Chapter 55: Box Office Revenues
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The Venice Film Festival had just ended when "The Little Fugitives" was released nationwide, and they won the Silver Lion for their film.
Morris urgently joined the news when he was promoting. Major newspapers in the United States also published the results of the Venice Film Festival, and the news of their awards, as the American films, has also attracted much attention.
In order to save money, Morris didn't do movie screenings like big movie companies, but he still gave away some movie tickets to film critics he knew. The people involved in the filming also received a variable number of movie tickets, which was a benefit they won.
The Carpenter family was no exception, they gave extra movie tickets to Joe, Paul and others, and invited them to go to the movies together. Alex also sent movie tickets to people he knew, and originally wanted to send one to Little Richard, but the movie tickets in their hands were from New York. Even if it was sent over, Little Richard wanted to watch a movie and had to come from Atlanta, but in the end it was not delivered.
On the day the movie was released, Bart took his family to a movie theater in New York and saw many acquaintances, Morris, Joe Sr., Paul, and the people who were filming the movie together. More people don't know, judging by what they're wearing, they should be film critics hired by Morris.
There was no screening, so they walked in and found a seat to sit down.
In the fifties of the twentieth century, the film market in the United States was hit by television and other entertainment methods, and the number of people who watched movies decreased year by year, but there were still a huge number of people watching movies.
The pitch for the film seems to have done well, with a poster featuring Richard playing Joey with the words "Litt1eFugitive" (Little Fugitive). Looking at those clear and innocent eyes, many people can't help but stop, and after carefully reading the movie synopsis, most people will choose to walk in and take a look.
This poster was not originally like this, and Morris personally took it upon himself to save money. It's Joey drawn too, but looking down at the camera, and the way Joey's eyes are staring upwards makes him look like a wanted criminal. The effect is also designed according to the poster of the Western Wanted Poster, this poster can't be said to be bad, it's very good, but it doesn't feel right.
Alex thought about it for a moment and felt that it was better to highlight Joey's childlike qualities, so that he could attract people's attention. So he found one that met the requirements from the large number of photos he had taken, and after the final revision, he was full of praise from Morris and the others.
Morris thought about it for several days, and finally promoted the poster painted by Alex as the main propaganda, and his copy was also pushed, but only as a secondary one. He thinks that there are also a lot of people who like the feeling of western cowboys, and his poster is able to give them that feeling.
He was right, Alex's poster did make a big difference, and the one he drew was no small part. Many people walked in after looking at these two posters, because they wanted to understand why such an innocent and cute child ended up being wanted and fleeing.
The film begins, with Joey at the beginning of the introduction of 7 years old and his brother Reilly 12 years old.
In the first ten minutes, they narrated their family, parents, friends, and so on. Their mother is too busy with work to take care of them, and Reilly has to take on the responsibility of caring for his younger brother Joey.
As for the father, it doesn't appear in the movie at all, and the only time it is mentioned is when the mom is complaining, "Reilly, if your dad is home, it's different." ”
From the mother's words, people roughly guessed that the men in this family were either busy with work and went far away, or went to the battlefield, which is the imprint of an era, and those who experienced World War II and the Korean War are still fresh in their memories. American men left home to go to war, and women had to work in society to do men's jobs to support their families.
Due to the age gap, Reilly and Joey can't play together, and the older brother always wants to break up with his younger brother so that he can play with his peers.
When the mother is not at home to take care of the children, Reilly has to take on this responsibility. Reilly, who can't go to Colin Island on his birthday, is very upset, and he follows his partner's bad idea and cheats on his younger brother Joey. Makes Joey mistakenly think that he shot his brother Reilly.
Frightened, Joey fled and took $6 from home in a hurry. He got on the train and went to Collin Island alone, where he observed this bustling society from the perspective of a child.
The film was shot with a handheld camera, and many of the shots were shot from Joey's low perspective, giving the adults a feeling of going back to their childhood. At that time, no one had ever tried to shoot a film from this angle, and it was absolutely novel and rare.
This is the director's film showing the audience the prosperity of the United States in the fifties, cowboys, toy guns, television, hot dogs, burgers, trolleys, playgrounds, baseball, bowling, Coca-Cola, beaches, horses, and so on.
In the movie, Joey's memories of his brother's death are not shown, but when he sees the police, even if he only sees them from a distance, he quietly takes a detour, as if all the police are chasing him.
Joey was playing around the playground, riding the merry-go-round when he tried to reach for the iron frame next to him. At this time, the camera made the audience secretly pinch a cold sweat for this child, for fear of accidents. Fortunately, the director did not arrange such a plot.
When Joey saw the other kids riding real horses, he wanted to ride them too, but he had no money in his pocket. So I had to go to the beach to pick up bottles for money, and again and again, to pick up bottles for money and go horseback riding. The movie takes a lot of footage to show this plot until Jay, who is in charge of the horses, thinks it is strange and asks Joey about it.
That's when the audience was looking forward to Jay helping Joey get home. But the director didn't get what people wanted.
Jay's inquiry scared Joey, and he ran away without answering anything. However, it was precisely because of the attention of the adults that Jay had the opportunity to learn Joey's address and call Reilly.
At this time, Reilly was in trouble, because his mother was coming home at 6 o'clock in the afternoon. It's the next day, and my brother Joey hasn't returned yet. When he found out, he immediately went to find Joey. In the process of searching, Reilly suffered enough, and tried all means, but he couldn't find his brother in the crowded playground.
Just when people were worried, a heavy rain happened to coincide, and people went to take shelter from the rain, leaving Joey alone picking up bottles on the deserted beach. When the two brothers met again, there was no bloody plot of crying and tears. Yiqiē seems so natural, real and credible, so that the audience's hearts will be more or less touched after watching it.
Reilly just ran over excitedly, saying that he wasn't dead, just joking with Joey. Joey didn't howl and cry, but only said aggrievedly: "You didn't sue me!" ”
Joey threw down the bottles he had worked so hard to collect, without looking at them, and wrapped his hand around his brother's waist and happily went home with him. The two reconciled in this way, but it was more real and touching.
The soundtrack of this film is played by Alex with a harmonica, which is very good, concise and bright, natural, and can also guide the audience's emotions at critical moments. At the end of the film, the audience was surprised to see the advertising eggs and mTV eggs they had carefully prepared.
Some of the audience members had already stood up, and when they saw this, they all sat down again.
The first thing to show was the advertising easter egg, at first, people thought they were on the wrong set, how did they see the clip of the western. However, the ad was short and quickly made those viewers laugh. Especially when that Joey was screaming desperately, the people laughed loudest.
Then there are the mTV easter eggs, and after the western music clip and the reality music clip are played, they are still unsatisfied, and they feel that the floor wax oil commercial and the music performed by the two brothers are really like a stroke of genius.
They were talking, and even after they were out of the cinema, there were still people talking about the commercials and music that appeared in the back.
Of course, they will find it novel, because Alex uses the way of later mTV to interpret it, with storylines, exciting music and scenes.
Seeing this situation, Morris felt a little helpless, he didn't expect that the general audience would pay so much attention to these few minutes of music clips, so that his film was dominated by the crowd, and everyone did not discuss the issue of what the film wanted to express.
On the other hand, though, the film was a huge success. In particular, the Carpenter brothers were already famous, and after adding these two songs, they attracted the attention of many film critics and news reporters. Early the next morning, the major newspapers rushed to report on the Carpenter brothers' film debut, and they also made a detailed review of this novel musical form.
The New York Times said: "The Little Fugitive is a childlike film, all innocent, through the perspective of a seven-year-old boy, about his adventures in a playground." The Carpenter brothers' performances were very good, especially the commercial and music that appeared at the end, which were eye-catching. ”
The Chicago Sun-Times said, "Whether it's the script, the pacing, the acting, the soundtrack, the editing, the cinematography, it's all just right. In particular, the novel shooting techniques and special easter eggs can surprise people. ”
"A little joke that led Joey to an amusement park adventure that showcased the thriving postwar American scene, with all the elements of a child's concern, is worth a weekend for the whole family," the Washington Post said. Finally, I have to mention the Carpenter brothers, who play two brothers, their performances are simply fantastic! What we saw was the birth of a pair of child stars. ”
Many mainstream media reports have made this movie so popular that some families take their children to watch it, and those without families will be aroused by these comments to watch it. After everyone watches it, they will have the feeling of traveling through a time tunnel and returning to their childhood. Under the guidance of their praise, friends around them walked into the cinema to watch the film.
Maybe it's because Morris has plenty of money, or maybe it's because Alex proposes to build a film that makes the quality of this film much better than the historical one. In particular, the use of novel shooting techniques, unique perspectives and music has given the audience of this era a different visual sensory enjoyment.
The box office continued to climb, and in the end, it was surprising that this film, which only invested less than $30,000, actually reached $3o at the weekly box office, and it is estimated that the final box office will be nearly $2oo dollars.
The "Colorful Floor Wax Oil" company was surprised and delighted, surprised that this movie has such a high box office, and the advertising cost is not small. The good news is that the company's sales volume has continued to rise, which is enough to prove that this advertisement works well and the cost is worth it.
Even Morris himself did not expect such a high box office, and when he received this box office number, he was simply dumbfounded. He wanted to make a movie like no other, but what he never expected was that this movie would have such a high box office income.
Also stunned by this number was Barthes, who, as an investor, owns the film. Even if Morris is given a 3o% box office dividend according to the agreement, Bart can receive a lot of money in his hand. What he couldn't understand was why so many people liked to watch this game.
Only Alex vaguely guessed the reason, on the one hand, the movie is fresh enough and has a rich emotional factor, on the other hand, the Carpenter brothers themselves are not small, and the music clips at the back of the movie are even more attractive to watch. In addition, the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and the publicity of major media are all popular factors.
As the saying goes, the right time, the right place and the right people are all just right. Making a movie is like rolling the dice, shaking it well just attracts attention, and in the end, you have to rely on luck to really win money.