Just got to work on Monday morning, the main pipe of the Warner Bros. distribution department? Walter went to see CEO Jeff? After Robinoff, he came to a reception room, where representatives from Imperial Entertainment, the AMG chain, the American Artist Theater Chain, and the North American Theater Alliance in Los Angeles were already seated. Romance debuts

"Hello, Michael. Hello, Steve......"

Doug? Walter greeted them one by one, and sat confidently across from them.

AMG's representative Steve spoke first, "Doug, AMG has expanded the screening of Chicago as much as possible. ”

"It's the same with Imperial Entertainment." Michael and others have said similar things.

"Expand?" Doug? Walter's dissatisfaction was undisguised on his face, "As far as I know, the total number of theaters in "Chicago" is only 500, right? Don't say you've done your best......"

"We're not going to be able to use all the new theaters and screens that are going to show 'Chicago'......"

Before the people of the National Artist Theater finished speaking, they were beaten by Doug? Walter interrupted, "So you're putting some of your theater on The English Patient?" Ladies and gentlemen, can you please take a look at the number jù? Would you like to ask your boss to look at the number before making a decision? ”

Numbers jù and business grades are Doug? Walter was so strong that he didn't give these people time to react, he said quickly, "Let's not talk about "Star Trek", which sold $30 million in the first week, but "The English Patient" and "Chicago", which are also niche, "The British Patient" is $2.71 million in the first three days, and "Chicago" is $3.18 million ......."

"The numbers are about the same, aren't they?" Doug? Walter's voice was unusually loud, "Please don't forget, the former has 268 theaters, and the latter only has 100 theaters!" "The English Patient" grossed only $10,123 in the first week, while "Chicago" was as high as $31,875! ”

Finally, Doug? Walter stood up and said, "Please give me a reason why you don't fully support Chicago!" ”

These people from cinema companies are not fools. There will be no specific promises, just a guarantee that if the film can maintain its current momentum in the next few days, the number of theaters will inevitably increase significantly again this weekend.

Not particularly satisfied, though, Doug? Walter understood. In this case, the laws of the market have the most say.

Since the beginning of the new Monday, the number of "Chicago" has doubled to 500, and the film has begun to be released in more regions, with the rapid increase in the number of viewers. The audience reputation of "Chicago" has inevitably declined, but everyone who has seen the film has a consensus that this is not a song and dance film in the traditional sense.

"The film is not boring at all, but it is very fun."

The footage of fans being interviewed by the film was broadcast on the TV station, "full of black humor, and the singing and dancing are not backward at all, full of modernity." ”

"This is an extremely successful adaptation!"

The views from fans of the show are very clear, and they basically support the film, and many people who still have an impression of the "Chicago" revue have chosen to buy tickets and go into the theater.

Night falls. Broadway was lit up again, and the Chicago movie commercials erected on 42nd Street and Broadway stood out, with sparse crowds passing under the billboards and walking in front of the Albert Theatre, where there were also posters for "Chicago," but they were posters for the revue.

At the end of November, New York could already feel the obvious cold at night, and many audience members hurried into the theater to find their seats after buying tickets. Wait for the show to start.

Jamie, theater manager? Albert stood in front of a box on the second floor, looking at the growing audience below, the smile on his lips getting thicker and thicker, after the summer performance. As the new season began in November, theater attendance for "Chicago" dwindled, and in many cases attendance struggled to maintain at 50 percent or even less.

Unexpectedly, since last Saturday night, the number of audiences in the theater has surged, and the theater is almost full. It simply made him suspect that he had returned to the golden age of revues.

Actually, Jamie? Albert was well aware that the golden age of musical and musical theatre could not return, and that the theater had such a high attendance simply because of a movie - "Chicago"!

He has learned that in recent days, all the theaters that have shown "Chicago" can be described as hot, and those middle-aged and elderly audiences who are gradually moving away from the theaters have almost stepped on the threshold of the theater after a short reaction time, and these people have watched the movie and thought of the former song and dance dramas, so these people who are the best at nostalgia have come to Broadway again.

Aside from those, Jamie? Albert also found that the number of young audiences has skyrocketed in the past two days, and he asked people to investigate, these people were not interested in song and dance films, and they came here out of curiosity after watching the movie version.

The popularity of the movie version completely drove the box office of the theater, Jamie? Albert knew that he had become Duke? Rosenberg's inadvertently created beneficiary.

Of course, he also knows that the increase in the number of people watching the show is actually helpful to the movie, and the relationship between the two is inseparable.

By the end of the night, Jamie? Albert gave an interview to The New York Times, and when asked about the movie version of Chicago, he replied.

"Duke? Rosenberg has completed a great adaptation! ”

As the scale of the film increased, Duke also accompanied the crew, and talked to Tom? Cruise, Naomi? Watts and Catherine? Zeta? Jones and other major actors began to travel to major cities in North America to promote the film.

"I never wanted to make a song and dance film in the traditional sense."

Coming to Chicago, Duke was also at the headquarters of ABC TV, and accepted a TV interview, and now the nostalgic group has exploded enough enthusiasm for the film, and the rest is to inspire young audiences to watch the movie**, "I think the rhythm of a song and dance movie can be as tight as an action movie, the content is more interesting, more fun, and can also bring more joy, so I added a lot of black humor, it will make people experience singing and dancing at the same time, can be happier." ”

"That's my style, and audience liking is always my first priority when making a film."

As long as more audiences can enter the theater to watch "Chicago", Duke doesn't care what to say, every time he goes to promote it, he and Tom? Cruise can almost tout each other to the sky, and if you look at the meaning of the two alone, they are definitely Hollywood's best friends and partners.

Of course, Duke also follows Pani? Kelis made plans to frequent with Catherine? Zeta? Jones showed affection in public to add more topicality to the film.

The crew takes Tom? Cruise's centered publicity strategy also played an excellent role, in addition to the unbridgeable gap in the number of theaters in a short period of time, "Chicago" was a topic of conversation among the media and the public, and the Thanksgiving blockbuster "Star Trek: First Strike" was completed.

Although the gap in theatrical lines makes the total box office of the two films completely incomparable, "Chicago" still maintains extremely high attendance and single-theater box office figures after the start of the week.

When Duke and others returned to Los Angeles on Friday, in the past four working days, "Chicago" received $3.21 million, $3.15 million, $3.34 million and $3.28 million respectively in 500 theaters, plus $3.18 million in the first three-day weekend and more than $30,000 from the Toronto Film Festival, the North American box office totaled $16.19 million.

This figure is really not enough to see compared to Duke's box office figures of tens of millions in the summer, but don't forget the theme of the film, and "The British Patient", which is also a niche genre film, after the number of theaters expanded to 593, the box office in the same period was only $9.87 million!

It is also impossible to ignore that "Chicago" has maintained a super high audience reputation of more than 95%, and the film has only just been screened in large and medium-sized cities across the United States, and there are still many areas that have not yet been launched.

By this time, the expanded screening of "Chicago" was unstoppable, and even if the Weinstein brothers personally hung up the phone to the theater director, it would not help.

"I'm sorry, Bob."

Although talking to Bob on the phone? Weinstein was saying sorry, but AMG's CEO Paul didn't mean to be sorry at all, "Your request that AMG evenly distribute the vacant theaters to the two films "Chicago" and "The English Patient" is unacceptable to us, compared to "Chicago", your box office is not convincing, and it is already based on our relationship for many years. ”

AMG and other theaters did not release "Chicago" on a large scale at the beginning because the film theme was niche and was to avoid market risks, and now "Chicago", like other Duke's films, has shown enough market potential to suppress "The British Patient", how could they put the theater that was prepared for "Chicago" on "The British Patient"?

Paul was clear that other cinema chains would do the same thing as AMG.

Due to the lack of strong films released this week, "Star Trek: First Strike", which caters to the most market tastes, has remained unchanged at 2,812 theaters, and since Friday, the number of theaters in "Chicago" has doubled several times, from the original 500 to 1,866, and it has the ability to fight in the market.

With the growth of the number of theaters, the crew also broke the news again, Tom? Cruise and Nicole? When Kidman walked out of a private hospital, he was photographed by the paparazzi, and driven by some media, gossip newspapers hyped Tom? Cruise and Nicole? Kidman is a successful man and is about to welcome his first child......

In the meantime, Duke's side isn't idle, Catherine? Zeta? Jones was ready to move into Duke's mansion in a high-profile manner according to the plan, and the news somehow spread to the ears of reporters and paparazzi. (To be continued.) )xh118