Last weekend, there were three new films released on a large scale in North America, namely the boxing-themed "Creed 3", the Japanese animation "Demon Slayer: Gather Up, Go to Forge Village" and the action film "Golden Bomb". However, compared with the same period last year, the total box office of the three days did not rise but fell, which really made the industry scratch its head.

The box office of the three new films has mixed results

"Creed III" starring Michael B. Jordan continued the good reputation of the previous two films. After being released in 4007 theaters, it won a box office of 58.65 million US dollars, leading the weekend box office list, far Far better than the industry's expectations, it also created the best opening result of the series so far.

"Creed 3" poster

The "Creed" series is inherited from the "Rocky" series starring Stallone. In the previous two "Creed", Rocky played by Stallone also appeared as the main supporting role. Compared with the previous two films, the biggest change in the main creative lineup of this film is that Jordan is no longer satisfied with performing in front of the screen, and even took on the job of director. At present, the media scores of the trilogy of the series on the film review website "Rotten Tomatoes" are 95%, 83% and 87% respectively. It can be said that the third part of the series can still have such a score, which can be said to be quite a good result, and the industry has also given very positive comments on the directorship of the newcomer behind the scenes, Michael B. Jordan.

On the other hand, among the actors of "Creed 3", Stallone is no longer seen, and he only retains his nominal co-producer status. The old man leaves, the new man rises. Jonathan Majors, who played Kang the Conqueror in "Ant-Man 3", once again challenged the main villain in "Creed 3", and his competition with the protagonist Creed is likely to continue in the fourth part of the project continue to play out.

Jonathan Majors to play villain boxer in 'Creed 3'

The 33-year-old Jonathan Majors came from a humble background. When he was a teenager, he often went to the police station for petty theft and provocation. Fortunately, the prodigal son turned around in time and regained the positive meaning of life from theatrical performances. In 2019, he gained fame with his work "The Last Black Man in San Francisco". Now he will become a Hollywood actor well-known to fans all over the world because of his role in the fifth phase of the Marvel Universe, the biggest villain Conqueror Kang and the "Creed" series.

In the past three weekends, "Ant-Man 3" and "Creed 3" dominated the North American weekend box office charts, and Majors can be regarded as one of the leading actors in the two films. In a situation like this, it is said that the last time Its appearance dates back to January 2013. "Hunting Bin Laden" and "Mom" starring Jessica Chastain also won the box office championship for two consecutive weekends.

Released by Crunchyroll Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures that specializes in animated films, "Demon Slayer: Gathering Up, Head to Forge Village" entered 1,774 North American theaters last weekend, earning a box office of 10.11 million US dollars, continuing the continuation of Japanese animation. Good momentum in the American film market in recent years. However, in the name of the so-called theatrical version of the film, it is actually just a bundled work of the three-episode "Ghost Slayer: Blade" TV series, which obviously means money.

The spy action movie "Operation Fortune: Rue de guerre" (Operation Fortune: Rue de guerre) directed by the British Guy Ritchie was released in 2168 theaters over the weekend, but it only got $3.16 million at the opening box office, which surprised the industry. After all, even leaving aside Guy Ritchie's signature, the film also gathered many well-known Hollywood actors such as Jason Statham, Hugh Grant, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett and so on.

"Demon Slayer: Blade: Assemble on the Strings, Go to Forging Sword Village" Japanese Poster

"Golden Bomb" is invested and filmed by Miramax Films and STX Films. In North America, the film is distributed by Lionsgate; in overseas markets, the distribution is handled by STX Films. The film has been released in Europe, South America and Asia since January 4 this year, including Russia. Interestingly, according to the British "Daily Mail" report, the film was originally scheduled to be released at this time last year, but it was temporarily withdrawn because a group of villains in the story setting are all Ukrainian. It is obviously unrealistic to overthrow and remake, so the release of "Operation Golden Bomb" was postponed for a full year. On January 12, the film was officially released in Russia and won an excellent box office.

Perhaps, it is precisely because of these off-market factors that "Golden Bomb" has long been an outcast in the film market. It is said that the price at which Lionsgate bought the film's North American distribution rights from Miramax and STX Films is also It is quite low, and it is planned to be launched on the online on-demand platform soon, so even if the opening box office is only a little over 3 million US dollars, Lionsgate can still make a profit.

"Golden Boom" poster

The impact of the epidemic is receding but has not completely disappeared

Over the three days of the weekend, the total box office of theaters in North America was about 116 million U.S. dollars. Compared with the same period last year, it did not increase but fell, and it dropped by as much as 30%.

Looking at the past February, the total box office in North America was about 490 million U.S. dollars (the box office in mainland China, the world's second largest film market, was 3.858 billion yuan during the same period). This figure has increased by 34% compared with February last year, but the growth momentum has weakened compared to January, and there is still a big gap from the industry's previous forecast of at least 530 million US dollars. The main reason is that the box office of "Ant-Man 3" is not as good as expected.

Perhaps affected by these data, Adam Allen, CEO of AMC, the largest theater chain in the United States, once again lowered his original expectations in a public speech last week. According to him, the North American film market will return to the level before the epidemic, and it will not be until 2025 at the earliest-not to mention this year, there is no chance next year.

So, what are the specific reasons for the continued sluggish box office in North American theaters? Is it because middle-aged and elderly audiences still refuse to resume their old movie-watching habits? This point, just judging from the excellent box office performance of "Star Chasing Granny Group" and "Otto", which were released earlier, may no longer be the main reason for the poor box office. Some people in the industry even boldly estimated that the enthusiasm of middle-aged and elderly audiences in North America has almost returned to the level before the epidemic. The so-called fear of contracting the epidemic and not going to the theater or the epidemic has been used to watching movies at home for three years At this stage, it has basically become a thing of the past.

However, compared to before the epidemic, when these middle-aged and elderly audiences go to theaters to watch movies, they will choose comedies, action movies, and romance movies with lower thresholds. minority literary works. Judging from the scores of professional film critics on "Rotten Tomatoes", the freshness of "Granny Star Chaser" is 61%, and "Otto" is slightly better, but it is only 69%. The 91% of the popular work "Tal" and the 92% of "The House of Dreams" are completely different.

However, it is these entertainment films that the media are not very optimistic about, but they are more able to attract middle-aged and elderly audiences who used to watch movies with a more literary taste. If you really want to explain it, maybe it can only be said that the current life pressure and social reality make ordinary American audiences prefer entertainment works that can release stress.

As for the impact of the epidemic, on the last day of February, California, which has the closest relationship with the Hollywood film industry, finally announced the complete cancellation of the state of emergency for the new crown epidemic announced nearly three years ago. As for the nationwide state of emergency in the United States, it will end on May 11 as planned.

Going back to March 4, 2020, Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency in California. At that time, no one would have thought that this "emergency" would be "emergency" for nearly three years. Today, there are still about 3,000 new positive cases of new coronary pneumonia counted in the state every day, and the number of deaths is also dozens of cases every day, but it is the same as the peak of the beginning of 2021 when nearly 700 people died of new crowns every day. Compared, it has long been incomparable.

Actor Woody Harrelson said in an interview with the "New York Times" last week that it is time to completely cancel the current epidemic prevention requirements in Hollywood. "This set of things is still being implemented to this day. In my opinion, it is really ridiculous. According to my thinking, this set of things in the past three years, whether to do nucleic acid, whether to wear masks, whether to vaccinate , no one should have the power to force you to do this. So my thinking now is simple, this nonsense should end."

Going back to the beginning of this year, the Hollywood industry union made a decision to maintain the existing epidemic prevention requirements until April 1. According to the existing epidemic prevention regulations, the cast and crew participating in the actual filming still need to undergo nucleic acid testing before joining the crew, and they must provide negative certificates every week after the start of work. As for vaccinations, most production crews also have mandatory regulations, and filmmakers who have not been vaccinated cannot take on the show.

In this regard, Woody Harrelson, who emphasized that the United States is a free country, expressed extreme opposition. In fact, just two days before the "New York Times" published this interview, Woody Harrelson was invited to host the "Saturday Night Live" program because of his opening remarks about vaccines, which attracted many people. dispute. He said with a smile that he got a script three years ago, "The story tells that the world's largest drug lords got together, bought all the media and politicians, and forced everyone in the world to stay at home unless You are willing to take the drugs they sell, and not once, but every once in a while. I threw the script away on the spot, what a joke, who would believe such a plot? Forced drug use?"

Woody Harrelson to host 'Saturday Night Live'

The satirical monologue did not get much applause at the scene, but it quickly caused polarized reactions on the Internet. An author on the website of Vanity Fair magazine criticized Harrison's move as promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and was "neither intellectually honest nor interesting." However, Elon Musk, the world's richest man, publicly praised Harris for his wonderful performance. At the previous awards ceremony of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the chairman of the union, Fran Drescher, also spoke out on behalf of the majority of Hollywood actors, calling for an end to the "shit" epidemic prevention requirements as soon as possible.