Before the advent of "Jaws" and "Star Wars", it was extremely difficult for the movie box office to exceed 100 million.

In the 21st century, the film industry has been further opened, especially since 2003, when "The Matrix 3" became the first film in film history to premiere simultaneously around the world, and the strategic significance of the premiere has risen to a whole new level.

Prior to this, the premiere was just a display platform, announcing that the film officially met the audience, but the attention frenzy, discussion and communication effect caused by the global simultaneous premiere far exceeded expectations, which could not only mobilize the enthusiasm of loyal fans, but also attract the curiosity of ordinary audiences, so the premiere gradually developed into a link that cannot be ignored in the film industry.

Not only commercial films, but also art films will begin to carefully plan their premieres - for example, landing at a suitable film festival as a premiere, such as a limited fan premiere in an art theater in New York, which is crucial for the film's publicity strategy, because the size of the premiere, the significance of the topic, and the publicity effect of the excitement will all become the influencing factors of the subsequent box office, word-of-mouth, and subsequent video tape market and peripheral products.

This also makes the premiere a lot of effort in the promotion process of the film company - it is not a fantasy to spend 5 million to hold a world premiere, on the contrary, it is not uncommon in the box office-honoring summer season.

There are many criteria for the success of a premiere, the most direct criterion is the number of the premiere box office; But the criteria for measuring the grandeur of a premiere are more straightforward: the venue, the media, the guests and the fans.

Needless to say, the greater the number of people and the heavier the weight, it is victory. However, the venue factor is very special, not that the more theaters that can accommodate the audience, the grander the premiere, but the more central the location of the premiere theater, the more attention will be paid.

In short, the three theaters located in the very center of Hollywood Boulevard are strategic vantage points: the Chinese/Chinese Theater, the Captain's Theater, and the Kodak Theater.

The three theaters are located next to each other, the Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard, less than twenty yards apart; The Captain's Theatre is located on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard, diagonally opposite the Kodak Theatre, and the three theaters are triangular in shape.

All three theatres have a limited capacity, with the Chinese Theatre having a capacity of just over 950 spectators, the Captain's Theatre having a seating capacity of just over 1,000 and the Kodak Theatre having a capacity of 3,500 – but the ballroom is generally only used for large events, especially the annual Oscars, and the smaller screening halls around it can only accommodate less than 1,000 spectators. But thanks to the location, all grand premieres are willing to choose the venue here.

Every summer, Hollywood Boulevard, located in the heart of Los Angeles, is bustling with activity.

Warner Bros. undoubtedly arranged the premiere of "Ocean's Twelve" at the Chinese/Chinese Theater, which is not only the most core location, but also the hottest venue for the premiere at present, and it is undoubtedly the best choice for the star-studded "Ocean's Twelve".

It is rumored in the circle that Paramount originally planned to choose the Chinese/Chinese Theater as the premiere venue for "Killing with a Knife", but unfortunately, in the head-to-head competition, Paramount, which has been weak in recent years, has not competed with the wealthy Warner Bros.; To make matters worse, Warner Bros. is menacing, with the spec of making the premiere of "Ocean's Twelve" a summer file, not to mention the star-studded red carpet, they have sent invitations to more than 200 media outlets, and plan to set up a fan area that can accommodate thousands of people...... That meant half the Hollywood Boulevard would be packed to the brim – and it would mean that neither the Captain's Theatre nor the Kodak Theatre would be open.

Because the three theaters are in a triangular pattern, almost one next to each other, so the Chinese/Chinese Theater has held such a grand premiere, whether it is "Murder by the Knife" in the Captain's Theater or the Kodak Theater, it will be squeezed out of breath - of course, Paramount can also go to the blood to fight Warner Bros., so that the confrontation continues to heat up, and may even develop into hand-to-hand combat, but ...... Paramount doesn't have that confidence.

In the end, Paramount chose the Los Angeles Theater as the premiere of "Murder with a Knife", and in this showdown, the momentum was greatly weakened.

The name "Los Angeles Theatre" is as imposing as a theater in the heart of Los Angeles, but in fact, to most audiences, the theater is unfamiliar – if not unheard of.

The Los Angeles Theatre is located in the relatively chaotic Downtown/Downtown and is a Broadway performance theater. After its inauguration in 1931, it became famous as the most famous theater in Hollywood at the time, where Charlie Chaplin's classic "City Lights" premiered, and the spacious theater with a capacity of 2,000 spectators, was the premier state-of-the-art indoor theater at the time.

However, as time passed, the center of gravity of cinema in Los Angeles gradually shifted northward, and Hollywood Boulevard gradually took shape, and the prosperity of the whole city changed, and the downtown/downtown gradually withered, and the chaotic scene of Wall Street and poor streets coexisted was very different from that of modern Hollywood. In the 21st century, there are very few audiences willing to come to Los Angeles theaters, and even Broadway shows are leaning more towards the emerging Los Angeles music center. Not to mention 2,000 seats, even a tenth of the seats are hard to sell.

In 2004, the city government began to discuss whether to close the place and no longer open to the public. Whether it will be used as a history museum or rebuilt is yet to be discussed.

Choosing the Los Angeles Theatre as the venue for the premiere not only means being far away from the heart of Hollywood, it takes at least a fifteen-minute drive from Hollywood Boulevard to get here, and it is clear that the media is more willing to choose the prosperous, safe, and bright Hollywood Boulevard; At the same time, it also means that in order to avoid the limelight of "Twelve Arhats", "Killing with a Knife" went down to the city and came to this desert, and the battle for momentum has fallen behind, and the momentum of the premiere cannot be compared.

This qiē has put "borrowing a knife to kill" into an embarrassing situation. To make matters worse, the Los Angeles Theater has 2,000 seats, and filling it is almost a difficult task.

When the premiere venue came out, almost everyone had the same thought in their minds: Is "borrowing a knife to kill" to disarm and surrender? Even the crew of "Ocean's Twelve" was a little stunned - they didn't expect that the "borrowing a knife to kill" that had been continuously engaged in a hot duel would actually show weakness at a critical moment.

There are also countless news outlets that have the same idea.

Cliff Robinson of the Los Angeles Times drove to the Los Angeles theater early, and the chaos of the neighborhood made him frown, not disgusted with the security here - at least it was much better than Queens in New York, but curious, with the premiere in such an area, Paramount estimated that he was out of the way, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't save such a bad scene.

In the distance, Cliff saw Darrys McCoy of "Us Weekly", Darry took the initiative to wave hello, and Cliff greeted him, "Why are you here?" I thought you were going to Hollywood Boulevard. Darius's voice was a little strange, clearly not quite understanding what was going on.

Cliff didn't answer immediately, but looked left and right, it was just after seven o'clock, and there was still more than an hour before the premiere, but the scene was already bustling with many people. There were at least 200 people who came to watch the movie, and the scale was not grand, but it exceeded expectations; At least fifty or sixty reporters came, some of whom were familiar faces, and at a glance he saw Brian Barlow of the San Francisco Chronicle, Nancy Black of the Chicago Tribune, and Javier Ullier of the New York Times.

Turning to Darius, Cliff asked, "I thought you'd go there." If I'm not mistaken, you're friends with Matt and George. "Friend, this word is rarely used between journalists and artists, because journalists need to maintain a relatively objective position, and once used, it means that the relationship between the two parties is very close.

Darys pouted, "If I'm not mistaken, I asked this question first. ”

Cliff didn't go around in circles anymore, "Hollywood Boulevard must be so lively, I drove all the way down Highland Boulevard when I came here just now, and there were at least a thousand people gathered there. So, one more me is not too much, and one less me is not less. I'm curious......" At this, Cliff suddenly paused, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

Darius also caught the moment, and continued, "Curious what the hell is going on here." With that, Darius bit the gum in his mouth hard and cursed with a smile, "What a fuck/fuck/smart bastard!" ”

The "borrowing a knife to kill" showed weakness to the enemy, and even retreated all the way to the Los Angeles theater, which directly aroused everyone's curiosity. After all, the grand premiere of the Chinese/Chinese Theater was almost entirely predictable, with a large number of stars, a surging audience, a lively journalist, a joyful atmosphere of guests and hosts, and an endless pursuit of ignorance...... But the premiere of the Los Angeles theater has countless possibilities, not to mention, how can the "borrowing a knife to kill" who did not show weakness in the previous confrontation be captured? And don't forget Tom Cruise and Lancelot Strello's Cunzài, obviously, the premiere here is much more interesting - even if it's a disaster, it's a fun disaster, and no one wants to miss it.

Darius looked up at Cliff, "You say, did they plan it?" "If it's really intentional on Paramount's part, then this propaganda ploy is hell!

Cliff smiled dumbly, "The answer will be revealed in a moment, won't it?" (To be continued.) )