Franklin's eyes were marked with obvious confusion and concern, although he did not have a clear understanding of the situation of Chaos Pictures, but the gossip in the circle was still inevitable to hear rumors. Franklin didn't know what Lance was planning www.biquge.info Fun Pavilion, but he knew that the last thing Chaos Pictures needed now was another venture, and it was a cult work.

When the Mad Max series came out in the 80s, it did well in Australia, but it failed miserably in the North American market, with the first part of the series grossing 8.7 million in North America and the second part of the series grossing 36 million. Of course, compared to the low cost of the film, this is already a very impressive achievement, but it is definitely not a masterpiece that detonates the box office, so much so that the third part of the series is not willing to be released in North America at all. This series was able to spread word of mouth among fans, mainly relying on video rentals, which is also a characteristic of most cult works.

Therefore, after 20 years, George Miller wants to restart the series, even though George is already a well-known veteran director in Hollywood at this time, but the major film companies are still unwilling to take risks. It's not that I don't believe in George's ability, but I don't believe in the box office potential of the work.

"Lance, are you going to shoot this work?"

Franklin's words made Lance raise an eyebrow and smile playfully, "I thought that the works on the blacklist were all selected by you, and you all thought that these works should be filmed, didn't you?" ”

Franklin couldn't help but choke up, but he didn't know how to explain it, he couldn't always say that as an independent cult work, they naturally wanted to be put on the big screen; But as a commercial box office work, "Mad Max" seems to be the last straw that crushes Chaos Pictures. He and Lance are still not that familiar, and they are involved in the operation of Chaos Pictures, so naturally they have no right to speak.

"I think you've gone into a misunderstanding." Even though Franklin didn't speak, the meaning couldn't be more obvious. If it were anyone else, Lance would not have bothered to explain, but Franklin, as the helmsman of the blacklist, he needed Franklin to have a higher understanding, "The works you think can be on the blacklist are all those that large film companies are unwilling to shoot, or in other words, they don't meet the requirements of genre films, waiting for small and medium-sized film companies to dig up." That's why the blacklist was first established, "but do you realize that so-called anti-genre films can often do wonders?" ”

The concept of anti-genre films is actually not that complicated, and films may have the opposite factors of a certain genre film, such as the most famous anti-hero film, "exhaustion"; At the same time, the film may not be the mainstream genre film in North America, such as Chinese/Chinese martial arts movies; In the end, the film may have subverted the elements of genre films, the most typical representative of which is "Shrek the Monster".

The anti-religious "The Passion of the Christ", the anti-western "Brokeback Mountain", the anti-record "Fahrenheit 911", the anti-hero "Male and Female Thieves", the anti-horror "Shaun the Zombies", and the anti-sci-fi "2001: A Space Odyssey...... These films can all be called anti-genre films, and even works such as "Forrest Gump", "Unforgiven", and "Pirates of the Caribbean" are considered anti-genre in a sense, in short, they don't play cards according to common sense.

Therefore, the biggest difference between anti-genre movies and cult movies is that the "anti" genre of the former is against it for the sake of opposition, but it does not exclude their own commercial attributes. "Shrek the Monster" is to subvert Disney's classic prince and princess fairy tales, and in the opposite direction, it has attracted a large number of fans and achieved incredible box office success.

On the blacklist, not only cult films, independent art films, but also anti-genre films are needed.

Franklin pondered, "So, you mean...... Are you planning to make 'Mad Max' an anti-genre movie? ”

It can be understood that the commercial attributes of the film are retained, and even high/high passages will be deliberately added for the sake of box office success, but at the same time, in order to highlight the setting of the wasteland apocalypse of the series of works, break the routine of genre movies, implant personal style, substitute personal understanding, and go off the rails to fight a bloody road.

Lance smiled silently, but the expression on his chest had already answered Franklin's conjecture.

"Mad Max 4: Fury Road", released in May 2015, is the most memorable, most vivid and most shocking work of Lance in the six months before his rebirth. From Reims's point of view, this work is a model for truly combining business and art to the pinnacle!

This sequel, released for the first time in more than 30 years, depicts a crumbling wasteland apocalyptic world, where everyone in the endless desert fights brutally for survival. The movie's majestic picture, evil and awe-inspiring temperament, wild and wanton action, delicate and accurate characters, truly interpret the word "rage" to the fullest, visual effects and adrenaline can be called heartbreaking, cult temperament is explosive, making people's blood boil, that pure and real ultimate viewing experience, it is no exaggeration to say that "Avatar", "Gravity", "Avengers" and other works that cause a sensation with visual effects.

Objectively speaking, in order to achieve the ultimate visual effect, George Miller sacrificed a lot of line space, and completely used visual effects to create shock, which then triggered a resurgence of ideas.

However, even so, the script still completes the effective portrayal of the characters in a limited space, and deeply excavates topics such as feminism and apocalypse.

In fact, Lance's opinion coincides with that of film critics, and the overall media evaluation of this work is as high as 90 points, far exceeding the 82 points of "Batman Prequel: The Dark Knight", the 62 points of "The Avengers", the 83 points of "Avatar", and the 80 points of "The Martian". In commercial films after entering the new millennium, it is second only to "gravity" with ninety-six points. Even the freshness on Rotten Tomatoes is 97 percent!

It is no exaggeration to say that "Mad Max 4" really won the reassurance of film critics and completely detonated word of mouth.

Unfortunately, the cult film's noir-punk style failed to win the hearts of audiences, or more accurately, the market base for alternative culture was too weak, and even though it sparked a frenzy among a small number of loyal fans - the popcorn index reached 87 percent and the IMDB fan rating reached 8.1 points, it did not win the mass acceptance on a large scale like "Star Wars 7".

In the end, the movie was a word-of-mouth explosion, and the North American premiere box office was only 45 million, which was disappointing, and the final cumulative box office was only 153 million, narrowly crossing the investment cost threshold of 150 million. Obviously, this result is not satisfactory. Even on a global scale, the box office of movies is constrained by the heavy taste of R-rated ratings, and after adding 220 million overseas box office, it falls at 378 million.

After the statistics were over, "Mad Max 4" caused Warner Bros. to lose more than $80 million.

From this point of view, the six major studios have been hesitant to move forward, which is understandable, and Franklin's concerns are correct. Warner Bros. struggled for more than six years and finally decided to start filming in 2012, but it still ushered in a loss-making ending.

Fortunately, however, the word-of-mouth response to "Mad Max 4" was explosive, and after the film went offline, it won widespread love in the Blu-ray rental and sales market, and Warner Bros. not only reduced the loss, but also gave the green light to the sequel of the film with a stroke of the pen under the crazy praise of film critics.

If according to Lance's previous request, "Mad Max 4" can't enter the field of vision at all, it is better to choose "hangover" more reliable. But after much deliberation, Lance set his sights on this anti-genre work.

The reason is very simple, this work is truly magnificent and powerful, whether it is visual effects or ideological excavation, it can be called a classic. In 2009, "Avatar" was born, sweeping the amazing box office of 760 million in North America and 2.7 billion in the world, and also won nine nominations at the Oscars. But in comparison, Lance still prefers the work "Mad Max 4".

Of course, from a commercial point of view, "Avatar" is undoubtedly a success, with a relatively simple script supplemented by just the right visual effects, making watching movies truly enjoyable, and the main story line is also closer to the public, in line with more people's aesthetics, which is beyond the reach of "Mad Max 4". But from the perspective of business, art, challenge, and exploration, "Mad Max 4" has a height that "Avatar" cannot match, and this work truly pushes the art of cinema to the extreme, which is amazing.

So, Lance seriously considered the possibility that if he tweaked the script and added a little ink to the characters, the depth of the story would be enhanced; If he adjusts the rhythm control, it will make the plot more compact and the high/tide more turbulent; If this movie is advanced from 2015 to 2006 or 2007, before "Avatar", people are not yet aesthetically fatigued with visual effects, and people do not have such a deep understanding of film shooting......

So, is it possible for "Mad Max 4" to replicate the box office miracle of "Avatar"? Is it possible for "Mad Max 4" to recreate the style of "Titanic" at the Oscars? Is it possible that "Mad Max 4" will be the starting point for Chaos Pictures to create miracles? (To be continued.) )