Chapter 204 203. Vicious Incident
The premiere of "Blue Is the Warmest Color" didn't do very well, according to some rough statistics.
The audience was still very much looking forward to Eric's new movie, so the 400-seat theater was packed, but in the end 74 seats were left empty, with an attendance rate of 18.5%, nearly one-fifth.
The departure rate will be reflected in the subsequent attendance rate, and these departing audiences will naturally not say good things about the movie.
Those with a good attitude would say, "I left halfway through watching that movie. It was really boring."
Those with a bad attitude will criticize the film as homosexual, God won't allow it, it's rubbish, it's a deformed love, etc. They may also maliciously post bad reviews on major websites.
This is even in Los Angeles, where the atmosphere is relatively open, and there are still so many viewers who are not optimistic and accepting of it, not to mention those in conservative regions.
"Eric, I'm a little worried." Ashley said anxiously.
"What are you worried about? Didn't you see? We received applause and the critics didn't find any fault with us. It's not easy to satisfy these guys," Eric comforted.
"Those film critics are doing it for your sake. If it were an ordinary director or if you weren't there, they would definitely criticize you."
"Haha. You think too much. Your performance was great and it was groundbreaking. My eyes are very sharp and I can tell who is sincere and who is fake."
Mary rubbed Eric's shoulders vigorously. "It's not just word of mouth, it's also the box office. If there are less than 500 cinemas, you may lose money."
"Yes, I haven't asked how much the investment in "Blue Is the Warmest Color" was?" Ashley looked over curiously.
“Forty million dollars.”
"So many!" The two sisters widened their eyes at the same time.
"How could it cost $40 million? It was filmed in just two months, and not many extras were used. Only a few scenes were shot in rented locations, and the rest were shot at MGM's studio complex."
"There are no plots that require the use of special effects, and Ashley and I's pay is negligible."
"Eric, you are mistaken. No matter how you calculate it, it is impossible to spend 40 million US dollars!"
"Yeah, I think it's at most 20 million dollars. Did you hire an exaggerated team behind the scenes? Music? Dubbing? That doesn't seem likely."
Seeing their surprised expressions, Eric laughed.
"The $40 million figure is the figure that was announced to the public. If you want to know the real figure, it is actually around $15 million."
Hearing this, Mary rolled her eyes. "I know that all big companies like to exaggerate some costs, but none of them are as exaggerated as you are. You almost doubled it."
"It's not as outrageous as twice, maybe half a times."
“40 million and 15 million, are the math skills of the American elite so bad?”
Eric pointed at his nose and said, "And the fees for my screenwriting and directing. Is this title, the youngest best screenwriter in history, worth $3 million?"
"Plus, I'm also the screenwriter and director of Transformers, which grossed $800 million worldwide. Is this title worth $10 million?"
"When Transformers surpasses Finding Nemo and takes the title of this year's box office champion, it won't be too much to add another $2 million to the youngest box office champion director."
"The $15 million is just because I didn't pay myself a salary, otherwise it should be $30 million."
"So this is how you settle accounts." The two sisters were both angry and amused.
"Yes, that is to say, when we were filming, MGM was almost solely owned by me. It didn't matter if I didn't pay you. But after the listing, everything will be settled separately, and I won't lose a cent."
Ashley breathed a sigh of relief: "With $15 million, the pressure to recoup the investment will be much smaller. If we expand the scale of screening, such as to a thousand theaters, there should be no problem."
"Tsk tsk. Who told you it was only 15 million dollars? That's for production, and the publicity and promotion are not included."
"Didn't you do any publicity to maintain the mystery?"
Mary punched him lightly in the chest, causing him to gasp for air.
Eric took advantage of the situation and grabbed her fist, holding her in his arms, and without hesitation, in front of Ashley, he put his hand into her shirt and squeezed it hard.
"That was before the movie was released. Now we should start promoting it, especially the Golden Globe Awards and the Oscars. These two award ceremonies are the biggest spenders. Have you forgotten what I promised you?"
Of course, the two women did not forget that they were fooled by Eric's constant calling of "Golden Globe Award" and "Oscar Award".
"Eric, are you really going to win the Best Actress award for us?"
Eric nodded seriously: "I always keep my word when it comes to my women."
"Kiss me, darling!"
Ashley stuck out her tongue with watery eyes, and Mary pressed Eric's hand tightly to her chest.
There are too many cases where art films cannot make back their investment. Even if box office, DVD and various copyright income are taken into account, many still suffer losses.
Because the audience is small and it's not the type the market likes, it can't make money in theaters and theaters refuse to show it.
The refusal of theaters to screen the film resulted in a reduced impact and it became less well-known, which then led to poor sales of DVDs and copyrights, creating a vicious cycle.
The only way to break the deadlock is to participate in various influential film festivals, win awards or at least get a few nominations, which can more or less make your film famous, and with fame it will be easier to sell your film.
Of all the film festivals, the most famous is undoubtedly the Oscars. The value of a film that wins an Oscar can immediately soar to hundreds of millions of dollars.
It’s so exaggerated that the three major European film festivals are slightly inferior to it.
Therefore, it is necessary to strive for awards according to the set goals, although he disdains to use despicable methods such as Harvey Weinstein's to discredit opponents and please the judges.
However, conventional means such as buying advertisements, recruiting internet trolls, and creating public opinion must be used, and this process will cost millions of dollars.
If he didn't win the award in the end, the money would be wasted. There is a reason why Harvey Weinstein hates the Cooper father and son so much.
This year, MGM's favorites for awards have been determined: Monster and Blue Is the Warmest Color, plus Get Out.
Do your best to win the Best Actress award for Theron or the Olsen sisters, and win an Original Screenplay award for yourself. These two major awards do not conflict with "The Lord of the Rings 3".
Forget about the Best Actor award, it seems that there hasn't been any particularly outstanding leading actor in MGM's movies over the past year, so the competitiveness is too weak.
"Transformers" can only compete for technical awards, and it conflicts with "The Lord of the Rings 3", so it is highly likely that it will not win any awards.
The jury has already snubbed the crew of The Lord of the Rings for two years. It would be unreasonable and unjustifiable if they don't give this phenomenal work, which is said to have saved the masterpiece of the fantasy epic film genre, a nomination.
As "The Lord of the Rings" was making great strides and "Transformers" was reaping the rewards, the reputation of "Blue Is the Warmest Color" began to improve.
Major newspapers, forums and websites have given their impressions and reviews.
Los Angeles Times: "Blue Is the Warmest Color" is an experiential film, a film for ordinary people, a film for life itself.
"The freckles on the actors' faces can be clearly seen in the simple shots, the sparse soundtrack seems to declare that life itself has no main theme, and the undecorated dialogue rushes straight at you."
"Putting aside the homosexual elements expressed in the movie, this is a very life-like movie that is suitable for everyone. When we watch such a movie, we are watching ourselves."
The New York Times: "Blue Is the Warmest Color is a high-quality love masterpiece. If you go deeper into it, you will find that homosexual love is just its appearance. Deeper, it is about love, regardless of gender, only love and life."
Salt Lake City Entertainment News: "I was invited to attend the premiere of "Blue Is the Warmest Color". I have high expectations for this mysterious movie."
"The facts also prove that Eric Cooper is not only an excellent commercial film director, but he is also very good at directing art films, like a veteran with many years of experience."
"It's rare to see a movie that uses close-up shots of the protagonist in the first hour, taking pictures of him attending class, eating, sleeping, masturbating, having sex, taking a bath, and flirting, but it doesn't make the audience feel bored or invaded."
“An excellent film, directed by an excellent director who has both commercial and artistic talents, this film is worth savoring carefully.”
NBC Entertainment Online: "A good movie should only present life in the most realistic way possible, and Blue Is the Warmest Color is such a movie."
"Adele's story is just a gateway, but what moves the audience is actually our own world. Everyone can see themselves in Adele."
"The ability to present the two heroines brilliantly is due not only to Eric Cooper's directing skills, but also to the efforts of the Olsen sisters themselves."
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"They really scared me. They completely broke away from the constraints of past youth comedies and their acting skills returned to the original simplicity."
"Especially the performances of the two emotional scenes, which are at a master level. They will definitely have a place in the Golden Globe Awards and Oscars next year."
ABC Entertainment: "This is a film that deeply analyzes relationships and shows how life affects love."
"Love is beautiful, but life is often a mess. Without so much passion, the daily necessities of life are the end."
"The gap in values and class is the reason why the two must break up. They can't integrate with each other and have no common language. The gap will appear sooner or later."
"If they were to look at each other from afar, they would love each other deeply, but it would be unnecessary for them to live together, as it would only destroy the beauty they have established."
"Just like the line in the movie, they are like birds and fish, they can love each other, but they are definitely not suitable to be together."
Of course, not all media outlets said good things. The Independent newspaper was often upset and started criticizing, which made Mary so angry that she tore up the newspapers.
Film critics mainly approach the film from an artistic perspective, and most of them applaud the film, but this is not the case when it comes to the audience.
There are quite a lot of abusive voices on the Internet, and the most direct reaction is the imdb rating.
It has been falling since yesterday's opening score of 8.7. Today, it has dropped to 8.4. Suddenly, there are a large number of one-star reviews. The proportion of one-star ratings has reached 1.8%, which is a very high proportion among good movies.
And it is foreseeable that the proportion will continue to rise and the score will continue to fall.
The Olsen sisters' Facebook account also suffered a large-scale attack, with many people leaving messages.
The situation improved after Eric asked them to turn off comments and then blocked a number of accounts.
"So disappointed. Why don't Adele and Emma get back together? Why do they have to be separated? Boycott homophobic films that use homophobic themes as a pretext. Please don't trust critics. This is a disappointing movie."
"Why do you make this kind of movie? Homosexuality is not recognized. God does not allow humans to behave like this!"
"Disgusting story, disgusting actors, disgusting director, I swear I will never watch another movie with Eric Cooper and the Olsen sisters again."
"Sisters join forces. Don't the Olsen sisters feel disgusted? Don't you know what shame is? Go to hell!"
"This movie is a complete blasphemy against Christ. If I know of any movie theater in Louisiana that dares to show it, I will burn it down!"
Reviews for the film were generally mixed, with the film grossing $8.63 million in its first three days over the weekend, which was average.
It can’t be said to be good, but it can’t be said to be bad either. The current attendance rate can reach about 40%.
If this trend continues, the film should be shown in another 100 or 200 theaters in the second week.
But reality often does not develop in the expected direction.
Eric was shaken awake from his sleep and Theron handed him the phone.
"Eric, your phone number, the Olsen sisters."
Eric looked at the time. It was not even 8 o'clock yet. He had been having a fierce battle with Charlize Theron all night and had only slept for more than 3 hours. Now his eyelids were drooping.
"Let's take a look, just in case your little lover has an emergency."
Pah! A slap on Charlize Theron's buttocks to teach her a lesson for talking nonsense.
Ashley and Mary were relatively well-behaved and were trained by him to be obedient, unlike Nicole who liked to launch surprise attacks.
He answered the phone calmly: "Mary, it's me, what's up?"
"Eric, where are you? Still sleeping?"
An anxious voice came from the other side.
"Of course I'm sleeping. Please check the time before you call. It's not time to go to work yet."
"Eric, you better get up and check your computer. A movie theater is on fire in Massachusetts."
"Huh? What does a movie theater fire have to do with me?"
"Would I bother you with something irrelevant? Anyway, take a look and stop talking nonsense."
After they hung up the phone, they looked at each other.
"Honey, go check it out. Something urgent must have happened. She doesn't sound like she's joking."
Under Theron's persuasion, Eric yawned, got out of bed, turned on the computer, and saw this news prominently posted on Yahoo News.
"Social news?" Eric suddenly had a bad feeling.
There were a few pictures of burning buildings and a few pictures of movie theaters that had been reduced to ruins.
Another picture shows a man being held down by police.
Next to the man, there was a sign lying on the ground with blood-red fonts writing on it - Against Homosexuality!
(End of this chapter)