Chapter 728: The real person appears
“Oh, now you know why I still believe in Santa Claus.”
When reporters focused on Anson, this man who had grown up in just one year The absolute superstar who easily exceeded 300 million US dollars in two consecutive movies showed off his wit and humor.
Although Anson is on vacation and refuses all forms of interviews, including phone calls, and only responds through his agent Edgar; but it can be seen between the lines that this is Anson's own answer, not the agent and An official release carefully negotiated by a public relations person.
In this regard, reporters had to admire Anson's reason, calmness and openness.
After "Spider-Man", "Cat and Mouse Game" has once again achieved great results under great pressure, not only shutting up those who doubted, waited and watched, provoked and ridiculed, but also allowed the two superstars Steven and Tom to take advantage of it; but just now Anson, who has turned twenty years old, can still maintain such a mentality and show the style of a top star from the inside out.
Rare!
Amazing, fully laid out.
In the second week of January 2003, the North American weekend box office rankings were released.
Champion, "Cat and Mouse Game".
Runner-up, "Newlyweds in a hurry."
Third runner-up, "Lord of the Rings 2".
Dianjun, "personal lover".
Fifth, "About Schmidt".
A small surprise is that the highly praised "About Schmidt" during this year's awards season also performed well in movie theaters. At least so far, it is more accepted by the general public than "Gangs of New York", Jack -Nicholson's sword is still young.
in addition.
Four weeks after its release, "Lord of the Rings 2" has accumulated a box office of US$280 million in North America. It is only a matter of time before it breaks through the threshold of US$300 million. What's more, there is no statistics on overseas box office. The movie is still as successful as expected. ; But such success pales in comparison to the "cat-and-mouse game."
Warner Bros.’s plan to avoid the summer film and try to seize the opportunity in the holiday season failed to open up the situation. DreamWorks unintentionally ushered in a miracle at Christmas, which brought new revelations in marketing. Witness the birth of a superstar.
If you think about it carefully, although this holiday season did not unfold as expected, it is far from a disappointment. To be precise, it is more interesting than expecting more surprises. Hollywood is ushering in another storm. .
Obviously, this is still not the end.
After "Cat and Mouse" easily crowned the North American weekend box office rankings for three consecutive years, it showed its unique style amidst the sluggishness of the harsh winter. It won the championship for two more weeks and did not give up the throne until the first week of February. But it still maintains good stamina and excellent battery life.
Eventually.
The North American box office figure of "Cat and Mouse" is fixed at US$377 million, leaving a series of surprises in the holiday and winter seasons with its own style.
However, it is a pity that we were not able to break through the 400 million natural chasm after all.
When the movie’s opening weekend and the following week’s decline came out, expectations inevitably increased, and everyone was looking forward to the birth of another historical moment; but the cruel reality is that the severe cold in winter is still difficult to overcome. , the subsequent decline of "Cat and Mouse Game" significantly exceeded expectations. Even word-of-mouth and publicity still could not withstand Heavy Snow's offensive.
Of course, regrets are regrets, and no one will express "disappointment" with this result.
With US$377 million, this performance allowed "Cat and Mouse" to surpass "Jurassic Park" and rank among the top five in North American film history box office rankings——
Currently ranked fifth.
Look at the top four, "Titanic", "Spider-Man", "Star Wars 1", "Star Wars Episode 1"; and then look at the "cat-and-mouse game" of killing a way out, The shock and amazement cannot stop at all.
"Cat and Mouse" not only broke into the top ten box-office movies in film history, but also broke into the top five in one fell swoop.
Actually! Who could have predicted this when "Cat and Mouse" came out?
No one.
Not even DreamWorks itself.
Although the media has not reported it, DreamWorks, which is not a listed company for the time being, has not released its financial report; but there are rumors within Hollywood that the movie "Cat and Mouse Game" created more than 200 million US dollars in profit for DreamWorks - —
This does not include DVD distribution and rental.
There is no doubt that "Cat and Mouse" became one of the most profitable movies of 2002, even more profitable than "Spider-Man", which is the real surprise.
DreamWorks, which has been suffering from cash flow problems in the past few years but has always refused to seek financial help from Wall Street and Silicon Valley, has suddenly taken a breath and regained room for activity in the difficult operating difficulties.
So, it’s not surprising to see Steven full of praise for Anson during the interview.
"I admit that I have doubts. I am not a director who is good at trusting unfamiliar young actors. Even if Tom persuaded me to use Anson for the role of Frank Jr., I still could not completely settle down."
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"Until the moment he stood in front of the camera."
"He made me believe that he could give this character a completely different temperament and color; he also made me believe that I could safely use my camera Leave it to him, 100%.”
In Hollywood, there are only a handful of actors who can receive such praise from Steven, even if it is just to promote the movie's business period.
And, the interesting things are yet to come.
As the popularity of the movie continues to rise, it has become a grand collective carnival at the end of the year. More and more eyes are gathering around the movie. Little Frank Abagnale, who has been invisible and completely disappeared, finally appears. body.
True body, true self.
In fact, Frank Abagnale Jr. didn’t want to be disturbed at all in his peaceful life. From film project approval to filming and production, even Steven and Tom jointly visited him, but they couldn’t impress this legendary figure who had retired to the mountains and forests. ; But the impact of the movie was so great that Frank Jr.’s grandchildren also saw it, and the memories that had settled deep in their thoughts resurfaced.
Later, "New York Times" reporter Nicholas Flynn visited the thatched cottage three times, and finally moved little Frank with his persistence and sincerity. He accepted his only interview from beginning to end.
“A movie is just a movie, it is different from reality. There is no need to take it seriously.”
Although Frank Jr. did not say whether the movie beautified, vilified or distorted himself, he did say so. It seems meaningful.
"But I have to thank Anson Wood. He is such a charming kid that my wife expressed a little regret after watching the movie."
"Would I be willing to meet him if I had the chance? ?”
“No, I don’t want to, I don’t want to expose my shortcomings in front of him, haha”
“I can see part of myself in him, and. The self that I have never discovered but really exists. From this perspective, I need to thank his work for giving me a chance to remember and look at myself.”
The interview is of course more than that, but obviously, the story. The prototype character is also particularly satisfied with Anson.
This is an extra bonus.
Biographical films are often a thankless task, especially when telling stories about characters who are still alive, and can be controversial even if they are careful; but "Cat and Mouse" does not fall into such a predicament.
The response from the prototype characters is undoubtedly another kind of publicity, which also helps the film open up in the international market.
(End of this chapter)