Kapitel 207: Surrender
Tried using new italics support in Webnovel for movie names.
***
Regarding people's speculation, Universal's media also responded. Gladiator is their big movie released this year, and people are now rumoring that other movies are better than theirs, which Universal cannot tolerate.
At this time, the media close to Universal pointed out that a film's box office is in North America, Europe, Asia, and other markets.
As an epic movie, Gladiator can attract people of different cultures, races, and languages to watch, but the story of The Departed needs lines in too many places. It is difficult for this movie to challenge the strength of Gladiator at the global box office.
There is some truth to their words. But this has nothing to do with epics. To put it simply, action movies are more popular worldwide. This is an indisputable fact.
Not to mention Gladiator, even Mission Impossible 2, is also a big hit around the world. To say that the global box office of this movie can surpass The Departed, people still agree.
Movies of fighting wits rely on the grasp of lines. When translating between different languages, many meanings of the original lines will be lost.
In contrast, hand-to-hand combat is rigid, and there is no difference on a global scale. These things are more acceptable.
There is basically nothing wrong with this statement. However, when Universal said this, many people were a little surprised: Could it be that Universal now feels that the Gladiator's North American box office is no match for Levi's movie?
The North American box office of 180 million is not low. It is not easy to surpass this number. Even if that movie is a movie with several stars shining, a box office of 200 million is still difficult.
Why is Universal so scared?
"The Departed is a hit; apart from the movie itself, the schedule is also an important aspect. For The Departed, which was released in early August, none of the movies released at the same time posed any threat. This is where it has an advantage over Gladiator."
The media soon found the reason: Universal felt that its film could not compete with Levi largely due to the box office battle launched by Universal against The Departed.
It's already failing after the first week.
Two other films were released together at the same time The Departed was released.
Meet the Parents is Ben Stiller's new film. Ben Stiller, one of the top three Hollywood comedians, even though not as popular as the king of comedy like Jim Carrey, box office appeal is not weak.
Universal originally wanted to use his name to dilute the influence of Levi's film.
At the same time, they also contacted Dimension Films, so they launched their horror comedy movie Scary Movie at the same time. This movie starring Anna Faris is mainly a spoof movie that ridicules other movies.
Neither of these two movies has many connotations, but they are all well-produced comedies.
Universal's idea is obviously to use two comedies to create a hot atmosphere in the comedy market: if all comedies are popular this month, people want to see some light-hearted and funny movies, so how can Levi's gangster movies be considered acceptable?
Gangster movies, in general, are violent, tragic, and metaphorical, but not comedy.
If only successful comedy films could be counted on, create a schedule focusing on cheerful movies. A gangster film that is out of place naturally cannot be popular.
Build momentum by playing comedy movies at the same time. It's also a good choice to suppress Levi's film.
It's a good idea, but where they failed is Ben Stiller's film obviously didn't get good reviews. After the first week, his film's box office was only 25 million - although this box office is not too bad, it is definitely a failure among this week's films.
Movies like this kind of conflict between father-in-law and son-in-law and movies that use names as jokes are quite old-fashioned movies. If such movies want to be brilliant, they can only rely on the characters and jokes of the movie.
***
Too bad the movie didn't do that.
Ben Stiller's comedy level is not bad, but since De Niro went to act in Levi's movie, he had to find someone else. Without excellent interactive actors, the overall standard of the film has dropped a lot.
After its release, the movie did not achieve the expected effect. The box office in the first week was unfavorable, which determined that the movie's box office was a failure.
"In the movie Meet the Parents," Ben Stiller played the role of a liar, and the father-in-law was completely played as a tricky old man. Such an old man can't see any jokes, and the movie is quite a failure."
The media's evaluation of this film is quite harsh and merciless. Casting failures ruined the film, and after a failed first week at the box office, the film was pretty much guaranteed to exit the box office.
***
At the same time, Dimension Film's spoof comedy film Scary Movie did well, earning more than 30 million at the box office, occupying a large part of the market share.
It's a pity that this movie also failed to produce the expected effect, forming a trend - this movie is entirely based on spoofs; although it can be said to be very funny for all kinds of satires, the plot lacks coherence.
People do go to the movie, but after seeing it, what is the movie about? What is the story like? People can't even tell it. The whole film is more like a pile of jokes than a complete movie.
"The Weinstein brothers proved their genius but still need to be tempered."
Although the media's evaluation is considered polite, for those who have watched this movie, it is evident what the actual comment they want to say is: The film reflects the eclectic imagination of the director, but also the weakness of lack of overall control.
Such a movie can become a momentary joke, but it is a movie that the audience forgets the plot when they walk out of the movie theater. How could there be a trend?
***
In contrast, Levi's movie immediately became a trend after being released.
After the movie, many plots of the film are discussed repeatedly: the hidden meaning of the repetition of the date, the hidden meaning of the elevator in the movie, the connotation of these things, the purpose of these things, the performance of another undercover agent on the police side in the film, and the love details of the two male protagonists.
These seemingly small things are all taken seriously.
After a movie is watched, a trend can only be formed if there are repeated mentions.
Some directors, like Nolan, like to use weird editing methods to make people think and discuss, and some, like Fincher, like to use dreams and psychology to make people recall.
Levi's movies have always liked to use these details to remind people. This one is no exception. Those little details keep people talking.
***
Their movie did not affect the popularity of the other's movie; on the contrary, it shows the shortcomings of these two comedies. The box office war initiated was lost in the box office, not to mention word of mouth, even the attempt to join forces with other companies to make waves failed.
It can be said that the box office competition initiated by Universal has been a complete failure since the first week.
In a sense, this also fulfills Levi's declaration: after his film is shot, it must be the undisputed strongest.
With such a failure in front, it is not surprising that they would say that they would voluntarily admit defeat. After all, this August, there were no movies that could pose a threat to Levi, and when Gladiator was released, it encountered Mission Impossible 2.
***
"Actually, the most surprising thing is not that Universal said at this time that our box office will not be as good as theirs. When they defend their movie at this time, they are not saying that their film is better, but emphasizing that it is an epic movie.
Didn't they themselves notice that what they said is equivalent to saying that their movie is not as good as ours in terms of details?"
For these battles, Levi has a different view. After seeing Universal's words, Levi immediately noticed something was wrong.
They said that Levi's movies win with details and lines, and translation into other languages will be discounted, so isn't it tantamount to admitting that it doesn't matter if their movies are translated into other languages in these aspects, it is equivalent to acknowledging that their lines in the film not good?
"But the problem is that their movie is really not good," Clarke replied directly.
It is true that Gladiator is a big investment movie, but it is indeed not very good in terms of characters and plot: simple and crude conspiracy, the protagonist who is devoted to family, flying to disaster, and revenge.
Although it is called an epic movie, it is actually the Roman version of the American Dream. The word epic has been ruined, and it is nothing compared to Levi's movies.
If there is no outstanding work, relying on their own investment, this movie can still be called epic, but now, in front of The Departed, how can they fight?
Surprisingly, they did not admit defeat. For example, it still emphasizes that its global box office is better. What is the point of such an approach?
"I'm just sighing. Unexpectedly, Gladiator gave up so easily... it's so simple."
Levi shook his head. In his memory, this movie won the best picture Oscar of the year. But now, the Gladiator has knelt and surrendered in front of Levi, admitting that it is not as good as the box office and artistry.
They said they would sweep the whole year this year, and now it seems they can do what they say.
When a good movie is in hand, in the face of other competition, you can definitely destroy it.
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
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