Vol 2 Chapter 742: Downhill

In recent years, George Lucas did not have any directorial masterpieces, and even after he used modern technology to re-modify the "Star Wars" screens, some fans of the true trilogy regarded him as the "Sith Lord". criticism. ↖
However, in the industry, George Lucas and his Lucasfilm established the current model of Hollywood blockbusters, which is a consensus.
Even people like James Cameron are full of praise for him.
At the promotion meeting of "Avatar" attended by Duke and James Cameron, the king of the world once said that his gratitude and respect for Lucas is unlimited.
"He used the available resources to develop digital special effects, digital editing, digital sound effects, and digital photography technology. He opened a door for me, allowing me to photograph what I wanted in my mind."
Although there is no mention of Lucas’s ability to tell stories, James Cameron highly praises him for creating and innovating Hollywood film technology. I think he has contributed far more to the entire film industry than he gets. In return, he is Thomas Edison in the film industry. "
As a director, George Lucas’ level is not top-notch; as a screenwriter, some of George Lucas’s works are unqualified, especially at the kindergarten level in dealing with emotional dialogue; but as a filmmaker, George Lucas is definitely a genius. , The leader of the god-level existence.
His influence on movies is by no means inferior to Coppola, Cameron, Hitchcock or anyone else.
More importantly, George Lucas not only revolutionized the entire film industry with special effects technology, but also promoted the development of film peripheral products.
James Cameron can be said to be another pioneer of Hollywood film technology after George Lucas.
On December 16th, the Chinese Theater in Hollywood was crowded with people, and the scale and excitement of the premiere were no less inferior to the Oscars. Hundreds of well-known Hollywood figures have entered the theater one after another. Like ordinary audiences, Hollywood stars seem to want to watch the first giant show in history as soon as possible.
"Can one person really change the whole world? At least from James Cameron, the answer we got is yes."
In the interview area. In the face of countless reporters’ microphones, Duke did not hesitate to praise James Cameron,
Because of this "Avatar", the entire industry will be upgraded to an unprecedented height!"
He worked hard to promote the film, and he was not worried that it would become a laughing stock in the end. The quality of the film is the source of confidence.
During the period before the release of "Avatar", many strange voices circulated on the Internet or in the media, such as the scale of investment that was just publicity, and was slobbered by the few remaining old film critics. But their current influence can only be said to be better than nothing, and will basically not affect the market response of the film.
There are also some people who have expressed their views on the film in the media. For example, some independent directors claim that Hollywood film companies are simply crazy and have invested such a huge sum of money to shoot a film. If these funds are transferred to independent In the film industry, how many literary films or small-cost independent films can be shot?
But anyone with a clear head knows. If Hollywood studios really invested this money in literary films, it would be crazy.
In addition, many people and media have expressed dissatisfaction with this film. Think that the investor's money will definitely be in vain.
Investors such as Duke, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox are too lazy to respond to such remarks.
Looking back at James Cameron’s filming history, starting from "Terminator 2", to "True Lies", and then to "Titanic", the investment amount of blockbuster films has been repeatedly updated. Every time before the release, there are a large number of so-called professionals who think it will be a disastrous box office defeat and so on.
The most typical is "Titanic". The critics at the time called James Cameron the world's biggest fool. "Titanic" would be the biggest box office disaster of this century... But after the film was released, these people collectively dumb. Mouth, the film’s box office ruthlessly shattered their last face. It also makes people fully realize that professional film critics are actually nothing.
Everyone knows that James Cameron is a money-burning machine, but people have the ability to double the investment money back, and even if they put in their own film remuneration, they must make the most perfect effect in their minds.
When he walked to take a photo in front of the poster, Duke saw an interesting scene. Susie Amis and Catherine Bigelow stood beside Cameron one by one, taking a photo with the King of the World uncompromisingly.
For ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends and girlfriends in Hollywood, this is nothing unusual. This circle is so big, especially the top few floors. There are always those people going back and forth, and they often meet in public.
Duke was not familiar with Catherine Bigelow, who was in the independent film circle, but they nodded each other and walked into the theater with the crew.
The main hall of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood has long been transformed by imax into an imax cinema. imax has placed more expectations on "Avatar", hoping that this super giant system can quickly spread the global imax3d craze after "Transformers" Push to the peak completely.
"You're late, Duke."
Just sitting in his seat, someone next to him said hello, Duke smiled and replied, "You came early, Doug."
The person next to him was Warner Bros’ ceo Doug Walter. He sighed with emotion,
It’s a pity that such a giant system is not completely owned by Warner.

Duke smiled, but said nothing.
Doug Walter said to Duke again, "By the way, the first week of "fury road" DVD sales statistics have not exceeded 100 million US dollars.
"The future will only be lower." Duke is not surprised, "The entire DVD industry is going downhill."
Although the craze of "Furious Road" has long passed in North America, in some local theaters specializing in cut films, it was not fully released until early December. The film's final North American box office reached US$272.88 million, which is definitely The leader in r-rated films.
In addition, the film has basically ended its overseas screenings. The overseas box office has accumulated more than 350 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office has successfully crossed the 600 million U.S. dollar mark, with a total of 642.1 million U.S. dollars!
For an R-rated film, this is not easy, and this box office figure is enough to rank in the top five of the r-rated film box office list.
After chatting with Doug Walter, Duke didn’t wait long before the screening of "Avatar" kicked off. Except for the subtle changes, this film is basically not the same as the trial version he saw in Wellington. There are too many differences. The film is definitely a huge breakthrough in film technology. The story and plot are still thin, making Duke people who prefer humans feel helpless.
Regardless of what meaning James Cameron gave to the Na'vi, in the minds of people like Duke, being a man is much better than doing other messy things.
As for the picture and technology of the film, that is not what words can describe at all. Even if thick and gorgeous rhetoric is piled up, it is not enough to describe the Pandora planet shown in the film.
Having said that, when watching a movie, few people want the protagonist to hang up. After all, that’s where his substitution is. But even if Duke has watched the sample and sat here watching the actor, he still desperately wants him to be The human mech is killed.
Time gradually turned to the wee hours, a villa in Beverly Hills was still brightly lit, Van Diesel sat on the sofa in the lounge, quietly waiting for the relevant information to come, what he was concerned about was "Avatar"!
As far as he knows, Duke Rosenberg has invested a huge sum of 200 million US dollars in this project. If the film fails, this kind of loss will be extremely painful even for his wealth.
People are always affected by the environment. The media and movie fans frantically compare "Fast and Furious 4" with "Furious Road", and use adjectives like "niang", which has seriously affected Fan Di. Searle's sense of Duke, "Avatar" staged a box office tragedy, is the result he would like to see very much.
I don’t know how long it took, Van Diesel gradually fell into sleepiness, and his upper eyelids kept falling. Just when he was going to sleep in a daze, the knock on the door suddenly sounded, and he immediately He stood up and shook his head to make himself more awake.
The door was pushed open from the outside, and Van Diesel's personal assistant walked in.
"The statistics are out?"
Seeing the assistant holding the fax in his hand, Van Diesel took two steps forward and grabbed it directly. After seeing the numbers on it, even if he was as calm as him, he couldn't stop the joy in his heart. Could it be that his thoughts really Achieved? Two people who have never missed a business masterpiece in the past are really going to encounter Waterloo?
At the moment of relaxation, Van Diesel's hands shook slightly with excitement, and the box office of "Avatar" at the midnight show was a complete mess.
$6.75 million!
This is the total midnight box office of "Avatar" in 3652 theaters in North America. For a science fiction movie with no prequel, no original, no star star, and the story lacks audience recognition, this achievement is not easy.
but!
Compared with the huge investment figures for this film and the audience's expectations for this "most expensive film in history", this figure is very unsatisfactory.
A faint, relaxed smile hung over Van Diesel's mouth.
At the same time, in a luxury apartment in faraway New York, Natalie Portman broke free from the physical entanglement of the man opposite, regardless of the surprised eyes of the ballerina after being awakened, like a queen in control of everything , Put on her pajamas and walked out of the bedroom, called the agent Martin Miller, and after a few simple questions, she got the same number as Van Diesel.
When she pulled the phone off, Natalie Portman's mouth made an extremely beautiful curve. The facts seemed to prove to her that no one can succeed forever, even Duke Rosenberg is no exception.
The other party is indeed not the director of "Avatar", but he invested a lot of money in it, but it is something that Hollywood people know.
Duke Rosenberg lost an astronomical investment, and Natalie Portman is still very willing to see. (To be continued.)
ps: Ask for monthly and recommended tickets!