Since "Iron Man" detonated this year's summer season with a far more than expected opening result of $100 million, everyone is looking forward to the next three weeks of blockbusters such as "Speed Racer", "The Legend of Narnia 2: Prince Caspian", and "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" to continue the hot momentum of "Iron Man" and stage a wonderful box office battle.

In the second week of May, instead of taking over the championship from "Iron Man", the highly anticipated "Speed Racer" became the first cannon fodder in this year's summer file, with the support of 3664 large-scale theaters, it only received $20.17 million at the weekend box office, and a single theater was only $5504. In the face of $120 million investment and $80 million in publicity and promotion expenses, such achievements can only be described as a nightmare, which is even bleaker than last year's "Golden Compass".

Looking at the summer files in recent years, its dismal Cheng Dù chased after "Poseidon" in 06 and "Heavenly Dynasty" in 05, the former invested $160 million, more than $50 million in publicity and promotion costs, and the huge scale of 3555 theaters, with a box office of only $20.32 million in the first weekend in North America, and the latter invested $130 million and spent $60 million on publicity and promotion, although 3,216 films in the United States opened at the same time, but the first weekend was only $20 million.

Originally, the box office expectation for "Speed Racer" was $45 million to $65 million, but at the moment, there is no doubt about it. "Speed Racer" has become a strong candidate for the most loss-making film of the year. Poor Warner Bros. dug a big hole for himself. This year's earnings are bound to suffer significantly.

It is worth mentioning that although the box office of "Iron Man" fell by nearly 50% this week, it still topped the list with a box office of $51.26 million, with a total of $178.5 million, and it will become the first North American film to enter the $200 million box office club this year.

After being slightly disappointed by such an outcome, it is natural for both media reporters and fans to start looking forward to a new week, and the new week does have a reason to be expected, in the third week of May. "The Legend of Narnia 2: Prince Caspian", which opened in 3,929 theaters, will be reloaded and released. Previously, in 05, the first installment in the series, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", finally won $291 million at the North American box office and $745 million at the global box office with an investment of $185 million, which can be called a big victory.

Disney clearly has high hopes for "The Legend of Narnia 2: Prince Caspian" due to the unexpected success of the first film, investing $200 million and at least $80 million in promotional expenses, which is widely expected to reach $75 million to $85 million in the first week of box office, despite a series of headwinds.

However, still is yet. Although "The Legend of Narnia 2: Prince Caspian" snatched the throne from "Iron Man" as it wished, its own box office was hardly satisfactory in any way. The final weekend box office was only $56.4 million, well below expectations, and $9.2 million less than the $65.6 million that opened for the first part of the series, and considering today's higher ticket prices, "The Legend of Narnia 2: Prince Caspian" actually sold about 30% fewer tickets, and it had 325 more theaters than the first installment.

If that's all there is to it, the problem is that in the new week the recognized box office blockbuster "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will land. Spielberg's sequel to the classic series is seen as a strong candidate for the box office champion of the year, still wearing that wide-brimmed hat that can never be blown away, wielding a versatile crackling soft whip, Dr. Jones is back in the game, who is in contention? In the face of its impact, "The Legend of Narnia 2: Prince Caspian" has such a box office performance, coupled with the film's not very satisfactory word-of-mouth reviews, its box office prospects are suddenly worrisome, and the North American box office that was originally considered to be proper has suddenly become a suspense, once the film loses at the box office next week, then it may usher in a failed fate.

Two weeks in a row were not as expected, and the North American summer file was inevitably a little silent, but fortunately, the old and strong "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" did not live up to people's expectations. This investment of 185 million US dollars, in 4260 theaters gorgeous Steven Spielberg works, easy subversion of the king, as scheduled to the top of the May 23-May 25 weekend box office champion, Thursday released it weekend box office 101 million US dollars, the first four days of a total of 126 million US dollars, although slightly smaller than the outside world expected of 140 million US dollars, but still extremely bright and gorgeous, and this is also the most gorgeous premiere so far in 08, 19 years later, Dr. Jones returned to the big screen, still overwhelming the crowd, the limelight.

Driven by it, the North American box office market has risen sharply this week, and it has also set the best JÙ results this year.

In addition, "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4" was also released in 56 countries and regions outside of North America, becoming the box office champion in almost every place, earning $143 million in its first week of overseas box office, and "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4" earned $269 million in its first week including North America.

With such box office success, it is already a sure thing for the film to achieve profitability, and there is no suspense, but it is not easy for "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" to finally win the annual box office champion. Not to mention the competitors, the word-of-mouth evaluation of the film itself is a huge obstacle, Yahoo is B, Rotten Tomatoes website has a freshness of 79%, and the media has a comprehensive rating of 67 points, which is a very good result for a summer movie, but it is not too good after all, and it is the lowest rated of the four films in the series so far. The vast majority of mainstream media only place their trust in the middle and upper level of recognition, believing that the film lacks novelty, at best, satisfies the nostalgia of many "Raiders of the Lost Ark" fans.

With such a word-of-mouth, it's hard not to worry about the film's box office prospects. After all, it is difficult to attract young people to the theater by relying solely on nostalgia. And from Steven. Look at the box office situation of Spielberg's works in recent years. Lack of attractiveness among the younger demographic has always been an obstacle for him.

Of course, winning the annual box office championship is still far away, the important thing is that "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" successfully detonated the summer file again, with the release of films such as "** City" and "Kung Fu Panda", this year's North American summer file will not be silent.

As for "The Legend of Narnia 2: Prince Caspian", it fell by as much as 59% this week, with only $23 million at the weekend box office and a cumulative box office of only $91.07 million.

Despite the fact that the president of the Disney Movie Group, Mark . Zoraldi confidently told the media: We believe that this film will be screened throughout the summer. And there are no enemies ahead, only more and more schools that are on vacation.

But unless there is a miracle, the failure of this $200 million ultra-high system is inevitable.

In addition, "Speed Racer" has grossed $35.2 million in three weeks, and "The King of Kung Fu" has accumulated $45.6 million in four weeks, which has been a complete failure.

Dragged down by the box office of films such as "The King of Kung Fu", "Speed Racer", and "The Legend of Narnia 2: Prince Caspian" far less than expected, although there are "Iron Man" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", so far, the total annual performance in North America this year is 3.3 billion, 4% less than the same period last year. The number of viewers also fell by 7%, in order to refresh the annual box office results of last year's new zào. The rest of the summer season is crucial.

As the owner of a Hollywood film company, and also the director of a blockbuster film that is about to be released in the summer, Lin Yuquan naturally pays attention to the box office situation of the summer file, and the box office of "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4" makes him quite surprised, although with the increase in the scale of film release in recent years, the number of movies with a box office of more than 100 million in the first week has gradually increased, but there are only a few films every year, each of which is a strong contender for the annual box office list, and he is very interested in "Raiders of the Lost Ark 4", if it is not filming, At the same time, affected by the Wenchuan earthquake, he will definitely catch a glimpse.

In fact, although there is a concern about the box office of many films, Lin Yuquan actually doesn't care too much, and the impact that the released film may have on "Wild Story: Battle for the Hundred Clans" is naturally worried about the corresponding staff of Summit Entertainment, and he himself is more concerned about whether the film itself is wonderful or not, and searches for the films he is interested in.

This is just a spice in his life, and there are too many things that deserve his attention compared to the box office rankings.

"Tongtian Empire", which has been in preparation for a long time, finally started on May 28, and in terms of actors, Liu Xiaoqing was selected for the role of Wu Jin as he built, and the other main actors did not have any problems in the invitation.

In terms of special effects, the final selection is a top special effects company in South Korea, European and American special effects creativity is first-class, but the price is too high, the special effects required in "The Empire of Babel" are more than Lin Yuquan's original "Painted Skin", the special effects of "Painted Skin" cost 16 million US dollars, this is still because Lin Yuquan himself has a detailed design of special effects, which greatly shortens the time for special effects production, you know, the most expensive Hollywood special effects company is the labor cost, otherwise, its special effects cost may be as high as 2200-2400 US dollars.

Therefore, if you cooperate with top special effects companies in Europe and the United States such as Industrial Light and Magic, it is conservatively estimated that the special effects cost of "Tongtian Empire" is more than 28 million US dollars, even if the investment in "Tongtian Empire" is already a rare large-scale production among Chinese films, it is simply impossible to afford such a high special effects cost.

After all, it is impossible for Shuguang Film not to consider the cost, Lin Yuquan himself may not care about the profit of Tongguò Film Company, but as the management of the film company, they must care, knowing that the company's operating performance is directly linked to their income.

In fact, even if Lin Yuquan himself emphasizes the requirements for high-quality products, it is within a reasonable range to improve the quality of the film regardless of the cost, and the so-called reasonable range is to be able to recover the cost, a healthy film company cannot rely purely on his investment, if Shuguang Film wants to develop and grow, it must have self-hematopoietic ability.

Obviously, unless Chen Kaige can shoot "Tongtian Empire" to open up the overseas market, at this stage, it will be difficult for "Tongtian Empire" to recover the production cost of nearly 30 million US dollars in special effects costs only by relying on the Chinese-speaking market.

Although South Korea's special effects companies are difficult to compete with the top special effects companies in Europe and the United States in terms of creativity, their technology has basically met the requirements of the film, and the most important thing is that the price is low.

As for why not find a domestic special effects company, it is still a cliché reason, not distrust, nor admiration of foreigners, but a quite realistic phenomenon, compared with the top foreign special effects companies, the talent pool and overall technical and artistic level of domestic special effects companies are insufficient.

It is true that domestic special effects companies need a lot of practice to grow, but the film industry is an extremely high-risk investment field, unless there is a lack of funds, how dare to take risks in a Chinese-language production, it is very realistic and cruel.

Therefore, even if Lin Yuquan has the heart to support the domestic special effects industry, at this stage, he cannot try to make his own movies or films with an investment of more than 100 million yuan from Sugon Films, and can only do it with the help of Sugon Films' TV series.

Not to mention, the production team of action directors Yuan Bin and Yuan Hua, soundtrack Jin Peida, art director Xi Zhongwen, and cinematographer Zhao Fei "Tongtian Empire" can be called luxurious, bringing together the top filmmakers in the Chinese film industry.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand that as Ding Zhi said, China is very happy to see a film that reflects the Chinese military and people's determination to fight the earthquake and disaster relief, not to mention, this film is also destined to attract global attention, which will be of great help to enhance the country's image and influence. Therefore, the relevant departments not only agreed, but also gave him the green light to shoot a movie under the subtle hint from above, promising generous cooperation conditions.

At the same time, Summit Entertainment also released the third wave of trailers for "Wild Wild: Rise of the Ape Clan" and two new international promotional posters, one of which shows a huge earth, a dusk hue, Caesar with his arms raised high, and behind him is a huge ape army, embarking on a journey to overthrow the rule of the giants.

In another poster, Eugene stands on the towering castle of the Giants, looking down on the earth with a grim face. Coupled with the variety of commercials, those gossip discussions on the radio, and the nightly talk shows with the main actors on TV, as the June 22 release date approaches, it seems that they are all starting to revolve around "Wild Story: Rise of the Apes".

One thing after another went smoothly, Lin Yuquan's mood gradually became happy, and with the entertainment events that happened every day, time was passing day by day.

"John. Cusack will star Roland. Emmerich's disaster blockbuster "2012," a $200 million blockbuster, is scheduled to start shooting in Los Angeles in July and be released in the summer of 2009. ”

"Pre-production of The Hobbit and its sequel, which has been shelved for several years for various reasons, is about to begin, and the script may still be played by Fran Brown, the 'troika' of The Lord of the Rings. Walsh, Philippa. Burns, Peter. Jackson was in charge. ”

"At the 2008 Microsoft Development Conference, James . Cameron talks about the cutting-edge technology used in his new film, The Avatar. ”

"Sony has signed a new deal with Marvel Comics for the Spider-Man franchise, and Spider-Man 4 may be released in 2010 or 2011, who will replace Toby. Maguire as the next Spider-Man? ”

"The director of "The Sixth Sense" M. Knight Shyamalan's new film "Scourge" has a strange trick: it is scary to run on the street."

Time flies, and when the time comes to Sunday, May 31, Lin Yuquan, who did not choose to stay in town this week, but returned to Los Angeles, came to Universal Studios California, where the 17th MTV Movie Awards will be held tonight. (To be continued......)

PS: Hehe, the title is very pitted, the content is very miscellaneous, I really can't think of what to name, let's just take it, don't say the choice pit.