Midsummer, the most beautiful month of the year, survived the long winter of being at home in a daze, and went out one after another, bathing in the bright sunshine; Take off your bulky and cumbersome thick clothes, change into a bikini and run towards the beach, surf and swim in the stream; Temporarily let go of the daily pressure of livelihood, liberate yourself, and truly enjoy the rare vacation; After a semester of hard study, I threw myself into the arms of the holidays and tried my best to catch every before entering society.

Every summer is always so beautiful.

Since the birth of the concept of summer in 1977, the proportion of summer schedules in Hollywood's business strategy blueprint is increasing year by year, and just a summer file can account for 50% or even 60% of the annual box office in North America, which also makes summer files a battleground for soldiers.

This year, the summer file has ushered in a huge change. Since the 76th Oscars were brought forward from the end of March to the end of February, this means that the awards season has been shortened by one month. However, now the awards season has been brought forward to the end of February, and March has been vacated in advance, which has changed the entire schedule layout strategy.

As a result, Hollywood has also made corresponding adjustments, the awards season lasts from November to February, and the spring season is advanced by a month, from April and May to March and April. May officially joined the ranks of summer files, extended the summer files to four months, and extended the box office war in the middle of summer every year vigorously and lively, for a whole month, looking forward to the restlessness of early summer and the residual heat of the Oscars, which can make the box office market go further.

However, since this is the first year that the summer file has been adjusted. Whether the final box office curve will meet expectations is waiting for the whole of Hollywood, and no one can say in advance. Probably successful. But it can also fail!

In fact, the Academy announced the time of the Oscars after that. Hollywood's major studios were caught off guard. It is imperative to adjust the schedule, but the summer works that can be released at present are only scheduled for three months, and it is obviously insufficient to cope with four months.

For example, the "hero" from China, as a foreign-language film, won the opportunity to be released in 2,000 theaters in the fourth week of August. This is also very rare for the North American market.

But no one wants to take the risk of being released in May, especially in the first week of May - whether this is the tail of the spring file or the beginning of the summer file, no one can give an accurate answer to the ambiguous/ambiguous situation. After deliberation, Universal Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount, which are relatively weak among the eight major film companies, were pushed out and the first to eat crabs.

In the end, because Paramount's "Mean Girls" was released in the last week of April, they were "lucky to avoid" the mine in the first week of May; And Universal Pictures' "Van Helsing" is even more highly anticipated. With a $160 million investment and Hugh Jackman at the forefront, the Universal Pictures studio gained more confidence and was released in the fourth week of May; In the twentieth century, Fox's "day after tomorrow" became the pioneer of the way - without the leadership of big-name actors. Without the blessing of big-name directors, high investment and high publicity, it is not surprising that "The Day After Tomorrow" was launched separately.

As a result, "The Day After Tomorrow" heroically and gloriously became the first experimental product to try the May summer file after the expansion of the summer file, and it became the first shot to unveil the summer file in 2004! Successfully going down in history, as for whether it will be a crushing defeat or a big victory, it will be left to the market to answer.

One thing is for sure, though. Even if it is a month in advance, the intense Cheng dù, the lively Cheng dù, and the eye-catching Cheng dù of the summer file have not had the slightest impact.

After the first week of May, we avoided it. The subsequent schedule ushered in fierce competition, in the eyes of major Hollywood studios. Maybe people haven't realized that this year's summer season has been advanced to May, but after testing the waters and warming up in the first week of May, the second week of May will soon usher in a movie-watching frenzy and enter the summer file mode in advance. In particular, the eight major film companies will try their best to promote the "May Summer Season" - this is the common interest of the whole Hollywood, whether it is long-term interests or short-term interests, no one will hold back, so the box office explosion in the second week of May is generally optimistic, and it has become a fragrant bun that everyone is competing for.

After the cession of interests and the open and dark transactions, the final schedule was determined.

In the first week of May, "The Day After Tomorrow" made its debut; In the second week of May, "Troy" came strongly; In the third week of May, "Shrek 2" returned happily; In the fourth week of May, Van Helsing followed; In the first week of June, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" landed in the summer slot.

Just looking at this premiere list is enough to make the blood boil. The most incredible thing is that among these works, the least investment is actually "acquired", the investment of 125 million US dollars is considered a small size in the fierce competition of the summer file, and the book cost of the highest investment "Troy" is 175 million US dollars, which is really terrifying.

Warner Bros. brought this work forward to the second week of May, in fact, it was not very controversial among the eight major film companies, and everyone also expected that this work could really detonate the summer file, revitalize the entire May film market, and drive the subsequent box office.

In this way, "The Day After Tomorrow", which was released before "Troy", is not so much like a trailblazer, but more like a warm-up work, which also makes Mark Gordon cry and laugh. The change in the propaganda position was only a matter of moments, and Mark was even a little hesitant: Was it the right thing to hand over the guide to Lance in the first place? If Roland Emmerich had directed it, then now the "day after tomorrow" would not have been unable to get a publicity stunt - the director of "City of God" directed a commercial blockbuster, and this highlight is too bleak.

However, there is no regret medicine in the world, and Mark is well aware of this, he has no way back. can only move forward bravely, so he quickly packed up his mood and plunged into the preliminary propaganda of the "day after tomorrow".

In fact. For most people, there is nothing new about this list of premieres. Even Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. didn't find anything wrong. Although Lance was once only one step away from "Troy" and missed out on this work at the last moment, Diorama Pictures succeeded in winning the right to cooperate with this work; But this is a common occurrence in Hollywood, almost every day, so Warner Bros. doesn't feel anything wrong at all, let alone a so-called showdown.

But for Chaos Pictures and Diorama Pictures, this is another head-to-head showdown between the two companies after the Oscars. A crucial matchup.

For Chaos Pictures, "The Day After Tomorrow" is their second work - a joint production with Twentieth Century Fox, following the success of "City of God", a new company has challenged the commercial blockbuster, which can definitely be called a lot of attention, and almost everyone is looking forward to the debut of "The Day After Tomorrow" with curiosity and scrutiny.

Once successful, then both Lance and Chaos Pictures will take their momentum to the next level, and the next opportunities will be further expanded; But on the contrary, if it fails, it will be for Chaos Pictures, which has no roots. This is bound to be a blow to ruin, not only will the high losses caused by high investment drag down the capital chain of Chaos Pictures, but it may even lead to Lance's direct debt bankruptcy. Since then, it has been difficult to turn over, and what is even more terrifying is that the reputation accumulated by the "City of God" was easily shattered, and Lance returned to the pre-liberation/release overnight.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call "the day after tomorrow" a work that determines life and death.

For Diorama Pictures, "Troy" is a work that cannot be flipped out, because from a strategic point of view, it will be an important turning point in the transformation of Diorama Pictures.

On top of the Oscars. The sparkling duel between "Lost Tokyo" and "City of God", although it cannot be said that "Lost Tokyo" lost. But the "City of God" did win, after Chaos Pictures came out strong. The major film companies have seen their strength, and the number of cooperation proposals has slowly begun to increase, which also gives Lance more room to punch.

Ryan had heard about Paramount's follow-up early on - this was not unusual, a "City of God" made Paramount a small profit of nearly 20 million dollars, which was definitely not expected by everyone, so Paramount couldn't wait to start a second collaboration with Chaos Pictures, which was expected.

Although there is still no detailed information about this partnership project, it is rumored that Tom Cruise is very likely to join. This news alone is enough to see the follow-up effect of the Oscars.

It can be seen that the rise of Chaos Pictures is getting faster and faster, and if Diorama Pictures does not adjust quickly, it is only a matter of time before it strategically lags behind. "Troy" is a work that appears in this context.

"Troy" can be said to occupy the right time and place, no matter from any point of view, it has an advantage, and winning the box office is the only option; What's more, "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Troy" premiered in North America one after the other, which means that the lifeblood of the subsequent decline of "The Day After Tomorrow" is in the hands of "Troy".

More importantly, even leaving Chaos Pictures aside, "Troy" also maintains the economic lifeblood of Diorama Pictures.

At present, Diorama Pictures has invested 50 million US dollars in this work, and further investment will be made in the promotion process, which has reached the limit of Diorama Pictures, once it fails, the situation of Diorama Pictures' painstaking operation is likely to be weakened by at least half, or even more; On the other hand, if successful, Diorama Pictures will complete its metamorphosis, gain a foothold in the ranks of medium-sized film companies, and then they will face a completely different world.

Therefore, this is the best opportunity for Diorama Pictures to defeat Chaos Pictures, failure is an absolutely unacceptable result, and success is the only choice! There is no way back.

The summer file has not yet kicked off, and the propaganda war has already been filled with gunsmoke, and the duel between "the day after tomorrow" and "Troy" is about to vigorously open a new curtain for the summer file of 2004! (To be continued.) )

ps: Today's first update, I implore all book friends to support genuine subscriptions, thank you!