Hollywood has had a tough few years.
The epidemic has dealt a huge blow to the entertainment industry, especially the film industry. The impact of this global disaster is greater in developed regions.
In 2019, the North American film market released 910 films throughout the year, with a total box office of 11.4 billion US dollars.
By 2020, the first year of the epidemic, the number of films released throughout the year had dropped sharply to 455, and the total box office had fallen to a pitiful US$1.11 billion.
It can be said that the movies released this year basically lost all their money.
The epidemic eased in 2021, and the total box office in North America for the whole year rose to 4.48 billion.
As the market thaws, Hollywood giants have gradually begun to arrange the release of their high-cost key films.
[Spider-Man: No Homecoming] is a movie that will be released in December 2021.
"Marvel's Spider-Man" was a huge hit at the box office, earning $800 million in North America and $1.9 billion worldwide, quickly catapulting it to the top of the global movie box office rankings.
The huge success of "Spider-Man" also marks the complete recovery of the North American and even global film market. Therefore, in the first half of 2022, Hollywood has successively released many blockbusters that audiences are looking forward to.
For example, "The Batman" was released in March, "Doctor Strange 2" and "Top Gun 2" were released in May, "Elvis" and "Jurassic World 3" were released in June, and "Thor 4: Love and Thunder" and "Minions 2" were released last month.
These movies all achieved good box office results, and the North American box office of "Top Gun 2" even exceeded 700 million.
In August, "DC Super Heroes" was released first and won the box office championship of the week with a box office of 32 million.
Then in the second week, "John Wick 4" and "Bullet Train" were released on the same day.
In terms of investment amount, neither of these two films can be considered as top blockbusters.
The production cost of "Bullet Train" was 90 million US dollars, and "John Wick 4" was a little more at 110 million US dollars, which is a lot less than the investment of 200 to 300 million US dollars in some special effects blockbusters.
However, both movies are very popular. "Bullet Train" is starring Brad Pitt and is adapted from Kotaro Isaka's highly rated novel "Ladybug".
[John Wick 4] is a popular IP in itself, and the "Give Me Back My Life" series has already had a group of loyal fans after three films, and Keanu Reeves also has a good reputation among North American audiences.
Originally, many viewers and industry insiders thought that the two films were evenly matched and there would be a fierce battle. However, after the release, "John Wick 4" won with an overwhelming advantage.
In fact, the box office performance of "Bullet Train" in its first week was also quite good, with a revenue of 40.25 million US dollars in the first three days.
Normally this would be the weekly champion, but unfortunately "John Wick 4" performed better, with a box office of 92.27 million in the first three days, second only to those top blockbusters.
In addition to its good box office performance, "John Wick 4" also has excellent reputation.
The film has a 95% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 95% popcorn index, an average audience rating of 4.7 stars (out of 5 stars), an IMDb rating of 8.5 points, and a CinemaScore audience reputation of A 12.
In addition, many film review organizations gave high scores, such as IGN gave a full score of 100 points.
The Hollywood Reporter gave it a high score of 90, saying that it is a textbook action movie with dramatic tension and climax scenes that make people unable to stop watching.
Many critics believe that the script, visual effects and action scenes of "John Wick 4" surpass the previous three films and are shocking to watch.
Keanu Reeves' performance remains stable, and the newly joined Eastern superstar Gu Wei steals the limelight!
[John Wick 4] was a huge hit, attracting much attention from other Hollywood studios and some industry insiders.
It's not simply because the movie has high box office or good reputation.
Although [John Wick 4] has a good box office, it is still some distance away from the "Marvel series" superhero movies and other top-notch blockbusters.
But everyone found that in addition to its good box office performance in North America, the box office in other global markets, especially in China, was even better.
[John Wick 4] grossed $92.27 million in North America in its first weekend, $123 million in the Chinese market, and $68 million in other countries.
The global box office total in the first week was 283 million US dollars!
Box office outside North America was twice that of the domestic box office.
China, as a single film market, has achieved box office results that are 30 million more than North America. This is what amazed everyone in Hollywood who was paying attention to this movie.
Marvel Studios.
"Charles, have you been following the latest Lionsgate movie?"
CEO Kevin Feige sat in a comfortable boss chair, holding a newspaper in his hand. He seemed to see something interesting, put it down and said to his subordinate beside him.
Kevin Feige is an absolute legend in Hollywood.
When he took over Marvel Studios, this once giant in the comics industry had reached its end, heavily in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy.
Instead of seeking a solution in the comics field, Kevin planned to make his own superhero movie and seek a breakthrough in the film field.
However, making movies costs money, and Marvel has no money. Kevin had no choice but to use the copyrights of the Black Panther and Doctor Who characters as collateral and borrowed $525 million from Merrill Lynch.
At that time, Marvel was basically fighting a desperate battle!
As we all know, Iron Man was a huge success.
The global box office of $585 million saved Marvel and also saved Robert Downey's acting career.
From then on, Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige himself embarked on a path of success, creating the current environment in Hollywood where superhero movies are the mainstream.
"Are you talking about the Keanu Reeves movie, John Wick 4?"
"That's right. This series has evolved from a $20 million B-grade film to an A-grade production with hundreds of millions of dollars invested. Not only is the box office getting better and better, but the word of mouth has also set a new record for the series.
This is also extremely rare in a film series!"
“I’ve seen the movie, it’s really exciting, and the battle scenes are absolutely top-notch action movies!
According to the current box office trend, the final box office of "John Wick 4" in North America will be close to 300 million.
This number is almost the same as the global total box office of the third film.
Lionsgate has discovered a new treasure!"
What Charles said is very pertinent. For current Hollywood film companies, IP series movies are the most important assets.
A popular series IP, the film company is eager to continue filming.
The most typical example is "The Fast and the Furious", which has already been filmed to the 10th part. The main character team has tried everything, and even one of the leading actors died, but it still cannot stop "Universal Pictures" from continuing to film.
There is no other reason. The series of movies has a stable fan base, low risk and high returns, so the film company will naturally not give up.
"Compared to the North American box office, I am more concerned about the film's box office performance in overseas markets, especially the Chinese market.
According to the latest data disclosed by the media, the box office performance of "John Wick 4" in the Chinese market has reached nearly 200 million US dollars, and it will almost reach 300 million by the end of this week.
This result is much higher than the North American box office!"
Charles nodded in agreement: "The huge sales in the Chinese market are probably thanks to that Oriental superstar GU.
His appeal in the Chinese market is at a dominant level.
Didn’t we invite him to play "Shang-Chi" in the first place? Unfortunately, the collaboration was not successful in the end.
Now it seems very regrettable indeed!"
Charles is an executive at Marvel Studios and the producer of Iron Man 3, Doctor Strange, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
When the decision was made to invite Gu Wei to play Shang-Chi, he also voted in favor.
“It’s a pity indeed.
Judging from his performance in "John Wick 4", this GU has a very strong talent in action scenes and is comparable to Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
He is also very good-looking, far surpassing his two predecessors, which is a great advantage in attracting young audiences.
Finally, there is the huge Chinese market that he brings with him.
If he came to Hollywood, he would become a top star very quickly!"
Kevin Feige has a very high opinion of Gu Wei.
When Shang-Chi was being cast, he went out of his way to get to know the other party, and was very regretful that they were unable to work together in the end.
Now that Gu Wei has joined Lionsgate's John Wick 4 and doubled the film's box office revenue by himself, his regret is even stronger.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the box office revenue of "John Wick 4" in the Chinese market was won by Gu Wei.
Although this IP has some popularity, the first three films were not released in China. Now the fourth film is a big hit, and there is no other reason other than the protagonist Gu Wei.
“Now I think if GU could play Shang-Chi, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings might have had a chance to be released in China.
In that case, relying on the Chinese market, this movie has every chance of reaching a billion dollars at the global box office and becoming another hit superhero series in the Marvel Universe!"
As the producer of Shang-Chi, Charles felt very sorry about this movie.
Although Shang-Chi's North American box office reached $200 million, making it one of the highest-grossing films in North America last year, its global box office was only $367 million, far less than its $150 million production cost and $50 million in publicity expenses, totaling an investment of approximately $200 million.
The inability to be released in China is one of the main reasons for its losses.
The Chinese market has always been an important source of box office revenue for Marvel movies, and the failure of "Shang-Chi" to be released in China directly affected its global box office revenue, resulting in serious losses.
“If Gu Wei can be invited, is it possible to restart the Shang-Chi project later?
Just like Spider-Man and the Hulk, they changed the protagonists and re-shot it."
Marvel's superheroes are not always the same. Spider-Man has changed three times, from Tobey Maguire to Tom Holland.
The Hulk was first filmed by Ang Lee and is completely different from the actors today.
“Well~
That’s a possibility.”
Kevin Feige touched his chin and fell into deep thought.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings flopped at the box office, and there will definitely not be a sequel.
As to whether this hero will appear in Avengers or other superhero movies in the future, there is no conclusion yet.
If we follow Charles' suggestion, it is not impossible to re-shoot a new version of Shang-Chi.
At this time, not only Marvel Studios, but also Hollywood film companies have turned their attention to the oriental superstar in the movie due to the impressive performance of John Wick 4 in overseas markets, especially the Chinese market.
Since 2020, the Chinese film market has surpassed North America to become the world's largest single film market.
Hollywood film companies have always been coveting that huge market.
And the Chinese superstar Gu Wei seems to be the best key for them to open up the Chinese film market!
【Lionsgate Films】.
".As of now, [John Wick 4] has been released in 4,357 theaters in North America, with a total box office of $137 million.
The film's box office in the Chinese market has reached 213 million yuan, and 104 million yuan in other global markets.
"John Wick 4" has been released for 6 days and the total box office has exceeded 450 million US dollars!"
As his assistant reported, Jon Felemey became happier.
He had thought that "John Wick 4" would be successful, but he never thought it would be so successful.
According to the current box office trend of the movie, it is expected to hit $300 million in North America, and the global box office will far exceed North America, especially the Chinese market, which is likely to reach $400 million or even higher!
"When does GU's flight arrive?"
The assistant flipped through the notebook in his hand and said, "We should land at Los Angeles Airport around noon. The pick-up has been arranged in advance~"
Jon nodded, thought for a moment and said, "Contact Michael and ask him to pick us up at the airport to show our care!"
Michael is his deputy and one of the producers of "John Wick 4".
"Understood sir, I'll go and inform them right away~" The assistant agreed and was about to walk out.
Jon waved and called her back.
"No need, I'll leave with the company's fleet in a moment and I'll pick you up at the airport myself."
As the president of Lionsgate, Jon knew very well that Gu Wei was not just a simple Chinese actor.
He is also the owner of a film company.
And in terms of investment, "John Wick 4" is a film co-produced by "Lionsgate" and "Suncity".
Its attribute of being a "Sino-US co-production" is also one of the reasons why the film was successfully released in the Chinese market and reaped super high box office.
As the boss of the partner, he could not attach enough importance to Gu Wei.
Moreover, a large part of the current box office performance of "John Wick 4" comes from Gu Wei. For him and "Lionsgate", Gu Wei is like a god of wealth.
August in Los Angeles is sunny and hot.
As soon as they got out of the private plane, Gu Wei and his group felt the heat wave coming towards them.
“It’s so hot!”
Behind Gu Wei, Reba was wearing a sun hat, black sunglasses, and a light brown long dress, looking like she was going on vacation.
“It’s noon now, so it feels a bit warmer.
Los Angeles has a Mediterranean climate, and coupled with its proximity to the ocean, it's much more comfortable than inland cities."
Reba looked around and took two quick steps to walk shoulder to shoulder with Gu Wei.
"I've been here before when I was shooting a commercial, but I didn't stay long. I left in a hurry after the work was done."
Gu Wei smiled and said, "We can stay for three days this time. Apart from the meeting, you can use the rest of the time as you like."
"Then can you accompany me?" Reba turned her head and asked with a smile.
"Sure, I can go around with you if I have nothing to do." (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com