Chapter 1119: Attacked from all sides
Everyone says that the autumn season is the off-season, and the film market in September and October is in a slump. This is true, and it is also a truth recognized by Hollywood.
However, cinemas are open all year round. Even at the lowest point of the year, you can still see a variety of movies in cinemas in autumn.
What's more, don't forget that Halloween is coming in the last week of October, which also means that the carnival of horror movies and the party of holiday movies are coming. Therefore, the slump in autumn movies is often limited to September. In October, movie theaters may become lively again.
This year, that’s it——
In the second week of October, "Kill Bill," Quentin Tarantino's first film after six years of idleness.
The third week of October, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", a remake of the 1974 classic horror movie; and starring Jessica Biel as a heroine for the first time, because Chris Evan Due to his relationship with Si, Anson personally attended the premiere to cheer for Jessica, which caused quite a topic.
The fourth week of October, "Scream 3" is a spoof movie. The fact that the series can film a third part has already proved its popularity.
Get together!
Gather together! It’s so lively!
Although all of them are thriller/horror films with small and medium-sized investments, the competition has become more intense precisely because of the serious homogeneity in scale, genre, and subject matter.
After all, there is only one piece of the market for horror movies. Now that movies of the same type are experiencing a blowout, maybe they will all die together in the end.
A little good news, in the first week of November, which is Halloween weekend, there are no premieres worth mentioning, including New Line Cinema, which also avoided the "Butterfly Effect" and chose this one. Zhou’s plan to debut.
The reason?
First, during the Halloween weekend, young people all go out to party, and family audiences abandon movie theaters because of children's "trick-or-treating" activities.
Second, there are sharks the weekend after Halloween.
In the second week of November, "The Matrix 3", the final chapter of the series, debuts. This summer, the release of "The Matrix 2" has already raised all expectations, and then the series finale finally arrives at the end of the year. , you can guess with your knees that avid fans will vent their enthusiasm to welcome the arrival of the third part of the series.
No one wants to encounter such a monster.
To be precise, this is a series of works comparable to "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" in the current film market, and its influence is even more far-reaching.
However, there is one exception——
“Elf,” released by New Line Cinema.
Edgar spreads his hands: I told you, New Line Cinema is unreliable.
"Christmas Elf", with an investment of US$33 million, is a small-to-medium-cost production, led by Will Ferrell, a member of the "Bad Boys", and directed by Jon Favreau, a former actor (Jon-Favreau), the director who later directed "The Avengers."
From the perspective of New Line Cinema's market release, "The Matrix 3" is a science fiction movie, and "Christmas Elf" is aimed at the Christmas market. There is absolutely no relationship between the two; therefore, such a movie was deliberately chosen Due to the schedule, we may be able to take advantage of the popularity of the other party and draw attention to "Christmas Elf" when more viewers enter the cinema.
I don’t know if I should call this a publishing strategy smart or stupid.
Therefore, "Christmas Elf" deliberately staggered the first week of November and chose to collide head-on with "The Matrix 3." This arrangement made people shout -
I don't understand!
To be precise, the first week of November is the only breathing space from this autumn to the holiday season. After the debut of "The Matrix 3", the competition for the bayonet has gradually begun. curtain.
The third week of November, "The Big Show", this movie stars Russell Crowe, who has been very popular in the past two years, relying on "A Beautiful Mind" and "Gladiator" to climb his career After reaching a new peak, Russell is ready to take the next step and build his reputation just like Tom Hanks. "The Last Day" is a solid step for him to take. This work cost 150 million US dollars and was directed by Peter Weir. His most famous works are "Dead Poets Society" and "The Truman Show". This is also the sequel to Ron Howard. , Ridley Scott, Russell's third collaboration with an Oscar-level director.
Heavy, no doubt heavy.
In the fourth week of November, "The Cat in the Hat", with a production cost of US$109 million, is targeting the Thanksgiving market and is full of confidence to attack.
In the fifth week of November, "Haunted House", this work aimed at the Halloween market, was moved to the Thanksgiving holiday period away from the densely populated area with previous horror movies. The distribution strategy should have been carefully considered. The production cost of up to 90 million US dollars is even more outstanding among the low-cost horror movies, and it is particularly eye-catching.
In the first week of December, "The Last Samurai", this $140 million production is undoubtedly the biggest focus after this summer's release, because the leading star is the unique Tom- Cruise——
Not only targeting the box office market, but also the focus of this year's awards season, he is known as this year's "Gladiator."
And behind?
"Lord of the Rings 3" is ready.
Blockbuster, one after another, big productions worth about 100 million US dollars are showing a blowout and bustling scene, actually recreating the grandeur of summer movies during the holidays.
The reason?
It's all Anson's fault.
Last year, Warner Bros. strategically shifted from summer to holiday releases. However, the performance of "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" was good but still far below expectations. After all, it was unable to leverage the market pattern; On the contrary, witnessing the "cat-and-mouse game" that detonated the box office, all the major Hollywood film companies were excited.
Then, this scene appeared.
Major film companies have adjusted their strategies one after another. All eggs are not placed in the basket of summer movies. The strategic position of holiday movies is soaring.
As a result, the schedule is not only crowded, but also heavyweight players have appeared one after another.
Dangers abound and competition is fierce.
Under such circumstances, the release schedule and distribution strategy need to be more careful and cautious.
As a result, what about New Line Cinema?
The third week of November is not only released one week after "Christmas Elf", falling into the shadow of "The Matrix 3"; A long list of strong opponents.
Edgar: I don’t understand.
In the name of Anson, Edgar sent an email to New Line Cinema, asking why New Line Cinema did not schedule it in the first week of November. Even if it collides with the Halloween schedule, it would not be better than the first week of November. Is three weeks reliable?
Because Anson is a producer, the relevant person in charge of New Line Cinema’s distribution department responded kindly:
This year’s holiday season is a mess. Thanks to the success of last year’s “cat-and-mouse game,” major film companies They were all asking for directions, and it was difficult to judge the pattern.
This is a pool of muddy water.
Not to mention New Line Cinema, Warner Bros.’s distribution strategy is also risky. “The Matrix 3” is the work of Warner Bros. As a result, it fought with New Line Cinema itself, but they didn’t care.
“This schedule is the result of our professional discussions. We have confidence in the movie and we have confidence in Anson.”
(End of this chapter)