The Tragedy of the Blockbusters
Alexander's sigh caused Levi to smile bitterly. He knew more about these things than Alexander, so he also knew that Alexander's words were actually not wrong.
The Oscars is an award-winning organization, but it can attract many people to participate because it is also profitable. Generally speaking, after a movie wins an award, its income will increase slightly, reaching about 20 million in award-winning revenue. This amount of money is crucial for a film with little investment.
The investment in literary and artistic films is generally not large. A large part of the profit can be recovered with such a profit. This model has also prompted the continuous filming of literary and artistic films.
Moreover, an actor's net worth will also increase when he or she wins awards. It's hard for actors to guarantee they won't get bad movies when they accept them.
For actors who are not famous, it doesn't matter, even if they get bad movies. Anyway, a good reputation or bad reputation is better than no reputation at all.
But for good actors, if they star in too many bad movies, it will inevitably damage their reputation and affect other people's confidence in their investment.
After all, people like Ben Affleck, who continue to make bad movies and are famous, are a minority.
And if you win an award, it is basically equivalent to stamping the actor's acting seal. Even if he makes a bad movie in the future, people will only blame the movie's problems and not take care of the actor's responsibility.
Nicole Kidman is such an example. After becoming the Best Actress, she continued to have bad movies, but her net worth never dropped because her fame had been established.
These things have always been the operating model of Hollywood - commercial films make money, but they do not aim at awards. At the same time, artistic films win awards to make up for their not too much income and give them the motivation to continue making.
This approach is actually a very good operating system.
Commercial films yield substantial income, but their significant investments often lead to a reluctance to experiment with innovative shooting techniques. This hesitancy arises from the fact that the structural models and thematic concepts are confined to a select few. Many individuals who find themselves with the opportunity to create blockbusters tend to adhere to a conventional and straightforward approach, bordering on mediocrity. Consequently, this adherence to a safe and predictable formula hinders the promotion of novel ideas and impedes the progress of new cinematic techniques.
On the other hand, literary films fill this loophole, and people can freely try their own ideas in this regard. You can get a good reputation and supplementary income if you get good reviews. In this way, the film industry can also take into account both making money and developing.
The outstanding thing about the American film industry is this: its development lies in its systematic system, which allows it to take into account all aspects.
In contrast, Europeans have no idea of making money. Although their movies have various trendy ideas, they lack sufficient influence and box office.
The influence of the three major film festivals is not low. However, they did not make good use of this influence. Instead, these festivals often serve as mere adornments for others, and stars became famous one by one at the three major film festivals. But Europeans lack the means to capitalize on this fame.
In the final analysis, compared with the American model, their model is still not mature and systematic enough.
This model was originally very good but has been broken in the past two years. The movie box office is getting higher and higher now.
In the past era, a box office of one billion was called a miracle. Now, it can only be regarded as the number one in the year, and even the number one is not necessarily guaranteed.
The income from commercial films has greatly increased, but the income from literary and artistic films has not increased much. As a result, commercial films have far surpassed literary and artistic films in terms of revenue.
This has made commercial films extremely important for a while, while literary and artistic films have been looked down upon - among the movies this year, apart from a few biographical films aiming for Oscars, there are no other good literary and artistic films, which means they reflect the ideas of big corporate ideologies.
It seems that this is a profitable thing in a short period of time, but in the long run, this may not be a waste of money. The current trend is evident in this year's Oscar-nominated movies, which have achieved the lowest box office figures in over a decade.
This is actually just a sign: in the next few years, the reputation of the Oscars will indeed become worse and worse, and they will no longer be the best movies like in the 1990s.
In the coming years, emphasis on political background and the so-called positive energy will likely increase, with a preference for overtly flattering films. This trend underscores the evolving challenges faced by the Oscars.
These things were originally just minor things, but when the profound connotation of the movie is no longer there, these things used to please the mainstream are increasingly valued.
Levi knew this very well. Although Alexander didn't know it, as an insider, he could clearly feel that the significance of Oscar's public relations had weakened.
Facing those big movies with box office revenues of hundreds of millions, people here are still worrying about the income of 10 to 20 million, which makes people feel that it is not worth it.
In this regard, Alexander's next plan is also very simple.
"In the new year, we still need to shoot more blockbusters. The production of X-Men 3 is almost completed and will definitely be released next summer.
Following the conclusion of this project, I am also preparing to let Kate Beckinsale shoot the next film, Resident Evil 2, without any break. Resident Evil 2 is simpler to make and can be released in the winter, so we have two movies.
In addition, Shimizu Takashi has also decided to shoot a movie. I am also prepared to allow Tomie, a movie adapted from Junji Ito's manga, so we will have three movies to be released next year."
Since the Oscars can no longer bring much revenue, Alexander will naturally focus more on commercial films, and the films he mentioned are all films that should be able to make money.
Nolan started production on X-Men 3 last year, and he is full of confidence in the film. And they have to be more careful and conscientious when making it.
Although Levi's premature promotion in the past exposed some of his immaturity, and he did not achieve much success in his career, he still relied on his own genius and found the direction.
This movie is the turnaround he prepared for himself and is also very promising work.
In Resident Evil 1, there was only one, Licker, and no other monsters. This left a significant dissatisfaction among game fans. They have long been clamoring for the next film.
Alexander decided to let Kate Beckinsale shoot the second part non-stop. It is also to catch up with next year's Christmas period - after seeing the bleakness of this year's Christmas period, he also has the idea of making a profit. If next year's Christmas period is still the same, then Resident Evil 2 can definitely make a big profit.
And compared to them, a slightly different route is Takashi Shimizu. After coming to the United States and filming The Grudge with great success, Levi also suggested that he do more study to increase his knowledge and abilities and then consider making the next movie.
A director who only cares about making money at the box office can easily lose his talent.
James Wan is unquestionably a master of horror films, and the initial two installments of the "Saw" series directed by him are nothing short of remarkable. However, as the franchise underwent repeated remakes, it eventually elicited a sense of discontent and even disgust among audiences.
Levi doesn't think it's a good thing for the director.
His suggestion influenced Takashi Shimizu. Instead of following the path of The Grudge, he began to think about shooting other things. And his choice was Tomie, the work of Junji Ito.
This work has been filmed four or five times in Japan, but due to the investment and the standard of Japanese films, the filming has never been particularly good.
As for Takashi Shimizu, this time, he chose to shoot the American version because he wanted to produce the best version. He found a young actor in Japan named Erika Sawajiri, who had a very suitable temperament to play Tomie.
Alexander is also full of confidence in this. Compared with other commercial films, horror movies require much smaller investments. Alexander had no reason not to agree to his suggestion.
Levi agreed to this, and he also hoped to see Takashi Shimizu's progress. Instead of repeatedly making movies around a theme, he can expand his ideas.
Levi was very interested in knowing what kind of movies he could make after broadening his horizons.
Levi had no objections to these plans, but listening to Alexander talking like this, he sighed slightly in his heart: Alexander can be regarded as a filmmaker who has been in Hollywood for many years.
He is also the boss of a large company, and he is better than many others. He is familiar with these inside stories, but his way of dealing with this phenomenon is to compete with others in commercial films and let this model fade away, which makes Levi a little helpless.
It's not that they can't see the decline of the film industry, but now they are more considering their own interests. Who would think about the decline of the film industry? Faced with interests that are several times greater than in the past, how many people will consider those issues?
The Oscar itself may not be much, but it represents a way out for artistic films and an incentive and goal for the pursuit of film art. With it there, people may think more about this honor, fight for the honor, and work hard to make better movies.
Without it, people will only think about making money.
When the only pursuit of filmmakers is money, then the only ones who will suffer will undoubtedly be the fans.
[E/N: *cough* Disney *cough*]
Levi also likes money, but he has always insisted that besides money, what a filmmaker should pursue is the movie itself. There may be no glory in winning a prize, but persisting in your pursuit is something to be proud of.
It's a pity that Alexander didn't see this. Originally, Levi wanted him to find a better way with him.
"Besides, there is one more thing." Just as Levi was thinking, Alexander spoke again, "Last year, you said that you would make a 3D movie and want to adapt the Three-Body Problem. Have you given it any consideration? I heard that the novel is finished. Do you have the script?"
This question stunned Levi. He was still complaining about his short-sightedness just now. Why did Alexander suddenly bring this up?
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Marcelo Maia
Britanna
Mandy G
Scott DePaepe
Oluwatimileyin Olayemi
Herylle Ian Gloria
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