2004 was an ordinary year, but it was different for Hollywood.

The difference is that there are a lot of commercial blockbusters released this year, which can be called the highest average investment in history, the craziest one.

Maybe in a few years, when you look back, Hollywood insiders will find it incredible.

"Star Wars Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith" has been released, the production cost is 120 million US dollars, including the publicity costs, the total cost must have reached 200 million US dollars, and this film set a new weekly box office record in North America in the first week, and the North American box office exceeded 200 million US dollars in ten days, which seems to be a good start for the next blockbuster.

But will this really be the case?

Even if professional institutions predict that the North American box office will exceed $10 billion this year, the market cannot accommodate so many big productions, some of which will inevitably become cannon fodder.

Here's Ryan's thoughts after sitting on a plane and seeing the list of movies to be released this year was confirmed.

Not to mention those literary films and independent films that don't have much market share, just those commercial films that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make, even he is a little smacked.

Let's take a look at the movies that Disney launched this year.

"The Superman Family", which cost $100 million and was released in early June.

"Spider-Man 2", which cost $150 million to make, is scheduled for July.

"X-Men 3: Last Stand" cost $200 million to make, and in order to avoid too fierce competition in the summer slot, Surprise postponed the release of the film.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, costing $100 million, will be available on Thanksgiving.

"The Day After Tomorrow" cost $125 million to produce and was released after "Spider-Man 2".

"National Treasure" cost $100 million to make and will be released in early November.

It does not include a series of movies with an investment of less than 100 million, such as "Spy 2", "Escape from Tehran", and "Princess Diaries 2".

It's just the Disney family, and the list that follows is even more terrifying.

Warner Bros.'s "Troy" cost $175 million to make. Coming soon; "Alexander the Great" cost $155 million and was released in October; The production cost of "The Polar Express" is $180 million; "Catwoman" is $100 million, and "Wonder Woman" is $115 million......

There are other companies, "King Arthur", "Van Helsing", "Enemy of the Machine", "Garfield", "Happiness Terminal" and many more.

The production cost of these films is more than $100 million, and if you include the cost of publicity, the average investment for each must be more than $200 million.

Thereinto. How many have been successful at the box office? How many of them need late-stage peripherals to be profitable? And how many of them will take years or even decades to pay for themselves? There are still some that I am afraid that after the past 30 years, they will still lose money......

The most typical is "Catwoman", which has been released in North America. Berry's large-scale production zuò has only now recovered $40 million at the box office, and Warner Bros. was dumb at the first shot, and had to re-examine DC's comic book heroes.

At the same time, it also made Hollywood soberly realize that it is a very unwise choice to find a black actress to be the sole protagonist in a commercial blockbuster.

Of course. All the studios believe that their big production Zuò will be a success, and the box office performance of "Star Wars Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith" shows that the audience is still very much buying the super blockbuster Zuò.

After returning to North America, Natalie joined Catherine? Kennedy and Sophia? Coppola's ranks. Preparing for The Hunger Games, Ryan accepted Time Warner President Don? Logan's invitation to the premiere of "Troy".

In terms of investment, this film can be called the peak of Hollywood's commercial production. In addition to the cost of production, Warner Bros. also billed a huge $125 million in publicity expenses, pushing the total cost up to the terrifying figure of $300 million.

Warner Bros.'s goal is simple. Create the "Titanic" in an epic war movie!

"According to our estimates......"

In the foyer of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Brad? Pete said to Ryan, "It's going to be at least $100 million in the first week!" ”

He almost single-handedly facilitated the project and also served as a production manager.

Nodding, Ryan turned to his side, "Hello, Jane, it seems like we're seeing each other for the first time." ”

"Hello, Ryan." Jennifer? Aniston took the initiative to stretch out her hand, Ryan shook it gently, suddenly remembered something, and said very seriously, "Jane, and Pete, are you interested in starring in a movie together?" ”

"We?" Brad? Pete was stunned.

"That's right! You ......" Ryan nodded at him and Jennifer with his index finger? Aniston, "Hero and Heroine!" ”

"Of course!"

What does his invitation represent, who in Hollywood is not clear, Jennifer who is in a hurry to transform? Aniston hurriedly said, "I don't have a problem. ”

After saying that, she looked at Brad? Peter.

"As long as you need!" Brad? Pete is not a fool.

"It's going to be a gunfight action movie." Ryan held his chin and thought about it, it would be more appropriate to wait for "Troy" to be released for a while before negotiating a contract, "After a while, people on the Disney side will come to you." ”

"Waiting for you at any time."

With a wave of his hand, Ryan walked into the main hall of the theater, movies like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", from creativity to bridges to fights, there is almost nothing new, and it shows more of the commercial appeal of Hollywood superstars, as well as the influence brought by the super gossip in the previous life.

Well...... Can you set up a heavyweight female character for the villain, just invite Angelina? Julie starred well, if the scene of catching rape in bed is staged again, the box office of the movie will definitely not be a problem.

That's it.

It's not until the beginning of the movie that Ryan throws these thoughts aside for a while.

This is a pretty good commercial film, although the scene is not as good as "The Lord of the Rings", but the cold weapon fighting of tens of thousands of soldiers is still very touching to people's audio-visual nerves, the yellow city, the blue sea, the magnificent battlefield, the scene is almost the description of Homer's epic.

But the problem of the movie is also prominent, the rhythm is too slow, as if it can be said in one sentence, and it has to be said in five sentences.

Secondly, some of the sensationalism techniques are too low-level, such as the repeated use of frontal close-ups of spectators, and the performances of these actors are too straightforward, with wide eyes and frowning sobs, lacking the appeal of Gandalf, Aragorn, and Sheudon in "The Lord of the Rings".

At the same time, the main line of the story is not clear, each character stops at the point, even Achilles, the main character, is not deep enough, and his mother flashes by and seems inexplicable.

Also, the vase that is indispensable in commercial films is not beautiful enough.

Probably due to the improper use of makeup, lighting and lenses, Helen, who can cause a war, can only be said to be quite beautiful in terms of figure and appearance, and it is estimated that there are two streets away from the beauty, and the girl that Achilles fell in love with is incredibly like a sloppy slave girl, which makes people have to doubt the level of appreciation of this epic hero.

Thankfully, the producers didn't let the Greek gods out to make trouble, and if they were faithful to Homer's original book, as some critics did during the test screening, it would have turned into a hopeless hodgepodge.

If the investment in the film could be cut in half, "Troy" might have become a successful commercial film, but then again, it would not have been possible to make such a grand production with the investment reduced.

Maybe it's these wars that have nothing to do with the Americans, and really don't attract North American audiences, in Brad? When Pete's Achilles and Eric's Hector duel, the audience in the back row burst into a rare laugh of mockery.

You must know that North America is a mature film market, and these whistle laughter is often the treatment only for bad movies.

Ryan's gaze swept over him, and several Warner executives sitting here with him did not look good, and the subsequent North American box office also confirmed this.

The single-day performance of more than $17 million for two consecutive days was not bad, but on the third Sunday, the time when the movie box office should be the most powerful, the box office of "Troy" slipped to $12.05 million.

The first-week box office in North America was $46.86 million, just a fraction of the first-week box office of "Star Wars Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith". Pitt's expectation of $100 million was a far cry.

Although "Troy" pulled "Star Wars Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith" off the throne of the North American box office, the box office results are really a bit miserable compared to investment.

Of course, this is just the beginning, and there are also movies that have made efforts to achieve box office bumper harvests in the later stages of history.

For example, "Titanic" in the previous life, the box office in the first week was only a pitiful more than 28 million US dollars, which was unanimously ridiculed by film critics, but later, like the Star Wars series, crushed the so-called vision and dignity of film critics, making the Oscars bow their heads.

But will "Troy" be the "Titanic" of epic war films?

The film's biggest competitor now is "Star Wars Prequel 3: Revenge of the Sith", which grossed $32.61 million in the second week and "Revenge of the Sith" grossed $34.45 million in the fourth week, successfully regaining the top spot at the box office.

"Troy" grossed less than $80 million in North America in two weeks, in stark contrast to the $338 million in four weeks of Star Wars Prequel III: Revenge of the Sith.

Just two weeks later, Warner Bros. was ready that "Troy" would not exceed the cost of production at the North American box office, and knew that the film would certainly not recoup its cost at the box office.

Because there are two more major productions to be released in the future, after entering June, "Superman Family" released by Disney Studios and "King Arthur" created by Sony Columbia at a huge cost will land in North American theaters every other week. (To be continued......)