Chapter 1197 Expansion steps
After more than thirty years of development, the North American film market has gradually figured out its rules and distribution strategies have become more and more mature. It has learned lessons from mistakes and finally developed a system.
It is precisely because of this that the release strategies for holiday and summer works are all traceable.
The same is true for spot screening.
However, considering that the market segmentation of art films is more complex and difficult, the current screening strategy is still in the exploratory stage and continues to be explored.
Before "Elephant" came out, the top four box office rankings during the live-action movie screening period were:
"Madame Peron", "Moulin Rouge", "Edward Scissorhands", "Love Disorder".
The strategy for the first three movies is similar. They will be released in a few theaters for a week or two to test the water temperature, and then be released on a large scale in multiple theaters.
The difference is only in the scope of release. "Madame Peron" is more conservative, with more than 700 theaters; "Moulin Rouge" is the most confident, with more than 2,000 theaters; "Edward Scissorhands" is in the middle, with more than 1,000 theaters. Wire.
However, the final results were almost the same. The final cumulative North American box office of the three films was about 50 million US dollars.
"Edward Scissorhands" later relied on DVD release and word-of-mouth to become a classic; "Moulin Rouge" relied on Nicole Kidman's peak charm and achieved success in overseas markets, sweeping US$120 million; "Mrs. Peron" It received a series of Oscar nominations but was controversial and failed to win more attention. In the end, only the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was widely circulated.
In 2002, "Love Disorder" was slightly different. It was screened in a few theaters for a whole month. It was expected that the outstanding performance of the single-theater box office during the screening period would evolve into word-of-mouth reputation, and finally into box office data, until the third It took five weeks to be released widely in 1,200 theaters.
Unfortunately, the result was a bit disappointing. This film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Adam Sandler won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival that year. In the end, the North American box office was only 17 million US dollars. .
It should be said that in 2003, the distribution of art films has made great progress, but Hollywood is still in the exploratory stage.
The fundamental reason is that the North American film market is becoming increasingly mature, mainly in terms of genre films; and in terms of aesthetic taste for art films and independent films, there is still a clear gap between North America and Europe, not to mention places like France, Germany, and Italy, even Spain , the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe and other markets, the aesthetic taste of senior movie fans has easily surpassed North America——
Therefore, film festivals with far-reaching influence on a global scale are mainly in Europe.
Naturally, distribution companies still need to continue trial and error when arranging art films to explore the market, and their market knowledge is still far from enough.
Some movies performed well during the screening period, with word-of-mouth and individual theaters being eye-catching, but after they were fully screened, they failed miserably.
The performance of some works during the screening stage is worth looking forward to. The distribution company spent countless efforts and patience in promoting them, but in the end the film's performance was tepid.
The final box office results of "Madame Peron", "Moulin Rouge" and "Edward Scissorhands" have been regarded as huge successes, and the film companies have also made money, but when put together with those types of movies, there is no comparison at all. It cannot be compared with the excellent figures of single theater box office.
This is also a "disappointment" in a way.
Now, it's the Elephant's turn.
"Elephant" can be compared with "Love Disorder". It is also a local director in North America. It is also led by a popular male protagonist. It also won awards at the Cannes Film Festival and also brought great success in the screening stage. Surprise, also entering the awards season without any expectations.
However, "Love Disorder" ended up with only US$17 million in North American box office and only US$7 million in overseas box office, for a total global box office of US$24 million.
Disappointing.
Of course, "Love Disorder" is still very popular among movie fans, and the DVD market has also achieved good results; but with an investment of 25 million US dollars, Paul Thomas Anderson served as the director and won the Best Director Award at Cannes. , in the end the film failed to achieve box office profits, nor did it win more attention during the awards season——
Disappointment is inevitable. So, what about the "elephant"?
Without any expectations, the box office of "Elephant" roared past like a tornado. The whole of Hollywood was turned upside down, and the expectations instantly exploded.
Naturally, people are curious about the film's subsequent box office performance.
Although all of Hollywood knows the difficulty of independent films trying to carve out a niche in the market, after all, there is only one "Pulp Fiction".
But now, the box office of a single venue has exploded with such energy, with the support of Palme d'Or and Anson, coupled with HBO's accurate promotion and positioning assistance——
Maybe?
Who knows, "Elephant" might be able to bring more surprises?
Suddenly, Hollywood is bustling inside and outside. Not to mention "Lord of the Rings 3" and "The Butterfly Effect", even awards season movies are not good.
Just in time, 2003 ended and we entered 2004. The winter season began and the North American film market fell into the most depressed and deserted stage of the year. Instead of paying attention to those clichéd works, it is better to look forward to "Elephant" bringing some extra surprises. Take a look at North America Does the market hide more energy?
There was an uproar.
However, HBO at the center of the storm seemed extremely calm, even a little too calm.
That understatement and unhurried attitude are in sharp contrast to the excitement and turmoil of Hollywood, which is really dumbfounding.
HBO has been through many battles and has rich experience. They did not make a fuss or be ecstatic. Even though "Elephant" wrote a new history at the single-theater box office, they did not get carried away with enthusiasm.
First of all, the production cost of "Elephant" is only three million US dollars. No matter what happens next, HBO will be able to make a profit, so there is no need to be impatient.
Secondly, the box office performance of art films is often like this. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Although "Elephant" seems to have occupied all the favorable positions at present, it may not be able to win the hearts of the market regardless of the film style or subject type, including passerby audiences who are eager to see Anson become the soul of the film.
What's more, the sensitive subject matter of the film itself is doomed to mixed reviews and criticisms from the audience. Controversy runs throughout, and it will be difficult to avoid this situation after the expansion.
Therefore, planning still requires planning, but the premise is to stay calm and rational. Instead of making the movie meet the general public immediately, it is better to slow down and let the word of mouth ferment, and do a good job of psychological construction for the audience.
HBO's strategy is to attract a truly interested target audience, thereby avoiding those passerby viewers who enter the theater with high expectations but are disappointed and curse the movie, causing the movie's controversy to continue to ferment.
They are not greedy, they do not pursue all-round box office success, they just aim at the target audience.
Otherwise, the final box office numbers for "Love Disorder" will be right in front of you.
Amidst the excitement and noise, HBO has always maintained a low profile and remained calm——
In the first week of 2004, which was also the second week of the release of "Elephant", HBO continued to maintain the pace of screening, showing it in 70 theaters.
(End of chapter)