From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Professional, calm, cautious, decisive.

Focus Features is showcasing its stance. They are not entirely without ambition. Anson and Kate's partnership should not be ignored for their market influence. The right marketing strategy might bring surprises, and box office revenue shouldn't be casually abandoned before entering awards season.

It is precisely because of this that Focus Features made the final decision on the release date:

The third week of March.

Earlier, Focus Features had considered the Valentine's Day period, including White Valentine's Day, but "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is not a traditional romantic comedy. What if young couples enter the cinema with the wrong expectations and find that the product doesn't match the description?

Later, Focus Features also considered the summer blockbuster season. Amidst a barrage of commercial blockbusters, a whimsical and light romantic work like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" would be like a refreshing congee dish amidst a feast of meat and heavy flavors, perhaps unexpectedly attracting attention, but the risk was too great:

Especially after the internal screening, Focus Features rejected this proposal.

Charlie Kaufman is indeed Charlie Kaufman, and shouldn't be mixed into the summer blockbuster season.

After comprehensive consideration, Focus Features chose the spring season, which was cleared for the first time this year; moreover, instead of choosing April, which everyone was aiming for, they chose March, which was still shrouded in the shadow of the Oscar effect.

Anyway, Charlie Kaufman can be considered a small part of the awards season style.

Mid-March is just right. The Oscar ceremony has passed three weeks ago, and the box office of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" has fully recovered but has also fallen again; there is still some time before the bustling April when everyone is testing the waters, so it's a good time to fully utilize Anson and Kate's names to create some waves.

Thus, the release date was finalized.

Originally, a release date like the third week of March was not eye-catching and did not attract much attention; but now, due to a series of extreme back-and-forths involving the Grammys and the Oscars, all the bustling attention has gathered here—

An unexpected surprise.

Whether it's good news or bad news, this is a form of publicity and promotion.

This film was released in 1978 and directed by George A. Romero.

This director filmed "Night of the Living Dead" in 1968, which is widely regarded as the ancestor of zombie movies, creating a new genre. "Dawn of the Dead" is the second film in the series and is also generally considered a classic.

This year, Universal Pictures, which has always liked to achieve big things with small investments, is focusing on low-budget comedies, horror films, and suspense films. They are starting to remake "Dawn of the Dead" and, adhering to Universal Pictures' consistent spirit of frugality, have set about assembling a novice production team:

Director, Zack Snyder.

Screenwriter, James Gunn.

If it were 2024, these two names would definitely be familiar to loyal DC Comics supporters.

Zack Snyder took over the DC Universe in its difficult situation as Chief Creative Officer. However, this seemingly powerful director exposed his shortcomings as a producer, and the DC Universe's works were neither critically acclaimed nor commercially successful, with terrible results.

It even triggered a war of words between fervent fans and Warner Bros.—

They believed that Warner Bros. was restricting Zack Snyder's hands and feet, constantly interfering with the film's post-production, which led to Zack Snyder's talent being unable to be displayed, and strongly demanded that Warner Bros. release the "director's cut" of those works.

Warner Bros. wasn't stupid either. On the surface, they seemed to be forced to compromise under pressure, but in reality, they were going with the flow and launching the "Justice League Director's Cut," reaping a wave of profits.

However, the director's cut also failed to save the film's reputation.

In the end, after twists and turns and a lot of mess, Warner Bros. still fired Zack Snyder, and the person who took over the position of Chief Creative Officer of the DC Universe was James Gunn.

The story is obviously not that simple. The ups and downs behind the DC Universe's past and present cannot be explained in a few words, but the final outcome presented before us is that James Gunn replaced Zack Snyder as the head of the DC Universe.

Only the parties involved can clearly explain the tastes, grievances, and entanglements in between.

Let's shift our focus back to the present.

Zack Snyder is still an unknown small director. Although he has been working in Hollywood for nearly ten years, he has always been filming commercials and music videos, always eager to complete the transition into the film industry like David Fincher, but he has never gotten his chance.

James Gunn has been working in the field of low-budget B-movie comedies, specializing in spoofs and rants, mainly as a screenwriter. Although he doesn't have any achievements yet, he has contributed three works in seven years of working in Hollywood, which is already very impressive compared to those unknown figures who can't get started.

Then, "Dawn of the Dead" appeared.

This remake project gave Zack Snyder and James Gunn their first opportunity to collaborate. A budget of $26 million was a small project for Universal Pictures, but for the two 18th-tier Hollywood professionals, it was the first big project to open up their careers.

Finally, "Dawn of the Dead" is about to be released.

Although the director, screenwriter, and actors are all fresh faces, George A. Romero's original work is very famous, and the remake project easily became well-known among enthusiasts, gaining much attention.

Moreover, upon learning of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's" release date selection, it sparked heated discussions—

The two films both chose to be released in the third week of March, and will soon engage in a head-on confrontation.

Wait, is this a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King Temple, with people from the same family fighting each other!

Media: Something big is about to happen.

"Dawn of the Dead" is produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, while "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is produced and distributed by Focus Features. Even the distribution system is the same; in addition, the production costs of the two films are both in the $20 million range, which also means that the scale of publicity and distribution is similar. Now, the two works are about to fight each other. Is this really a good idea?

The spring season this year has been extended. Wouldn't it be better to casually pick another release date? Why do people from the same family have to collide head-on with each other?

In response, Universal Pictures and Focus Features don't care at all.

Although Focus Features belongs to Universal Pictures, these are two different companies with different market positioning and target audiences, and they do not interfere with each other.

To some extent, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. still have countless connections behind them, and "The Lord of the Rings" series helped Warner Bros. open up the holiday season; but Universal Pictures and Focus Features are completely different.

However, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema also fought each other in last year's holiday season, but ultimately achieved a win-win situation. Now, Universal Pictures and Focus Features naturally don't need to worry—

If they collide, they collide.

Thus, there is the scene before us: "Dawn of the Dead" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" are released in the same week.

It can be seen from the distribution strategies and screening scales that the two are completely different.