Birth of an actor

For the next hour, Tobey Maguire sat at the dining table, drinking coffee while watching William keep spinning around the room.

"Come on, man, are you really this nervous? Come on, get some waffles, they're getting cold."

"I don't want to eat it, and I'll probably spit it out if I eat it." William rubbed his stomach, and it barked. "But I seem to be really hungry."

"Too nervous? But when you came back yesterday, didn't you say that the premiere went well and everyone applauded enthusiastically?"

"But I don't know if they really liked the movie, or what they thought of my performance."

"Understood." Tobey Maguire put his hand on the stack of newspapers: "Do you want me to read it for you, and then tell you what everyone said?"

"You haven't seen it yet?"

"No, today is your day, and I wanted to share it with you after you got up."

The apartment phone rang, and Tobey Maguire picked it up and listened to it, then covered the receiver and said to William, "Amon's phone."

William considered for half a second: "Say I'm not here."

Tobey Maguire used the excuse of going to the gym to help William cover up, then hung up the phone and shrugged at William: "Why didn't you answer your agent's call, I heard his tone was very excited, and asked you to call him back as soon as you came back Call, maybe he has good news?"

William shrugged: "Because just now I suddenly felt that it is a very cowardly act to let others inform me of my fate."

"A very courageous act." Tobey Maguire praised: "If it were me, I would definitely not be as brave as you."

William took a deep breath, grabbed a newspaper, closed his eyes, and went to the movie section:

"National Enquirer" - "The "Golden Matchmaker" Brandley who likes matchmaking more than filming"

"What was William Bradley's greatest contribution to Sense and Sensibility? He brought about the marriage of Emma Thompson and Gray Wise! Besides, he accomplished nothing, and Edward was cast as A cowardly fool who does nothing but wink his green eyes and look handsome, and as for the good reputation? Girls are fatally attractive."

"Damn it, I knew the National Enquirer reporter wouldn't say anything good about me." William slapped the newspaper on the table.

Looking at William with a bad complexion, Tobey Maguire picked up a newspaper: "Do you want me to read a copy for you?"

"Thank you." William counted the number of newspapers: "I think I need your help very much."

"Aha, it's the San Francisco Chronicle, they think the movie is great!" Tobey Maguire showed William the side of the news: "Reporter Mick LaSalle praised the pace of the film, he Said: "The cooperation between Ang Lee and Emma Thompson makes this version of "Sense and Sensibility" better than many previous versions. Ang Lee continued his oriental storytelling skills to this western film. The right balance is found in the warmth, not only the understanding of reason and emotion is very clear, but also the picture has a sense of classical elegance. Every detail reflects the restrained emotions. It is not until the final cry that the emotion bursts out. The rhythm of catharsis is well grasped."

"Of course, there are still some shortcomings in this show. Although Emma Thompson is very good in acting, she is still a bit too old, whether she is playing with William Bradley or Kate Winslet. She's more like a governess than a mature woman in a country gentleman's family."

The San Francisco Chronicle has the largest circulation in Northern California, surpassed only by the Los Angeles Times on the West Coast.

"I think I can let go of half of my worries about the box office." William also found some good news: ""Radio Times" said that the script is very good. It’s like a british classical film with vulgar effects’ and it says that the script is likely to win an Oscar! Emma will be very happy to see this news.”

"Hey, Will, look here!" Tobey Maguire excitedly spread out a newspaper on the table: ""Variety Show" mentioned your name!"

"Where? Quickly point to me!" William's voice suddenly raised.

If the "Wall Street Journal" is the authority in the American financial circle, the "New York Times" is the authority in the American political circle, and "Vogue" is the authority in the American fashion industry, then "Variety" ("Variety") is the authority in the American Hollywood.

"Variety Show" is the earliest professional magazine circulating in Hollywood. It was born in 1905. Because the production headquarters is located in Hollywood, almost all of the publications come from studios, agents, directors, actors and even major awards ceremony judges. According to first-hand information, because of such a special professional background, almost everyone in the Hollywood industry has a copy of "Variety Show", and those outside the industry also like to regard it as the "Hollywood Bible" or "Global Movie Weathervane".

Tobey Maguire read word by word: "The Chinese director Ang Lee's profound directing skills and the actor's proficient acting skills have portrayed the three love stories in "Sense and Sensibility" with their own characteristics and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Marianne and Willoughby's love is the hottest, Colonel Brandon's love for Marianne is the deepest, and the love between Edward and Elena is the most shocking, Emma Thompson's two The crying scene is very exciting, and the portrayal of the three male protagonists is also very full, and it does not lack the strong social irony in Jane Austen's pen."

"At the same time, the young actor William Bradley is a great surprise in this film. His acting skills far exceed everyone's expectations. It is hard to imagine that he has been on the small screen before, and this is only the first Participated in a movie shooting once, Columbia has special skills to recognize people. Excellent film, worth more than 8 points--Written by Todd McCarthy. McCarthy, I know this guy, many of his film reviews are very vicious, since he has Compliments to you, Will, and I think you've got nothing to worry about."

"Not all film critics like me. Look at what this person said: 'Bradley is too cute, and his performance in front of the camera needs to be disciplined. Stop blinking at the camera. It's good, but occasionally there are times when it doesn't work well, and Bradley is not a leading actress, so why give him so many close-ups?'”

"Who wrote this shit?"

"Well, a reporter named John Simon."

"Which newspaper?"

"The National Enquirer"

"National Enquirer again? Did they write two reviews for Sense and Sensibility?"

"It looks like the reporter at this paper really 'loves' you, Will."

William shrugged indifferently.

""Boston Globe" said: "An extremely charming, clever, subtle and deeply ironic movie. Needless to say, the portrayal of female characters in the ChickFlick movie produced by Amy Pascal is rare. "Emotion" portrays the three male characters Edward, Brandon and Willoughby very plumply, with the wonderful embellishments of supporting roles, the original British classical style, melodious and soothing piano soundtrack, and witty and spicy lines. It's better than the six-part miniseries Pride and Prejudice produced by the British BBC that drove crowds into a frenzy.'”

Chickflick refers to movies that center on female characters, and male characters not only take a back seat but also have less room to play. Most of them are made by female producers, such as Amy Pascal, who is the main initiator and producer of Hollywood Chickflick movies.

"The Hollywood Reporter said Emma Thompson's two crying scenes were so shocking they deserved an Oscar nomination, along with the line 'For a rookie actor making her first big-screen lead, William Bradley's Edward Impeccable, except a little too handsome.'”

"The "Los Angeles Times" also gave a good evaluation. They think that the film is emotionally delicate and the style is restrained and charming. It can be compared with "The Long Day Is Near" directed by James Avery."

William raised his eyebrows: "You can learn from "The Long Day Is Ending" for the nomination, but don't do it for the award, otherwise everyone will cry."

"The Long Day Is Ending" is a classic film released in 1993. It tells the love story between the butler and the housekeeper in a British aristocratic mansion before and after World War II. The eight nominations in the film, unfortunately, did not get the last statuette.

"The Mail on Sunday says that while Elena is older than one would expect - huh, that's a mean statement - Emma Thompson's acting is very moving and co-star Kate Winslet The performance is also very suitable for the role, her Marianne is innocent and romantic and full of idealization, and the actors, Alan Rickman is as respectable as ever, and William Bradley - here comes the point man - —succeeded in discovering Edward's respectable and vulnerable side, which is amazing for an actor at such a young age."

Tobey Maguire turned to another page of the newspaper: "There is another sentence at the back:'It is worth mentioning that Bradley is a native American. The only cities where he has settled for a long time are New York and Los Angeles. In the role, even though the Cockney wasn't quite up to par, his American accent was gone.'”

Tobey Maguire closed the newspaper: "I don't understand the last sentence. Is he praising you for your dedication? Or is he implying that you have British ancestry, such as grandpa or grandma is British or something?"

"My grandparents are not British. They were all born and raised in the United States. The ancestors of the Bradley family immigrated earlier, about shortly after the end of the Civil War, the second wave of immigration in American history. when?" William thought for a while, "It's a good friend of mine, Lance, whose mother is English, and his grandmother is the daughter of a baron."

Tobey Maguire shrugged: "This guy named Lance must be your very, very good friend. I've heard you say his name no less than ten times."

"Yes, he is, our relationship is like you and Leo." William smiled: "He is my closest brother, friend, and partner in this world."

"Hey, Will, can you not show such a gentle expression when describing your male friends? Too gay." Tobey Maguire rubbed the goose bumps on his arms unbearably.

"...Okay." William shut up helplessly: "I know I'm digressing, come on, let's continue to read these newspapers."

Among the fifteen daily newspapers, six general newspapers, two entertainment newspapers, and three independent film critics mentioned the premiere of "Sense and Sensibility" last night-when the film is released nationwide, this number will definitely double Double - mostly praise, a little criticism.

Tobey Maguire said in a tone of glee and implied disappointment: "See? Most of the reviews are good, man, when the movie comes out, you'll be in the movie business."

Fa Xiao Leonardo has already become the leading actor in many films, and his roommate William has also become a rising star in the film industry, but he has never met him since he collaborated with Robert De Niro in "A Boy's Life" in 93. It is a big work, and the only TV series starring in it was cut off after less than three months. It is impossible to say that Tobey Maguire is not in a complicated mood.

"Don't worry, man." William patted Tobey Maguire on the shoulder and said, "I won't abandon you as soon as I become popular, and let you bear the rent alone."

"Because you can't bear Mrs. Hans' hamburger downstairs?"

"Don't be so pessimistic, I also miss you, T."

"...Don't you feel a little nauseous?"

"It's a little bit." William also shook the goosebumps on his arms: "I feel hungry, very, very hungry, can I have one, no, three waffles?"

"Of course no problem." Tobey Maguire turned around and brought a plate with waffles: "Chef Maguire is at your service."

……

It was screened on a small scale in 72 art theaters. The box office of "Sense and Sensibility" was 102 US dollars at the premiere, and the box office of a single theater exceeded 2431 US dollars.

Seriously, the numbers are pretty good, and the studio, the distributors, the actors, most of the people are happy.

Europe is a paradise for art films, while American audiences seldom catch a cold with classical literary films, except for cult films that take a sharp edge, such as "The Rocky Horror Show" and "Four Weddings and the "A Funeral" is also an exception. The United States has always received a high degree of acceptance of romantic comedies, and that kind of style is not very brisk. On the contrary, some restrained and depressed films may win trophies in North America, but they are rarely popular at the same time.

"Howard's End", which swept the Oscars two years ago, only had a few million box office at its first release, and received a lot of criticism, such as the rhythm is so slow that it is hypnotic, there is no climax, no conflict, it is plain like plain water, and it looks like a landscape documentary. More than feature films, etc., after it was a big hit at the Oscars, the distributor rescheduled the release, and it rushed the North American box office to 2000 million US dollars.

The pinnacle work of the famous French director Luc Besson, "The Killer Is Not So Cold" is not very European in style. On the contrary, it incorporates a lot of Hollywood techniques during filming. It is an almost perfect combination of art and commerce. When this film was released in the United States, not only did it not exceed 2000 million at the box office until the end of the screening, but it also had a mixed reputation-American audiences did not fully understand the French romance, although Luc Besson did not clearly compare the killer Lyon and The relationship between the 12-year-old girl Matilda is defined as love, but there are still quite a few conservative film critics and audiences who slam the hidden pedophilia tendency in the film.

Columbia previously estimated that the North American box office of "Sense and Sensibility" was 500 million US dollars. With the addition of DVD and other peripheral income, North America can recover the production cost, which is an ideal state.As for profit, leave it to the overseas box office, such as the European market, which is more suitable for movie-watching tastes.

——Here, let’s explain Hollywood’s film share first. It doesn’t mean that the production cost of the film is 600 million, and the box office is 500 million. Therefore, the profit is 900 million. Such a simple addition and subtraction algorithm, the box office revenue must be subtracted from the theaters Profit is achieved after the share, production fee, distribution fee, publicity fee and other expenses.

Can you imagine a movie with an investment of [-] million US dollars, a box office of [-] million US dollars, and the final bill showing a loss of tens of millions of dollars?

In Hollywood, this is very common: First of all, out of the 8000 million box office, according to the sharing agreement before the screening, the theaters directly take 40 million (2000%), and the producers get 60 million (2000%), minus the production fee 2000 million, the distribution fee is 2000 million, the advertising fee is [-] million, and the final calculated profit is negative [-] million.

Some people may ask, if it is difficult to pay back the cost of a film that has been filmed for several months, how can the film company make money?Why is the Hollywood industry still so developed when making movies does not make money?

Note that the "difficult to pay back" here refers to "it is difficult to fully recover the investment solely relying on North American box office revenue"-according to relevant data, in the United States, the national box office of a film must be at least twice the production cost in order to be successful. It is possible to preserve capital—but apart from the national box office, film companies mostly make money by other means of making money, such as overseas distribution of films, DVD income, and TV rights.

Among them, DVD income is a very important item. The home video rental business in the United States and Europe is very developed. In the early 90s, DVD income accounted for about half of the total profits of many Hollywood film companies.

Especially classic art films like "Howard's End", "Long Days Are Ending" and "Sense and Sensibility", generally the box office is not very high, and the main profit is DVD revenue.

In addition to "Sense and Sensibility", there are three films that will be released in theaters across the United States in mid-December. $12 million, $100 million and $840 million.

At first glance, it seems that the 102 million premiere box office of "Sense and Sensibility" is far from the three films, but the premiere theaters of the three films including "Escape from Magic" are all over 2000 theaters, and "Sense and Sensibility" has only A mere 72 theaters—although the increase in theaters will inevitably divide the box office of a single theater, but the fact that 72 theaters can achieve this result also shows that "Sense and Sensibility" has greater market potential.

Columbia therefore has greater expectations for "Sense and Sensibility", and they plan to expand the screening to about 1500 theaters.

If it's doing well at the box office and doing well on DVD, it's double the stick.

In mid-to-late December, the annual awards season in the American film industry officially kicks off.

Prior to the announcement of important awards such as the Oscars, what appeared as a warm-up for the awards season were the awards of the major film critics associations and the awards of major trade unions.