Heads Up Hollywood

If you comment on the best live-action movie this summer, it should be "Ghost Rider" from Marvel Pictures.

Not only did it sell well at the box office, but it also exploded in word-of-mouth!

So far, the North American box office of "Ghost Rider" has reached 220 million US dollars, the overseas box office is 320 million US dollars, and the global total box office is 540 million US dollars.

The freshness on Rotten Tomatoes is rising against the trend, with a total of 402 professional media and film critics evaluating it. Among them, the freshness index is 325, the rotten film index is 77, and the freshness of rotten tomatoes is as high as 80%.

Last year, Nolan's "Daredevil" let fans all over the world see the depth of Marvel.

This year, Zack Snyder's "Ghost Rider" once again gave the audience a taste of the heights that Marvel Pictures can achieve.

However, in several occasional interviews, Tang En always stated his position, saying that this summer, the movie he is most looking forward to is "Pirate League 2: Dead Man's Chest".

Now, the premiere of "Pirate League 2: Dead Man's Chest" is over.

In the IMAX giant screen hall, more than 200 professional media and film critics from the United States watched the film.

Word of mouth is polarized.

The movie gave the audience an audio-visual addiction. The most thrilling thing is the huge monster octopus of "Captain Ghost", which is raging on the Royal Battleship Edinburgh. Its super destructive power is reflected in the subtle CG special effects Next, the presentation is vigorous and breathtaking.

From the beginning to the end, the film is like the fog on the sea, with a mysterious atmosphere, the tone is a little darker than the first episode, the seafood comes and goes without a trace, the gypsy witch makes the prophecy confusing, Jack The uncertain fate of the captain makes people confused, but makes people excited and want to find out.

However, compared to the surprises brought to fans by "Pirate League 1: The Curse of the Black Pearl", this sequel movie still has many problems and has made many mistakes that will exist in sequel movies.

For example, the plot is too obscure and complicated, and some parts are too loose or even left without explanation. Compared with the smooth flow of "Pirate Alliance 1", there is a big gap.

The stunning visual effects are good, but there are suspicions of "showing off skills". The whole movie is like a carnival or trade fair of CG technology. It is gorgeous and ostentatious, but lacks a real and thick core.

After Rotten Tomatoes lifted the ban, "Pirates League 2: Dead Man's Chest" has collected a total of 182 reviews, of which 122 are fresh, 60 are rotten, and the freshness is 67%.

There is a big gap with the 78% freshness of "Pirate Alliance 1: The Curse of the Black Pearl".

In the mixed media reviews, the production cost of "Pirate Alliance 2: Dead Man's Chest", which cost as much as 210 million US dollars, seems to have some market crisis.

It's not scary if the movie fails.

However, Tang En publicly said in front of the public that he is very optimistic about this movie!

His judgment on movies has never failed.

This time... I'm afraid there will be an accident.

"Twain, something went wrong with that pirate movie?" Disney's chairman Michael Eisner called Dunn specifically to express his concern and condolences.

Tang En wondered, "Problem? What's the problem?"

Michael Eisner said: "Didn't you read the newspaper? The movie "Pirate Alliance 2"...is not well-received. You hired a new director. The risk is too great."

"Oh, is it?"

Tang En's reaction was very indifferent.

During the filming, production, and publicity of this film, it was quite controversial. The production cost was as high as 210 million U.S. dollars. Looking at the history of film, it is second only to Warner Bros. "Terminator 3".

But found a MV director Gore Verbinski...

Twain seems to be particularly fond of MV directors.

Prior to this, he had dug Zack Schneider and Francis Lawrence from the MV field.

However, Zack Snyder first filmed "Chain Saw" and then "Resident Evil", so he had the opportunity to direct "Ghost Rider".

Francis Lawrence was even directly assigned by Tang En to the crew of the TV series "The Walking Dead".

This Gore Verbinski appeared in "Pirate League 2: Dead Man's Chest", and the stage is too big, right?

If the steps are too big, it is easy to pull the egg!

Michael Eisner sighed, "Director Verbinski... I also know that he made an American version of "Midnight Ring" and I heard it was pretty good. But it was just a very low-cost small production, Asking him to make a mega-blockbuster that cost over $200 million to make ... is reckless."

Tang En said coldly: "Why, in your opinion, my words are not as good as those film critics?"

"ah?"

Michael Eisner couldn't help being taken aback.

However, he was used to Tang En's strength, so he quickly smiled and said, "I didn't mean that. At least the current situation is not very good. We can think of something, emergency public relations."

Tang En's attitude was a little better.

He thought it was a continuation of Michael Eisner's overtures.

Just like a few days ago, Disney adjusted the schedule of "Princess Diaries 2" to compete with Paramount's movie "The Unfortunate Adventures of Raymond Snicket".

"How to say?"

"That's right, you must know that in Disneyland... there is a section called Pirate Adventure Park. The concept of pirates has many similarities with "Pirate League". If you can make Pirate Adventure Park and "Pirate League" "The combination of the elements and the release of news is a wave of shocking marketing."

Tang En almost laughed angrily.

Dare to love him with this idea!

"Michael, you are setting me up." Tang En said half-jokingly.

Michael Eisner flatly denied, "How could that be?"

Tang En said: "Universal Studios and Disneyland are bidding for major theme park projects in China. As far as I know, the theme of "Pirate Alliance" is very popular there. What, you want to use my movie to rob me business?"

The development of tourism and vacation business is a major strategy of New Global this year.

At present, New Universal has successfully reached an agreement with the Liverpool City Government to build a Harry Potter theme park, which is expected to break ground in September and officially open in two years.

The investment of this project will reach 750 million pounds, and New Universal Group will assume all the funds in the form of "cash + loan", and will also own all the equity of this amusement park.

However, the project in China is different. This is the most populous country in the world, and the future tourism prospects are limitless.

A mere Harry Potter theme park can't satisfy your appetite at all.

The total investment of this big project bid by New Universal and Disney will exceed US$4 billion.

Even if according to the Chinese policy requirements, only 50% of the shares can be held, New Global will invest 2 billion U.S. dollars!

In the design draft that has been submitted, Magic City Universal Studios will include 4 major parks, namely "Marvel Theme Park", "Jurassic Park", "Pirates Alliance Adventure Park", and "Transformers 3D Park".

In addition, it also includes Pixar Park, Hollywood Boulevard, Universal Hotel, Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade Village Railway Station, Hippogriff Flying Roller Coaster, Hogwarts Store, King's Cross Station, Escape from Gringotts, Diagon Alley , Madagascar, Shrek Kingdom...

Because the co-distributor of DreamWorks is Universal Pictures, the distribution rights of DreamWorks Animation are in the hands of Universal Pictures, and it is natural to promote it to Universal Studios.

It can be said that this is a very large theme park project, once completed, it will become the world's first.

In terms of face, the number one in the world is the achievements of officials.

With this name, it is easier to promote the progress of the project.

However, the efficiency of the Chinese side is too slow. Although this is a cooperation with the Shanghai Municipal Government, it has to go through layers of audits by many national ministries and commissions, which is very troublesome.

A large project of more than 4 billion US dollars also involves US capital. If it is finalized within two years, it will be considered fast.

Regarding Tang En's question, Michael Eisner smiled and said: "You are too sensitive, the project in China... Hehe, Tang En, I think you must be aware that although Universal Studios is developing well, it is comparable to Disneyland. In comparison, there is still a big gap.”

"so what?"

"You can't win that project."

"Let's wait and see."

Tang En was not polite at all.

For now, the reputation of Universal Studios is indeed difficult to compare with Disneyland, there is at least a gap of 20 years.

Even though the turnover of New Universal is similar to that of Disney, the brand value...Disney is more than 54 billion US dollars, and New Universal is only 20 billion US dollars.

That's what Disney is all about.

But that's okay.

The good thing is that the efficiency of the Chinese government is very low. This tourism and vacation project will require at least one or two years of meetings and discussions, or even longer.

This was enough for Tang En to make some preparations.

...

Friday, July 9th.

"Pirate Alliance 2: Dead Man's Chest" officially released in North America.

Then, a scene that shocked all film critics appeared.

On Friday, the single-day North American box office of "Pirate Alliance 2: Dead Man's Chest" reached 55.83 million US dollars! On Saturday, the momentum continued, with a North American box office of $47.82 million!

In just two days, the North American box office of "Pirate Alliance 2: Dead Man's Chest" successfully broke through 100 million!

This broke the records of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Menace of the Phantom Man", "Spider-Man 1", "Spider-Man 2", and "The Matrix 2" in the North American box office of more than 100 million U.S. dollars in three days of release.

Only two days!

On Sunday, "Pirate Alliance 2: Dead Man's Chest" took another $35.36 million at the box office.

In the three days of the first weekend, the North American box office reached 139 million US dollars!

You know, "Ghost Rider", which is very popular with film critics, has been released for more than two months, and the North American box office is only 220 million US dollars. This is already the best live-action movie in North America this summer.

But I didn't expect that the results of "Pirate League 2: Dead Man's Chest" would be so amazing!

It is conceivable that next week, the North American box office of "Pirate League 2: Dead Man's Chest" will surpass that of "Ghost Rider", dominating the summer schedule! Even, it is very likely to compete with Dreamworks' cartoon "Shrek 2"!

When this report card appeared, the professional film critic media in the United States were collectively dumbfounded.

What's happening here?

How could "Pirate Alliance 2: Dead Man's Chest" have such an amazing box office? Although this cannot be called a bad movie, it is by no means a classic.

As a result, it broke the box office record? Breaking through 100 million in two days?

do not understand……

Times have changed, and are audience tastes changing too?

Critics were shocked.

The appearance of "Pirate League 2: Dead Man's Chest" seems to subvert their understanding of movies.