This past Sunday coincided with the "Super Bowl" football finals known as the "American Spring Festival Gala". Countless families across North America will choose to spend the weekend at home. Hollywood blockbusters are naturally unwilling to act as cannon fodder, so few new films will choose to be released in this schedule, and this year is no exception. The only new film released on a large scale is Warner's "Magic Mike 3" : The Last Dance (Magic Mike's Last Dance).
"Magic Mike 3" is firmly in the top spot
Similar to the "Super Bowl", "Magic Mike 3" also looks at the body and technology. The film tells the story of former stripper Mike Lane played by Channing Tatum, unable to resist the offensive of a strong woman played by Selma Hayek, stepping back on the stage and dancing passionately. The film was screened in about 1,500 theaters in North America, and finally got a box office of 8.2 million U.S. dollars, which was enough to secure the No. 1 position on the weekend box office list. In the three days of the weekend, the total box office in North America was only 51 million U.S. dollars, which is not a small step back from the previous weekend's 79 million U.S. dollars.
"Magic Mike 3" Poster
Like "House Party" released last month, at the beginning of the project of "Magic Mike 3", the head of Warner had not changed. Jason Kilar, who valued the development of streaming media, set the design for the two films. The established distribution strategy is exclusively for the HBO Max streaming media platform and does not enter the theater. Kira, who graduated from Harvard Business School, was thinking about fighting Netflix and Disney+ in a streaming media burning war. He did not hesitate to put all the works of Warner Pictures in 2021 on the streaming media platform at the same time, which annoyed the boss of the North American theater chain. They and many first-line filmmakers.
By April 2022, after Warner and Discovery Media Group completed the merger, Kira left sadly. After the new official Zaslav took office, he especially emphasized the return of Warner's works to theaters, and coupled with the good reputation of the "Magic Mike 3" preview, he made a 180-degree turn in September last year. The film became a purely theatrical release.
However, like "House Party", which was only released in 1,400 theaters, the scale of the release of "Magic Mike 3" is also greatly reduced compared with the traditional large-scale release (wide release). It is said that Warner's investment in the promotion of the film is very limited, perhaps only 10 to 20 million U.S. dollars, which is far lower than its production cost of 40 to 50 million U.S. dollars. The level is as high as the actual production cost of the film, and the difference is huge.
"Magic Mike 2", which was released in 2012, had a screening scale of 3,355 theaters, and finally won a box office of 14.8 million U.S. dollars. Contrasting before and after, "Magic Mike 3", as the final chapter of the series, ushered in the return of the first founding director Steven Soderbergh while the leading actor Tatum remained unchanged. With the help of the goddess Hayek, Warner Pictures still decided to shrink the deal. Whether it was to save costs or for other reasons, it is difficult for the outside world to understand the truth.
Cameron fights left and right, and the outcome is hard to see for a while
The works of James Cameron ranked second and third on the North American box office list last weekend, which is probably a new achievement since the United States has its own box office statistics. "Avatar: The Way of Water" opened to $6.8 million in 3,065 theaters over the weekend, while "Titanic," re-released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its premiere, opened to $6.4 million in 2,464 theaters.
"Titanic" Premiere 25th Anniversary Special Edition Opening Title
The previous weekend, "Titanic" also ranked third in film history with a total global box office of 2.19 billion US dollars. "Avatar: Way of Water" came in fourth with $2.17 billion. Which movie will have a better weekend box office also attracted a lot of guesses at the time. In the end, the new film was slightly better. However, "Titanic" relied on the box office re-screening to keep the third place in film history. At present, the box office difference between the two films is only less than 4 million US dollars. Cameron's left and right fights, and it is difficult to see the outcome for a while. Of course, "Titanic" has re-entered theaters after many years, and it can still win such box office results, which is enough to make people speechless.
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the premiere of "Titanic", director Cameron specially recorded a thank you video
In order to build momentum for this 25th anniversary re-screening, Cameron also collaborated with the National Geographic Channel earlier on a film called "Titanic: 25 Years Later with James" (Titanic: 25 Years Later with James) Cameron's documentary, the highlight of which is to clarify the big question that has long puzzled millions of viewers around the world: At the end of the film, can Jack and Rose really only live as one? Couldn't that board carry two people?
In the documentary, Cameron teamed up with several scientists to recruit two stand-in actors whose body and weight were basically similar to those of actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet back then, and conducted multiple sets of experiment. In the end, Cameron himself came to the conclusion: As long as both of them can keep their upper body lying on the plank, they should both be rescued. Even if Jack may be physically exhausted, if Rose can take off her life jacket and give it to Jack If he wears it, it will also help him persist for several hours until help arrives.
"But in the process, there may still be many variables. Jack's idea is to ensure Rose's safety first, and not do anything that may endanger her safety, so he should not accept Rose's life jacket. .This is very much in line with his character." Cameron explained.
After more than 20 years, many viewers may have forgotten the final treatment of the film: Jack did not try to save himself, but when he climbed on the board, the momentum caused the board to overturn, and Rose, who was already safe, was also thrown. into icy water. Therefore, whether Jack, who wants Rose to get out of trouble, will try to climb the plank for the second time is itself a question. However, at the end of the documentary, Cameron also admitted frankly that if he had known the results of such an experiment at the beginning, he could have made the board smaller, so that he could fill in the so-called loopholes that may exist in the plot.
AMC Theaters Criticized for Differential Ticket Prices
Last week, AMC, the largest movie theater chain in the United States, announced that it will soon start a ticket price plan with different seats and different prices. As expected, it has attracted a lot of resistance from the people.
Actor Elijah Wood, who became popular with "The Lord of the Rings", directly denounced this practice on his personal social media account as dislike the poor and love the rich, which is very unfair to the majority of low-income groups. "Movie theaters have always been a temple of democracy for all, and AMC's new approach will inevitably benefit high-income earners and suffer low-income earners."
Nevertheless, starting last Friday, this new measure was first implemented in some AMC theaters in the three cities of New York, Chicago and Kansas City, and it is said that it will be extended to nearly a thousand AMC theaters across the United States within this year. According to its setting, all seats in the theater will be divided into three sections: regular area, discounted area (including the first few rows of seats, because of the need to look up, these seats have always been unfavored by the audience, and now AMC simply reduced its ticket prices to attract price-conscious customers), priority zones (the so-called "Emperor's seats" in the central area, which are sold at an increase of about $2 per ticket).
In addition, in 2018, AMC Theaters launched the so-called A-level membership system. You can join the membership by paying about US$20 to US$25 per month, and you can watch three movies for free every week (including IMAX, 3D and other formats, all without restrictions. ), plus discounts such as free drinks, it means that you can watch 12 movies for free in a month. Considering the current average ticket price of about US$12, it is really a bargain. Moreover, with the seat tiered fare system this time, AMC's A-level members can still choose the "Emperor Seat" without additional payment. will have any impact.
Despite this, many netizens have launched activities to boycott AMC theaters on social media, and the media also has a lot of critical voices. Jessica Derschowitz, director of new media at Entertainment Weekly, tweeted: "When you're going to a concert or a stage show, the prices are higher for seats closer to the stage, which makes sense. But it’s also done in movie theaters, so it’s absolutely crazy.” Johnny Oleksinski, a reporter for the entertainment section of the New York Post, also published an article directly denouncing this practice as Hollywood’s insanity. Digging one’s own grave, “It’s an era when everything is going up. Food, rent, utilities, and gas are all increasing in price. Although AMC’s good seats increase only by $2, take the AMC theater in New York as an example. I used to Running to see "Avatar: Way of Water", the ticket price is already $27.99, now add $2, and it will cost $30 to see a movie. I believe that for many viewers, this is It is not a small budget in daily life, and it needs careful consideration.”
