"'The Magician' is a rich and elegant film, full of cunning, cunning characters, complex motives. —3/4, Mick Russell, San Francisco Chronicle; The charming and extremely funny "The Magician" proves that a film doesn't need stupid blunders or ridiculous far-fetched tricks to have escapist fun. —3/4, Claudia Pugh, USA Today; Set in 1900 Vienna, this remarkable romantic thriller is an outstanding example of low-budget art. —3.5/4, Peter Howell, Toronto Star......

At this year's Sundance Film Festival, Flame Films bought out Yari and Bull's Eye's 16.5 million fantasy suspense romance "The Magician" at a high price of 25 million, and has been doing related publicity work, on September 15, "The Magician" landed in 2,857 theaters, and then it received 75%/87% Rotten Tomatoes freshness.

Mainstream media outlets including Time, The Hollywood Reporter, The Washington Post, and The New York Times have given it high ratings, and reviews are full of praise such as "pretty good", "very interesting", and "beautifully made", and the official website of Rotten Tomatoes concludes: "The Magician is a fascinating, well-designed mystery story with a fascinating mix of magic and intrigue." If you hadn't suffered from hypnosis, you would have been a fascination viewer. ”

Whether it is director Neil Borg, star Edward Norton and others have been praised, the discerning flame has once again proved to the world the name of the "miracle wholesaler", and it is the highest-rated drama since the massive release of Sundance films this year.

Not only in the critics, but also in the audience, according to CinemaScore's fan poll, fans rated it an A overall, and fans between the ages of 18 and 24 gave it an A+. IMDb scored 7.8, and the audience liking rate of Rotten Tomatoes was 85%, which is a gratifying performance!

Julia L gave a 4.5/5 rating: "Great movie, go check it out!" Deanna G gave a perfect score: "Excellent plot, great acting!" Kirston-R, who ticked five stars, wrote: "It's a really good movie! I thought it was stupid and bad garbage, but it wasn't, I really liked it." "A magical masterpiece!!!" The top-notch acting and storyline are unforgettable. ”……

When the curtain came down on September 15-21, the Flames won another North American weekly box office champion this year!

Last week's total box office was only 92.85 million, which was the only week with a box office of less than 100 million yuan so far in 06, and this week it rebounded to 118 million, and the champion "The Magician" collected 32.36 million box office with an average single hall of $11,327!

This result can be ranked 4th in the box office list of the opening week of September, the first 44 million "Love to Alabama" final box office 127 million/180 million (North America/Global), the second 42.83 million "Rush Hour" 141 million/244 million, the fifth 31.1 million "Air Crisis" 089 million/223 million, and the third closest to the "Magician" genre, the 36.7 million horror film "Exorcism" 075 million/144 million box office.

According to the current momentum, there will be no surprises, the North American box office of "The Magician" will definitely be more than 60 million, and on the other hand, with the complete and mature distribution system of Flame Films, its final global box office will undoubtedly be more than 100 million! or even 200 million......

At this time, in the face of the nine-figure box office expectations, the 25 million buyout fee seems so insignificant, and the 8.5 million gross profit is so thin.

"A Big Dark Horse of Autumn", "One of the Most Successful Sundance Films", "A Classic Case Between Independent and Industrial Cinema"......

Yahoo Entertainment and other media reported one after another, and the fans of the Flame Movie cheered, and the box office report "Common Fresh Magic" written by Brandon Gray of BOM Network said that "Magic Young made young people interested in "The Magician", and the movie did not disappoint them, and the world once again saw the fire magic that is not new", who would have thought that? Who would have thought that if it were not for the Flame Movie, a low-budget movie that no one was interested in at all, would have such a dazzling light.

Take a look at the other films of the week, which one doesn't look more like a success than "The Magician"?

Dwayne Johnson's sports drama film "Reinvigorate the Ball" (PB30 million, Sony/Columbia) turned out to be a failure at the box office of 17.5 million in the first week and 42%/31%/84% on Rotten Tomatoes, BOM said, "Boulder has consistently worked hard to promote, but he hasn't gotten a headline yet", "His appeal hasn't grown"; Scarlett Johansson, Hillary Swank and other all-star cast starring the crime drama "Black Dahlia" (The-Black-Dahlia, PB50 million, Universal), the opening box office was 12.82 million, Rotten Tomatoes 32%/13%/31%, a fiasco, "failed to meet industry expectations"......

Not only did it fail to meet expectations, but the world's top executives simply burst into tears!

Rotten Tomatoes blames "poor acting, puzzling stories, and quirky genres" on the fiasco of this ambitious crime noir, which is all the more pitiful and utterly bombarded than "The Magician," which also pursues the atmosphere and suspense of a particular era.

This also makes it "a mockbuster" (a low-budget film that confuses the public, with obvious deceptive intent, and has a genre title or theme with the template movie, which is usually released on videotapes, DVDs, etc., or theaters before and after the release of the template) "Mockbuster" has a suicidal urge to find the wrong template! (Black-Dahlia, PB not announced), I thought I was hitching a ride, but I didn't expect the car to overturn on the way.

Also suffering from this change are the bloody horror film "Black-Dahlia-Movie" (PB unannounced) with congested images and the bloody horror film "The-Curse-of-the-Black-Dahlia" (PB unannounced) by International United Television.

In fact, Lionsgate is the co-distributor behind the Shadow Factories, and Flame doesn't do this business, it has always been the object of mockbuster, such as "I-Am-Omega", which just launched the global containment of "Da Vinci's Treasure" this summer, and this zombie apocalyptic film is also in filming, and will enter the market before the release of "I Am Legend" next summer.

In this week, there are also Fox's "Baseball Little Heroes", which grossed 6.84 million, 40%/44%/51%, and Paramount's romantic film "The Last Kiss", which grossed 5.93 million, 46%/48%/59%.

When September 22-28 is a thing of the past, the films that have been stamped with the bad movie mark have no chance of turning around in September, but there are a few new films in the ranks of losers.

MGM fully proves that the film industry is getting worse and worse, and it continues to sink into the quagmire, despite the 1974 Oscar winner Tony Beale directed, starring James Franco, Jean Reno, and others, the 60 million production cost of "Air Combat Heroes" was a mess, and the box office in the first week was only 7.59 million! 33%/17%/68%Rotten Tomatoes index! MGM's debt is a little heavier......

Sony/Columbia, which didn't have long been proud, also lost a lot of money, obviously with Steven Zelian writing and directing (1994 Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, "Schindler's List"; there are also two screenplay nominations), Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson and other starring luxury cast cast, the 55 million production fee of "The King's Team" only received a pitiful 4.68 million in the first week!11%/9%/42% Rotten Tomatoes Index! The dream of a group of big names to hit the Oscars was shattered.

In fact, according to the data that 75% of the audience is over 35 years old and 53% of the audience is female, it can be said that no young people are interested in this lineup, but "Stupid Funny Show 2" took over the weekly championship with 37.46 million, 70% of its audience is under 25 years old, and 65% is male. In addition, "Jet Li's Huo Yuanjia" received a good 13.08 million, and "The Science of Sleep", which is rumored to be a favorite of Magic Young, was also released, and it lived up to expectations and received 560,000 yuan in 14 theaters with an average of $40,497 per theater, and Warner Independent immediately expanded its screening scale.

If any movie fails and there will be a pool of blood, then the box office charts will definitely be bloody. The film market is so elusive, the film itself is bad, and no big name is used, and if the film is good, the box office has a chance to explode.

The big dark horse "The Magician" won an impressive 25.49 million in 3,055 theaters (+198) the next week! With an average of $8,343 per theater, the box office only jumped 21.2%, and the total box office was 64.72 million two weeks later! According to the analysis of many institutions, its North American box office is expected to exceed the 90 million mark.

"'Fool' slammed into the top of the charts" - BOM box office report, Brandon Gray's article wrote: "'The Magician' continues to be eye-catching, 'It's a model of independent cinema, and that's why we fancy it.'" Mark Slunt, CEO of Flame Films, said, 'We all yearn for mystery, and magic is undoubtedly a very mysterious thing around us, and it makes young audiences feel cool. Wang Yang is the person who understands what it means to be cool today, and Yang adds: "The success of 'The Magician' is not surprising, it is a fascinating movie that will make you calm down and watch it." ’”

Countless people around the world can't help but sigh that FF really deserves to be a miracle wholesaler, and the magic Yang went to Park City to not only ski, but also a big baby!

Yari and Bull's Eye instantly became "dumbfounded" companies, from "Crash" to "The Magician", almost the same trajectory and ending, Bob Yari and others, who had been happy for more than half a year, quietly regretted it, they had long known that it would be beneficial to do business with the flames, but often they would feel a big loss in the end, sure enough! They couldn't help but think that if they tried to release it themselves, even if the rookie distribution system was very bad, it was estimated that they would be able to collect about 100 million global box office! Then there would be more money to expand the business, which is really a big loss......

Although FF asked about the merger and acquisition intention once, the senior management of Yarui & Bullseye disagreed, and they had secretly decided that if the company joined forces to produce any movies that FF fancied next time, they would never agree to sell it, never! No one, no company! They want to distribute it themselves!

But obviously Yari & Bullseye can't invite Neil Borg to direct a new film in the short term, after the successive successes of "Kennedy Assassination Proof and The Magician", Borg, who can write and direct, has officially become one of Hollywood's hottest new directors, this old man looks promising, but other studios interested in him can't be invited, because FF has a plan with him early.

The flame of confidence must have expected the success of "The Magician", so it is not surprising that this new plan it announced to the media public, "Never-ending".

Due to the small amount and the quality of the product, the new film project of the flame will have a lot of attention from the outside world of the industry, whether it is a large production or a small cost, and the fans of the flame who saw the news excitedly read it.

"Limitless" is based on the 2001 sci-fi thriller "The-Dark-Fields" by Irish author Alan Green, and tells the story of Eddie Spinola, an advertising copywriter for a small New York publishing house, who accidentally obtains and takes an experimental drug called "MDT-48", which can make people become highly intelligent, Creativity and learning ability, Eddie has been prosperous since then, but the good times did not last long, and the negative effects of drugs followed......

Another film adaptation, Flame Films has already purchased the adaptation rights from Alan Green, according to the information released so far, the project has been finalized by Neil Borg to adapt and direct, Bradley Cooper starring Eddie, it will be a 30 million cost budget film, scheduled to be released in October 2008.

"The Dark Realm" is not very well-known, not so big that the title of the film adaptation will be used under a different name, on the other hand, it is also to be different from the "Dark Knight" that debuted in the summer of '08, so that it will not be regarded as a mockbuster by the audience.

Not many fans have seen this one, but of course there are, and some people are puzzled that although this book has some commercial gimmick elements such as hunting and killing, finance, etc., it is generally very serious, telling how a person faces and gets rid of his own predicament, this story can become a literary film or a commercial film, in fact, even Alan Green can't figure out how the flame is going to be made?

"We already have a plan. FF had anticipated this, and spokesperson Voona Hasson revealed to fans on its official website: "This is very interesting and has a wealth of elements, almost every one of them can be taken out and made into a movie on its own, and our goal is to combine them into a thriller and suspense movie with a tight plot, fast rhythm and tense atmosphere." In a way, it will be similar to MIT-21-TEAM. There is no doubt that Neil Borg will do a great job. ”

In any case, fans don't think that "Neverend" will fail, but when will the flames really screw up again? Will it be "Chainsaw 4" that lost the two fathers of chainsaws? The answer will not be revealed until October 27.

(To be continued)