Chapter 515: Test Screening Review
Putting aside the matter of "Iron Man" for now, little Gilbert's most important task right now is to save "Batman".
According to prior arrangements, "Batman Begins" held as many as five consecutive preview screenings in early April. A total of thousands of audiences, theater representatives, and media critics watched the movie.
Perhaps it is a movie based on realism that is different from other superhero movies in the past. Although the movie still receives mostly positive reviews, it still has a lot of controversy.
The first is the media and film critics. This type of film is undoubtedly very popular with them. Coupled with Warner Pictures' public relations, the film has received a lot of praise from the media and film critics.
"A bold and brilliant superhero movie that ranks among the best of the Batman movies." —The Hollywood Reporter
"It is fully faithful to the original work, which is unusual in works of similar themes." - "Variety"
"Director Gilbert Jr. imaginatively fills in and interprets the chivalrous journey of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire heir, to become the dark savior Batman.
Moreover, this film also changed the exaggerated and mentally retarded cartoon style of the previous episode and adopted a more rigorous realism approach.
Details such as the depiction of Batman's first appearance, the inexperience of the novice on the road, and the old-fashioned, primitive and wild nature of the original tanks and suits all make people feel real and believable.
In addition, if you need to explode, you will explode, if you need to drive, you will drive. These are all highly entertaining. ”—"Los Angeles Business Journal"
"Gilbert Jr. was completely faithful to the rough, bold, dark and realistic style of "The Dark Knight Returns" created by Frank Miller in 1986, while using IMAX film shooting mode to outline the operatic style he desired.
The film raises superhero movies to unprecedented heights, and its rich dark realism style is destined to influence subsequent superhero movies. ”—"Chicago Sun-Times"
The film received widespread praise from the media and film critics, but these people's influence on the general audience was limited. The main controversy came from the test screenings that represented the audience.
Audiences after watching test screenings usually fill out questionnaires, and Warner Pictures collects the audience's ratings and comments to make a basic judgment on the film's prospects.
After collecting approximately 630 questionnaires, the audience’s opinions were roughly revealed.
Overall, the audience generally praised the film, but there were also differences of opinion. The biggest one was that the first half of the story about Bruce Wayne's transformation was too boring.
Moreover, there are flashbacks and interludes in the narrative, which makes people dazzled. If you don't pay attention, you will miss a lot of plots.
Some viewers felt that the film was not entertaining enough, seemed a bit serious, and the overall temperament was more realistic than the relaxed style of previous superhero blockbusters.
The theater chain combined audience reviews and their own feelings and concluded that this is different from previous superhero movies and seems to be much more profound.
Because of the bad impression Batman had given people before and the fact that the style of the film was very different from before, the theater chain decided to be more conservative and finally allowed 3,600 theaters to open.
And little Gilbert was not surprised when he knew the opening scale given by the theater chain. Regarding the scale of the opening, the theater chain gave him so much because of the reputation and appeal he has accumulated over the years.
"Batman Begins" is not a high-quality sequel like "Return of the King", nor is it like "Warrior", a movie backed by several major Hollywood stars.
Christian Bale is obviously not comparable to the two Toms who are in full swing, not to mention Charlize Theron, Dustin Hoffman and others in "Warrior".
The film is not an entertainment-oriented movie like "Pirates of the Caribbean". The realistic narrative style is destined to dissuade some viewers who don't like seriousness. This is normal.
Moreover, the bad impression brought by Joe Schumacher's two Batman movies has not completely dissipated. This movie is the first of a new trilogy, so it is normal for theaters to be cautious.
Throughout all series of movies, the beginning is always the most difficult, and Gilbert Jr. does not expect "Batman Begins" to achieve the same results as "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."
As long as it can be stable and make money back through the box office, it will basically announce the rebirth of the Batman movie.
Perhaps knowing the difficulty of saving Batman, Warner Pictures also adopted a conservative distribution strategy and planned to release it in North America first.
If the response in the North American market is good, it won't be too late to release it overseas.
Looking at the global film market since the 1980s and 1990s, basically except for certain American comedy and romance films, other science fiction films, war films, action films, etc., as long as they achieve good results in North America, they will basically sell well overseas. .
Conquering the North American film market is equivalent to conquering the whole world. This sentence is no longer just talk.
Little Gilbert also began to take the main creators to appear on some TV shows under the arrangement of Warner Pictures. Among them, Little Gilbert's most frequent one is "The Ellen DeGeneres Show".
On the show, Christian Bale talked about how he was invited to play Batman.
"I was filming "The Prestige" at the time, and suddenly one day Director Nolan told me, Director Gilbert Jr. wants to have a phone call with you."
Christian Bale said with an exaggerated expression: "Then I received a call from Director Gilbert Jr. and he asked me if I was interested in playing Bruce Wayne.
Of course I was interested. It was only after I hung up the phone that I realized, wait, was it Director Gilbert who called me just now? "
This passage made the entire audience laugh, and it had a sense of black humor. Gary Oldman also said: "When Director Gilbert Jr. came to me, I thought he wanted me to play the villain, so I said I didn't want to play the villain anymore.
As a result, he said, Oh, Gary, when the time comes, you will play an upright policeman, so I came. "
Liam Neeson laughed: "I'm just the opposite. I've played many positive characters, so I wanted to play a villain, so I got such a role."
There are many strange stories to tell just behind the casting of the characters.
However, the host Allen looked at the Batmobile model on the table and asked little Gilbert: "I heard that you asked Lamborghini to build a real one, so this monster appeared?"
“Yeah,” Gilbert Jr. said, “I originally came up with it while on vacation at a farm in Kansas, and you guys should go to that farm, it’s really cool.
I gave my production designer a rough outline of the dough in the kitchen, and they built a monster Batmobile out of it. "
"This tank was also successful in the Chicago robbery and helped capture five gangsters. This is a photo from the scene."
As Allen spoke, the Batmobile, which was riddled with holes, was shown on the big screen, causing the audience to scream.
Gilbert Jr. said: "Actually, the Batmobile is impenetrable with bullets. This Batmobile had to be replaced with materials and reduced in weight due to filming needs.
At the premiere, we will release the real Batmobile to let everyone feel the charm of Batman. "
Allen asked: "Will this Batmobile be sold?"
"Of course," Gilbert Jr. said, "Warner Pictures will jointly launch this chariot with Lamborghini."
Allen looked at the camera and said: "Did you hear me? I have to save money from now on. If I can't afford it, I can also buy a model, such as this one in my hand..."
The talk show went smoothly, and the Batmobile model in Allen's hand was eventually used as a raffle gift and was taken away by one of the audience members.
Although the promotion of "Batman Begins" started so early, the beginning of this summer's summer season is not this film, but George Lucas' "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."
Because George Lucas has said in several previous interviews and promotions that this is his last "Star Wars" movie, countless Star Wars fans are bound to walk into theaters this summer to bid farewell to this series.
Little Gilbert was also invited to attend the premiere of the film, where he talked about Star Wars culture.
"'Star Wars' represents an era, but I believe that classics will never go out of style, and the 'Star Wars' series will not end here."
George Lucas has made it clear early on that he hopes that Gilbert Jr. will take over the Star Wars series, and he also said the same at the premiere.
So after the premiere, "Star Wars" fans launched an online petition asking Gilbert Jr. to direct "Star Wars". In just one day, more than 200,000 Star Wars fans signed it.
However, Gilbert Jr. privately told George Lucas: "I think the "Star Wars" series needs to be stopped for a while, and it is best to restart it in about ten years."
George Lucas said, "So you're willing to take over Star Wars?"
Gilbert Jr. said, "George, unless you hand over Lucasfilm to me."
"This..." George Lucas hesitated: "Let me think about it again, this is not an easy decision to make."
George Lucas has previously said he wants to retire and that Lucasfilm will be sold to someone else. Many people in Hollywood are concerned about high-quality assets like Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic.
Little Gilbert was no exception, so he put forward the condition that if he wanted to direct "Star Wars", he would give Lucasfilm to him.
But when it comes to business interests, George Lucas must think carefully and cannot make hasty decisions.
George Lucas was hesitant, but "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" got off to a good start in the summer. The North American box office in its first week reached US$112 million, taking the top spot at the box office for the week.
In contrast to the super high first-week box office, the film's reputation was just like the previous two prequel works, which was very average and was criticized by many viewers, not to mention media critics.
But as long as the film carries the name "Star Wars", it will never be a problem to make money back through the box office.
And the most important thing is the peripherals. Every time the "Star Wars" movie is a hit, the peripheral products are often also a hit. This is the most important source of profit.
This is also one of the reasons why Gilbert Jr. fought for Lucasfilm. Compared with the salary and box office share, what he wanted was the huge profits from peripheral industries.
But he is not the only one who knows this, other people and other film companies also know this, so this matter is probably still a matter of debate.
(End of chapter)