Chapter 672

During Mark's handling of Time Warner's internal affairs, his only public appearance was to attend the premiere of District 9 in New York. The director of District 9 is Neil Blomkamp, deputy director of Mark's dark knight.

It was released in 3550 cinemas on August 14 (Friday), with a box office of 19.2 million on the opening day, and won the first battle; After the weekend, the box office has risen to 47 million, easily crossing the investment line of 30 million. In terms of word-of-mouth, it is also a good trend. "District 9" can be said to be overwhelming, and the box office is expected to exceed 100 million!

"Zone 9" is an alien science fiction film without a luxurious Hollywood star lineup. Only a group of unknown people shot in South Africa. It actually won the top of Hollywood box office week. Less than a week after its release, special forces 2, which once swept the box office, can only reluctantly give up the first throne.

DreamWorks's "Special Forces 2" invested as much as 170 million dollars. In the first week, it won 56 million dollars. It was average beer. However, the box office of the next week plunged like a landslide, with a decline of more than 58%. The revenue of 22 million made the producers want to cry without tears, which also frustrated their ambition to build it into a series.

Mm company, the distributor of zone 9, said on Sunday that the film, which combines science fiction action and thriller, tells a series of events triggered by a group of astronauts landing in Johannesburg. It has won 47 million box office since it was released in beimi. It is said that its production cost is less than 30 million, which is a typical low budget film in Hollywood.

Mark, a famous Hollywood director who directed a series of blockbuster works, acted as the producer of District 9 this time, and he adopted the style and story of film imitation documentary, which made the film reveal a sense of reality against the background of science fiction and become another highlight of the film.

Neil bromkamp is a director and screenwriter. Neil bromkamp is an artist with great originality and innovation. He was born in South Africa. His previous works were mainly short films and commercial advertisements.

"Zone 9" is invested and distributed by mm. The director Neil bromkamp deduces it based on his short film "living in Johannesburg". This film is his screen debut. Presumably, the success of this film may push an unknown director to the ostentation stage of OSCA.

What is the magic of District 9?

First of all, area 9 adopts the shooting style of pseudo record, which makes the original sci-fi unreal film theme into a film with the realistic technique of documentary. It makes people look at the picture that is incompatible with the reality, but it has a real feeling.

Secondly, what attracts the audience is the mystery behind the title "District 9". The title of this film is based on a recent rumor in the United States. For decades, it has been rumored that the United States has zone 51, which is specially responsible for dealing with alien affairs, but this news has not been officially recognized. The meaning of "District 9" implies "District 51".

Moreover, as the publicity of the film, the virus marketing model was brought into full play. First, mm company blocked all information related to film shooting, (in fact, there is no need for any blockade. For a "three noes" work, there will be no topic and attention, and there will be no reporter's interview. "Then, there will be a surprise publicity at the San Diego comic show. Posters are crazy all over every corner, elevators, escalators, corridors and even toilets. Under such a publicity offensive, how can film fans not go and see it Fast?

Finally, it's the curiosity left by the production cost of this film. How to make a blockbuster style at a cost of only 30 million? Or is it just a "fake" science fiction film? Of course, it has been proved that its scene may not be as good as 120 million science fiction blockbusters, but its unique connotation and pseudo recording style are the biggest attraction of this film.

"Zone 9" discusses a problem about identity transformation, social identity and cultural conflict. 30 million investment is also used on the blade. The setting and special effects are very consistent with the theme of the film, so that the audience has no sense of low cost

"Zone 9" is different from these films. The young South African director Neil Blomkamp and his producer mark made the film into a pseudo documentary. Although backed by the powerful mm, Blomkamp didn't ask for more money. With more than 30 million funds, he honestly made "zone 9", and the special effects were handled by industrial light and magic.

In terms of publicity, it was only after the summer vacation that large-scale publicity was carried out. There were billboards and words of "no aliens" and "no aliens". Under Mark's intervention, the strength and scale of the announcement became larger. There were countless trailers, promotional films, interviews and activities.

As long as it is the work that mark likes, mm Distribution Department will go all out to operate. The name of God's hand is not called in vain. It really has the ability to turn stone into gold. As long as Mark's name is hung on the film publicity poster, it is the guarantee of big sales immediately. However, mark will not allow other works to hang their own name. Unless they participate in the production, they will not be allowed to hang their name, Mark is one of the producers of District 9, but he did not participate in the production, but provided some guidance.

The crew went to South Africa for shooting by his private plane. Mark didn't go to the visiting class. Neil was responsible for the whole process of post production. However, hanging mark's name will greatly increase their value and even be one of the highlights.

They are not the pioneers of fake documentaries. As early as more than a decade ago, Blair the witch created a box office miracle with this move. Taiwan Director Niu Chengze also made a highly praised film "the way to survive when you have to", but this is the first time to make a science fiction film in the form of fake documentaries. The advantage of doing so is obvious. The form obeys the content, because the protagonist of the film is not a hero shooting at an elevation angle, but just an ordinary person, who is a little able to win, and initially a little smart and disgusting ordinary people. Because aliens live in slums, they can also use the lens of a documentary to shoot their real living conditions.

This time, aliens "walked out" of New York. In previous movies related to aliens, aliens always ran to big cities in the United States such as New York, Los Angeles and Washington. No wonder why they think aliens are not snobbish? We have to find it strange that aliens can also come to third world countries.

Director Neil blumkepp set the story in Johannesburg, South Africa, which is not only eye opening, but also provides endless space for the film to play. If a big country like the United States or China wants to take in 1 million aliens, not to mention just providing them with food, even raising them like a giant panda, but South Africa is different, Although they can also host the world cup, there are 1 million more people out of thin air, and there are too many problems to be solved.

Moreover, South Africa has adhered to the notorious apartheid system for a long time. This time, we can use this film to make a mockery of it, which adds a lot to the film.

Media comprehensive score a -, Yahoo audience a -, imdb9.1, rotten tomato freshness 88%, "news of the world": "the film shows how the earth abuses aliens, which is not necessarily the case on other planets."

The Chicago Sun: "although the film is full of creativity, it will inevitably become a space opera version of science fiction."

"Chicago Tribune": "the appearance of a latecomer of a summer file makes the whole Hollywood summer file feel ashamed."

Entertainment online: "this film may become a classic of science fiction films."

The Hollywood Reporter believes that all viewers who like science fiction films and even any film will be shocked by the action, adventure and suspense in this highly original pursuit film.

Entertainment Weekly believes that it is highly original + politically sensitive = District 9.

Time magazine praised zone 9 for proving that in addition to making sensory stimulation, this type of film can also create a world that the audience has never seen or even thought of.

Variety commented that the director is more interested in alluding to our bloodthirsty and xenophobic race than making cheap terrorist scenes such as exploding aliens.

Although the box office of area 9 is not as good as that of clover archives, beer is better. Once this evil classic style film is recognized by the audience, it is a great event. However, with good reputation, it can make those fans and audience brush it once and twice and buy Blu ray DVD collection. Therefore, once the film starts well, beer will fly at the box office, It's definitely a lot of money. Neil bromkamp has brought no less than three times the return for mm with $30 million, which makes him famous in one fell swoop. It's much easier to open a project and invest next time.

The summer season of 2009 has gradually come to an end, which means that North American audiences can see more new films in cinemas every week. Last week, three new films were released on a large scale, and two other small-scale films ranked among the top 10. The competition is quite fierce. But judging from the box office figures, I'm afraid only the low-cost science fiction thriller "District 9" and the best-selling love novel adaptation "the wife of the time traveler" can be satisfactory. District 9 not only topped the box office at the weekend with its strong reputation and strong publicity offensive, but also became one of the successful cases of "fighting big with small" in this summer. It created a premiere of US $47.35 million at a production cost of US $30 million, which is quite amazing! However, the weak performance of other films still caused the North American box office to decline by 14% last week compared with the peak of tropical thunder in the same period last year.

Mm has this performance in this relatively off-season, which is really impressive.