Capítulo 233: Chapter 233: Best to Turn it Down
A film made for the general public's taste or one with a strong personal style - which is more likely to attract the average viewer? The answer to this question is obvious.
Since last Friday, "X-Men 2" dominated the weekend, easily earning nearly $26 million in a day, showcasing the advantages of a best-selling sequel and a super-commercial big-budget production. In contrast, Murphy and Mira Max's "Sin City," faced with the onslaught of the summer blockbuster, fully exposed its lack of audience appeal, with a daily box office of less than a tenth of "X-Men 2," only about $5 million.
After consuming a large number of fan viewers and black cult film lovers, "Sin City" seemed somewhat lacking in staying power.
Faced with the impact of "X-Men 2," the only consolation for Murphy and Mira Max was that "Sin City" received better public and professional acclaim than "X-Men 2."
Especially in the film criticism community, as usual, there was a generally demeaning stance towards a large-scale, big-budget comic adaptation, often describing it as "vulgar, boring," in stark contrast to the praise lavished on "Sin City" when it was released.
Overall, the reputation of "X-Men 2" might not have been as explosive as "Sin City," but it was not bad among summer blockbuster popcorn movies. Especially for fans of "X-Men" and comic fans, it was generally well-received. Yet, a film's reputation, while important, is not always the key factor in determining its box office success. Otherwise, the top ten movies in the annual North American box office wouldn't be dominated by popcorn movies, instead of Oscar winners or other award-winning films.
Reputation also can't compensate for a film's inherent shortcomings, such as its target audience. Why are niche films called niche? It's not because of small investment. Their audience might increase due to explosive word-of-mouth, but there won't be a fundamental change.
A typical example is Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." Judging by the film's reputation and its status in film history, it should have been incredibly successful at the box office.
But in reality, when "Pulp Fiction" was first released, it only made a little over $50 million in North America. Only after Mira Max re-released it in theaters a couple of years later did its North American box office barely surpass $100 million.
This type of noir film is exactly Murphy's favorite. This can be seen from the types of films he chose to produce after coming here. He used to resent that a film as outstanding as "Pulp Fiction" didn't have a booming box office. After arriving here, he realized how unrealistic and foolish such a thought was. Who says a good movie must have a good box office? The laws of the movie market won't change according to personal will.
"Sin City" was undoubtedly the same, receiving high praise from the media and film critics, but it couldn't make it a mainstream film.
Under the impact of "X-Men 2," the box office performance of "Sin City" remained lukewarm in its second weekend.
On Saturday, with a large number of fan viewers already consumed, "X-Men 2" saw a slight decline in box office, grossing nearly $23 million. "Sin City" didn't fare much better, failing to rebound, with its daily box office also sliding, earning only $4.3 million from 2850 theaters.
Although the weekend's box office couldn't yet be calculated, such performance indicated that the final North American box office for "Sin City" would face several times more difficulty to break the $100 million mark.
A new week arrived, and last weekend's box office figures were out. Without any doubt, "X-Men 2" topped the chart with $68 million, firmly occupying the first place, while "Sin City," in its second week, ranked second with $13.4 million.
This was a drop of 65% compared to the opening weekend!
However, including the previous four workdays, the cumulative North American box office for "Sin City" reached $63.5 million, not only crossing the total cost line but also set to break Murphy's personal best North American box office record.
In the following week, "Sin City"'s weekday box office fell to the million-dollar level, only collecting a little over $4.4 million in four working days. As the new weekend arrived and several other films joined the summer competition, the number of theaters showing "Sin City" inevitably got slashed, dropping straight to 2100.
Under these circumstances, the film's weekend box office inevitably slid again, with the third weekend dropping over 60% compared to the second, earning less than $5 million.
"Sin City"'s cumulative North American box office reached $72.9 million, setting a new personal record for Murphy.
However, such a box office trend also basically confirmed that the film's North American box office would not break the $100 million mark.
After all, it was the summer season, with blockbusters like "The Matrix Reloaded" and "Finding Nemo" set to be released, following "X-Men 2." The number of theaters and screening rates for "Sin City" could only be further reduced.
Even if Mira Max did more work, it wouldn't change this inevitable rule. Between choosing "The Matrix Reloaded" and a film with a limited audience, even a fool knows which to pick.
Over the course of two weeks, Murphy followed Mira Max's publicity plan, conducting routine promotional activities in some major North American cities. After "Sin City" achieved a decent opening week box office in North America, Disney's label Buena Vista International pushed the film into several major overseas markets. Main actors like Robert Downey Jr. and James Franco also began an overseas promotional tour.
However, Murphy didn't go. The promotion was mainly focused on the actors.
Compared to North America, the response to "Sin City" overseas was much poorer. Frank Miller's comic's influence was mainly in North America, and the number of fans overseas was limited. Moreover, due to the film's extensive content, it was rated R in some countries and regions, significantly affecting its overseas box office performance.
The first week's box office in the UK was only $2 million, slightly better in France, just over $2 million. Germany, another major European film market, was weaker, perhaps due to the film's strong personal style not fitting German aesthetics, earning just over $1 million in its first week.
The best performing overseas market turned out to be Australia, the birthplace of large-scale blood-and-guts films. Australians have a stronger tolerance for large-scale scenes, and the first weekend surprisingly exploded with $4.8 million.
Overall, the overseas performance of "Sin City" was not very prominent.
When the film's North American box office exceeded $75 million, "Sin City" had only earned over $16 million in the 26 overseas markets it had opened in.
"Overseas box office certainly can't compare with North America," Murphy said, sitting under a sun umbrella by his backyard pool, his face half-hidden behind oversized sunglasses. "I'd be satisfied with $50 million."
He stretched lazily. "Bill, how much of my share has been deposited?"
"All that should have been has arrived," Bill Rossetti first said something obvious, then added details, "Fox Searchlight has already paid all dividends for 'Saw,' and Mira Max has also basically paid in full for 'Planet Terror.' The remaining dividends for these two projects are long-term with small percentages."
"Oh, right," he added, "and the mandatory union dividends, but those are very small numbers for you."
Murphy nodded. Although he had left the Directors Guild, he was still a member of the Writers Guild.
With these dividends coming in, plus the profits from investing in "Saw 2," he could be said to be a bona fide millionaire.
Where was the best place for this money? Definitely buying the movie rights to several superheroes from Marvel Comics, eventually uniting them for a battle.
After the premiere of "X-Men 2," Murphy hadn't given up, continuing to contact Marvel Comics. Unfortunately, the results were very disappointing. Marvel Comics was adamant, seemingly learning from "Spider-Man" and "X-Men," and refusing to sell the movie rights to its famous heroes.
As for the less famous comics, if Murphy's price was right, they might consider collaborating with Stanton Studios.
For well-known heroes like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and others, Marvel Comics also quoted Murphy a price – $1.5 billion for the package, clearly a firm refusal.
Regardless of whether the price was worth it, Murphy simply didn't have the resources to gather such a large sum of money.
But Murphy hadn't completely given up. He gathered a bunch of Marvel superhero materials, trying to find memorable types among the lesser-known ones.
"Marvel Comics is very difficult. They've already received investment and are not short of money. They're also preparing their own superhero movie," Bill Rossetti gently tapped the armrest of his chair, reminding him, "What Marvel Comics lacks is a distribution channel!"
Hearing this, Murphy sighed. His own films relied on other companies for distribution; what could he offer to convince Marvel Comics?
Anyone with a clear vision could see that Marvel would only sell to a company with a broad distribution channel and a complete industrial platform, like DC Comics did, not to individuals or companies like Stanton Studios.
What could they offer Marvel Comics?
"Murphy, Harvey and Frank Miller talked to me yesterday," Bill Rossetti suddenly changed the subject, "They want to push 'Sin City 2' into the preparation stage as soon as possible."
"So soon?" Murphy took off his sunglasses and asked, "What do you think?"
Bill Rossetti said without hesitation, "I think it's best to turn it down!"
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