2013年 11月 21日 07:18
為何全球爭看《地心引力》？
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破重重困難，《地心引力》(Gravity)傲然而立。
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即將進入上映以來第三個周末（譯注：原文發表於10月17日），《地心引力》成了一個越來越罕見的現象：它既吸引了成群結隊的觀眾，同時也獲得了影評家愉快的讚美。影院高興地聽到人們流傳說，這部電影不應該在家裡看，而是應該跑到擁有高品質音效的電影院去，在大屏幕上看。喜劇演員阿爾伯特﹒布魯克斯(Albert Brooks)拐彎抹角地強調了擬真大屏幕觀影體驗的好處。他發表推文說：“剛在iPhone上看了《地心引力》。沒那麼驚艷。”
視頻：摩根斯頓評《地心引力》：一部前所未有的動作片
《華爾街日報》影評人摩根斯頓(Joe Morgenstern)說，雖然自19世紀中期開始動作電影就一直以這樣或那樣的形式伴隨著我們，但《地心引力》(Gravity)稱得上真正具有創新意義的動作片。本封面圖片來自華納兄弟影業(Warner Bros)。
《華爾街日報》影評人摩根斯頓(Joe Morgenstern)說，雖然自19世紀中期開始動作電影就一直以這樣或那樣的形式伴隨著我們，但《地心引力》(Gravity)稱得上真正具有創新意義的動作片。本封面圖片來自華納兄弟影業(Warner Bros)。
如果目前的趨勢維持下去，《地心引力》最後的全球票房收入可能會超過5億美元。不以漫畫書或玩具為基礎、不在夏季或節假日上映的電影是很難達到這個水平的。《地心引力》的全球票房不太可能趕上《鋼鐵俠3》(Iron Man 3)這樣的電影。《鋼鐵俠3》是今年以來最火爆的影片，全世界票房收入超過了12億美元。
但在電影行業經歷了一年的激烈反思之後，《地心引力》還是給它帶去了一些令人寬慰的信息。這一年的大片紛紛敗北，史蒂文﹒斯皮爾伯格(Steven Spielberg)大聲地提出了電影行業即將“崩潰”的猜測，並讚揚有線電視台更加敢於冒險。，近期為數不多的幾部電影成了成年人和大公司口中新鮮又好吃的餐點，而《地心引力》就是其中之一。
娛樂行業建立在高風險押注和盲目信仰的基礎之上，但沒有幾個項目像阿方索﹒卡隆(Alfonso Cuaron)執導的《地心引力》那樣，在走向成功的道路上遇到了那麼多的閉門羹。卡隆也是《衰仔失樂園》(Y Tu Mama Tambien)、《哈利﹒波特與阿茲卡班的囚徒》(Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)、《人類之子》(Children of Men)的導演。
該片講的是一位傷心的大齡博士在太空中遭遇災難之後，艱難尋找生存意志與生存條件的故事。很少有人在這則原創故事裡面看到商業上的潛力。影片要依靠未經檢驗的技術，模仿“上”“下”之類概念都失去了意義的無重力環境，這一點使它的商業前景更加不明朗。劇本要求採用的一些技術當時都還沒有發明出來。
Warner Bros. Pictures
桑德拉•布洛克在電影《地心引力》中。
該片最初是在環球影業(Universal Pictures)策劃，但這家隸屬於康卡斯特公司(Comcast Corp.)的制片公司在2010年年初突然翻臉。“翻臉”是好萊塢的行話，意思是在還沒有開拍的時候就放棄某部片子。華納兄弟(Warner Bros.)同意接手，一部分原因是它有一個願意分擔成本的合作伙伴傳奇影業 (Legendary Pictures LLC.)。但傳奇影業最後也撤出了。華納兄弟想找一家公司補缺未果，一個接一個的潛在金主都不同意在大約1.3億美元的成本當中承擔哪怕只是一部分。幸而拍攝地英國減稅，制片成本降到了1.05億美元。
選角過程也容易不到哪裡去。在影片所用的復雜技術正在艱難開發的時候，原定主演安吉麗娜﹒朱莉(Angelina Jolie)和小羅伯特﹒唐尼(Robert Downey Jr.)去了別的項目。娜塔麗﹒波特曼(Natalie Portman)、馬裡昂﹒歌迪亞(Marion Cotillard)和納奧米﹒瓦茨(Naomi Watts)等潛在替代人選出現又消失。最後在2011年開始拍攝之前不久，桑德拉﹒布洛克(Sandra Bullock)和喬治﹒克魯尼(George Clooney)同意擔綱主演。
電影殺青的時候，其前途依舊不明朗。《地心引力》初步試映結果一般般，因為人們還沒有受到10月4日首映之前狂轟濫炸的影評和映前宣傳的影響，根本就不知道該對它說些什麼。有些人說他們對布洛克所演的受傷角色很難感同身受。
華納兄弟全球營銷總裁蘇﹒克洛爾(Sue Kroll)說：“它看起來並不像要走紅的樣子。”
Warner Bros. Pictures
多個像汽車工廠中使用的重達兩噸的電腦控制機械臂增加了《地心引力》的制作難度，這些機械臂用來創造出不受約束的失重感。
第二個周末的票房收入僅下降21%，這對於一部大片來說是不俗的成績。它說明該片口碑很好，而好口碑同樣也體現在工作日的高票房上面。經過兩個星期之後，盡管在中國、英國、日本、卡隆故鄉墨西哥等重要境外市場都還沒有上映，《地心引力》的全球票房收入已經超過2億美元。
Landmark Theatres的芒多夫說：“我們有些影院第二周的成績不低於第一周，充分說明該片口碑不俗。”他說：“觀眾回來再看，還帶著人一起來看。”
理論上的弱點成了票房優勢。由於主演是“常青樹”（布洛克49歲，克魯尼52歲）等原因，首周末觀眾有59%的人都在35歲以上──這個年齡段出來看電影的人數很少多到能把一部電影捧上天。與此同時，制片人海曼說，對於一部由中年演員主演的影片來講，35歲及以下觀眾能夠佔到合理的比例也是一個不俗的戰績。這個觀眾年齡調查是制片公司在影院出口處進行的；這個調查還顯示，首周末觀眾裡面男性數量略多於女性。
另外值得注意的是《地心引力》如何迅速地佔據了文化領域的中心舞台。在一個男性觀眾看《環太平洋》(Pacific Rim)、女性觀眾看《了不起的蓋茨比》(The Great Gatsby)、動作片愛好者看《鋼鐵俠》、進影院次數不多的成年人看《藍色茉莉》(Blue Jasmine)的時代，《地心引力》成了所有人必看的一部影片。
就連很少對好萊塢有什麼好評的福音派基督徒也接納了此片。自稱世界最大基督教報紙的《基督郵報》(Christian Post)，引用了“關注家庭”組織(Focus on the Family)博客網站“Plugged”一位編輯對該片的溢美之詞，稱這是因為它展示了“上帝的存在”，可以充當一則關於復活的寓言。桑德拉﹒布洛克所演角色經受的考驗雖然不是明顯符合基督教義，卻也帶來了啟示，這種啟示讓她重生，讓她“在太空裡空盪盪的黑暗中找到了新的目標”。
或許最能體現觀眾熱烈反響的不是票房收入，而是為了看3D版而願意多付費的人數。美國買票的人當中，目前為止有82%的人都選擇多付費戴塑料眼鏡，超過《少年派的奇幻漂流》(Life of Pi)和《阿凡達》(Avatar)等熱門影片的比例。
Landmark的芒多夫說，在他的所有院線，3D版《地心引力》無論是票房收入還是售票張數都遠遠超過2D版。
Ben Fritz / Don Steinberg
（本文版權歸道瓊斯公司所有，未經許可不得翻譯或轉載。）
2013年 11月 21日 07:18
Why The World Is Watching 'Gravity'
Against all odds, 'Gravity' is defying it.
The film has broken box office records by appealing to young and old, men and women, art-movie fans, sci-fi geeks and evangelical Christian reviewers.
Now heading into its third weekend, 'Gravity' is an increasingly rare phenomenon: a movie that draws audiences in droves, yet also wins joyous praise from critics. Exhibitors are thrilled that word is out the film should be seen not at home but in theaters, on a big screen, with high-quality sound. Comedian Albert Brooks slyly underscored the rewards of the immersive big-screen experience, tweeting 'Just watched Gravity on an iPhone. Not that impressed.'
Older people are acting like teens. 'They're calling the theater asking how 3-D works,' says Ted Mundorff, chief executive of Landmark Theatres, which operates 50 cinemas in 21 U.S. markets. 'We're getting people out of the house who haven't been to a movie for 10 years or more.'
If current trends continue, 'Gravity' is likely to end up grossing more than $500 million world-wide, territory rarely seen by movies that aren't based on a comic book or toy and released in summertime or holiday season. It is unlikely to approach the world-wide grosses of movies like this year's No. 1 hit, 'Iron Man 3,' which sold more than $1.2 billion in tickets around the world.
The movie does, however, provide a reassuring message to the industry after a year of accelerated soul-searching, when big-ticket movies bombed and Steven Spielberg wondered aloud about a coming movie 'meltdown. He praised cable TV as more adventurous. Now, 'Gravity' joins a short list of recent movies that are fresh, high-quality fare for grown-ups and big business.
The entertainment industry is built on long shots and blind faith, but few projects came across quite as many shut doors on their way to success as this movie from Alfonso Cuaron, the director of 'Y Tu Mama Tambien,' 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' and 'Children of Men.'
Few saw commercial potential in an original story about a heartbroken not-so-young doctor struggling to find the will and the means to survive following a disaster in space. The notion that the film would rely on untested technology to simulate a weightless environment, where concepts like 'up' and 'down' have no meaning, only heightened the uncertainty. Some of the technology called for in the screenplay hadn't been invented yet.
'This was a movie filled with terrible ideas, at least by conventional thoughts,' said 'Gravity' producer David Heyman. 'It's an action film with a woman in the starring role. It's just two characters, with one alone for an hour. She's behind a visor for half the film. Those all supposedly don't work.'
The movie was originally in development at Universal Pictures, but the Comcast Corp.-owned studio in early 2010 put it in turnaround, Hollywood-speak for giving up on a picture before it starts shooting. Warner Bros. agreed to take it on, in part because it had a willing partner to share the costs in Legendary Pictures LLC. But Legendary, too, eventually dropped out. The studio unsuccessfully attempted to find a co-financing replacement, but one potential backer after another declined to foot even a portion of the roughly $130 million bill -- brought down to $105 million thanks to a tax credit from the U.K., where the movie was shot.
Casting was no easier. As work on the movie's complex technology dragged on, original stars Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr. moved to other projects. Potential replacements including Natalie Portman Marion Cotillard, and Naomi Watts popped up, then faded away. Finally, soon before production began in 2011, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney agreed to star.
When the movie was completed, its prospects still appeared questionable. The results of early test screenings were middling, as people not prepped by the critical raves and pre-release buzz that preceded 'Gravity's' Oct. 4 debut simply didn't know what to make of it. Some said they had trouble relating to Ms. Bullock's damaged character.
'It didn't look like it would go on to be a phenomenon,' said Warner's president of world-wide marketing, Sue Kroll.
Only four days ahead of the film's release Warner, part of Time Warner Inc., found a partner willing to share the risk. In September, the studio set a multiyear, $450 million deal with a company that agreed to cover up to 25% of the budgets of nearly all its movies. Ratpac-Dune Entertainment, comprising filmmaker Brett Ratner, Australian billionaire James Packer and investor Steven Mnuchin, could participate in 75 films.
In its second weekend, ticket sales dropped only 21%, an unusually strong performance for a big hit. It was a sign of strong word-of-mouth, also reflected in high weekday ticket sales. In just two weeks, 'Gravity' has grossed more than $200 million world-wide, even though it hasn't opened yet in such major foreign markets as China, the U.K., Japan, and Mr. Cuaron's native Mexico.
'We had theaters that performed as well or better the second week, which is a big indicator of positive word-of-mouth,' said Mr. Mundorff, of Landmark Theatres. 'They're coming back and bringing people.'
Weaknesses on paper became strengths at the box office. Long-standing stars (Ms. Bullock is 49, Mr. Clooney 52) helped draw an opening-weekend audience that was 59% over 35 years old -- an age group that rarely turns out in sufficient numbers to propel a film into the stratosphere. At the same time, getting a healthy share of 35-and-unders to a movie with middle-aged stars was no mean feat, either, said Mr. Heyman, the producer. Opening weekend audiences were slightly more male than female, according to the same studio exit polls that showed the age breakdown.
Also notable is how swiftly 'Gravity' has come to occupy cultural center stage. In an age when 'Pacific Rim' is for him and 'The Great Gatsby' is for her, 'Iron Man' is for the action fans and 'Blue Jasmine' is for adults who don't go to the movies much, 'Gravity' has become a must-see for everybody.
Even evangelical Christians, who rarely have much good to say about Hollywood, embraced the film. The Christian Post, which describes itself as the largest Christian newspaper in the world, quoted an editor at Focus on the Family's blog Plugged praising the movie because it showed 'the presence of God throughout the film' and could serve as an allegory for the Resurrection. The ordeal of Sandra Bullock's character, while not explicitly Christian, leads to a revelation in which she is reborn, giving her 'new purpose in the empty dark of space.'
Perhaps the strongest sign of audiences' enthusiastic response came not in the box-office bottom line, but the number of people who chose to pay extra to see it in 3-D. Eighty-two percent of domestic ticket buyers have so far chosen to pay extra and wear plastic glasses, more than for such hits as 'Life of Pi' or 'Avatar.'
Landmark's Mr. Mundorff said the 3-D version of 'Gravity' is substantially outselling the 2-D version throughout his chain, in both box-office dollars and individual tickets.
Ben Fritz / Don Steinberg
The film has broken box office records by appealing to young and old, men and women, art-movie fans, sci-fi geeks and evangelical Christian reviewers.
Now heading into its third weekend, 'Gravity' is an increasingly rare phenomenon: a movie that draws audiences in droves, yet also wins joyous praise from critics. Exhibitors are thrilled that word is out the film should be seen not at home but in theaters, on a big screen, with high-quality sound. Comedian Albert Brooks slyly underscored the rewards of the immersive big-screen experience, tweeting 'Just watched Gravity on an iPhone. Not that impressed.'
Older people are acting like teens. 'They're calling the theater asking how 3-D works,' says Ted Mundorff, chief executive of Landmark Theatres, which operates 50 cinemas in 21 U.S. markets. 'We're getting people out of the house who haven't been to a movie for 10 years or more.'
If current trends continue, 'Gravity' is likely to end up grossing more than $500 million world-wide, territory rarely seen by movies that aren't based on a comic book or toy and released in summertime or holiday season. It is unlikely to approach the world-wide grosses of movies like this year's No. 1 hit, 'Iron Man 3,' which sold more than $1.2 billion in tickets around the world.
The movie does, however, provide a reassuring message to the industry after a year of accelerated soul-searching, when big-ticket movies bombed and Steven Spielberg wondered aloud about a coming movie 'meltdown. He praised cable TV as more adventurous. Now, 'Gravity' joins a short list of recent movies that are fresh, high-quality fare for grown-ups and big business.
The entertainment industry is built on long shots and blind faith, but few projects came across quite as many shut doors on their way to success as this movie from Alfonso Cuaron, the director of 'Y Tu Mama Tambien,' 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' and 'Children of Men.'
Few saw commercial potential in an original story about a heartbroken not-so-young doctor struggling to find the will and the means to survive following a disaster in space. The notion that the film would rely on untested technology to simulate a weightless environment, where concepts like 'up' and 'down' have no meaning, only heightened the uncertainty. Some of the technology called for in the screenplay hadn't been invented yet.
'This was a movie filled with terrible ideas, at least by conventional thoughts,' said 'Gravity' producer David Heyman. 'It's an action film with a woman in the starring role. It's just two characters, with one alone for an hour. She's behind a visor for half the film. Those all supposedly don't work.'
The movie was originally in development at Universal Pictures, but the Comcast Corp.-owned studio in early 2010 put it in turnaround, Hollywood-speak for giving up on a picture before it starts shooting. Warner Bros. agreed to take it on, in part because it had a willing partner to share the costs in Legendary Pictures LLC. But Legendary, too, eventually dropped out. The studio unsuccessfully attempted to find a co-financing replacement, but one potential backer after another declined to foot even a portion of the roughly $130 million bill -- brought down to $105 million thanks to a tax credit from the U.K., where the movie was shot.
Casting was no easier. As work on the movie's complex technology dragged on, original stars Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr. moved to other projects. Potential replacements including Natalie Portman Marion Cotillard, and Naomi Watts popped up, then faded away. Finally, soon before production began in 2011, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney agreed to star.
When the movie was completed, its prospects still appeared questionable. The results of early test screenings were middling, as people not prepped by the critical raves and pre-release buzz that preceded 'Gravity's' Oct. 4 debut simply didn't know what to make of it. Some said they had trouble relating to Ms. Bullock's damaged character.
'It didn't look like it would go on to be a phenomenon,' said Warner's president of world-wide marketing, Sue Kroll.
Only four days ahead of the film's release Warner, part of Time Warner Inc., found a partner willing to share the risk. In September, the studio set a multiyear, $450 million deal with a company that agreed to cover up to 25% of the budgets of nearly all its movies. Ratpac-Dune Entertainment, comprising filmmaker Brett Ratner, Australian billionaire James Packer and investor Steven Mnuchin, could participate in 75 films.
In its second weekend, ticket sales dropped only 21%, an unusually strong performance for a big hit. It was a sign of strong word-of-mouth, also reflected in high weekday ticket sales. In just two weeks, 'Gravity' has grossed more than $200 million world-wide, even though it hasn't opened yet in such major foreign markets as China, the U.K., Japan, and Mr. Cuaron's native Mexico.
'We had theaters that performed as well or better the second week, which is a big indicator of positive word-of-mouth,' said Mr. Mundorff, of Landmark Theatres. 'They're coming back and bringing people.'
Weaknesses on paper became strengths at the box office. Long-standing stars (Ms. Bullock is 49, Mr. Clooney 52) helped draw an opening-weekend audience that was 59% over 35 years old -- an age group that rarely turns out in sufficient numbers to propel a film into the stratosphere. At the same time, getting a healthy share of 35-and-unders to a movie with middle-aged stars was no mean feat, either, said Mr. Heyman, the producer. Opening weekend audiences were slightly more male than female, according to the same studio exit polls that showed the age breakdown.
Also notable is how swiftly 'Gravity' has come to occupy cultural center stage. In an age when 'Pacific Rim' is for him and 'The Great Gatsby' is for her, 'Iron Man' is for the action fans and 'Blue Jasmine' is for adults who don't go to the movies much, 'Gravity' has become a must-see for everybody.
Even evangelical Christians, who rarely have much good to say about Hollywood, embraced the film. The Christian Post, which describes itself as the largest Christian newspaper in the world, quoted an editor at Focus on the Family's blog Plugged praising the movie because it showed 'the presence of God throughout the film' and could serve as an allegory for the Resurrection. The ordeal of Sandra Bullock's character, while not explicitly Christian, leads to a revelation in which she is reborn, giving her 'new purpose in the empty dark of space.'
Perhaps the strongest sign of audiences' enthusiastic response came not in the box-office bottom line, but the number of people who chose to pay extra to see it in 3-D. Eighty-two percent of domestic ticket buyers have so far chosen to pay extra and wear plastic glasses, more than for such hits as 'Life of Pi' or 'Avatar.'
Landmark's Mr. Mundorff said the 3-D version of 'Gravity' is substantially outselling the 2-D version throughout his chain, in both box-office dollars and individual tickets.
Ben Fritz / Don Steinberg
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