Chapter 285: Amazing first week!

  Zhang Dongcheng curled his lips and said with contempt: "I can think of this myself. After the premiere is broadcast, it will definitely boost the box office!"

"Okay! You know again!" Adaman shrugged.

In fact, the box office of the dark war really achieved a rapid development, not after the ZDC TV broadcast, but after the three TV stations ABC, NBC, and FOX jointly rebroadcasted.

The three TV stations broadcast the premiere of Dark War at the same time, making the movie Dark War known all over the United States in an instant. It's a pity that this movie also has the disadvantage of lack of stamina.

Of course, this is a few days later. Now Zhang Dongcheng and others are still happy with the slow growth of the box office of the secret war.

Richard Donner's "Sky Cannon 4" was also released on the same day as Dark War. This movie has another name called "Lethal Weapon 4"

This movie is also the Hollywood debut of the famous Kung Fu superstar, Jet Li.

As a film director, Richard Donner, born in 1930, worked as an actor after graduating from New York University in the United States, and later worked as an assistant with Martin Ritter to learn director skills.

Started to direct TV series in 1958. In the late 1970s, he became famous by directing the blockbuster films "Omen" and "Superman". After entering the 1980s, he became a Hollywood heavyweight director with the "Lethal Weapon" series starring Mel Gibson.

Although the film received poor reviews after its release, there is one thing that cannot be denied. That is, he was short of more than four million yuan to enter Hollywood's North American box office rankings in 1998. It is an out-and-out high-grossing movie. Typical hits but no hits.

Summer vacation is one of the most fiercely contested movie schedules in Hollywood. Zhang Dongcheng chose to release the secret war at this time, and he didn't intend to test his own mind. Since coming to Hollywood, every work of Zhang Dongcheng has been arranged in the Halloween schedule. This made him want to challenge himself.

But choosing July 10th is destined to have many opponents for Zhang Dongcheng. And none of these opponents is weaker than the Dark War.

Even if it is released on the same day, apart from "Sky Cannon 4", there is also a movie called Crystal Soldiers that is also scheduled on the same day. But this movie didn't pose much threat to Zhang Dongcheng, it wasn't even as big a threat to Zhang Dongcheng as the Thunderbolt.

In addition to those released on the same day, there are also Disney animated films that are currently being released, such as "Mulan", "Doctor Dolittle" by Twentieth Century Fox, produced by Montpela, and produced by Jim Carrey, known as the king of Hollywood comedy The starring "The Truman Show" is also currently in theaters.

The Truman World was released nearly half a year later than The Matrix. In many newspapers, this movie was called an imitation of The Matrix! The word-of-mouth is a bit poor, but with Jim Carrey, the Hollywood king of comedy, as the leading role, the box office results are naturally not bad.

The biggest enemy of the secret war is "Peerless Catastrophe", which has just been released for more than a week, and "Saving Private Ryan", which will be released soon

Among these two films, the latter occupied the top spot in the box office rankings in 1998. But it hasn't been released yet, so let's not talk about it.

"Peerless Catastrophe" is directed by Michael Bay, Bruce Willis, and Ben Affleck. This is also a popcorn movie, which was called a summer popcorn movie by "Box Office" magazine, and "Heavenly Tribulation" is quite enjoyable.

"Detroit News" said that although spectacular and loud, but nothing new at all. In terms of word of mouth, Peerless Heavenly Tribulation can only be called mixed reputation. But at the box office, the film nearly beat Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan."

Movies released at the same time, the strong are like forests. But the secret war is like a dark horse. After the premiere was broadcast on three top American TV stations, the box office also began to soar at an unbelievable speed.

The box office was 6.5 million on the first day, and 8.96 million on the second day. After the premiere on ZDC TV, the single-day box office on the third day broke through the 10 million mark, reaching 10.5 million million dollars.

Day 4 $10.6 million. On this day, three TV stations in the United States broadcast the premiere at the same time.

This action also raised the box office again, reaching 12.36 million US dollars on the fifth day and 12 million US dollars on the sixth day; on the last day of the first week of release, the box office was stuck at 11.23 million US dollars. million dollars.

According to the final statistics, the box office of the first week of Dark War unexpectedly reached 71.61 million US dollars. That's $360,000 more than the previous The Matrix's first-week box office.

After the result was announced, the media was in an uproar.

"Smith Zhang's secret war has reached a new high! The first week's box office reached 71.61 million US dollars, leading the summer of 1998. If the stamina of the secret war is sufficient, this year's box office champion will definitely fall into the hands of Smith Zhang It's over." -EntertainmentDaily

"During the ticket seller war in the summer, Dark Wars, Smith Zhang's brand-new masterpiece, is at the forefront of all movies with a jaw-dropping attitude. It has become the most surprising work. In just one week, it has already The cost has been basically recovered. Dark War will definitely become the most profitable film of Dongcheng Pictures, no one!" - "Los Angeles Film News"

"Dark War, the Wisdom of Smith Zhang!" - "Entertainment Weekly"

"The battle of wits and full cooperation between the police and the robbers. Even the government officials are fascinated by it. Dark War, a classic movie not to be missed in 1998!" - "California Daily Entertainment Edition"

"A work that climbed to the top of the weekly box office list by relying on publicity, the consequences of insufficient background will soon be revealed, and Smith Zhang will definitely become a laughing stock!" —— "Los Angeles Media Information"

No matter what the outside world thinks, anyway, the Dongcheng film industry is full of joy at the moment.

"Smith, I knew you would never fail. You are an alien! Hahaha..." Adaman laughed triumphantly.

Zhang Dongcheng was also very excited. The box office on the first day of the secret war was indeed not good. Even among the few movies released at the same time, it seemed very poor.

But the premiere that caused a sensation in Hollywood and even in the entertainment circle was really too powerful. It can be said that the reason why Dark War can achieve such an excellent box office is entirely due to the eye-catching premiere and the unique relationship between police and robbers in the film.

From all aspects, Dark War cannot be regarded as an excellent movie. This kind of theme of cops and gangsters fighting wits and courage, and finally defeating the villain together is not uncommon in Hollywood. Many movies can find similar plots . There are many similar themes in comics.

Although Dark War has a gimmick that was changed from a Hong Kong script, in fact, what it sells is the dog meat that Hollywood is used to. In other words, the movie Dark War itself is a work for Hong Kong filmmakers to learn from Hollywood and seek breakthroughs when Hong Kong movies are in decline.

Under such circumstances, even if Zhang Dongcheng intends to make major revisions, it is impossible to turn Dark War into a movie with profound thoughts and long-lasting meaning.

Insufficient background, can only rely on superstar actors to support the stage is the biggest flaw in the dark war.

In the second week, the box office of Dark Wars dropped significantly. By July 25th, after the specific figures were calculated, Zhang Dongcheng and others remained silent for a long time.

$30.21 million. Here are the box office numbers for the second week.

Compared with the first week, it has more than doubled.

"Smith, I think there may be a reversal at the box office next week!" Adaman saw Zhang Dongcheng's face was calm. Immediately comforted: "Besides, we have basically recovered the cost now. Even if we sell the painting now, the secret war will not lose money, will it? Maybe the secret war will usher in another rebound soon!?"

Zhang Dongcheng shook his head with a wry smile. Said: "Adaman, it is impossible for the box office of the dark war to rebound. You know, all the movies released during this period are big-budget and excellent movies. Especially Saving Private Ryan, which was released yesterday. This movie was the first movie yesterday. It was released on one day, and it had a big impact on the box office of Dark War. Now it’s only the second day. Do you think that under such circumstances, we still have the possibility of turning around?”

Adaman suddenly became confused. Zhang Dongcheng was telling the truth. It is impossible for the dark war to rebound. Apart from the fact that there are too many excellent movies released during this period, the main reason is the problem of the dark war itself. This is flawed and cannot be changed.

However, Zhang Dongcheng is not really sad. The original intention of the secret war was to help Hong Kong movies. Up to now, the box office results of more than 100 million yuan have basically satisfied the previous ideas. It's just that his personal requirements for himself are too high, so he feels a little lost.

"Who knows? It's like the mummy before us. At that time, tens of thousands of people paraded, and everyone thought we were finished. Didn't we succeed in the end?" Adaman took out the example of the mummy when it was released. .

After that, Dark War still didn’t get any better, but on the third day of the third week after the premiere of Dark War, the situation changed dramatically.

AMC Cinemas outside a theater in Los Angeles.

"Hey! Dude, give me a movie ticket for Saving Private Ryan!" A burly man knocked on the glass window and said to the conductor.

The conductor was a blond girl in her twenties. Hearing this, she raised her head, skillfully took the money from the man, and returned the movie ticket to him.

But when this guy turned around, he accidentally bumped into another girl behind him.

It was a mixed-race girl, a very beautiful girl, with long black hair, which looked very elegant, and the ends of her hair were permed into playful waves. She has a pretty face, a pretty nose, and ruddy lips. No matter who it is, the first time they see this girl, they will have a common cognition—a stunner!