In the hustle and bustle of the summer a year ago, Steven Spielberg's 11th summer vacation blockbuster "Happiness Terminal" was released, and then received the huge infamy of "this is the shame of Spielberg's directing history" (Rotten Tomatoes index 55%/51%/72%), and for the second time in his directing career, he did not win the first week box office championship of a new work in the summer vacation, and it was the second time in a row, which shattered the dream of "Spielberg taught Wang Yang how to make light comedy".

"Is Spielberg old?" Although the superstar director is firmly the No. 1 box office in film history, a lot of questioning and irony still come to his face.

At that time, it was reported that Spielberg was very angry, and at the same time full of fighting spirit, vowing to break through the doubts with "War of the Worlds" and prove himself again! A year has passed, Tom Hanks has become Tom Cruise, plus Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman and other starring, under the attention and questioning, this 132 million production cost sci-fi blockbuster was released worldwide a few days ago on June 29.

The 29th is Wednesday, since the opening of the film, Spielberg has spent two days of isolation in "retreat" as usual, today is the new weekend of Friday, July 1, and the box office and the response to the film last week have already been results.

Early in the morning, Spielberg came to the headquarters of DreamWorks to take a walk, looking at these familiar scenes, he frowned from time to time, the company's finances had some problems, the debt has become higher and higher in recent years, to the point where he has to negotiate with Paramount, NBCUniversal and other big studios to buy and sell, no matter what the results of "War of the Worlds" are, maybe soon DreamWorks will not be an independent film company, or even disappear in the long river of film history.

But what he is most concerned about and nervous about now is "War of the Worlds", old friends and children have appeared earlier, and now the whole world is "Firefly", which is really a very lively and exciting summer, if it is smashed...... How is that possible? Spielberg thought and smiled faintly: "Hehe!"

The various TOP10 anticipation lists before the start of the summer vacation have now been reshuffled, taking Yahoo Entertainment's list as an example:

The first "Firefly", a box office hit and super high praise, five stars ★★★★★ (formerly No.2), the second "Star Wars Prequel 3" sold well & mixed reviews, three and a half ★★★ stars ☆ (formerly No. 1), the third "Batman" did not sell well, two stars ★★★ (originally No. 6), the fourth "Iron Fist Man" did not sell well, two and a half ★★ stars ☆ (formerly No. 5), the fifth "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" did not sell well, two stars ★★ (formerly No. 8), and the sixth "Heavenly Dynasty" All screwed up, half-star ☆ (original No. 3), and now the original No. 4 "War of the Worlds" is here.

"Good morning, good morning. When it was time to go to work, Spielberg walked into the office of the distribution department, "War of the Worlds" is a production method in which Paramount is mainly invested and DreamWorks participates in the production, and Paramount is responsible for North American distribution, and Paramount and Universal Pictures are jointly responsible for overseas distribution, but of course DreamWorks will also pay attention to the latest development. At this time, the employees were neither heavy nor happy, could it be because of "Firefly?...... After a few greetings, Spielberg casually asked, "Is our movie okay?"

The employees looked at each other for a while, not knowing what to say, and Jim Tharp, the distribution manager, walked to the office with Spielberg with the file data, and said the situation: "The reviews of the film critics are very good, but a large part of the general audience doesn't seem to like it very much, and at the box office, we are a little late in the release......"

"Really?" Spielberg took the file and opened it and looked at it, his heart immediately sank, the box office was very average, and the audience's response was even worse! IMDB only scored 7.5 points, and Rotten Tomatoes liked 45%...... He knew what such a poor reputation meant, and the audience scoffed at the classic story of the alien invasion of Earth, the movie, and if it weren't for "Firefly", "War of the Worlds" would have received an unequal amount of more box office, but there is such a behemoth in the market...... The overall evaluation of the film critics is only qualified, with a freshness of 74%/67% on Rotten Tomatoes, fortunately, the evaluation of several mainstream daily newspapers and media is quite good, after all, people still choose most of the moviegoers from newspapers and magazines, and online surveys are not the mainstream, at least not the mainstream of middle-aged people, the box office of "War of the Worlds" should not be too ugly, that is, what was promoted before broke 1 billion is like a joke, and he seems to have lost his status among young people and teenagers, and it seems that it is no longer his era.

Or is it not for a long time? Spielberg let out a long and silent breath, will he not win the opening week for the third time in a row? Will he lose the Saturn Award next year to his old friends and friends?

Spielberg's War of the Worlds triumphed over major media critics. ”

Yahoo Entertainment reported on this topic, although Paramount previously asked all film critics who participated in the test screening to "shut up" in order to maintain the mystery of "War of the Worlds", which caused the dissatisfaction of film critics, including the New York Times, and even broke out to boycott it, but the film still received comprehensive attention after its release and was appreciated by the mainstream media.

The Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan seemed so enchanted that he gave it a perfect score to the sky: "There's nothing to say, it's the best sci-fi movie of all time." Scott gave a 3/5 score: "'Is this a terrorist?'" Perhaps every American was moved when Big Fanning screamed and pounced on Cruise. Of course, there are many things that resonate, such as Morgan Freeman's narration, which is bland and shocking. Roger Albert gave a 2/4 rotten rating, and he naturally had nothing good to say about the Chicago Sun: "War of the Worlds is a big, clunky movie with some nice visuals, and while it's so pitiful compared to IMAX, it's even more pitiful for its lack of enthusiastic energy, and we can totally guess Spielberg's trick." ”

The Hollywood Reporter Rating: A-, USA Today Rating: B, San Francisco Chronicle Rating: A...... Those who are counting on Spielberg to completely plant themselves are disappointed, but not all of them are in vain, and the good film reviews are followed by rotten audience word-of-mouth.

Rotten Tomatoes fan critic Drake T hit three stars: "Viewers must immediately admit that this is not an alien invasion movie, this is a drama, an abnormal family. Even so, it's hard to find anything you can like, or find any chemistry between the actors, which makes me incredibly disgusted. Aidan H, who scored half a star, said: "It's basically Tom Cruise running away in CGI, bored. ”…… Regarding the showdown between "Firefly" VS "War of the Worlds", the remarks made by fans and viewers in news reviews, blogs and other places are much clearer, if you haven't enjoyed a feast like "Firefly" recently, maybe you can still swallow it, as for now...... They couldn't eat the somewhat boiled meal on this table, and the big Fanning who kept screaming to find their father was not cute little Fanning who played the top and asked questions.

In the past week (June 24-30), "Firefly" undoubtedly topped the North American weekly chart, maintaining a box office trend of -36.1%, with a staggering 151.1 million in seven days, with an average of $37,170 per theater in 4,065 theaters, and overseas narrowed the decline to 7.9%, with 245.1 million in seven days and countless weekly titles, two weeks and 14 days after its release, "Firefly" The total box office in North America is 387.6 million, the total overseas box office is 514.2 million, and the global box office has reached an astonishing 901.8 million US dollars, just one weekend away from entering the 1 billion box office club.

It continues its record-breaking journey: the fastest box office is $350 million (10 days), beating Shrek 2, which took 26 days, and Spider-Man, which took 31 days...... "War of the Worlds", which was released for two days this week, ranked second with 30.16 million box office, with an average of $7,717 per theater in 3,908 theaters, which is not a shocking shock, nor a fiasco, but at least much better than "Batman", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "A Fairy Wife" and other vulnerable films.

July 1-3 is the weekend, and July 4 is the national holiday Independence Day, which is the beginning of the third week of "Firefly" and the first weekend of "War of the Worlds." One is a rescue work that has proven how crazy it is, and the other is a rescue work that has been pinned on high hopes before, who wins and who loses? Can "Firefly" win the third week in a row? Will Spielberg fail to win the summer week championship for the third time in a row?

Paul Degarabe, head of box office at ExhibitorRelations, an authoritative box office statistical analysis agency, expressed his expectations: "It's going to be a box office battle, Firefly is even more powerful, it's far more popular than people think, the Flame Company continues to promote it, and War of the Worlds is not to be underestimated, it's clear that Tom Cruise has done enough, he even brought out his fiancée." ”

FROM THE "JUMPING SOFA" WHO SUDDENLY EXPRESSED HIS LOVE IN AN INTERVIEW WITH "OPRAH TALK SHOW" LAST MONTH, IT IS NOT AS COOL AS WANG YANG LYING ON THE STREET, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE "DIVORCED 42-YEAR-OLD MAN" DOES NOT HAVE THE COLOR OF YOUTH AND FAIRY TALES, SO THAT HE WAS WILDLY RIDICULED BY THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC, AND WAS UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE AND THEN BECAME POPULAR ON THE NETWORK, TO WHO WAS CAUGHT KISSING WHO AT THE PREMIERE OF THE FILM A FEW DAYS AGO, WHETHER IT WAS FIANCÉE KATIE HOLMES OR STEPHEN SPIELBERG, TOM CRUISE DID A LOT.

The Orlando Sentinel's Roger Moore smashed Rotten Tomatoes put it this way: "Tom Cruise's series of actions in the course of his campaign for War of the Worlds are terrifying, but it's clear that War of the Worlds is even more terrifying than he is." ”

Not only that, but Cruise also talked about his belief in Scientology on the talk show before, and was satirically bombarded by the mainstream media, for fear that he would not become a salted fish; However, Paul Degarabé believes that this is a successful trick, and the decisive factor in the box office of a film lies in the intensity of publicity in the early stage and the advertising effect in the later stage, and in his opinion, "War of the Worlds" does a very good job in this regard, and there is also a key point, that is, the weight of Spielberg himself.

"Almost everyone is interested in going to the cinema to see Wang Yang's new film, and they are equally interested in Spielberg, especially when his previous work "Happiness Terminal" did not do well, and everyone tends to believe that he will bring surprises, which is one of the reasons why Wang Yang's "Firefly" is so popular. Paul said.

So no matter what the audience reputation of "War of the Worlds" is, with Spielberg and Tom Cruise, and the praise of the mainstream media, especially the three major daily newspapers "The Washington Post", "The New York Times", and "The Los Angeles Times", the audience can find a reason to watch, "Maybe this is what I like to watch?" And the film market has been booming with "Firefly", and the public's enthusiasm for watching movies can be said to be at its peak.

The opponent of "Firefly" this time is different from the past, this is a blockbuster with praise, cast and publicity!

The media, movie fans, and fans all feel their blood boiling, Amazing Yang VS Spielberg! New and old legendary directors collide! North American total box office No. 2 VS North American total box office No. 1! Following "Ghost Record" vs "Saving Private Ryan", "The Hangover" vs. "Get Away", "MIT-21-TEAM" vs. "Get Away with Everything" (genre), "The Demon Wears Prada" vs "Happiness Terminal" (genre), a head-to-head showdown of the same genre is coming! The real box office battle is here this summer!

Although it was the third week VS the first week, as fan Kiusi said, "The young people let the old people have some!"

When the box office was released on Friday, July 1, fans shouted nervously, "Firefly" in 4075 theaters received 23.07 million, with an average of $5661 per theater, and "War of the Worlds" in 3908 theaters took 21.92 million box office, with an average of $5609 per theater, and in the first round, "Firefly" narrowly won!

After spending two days in his hometown in San Francisco, doing several programs and interviews, Wang Yangfei returned to his warm home in Los Angeles. In the past ten days, I have been so happy that I have fallen into a honeypot, but then I have some happy troubles, such as gradual mental fatigue, and a lot of information about "Firefly" comes every day, unless I explicitly tell others "don't tell me", they will pounce, a large number of media, a large number of paparazzi...... This happens every time a new film is released, and this time it is especially serious.

In order to relax, Wang Yang and Jessica went out on a "date", after a candlelight dinner, the two went to the theater to watch a movie, he felt very funny, on the one hand, he wanted to leave the movie temporarily, and on the other hand, he went to the movie, no way, who told him that he didn't have a hobby in a nightclub?

"Don't want "Firefly", only fight and kill, explode, and destroy, and don't want "World War", just look at the poster and know that you will fight, kill, scream, ......and explode."

In front of the poster wall of the theater ticket hall, Wang Yang's eyes were scanning like radar, and he muttered softly to select the viewing target, and Jessica next to him nodded approvingly, "Firefly" and "War of the Worlds" are in a fierce firefight! This film is not good for the baby.

"Don't want Batman. Wang Yang continued to mutter: "Fight and kill, scream, and explode, Aronofsky's style is to hurt the soul and exude the smell of Harvard nerd; "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" fights and kills, out, "Land of the Living Dead" fights and kills, out, "Kung Fu Panda" fights and kills, and you have to watch ......" Jessica suddenly said: "Honey, Howl's Moving Castle", the third panel on the left. Wang Yang stopped, looked at the fresh poster, and laughed: "That's right, Howl's Moving Castle!"

A poster illustrates what Miyazaki Jun is, a clear blue sky, an endless grassland, a flying castle, a child who has become an old woman, some lost innocence and beauty.

Of course, Wang Yang likes to watch Hayao Miyazaki, and likes the realm of this master's films, and Jessica knows that he does, and after living together for so many years, she knows everything about his habits, and now if "The Big Bang Theory" is concerned, half of his collection is cartoons.

"Please give me two copies of Fireflies. "I want four tickets for War of the Worlds. "......" trouble giving me two tickets for Howl's Moving Castle. ”

After queuing for a while, Wang Yang told the female conductor about the need to buy tickets, and he just noticed that the ticket sales of "Firefly" and "War of the Worlds" were almost half to half. But several young people around were also pleasantly surprised to notice that this voice, this face, this guy !! the two people who bought movie tickets before they walked a few steps, and suddenly found a circle of laughing fans around them: "Wow! Amazing Jan! It's you!!", "Jessica!"

"Oh!Please pay attention!Be careful of the baby!Be careful of the baby!!" Wang Yang opened his hands to protect Jessica, faster than the most professional bodyguard! In fact, everyone didn't have the slightest push and hug, they were excited and excited, but they always maintained order, which is also the reason why the two dared to be so swaggering, generally not many people will recognize it without paparazzi accompanying them, and it is nothing to recognize, and now it's just like this.

Someone took out their mobile phones to take pictures, and some young girls asked with interest, "What kind of movie are you watching?"

Jessica smiled and didn't speak, Wang Yang took her hand, and replied with a smile as she walked: "We are just a family to watch a movie, please give us a quiet evening for the sake of the baby, right?" However, the fans did not want to disperse, they took pictures and asked questions while walking, and also made requests for autographs, Wang Yang could only secretly sigh "happy troubles", and suddenly heard a boy excitedly asking: "I want to know if Sheldon likes "Firefly" or hates "Firefly"?"

"Hmm, I'm Dr. Sheldon-Cooper's seventh-ranked eternal enemy, and he should hate Firefly, right?" Wang Yang raised his eyebrows with interest, thought for a moment, and smiled at them: "Leonard and Howard they like it, and Sheldon likes it too, but he says he doesn't like it." The boy fan asked in a very Sheldon style: "But Sheldon doesn't lie." Wang Yang and Jessica said in unison: "This is duplicity." Everyone cheered, "That's cool." "By the way, Amazing Young, what do you think of "War of the Worlds"?" Wang Yang said casually: "It's the same as "Firefly", and there is a Fanning. ”…… When the box office came out on Saturday, July 2, fans who followed the war shouted excitement, "Firefly" received 24.65 million, a trend increase of 6.8%, and an average of $6,049 per theater, and "War of the Worlds" received 23.18 million, an increase of 5.8%, with an average of $5,932 per theater, and in the second round, "Firefly" won again!

In two days, it extended its lead to $2.62 million, squeezing the first weekend's "War of the Worlds" by a heel!

(To be continued)