Four Dollars
When June came, the movie "The Three-Body Problem 2" was finally released.
Directed by a top Hollywood director, this movie has the largest investment in Hollywood history. It has a three-year preparation and shooting time starting from the end of the first part. All these things seem to have decided that this movie will become the most important movie in Hollywood from the day it is released.
This summer, there are many movies scheduled to be released: Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Transformers, Harry Potter 5, etc.
These movies are filling people's horizons, and it stands to reason that each of these movies is a master of making money at the box office. The release of any of these movies will not worry about box office problems.
However, when "The Three-Body Problem 2" was announced to be released in June, these movies all seemed to coincidentally choose to release in May or July, leaving June to "Three-Body Problem 2."
In June, there are not many movies willing to compete with it in the same time period. A movie with an investment of 400 million has already opened up a gap with other movies at the starting line.
Who would be willing to compete with it? Rather than competing with it, more people want to see if this movie will have the desired effect.
In the entire United States, this movie can be said to have the largest number of theaters in June. After all, it is a big investment movie, and when it was released, its impact was unprecedented.
And this influence is especially reflected in theaters. At this point, they almost all chose to play the movie when it came out.
The shooting of IMAX movies is different from that of ordinary movies; therefore, movies released in IMAX theaters originally weren't many. But this time, the broadcast of "The Three-Body Problem 2" has made IMAX theaters famous.
Everyone knows that the IMAX version is the official version of "The Three-Body Problem 2." It was broadcast on the Internet. According to the promotion company, this kind of movie is best watched on IMAX.
This statement made IMAX movies extremely popular for a while, and they spared no effort in screening "The Three-Body Problem 2."
For a time, it captured all the markets.
However, more viewers still chose to watch the 2D version of the movie.
There is no other reason. On the one hand, 3D+IMAX screens are too few, and on the other hand, they are also a bit too expensive.
The most important reason American movies can become one of the popular entertainment items is that American movies are very cheap. The consumption limit for movies is not high, and people with any income can afford it.
It is one of the most important reasons why movies have become mainstream entertainment items, and how much a movie costs sometimes will also affect people's movie viewing choices.
Movies in the United States have a rating system, so movie ticket prices are also related to age. In addition to the fact that it is cheaper for seniors over 60 years old to watch movies, it is also more affordable for children under 13 years old to watch movies.
But this movie does not need to be considered for children under the age of 13 because the movie itself is positioned as PG-13. Children under the age of 13 are not likely to watch it.
And for people over 13 years old, the fares are also different. If it is a show after four o'clock, the ticket price is about 10 dollars; if it is an afternoon show, it is 8.5 dollars; and if it is a morning show, it is 6 dollars.
After four o'clock, people have the most free time, so the fares are the most expensive. Before four o'clock, at noon, people are busier, so the fares are slightly less expensive. The morning session is the cheapest because the fewest people are watching. However, generally speaking, morning sessions are not available every day.
Such low ticket prices are the most important reason for the long-term development of the American film industry. After all, only movies that people watch can make money.
In comparison, the consumption of 3D movies seems to be a bit higher.
The 3D movie costs 4 dollars more than the regular movie. It may seem like four dollars is not a lot, but for many viewers, these four dollars are not very easy to spend.
After all, in people's minds, they simply don't know what the benefits of 3D movies are. Although there have been some 3D versions of cartoons in the past few years, those cartoons do not look any better than the 2D versions.
Yes, these movies do seem to be a little different from ordinary movies. When watching movies, you can also see a novelty, but is this novelty necessary for watching movies? This is a problem.
If the ticket price is the same, no one cares to see the 3D version and experience the novelty. However, if there is such a price difference, some people will question whether to go and see it.
Moreover, in this era, although there have not been any movies before, there have been some, whether they are 3D movies or IMAX movies.
However, people's general evaluation of 3D movies is not very good.
Some directors even criticized them as sensationalism. Although there have been many IMAX movies in the past few years, there are also problems with the quality of the production.
Although this model looks good, many people think it makes them tired and dizzy.
After all, these two things are still in the exploratory stage, so the films produced naturally have serious quality problems. These quality issues make many of today's movies in this genre unattractive.
Therefore, although many people hold hope for new movies, more people still have a skeptical attitude. Levi's film is well-shot, but can it be successful if it attempts something like this?
Since the movie-watching experience would not be significant compared to regular 2D, why spend $4 on something that is not necessary just for the novelty?
What's wrong with four dollars? Even if you really have money and feel uncomfortable, isn't buying some snacks better than spending money to get dizzy?
It's better to go to an ordinary movie than just go see it. If the movie proves to be good by then, it won't be too late to watch it again.
Many people still hold this attitude towards this.
Ricardo is also one of these people.
He had seen the movie "Three-Body Problem 1" before and thought it was pretty good. When he heard that "The Three-Body Problem 2," a film that had been prepared for two years, was released, he decided to watch it - after all, the famous director spent a long time preparing.
With a big investment, a great director, a sequel to a hit movie, and these things combined, it seems unlikely that it will be a bad movie.
However, he also had no idea about the version of this movie that he wanted to see. That seems like a lot of money, and is it really necessary to watch this movie on IMAX?
Although many people on the Internet have previously analyzed that this movie would be better if watched in a 3D version, they all said that only by watching the cosmic scenes in the 3D version can you feel more present and feel the universe better. The vastness and beauty of those big scenes will be even more impressive when viewed in 3D mode.
However, he didn't really believe it. He has also seen some movies with 3D scenes and admitted that those movies do have big scenes and look more impactful than ordinary movies.
However, many of those movies are documentaries. Can a science fiction movie capture that kind of scene?
In other words, even if that kind of scene is filmed, what's the point?
Science fiction movies are not science documentaries, so what if they film so many cosmic scenes?
Star Wars doesn't have too many cosmic scenes, but isn't it still the best science fiction movie?
Therefore, what he chose was also the ordinary version. Even if you want to watch the 3D version, is the movie worth it?
Moreover, doesn't even the director think so? Otherwise, why would he prepare two different versions, 2D and 3D?
It was with this thought in mind that he walked into the cinema. He wanted to see if this movie was really worth going to the theater to watch.
The movie started soon.
At the beginning of the movie, it seems to be filming a huge trench. The camera appears to be moving inside this trench. However, this trench looks unexpectedly smooth and flat, which also makes people a little surprised. What is going on?
And just when he was surprised, the camera zoomed out.
As the camera moved back and raised, people began to take in the entirety of this shot. This is an ant crawling in a deep ditch.
As the camera zoomed out again, what people saw was a tombstone. It turned out that ants were crawling on the writing on the tombstone.
As the camera zoomed out further, what people saw was a cemetery - a funeral was being held there, and the bug on the tombstone was just an unexpected guest at the funeral, and no one noticed it at all.
This opening shot almost immediately reminded movie fans of the words in the first film: "You are all bugs."
The first part ended with insects, and the second started with insects, making the audience slightly excited.
The ants crawling on the tombstone are so small compared to humans. This metaphor also makes people immediately think of what this movie is trying to discuss.
No cosmic scenes are shown at this point in the movie, but this simple scene of ants crawling has already made Ricardo regret it.
If viewed in a 3D version, this scene would be very enjoyable, right?
The person's first point of view moves with the camera. He originally thought that he was walking in a deep canyon and could not see the end of the canyon.
However, as soon as the camera was lifted, the person discovered that he was just an ant lying on a tombstone. Such a shot is shocking even when you look at it, not to mention it is in real 3D mode, making people feel the same way.
He had not yet felt the majesty of the universe, but he could already imagine his own insignificance.
Maybe it was a big mistake not to watch the 3D version - at this time, Ricardo seemed to regret it.
Those four dollars should probably have been spent.
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Marcelo Maia
Britanna
Mandy G
Oluwatimileyin Olayemi
Herylle Ian Gloria
You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.