"the hunger games is a successful commercial blockbuster. It has beauties, handsome men, violence, love, oppression, and resistance. There are thrilling killing games and deeper political metaphors. As an entertainment film, it is qualified."
"If you want to see the advertised violent battles in the hunger games, then congratulations, you can. If you want to see the human dissection like in battle royale, I'm sorry, there isn't any. The core of the two films is completely different."
"If you want to relax with friends or a lover at the cinema, then choosing the hunger games won't be wrong."
"Krysten Liu contributed an astonishing performance to the hunger games. Her limelight even overshadowed the female lead, Gal Gadot. You can find all the characteristics a boss should have in Vanthia Ghost. It's worth watching."
"I originally thought this was a brainless popcorn flick, but I didn't expect it to contain some profound connotations. I'm willing to give the hunger games 3.5 points."
"Bloody, thrilling, and action-packed, but the romantic elements are not well-portrayed. It's a run-of-the-mill commercial film."
"The most brilliant scenes in the film are with the supporting characters, Vanthia Ghost and Yun. They will definitely leave a deep impression on you."
As the reviews were unsealed, discussions and film reviews for the hunger games also came out, with generally more positive feedback.
Although film critics complained about the lack of depth and superficiality, the audience's reaction was very good.
Rotten Tomatoes' score reached 92%, which is a very good commercial blockbuster.
Relatively speaking, the IMDb score was 7.6. Although not excellent, it was already quite good for a film with a strong commercial feel.
At the same time, the reviews for harry potter 3: prisoner of azkaban were also released.
Rotten Tomatoes' fresh rating was 91%, and the public's word-of-mouth was also excellent.
The IMDb score was 8.3, not only winning audience recognition but also receiving good reviews from film critics.
On the more pure and professional MTC, the score reached 8.8 points. As for the hunger games, going to MTC would just be asking for trouble.
However, these are data reflected online. If you go to offline cinemas for face-to-face interviews,
the flavor of prisoner of azkaban changes a bit, because many children and younger teenagers don't have access to the internet and naturally cannot participate in scoring.
But can their contribution to the box office be ignored because of this?
Of course not, they are the main force!
"Hi! Can I bother you for a few minutes?"
An entertainment reporter approached a family: parents in their thirties with a girl around ten years old.
"No problem."
"Let me guess, you're here to see harry potter, right?"
The parents looked at the little girl dotingly: "Otherwise? Mickey has seen the first two parts and has been clamoring to see the third part, so we can only satisfy her."
"OK, Mickey, what a beautiful name. What's wrong, darling? Why don't you look very happy?"
The little girl pouted: "This isn't the Harry I wanted to see. I wanted to see beautiful magic like before, and sparkling Hogwarts."
"But all of that is gone. The picture is too dark, and that Dementor scared me. I hate that floating monster."
"Have you seen it? It's scary, and Ron's rat suddenly turned into a monster. It's really terrifying!"
"So, you don't like this movie?"
"Yes, I like the old Harry, not the current Harry."
Having the film directed by the dark master Alfonso Cuarón indeed endowed prisoner of azkaban with an extraordinary charm.
Eric himself admitted that his favorite was this version, but this love was from the perspective of adults or teenagers aged fifteen or sixteen and above.
Faster pacing, stronger suspense, a heavier sense of crisis, a gothic dark style, and even Ms. Watson's larger chest—who wouldn't love it?
But later, Alfonso Cuarón did not continue to direct the sequels. Subsequently, whether it was Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, or Deathly Hallows, that charming dark flavor all disappeared.
From this, you can judge that this style really doesn't work! Investors know best.
If it weren't for the big IP, prisoner of azkaban would likely not even reach $800 million at the box office.
As the first weekend's three-day box office was released, prisoner of azkaban took in over $67 million from 3885 theaters.
the hunger games took in $58.6 million, a difference of $8 million, giving Warner Bros. a small victory.
In third place was the still-showing shrek 2. DreamWorks has earned enough this year.
When the seven-day box office was released, North America's $124 million performance was very impressive, with prisoner of azkaban winning another round.
the hunger games took $102 million, barely breaking a hundred million, securing second place.
Overseas box office is not comparable because the number of countries released is different, and the release dates also vary slightly.
In the film and television industry, box office is king. Eric heard that Warner Bros. was satisfied with this result, and Barry Meyer was very happy, finally feeling vindicated and making a big splash.
Little Liu has been in a very pleasant mood these past few days. Although following the crew for promotions was tiring, she was still overjoyed.
The media and audience gave almost unanimous praise. The character Vanthia Ghost, as Eric said, was incredibly popular.
She finally enjoyed the treatment of a star, not just an ordinary small star, but a first-tier star.
Before, when she walked on the street, occasionally a few young people would recognize her. Now, if she dared to go out alone, she would be asked for photos and autographs within ten minutes.
Then it would be one fan after another, getting stuck for one or two hours, and whatever she wanted to do would be ruined.
This popularity was most directly reflected on social media. Liu Yifei's Facebook followers, originally only over 200,000, surged tenfold in a week, reaching over 2 million followers.
Her agent had already received many script invitations, but he only symbolically asked Little Liu's opinion.
Not taking them?
Alright, push them all away!
Anyway, his role as an agent was no different from a mere decoration. She had her own golden thigh, and he was content to follow behind and get a sip of the soup.
Even happier than Little Liu was Old Liu. Her daughter was about to soar, and her biggest wish in this life would be fulfilled.
Privately expressing gratitude to Eric inevitably led to another intense training session.
Looking at the chains on her limbs and neck, Liu Xiaoli felt an unusual thrill, but she still grumbled.
"What are you putting this on me for! Leashing a dog!"
Eric took out two rings from a box, compared them on her body, chose a pair in the shape of butterflies, and nodded with satisfaction.
"If you think it's like leashing a dog, I have no objection. Come, put this on."
"Huh, Eric Cooper, I find you're getting more and more perverted."
"Fool, this is called fun. Don't you think it looks a lot like the shape down there?"
"Like your head! You just want to torment me, you pervert!"
Slap!
"Ow, what are you doing, you hurt me!"
"Call Zhou Wenqiong."
"What?"
"I said call her, are you deaf?"
"What for? What evil thoughts are you having now?"
"Pretend! Keep pretending! Show off and get struck by lightning, act innocent and get taken advantage of, understand?"
"No, I don't understand."
Looking at her affected demeanor, Eric realized this old woman was actually starting to act coquettish.
Big sister, what's going on with you? You don't actually have feelings for me, do you?
That won't do. It's more appropriate for us to maintain a pure physical relationship.
Old vegetables do taste good occasionally, especially when they're connected to young sprouts, but you can't cellar them at home, they'll rot!
Time came to the second week, and the anticipated situation indeed occurred.
prisoner of azkaban's box office experienced a cliff-like drop, falling by as much as 68% (the actual data that year was 63%, I'm not making it up), far exceeding the range of a typical commercial blockbuster.
The over $40 million box office left Warner Bros. scratching their heads. What the hell went wrong?
Did the change in style really have such a big impact? But the problem is that audience word-of-mouth was also very good. They still didn't properly address the feelings of children.
In contrast, the hunger games' box office dropped by 43% in its second week, which is within the normal range.
Calculated this way, North America's total two-week box office reached $160 million, completely closing the gap from the first week.
However, neither the hunger games nor prisoner of azkaban took the weekly box office crown. The champion was snatched by the newly released van helsing.
Another classic big IP, a big production with an investment of over a hundred million, plus the addition of Hugh Jackman, allowed van helsing to take in $61 million in a week.
Note that this was not for the first three-day weekend, but for a full week, only $61 million.
The champion was indeed the champion, but its gold content was a bit diluted, only about $3 million more than the hunger games, which was in second place.
Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb scores were not high.
The film's problems could be seen from audience reviews. Simply put, it was too old-fashioned and too deliberate.
It was still the combination of werewolves, vampires, and Frankenstein's monster. These three guys could form a band and call themselves 'Turd Boys'.
The monster designs inside were also a bit horrifying, not very friendly to some audiences with weaker tolerance, although the three vampire brides were very impressive.
The ending was even more absurd. The extremely clichéd villain died from talking too much, getting knocked out with one punch. If you're One-Punch Man, why did you fight so hard before?
The big boss was dead, and the female lead suddenly appeared to sacrifice herself, getting run over and killed by van helsing's werewolf charge.
The problem is, big sister, you were very resilient before. Your death was too contradictory and deliberate.
In short, if this film van helsing were adapted into a stage play, the audience's reaction would definitely be much better than on the big screen.
Universal's highly anticipated blockbuster, caught between the hunger games and prisoner of azkaban, was destined to lose a lot of money.
During this period, Lionheart Network also released two new series, breaking bad and hannibal.
Old White's story mashed together the plots of the first and second seasons, cutting out some overly verbose domestic trivialities and relatively slow-paced plotlines, totaling 11 episodes.
The response could only be described as neither good nor bad. Those who liked it thought it was great, a type of show they had never encountered before, very fresh, with a novel perspective.
Those who disliked it felt the plot was too bland, not the big action scenes they wanted. They thought it was the rise of a Mexican drug lord, and then you tell them he's a high school teacher?
Eric was not surprised by this result. The first few seasons of breaking bad didn't really take off and at one point hovered on the brink of cancellation.
It wasn't until Season 4 that it started to become popular and go viral, and Season 5 became a global hit. It was a type that achieved success late.
The reason is also simple: the plot development is slow. Eric's two-season-in-one approach was already fast enough, but it clearly still didn't meet many viewers' expectations.
The reviews for hannibal were much better. With the halo of the novel's author, the overall quality was even higher than the original.
The dialogue and plot were more compact and interesting, especially the dialogue that fit hannibal's character, maintaining elegance while also reflecting the cruel brutality of a serial killer.
Most screenwriters don't have this level of skill, and Thomas Harris had to personally polish and enhance it.
Aside from house of cards, hannibal was the best-reviewed original series on Lionheart Network.
In about half a month, the daredevil TV series could also be released, just in time to pave the way for Iron Man and captain america early next year.
As November began, after the third week's box office was released, van helsing indeed suffered a complete defeat, with both box office and critical reception failing.
With a production cost of $160 million, Universal was almost in tears. Box office predictions considered it a success if global box office reached $250 million.
Of course, Universal wasn't the only one crying; Paramount was too. To be precise, Nicole also cried.
After being crowned Oscar Winner last year, film offers poured in. She spent several months preparing for la vie en rose.
She also filmed Eric's Inception, but that was all.
Inception was filmed relatively quickly, finished in just over two months. Nicole couldn't just stay at home every day, Eric's bird couldn't take it, so she took on The Stepford Wives.
Then, it unsurprisingly flopped. With a production cost of $90 million, its first-week box office was only over $18 million, a disaster comparable to last year's eight below.
Especially since the studio also made her a key promotional point: Oscar Winner Nicole Kidman's first film after being crowned, hyping it to the max.
"Waaahhh... Darling, I'm box office poison now."
Looking at Nicole, who was fake crying without tears, Eric knew she was just a bit upset, not truly heartbroken.
He hugged her and comforted her, saying, "Those media are always like this. They say 'Oscar Winner for three years, bad luck for three years.' Who can guarantee they'll never fail?"
"But now I'm box office poison."
"Uh... darling, think about it from another perspective. Your movie failed, and Paramount lost money, which is very good for MGM."
"Huh?" Nicole looked speechless.
Eric had a flash of inspiration, slapped his head, and came up with an idea.
"I've got a great idea. You all should go out and take on big-budget roles."
"Then deliberately act poorly to make the box office fail. Isn't that great?"
"Go to hell!"
What greeted him was a flurry of punches.