America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 953 - 879 A Qualified Popcorn Horror Movie_2
Chapter 953: Chapter 879: A Qualified Popcorn Horror Movie_2
Chapter 953 -879: A Qualified Popcorn Horror Movie_2
Blake Lively leaned in, “I forgot to ask, what’s your estimate for this film’s performance?”
Davis Studio and Disney Studios both conducted market outlooks based on the film’s screenings and pre-sales, reaching similar conclusions.
“The presale box office is close to 10 million US dollars,” Martin said simply. “The first weekend in North America is estimated to exceed 20 million US dollars. It’s hard to say the final figure, because most of the fans who buy tickets in the first week are fans of you and me.”
Blake understood, “So the trend of the box office afterwards depends on the word of mouth?”
Martin replied, “Audience reception is very important.”
Right behind them, in the second row, Robert Iger and Alan Horn were also whispering to each other.
The topic they were discussing was naturally Martin’s directorial debut.
“Regarding the collaboration between Disney Studios and Martin, I suggest adding a condition,” Alan Horn said softly. “Sign a director distribution contract with him.”
As a CEO of a major company, Robert naturally considered it from a practical business standpoint, “Let’s just wait a bit, see how the market responds to the film.”
Alan Horn certainly wouldn’t oppose and responded, “That’s possible.”
In Robert Iger’s eyes, regardless of how many experienced assistants Martin had gathered, his own role as a director couldn’t be overlooked. Martin had money and resources, and the ability to effectively integrate these into a box-office hit was a talent in itself.
This was a one-man show, where 99 percent of the scenes from beginning to end were set in the bay.
There were no more than ten human characters, most of which were minor characters, the targets of the great white shark’s revenge.
It was a story of Beauty and the Beast, with no male lead, only the female protagonist’s desperate struggle against the shark.
Blake Lively appeared throughout the film in a bikini, her figure hot and alluring, brave and resourceful. Despite being gravely injured, she persisted in dueling with the fierce shark for two days and successfully killed it, accomplishing her survival.
This also aligns with the current trend in the movie market, where princesses and fairies no longer passively wait for a prince to rescue them, but rather actively take charge of their own salvation.
The past Blake Lively was just a pure vase, playing roles that were all too similar.
Although there is a suspicion of the vase stereotype in this film too, her performance made considerable progress, portraying fear, despair, courage, and determination, drawing the audience to follow her fate from start to finish, truly thrilling.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Martin has helped her make a qualitative leap in acting.
When the credits rolled, Robert Iger commented in a low voice, “The film is well-made, not one of those slapdash gore-fests. Every shot, every special effect, every score has been crafted with care.”
Alan Horn added, “This movie had a production budget of 25 million US dollars. Bob, look, from the seawater to the shark and then to the wounds, every detail is extremely realistic. Martin has spent the money in the right places.”
Robert Iger nodded, “That’s rare for a new director.”
A director like Martin who holds great power and can control the budget himself is actually quite fearsome.
The majority of people when sitting in the director’s chair become self-indulgent jerks—no oversight on their head, spending money nonsensically—enough to drive investors insane.
If one were to ignore the post-release success, James Cameron is a classic example of that.
And the Wachowskis, whether they’re brothers or sisters, their projects are terrifyingly high investments that churn out baffling products.
Applause erupted, many in the audience stood and clapped.
Some of them were just clapping out of politeness.
The film was very watchable, but to say it was stunning would be nonsense.
The film didn’t go off the rails; maintaining a quality above the basic standard and still managing to surprise viewers was already quite good.
In the eyes of the fans, this was a quality, fresh take on the sea monster thriller genre.
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Amidst the applause, Martin stood up and hugged Louise to his left, “Thank you. Without you, this film wouldn’t exist.”
Louise encouraged, “You did very well.”
With only average talent, Martin really worked hard to achieve this.
Of course, his fiscal ability couldn’t be ignored either.
Martin hugged Blake again, “Thank you.”
Blake patted his back in return.
Martin let go of Blake and hugged Robert Eggers, Joel Negron, and other main creative team members one by one, sincerely thanking each of them.
The crew is a team, and movies have always been the result of team collaboration. As a new director, Martin wouldn’t have been able to create “Shark Beach” without these experienced professionals.
Martin gestured, leading the main creative team on stage to bow to the audience in thanks.
The applause was warm and lasted for quite some time.
But the success or failure of a movie isn’t closely related to the applause at the premiere.
What really matters is the audience feedback after the screening.
As the premiere came to an end, the Disney Studios personnel sprang into action, quickly collecting the questionnaires that had been distributed to the fans upon entry to gather the post-screening feedback.
Martin hadn’t even left the Chief Stone Theater before he received the related feedback data.
Louise asked, “How was the on-site audience reception?”
Putting away his phone, Martin said, “The comprehensive audience rating is an A-.”
“That’s decent,” Louise said candidly: “Better than external expectations.”
“You didn’t have high expectations for me, did you?” Martin said.
Louise made a circling motion with her finger, “Very high for this, average for the directing.”
Martin stepped out and saw Bruce had driven over, and said, “I’m going home; no matter what you say, I won’t go with you.”
Louise shook her head, got into her Rolls-Royce, and started scrolling through social media comments on her phone.
The reviews of the film were mostly positive.
“Martin’s debut is unexpectedly brilliant. He didn’t just use gore to stimulate the audience’s adrenaline rush, but instead crafted something much more clever, giving the audience a powerful sense of visual oppression and superbly building a tense and thrilling atmosphere.”
“I really didn’t expect Martin’s control over his directorial debut to be so extraordinary. ‘Shark Beach’ can be called the sexiest thriller-survival film of recent years.”
“Blake Lively is fantastic, did you all notice? She and the shark share a strange vibe; it’s like a battle of ‘come up if you dare’ and ‘come down if you dare’!”
But there were equally negative reviews.
“Martin Davis is better suited as an actor. His directorial talent is mediocre; this film is too simple to even be called a movie.”
“Blake Lively is criminally attractive, but Martin’s cliché of a beautiful woman tearing apart a great white shark is just too trite.”
“Did Martin and Blake Lively take on some high-profile swimsuit ads? The whole movie feels like an advertisement.”
Louise checked her phone and saw that as more viewers saw the movie, the IMDb rating dropped to 7.8.
But overall, “Shark Beach” still maintained a good audience reception.
Compared to IMDb, the critics were more favorable, and the day after the premiere, the Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating still sat at eighty percent.
Praises like “breath-taking, exceptional performance,” and “a sensory shock” kept coming.
“The Los Angeles Times” critic, Kenneth Turan’s review was quite representative.
“Martin Davis’s directorial debut may not be a classic horror film that will be savored for a long time, but it is definitely a worthy popcorn flick.”
Todd McCarthy, who wasn’t too optimistic about Martin in his column earlier, also changed his mind somewhat in the latest “Hollywood Reporter” issue.
“Martin’s film is very cliché; it’s not a stunning work, but he knows how to create the tense atmosphere such a genre requires. With multi-layered shots, he shows an ambiance that is both suspenseful and tense, making the film very well-produced, beautiful, and scary, with often unexpected scares.”
In the last part of his column, he emphasized, “We must acknowledge one thing, Martin Davis has injected fresh energy and life into the nearly extinct shark-film genre, revitalizing its original thrilling appeal and also pointing out new directions for the theme.”
