Also released in North America this weekend, "Dark City" was also released in theaters in more than 60 countries and regions in Europe, Latin America and the Far East, which is also a rare global simultaneous release of Murphy's films, although because of the type of film, North America is the main market area for this film, but Twentieth Century Fox and Murphy will not ignore the overseas market, the first weekend in North America has not ended, so Gal Gadot led some people to run to the overseas market. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The post-screening promotion in North America is mainly dominated by Murphy and James Franco.

Due to the word-of-mouth explosion of "Dark City", countless fans unknowingly played the role of tap water, and Murphy and Twentieth Century Fox did not make any surprising moves in post-screening publicity, using basically conventional means.

The only difference is that the propaganda is more geared towards the adolescent group.

In fact, Murphy knows very well that the times are constantly changing, but the mainstream group of the film market will not change, and teenagers will always be the pillars of the market, and they are willing to pay for their favorite films and peripheral products.

After all, movies are cultural products that are greatly affected by the social environment.

Murphy and James Franco had just flown to Chicago on Sunday afternoon, where they attended a fan meet-and-greet that night and spoke to local media after the meet-and-greet.

The people who came to interview Murphy and James Franco came from Chicago's famous Chicago Tribune, arguably the most influential print media in the entire greater Chicago area, and indeed in Illinois.

The interview took place in the lobby of the hotel, and the Hilton had cleared an area for them to use.

"'Dark City' has set the highest Friday and Saturday box office records in North America......"

A female reporter with a rare long red hair placed the tape recorder on the glass round table between her and Murphy, "Congratulations, Director Stanton. ”

"Thank you!" Murphy said with a smile.

Subsequently, the interview got to the point, and the female reporter asked, "Before the release, did you think that "Dark City" would achieve such good box office results? ”

Although the weekend hasn't passed yet, it's already Sunday night, and with a little attention, it's not hard to see that this film could set a very scary weekend box office number.

"I've thought of some." Murphy is not modest at all, "Stanton Studios and Twentieth Century Fox are expecting the film to box office around $170 million in its opening weekend in North America. ”

The female reporter deliberately made a slightly surprised expression, "You are so confident. ”

Murphy nodded, "Of course, otherwise we wouldn't have invested such a huge amount of money. ”

"Now, you've succeeded." The female reporter smiled and said, "Do you know that the audience reputation of "Dark City" is very good, and many people even call the film a masterpiece? ”

"Well......" Murphy certainly knew, "I've heard of some." ”

Hearing Murphy say this, the female reporter immediately asked, "Do you usually read some reviews of your films?" Look, what are your thoughts? ”

"I don't read much of the reviews about the film."

Sometimes, telling lies with his eyes open is purely for the sake of propaganda, and Murphy doesn't even think about it, and says, "I've learned a long time ago that don't read review articles that praise you, and don't read articles that criticize you. Basically, I don't read much of the review articles for my films, because people are always affected by the environment, and for directors, some of the comments are actually scary, and once you are affected, you may make changes when you shoot the next film, but the consequences of that change are often terrible. ”

The female reporter asked, "Does it include articles by professional film critics?" ”

"Yes." Murphy still nodded, "You have to admit that reviews and movies are sometimes completely separate. ”

Of course, these are not true, and he sometimes accompanies Gal Gadot to read good reviews, and there are articles by famous film critics such as Roger Albert or Kenneth Turan, but these articles are just to read, and they don't go to heart at all, which can be said to be very important.

It's one thing for film critics to appreciate his style, and quite another for them to think of their so-called pointing and analysis as the movie bible.

There is one thing that even Roger Albert cannot deny, even Hollywood's fourth-rate or even fifth-rate directors are more professional than any film critic when it comes to filmmaking.

There are some things that Murphy never says explicitly, but he knows very well in his heart that in North America alone, Hollywood movies have more than 150 million viewers and 600 film critics, and for a commercial film director like him, it is clear that some of them will really pay for the film.

Frankly, being welcomed and touted by critics, on the one hand, there is a PR factor, which Murphy never denies, and Stanton Studios spends millions of dollars a year on this; On the other hand, it is the style chosen by Murphy that is just right for the appetite of quite a few film critics.

Of course, it is enough for him to know this kind of thing himself, and he will definitely not tell media reporters.

"And what do you like your job now?" The female reporter asked again.

Although the question was a bit silly, Murphy still replied seriously, "Yes, I like it very much, and making a movie makes me feel excited, like reuniting with a good friend after a long absence." I said to Robert Downey Jr. before, 'I feel so cool when I make movies on the streets of New York,' and that's how I think it's, it's cool. I've always wanted to try a lot of things in a fun blockbuster that I can't try in other movies, so there's Dark City, and we're the only film in the world that uses more than 70% IMAX graphics, which is very rare and very exciting! ”

The female reporter looked down at her notepad and asked, "James Franco gave a great performance in this film, you are not only work partners, but also best friends, what do you think of his work?" ”

"Excellent!" Murphy certainly doesn't shy away from his praise, "James is getting into shape so fast, I love it. He works energetically and I like that attitude. You have to be well prepared for the role and be familiar with every detail of the character, and I like to make movies like this. James is amazing, he can improvise while filming and always surprise! ”

Compared to many of the entertainment celebrities Murphy has encountered, the female reporter is obviously less competent, but it is also good, and he is relatively easy to deal with.

"It is said that the script of each of your films is ......," the heroine finally asked a more professional question, "Do you have a screenwriting team with a clear division of labor?" ”

"That's right."

This is not a secret in Hollywood, Murphy said generously, "Under normal circumstances, I will only write the outline of the script, the character and the direction of the story, and the specific content will be left to the screenwriting team to complete." ”

The female reporter followed up on the topic and asked, "Is there any benefit to this?" ”

"It's great to have a bunch of smart people using their ingenuity to come up with a script."

Murphy thought for a moment and said unhurriedly, "It's a brain-burning process for these writers to think about how Chris Dane's showdown with the magician is connected. It's too difficult for a screenwriter to think about the previous film that has already been filmed, and then tie the plot of this one closely with the previous one, making sure that we don't break the coherence of the story, which is complicated. ”

Compared to the previous lies, Murphy is now basically telling the truth, "They had a whole room of charts and all sorts of things, unbelievably many, and I put them in one room with the artwork from the movie." It was like a think tank, there was a lot of great work done in this room, and in each film we envisioned the possible difficulties and then found solutions to them, and the fact that "Dark City" is now in theaters proves that our work is worth it. ”

A few more innocuous questions were answered, and the interview with Murphy was over.

Murphy didn't leave immediately, but went to another rest table, not too far away, where James Franco was also interviewed by another reporter from the Chicago Tribune.

Since James Franco's interview wasn't over yet, Murphy stood next to him and listened for a while.

"James, you said before that you want to be a director yourself."

The reporter who interviewed James Franco was also a young woman, "What did you learn from Murphy? ”

"Murphy is more familiar with every aspect of the filmmaking process than anyone I've ever worked with, and it's a rare opportunity to watch him work every day."

In the same way, James Franco sings praises to his friend, "We've known each other for a long time, and I can ask more detailed questions when I get to know his thoughts and ask him questions." For example, I asked him why he wanted to shoot a particular scene with a specific lens, and it was a lot of fun.

The reporter then asked, "Would you make a big-budget movie like 'Dark City'?" ”

"I don't know." James Franco shook his head, then said, "It could be a smaller, more personal film, or it could be a blockbuster, and I might or may not be in it." When I found the story I wanted, I decided on the genre of the movie according to the plot, and then it was clear. ”

By the end of the interview, it was close to eleven o'clock in the evening, and Murphy said hello to James Franco and went straight back to his room to rest, ready for the upcoming opening weekend box office of "The Dark City"!

Not only them, but there are also a large number of people in Hollywood waiting for this weekend box office statistic.