Twentieth Century Fox has great expectations for "Kingdom of Heaven", far more than last year's "Deadpool", which can be seen from the schedule, "Kingdom of Heaven" is not only placed in the traditional strong commercial schedule summer slot, but also under the strong request of Dave Scola, it will be released on the first weekend of the summer slot. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"This schedule couldn't be better."

Standing in front of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Carla Firth looked at Dave Scola who was being interviewed in the interview area, "There are no films of the same magnitude released before and after the weekend, and it will not be an opponent in the sense of integrity until May 19." ”

Murphy next to her looked relaxed, "You mean George Lucas's Star Wars Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith?" ”

In this era, after the release of blockbusters, it is rare for two films with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to collide directly on the same weekend, and even many blockbusters have been moved to June and July in order to avoid the last Star Wars in George Lucas's mouth, such as Warner Bros.'s "Superman Returns", which was moved from the original end of May to the end of July.

Carla Firth abruptly changed the subject, "Actress Natalie Portman is said to have once again refused to attend the premiere. ”

"Well, I heard." Murphy said lightly, "Refusing to use the excuse of studying in Jerusalem is a smart choice. ”

"Why do you say that?" Carla Firth was a little puzzled, "She's not afraid of offending George Lucas by doing this?" ”

"She doesn't care anymore, I've heard that Padmé Amidala will die in this one, and she won't be able to star wars again in the future." Because of the past, Murphy saw it more clearly than Carla Firth, "George Lucas is not a member of the directors' guild, and he is not liked by the old men of the Oscars, and he will not be an obstacle for her to hit the Oscars in the future." ”

"A woman as realistic as we are." Carla Firth seemed to admire a little, "If it weren't for her dizziness and coming to you like this, I really want to get to know her." ”

She changed the subject again, "You watched the test screening of "Heavenly Dynasty", how do you feel? ”

"Very bad." Although the film is a little different from what I remember, it is not much better than the previous released version, and coupled with the general environment faced by epic war films, it is not difficult for Murphy to conclude, "I personally don't think we should talk about recovering costs in the short term." ”

He pointed to the interview area, where Orlando Bloom and Eva Green were being interviewed, "Dave Scola insisted on using these two actors, and the performance was terrible. ”

Murphy heard Carla Firth say that Ridley Scott's original favorite male and female lead actors and actresses were other candidates, but under Dave Scola's strong insistence, he was forced to use Orlando Bloom and Eva Green.

"Orlando Bloom would be a very good embellishment in any commercial film, but let him support a leading actor......" Murphy shook his head, even if many actors can eat with their faces, but the role is thin to the point of a little blacksmith, which will affect the audience's perception very much, "and Eva Green, her appearance is ......"

It seemed that he couldn't find the right adjective, Murphy thought for a while before saying, "It's very distinctive, it belongs to the genre that people will remember when they see it, and it would be great for her to play some bewitching roles, but the heroine of this film is too different from her appearance and temperament." ”

"The hero and heroine I chose are so useless?"

A loud voice suddenly sounded behind him, and before Murphy turned around, Dave Scola, who was still being interviewed in the interview area before, didn't know when he actually came over, "Director Stanton is very optimistic about my movie?" ”

Murphy didn't talk about the embarrassment of others after being heard, shrugged his shoulders slightly, and said very calmly, "This is just my personal opinion, and I also talk about things." ”

Dave Scola snorted.

"I wonder what your expectations are for the first weekend?" Murphy didn't realize anything at all.

Hearing this, Dave Scola wanted to say $100 million directly, but he still said a conservative number, "$50 million." ”

Murphy nodded and stopped talking, with the current environment, coupled with the really average quality of the film, it takes a miracle to get this number.

"Dave, how about we make a bet?" Carla Firth will not let him go easily, "If the North American box office of "Kingdom of Heaven" can meet your expectations, I will resign from all positions at Twentieth Century Fox; If you can't do it, how about you quit your current position? ”

After Twentieth Century Fox invested heavily in "Heavenly Dynasty", she certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to mess around anymore, but she trusted Murphy's judgment.

"I ......" Dave Scola swallowed back the second half of the sentence as he looked at Carla Firth, who was smiling and confident.

He is not a kindergarten child, how could he agree to such a brain-dead bet.

Looking at Murphy and then at Carla Fez, Dave Scola nodded and turned to leave.

At this time, it is superfluous to say more, and when the box office results of the first week of "Heavenly Dynasty" come out, he will smash the box office report on the faces of the dog man and woman.

"You just believe me?" Murphy didn't care about Dave Scola who walked away, "Aren't you afraid of losing in the end?" ”

"Will you lose?" Carla Firth didn't care much, "Even if you lose, you probably won't see me wandering the streets, right?" ”

She glanced at her watch, "I won't tell you, I'm going to talk to Alan Harris." ”

Murphy waved his hand, signaling her to be casual and leave herself alone.

Most of the people attending the premiere began to walk into the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and Murphy was also in it, and as he walked forward, a reporter suddenly approached.

This is a female journalist, I interviewed her before, and my name Murphy has forgotten, only that she is from The Hollywood Reporter.

"I saw you when this film was screened before." The female reporter was not polite at all, and asked directly, "I think there is something wrong with this film, Director Stanton, what do you think?" ”

"There's no doubt about Ridley Scott's ability as a director, and he's proven himself countless times in the past." Murphy has never been a good person in the standard sense, and when he said this, he paused and suddenly said, "As long as it is not interfered by external factors, Ridley Scott's work is a guarantee of quality and box office." ”

Hearing this, the female reporter was stunned, and her pace slowed down unconsciously, and the distance between her and Murphy became farther and farther.

"Not disturbed by external factors?" She muttered to herself, as if she had grasped something, "Is there an inside story about this film that the media doesn't understand?" ”

The female reporter immediately came to the spirit, so that there is material to dig into.

The film is successful, then of course everything is fine, if it fails, I believe that what happens behind the scenes is still very interesting.

Because of the release of "Heavenly Dynasty", Murphy has long been concerned about this weekend, although he came to attend the premiere of this film, but he is still paying attention to another film, which is also a seed for this year's Oscars.

"Crash", directed by Paul Haggis, was also released this weekend, and if he remembers correctly, this film about American society and ethnic issues won the best picture at next year's Oscars.

This is also another movie released in the first half of the year after "Gladiator", and it can win the Oscar for Best Picture.

The schedule is very important to the Oscars, but whether the content of the film is liked by the many white middle-aged and elderly judges is actually more important.

"Gone Girl" will also not be placed in the Thanksgiving-Christmas schedule near the awards season, but in August, when the North American summer season has entered the final stage, and there is no competition from super commercial masterpieces, which is more beneficial to the film market.

This weekend, in addition to "Crash", another film was released, "Horror Wax Museum" starring Paris Hilton.

Because of the relationship between the widely circulated videotapes, Murphy and Gal Gadot went to the theater to watch this film, without too many surprises and not too many disappointments, this is a typical American horror film.

Compared to Murphy, who continues to be busy with the post-production of "Gone Girl", May is destined to be a time period of great disappointment for some.

In the three days of the weekend, "Heavenly Dynasty" beat "Crash" and "Wax Museum of Horror" released at the same time, and won the top spot at the North American box office, which would have been good news, but the box office accumulation in the three days of the weekend was only a pitiful more than $18 million, not to mention the $50 million expected by Twentieth Century Fox, not even half.

If the box office fails in the first weekend, if the word-of-mouth is enough, you can still count on the long-term, but the media and audience reputation of "Heavenly Dynasty" are also a bad mess.

"The two-hour film is filled with one battle after another, and these battles are mixed together, and the audience should not expect anything else in the film except for shabby, old clothes and long, dirty hair."

This is arguably the most representative comment.

The outside world is unanimously optimistic about "Heavenly Dynasty", and many professional forecasters, even the most optimistic, believe that the film's North American box office is unlikely to exceed $50 million, and the global box office will be at most $200 million.

This means that "Heavenly Dynasty" will not only fall far short of expectations, but will also become a film that will make Twentieth Century Fox suffer huge losses.

For such a huge failure, someone must stand up and take responsibility.

After several additional investments, the total production cost reached $150 million, and the publicity and marketing expenses exceeded $70 million, which directly led to the first shot of the Squib in this year's North American summer file, and of course it will also attract widespread attention from the outside media.

In particular, the female reporter who was vaguely reminded by Murphy has been looking for the truth through the surface and has obtained quite a lot of inside information. (To be continued.) )