When the curtain came down on January 6-12, "500 Days with Sammo" in the third week of release continued to be the weekly box office champion in North America, taking 28.83 million in 3,401 theaters (average single theater $8,476, box office trend -56%), and the total box office in North America broke through one level and rose to 208 million! "Sha Mo" easily became the sixth place on Wang Yang's personal single-film highest-grossing list, and the second place in romantic comedies since 1978 is only 33 million behind the top of the list "My Grand Greek Wedding".

"Brokeback Mountain" expanded its screening scale to 551 theaters (+219), and the total box office after adding 9.48 million was 30.36 million, fully demonstrating its extraordinary commercial ability.

However, the most shining this week is Lionsgate's release of "Human Skin Inn", a hardcore R-rated horror film with a production cost of only 4.8 million in 2,195 theaters, although the three indicators of Rotten Tomatoes are a terrible 59%/38%/59%, it swept away 25.16 million first-week box office, ensuring that the final global box office is enough to recoup the cost and make a lot of money, becoming a small commercial success model, there is no doubt that Lionsgate is once again very successful with horror films.

Compared with the invincible flame, Lionsgate still only has "Ghost Record" 1&3, "Fahrenheit 911" three North American box office over 100 million films, this year it has arranged "Taylor Perry's Marty's Family Reunion", "Star Employee", "Angry Heart" and many other films are released on a large scale, among which the most eye-catching, and Lionsgate's most important is naturally "Ghost Record 4", which will open on April 7. All of Lionsgate knew very well that 2006 would be a success or a mediocre year, and that they would be counting on this "miraculous Young's legacy."

Wang Yang can't be found in the cast of "Ghost Shadow 4", and there is no recent popularity of Chloe Moretz, but after Wang Yang's rescue last year, the series has been resurrected and has a huge fan base, and the satisfactory market research data can understand why Lionsgate is confident.

Lionsgate is growing steadily, waiting for a big explosion, as are other studios big and small, and horror films have always been the easiest place to make small productions and high grossing films, and the brains of the "Saw Horror" trilogy, Wen Ziren and Ray Warner's fragrant new films have generated a lot of competition from studios.

Needless to say, the success of the Chainsaw franchise is a huge gold mine! Since the completion of SA3, the two fathers of chainsaw have been taking a break to prepare for the new film "Dead-Silence" (Dead-Silence), and in the past few days, they have finally made a long-considered decision to work with Universal Pictures.

"Yang, we think this is a good choice for everyone......" In the bright and elegant café, Wen Ziren and Ray Werner looked very serious and serious, and the atmosphere seemed to be a little dignified. Wang Yang silently took a sip of coffee, his heart was full of regret and discomfort, he thought that the two of them would settle down and flame, but ...... Maybe their words were right, he shrugged his shoulders and smiled: "It's nothing, I understand, in fact, I really hope that you guys will continue to stay in the Flame Movie, but it's your choice, I respect it." ”

"Thank you. Wen Ziren nodded in gratitude, Ray Warner raised his coffee cup and saluted Wang Yang, how could the two not have some regrets and reluctance in their hearts? Over the years, Yang and FF have always been very good to them, the reason why they have today's fame and wealth is because of their own efforts, but also by FF's support and help; Yang has been providing a lot of opinions and ideas for the "SA" series, and has played a lot of key roles, otherwise they would not have easily created such a successful chainsaw trilogy.

But from the perspective of intellectual development, it is indeed a better thing to hand over "Dead Silence" to Universal, and at the same time avoid the embarrassment of flame movies. Wen Ziren said with a sincere face: "I am very grateful to the flame for its trust in SA and us...... There's a better chance on the Globe side. Ray Werner nodded repeatedly: "Me too." Wang Yang, who looked at the two of them, laughed: "Please, it's not life and death, what are you doing so seriously?"

"Young, our biggest fear is that you're going to be angry, but now, I'm so relieved. Ray Warner relaxed and smiled, and Wen Ziren also smiled happily: "This is the most exciting. ”

The reasons for the divorce of Wen Warner and FF are actually not complicated, and the FF production department is not very optimistic about the script of "Dead Silence", thinking that its story and details are old-fashioned, and there is no commercial prospect, including Vice President Lin Wei, and former Newmarket bosses William Tell and Chris Ball, who have invested in "Memory Fragments" and "Death Hallucination", all raised their opposition cards, "It's just a little bland and boring." Several people can't find a reason to be optimistic about "Dead Silence", except that the screenwriter and director are the "father of chainsaws".

Despite this, the production budget of 20 million US dollars is still too high, and "SA3" is only 10 million, so FF hopes that the production cost is best controlled within 15 million, otherwise the first mess in FF's distribution history is likely to be born, receive the box office, but lose the audience's reputation, and the brand image that has been operating for many years will be damaged.

Wang Yang does not have "Dead Silence" in the film and television library in his mind, and he doesn't know whether it belongs to the "future" or a new life, nor does he know its image appearance and achievements. But judging from the script, he is very unoptimistic, in fact, the classic puppet theme is not without words, but the problem of the "revenge of the ghost" story in "Dead Silence" is not too old-fashioned, but too simple, it is like a synthesis that uses boring characters, bland dialogues to advance the storyline, throw out terrifying details, and then usher in a completely uninspiring, unnecessarily distorted ending.

Compared with the surprise and investment of the "SA" series, Wen and Werner obviously lack assertiveness and explosiveness about the story of "Dead Silence", and there is no emotional connection between them, including the ending, which is obviously pursuing the style of "SA", and the surprise of "saving the whole film in the last three minutes", but this time the whole script is full of patchwork traces, and even a little show-off, they are bent on adding as many horror elements as possible, even if there are loopholes and flaws, they don't care, and keep telling the audience: "It's terrible!" It's going to eat your soul, it's horrible!"

But their voices are heard by the audience, and that is not a fun thing, it should not be heard by the audience, but it should be felt by them! Otherwise, there is no psychological identity, no substitution, and no empathy, no matter how novel and terrifying the jokes will become dull, not to mention those are old-fashioned jokes.

If you haven't heard of those stories and details, you may feel terrifying, but Wang Yang knows that the vast majority of North American audiences have heard about those puppets and resentful spirits a million times on Halloween since childhood, which means that the story itself has lost its mystery and suspense.

From a certain point of view, horror films and suspense films are actually the genres closest to the characteristics of film art, because movies are storytelling, and if you want to tell the story fascinatingly, you need to create suspense, and only suspense can make the audience expectant, excited, and nervous, and when the suspense is revealed, there will be surprises, satisfaction, sighs and other emotions. Any movie, TV series, comics, anything, as long as it's a story, suspense is very, very important.

Hitchcock first discovered the decisive significance of suspense in the language of film, and he has been making suspense films all his life, and his exploration of montage and other techniques and techniques has always influenced the film as a thing. In recent years, films such as "Fragments of Memory" and "Death Illusion" are actually exploring and challenging the language of film, using novel techniques to tell a story that does not have much suspense in itself, so as to achieve corresponding effects.

"Dead Silence" is positioned as a psychological horror film, but Wen Ziren is still deeply affected by "SA" and cannot get rid of it, he will not completely give up blood, but wants to integrate into it, which is an attempt; but the real horror comes from the spiritual level, from personal imagination, from scaring oneself, "Dead Silence" has neither emotion nor suspense, this is the worst, what does it use to impress and scare others? The whole script can be described as "ambitious and dumb".

Although the script of "Dead Silence" has too many problems of this and that, Wang Yang is still unwilling to give up it, after all, this is just a script, let alone making changes, a good director always has a way to turn a mediocre script into a good movie, but why not start with the script to do better? As long as some places are changed and adjusted, and then the camera pays attention to the shaping of the mysterious atmosphere, and the rhythm of the film pays attention to relaxation, don't think that having a good ending can solve all the shortcomings...... Wang Yang offers his own suggestions on these issues, but Wen Ziren and Ray Warner are confident: "Dead Silence is the kind of folk story full of traditional horror charm. ”

The two of them think it's not that big of a problem, it's a bit old-fashioned, but the image shot must be very good! They have already entered the link of thinking about the puppet modeling, but the magic Yang's words certainly aroused their vigilance, and seriously re-examined "Dead Silence", there are indeed loopholes and logical errors in some places, just to serve the story, some flaws are not too much?...... The duo believed that with exquisite craftsmanship, this old wine would exude a unique and alluring aroma. Maybe they're a little too proud, or maybe it's really like that, after all, the "SA" trilogy has made too much money for the company, plus many large and small film companies are eyeing each other, and at the insistence of the two, Flame Films agreed to an investment of 20 million, taking this risk for the two, and if the future film fails to make a difference, it will be released by the FM brand.

However, a new problem has arisen, firstly, there is no guarantee that FF will operate; secondly, assuming that it is released by FF, the main battlefield of horror films is April Fool's Day and Halloween, and at present, FF's Halloween file has "Chainsaw", so what about April? Flame does not have the tradition of releasing horror films in April, and does not want to play a head-on conflict with Lionsgate, one of its main allies, "April horror films" is the most important plan of Lionsgate in recent years, and Flame cannot step into it without saying a word.

"We thought 'Dead Silence' was a great idea! it was going to be a big accomplishment. Universal Pictures over there has never stopped extending an olive branch to the two, 20 million + April file, no problem, 25 million is fine!

The two of their agents also said that "this is a new opportunity", they are so young, they will always cooperate with other large and small film companies, what is the possibility and obligation to be limited to the flame for the rest of their lives? Now is it! By participating in the production of "Saw 4", they maintain their relationship with FF, and "Dead Silence" is invested by Universal, they are quite eager to try this change...... As a result, Flame Films and Lionsgate have not yet agreed on how to solve the schedule problem, whether "Dead Silence" will be moved to January, or will it be relayed to Lionsgate in mid-to-late April?...... Wen Ziren and Ray Werner have already made the decision to go to the world, which is the main reason why they are worried about Wang Yang's anger.

"Who said I wasn't angry?" Wang Yang smiled and took a sip of coffee, this sentence was not entirely a joke, FF regarded them as "his own people", thinking that everything was easy to discuss, but he didn't expect Universal to suddenly propose successfully. Wen Ziren and Ray Warnerton didn't know what to say, Wang Yang laughed and said: "I like to look at the good side of things, you get a satisfactory plan, and the flame doesn't need to adjust the schedule, which is good." But!" he said seriously, "the next movie, come back." ”

"Okay. The two smiled and nodded, of course they knew that the flames had been busy with Dead Silence all along, and now ...... Feeling entangled and moved in his heart, Wen Ziren thought about something and said: "Yang, the flame feels like home to me, and the world is like a tourist attraction. Wang Yang couldn't help but grin, and Ray Warner immediately agreed: "I think so too, if we mess up outside, there are still flame movies to support us." Wang Yang smiled: "Yes, who said it wasn't?"

Whether "Dead Silence" is a success or a failure, a high or low box office, people need to experience, think, and grow. Not everyone's path is like his growth track, Wang Yang knows this very well, and as the "leading brother" of the new, immature Chinese gang in Hollywood, he should try his best to help the two, so that Wen Ziren can grow into an influential horror and suspense film director, and even a master, and work together to change the image and status of Asians in front of and behind the scenes.

Besides, as a friend of the two, Wang Yang didn't want to see "Dead Silence" a mess, he looked at the two opposite, and said: "I'm not angry anymore, let's discuss the problem of "Dead Silence", man, don't think I'm alarmist, don't take the logical issue lightly......"

Wen Ziren and Ray Werner both listened attentively, and although they were full of confidence in "Dead Silence", how could they not listen to Wonder Young's teachings?

plot logic, camera techniques, scene atmosphere...... The trio exchanged a lot of thoughts about "Dead Silence", and perhaps this was their last discussion about "Dead Silence".

After talking for a long time, the two made another request: "Yang, can you not openly say that you don't like this movie very much?" Wang Yang nodded without much thought, if he went around shouting "I am not optimistic about "Dead Silence", then it would definitely be greatly affected, even if the success rate of 91% dropped to 50%, he smiled: "Of course you can, don't worry! I will only bless you, I won't say much about the rest." Wen Warner happily thanked him.

※※"The 'Father of Chainsaw' Leaves the Flame Movie, and the New Horror Work Settles in the Globe" - Yahoo Entertainment;"The Flame Movie Loses Its Favorite, James Wing Switches to the Globe" - FOX News Network...... As we all know, Flame Movies has a younger generation of "Chinese directors and three musketeers", Wang Yang, Lin Yibin, Wen Ziren, and now all of a sudden, 28-year-old James Wen is actually gone!

It is said that the relationship between Justin Lin, James Wen and Fantastic Young is like Robert Zemeckis, Chris Columbus and Spielberg, but the latter did not have DreamWorks when he was young, but Fantastic Young has a flame movie that sits firmly on the box office share of the year, and FF's generosity and tolerance towards its soldiers are even more well-known, this time it didn't win James Wing, Ray Werner's very sought-after new work? What happened?!

On the eve of the Golden Globe Awards, this news shocked the industry somewhat, and this is the first time this has happened in a flame movie!

Sarah Schugman, the director of "Youth Musical" 2&3, does not count, because she does not have the ability to initiate the screenwriting or production of the project, the British female director has returned to the British film and television industry in addition to making youth movies for Disney in recent years, and she was famous before directing "Youth Musical" 2; Anne Fletcher of "Sweetheart" and "Dance Out of My Life" 1&2 is currently on break, and it is rumored that FF is already looking for a suitable comedy project for her...... HOW COULD THE TWO FATHERS OF CHAINSAWS LEAVE FF? ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY HAVE A GOOD PRIVATE RELATIONSHIP WITH WANG YANG, AND HAVE MADE SEVERAL YOUTUBE FUNNY SHORT FILMS TOGETHER! MOVIE FANS ARE ALL IN DISBELIEF, COULD IT BE THAT MIRACULOUS YANG AND JAMES WING FELL OUT? HE IS NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT "DEAD SILENCE"? UNIVERSAL GAVE BETTER CONDITIONS?...... "THIS IS A REGRETTABLE AND EXPECTED DECISION. James Wing and Ray Warner said on their official website that they revealed that the reason for leaving FF was that they could not agree on the amount of investment in the film, the release schedule and other issues, and Universal provided a better and more attractive treatment for "Dead Silence", but Wen will continue to be one of the producers of "SA4", and they are happily leaving Flame Films, and there is no contradiction between them, and it will not have any impact on "SA4".

Numerous announcements from FF on its official website, official blog, SA official website and other places confirmed the words of the two fathers of chainsaws, not how to slander "Dead Silence", only that it has an "uncertain commercial future", spokesperson Foona Hasson said: "It's just the most normal flow of people, James and Ray brought us the classic Chainsaw The series has accompanied us through three creepy Halloweens, and it has also given the flame movie more development energy, and we are grateful to send them off, wishing their new work to continue to be successful. ”

Although Wen Warner also said "we are leaving with a grateful heart", and the two sides seem to be getting together and parting, the die-hard Flame fans are a little indignant, they believe that the two took the initiative to leave the Flames, rather than the Flames treating the two harshly, and their actions are undoubtedly a betrayal of the trust and favor of Magic Young and Flames.

Cristipado wrote: "If you look at the attitude of Flame and Universal, you can guess what happened, what is better treatment? Leroy-T sighed and wrote: "I'm a fan of flames, this news is terrible, and I was expecting Win, Werner and MY to make a horror film together." Marilee-A wrote: "Maybe it's because I'm thinking too much, Wonder Young must have been disappointed and sad, he said 'ANG doesn't make horror movies because there is AN', and now Wen is leaving him like that." ”…… Universal Pictures is the happiest party in this case, and the commercial future of "Dead Silence" is indeed uncertain, but how many films are clear?

"Universal is very honored and surprised to be the producer and distributor of Dead Silence, and it has a truly creepy story idea that we believe will scare the hell out of everyone. Universal's propaganda strategy is to shape it as "the flame loses to Universal", and it must not be related to "Magic Yang is not optimistic" and openly question his gaze?

According to Universal Pictures, "Dead Silence" will be released in April next year, and at that time, the release plan of the flame movie is the action comedy "The Green Hornet", a film initiated and produced by Wang Yang.

(To be continued)