Chapter 996: 996
As the most tasteless autumn file of the year, there are actually not many movies released. Although major film companies know that it is almost an impossible task to win the box office in this schedule, it is also impossible to give up this schedule - at any point in time, audiences will enter the cinema, no matter how many, these are all It's the box office, it's all profit.
Therefore, there is still competition in the autumn season, but there are usually two situations. Either the abandoned children are gathered, and a bunch of movies abandoned by the film company are piled up here, and the audience is allowed to choose freely to see which one can rise. , or how much the cost can be recovered; or it is of small quality, but it is still not enough to compete with other works, so it is put into this weak competitive schedule, hoping to achieve unexpected results.
The second week of October is the latter.
Although "Pulp Fiction" returned with honor in Cannes, objectively speaking, it is still unknown whether this work, which only invested 8 million US dollars, has a unique style and outstanding personality, whether it can win the recognition of the broad market. "Pulp Fiction" is considered to be the "Citizen Kane" of the 1990s. In fact, it also has a meaning that this work is high and low, and it is highly sought after by film critics, but it may not be able to pull the box office.
Under such circumstances, it is definitely not practical for "Pulp Fiction" to compete in the summer or Christmas period, and it may become cannon fodder. Miramax chose to release it in the deserted season of October, just with the second thought: I hope that "Pulp Fiction" can rely on the appeal of the Palme d'Or and Hugo in Cannes to win by surprise.
At least, the cost of 8 million US dollars is still very hopeful to recover.
However, the Weinstein Brothers obviously lacked confidence in the autumn release. In the absence of publicity expenses, they finally arranged for only 1,400 theaters to be released, which can be said to have just reached the standard for large-scale release.
During the same week, three other films had their national premieres, making the second week of October quite lively. On the one hand, these films are not at all afraid of the momentum of "Pulp Fiction" - or it can be said to be broken; Every week's adjustment will affect the whole body, and the schedule arrangement here is quite random.
Among these three works, "Little. Giants" released by Warner Bros. is undoubtedly the most champion. This children's sports movie, which has caught up with the post-"Home Alone" trend, combines children and football. Together, I hope to be able to kill a bloody road. Warner Bros. has arranged for 2,000 theaters to be released, which can be described as full of confidence.
The classic horror film series, "Nightmare 7 (New. Nightmare)" was also released this week. Due to the strong appeal of the previous series, which made the distributor New Line Films confident, they arranged a thousand eighteen Hundreds of theaters.
In addition, the TV movie "Brave Island (Exit. To. Eden)" produced and distributed by HBO will be shown in 1,600 theaters. It seems that I want to try it in the fall, even if it fails, it will not hurt.
Compared with the other three premiered works, "Pulp Fiction" ranks at the bottom in terms of theatrical release and investment cost. Therefore, although the film won the Cannes Palme d’Or, many media still very conservatively gave a three-day weekend box office estimate of $5 million in advance box office predictions.
Most media believe that "The. Specialist", which was released last week, is likely to win the championship. This $45 million work is an absolute predator in the fall, and it is still written by Sylvie Stallone and Sharon Stone starred together, which also gave people reason to expect more.
"The Bomb Expert" took in $14 million last week, setting a new record for an October premiere in North America -- it's worth noting that a weekend box office like $14 million It is enough to become the current North American box office record in October, which shows that the autumn file is deserted. So the odds of Bomb Expert winning the title this week are generally thought to be over 80 percent.
But the problem is, after "Pulp Fiction" landed in North America on October 14, the midnight show broke out with a box office of $1.17 million, which is not only the highest box office record for a midnight show in North American film history; For the first time, I officially realized that the midnight show is not an occasion to pass the time. Although the idea is still just a seed, when the time comes, this seed will begin to sprout and grow; at the same time, this also means that the media predicted The "Five Million Dollars" box office far underestimates the power of "Pulp Fiction", this is just a midnight show, not the first day box office!
The weekend box office battle for the second week of October has just started, and "Pulp Fiction" has made history in a terrifying manner, making its debut, and the next box office trend will make everyone want to be blinded: I can't believe the facts in front of me.
"Pulp Fiction" directly grabbed $5 million at the box office on Friday, which was the first to set a new record for the North American box office in October; then made persistent efforts on Saturday, and the box office showed a slight upward curve and got six $1.5 million; on Sunday, although the performance declined a bit, it still maintained the level of $5.3 million.
This also allowed "Pulp Fiction" to grab $16.8 million at the box office in three days of its opening weekend, easily breaking the all-time record set by "The Bomb Expert" just last week!
The box office of a single hall was 12,000 US dollars, and there were only 1,400 theaters. "Pulp Fiction" handed over a perfect answer sheet, breaking the box office record of North America in October across the board, and winning October with an undisputed king. The North American weekend box office chart top spot for the second week!
This is Hugo's fifth consecutive work that has won the North American box office weekly championship since "The Hero of the Sea of Righteousness". With such coherence, consistency, and appeal, he is undoubtedly the number one in the North American market today!
More importantly, the weekend box office data of 16.8 million US dollars, compared with the cost of only 8 million US dollars, it took only three days for "Pulp Fiction" to recover the book cost, even after the theater and the cast. , Miramax's profitability is a certainty. This is definitely one of the best investments ever made.
Although before this, Hugo has created such a miracle, "Sleepless in Seattle" invested 21 million in exchange for a box office of 189 million US dollars in North America; "Schindler's List" 22 million investment, in exchange for a North American box office of 205 million US dollars; "Life and Death" 28 million investment in exchange for a North American box office of 239 million US dollars.
But "Pulp Fiction", as a special independent film, can be said to have no breaking point, no commercial attraction, or any profit point, and five million of the eight million investment is paid to the actors. , only three million is the real cost, and it turned out to be such a brilliant achievement in its first week of release.
Hugo's appeal in the North American film market has been further evidenced.
Not to mention, this is the autumn season, and in the desolate and miserable October, "Pulp Fiction" still burst out with such amazing energy. The weekend box office of 16.8 million US dollars is enough to compete for the championship in any other season except the summer season. However, "Pulp Fiction" was obtained in October, which is generally regarded as tasteless by major companies. With such data, this really refreshes everyone's deep-rooted concept of autumn gear.
After the box office of "Pulp Fiction" exploded with astonishing energy, a group of competitors retreated collectively. The box office of "Bomb Expert" plummeted by 45%. The next week's box office was only 7.7 million US dollars. Sixteen million US dollars, this is not good news for the "bomb expert" who invested 45 million yuan. The two actors who are known as "box-office superstars" co-starred in this work is obviously not good at the box office.
The other three movies are even more tragic. "Monster Street 7" relied on the appeal of the previous work and performed the best, and received a premiere box office of 6.6 million; "The Brave Little Giant" was a big hit. , the premiere of 2,000 theaters, pitifully received a box office of 4.7 million US dollars; "Brave to Happy Island" is the most tragic, the 3 million opening weekend box office has announced in advance that this work will be completely die.
"Forrest Gump", "Life and Death" and "The Lion King", which are still on the top of the list this week, although their performances are no longer amazing, they are still continuous. However, there is a very special figure this week, that is, "The Shawshank Redemption", which has been expanded in 950 theaters.
The film was screened in the first week, and then gradually expanded. This week is the fourth week of its release, but unfortunately, the box office performance was not satisfactory, and the media reviews were always mediocre. After being expanded in 950 rooms in the fourth week of its release, the box office of a single venue was only $2,500, and the box office of the three-day weekend was $2.4 million, and the cumulative box office was $7.1 million, compared with $25 million. In terms of investment, even a "fiasco" is not an exaggeration.
The reason why this work is mentioned is because many people in the circle feel very novel. It is no secret that Hugo was infinitely close to "The Shawshank Redemption". It can be seen from Hugo's selection of films in the past two years. Hugo's vision is very unique. The works he chooses always have their shining points. The simplest ones are "Pulp Fiction" and "Life and Death". The script is almost an unexpected choice for the entire Hollywood.
Then, since Hugo would choose "The Shawshank Redemption" at the beginning, it shows that this movie has merit. But now... insiders are puzzled, where are the highlights? Could it be said that "The Shawshank Redemption" is the only time Hugo has overlooked the work, and Hugo has missed it. Should this be said that Hugo is lucky, or is God's nostalgia?
However, these topics are always just embellishments. "Pulp Fiction" won the championship this week with the best premiere result in North American film history in October. This is the biggest attraction!