The Best Director-Chapter 487 - : The Formidable Third Place Winner
Chapter 487: Chapter 487: The Formidable Third Place Winner
As the sports biopic “Invincible” clinched the North American box office champion from August 25-31 and then retained the crown from September 1-7, the summer movie season of ’06 gradually came to a close. Compared to the spectacular events of the previous year, this year could be described as rather uneventful; amidst the power struggle of various film distributors, Flame triumphed once more!
“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” which premiered on March 31, was merely a passerby this summer. Having just finished a 23-week run, it garnered a total of $231 million / $925 million in box office revenue (North America / worldwide). Although it did not breach the billion-dollar club, it is undoubtedly this summer’s most successful CGI animation film and Flame & Blue Sky’s most successful film to date, as well as one of the most successful animated movies in history.
If we talk about the North American CGI animation box office rankings, it doesn’t fare as high, sitting in 8th place. It can’t compare to the top three: “Shrek 2” from DreamWorks with $441 million, “Finding Nemo” from Pixar with $339 million, or the original “Shrek,” also from DreamWorks, with $267 million… It even falls short of this summer’s “Cars” from Pixar, currently at $242 million and in 7th place. However, on the global ranking (not accounting for inflation), it is in the 1st place!
No.1: “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” $925 million, Flame & Blue Sky; No.2: “Shrek 2,” $919 million, DreamWorks; No.3: “Finding Nemo,” $867 million, Buena Vista/Pixar; No.4: “Ice Age 2,” $730 million, Flame & Blue Sky; No.5: “The Incredibles,” $631 million, Buena Vista/Pixar…
“Time has proven how right Flame Pictures was to take the bold step of ‘an upstart swallowing something far bigger than itself.”
When the “Wall Street Journal” reported on this, it mentioned this statement again. When Flame Pictures acquired Blue Sky for $100 million, the outside world questioned whether Wang Yang had gone mad, did not know what he was doing, and would soon regret it deeply… Upstart! Now those voices have long since disappeared, and “IA3’s” achievement of topping the CGI animation film history has truly silenced those who asked “Isn’t ‘Ice Age’ enough?” How could it be enough? No company could possibly say so.
Its impressive results owe much to IMAX giant screens and 3D screenings, and of course to the whopping $694 million it raked in from foreign markets. Children all over the world absolutely adored this lighthearted and entertaining animation!
A look at the following comparison might shed some light on things: “IA3” / “Shrek 2” / “Monsters, Inc.” (The box office in Austria was $13.5 million / $4.89 million / $2.45 million, in Finland $5 million / $1.75 million / $270,000, in Norway $12.59 million / $5.57 million / $3.1 million… “IA3” managed to turn some small markets into medium-sized markets with tens of millions in box office, while big markets like France and Germany almost reached a hundred million.
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However, “IA3” was not invincible everywhere; for instance, the box office in the United Kingdom was $56.8 million/ $88.27 million / $53.33 million, and in Japan $7.31 million / $22.43 million / $74.43 million…
One movie makes billions here, another there, as CGI animated films present such attractive prospects, it’s natural that every distributor wants a piece of the pie, and this year can certainly be called a year of new releases.
Counting only films with a wide release in North America, there was just one in ’03, five in ’04, six in ’05, so how about ’06? Including those that have already premiered and those scheduled for release, 13 titles, related to 9 different distribution brands.
Nevertheless, the CGI route is not an easy path to tread, and getting a slice of the cake is not so simple.
“Doogal” only garnered $7.41 million in box office revenue (Weinstein, released on February 24, 2006, budget unrevealed), a flop; followed by Flame & Blue Sky’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” $925 million, number one in film history; “Into the Wild” made $37.38 million / $80.52 million (Buena Vista, April 14, $80 million production cost), a fail; “Over the Hedge” took in $155 million / $336 million (Paramount/DreamWorks, May 19, budget unrevealed), its fate is unclear; “Cars,” at the moment $242 million / $418 million (Buena Vista, June 9, $120 million production cost), a success;
“Garfield 2” earned $28.36 million / $123 million (Fox, June 16, budget unrevealed), its fate is unclear; “Monster House” made $70.97 million / $112 million (Sony/Columbia, July 21, $75 million production cost), a fail; “The Ant Bully” scored $26.76 million / $40.76 million (Warner Brothers, July 28, $50 million production cost), a fail.
Fox’s “Everyone’s Hero” is set to premiere on September 15; Sony/Columbia’s $85 million budgeted “Open Season” is hitting the screens on September 29; Paramount (DreamWorks) ambitiously budgeted $149 million for “Flushed Away,” making its debut on November 3; Warner Brothers’ $100 million budgeted “Happy Feet” secured November 17; and “Arthur and the Invisibles,” distributed by MGM and costing $86 million, is slated for December 29.
Of the eight films that have been released, only two new works from established brands have achieved great success; and in Wang Yang’s mind, the future information bank indicates that out of these five upcoming films, the pleasing performance of “Happy Feet” stands out with $384 million, while the other four respectively made $16.62 million, $197 million, $178 million, and $107 million.
So, this year’s CGI animation king is undoubtedly “IA3,” and it seems it will occupy the global box office champion’s throne for a very long time. The pride of Flame Pictures will continue to be praised and exalted.
It’s not just “IA3”; “The Hangover Part III,” which was released on May 12, ended its 17-week run and finally bagged $214 million / $528 million in box office takings, relative to its $80 million production cost, the success hardly needs to be stated. The total production cost of the entire Hangover series was $155 million, with a total box office of $1.768 billion! In the R-rated comedy rankings, the top three spots are consecutively occupied by the Hangover crew, with no one able to challenge their position for the time being.
Mamma Mia! premiered on June 16th, sweeping the globe with its exuberant music and dance routines. After a 12-week run, its box office pattern was clear, with current revenues at $184 million domestically and $657 million internationally. It’s anticipated that by the time it finishes its run, it will be close to the $700 million mark, as this wildly popular stage musical has brilliantly shined on the big screen!
Cinemas are busier than opera houses after all. More people now know about Mamma Mia! and the band ABBA. Driven by the film version, stage adaptations in Broadway and other locations have seen a revival. Judy Craymer and others are even discussing plans for another global tour. However, these developments no longer concern FF. But looking at Mamma Mia!’s production budget of $65 million, there’s no doubt—it’s a smash hit!
Nobody anticipated it; not Disney, not Miramax Films (whose staff is now with Weinstein), nor Fox, the producers of Moulin Rouge!. None of these companies foresaw the massive energy this emerging stage show would unleash!
Even though it had Wang Yang’s seal of approval, many thought Mamma Mia! would do well to reach $300 million—a far cry from High School Musical 3’s $125 million domestically and $257 million internationally, Chicago’s $170 million domestically and $306 million internationally, Moulin Rouge!’s $57.38 million domestically and $179 million internationally, and The Phantom of the Opera’s $51 million domestically and $154 million internationally (released on December 22, 2004, by Warner Brothers, with a production budget of $70 million), or Rent’s $29.07 million domestically and $31.67 million internationally (released on November 23, 2005, by Sony/Revolution, with a production budget of $40 million).
Apart from Rent, which film’s fame isn’t greater than Mamma Mia!’s? Nicole Kidman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Amy Rossum—which one doesn’t have more box office appeal than Meryl Streep or Amanda? Yet, the highest-grossing is the joyously chaotic Mamma Mia!, whether some people are willing to believe it or not.
It has become the highest-grossing film of Meryl Streep’s career, surpassing The Devil Wears Prada and vaulting her into the $600 million box office hall of fame. The media and fans have long been exclaiming that with Wang Yang’s magic touch, Streep is experiencing a second career renaissance; it’s a real case of an old tree blossoming anew. In various North American charts, Mamma Mia! broke many records. In the musical category (from 1974 to present, live-action only), it surpassed Chicago to take third place, behind Footloose’s $188 million and High School Musical’s $201 million.
In the mother-themed film category (from 1980 to present), it ranks first, followed by the 1983 Oscar Best Picture Terms of Endearment ($108 million) and Freaky Friday ($91 million). In the wedding-themed category, it ranks third behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Wedding Crashers…
Furious Cars 2 premiered on July 14th, and after just eight weeks in the theaters, its box office numbers are nearly set in stone: $213 million domestically and $605 million internationally, as crazy as the movie’s content!
In the North American chart for heist/crime films, it has surpassed its predecessor, Furious Cars, which made $195 million, taking the first spot, with Ocean’s Eleven dropping to third with $183 million. It has firmly established its reign in the racing film category, though Cars takes the first spot, with Furious Cars in the second and third positions.
The once-thriving Fast & Furious series is gradually being forgotten. Attempting a fresh start, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift premiered on June 16th. However, Universal made a mess of it—with no remarkable direction from Antoine Fuqua of Training Day, issues with the film’s tone and positioning, and a chilly reception from global audiences. It grossed only $51.32 million domestically and $126 million internationally, and with Universal not disclosing the budget, the extent of its loss was unclear, but surely the outlook wasn’t good, hence Universal’s low profile.
Another racing film dropped this summer—Sony/Columbia’s Talladega Nights, released on August 4th. This sports comedy, budgeted at $72.5 million, topped the August box office for three weeks straight, scoring 72% on Rotten Tomatoes weekly and grossing $139 million domestically with overseas releases still pending. It certainly gave Sony/Columbia a little bragging rights. Sadly, such comedies struggle to spawn sequels without the risk of a financial flop, so it hardly shook the racing market.
The two Furious Cars films had a combined production budget of $170 million and have grossed an astounding $1.162 billion worldwide! No company can claim to be cooler than that.
This summer, films like Mission: Impossible 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, Superman Returns, and Miami Vice had mixed fortunes, with some losses and some gains, joys and concerns; Pirates of the Caribbean 3 surged to a global box office of $1 billion, The Da Vinci Code to $700 million…
Starting from the 18th week (May 5-11) to the 35th week (September 1-7), Disney won the most weekly crowns with five ★★★★★, followed by Sony/Columbia with five ★★★★★, third was FireFlame Films with three ★★★, and then Universal with two ★★, Paramount with one ★, Fox with one ★, and Warner Brothers with one ★.
Although they didn’t retain the summer box office championship, with total movie revenues of $528 million, $657 million, $605 million, plus an earlier $925 million, and just $345 million in total production costs for four new films, FireFlame Films has already amassed a total box office revenue of $2.715 billion this year. With its strong international market appeal, it has easily matched last year’s trio of films, which totaled $2.432 billion, and even outdid it by $283 million!
Who dares say they’re on a decline? At the moment, the media are busy singing their praises—it’s magical, nothing but magical!
Next summer, FireFlame Films has already scheduled big hitters like Iron Man, I Am Legend, and The Assassin’s Creed 2, as well as The Green Hornet earlier on. What kind of performance can we expect? Fans are eagerly anticipating.
But before that, the next FireFlame Films release, The Illusionist, is set to hit North American Cinemas on September 15th. It’s the first test of FF’s Sundance Film Festival acquisitions this year, and everyone is watching. This fantasy film, which FF purchased outright for a high price of $25 million and has long been promoted, has yet to prove if it’s gold or junk. (To be continued. If you like this work, please feel welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
