The North American film market last weekend ushered in the large-scale release of three new films. In the end, Sony Pictures' "Insidious: The Red Door" (Insidious: The Red Door) was released in 3,188 theaters in North America, earning a box office of 32.65 million US dollars, leading the weekend box office list.

The word-of-mouth and box office trends of "Latent 5" and "Drive" are very different

"Insidious 5: Red Door" is directed and acted by Patrick Wilson, who has starred in many "Insidious" films, and it is also his first attempt to go from the front to the back of the scene. The story of the film is based on the second film released in 2013, and the current freshness rate on the film review website "Rotten Tomatoes" is also the same as the second film, at 36%, which is obviously classified as a bad film by the media.

But having said that, of the five "Latent" so far, only the first one released in 2010 has received acceptable media reviews. For young audiences who love to watch such works, no matter how much critics criticize them, I am afraid It will not affect their determination to go to the theater to find a thrill.

"Latent 5: Red Door" poster

The second "Latent", which was released in 2013, had a box office of 40.2 million U.S. dollars and a total box office of 83.5 million U.S. dollars in North America, which is the best of the entire series so far. The fifth film released this time also failed to surpass this achievement. Looking at the entire series, the biggest feature is the low cost. The last film only had a production cost of 10 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office was 167 million U.S. dollars. And this time, the production cost of the fifth part is only 16 million US dollars. Even if the cost of publicity and distribution is added, the three-day release has completely paid off.

In addition, Lionsgate's R-rated comedy "Joyride" was also shown in 2,820 North American theaters last weekend, but it only earned $5.85 million at the opening box office, which was far from satisfactory. Starring Asian actors such as Ashley Park and Xu Weilun, the film tells the story of a Chinese adopted by the Americans when they were young and returning to China to find their birth mother. At present, the film is completely opposite to "Latent 5: Red Door" on "Rotten Tomatoes", with a super high score of 91% freshness. Unfortunately, such works are still aimed at niche works in the North American market, and it is difficult to attract attention. interest of mainstream audiences.

Because the middle of last week coincided with the American Independence Day, the box office performance of North American movies during the National Day period has also become the focus of the industry's attention. Originally, "Raiders of the Lost Ark 5" was selected to be screened the previous weekend, and it was the blessing of the National Day file that was fancy. Although Independence Day is only a one-day holiday, and it is on Tuesday, many places simply give employees a big holiday on Monday, so that everyone can enjoy a five-day long holiday. As a result, "Raiders of the Lost Ark 5" only earned $82 million in box office in these five days.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark 5" Poster

In contrast, the Independence Day of the United States in 2017 was also on Tuesday, when "Minions 3" won a box office of 99 million U.S. dollars in the National Day box office; before that, it was 2006, which was also on the Independence Day schedule on Tuesday. Warner's "Superman" Return" took in $76 million. In this way, the results of "Raiders of the Lost Ark 5" may not be very bad. However, on the one hand, the current movie ticket prices are no longer comparable to those in 2006 or 2017; It's on the edge of a cliff, so this week's box office is still hard to say ideal.

It is said that after witnessing the box office failure of "Superman Returns" in 2006, director Bryan Singer once reflected that the summer audience is mainly young people, and Hollywood blockbusters should also have entertainment, action, and spectacle as the main course. It can attract these groups, and the mistake of "Superman Returns" is that there are more nostalgic and romantic elements, and it is not suitable for summer. Looking at it this way, "Raiders of the Lost Ark 5" actually has a lot of nostalgic elements. Perhaps the box office is not ideal, and there are reasons for this.

'Voice of Liberty' gains traction with conservatives

In addition to the above three works, a movie called "Sound of Freedom" was also released on the National Day of July 4th, and achieved quite amazing results. "Admonition 5", even in the three days of the weekend, it also won a weekend box office of 18.22 million US dollars, ranking in the top three of the weekend box office list.

Starring Jim Caviezel, the film is based on true events. The 54-year-old has been in the film industry for more than 30 years. He is best known for his 2004 gospel-themed blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ" and the popular American drama "Person of Interest". He has an outstanding appearance. He has been tempered by many Hollywood productions such as "The Devil's Female Soldier", "The Thin Red Line", "Black Hole Frequency", "Angel Eyes", "The New Count of Monte Cristo", and his acting skills are getting more and more recognition from his peers and audiences. Sure, there should have been a pretty good career run. But in fact, since the fifth season of "Suspect Tracker" ended in 2016, Caviezel has only participated in six film and television works in the seven years so far, and has been almost completely forgotten.

The Voice of Liberty poster

However, during the epidemic, he once made headlines because he wanted to promote the "Voice of Freedom". In the film, his agent Tim Ballard (Tim Ballard) is a real person. He originally worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but in order to combat the underground child trafficking groups all over the United States and Central and South America, he deliberately resigned from public office and established a public welfare organization called "Operation Underground Railroad". It is said that it has been established for ten years. Saved more than 3,000 innocent children.

Originally, although Tim Ballard and his organization also had some exaggerated facts and lack of financial transparency, their goodwill actions basically won the affirmation and support of all walks of life in the United States. But since 2016, the "QAnonymous Q" conspiracy theory that has been raging all over the United States has raised these illegal acts of child trafficking to another level.

They claim that there is such an elite organization all over the world, and its members are either rich or noble. They are all celebrities, political figures from various countries, and even Hollywood stars. To prolong life and keep youth forever, he loves children kidnapped and trafficked by the client Snake Group. But their purpose of taking the children was not to take their lives, but to take the adrenaline from them.

Conspiracy theorists believe that when children are frightened, their bodies pump out adrenaline, which is the big supplement that the elite value. In particular, they called attention to the Pixar cartoon called "Monsters, Inc.", in their view, that some Hollywood people used this work to expose their own machinations. In the movie, the screams of children can be the energy needed by the monster world; and in the eyes of the followers of Anonymous Q, there are also these elites who worship demons in real life, relying on scaring children to squeeze them of adrenaline.

Caviezel talked about the "adrenaline" issue two years ago when he was promoting the "Voice of Liberty". "In simple terms, our bodies produce adrenaline," Caviezel said. "When we're scared, we produce adrenaline. When an athlete competes, we produce adrenaline. A child knows his life is in danger." When the time comes, the body will release adrenaline. Regarding these, those people have a lot of technical terms, and I only know it after listening to Tim Ballard's introduction. It is definitely the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life Even if I have never seen it with my own eyes, just imagining the screams of children, it is absolutely—in short, people who do such things must not be forgiven.”

Does Jim Caviezel, a graduate of the University of Washington, seriously believe that smugglers traffic children to pump their adrenaline? Judging from his tone and demeanor in the video connection at that time, it should indeed be from the heart. As a result, his speech quickly became a hot topic on social media. Netizens questioned what happened to the movie star. I believe it would be such an absurd conspiracy theory.

In fact, Caviezel has always been regarded as an outlier in the American film and television industry after decades of experience in Hollywood. Because of the influence of his family environment, he believed in Catholicism since he was a child. Although he chose to be an actor as an adult, he always insisted on his belief. When he collaborated with Jennifer Lopez in "Angel Eyes", he asked them to wear thin shirts when filming erotic scenes; The drama made headlines in the media. "I can also do intimate scenes, but I don't do that kind of thing that I don't do for the sake of taking it off. It's not just a matter of respecting my wife - although that is really important - but because it is wrong, Evil, simple as that," Caviezel said at the time.

Therefore, in recent years, Caviezel's career path seems to be getting narrower and narrower. In the past seven years, except for participating in the romance film "Fight for Grace", the rest of the time has been starring in "Apostle Paul" (Paul, Apostle of Christ), or the conspiracy theory film "Infidel" (Infidel), starring the famous American right-wing conservative intellectual Dinesh D'Souza, and the recent "Infidel" When the Voice of Freedom was promoting, he also appeared on the Internet media program of Steve Bannon, a political topic figure.

Perhaps, though, this is what makes America so special. Even the most absurd conspiracy theory can always find fans who follow it. In addition, many right-wing people, including former President Trump, have actively promoted the film. Some right-wing civil groups even booked the show to watch the film, or bought a lot of tickets out of their own pockets. Spectators come in to watch. Even before its premiere last Tuesday, "The Voice of Liberty" blew the mind with pre-sales of more than $10 million.

In charge of distributing the film is Angel Studios, which was established less than two years ago. In March this year, they released a gospel film called "His Only Son" (His Only Son), which cost only With a mere $250,000, the total U.S. box office has reached $12.3 million, which is higher than the total U.S. box office of "The Banshee of Inisherin" or "Tal", which hit the Oscars last year.

Just judging from the schedule selection of "Voice of Freedom" this time, Angel Films seems very thoughtful. In the past few years, those who have eaten conspiracy theories the most have often been some conservative American people who usually think they are very patriotic. For them, Tim Ballard, the anti-abduction hero in the film, must be more of an American hero than Indiana Jones, who is in his octogenarians, and is more suitable to buy tickets on the Independence Day of the United States.

It is also worth mentioning that Angel Film Company, which is not wealthy, also has its own ideas in investment and publicity. The production or purchase expenses of their two films ("His Only Son" was self-made, The Voice of Liberty spent more than 14 million US dollars to buy the copyright) and publicity and distribution costs, partly relying on the crowdfunding model: absorbing funds from supporters, and agreeing to share the profits of the film.

Through this crowdfunding process, it has also attracted a large number of fans and exposure. In addition, their way of pre-sale tickets is also very unique. In addition to the option of direct ticket purchase on their official website, there are two more options: "buy tickets for others" and "get free tickets". The former is for caring people to make donations, and the latter provides opportunities for vulnerable groups to watch movies. Obviously, it also takes into account the particularity of the audience who love to watch such gospel movies.

On July 4th, Independence Day, "The Voice of Freedom" had a box office of 14.2 million US dollars, which was much more than the 11.69 million US dollars of the second-ranked "Raiders of the Lost Ark 5", of which about 2.6 million US dollars The box office comes from the above-mentioned "buying tickets for others" model. In the next few days, it is said that many viewers who have watched the film were greatly touched. They not only recommended this film to people around them through all channels, but also fully responded to the film's call and did their best to "buy tickets for others." ", paying for faith.

But in general, the total box office in North America on the weekend after Independence Day, compared with the same period last year, the box office did not increase but decreased, and it dropped by a full 45%, from last year's 238 million US dollars to this year's 130 million US dollars, which is worrying. . Fortunately, "Mission: Impossible 7" will be released in a few days, and Tom Cruise is likely to save the North American box office again.