612 Hindsight
“"Dark Shadows", directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. In the last life, when people mentioned this movie, what came to mind was "the beginning of Johnny Depp's career collapse"”.
2010In 2016, with "Alice in Wonderland", Johnny's career was revitalized. Prior to this, the failure of "Public Enemies", "Public Enemies" and other works made him lose the title of "Hollywood's No. 1" The throne was replaced by Robert Downey Jr. with the huge success of "Iron Man". However, "Alice in Wonderland" successfully turned the tide with a global box office of one billion.
After that, the failure of the low-cost film "The Lime Diary" and the disappointment of the commercial film "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" did not sound the alarm. People still believed that Johnny had strong appeal, and major film companies rushed to He signed a contract with him for at least four commercial works. The first one was Tim's "Dark Shadows"”.
However, this became the beginning of a nightmare. "Dark Shadows", "The Lone Ranger", "Transcendental Hacker", "Aristocrat", and "Alice in Wonderland 2", five consecutive works failed miserably and completely collapsed. It failed miserably. The "Lone Ranger" with the highest investment cost 220 million, and the "Aristocrat" with the lowest investment also cost 60 million. Johnny's career fell into a trough, and there was no hope of recovery. The title of "Box Office Poison" follows closely. It all started with "Dark Shadows".
“"Dark Shadows" invested 150 million, and the final North American box office was only 79 million, and the global box office was 245 million. Due to extremely high publicity and distribution costs, Warner Bros. ended up losing nearly 100 million U.S. dollars, and The film was unable to develop peripherals, and the performance of the video rental market was a disaster, which really caused Warner Bros. to suffer internal losses..
For the work "Dark Shadows", people seem to have forgotten too many details, but they only remember that this is the beginning of Johnny's nightmare.
According to this, this should be a terrible work, and Andy obviously made a mistake; but the fact is exactly the opposite. During the preparation stage of "Dark Shadows", this work attracted much attention, and everyone Everyone is optimistic that this work can create brilliance.
Warner Bros. showed their courage to swallow mountains and rivers. Not only did they invest a lot of money with a stroke of a pen - you know, this is a movie that does not involve any visual special effects. They allowed Tim to shoot all scenes on location, just to present The best effect; and it is also extremely generous in publicity and distribution expenses. From preparation to shooting to post-production, promotion is step by step. Warner Bros. expects this work to sweep at least 700 million or even 800 million in global box office results..
In order to meet the high expectations of the crew, Warner Bros. has been generous in terms of salary and assembled a luxurious star lineup..
In addition to Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Lee Miller Miller), Chloë Moretz (oretz), Christopher-Lee (Christopher-Lee) and others have joined..
From the preparation stage to the release stage, "Dark Shadows" has always been considered a box office giant, with directors, actors, screenwriters, producers, publicity, distribution and other aspects in full bloom. Their strength can be seen from the schedule arranged by Warner Bros. Confident：
2012It was released in the second week of May this year. The previous week was the summer premiere of the blockbuster "Avengers", and the next week was "Battleship", which Universal Pictures invested heavily in! "Dark Shadow" will collide head-on with these two super commercial blockbusters！
This is not blind confidence. In the last life, all the media called the opening of the 2012 summer season the "showdown of the century" and believed that the head-on confrontation between these three works would be a duel between Mars and the earth. Moreover, the general view was that "Dark Shadows" " is the only work that can compete with "The Avengers". Many media even used the banner of "Johnny Depp VS Robert Downey Jr.", attracting countless attention and focus.
In other words, not only Andy, not just Warner Bros., but also industry insiders and professional media, everyone is optimistic about the box office prospects of this work, and even believes that it can compete with "The Avengers" Down.
So, what happened in reality?？
It's very simple to say it's simple, it's very complicated to say it's complicated. The original TV series of "Dark Shadows" has a huge content and there are many adaptation directions. However, the crew finally chose the route of a funny soap opera, which resulted in a weak script, confusing narrative, uninteresting characters, and old settings. set; at the same time, the visual special effects lack highlights, and the colors are dazzling and have no focus; what’s worse is that the climax is too boring and makes people drowsy..
It can be said that it has violated all the common taboos of commercial movies. It does not even achieve the relaxed joy of popcorn style, which is a big disappointment..
In the end, the media's comprehensive review was only fifty-five points, the same level as "Alice in Wonderland"; but the fatal blow was that the Rotten Tomatoes, popcorn index, IMDB score, and theater scores all fell, which is the same as "Alice in Wonderland" The obvious gap led to a complete collapse of the box office.
To make matters worse, under the crushing power of the "Avengers", the "Black Shadow" disappeared in an instant without even a wisp of smoke coming out..
However, Renly's easy talk now is actually just an afterthought. The trend of commercial blockbusters can be traced, but it is not certain. If we talk about the two works "Super Battleship" and "Alien Battlefield" , there were bad signs during the preparation process, mainly because of the uneasiness and confusion brought about by the script creation process, so the total collapse of "Dark Shadow" came without warning..
People can say that Tim and Johnny have collaborated too many times and there is no spark; people can also say that the polishing of the script still lacks the foundation and connotation; people can also say that the impact brought by the visual special effects is not enough. Meet expectations; people can also say that "Avengers" is too powerful and was born at the wrong time. But these are just hindsight..
Money can't buy you. One of Renly's most important advantages is that he knows the success or failure of movies in the next six or seven years, especially commercial movies. But if he is just satisfied with this, Renly will not be Renly - he The future that can be "foreseen" is limited, and 2017 is the limit, and he has no plans to stop acting in 2017. Therefore, he cannot always develop a habit and always rely on the established facts that already exist..
Not to mention, 2017 will come sooner or later; Renly is now the biggest variable on the road of history. He is working hard to change history and create his own history. Only by overturning the known facts can he open up a new path. My own world. The tsunami is coming, and he is the butterfly that first flaps its wings..
Naturally, Renly refused to be blindly led by habit..
Looking back from the standpoint of “I knew it earlier”, is there any chance of success for “Sombra”? If so, how should I try?？
Renly's personal opinion is that the chance of success is very slim, because the imprints of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp in this movie are too deep, continuing the dark gothic style of the two people. , even the comedy effect is not outstanding enough. Neither of them was able to make a breakthrough, they kept repeating themselves, and they lost all their inspiration..
Xiao He succeeds and Xiao He loses Xiao He. If "Dark Shadows" wants to succeed, it has to go all out and replace Tim and Johnny from the root. Only then can it gain a chance of survival. Now, Warner Bros. intends to create a young cast lineup. This is a positive signal.
However, Renly is just a small role, and he is of a low profile. He doesn't think that Warner Bros. will replace the entire creative team because of his opinions. What's more, he is only a small role on the audition list..
Andy didn't make a sound, just looked at Renly's expression quietly, but found nothing as always. The two had been working together for a year, and he gradually began to get used to this situation, so he didn't speculate, but asked directly, "Do you have anything special in mind?？”
Roy was a little surprised. Renly had just started reading the script. Even if he had ideas, he wouldn't do it so quickly..
But Renly showed a faint smile and shook his head, "No, I'm not interested..”
“oh? " Andy raised his voice and expressed his doubts..
“I'm not Johnny Depp, and I can't be Johnny Depp." Renly said simply, "I believe the producers at Warner Bros. know this clearly, the problem is, Tim Burton doesn't know this a little.”
Johnny will act unconditionally because of Tim's call; similarly, Renly can unconditionally refuse Tim's call. He does not think that his cooperation with Tim can create sparks, nor does he think that his performance can. Adapt to Tim's style. This is not about giving up, but Renly gradually has a relatively clear understanding of his own performance style..
No one can be truly versatile. Not even Gary Oldman.
Andy did not respond immediately, but put his hands on his belly, thought seriously for a while, and frowned slightly, "Renly, would you like to think about it after you finish the script?"？”
In Andy's impression, Renly is almighty, and there is no problem even in the Gothic style. He has blind confidence in Renly's acting skills, and believes that under Tim's lens, Renly can also burst out. Powerful energy. More importantly, the work "Dark Shadows" is indeed highly anticipated. Warner Bros.'s current resources are tilted towards it, which can be said to be a top priority..
So, even though Andy understood what Renly meant, he still made a sincere request.
“Of course, I will finish the script." Renly said simply, "Even if you don't ask, I will finish it..”
Andy nodded in approval, "To be honest, Warner Bros. has recently used all the resources on hand for this project. This project is definitely no small matter. I am quite optimistic about the prospects of this work, and it will be a great contribution to our efforts to achieve more success." High remuneration has both advantages and disadvantages. Warner Bros. is the best choice to fight against Universal Pictures.”
“Does this mean that the 'Looper' is gone? "Renly and Andy's observation perspectives are different after all. He immediately thought of the last script. "Loop Messenger" and "Dragon and Tiger Boys" were the ones who finally stood out, but now "Dragon and Tiger Boys" have retreated. , while "Looper" is the work of an independent film company.
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