Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 176 186 [North American box office exceeds million, returning home with a big win]

In fact, both Lee Yi-su and Hisao Morishima underestimated the reputation of "The Sixth Sense", or underestimated the influence of Pauline Kael, the legendary female film critic.

The box office on May 5st reached an astonishing 31 million US dollars!
It's Monday!
According to data from local cinema chains, there are always many people going to the cinema to watch "The Sixth Sense" from 6pm to 12am.

In some areas, cinemas have been strongly requested by movie fans to add additional screenings due to the limited number of screenings in the evening.

But temporary adjustments are definitely not possible. However, the theater chains are not stupid. Looking at the movie-watching craze and the box office trend, which seem unstoppable, they naturally arranged a large number of evening screenings.

From Monday to Thursday, the daytime shows are equivalent to a garbage dump, and even one-third of the audience may not be able to fill the seats. Only the evening shows are relatively popular.

So after adding two extra screenings of "The Sixth Sense" the next night, the box office exploded, reaching 687 million.

This number shocked not only the theaters, but also Columbia Pictures itself.

Despite having more screenings and more screens, the film still grossed $687 million on Tuesday, a treatment only afforded to blockbuster films in the past.

Hisao Morishima was grinning from ear to ear. At this rate, he might be able to earn 2000 million in a single day over the weekend.

Of course, this is just Hisao Morishima's fantasy. The box office has been so high in recent days mainly because of word of mouth. Many movie fans have flocked to see the movie. It is already very good if the box office can break 1500 million US dollars over the weekend.

at the same time.

On Tuesday, June 6st, The Sixth Sense was released in Europe.

There is still a market for pure English films in Europe. Coupled with the status of Lee Ye-su, the "double gold director", the market is much stronger in Europe than in North America. The single-day box office in Europe directly exceeded 800 million US dollars.

This is still Tuesday, and by the weekend, it is basically a foregone conclusion that the daily revenue will exceed $1500 million.

On the morning of September 6th.

The Hollywood Reporter:
"Chinese director Li, who made his Hollywood debut with The Sixth Sense, has grossed over $6987 million worldwide! As of yesterday, The Sixth Sense grossed $3215 million in North America and $9 million in Europe, bringing its total global box office to over $ million, and it took just nine days."

New York Daily News:
"The thriller film "The Sixth Sense", co-invested by Columbia Pictures and Art Films, has officially broken the $8 million global box office, becoming the eighth film to break the $ million global box office this year.

According to professional analysis, the film's global box office is expected to exceed $3 million, but on June 6, the sci-fi masterpiece "Jurassic Park" invested by Universal Pictures and directed by Spielberg will be released strongly. A large number of film critics and box office prediction experts believe that this film is expected to break the global box office record..."

Los Angeles Morning Post: "Ten days after the release of The Sixth Sense, directed by China's Li, it has achieved great success in both word-of-mouth and box office! Not only has it received high praise from the famous film critic Pauline Kael, it has also achieved a global box office of $1 million in ten days."

"..."

Airport waiting area.

Looking at the reports in major newspapers, Lee Yi-su was in a good mood. The box office of "The Sixth Sense" exceeded 100 million US dollars, and apart from Hisao Morishima, he was the happiest person.

Even though it took over 100 million U.S. dollars in ten days, the film has only been released in Europe for three days, and the box office for the fourth weekend today has not yet come out. At the same time, the film will only be released in Asia today and tomorrow, as well as in South America, Canada, Australia and other countries.

Following this trend, let alone breaking the 3 million US dollars reported in the newspaper, it is very likely to reach nearly 4 million US dollars.

In North America, before June 6, which is next Friday, "The Sixth Sense" will be able to earn more box office revenue. It may not reach $11 million, but 1.5-1.2 million should not be a problem.

After all, the North American box office is already close to 7000 million US dollars. If we count today, Friday, there are still three days of weekend box office, which can reach at least 3500 million US dollars. In the next four days, it should not be a problem to earn nearly million US dollars.

If we can get $1.2 million, the box office in Europe will eventually be $1 million. If we add Asia, South America, Canada, Australia and other places, we can get another $2 million, which is definitely possible.

After all, in Japan alone, Li Yishu is confident that she can get 40 to 50 million US dollars.

There are also Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Peninsula, and Southeast Asian countries~
The only pity is that this movie contains a supernatural plot. Otherwise, when the Film Bureau has agreed to introduce ten imported films, they would also include this movie as an imported film.

Monica Bellucci said excitedly: "Honey, it looks like our movie is going to be a big hit."

"Yes."

Li Yishu smiled and nodded: "Looking at this situation, it is not impossible for the global box office to reach 4 million US dollars. It depends on whether it can be maintained in the future."

After the release of "Jurassic Park", it is basically on the trend of sweeping the summer vacation time slot, but this does not mean that "The Sixth Sense" has no room for survival.

As long as the box office is not lower than a certain amount, the theater chain will still give some midnight shows. As long as we can persist and grind slowly, there is a high probability that the total box office will exceed 4 million US dollars.

Moreover, Li Yishu believes that Hisao Morishima will definitely find a way to get the movie's box office to $4 million, so that he can report to Sony headquarters.

Of course, the final box office cannot be too low, it must be at least 3.8 million US dollars, so that Hisao Morishima can spend some time to improve the box office. The best place to improve the box office, besides the United States, is naturally Japan.

"It would be great if it breaks $4 million." Monica Bellucci's face was full of joy, and she said gratefully: "I never thought that one day I would be the star of a movie with a box office of hundreds of millions of dollars. Thank you dear for giving me this opportunity."

"Haha, Monica, this opportunity will come again sooner or later." Li Yishu smiled and was about to say something when suddenly an announcement began in the airport hall that the flight to Yanjing had started.

"Well, it looks like I have to go back."

Li Yishu stood up and said to Monica, "When I come back, remember to help me keep an eye on Columbia and arrange for the financial department to keep a close eye on it."

"Yeah, I know honey."

Monica Bellucci came forward, gave him a sweet kiss, and said with a smile: "I'll help you keep an eye on it."

Although Li Yishu has a good personal relationship with Hisao Morishima, the company does not belong to Hisao Morishima, so who knows if someone will tamper with the box office share.

After Li Yishu returns to China, Amy will come over to help keep an eye on her. After all, Monica is still too new and she herself is only half-baked in legal matters, so Monica's recent plan is to take an American bar exam.

When Li Yishu was taking a plane back to Yanjing.

The news that his first American film as a director had grossed over 100 million yuan worldwide was reported in China before anyone else.

Previously, there were not many reports in China about Lee Yi-su's filming and the release of her movies in the United States.

The main reason is that the subject matter of "The Sixth Sense" is a bit sensitive and involves supernatural phenomena.

But now the box office has exceeded 1.8 million US dollars, and it has only been released for ten days. And that's only in Europe and the United States. Other English-speaking regions, including the Asian film market, have not yet started showing it. There will definitely be no problem in breaking Lee Yi-su's previous global box office of million US dollars.

I don’t think even $3 million would be enough.

How could such an amazing director's achievement not be reported in China?
"It is reported that Lee Ye-su's film The Sixth Sense, directed in the United States, has been a great success in both word-of-mouth and box office. The famous legendary female film critic Pauline Kael in North America highly praised Lee Ye-su's directing ability at this age, which is rare in her life..."

Nortel.

Yu Feihong, who has already graduated, is moving things in her dormitory. She is planning to move to the teachers' dormitory.

That’s right, Yu Feihong has become a teacher of acting classes at the Beijing Film Academy.

In the second half of this year, I will teach students from the 1993 Beijing Film Academy Performance Class and become a people's teacher.

At the same time, she also listened to her teacher's advice and continued to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination while teaching acting classes.

"Where are you moving to?"

Yu Feihong suddenly heard a man's voice and turned around. When he saw that it was Li Yishu, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Why didn't you tell me you came back? I was almost scared to death just now. I thought it might be Wang Qian's boyfriend who came."

"Wang Qian has a boyfriend?"

Li Yishu raised his eyebrows. His understanding of Wang Qian was not only because she was Yu Feihong's best friend, but mainly because of the later TV series "Serious Crime Unit 6", in which Wang Qian played the role of policewoman Ji Jie.

Lee Ye-seo was quite impressed by this TV series.

Unfortunately, after getting married, he didn't make any movies for several years, which caused his fame to decline severely. If he had struck while the iron was hot and made more movies for a few years, he probably wouldn't have been forgotten later.

Yu Feihong shrugged his nose and said, "Not yet, but judging from the situation, it should be soon. When did you come back?"

"I just got off the plane and drove here."

Li Yishu was not a gossipy person and had no interest in knowing about Wang Qian's love affairs. Instead, she looked at Yu Feihong's packed suitcase and asked curiously, "Are you moving away?"

"Yes, new students will be arriving in the second half of the year, and I have to move to the teachers' dormitory."

Yu Feihong handed the suitcase to Li Yishu: "You came at the right time, help me carry it."

"Row."

Li Yishu picked up the suitcase and caught a glimpse of her photo on the Yanjing Daily. She picked it up and smiled, "I was wondering why everyone in the school was staring at me along the way."

After he came out of the airport, he went straight to the school. Because it was morning, there were still many sophomores and juniors who had not gone home yet. Many of them had seen Li Yishu before, and seeing that the big director who had just appeared in the newspaper and shot a movie in the United States that grossed over $100 million had returned, they naturally took a few more glances at him.

That is to say, these college students are still relatively simple now, but ten years later...

No, in a few years, when Li Yishu returns to Beijing Film Academy, he will probably be surrounded by people.

At this time, most people still had the mentality of studying art, and even the freshmen were a bit arrogant, unlike later, when everyone was aiming to become famous and become a big star.

(End of this chapter)