The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1511 Unique
For a very long time, Hollywood has had a special liking for epic movies, such as "Ben-Hur", "Lawrence of Arabia", "Gone with the Wind", etc., so much so that those works that are not epic are always labeled as epic in order to attract attention, eager to win more attention from the market.

However, after the 1980s, science fiction films replaced epic films, and the audience's imagination no longer went back in time, but rather explored the universe. This caused epic films to fall into a trough, and they were even once considered synonymous with old-fashioned, pedantic, outdated, and empty, and were abandoned by Hollywood.

Until recent years, the success of "Gladiator" and "Lord of the Rings" brought epic movies back into the audience's attention, and a series of epic projects were born.

"Troy" is the focus of everyone's attention.

An all-star cast including Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Diane Kruger and Eric Bana, with Wolfgang Petersen as director, Warner Bros. invested a total of 175 million US dollars to create the film, preparing to replicate the grand occasion when "Ben-Hur" swept across the world.

Unfortunately, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment——

The film received rave reviews and its box office performance was disappointing, grossing only $133 million in North America.

Currently, "Troy" is being released worldwide, and the box office figures are not yet known; but in fact, the final global box office is not satisfactory:

Four hundred and ninety-seven million U.S. dollars.

Some may say that the global box office of nearly 500 million US dollars, is this number not enough?

For Warner Bros., no, of course it was not enough. After deducting the production costs, the global distribution and promotion costs directly burned up 30 million US dollars, pushing the cost of the film to over 200 million US dollars. And the box office of the film also needed to deduct the theater dividends. Although Warner Bros. was responsible for global distribution and ensured that the distribution dividends also went into its own pocket, in the end it only barely avoided losses.

In other words, after spending so much energy and effort and finally barely breaking even, can Warner Bros. be satisfied?
Following "Master and Commander", the second consecutive epic film in just half a year has disappointed, and the whole Hollywood is trembling.

All the epic projects in production and development have been hit hard, and are worriedly losing their way.

"Troy" is being discussed at this moment, but the subsequent influence is more than just "Troy". Just as "Spider-Man" made the sharks announce their gathering towards superhero comic book adaptation movies, now "Troy" has also successfully left a heavy blow to the heart of Hollywood.

However, this year's summer season is not all bad news. There was the huge disappointment of "Troy" at the beginning, and the overall blowout of "Shrek 2: The Monsters" at the end.

It grossed $108 million over three days over its opening weekend.

boom! Boom boom boom!
The whole of Hollywood was in a daze.

Two years have passed since "Spider-Man" debuted and grossed over 100 million on its opening weekend. Everyone in Hollywood has been craning their necks in anticipation. Which film will be able to replicate such a feat and lead the North American film market into the 100 million era on its opening weekend?
But, after waiting and waiting, my neck was about to break, and it still didn't appear:
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" failed, "Lord of the Rings 3" failed, "Terminator 3", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Finding Nemo" and so on all failed.
A series of eye-catching and anticipated projects have failed to break the ceiling. The enthusiasm and cheers of the 2002 summer season are still vivid in our memory, but no one would have thought that it was a one-time breakthrough and no one would be able to replicate the feat. This has further highlighted the status of "Spider-Man".

It is for this reason that when Sony Columbia was hesitant about renewing Anson's contract, industry insiders clearly stood on Anson's side.

Then, without warning, "Shrek 2" appeared, copying the feat of "Spider-Man" with a casual attitude and recreating the box office miracle. Although "Shrek" was born out of nowhere, DreamWorks established its position in the industry in one fell swoop; but the sequel could achieve such a success, and the whole Hollywood woke up in an instant, and they were overjoyed, telling each other, and clapping each other to celebrate this important moment.

The point is not what the specific box office figures of "Shrek 2" are. The figure of million US dollars in the opening weekend is certainly not comparable to "Spider-Man"; but the fact that another movie has reached such a milestone, proving that "Spider-Man" is not a short-lived accident or coincidence.

So, will this be the beginning of a new era for Hollywood, where opening weekend box office revenue of over $100 million becomes the norm?
A hypothesis, if this unrealistic dream can come true, for film companies, controlling the pay of top superstar actors becomes a top priority. As long as the upper limit of pay can be controlled, the production cost can be controlled, and then the increase in box office figures can create more profits for the film companies.

A simple math problem.

As for why actors? It is because the 20 million club is eye-catching, and it is better to start with the big head than to save money from other departments.

At this point, it shouldn't be surprising why Anson's salary has attracted so much attention in the past two years.

Let’s temporarily turn our attention back to the summer vacation season.

"Shrek 2" exploded at the box office and attracted widespread attention; but the bustle and noise did not last long, as "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" came on the stage.

Unfortunately, Warner Bros.’ first attempt to move up the movie schedule from the holiday to the summer season turned out to be ill-timed, which makes one wonder if the energy that Alfonso Cuarón injected into the movie would have been a benefit if “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” had been released around Halloween?
It was in the midst of this ups and downs that "Spider-Man 2" came.

The blockbuster of the year!

It stands out from the crowd and is unrivaled. Even in the fiercely competitive summer season, other film companies all gave way. It was not until Sony and Columbia confirmed the release date that they all finalized their release dates. No one was willing to confront the only giant in this year's summer season head-on.

nobody.

Although this year's summer movie season is extremely lively, in addition to all those works, there are also highly anticipated and anticipated works such as "I, Robot", "Jason Bourne", "Heroes" and so on waiting to be released, with superstars such as Will Smith and Tom Cruise on the waiting list; but nothing can compare to "Spider-Man 2".

Two years ago, the unknown "Spider-Man" came out of nowhere and made history; two years later, Anson Wood is no longer the same as before, and is the undisputed number one in Hollywood. His past three works have continuously set off the market, and he is undoubtedly the strongest appeal in the current market. The attention of "Spider-Man 2" is unmatched.

Moreover, Sony Columbia launched an extensive publicity campaign at all costs, and its momentum even suppressed "Troy" at one point, demonstrating its strong confidence.

All eyes are focused on "Spider-Man 2". What kind of performance will it deliver in this summer season full of variables and fluctuations?

(End of this chapter)