"Sin City" is first and foremost a unique and off-the-beaten-track film, and the film's comic approach pushes the visual effects to another extreme, which also completely cuts off all the retreats of the film - the audience's senses are very direct, either extremely liked or disgusted, and it is almost impossible to produce a median value. In other words, there are only two risks in the film: 100% success and 100% failure.

In the previous three works, Lance has shown his courage and talent, but strictly speaking, all three works are within a certain framework and have not left this framework. This time, Lance went one step further and pushed Sin City out of the framework entirely, making a frantic attempt to die or stand, leaving no room for anything.

This kind of desperate attempt is jaw-dropping.

Even though Lance relied on three works to win the box office, he also won word of mouth; Even though the list of Oscar nominees just announced not long ago once again gave Lance affirmation, proving his talent; Even "borrowing a knife to kill" is still creating good results in the box office charts...... But the outrageous nature of Sin City is still terrifying, and it is difficult to make a decision easily.

After all, Lance isn't Steven Spielberg, nor is George Lucas; And the original Sin City comics aren't Superman or Batman - or Spider-Man.

Secondly, "Sin City" is overly violent, excessively bloody, and there are a lot of direct nude/exposed shots, not to mention the darkness of the film's core idea. So, the film rating is definitely the most restricted, and needless to say, it further hinders the possibility of "Sin City" achieving box office success.

The so-called R-rated movies are actually restricted, and children under the age of 17 are required to be accompanied by their parents or guardians to watch them, except for the NC-17 rating, which is forbidden to be watched under the age of 17, this is the lowest level, and it is also considered the bottom line of commercial films. Since the implementation of the classification system for American films, R-rated films have struggled to perform well at the box office due to strict restrictions, and many studios have even cut or appealed films to avoid being classified as R-rated films, in order to get rid of the box office disadvantage of R-rated films.

In the long history, there are only a handful of R-rated movies that have grossed more than 100 million, and only six of them have exceeded 200 million at the box office, five of which are "The Matrix 2", "Beverly Hills Detective", "The Exorcist", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Terminator 2". At the beginning of 2004, "The Passion of the Christ", which is also R-rated, set a record in film history, becoming the first R-rated movie in history to exceed 300 million at the box office, ranking first in film history.

If you go deeper, among the top 20 box office lists in R-rated film history, only one work, "The Exorcist", is a horror work full of bloody violence. In other words, it can be said that it is even more difficult for an extremely bloody and violent work like "Sin City" to achieve a box office breakthrough.

For reference, the closest thing to the style of "Sin City" is undoubtedly Quentin Tarantino, whose three masterpieces, "Pulp Fiction", "Kill Bill 1", and "Kill Bill 2", are all rated R, and the box office of the three works is 100 million and 7 million, 70 million and 66 million respectively.

It can be seen that R-rated movies may be able to detonate a wave of discussion, endure among loyal fans, and even become classics in film history, but it is difficult and difficult to make a difference at the box office. Sin City is no exception.

Both Paramount and Warner Bros. have doubts about the release of "Sin City", mainly because they don't think the film has the potential to boost the box office.

Since "Sin City" was produced by Chaos Pictures itself, the distribution link could only achieve 5 to 20 percent of the box office, that is, if the North American box office of the film reached 100 million US dollars, as a distribution company, Paramount or Warner Bros. could only win 15 million to 20 million dividends, and if taxes, publicity costs, and distribution rights fees were deducted, the profit might be less than 10 million US dollars.

Ten million, which is really not much attraction for Warner Bros. and Paramount - and the premise is that "Sin City" can break 100 million at the box office, which is almost an impossible task.

Therefore, Warner Bros.'s attitude is to "add heads", after the DC Universe project is negotiated; Paramount's attitude is lukewarm, not wanting to take over the distribution with a lot of fuss, and not wanting to ruin the honeymoon period between them and Chaos Pictures.

Not only these two companies, but also Twentieth Century Fox, Lance also tried to contact Sony Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures, but there has been no response until now, and it seems that it is also unlucky. Otherwise, with the current momentum and popularity of Lance, if they are willing to cooperate, they will at least give a reaction.

Lance also considered other small and medium-sized distribution companies, but considering the investment of "Sin City" as high as 40 million, if you want to recover the cost, it means that the distribution scale must not be less than 2,000 theaters, and small distribution companies are simply not competent, and medium-sized distribution companies also need to be screened slowly. So far, Lance has focused his hopes on the distribution systems of major studios, but the results have been dismal.

This puts Chaos Pictures in an awkward position, "Sin City" has been produced, but it can't find a suitable distribution partner, and it seems to be back to the situation it was three years ago, but it's actually very different.

"City of God" could not find a distribution company, mainly because Chaos Pictures was nameless, and Lance had no way out, so he finally embarked on the road of the Sundance Film Festival; Sin City, on the other hand, is plagued by its own problems, with large publishers reluctant to take over and smaller publishers unable to take over.

"Maybe we should consider Miramax or Lionsgate." Ian pondered.

Both are well-known mid-sized companies in the industry, and Miramax is no stranger to Lance, founded by the Weinstein brothers and now acquired by Disney. However, Ian is not talking about Miramax himself, but about the Weinstein brothers, who in addition to being in charge of Miramax, also own their own private distribution company, Timon Pictures.

Dimen Pictures has been tepid in recent years, specializing in the production and distribution of horror movies for a living, and "Scream" and "Death is Coming" are their fist projects. "Sin City" is not a heavy taste at all for Emperor Pictures, and they must be very willing to release it. Thanks to the Weinstein brothers, thanks to Miramax and Disney, the distribution system of Timon Pictures is very developed, and 2,500 theaters are not a problem at all.

Lionsgate from Canada is also a newcomer in the industry, and they have many similarities with Diorama, starting with distribution and changing to develop and produce films, and have achieved a lot of success. Lionsgate also started with horror films, "Saw Horror" is their masterpiece, and has released a number of R-rated works, last year's sensational "Fahrenheit 911" is their work, in addition, "Dream Requiem", "Furious Heart", "Human Skin Inn" and so on are also from here.

Thanks to the phenomenal success of the Saw franchise in the United States, Lionsgate now has the ability to distribute in 2,000 theaters, and Sin City can easily find like-minded fans here.

Miramax and Lionsgate were originally Lance's alternatives, Warner Bros. and Paramount's attitude was not surprising, it could even be said to be expected, and it is understandable to change the choice now, which is the best and most correct choice for "Sin City".

Lance was ready to nod his head, because this was the original second plan, but after a turn of thoughts in his mind, he remembered a very important thing: the distribution department was originally an imperative part of Chaos Pictures, but it had been delayed for various reasons, and the most important thing was that there was not enough capital.

The importance of the distribution department is undeniable, and the inability of Sin City to find the right distribution company is just a basic situation; The dividends and benefits of the works are divided, resulting in the company's inability to grasp the initiative in the development process, which is the fatal key. Since the distribution department is going to be set up sooner or later, why can't we start now?

"Ian, you haven't found a use for the Super Bowl winnings, have you?" Lance looked up at Ian, and in the blink of an eye he had found a way out for the fifty-five million - for a fast-growing start-up company, adequate capital is always the first factor!

Ian's train of thought didn't keep up with Lance's footsteps for a moment, and he hesitated, "If you haven't found a new project yet, then, yes, the money hasn't been planned yet." With that, Ian cast a puzzled look at Lance and waited for the following.

"You say, would it be feasible if we distributed it ourselves?" Lance's eyes lit up.

Bang, Lance just threw a bomb! Ian leaned his eyebrows slightly in the middle, "You mean, set up a distribution department?" But it's not that simple, is it? ”

"No, no, it's not like setting up a distribution department right now." That's how Diorama Pictures came to be, and Lance knew all the more, "I mean, Sin City is going to be distributed by ourselves. Lance's train of thought has been running quickly, "2,500 theaters, we only need 2,500 theaters to temporarily release a movie, and if the film is successful, we will renew the contract and set up a distribution department." At the same time, it will develop the video tape rental market and the sale of film rights. ”

Ian immediately understood what Lance meant, which simply put, was to open up a distribution channel through "Sin City". If it is successful, everything will naturally go well, and the issuance department will be established; If it fails, it means that in addition to bearing the original loss, it will also bear the cost of reversing the issuance channel, and bear double or even triple the blow.

Desperate, Lance once again began to dance on the tip of the knife. (To be continued.) )