Hollywood Road

This weekend, which was also released in North America, "Dark City" was also released in theaters in more than 60 countries and regions in Europe, Latin America and the Far East at the same time. The relationship between genres, North America is the main market area for this movie, but 20th Century Fox and Murphy will not ignore the overseas market. The first weekend in North America is not over yet, let Gal Gadot lead some people to run to overseas markets.

The post-screening publicity in North America is mainly based on Murphy and James Franco.

Due to the popularity of "Dark City", countless fans unknowingly played the role of tap water. Murphy and 20th Century Fox did not do anything surprising in post-screening promotion, and basically used some routines. means.

The only difference is that the publicity is more concerned with the group of teenagers.

In fact, Murphy is very clear that the times are constantly changing, but the mainstream group in the film market will not change. Teenagers will always be the pillars of the market, and they are willing to pay for their favorite films and peripheral products.

After all, movies are cultural products greatly influenced by the social environment.

On Sunday afternoon, Murphy and James Franco had just flown to Chicago, participated in a fan meeting that night, and accepted interviews with local media after the meeting.

The people who came to interview Murphy and James Franco came from the well-known Chicago Tribune, which can be said to be the most influential paper media in the Greater Chicago area and even in Illinois.

The interview was placed in the lobby of the hotel, and the Hilton Hotel had cleared an area for their use.

""Dark City" successively created the highest Friday and Saturday box office records in North America..."

A female reporter with relatively rare long red hair placed the tape recorder on the glass round table between Murphy and said, "Congratulations, Director Stanton.

"

"Thank you!" Murphy said with a smile.

Afterwards, the interview got to the point, and the female reporter asked, "Before it was released, did you think that "Dark City" would achieve such a good box office result?"

While the weekend hasn't passed yet, it's Sunday night, and with a little care, it's not hard to see that the film could be putting up some pretty scary weekend box office numbers.

"Think about it." Murphy is not humble at all, "Stanton Studios and 20th Century Fox expect the box office of the film's first weekend in North America to be around 170 million U.S. dollars."

The female reporter made a slightly surprised expression on purpose, "You guys are so confident."

Murphy nodded, "Of course, otherwise we wouldn't have invested such a huge amount of money."

"Looking at it now, you have succeeded." The female reporter smiled and said, "Did you know that "Dark City" has a very good reputation among the audience, and many people even call the film a masterpiece?"

"Well..." Of course Murphy knew, "I've heard of some."

Hearing what Murphy said, the female reporter immediately asked, "Do you usually read some reviews of your movies? If you do, what do you think?"

"I don't read much about the reviews on the film."

Sometimes, telling lies with open eyes is purely for the sake of publicity. Without even thinking about it, Murphy said, "I learned a long time ago, don't read reviews that praise you, and don't read articles that criticize you. .Basically, I don't read the reviews of my films very much, because people are always affected by the environment. For the director, some reviews are actually terrible. Once you are affected, when you shoot the next film Changes may be made, but the consequences of such changes are often dire."

The female reporter asked, "Does it include articles by professional film critics?"

"yes.

Murphy still nodded, "You have to admit that reviews and movies are sometimes completely separated." "

These are of course not true. He sometimes reads good reviews with Gal Gadot, and some articles by famous film critics such as Roger Albert or Kenneth Turan,

However, these articles are just for reading, and they are not taken to heart at all. This can be said to be very important.

It's one thing for film critics to admire his style, quite another to regard their so-called pointers and analysis as a movie bible.

There is one thing that even Roger Ebert cannot deny that even the fourth or even fifth-rate directors in Hollywood are more professional in film production than any film critic.

Some things, Murphy never said clearly, but he was very clear in his heart. In North America alone, Hollywood movies have more than 150 million viewers and 600 film critics. For a commercial film director like him, It can be said at a glance which part of them will actually pay for the film.

Frankly speaking, being welcomed and praised by film critics, on the one hand, there are public relations factors, which Murphy has never denied. The Stanton studio spends millions of dollars in this area every year; The style Fei chose was just right for the appetite of quite a few film critics.

Of course, it is enough for him to know about this kind of thing, and he will definitely not tell the media reporters.

"Then you like your current job very much?" the female reporter asked again.

Although this question was a bit silly, Murphy still answered seriously, "Yes, I like it very much. Making a movie makes me feel excited, just like reuniting with a good friend after a long absence. I told Robert Downey Jr. before that But, 'I feel really cool doing movies on the streets of New York', that's my opinion, it's cool. I've always wanted to do a lot of things that I can't try in other movies in an interesting blockbuster, so here it is "Dark City", we are the only film in the world that uses more than 70% of the IMAX screen, which is very rare and very exciting!"

The female reporter looked down at her notepad and asked, "James Franco gave a great performance in this film. You are not only working partners, but also close friends. What do you think of his work? "

"It's great!" Murphy certainly won't be stingy with his praise, "James entered the state very quickly, I like it very much.

He's full of energy when he's working, and I like his work ethic. To play a role, you need to be fully prepared and familiar with every detail of the character. I like to make movies like this. James is amazing, he can improvise on set and always surprises! "

Compared with many famous entertainment reporters that Murphy has encountered, this female reporter's ability is obviously inferior, but that's good, it is relatively easier for him to deal with it.

"It is said that behind the scripts of each of your films..." the heroine finally asked a more professional question, "Is there a screenwriting team with a clear division of labor?"

"That's right."

This is not a secret in Hollywood. Murphy said generously, "Under normal circumstances, I only write the outline, character design and story direction of the script, and the specific content is handed over to the screenwriter team to complete."

The female reporter followed up on this topic and asked, "Is there any benefit in doing this?"

"It's great when there's a group of smart people coming up with a script with their ingenuity."

Murphy thought for a while, and said unhurriedly, "These screenwriters think about how the duel between Chris Dann and the magician is connected together. This process is very brain-intensive. It is too difficult for a screenwriter. It’s complicated for them to take into account the previous film that’s already been shot, and then tie the story of this one tightly to the previous one, making sure we don’t break the continuity of the story.”

Compared to the previous lies, Murphy is now basically telling the truth, "They have a whole room of diagrams and various things, which are unbelievable, and I put them in a room with the artwork in the movie. It is like a think tank. Many great works have been made in this room. We imagine the possible difficulties in each movie, and then find solutions to them. "Dark City" is now in theaters, which also proves our Work is worth it."

After answering a few more innocuous questions, the interview on Murphy's side came to an end.

Murphy didn't leave immediately, but went to another table not too far away, where James Franco was being interviewed by another reporter from the Chicago Tribune.

Since James Franco's interview was not over yet, Murphy just stood aside and listened for a while.

"James, you said before that you want to be a director yourself in the future."

The reporter who interviewed James Franco was also a young woman, "What did you learn from Murphy?"

"Murphy is more familiar with every aspect of the filmmaking process than anyone I've ever worked with, and the opportunity to watch him work every day is a rare opportunity."

Similarly, James Franco will also sing praises for his friends, "We have known each other for a long time. When I understand his thoughts and ask him questions, I can ask more detailed questions. For example, I asked He, why do you use a certain lens to shoot a certain scene, this process is very interesting.

The reporter then asked, "Would you make a big-budget movie like Dark City?"

"I don't know." James Franco shook his head first, and then said, "It may be a small and more personal movie, or it may be a big movie, and I may or may not act in it." Acting in. When I find the story I want, I decide the type of movie according to the needs of the plot, and it will be very clear at that time."

At the end of the interview, it was almost eleven o'clock in the evening. Murphy greeted James Franco and went back to the room to rest.

Not only them, there are still a large number of people in Hollywood waiting for this weekend box office statistics.