of commerciality, his works are indeed not commercial enough; in terms of art, his works do not seem to be that profound; in terms of catering to the masses, he does hope to have some self-expression; in terms of being too highbrow, he does not want to produce works that are immersed in his own world and talk to himself.

It touches a little here and a little there, yet seems to keep a certain distance, not too close. It is all half-baked, neither up nor down, neither left nor right, ambiguous and vague, and finally falls on an ambiguous and specious boundary.

Even he wasn't sure of himself.

He used to think he was very determined, he just wanted to make a movie, a movie that he imagined in his mind, a movie about the characters in the environment. But now, he is not sure -

As the number of films I filmed increased one after another, from Mexico to Hollywood, I accumulated more and more experience. Logically, I should have gradually matured. However, the more I knew, not only did I not become wiser, but the more I didn't know.

Does he really understand what he is doing? Does he really understand what he wants? Does he really understand what his work is pursuing?

Or... is it all just an illusion? A bubble that makes you feel good but never has a concrete outline?
Trapped in the chaotic area between business and art, I feel lost.

At present, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is still in the promotion period, but the busy promotion schedule has nothing to do with Alfonso anymore.

Originally, the main force of publicity was the three young actors, and all attention was focused on them, with the director and supporting actors being incidental.

And now, Alfonso has stepped back further, giving the spotlight to the three young actors and actresses. Although the film is still being promoted extensively, the director is not busy at all. He sits alone in his small apartment, lost in thought, and letting random thoughts fill his head.

Although Warner Bros. didn't say anything, Alfonso knew that the director's baton for the next "Harry Potter" would probably not be handed over to him.

In other words, he is now unemployed.

Again and again.

Two years ago, "Tu Mama Toutiao" became famous in Hollywood, and the name "Alfonso Cuarón" caused some ripples in Hollywood for the first time; at that time, Alfonso was eager to try and tried to seize the opportunity to break into Hollywood again. He closed himself off and completed a script:
"Son of Man".

To be precise, this is a custom script. The adaptation rights of the original work are in the hands of Warner Bros. Warner Bros. invited Alfonso to adapt the script, which made Alfonso very motivated. He poured all his passion and enthusiasm into this script and completed a script that he was very satisfied with.

Alfonso then took the script to Warner Bros.

but……

Warner Bros. did not respond.

Later, Alfonso asked Warner Bros. for their opinion, and they thought that now was "not the best time to develop this script" and simply shelved his script, and then... nothing happened again.

Alfonso, unemployed.

Just when Alfonso was seriously considering whether he should return to Mexico, Warner Bros. gave him a proposal: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".

Alfonso had never read the Harry Potter series and he was unsure if he should take the job because he was unsure if he could do it or else it would be like Great Expectations. What to do?
After asking his friend Guillermo del Toro, who is also a director, for advice, Alfonso bought the original book and read it carefully. He then decided to take the job:
Give yourself a chance, and at the same time leave yourself a glimmer of hope for your Hollywood adventure.

In total, Alfonso spent six months preparing for the filming of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", and he devoted all his energy to it. He even fell ill for a while after the filming was completed. He was conscientious and devoted all his energy to the hope of making an excellent work.

Unfortunately, there are no fairy tales in Hollywood.

People always believe that Hollywood is the cradle of fairy tales and miracles; but the reality is quite different. Hollywood does not believe in fairy tales.

So he was unemployed, again.

(End of this chapter)