In the North American film market last weekend, the most important new film was naturally "Civil War" directed by Alex Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst. The film is set against the backdrop of the fictional American Civil War, and follows the desperate escape of a team of journalists. The film was invested and produced by a24 Pictures, with a cost of approximately US$50 million. It is the largest investment to date by this independent film company, which is known for its niche literary films.
Since its establishment 11 years ago, a24 has become one of the most distinctive film companies in Hollywood. For many viewers, just the words "a24 Produced" are enough reasons to buy tickets and enter the venue; even if they are not familiar with the creators and actors behind the work, they can be attracted by a24 , which means that the work itself must have its own characteristics, and the content is fresh or weird enough to make it worth spending money to find out.
"Civil War" poster
What's more, this time "Civil War" was written and directed by Alex Garland. Audiences who have watched his past works "Ex Machina", " Annihilation " and "The Man" all know that in a sense, this is also a creator similar to Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve. His works are full of strong personal style, so he has many fans.
"Civil War" was released in 3,838 theaters, taking in a first weekend box office of US$25.71 million. This figure is more than double the $13.5 million opening box office of "Hereditary" in 2018, thus refreshing a24's best opening result and about 25% higher than the industry's earlier expectations. In addition to the brand effect of a24, the media attention aroused by the film after its world premiere at the previous South by Southwest Film Festival, as well as the originality and topicality of the story itself, are the keys to its box office success.
Including "Civil War", counting "The Immaculate Sister" previously released by Neon Pictures and "Late Night with the Devil" (Late Night with the Devil) released by ifc Pictures, three films have recently started production The box office set the best records for their respective production companies in the past years. Although the themes of these films are different, and the specific box office figures are also different, they are basically aimed at young American audiences; and they are all original restricted-rated works, allowing people to see the potential of this target audience. Great potential.
Of course, overall, the total North American box office this weekend was only 76 million US dollars, which was nearly half compared to the same period last year.
Last week, the annual American International Film Industry Conference (cinemacon) was held in Las Vegas as usual. The organizer, the American Theater Alliance, continued to speak with confidence. However, the new alliance chairman Michael O'Leary made a serious slip of the tongue during his opening speech, saying "I believe the future of the theater industry is unlimited" instead of "limited." of". Although he corrected it quickly, it still caused some trouble.
Moreover, although there was no shortage of celebrities attending the film industry conference that lasted for several days, such as Kevin Costner, Michelle Yeoh, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, etc. all attended various activities; although there was also no shortage of Blockbuster films such as "Wicked", "Transformers: Origins", "A Quiet Place: Invasion Day", "Moana 2", "Joker 2" and "Gladiator 2" have also held promotional activities, but According to the Hollywood media, the actual number of celebrities attending the conference and the number of movie trailers for public screening this year are actually fewer than in previous years.
The reason is also very simple. Last year's Hollywood strike disrupted the film plan for the whole year of 2024. Many people are rushing to shoot new movies and they really have no time to spare. Naturally, the number of trailers that can be shared with theater staff is not as good as in the past. . Some reporters even said that the promotional materials and free gifts distributed by various film companies to the media this year were less than in previous years. It seems that the three-year epidemic and the strike for more than half a year have really had a big impact on Hollywood. The supply of new movies is insufficient, and the company's income is bound to be affected. It is inevitable to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
In the remaining half of 2024, life will still be quite difficult for both Hollywood film companies and the American theater industry.
