With the singing of Locksey and Velma, the film came to an end, and the guests at the premiere applauded enthusiastically for the filming. Although the viewing mentality is not consistent, for most audiences, this is a pretty good movie, with no obvious shortcomings in sound and light effects, plot rhythm and actors' performances, and it can even be said that there is no lack of highlights. For the general audience, who are very happy to watch, while the professionals see the intricate editing and filming techniques that are almost showy, Rob takes a complex film in a complex way, but simplifies it and does not create any obstacles when watching. As a newcomer to the directorial industry, his outstanding performance has made many people secretly amazed, and even more envious and jealous of Weinstein's vision - there is no doubt that "Chicago" will be the big winner of this awards season, and for Weinstein, who is skilled in the operation of awards, this year seems destined to be another good year.

After the screening, the director went on stage to speak, as is customary, and as soon as Rob walked to the front of the curtain, the audience spontaneously gave him a long applause, which also made Rob radiant.

"It's really not easy to make this film," the words before the release were generally relatively brief and would not spoil the mood of the movie, and now it is time to conclude. Rob looked at the crew with satisfaction, "But from Harvey to Catherine, Renee, Richard, and all the people in the film crew, they all gave me a lot of support and strength, and I knew that my temper was sometimes unbearable." ”

There was a good-natured laugh from the direction of the film crew, and Catherine shouted, "Rob, we love you!" ”

"Thank you, thank you." Rob pulled Catherine, Renee and Richard to the curtain, Harvey waved his hand and refused to go on stage, the three leading actors hugged Rob cordially in front of the stage, judging from this scene, the faint unhappiness during the filming seems to have been forgotten by everyone, whether it was the starring group who doubted Rob at the time, or Rob, who was very mindful of it at the time, has now turned over this article and has really become good friends.

In the final round of applause, the premiere ended, the audience gradually dispersed, and some maverick film critics were the first to leave - generally speaking, in Hollywood, film critics and the film industry will maintain a certain delicate boundary, in order not to affect the freedom of criticism**, many well-known film critics will not participate in these well-paid afterparties, or receive gifts from the filmmaker.

However, as a well-known film critic with his own TV show, Roger. Albert's crossover with the circle is a little closer, and although he hasn't been in great health since the late '90s, tonight was in full spirit, and his partner, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Brown. Luo Pei, attended the premiere party.

A film critic of his status will of course be looked at differently by the high-level, even Harvey. Weinstein has to greet him with a drink, after all, "Chicago" takes the route of rushing for awards, and the reputation of film reviews is absolutely crucial.

"Roger."

"Harvey."

The two men embraced, and Harvey took the cigar to his lips - Roger had been suffering from a throat problem, had just undergone surgery earlier this year, and probably couldn't smell the smoke now. "So, what do you think?"

"I think Miramax can even be box office profitable on this film." Roger didn't hesitate to praise himself, and Harvey was overjoyed.

In order to catch up with the final limit of Oscar registration, the release time of "Chicago" was directly selected two days before the registration deadline, and the intention of rushing for the award was obvious, and Miramax is best at operating this kind of award-winning film, they do not pursue to recover all the costs at the box office, but take the long-term copyright route. -- Different from ordinary commercial blockbusters, literary films and biopics are films with large investment and small output, and although the total scale of investment is not large, it is generally difficult to offset the investment, publicity, and public relations expenses at the box office.

But this is not to say that no one will make this kind of film, the mentality of filmmakers who shoot this kind of film is to spread risks, such as Miramax, he prefers to take 100 million US dollars to make seven or eight literary films, and choose the best staffing as much as possible within the budget, and then as long as one of these seven or eight films is a masterpiece and can rush to the award, then it is earned, and what about other films, as long as they are not too bad, it is impossible to not get back a penny. In this way, after five or six years, this 100 million may be completely earned, and it will also bring a lot of follow-up profits. Although in the end, I may only earn 50 or 60 million with 100 million, but the victory is stable, so the investment is almost impossible to lose money in terms of probability, and what about taking 100 million to make a commercial production? In case it is a bad movie, the 100 million will basically be lost.

In addition to the four major film production companies, more small and medium-sized film companies are still considering diversifying risks and preferring to be thin and long-term, so there is still a steady stream of films like "The Pianist" and "Chicago" on the market, in fact, the entire Oscar ecosystem is composed of such films, literary films hope to win the Oscar to make money, and the Oscar also hopes to have more literary films, so as to ensure the artistry of the award. Miramax, for example, is an important part of this ecosystem, and they are very experienced in the rules of this circle, and they can always take the freshest piece of the cake.

However, because of this route, the cost of the film produced by Miramax is very slow, and the first two or three years of the book may still be a loss, after all, like this kind of award-winning film, publicity and public relations expenses are heavier than commercial films, "Chicago" invested 40 million, publicity and public relations may use 40 million, the cost is very close to the 2001 same type of musical "Moulin Rouge", "Moulin Rouge" invested 50 million, rushed out of a number of nominations, but in the end only won two technical awards, The North American box office is 50 million, and the global box office is 100 million, which cannot be said to be a loss, but without the award protection, the follow-up copyright sales are difficult to bargain, and the profit prospects are not very clear. Now Roger bluntly said that he is optimistic about the box office profit of "Chicago", which is equivalent to predicting that the domestic box office of "Chicago" will exceed 100 million, which will be double that of "Moulin Rouge". -- If the box office is profitable, Miramax will have a lot less pressure, and there will be more budget to invest in PR, and as long as the Oscars can be awarded, the Chicago project will be a very successful investment. If it is an Oscar-winning film, the follow-up copyright sales are completely another world, and many TV stations will come to buy the copyright, and the domestic sales will be better, and the sales of DVD and other audio-visual products will increase significantly.

"Roger, your words may be worth millions of dollars," the premiere will be positive, and Harvey must be more confident in rushing for the award, "This year Miramax should be the main film "Chicago", you say so, I'm embarrassed if I don't add some budget." ”

Roger laughed, "It's worth it, Harvey, you know I've always admired your eye for people, Chicago is certainly a treasure, we all admit it, but it's not that easy to bring a revue to the big screen, you know, 'Moulin Rouge' is an original after all, and you can find Rob is the success of the whole thing." ”

Classic musicals are very difficult to adapt because of the relationship between Zhuyu and Yu.

"I'm pretty proud of that, too." Harvey admitted it without modesty, "Rob is the keyman of the whole project, of course, Catherine and Renee are good enough, but you know, choosing Renee is also a certain risk, there is no problem with her acting skills, but the level of singing and dancing is worrying, if it weren't for Rob's optimism, I might not have nodded and used her." ”

"It seems that the artistic vision is all in the same vein," Roger laughed, "and you discovered Rob, and Rob discovered Jennifer - Jennifer. Jefferson, I think she's been pretty impressive, and tonight she's more of the center of the show. ”

"That's because Rob, they're still being interviewed." Harvey's eyes also fell to the corner of the venue, where many guests from all walks of life gathered to attend the premiere. Jefferson's blonde hair shimmered in the crowd and looked extremely dazzling. "But there's no denying that she's a great girl, and it's a shame she's in the middle of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' right now, otherwise I'd be happy to take her with me for the follow-up promotion of 'Chicago.'"

"Ah, so, you're going to take her to the Oscars?" Roger poured his glass at Harvey, "Maybe this time next year, I'll hear the news of another Weinstein girl." However, haven't you finished the big project you prepared in 03? ”

Jenny's previous "Pirates of the Caribbean", although it is an A-level production, but the phenomenon that the heroine has been vacant until the start of filming is a minority, and most of the projects are determined at the beginning of filming The director and the male and female protagonists are determined, and it can even be said that many projects are at such a dinner party, with a change of mind and a few words from the family. For a new actor, many times it is not her who picks the film to star, but what she can find that does not star.

Harvey shook his head and smiled without saying a word, but Roger was interested, ""Cold Mountain", "Kill Bill", "BJ Single Diary 2", "Jersey Girl", "Talk about Love, Dance"...... Hmm, I guess, it's not "Jersey Girls" or "Talk About Love, Dance"? That girl has a lot of potential, whether it's "Jersey Girls" or "Talk About Love, Dance" is enough to do it. ”

Harvey just laughed, but didn't respond much, until he realized that Roger was very reluctant, and then replied incomprehensibly, "You're still too indifferent to the marketing methods of the movie, old man, of course I want to take her to the Oscars, which is good for the box office of "Chicago." ”

Of course, Roger could hear what he meant: but Harvey didn't invite Jennifer. Jefferson is the main actor.

He was a little confused - his eyes were as old as Roger's, even if it was only a few minutes of scenes, it was enough for him to see Jennifer's strength, and combined with the impression Jennifer gave him at the party, Roger could easily conclude that this was a young actor with excellent acting skills, very good looks, able to handle roles that were almost completely opposite to his own temperament, and most importantly, she had a sense of dominance that was indescribable but indispensable to a superstar.

Roger believes that showbiz is an industry that requires a lot of talent, even if it starts. points, appearance, acting skills and resources are all similar, but because of the existence of this ethereal superstar temperament, it is likely that the two people seem to be on par at the beginning of their acting careers, but in the end, the audience will only remember the one with the superstar temperament, and as for the other person, it is difficult for you to say where she lost. It's like "Moulin Rouge", director Buzz. Ruhrmann is a big bull, even more so in the field of musical theater than Rob. Marshall is more accomplished, and the comparison between "Moulin Rouge" and "Chicago" seems to be indistinguishable, both of which are temporary choices, but Roger has a feeling that "Chicago" is to withstand the waves of time than "Moulin Rouge" and achieve a higher status than "Moulin Rouge" in the classic hall of musical and dance films.

Who do you say this is because of? No doubt because of Keyman Rob. Marshall. A lot of times movies are keyman to win the world, and Roger thinks that Jennifer. Jefferson shows Keyman in the movie. He also thought that Harvey, who had always seen people very accurately. Weinstein would never let go of the opportunity to hug someone in his arms, but he didn't expect Harvey's reaction to be described as cold.

One is a film critic, the other is a big producer, and the profession determines that these two can only be gentlemen's friends, although Roger was puzzled, he did not continue to ask, but raised his glass to Harvey, turned around and continued to socialize in the industry crowd.

It wasn't until the party was over and he boarded the bus back to the hotel with his old partner that Roger got some gossip from Richard.

"Jennifer's team's propaganda strategy has angered Renee's team," Richard said in a nutshell of Harvey's choice. "Of course, Jennifer is a very talented actor, but Renee and Miramax's relationship is still in the honeymoon period, "Cold Mountain" and "BJ Single Diary" are very happy to work together, "Chicago" originally planned to give her an award, but because of the publicity of Jennifer's team, Renee's performance in "Chicago" was obviously overshadowed, I am afraid it will be difficult to win the favor of this Oscar judges, Harvey, as a producer, of course, must maximize the benefits, anyway' The Roxie's controversy has been heated up, and he's definitely going to use it to drive the box office, but it's not necessarily a matter of how well Harvey thinks of Jennifer. "Cold Mountain" and "BJ Single Diary 2" are both big projects after Miramax, if Renee can succeed after the film this time, the box office of the two films will be more guaranteed, but now Renee is likely to only be able to count on "Cold Mountain". ”

"Oh?" Roger is also a film critic who has been immersed in the film industry for many years, and it is impossible to be surprised by this kind of interest turmoil, after hearing Richard's explanation, he did not exclaim anything, but asked with great interest, "So, in the 'Roxie dispute', are you on Jennifer's side?" ”

"I'm not going to say jump to conclusions now, but I'll admit in my film review that Jennifer . Jefferson dominated the entire movie theater during her appearances. "Officially, I'd like to wait until I've seen Jennifer's Roxie, but I know a lot of my Broadway peers are already on Jennifer's side." Roger, what do you think? ”

They both live in Chicago all year round, but because they have their own TV shows and are both columnists, they earn a lot of money, and it is not a big deal to fly to New York to watch a show.

"When are we going to see Jennifer's Roxie?" Roger asked rhetorically, "You know, topics are time-sensitive, too, Richard. If it were six months from now, I wouldn't want to fly all the way to New York for an argument that no one cares about. ”

"I asked Jennifer and she said she hadn't fulfilled her contract with Broadway and would go back to Broadway when she finished filming." Richard calculated, "I should be back on Broadway by December 10th." ”

December 10 is the date of the release of "Chicago", and there is still more than a month before now, during which film critics will release their own viewing reviews one after another, generally speaking, the film critics and producers who will be invited to the premiere have a good relationship, and it is unlikely that there will be a situation where they have watched the movie but have not released a film review.

"Let's start with a newspaper review of Chicago, and if you've seen the musical and feel the need to say something, you can do it, and we can talk about it on the show." Roger already had a rough idea, "But I remember that the Chicago musical was a huge box office hit, Richard, we'd better call our friends on Broadway right now." ”

"It seems that you also have a good opinion on Jennifer. Jefferson was looking forward to it. Richard smiled and took out his phone, "No problem, it's the second half of the night in New York now, I'll contact old friends when we come tomorrow, I hope we won't become IE browsers in this craze." ”

He and Roger are both trendsetters of the Internet, regardless of Roger's age, but he is no less interested in these things than young people, and he has his own personal blog and website, so there is no barrier to understanding Richard's joke.

"It doesn't matter how fast or slow the opinion is, it's the quality of the article itself." Roger wasn't worried about this, he chuckled lightly and said calmly, "We're doomed to be a step slower than New Yorkers, and we're even too slow compared to those fashion bloggers." It is likely that the earliest article will come out tomorrow, but who will decide who is the best roxie? Richard, God knows, only we can. ”

Richard also smiled, "Roger, you are too polite, you don't have to take me, I should say that only you can." ”

As the only Pulitzer Prize-winning heavyweight among film critics, with a long-lived TV show and a registered trademark, Roger does have this confidence, and it can even be said that his views can indeed dominate the public opinion trend of the industry to a certain extent. Because of this, he is very cautious about his opinion, and he has not seen Jennifer's performance, so he would rather not express his position than take advantage of this excitement.

#

Roger was right, just the day after the premiere, influential media outlets such as The New Yorker, The New York Post, and The New York Times published film reviews of their columnists. Unlike "Variety", "Hollywood Life", and "The Hollywood Reporter", these critics and film critics have focused on the 'Roxie Controversy', and almost all of them have adopted the 'OurroxieisBetter' type of titles.

"There's no doubt about it, Renee. Zellweger is a brilliant actor, and she seems to be dominating this era, but we can't help but objectively say that Jennifer . Jefferson has a talent even more than her...... "Ben. Brantley said in his column that his column was titled "Indeed, OurroxieisBetter."

Jennifer fan Patrice was even more fanatical, declaring, "This is a very good movie, well done, Rob!" But the only regret is that you didn't pick Jennifer. Jefferson's guts to play Lockhee only gave her Kitty. So, Los Angeles loses, New York wins, and Broadway has a very good Lockhee. ”

The title of his film review is also very explosive, "Hollywood Lose, BroadwayWin".

The rest of the New York film critics have different opinions and mixed opinions on the changes to "Chicago", but their opinions on the Roxie issue are almost unanimous, and they all agree that Renee is doing well and that people can't fault it, but Jennifer. Jefferson's roxie is better, more exciting, and the most rare thing is that she is a live performance, while Renee's performance is post-polished.

"If Jennifer were to play Roxie in the film, then we could not hesitate to believe that her performance would be a great success, and her Kitty fully proved it. But what about putting Renee on Broadway? I don't know, maybe, Renee needs a good Broadway musical to prove herself. ”

"In the battle between cinematic art and musicals, I, of course, a pure Broadway guy would be a little biased, but tonight I think my comment is very fair, and Jennifer's Roxie does outshine."

When everyone has one voice, this argument is very convincing. Many critics have yet to take a stand, but Gossip Magazine has quickly followed suit and is the first to expose the reason for their sluggishness: critics have been overwhelmed by requests from the Schubert Theater for tickets to Jennifer's Roxie performance.

That in itself is enough to hint at the critics' inclination – if Renee's performance was good enough and Jennifer's performance was disappointing, they would have made a statement a long time ago, wouldn't they?

No one doesn't like to read gossip, and when fashion bloggers are stirring up, the topic has begun to become the focus of attention of the nation - or rather the entertainment sensitive: Jennifer, a rising star who is rapidly rising to power. Jefferson is confident and arrogant, challenging the acting star Renee. Zellweger, although he didn't grab the role of the movie version of "Chicago", but he found a shortcut to defeat Renee on Broadway. It is said that the two have formed a hatred in the crew, and there have been countless intriguing stories between Renee and Jennifer, which is why Jennifer is so targeted against Renee......

"Pirates of the Caribbean", which has just completed filming, appeared in the mouths of more and more passers-by, Jon's classmates began to discuss with her for the first time the ticket purchase of the "Chicago" musical, and of course, the pre-sale of the upcoming movie version, in New York, a big box office city, "Chicago" has a higher attention than Los Angeles, whether it is a movie or a musical, it is instantly popular, after all, not every ordinary person can judge who has better photography skills, but they are all very confident without exception, I'm also enthusiastic about feeling that I can tell who's better roxie.

And with the booming of this wave of gossip topics, Jenny's popularity has also ushered in the first outbreak.

The author has something to say: Note: 1 Roger. Albert is also a real person, and he is basically a film critic mentioned in every entertainment article in the early 21st century, because his influence is indeed too great. Sadly, he's been dead for some time. If you are interested, you can Baidu him.

2 "Cold Mountain", "Kill Bill", "BJ Single Diary 2", "Jersey Girl", "Talk About Love, Dance" - these films were all produced by Miramax in 2003 and 04, which shows Miramax's level -

I'm sorry, I've been waiting for a long time, I went out to do something in the afternoon and met an old man I hadn't seen for a long time, and pulled me directly to eat......