Jude is actually more interested in CinemaScore's box office predictions than CinemaScore.

"Director Locke should know that many factors will affect our prediction of box office results, and the score is only the basis of the prediction, and the score never represents the whole story." Ed Mintz knows that simply explaining why is not convincing, so he gives two examples.

"For example, "Strange Jack in Disguise", this film was scolded in the film critics' circles, and the audience's evaluation was B, but we thought that this film could receive 130 million. Because in the same schedule, this is the only comedy, and there are no competitors at all. The final box office of the film was nearly 110 million. and "Love Breaks at Dawn", which was released some time ago, received a high A- rating from CinemaScore, but the final box office was a pitiful 37 million. Why? My analysis is that the data shows that 55% of the survey population is actually over 40 years old, and a large number of young audiences are absent, and when you see this result, you will immediately understand that this film is in trouble, and audiences over 40 years old really like this movie, but this simply cannot drive the same number of young audiences into the theater, you must know that this group of audiences will always be the main body of the box office. ”

"Mr. Mintz's presence at today's premiere shows that there is confidence within CinemaScore in this film, and let's assume that the final score of this film is A-, just like Mr. Mintz mentioned "Love Before Dawn", based on the information that CinemaScore has so far, can you predict what the final box office of this film will be?"

"Director Locke really gave me a problem!" Ed Mintz glanced at Litt and Kate, who were standing behind Jude, and then gave a quote in a voice that only two people could hear: "If 'The Seven Deadly Sins' can open enough to its contemporaneous rivals in its opening weekend, I believe the film will definitely end up grossing more than $100 million." ”

When Jude heard this, a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

Ed Mintz shook Jude's hand again, "It's just my personal prediction. Hopefully, until the official CinemaScore report comes out, Director Locke will be able to keep it a secret for me! ”

As soon as Ed Mintz left, Leeter walked up.

"$100 million! Is this really what Ed Mintz said? He stared at Jude with wide eyes nervously, for fear that Jude was joking with him.

Kate was also surprised, but the expression on her face was not as exaggerated as that of Little.

"It's exactly what you predicted." She frowned at Jude with a deep doubt in her eyes. "Is it really a coincidence?"

"Of course not!" Jude stared in the direction where Ed Mintz's figure disappeared, "Before the film started, New Line did an evaluation of the entire project, and at that time they approved a profit line of $100 million, and only if the box office exceeds this number can the film be profitable. ”

"Wait...... How come I've never heard anyone talk about this? Litt asked, interrupting.

"I only saw the assessment report yesterday, and it was secretly given to me by Shay, and no third party knows about it except the two of us." Jude withdrew his gaze from the end of the aisle, "I'm not sure if Ed Mintz has read this report. But it's easy to figure out how much box office "The Seven Deadly Sins" needs to make a profit, and it's really smart to use that number to deal with people until the official box office prediction results come out. ”

"What about you? How do you know if the film will make $100 million at the box office? Litt asked.

Jude pointed to his head, pouted, and said, "Intuition! ”

――

"Ernest Hemingway once said that the world is beautiful and worth fighting for. I only believe the second half of the sentence. ”

With the appearance of this line, the picture on the screen is finally frozen in the desolate and lonely back of Denzel Washington in the afterglow of the sunset, and all the audience is still immersed in the shocking ending of the movie. And then ignore the name at the beginning of the end credits.

Jude led the main creative staff of the "Seven Deadly Sins" crew to the front desk to prepare for the curtain call, and the screening room began to burst into long-lasting applause.

Take the microphone from the host. Jude waited until the applause had broken before interrupting, "Okay, you can rest your hands for a while, because you'll be clapping soon, and it's going to be longer than just now!" ”

The average viewer only thought Jude was joking, but some media reporters had already guessed a possibility, and their eyes lit up.

"Attentive friends may have found out. Now there is one less leading actor standing on the stage. ”

Before he could finish speaking, the audience, who had already reacted, began to scream and shout the man's name.

"Hopkins!"

"Professor Hannibal!"

Two different names, both pointing to the same person.

"It's a pity that your favorite Professor Hannibal can't be here today." Jude handed the microphone in the direction of the audience. "Who else could have guessed the identity of this mysterious man?"

Not Hopkins? Most of the people at the scene were dumbfounded.

The audience was silent for two seconds, and suddenly a reporter stood up and shouted, "It's John Du!" ”

Jude returned the microphone to his lips and asked meaningfully, "Are you sure?" ”

At this time, more people finally reacted, today is the premiere of "The Seven Deadly Sins", and Anthony Hopkins will only appear on stage in his role in the film.

"John Du!"

"John Du!"

More and more people joined the call for Hopkins to appear, and Jude saw that the atmosphere in the audience had been fully mobilized, so he raised his hand and pointed backstage and announced loudly: "Welcome Mr. Hopkins!" ”

Hopkins waved his hand as he walked out of the backstage.

The fans in the audience were so excited that they were about to cry, applause and cheers came one after another, and even the media reporters present joined in the welcome.

The applause lasted for more than a minute, and Jude had to interrupt again to allow the interaction on stage to continue.

The microphone was handed to Hopkins, who first said hello to the fans in the audience, then greeted several creators on the stage in turn, and finally it was the turn of the media reporters.

"I know there must be a lot of doubts in everyone's hearts, why I will appear in this movie, why my name will be hidden in the opening credits, and why I have been hiding the news of participating in the film before."

Hopkins turned to Jude with the microphone in his hand, "Actually, Locke can answer all three questions for me, but he insists that I come here and explain to everyone in person, in his original words, it's time to reveal the final suspense of the movie." ”

Jude looked at Hopkins with a smile and motioned for him to continue.

"You should remember that in February of this year, Locke's last film "Two Smoking Guns" had not yet been released in the United States, and I watched the movie in advance in the UK, and I had the idea of working with Locke once in my head, but I didn't expect him to find me a few days later with the script of "Seven Deadly Sins".

Hopkins held the microphone in one hand and began to recall how they met.

"At the beginning, I didn't intend to accept the role of John Du because it was very close to my role in The Silence of the Lambs, and I didn't want to play the same role repeatedly, but Locke used the complexity of this character to convince me that if Hannibal is a complete demon, then the role of John Du is a combination of angels and demons, which is a new challenge for me, and now I want to say that I am glad that I made the right decision in the first place."

There was applause from the audience again, and even several main creators on the stage applauded Hopkins' last sentence.

"Although I spent the shortest time in the crew, I was very impressed by the director and the other actors, especially in the private communication with Denzel, he told me some of the things that the crew had filmed before, and the scenes that everyone saw in the movie just now were all filmed in a real environment, of course, the most surprising thing for me was Locke, his performance in this movie subverted my previous understanding of him, I was talking about acting."

Everyone's eyes fell on Jude, and the problem mentioned by Hopkins is indeed what many people are surprised by after watching "The Seven Deadly Sins", because everyone has the impression that Jude's acting skills are not so good.

No one has noticed this problem before, because the viewing experience brought by "The Seven Deadly Sins" is too shocking, and some people have time to think about this problem, but now Hopkins reminds that many people have noticed this problem.

"Looks like everyone wants to know the answer as much as I do." Hopkins walked up to Jude and raised his left hand to explain to the audience: "In a scene where Mills chases John, Jude slipped and hit a windshield while crossing a road full of rain, ran through the hood of a car, and injured his hand. ensured the normal filming progress of the crew, I have seen many actors who continue to come after being injured in filming, but I have never seen such a director who continues to come after being injured in filming. ”

The audience was silent, and many people were reminiscing about Hopkins' last words.

"Many people think that Locke is getting to where he is today because of luck, including me before I officially cooperated with him, it turns out that I was wrong, it should be said that Locke is indeed not a very qualified actor, but he is a very qualified director!"

Hopkins' words resonated strongly with several of the main creators, and everyone took the lead in applauding, and soon the audience joined the ranks.

In the face of the longest applause in the whole audience, Jude suddenly felt that all the hard work he had put in in the past six months or so was worth it. (To be continued......)