Chapter 591: Rave Reviews

In October, Lionsgate's third fall movie "American Sniper" was released. Link was the starring role in the movie, so he could only temporarily stop training and follow the crew to promote it.

"American Sniper" was initially released in 4 theaters in New York and Los Angeles. It took in a box office of US$2.51 million for two consecutive weeks. The average box office per theater reached US$44,800, making it the highest box office among all on-demand movies this year.

The film has a good reputation. Link's performance in the film has been recognized by many professional film critics. They believe that he not only plays the character and habits of an ace sniper, but also the emotions of a killer. It is very contagious and is the most popular one this year. One of the classic screen images.

"Variety" commented that his acting skills are even better than last year's "Gone Girl", and he has great hope of being nominated for an Oscar next year for this role.

The New York Post commented that in this film, in which Eastwood looked on coldly at the war in Iraq, Link used a nuanced performance to create a believable character. The film's consideration of the character's physiology and psychology is amazing. The characters appear real and believable due to Link's detailed characterization.

"The Hollywood Reporter" A vivid, nerve-wracking film about tragedy befalling a war hero, the film has qualities that make you think of it as a version of "The Hurt Locker." Sister film.

The comprehensive media review score is 91 points, and 22 media have given it a score of 95 or above. The freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 88%, 63 people support it, and the Yahoo audience score is A.

It is also a rare high-quality movie this year.

Due to its good reputation, the film began to be released on a large scale in North America in the third week after the screening. It grossed US$89.26 million in 3,555 theaters in North America during its first three days. This was also the highest first-ever box office performance among all non-sequel and non-animated films released this year. The best movie ever.

In the second week of large-scale screening, the number of theaters expanded to 3,885. In just 12 days of release, the North American box office exceeded 200 million, becoming Lionsgate's ninth film to achieve a box office of over 100 million in North America.

Overseas, due to subject matter restrictions, there are not many regions where it will be released. Starting from October, it has been released in 68 countries and regions. The box office exceeded 100 million US dollars in the first week of release. After 26 days of release, the overseas box office exceeded 200 million US dollars.

In North America, after 20 days of large-scale release, the cumulative box office exceeded 300 million US dollars. It is also the fifth North American movie with a box office of more than 300 million US dollars so far. It is also the highest-grossing non-sequel and non-animated live-action film.

Even though it was released during a period of low popularity, such as the autumn season, the film's reputation and popularity surpassed Link's previous films such as "Avengers", "Captain America" ​​and "Suicide Squad".

Many media commented that this is Link's best movie since his debut, saying that "American Sniper" is a real man's movie jointly created by three tough guys, directed by Link + Clint Eastwood. +Movie prototype Chris Kyle.

Too bad Chris Kyle is no more.

Not long after Link bought the film rights to the autobiographical novel "American Sniper" in 2013, Chris Kyle was persuaded by a retired Marine who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Shot and killed the friend who came with Kyle.

The marksman died of a gunshot. During the promotion, everyone heard the story of Chris Kyle and sighed.

Link also took the opportunity to promote the movie to donate US$100 million to several charitable foundations that treat such mental illnesses, and plans to add help to retired military personnel to the charity projects of the LINK Global Charitable Foundation. This charity It will benefit veterans all over the world.

After his father-in-law learned of his decision, he immediately expressed his support and took the lead in donating US$500,000 to the Link Charity Foundation.

In addition to his father-in-law, hundreds of entertainment and sports stars including Taylor, Paul Walker, O'Neal, Selena, Chris Paul, De La Hoya, and Elon Musk also donated. In less than a year, the foundation received 120 million donations. .

Although the Link Charitable Foundation does not rank among the top 50 in terms of scale and strength among charitable organizations, after more than five years of development, Link Charity has become more and more famous, and more and more people are being helped. Now people are coming to donate. The number of people also increased rapidly.

Since 2010, Link Global Charity Foundation has received a total of 380 million U.S. dollars in donations, and its strength has become stronger and stronger. In addition, the foundation's investment income has been good, and it will be even stronger in the future.

"American Sniper" performed well at the box office and received very positive reviews. Many film critics believe that Link is eligible to be nominated for the next Oscar for Best Actor. This is good news for Link, but for some people Say, not really.

——

"Link, congratulations, you made a good movie."

While drinking coffee and playing cards in a cafe, Leonardo said with a complicated expression, and his voice was a little strange and sour.

"Thank you! In fact, the movies I starred in were all good, and there was never a bad movie. "American Sniper" was just slightly better."

Link sat nearby and watched a few people playing cards, taking a sip of iced coffee.

"Is Pursuit also a good movie?"

Leonardo pouted and said.

"Leon, this is "Blue Sea Tracking 2", not Blue Sea Tracking. Please pay attention when you speak."

Paul Walker reminded.

Because he is the male protagonist of Bi Hai 1.

"I am a supporting actor in "Blue Sea 2". Besides, it is a casual movie, so the quality is not too bad."

Link smiled. The Big Blue Sea 2 was a movie he made in 2008. At that time, he had just entered the film industry and had no acting skills. Now he has won the Best Actor Award at the Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals and has been nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor three times. He is a truly talented actor.

His acting skills have improved quickly, but time has also passed quickly. Seven years have passed in the blink of an eye.

"Now many people in the media say that you have a chance to be nominated for the Best Actor Award at the Oscars next year. If you have the chance to win the award, will you fight for it?"

Leonardo stared at him and asked.

"Do you still need to ask this kind of question? Link has said long ago that his goal as an actor is to win the Best Actor Award at the Oscars. Now that he has the opportunity, he will definitely not let it go, right, Link?"

Casey Affleck smiled.

Link glanced at Leo, who had a serious expression, and smiled, "Yes, but you also know my situation. In the past few years, I have played several good roles. I have been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards three times, but I have not been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar once. It is obvious that the judges are targeting me. It is not certain whether I can be nominated this time, let alone win the Oscar."

"Link, you are right to think so."

Leonardo relaxed his expression a little, threw down the cards and said, "You are only 26 years old, too young, don't rush to win the award, you can learn from me, make commercial movies first, and wait until you are in your forties or fifties to fight for the Oscar. It will definitely be easier at that time."

Link smiled lightly and did not refute.

Leonardo has made a lot of preparations for the Best Actor Oscar since last year, including getting older and uglier, finding someone to expose his experience in the crew, paying a lot, and finding a black girlfriend. Last month, he donated to several environmental organizations.

There are more positive news than in the past few years combined.

It is to win the favor of the Oscar judges.

Seeing that Link's movies are very popular and have a very good reputation, he feels a little pressured.

If Link is successfully nominated, coupled with the public means of Lionsgate, maybe Link will win the Oscar for Best Actor next year.

Just like in 2012, when everyone was optimistic about Meryl Streep, Harvey Weinstein worked hard on public relations, and the situation was very good, but in the end, Jennifer Lawrence, who was only 21 years old, won the Oscar for Best Actress, which was a big upset.

Now it's Link's turn to win the Oscar, and the public relations team under Lionsgate will probably work harder and spend more money.

In addition, Link is a world idol, a super athlete, and a great philanthropist. Recently, there are rumors that Link is preparing to retire.

These factors combined, Link's chances of winning are infinitely increased.

Thinking of this, Leonardo's heart, which had just calmed down, was in suspense again. He glanced at Link, "Why don't you say anything? Do you have other plans for the Oscars?"

"No! The Oscar is a small goal. I will perform seriously and try to shoot the role well. The rest will be decided by the audience. As for whether I can win the award, I don't care much. If you regard winning the Oscar as the ultimate goal of being an actor, not winning the award is a failure. This idea is too narrow, and this goal has no meaning."

Link said calmly.

"That's right, Link, I am also a judge. When the Oscars select the best actor this year, I will definitely vote for you."

Tobey Maguire smiled.

"Link, I will vote for you too."

Woody Harrison and others smiled while holding cards.

Link thanked them and said that he would treat them to drinks if they were shortlisted.

Leonardo curled his lips and said to his friends, "My new movie is not bad either. Don't forget to support me."

The Oscar voting rules are borrowed from the election rules for party leadership candidates. When nominating the best actor and actress, there are five places on each ballot, and each judge can fill in 3-5 people, so there is not much competition between the two in the nomination stage.

"Your movie hasn't been released yet, who knows if it's good or not, let's talk about voting after the movie is released."

Paul Walker said.

"Yes, we are talking about Link now. Link's performance in this movie is great, and there is a great chance, so we support him."

Tobey Maguire smiled.

"My movie is better, and you will know what the best movie of the year is like after you watch it."

Leonardo said seriously.

"Is it really that good? Link, I remember that this movie is distributed by Lionsgate, right? If this movie is really good and Leon's acting is good, I suggest you use your power to postpone the release of this movie to next year, and Leon can't compete with you for the Best Actor Award."

Joaquin Phoenix smiled.

"I protest, Link, you absolutely cannot do that."

Leonardo said nervously.

Link shook his head, "Don't joke with this guy, he can do anything to get an Oscar now, if we continue, he probably won't be able to sleep."

"Hahaha, Leon's nervous look is funny."

"I didn't expect him to care so much about Oscar, he's a little neurotic."

Everyone laughed and joked.

Leonardo's face darkened, and he realized that he was too eager and was fooled by everyone. He slammed the table angrily.

"Hurry up and play cards, don't talk about those messy things, Link, if you don't play cards, don't disturb us."

Leonardo said.

"OK!"

Link smiled lightly, watched for a while, said goodbye in advance, and left the cafe. After leaving, the car turned to Lionsgate and picked up Eva Ka to go home together.

——

"American Sniper" was released less than a month ago, and the North American box office exceeded 320 million US dollars. The box office performance and word of mouth were both good, and major theaters decided to extend the movie's screening time.

In the North American film market, the screening period of a well-received and popular movie is often more than 80 days, and the worst is less than 45 days.

His movie has a very good reputation and is in line with the main theme. It is expected to be screened for no less than half a year.

When "American Sniper" was a big hit, the box office of the first autumn movie "Inherent Vice" was released, with a cumulative North American box office of 9.23 million and an overseas box office of 6.75 million US dollars. Compared with the cost of 20 million, the loss exceeded 12 million US dollars.

However, this movie has a good reputation and may win the Golden Globe and Oscar awards.

The second autumn movie "Lucy" has a cumulative North American box office of 128 million US dollars and a global box office of 469 million US dollars, with a revenue ratio of more than ten times, which is a dark horse movie.

There is also "The Martian" which was released at the end of the summer season. After more than a month of release, the current North American box office is 226 million US dollars, the overseas box office is 402 million US dollars, and the global total box office exceeds 600 million. Compared with the cost of 108 million, it is also a big seller.

From "The Martian" to "Lucy" to "Sniper", Lionsgate's movies have been selling well, and the total box office has successfully surpassed Disney, Universal Pictures and Paramount, becoming the first in the industry.

Considering that Lionsgate still has "The Hunger Games 4", the hearts of peers who have put down their minds are hanging again, and the pressure has increased again.

"The Hollywood Reporter" said that Lionsgate's movies have won big in the summer and autumn seasons. The total box office of movies released in North America has reached 1.94 billion US dollars, which is not much different from Lionsgate's total box office last year. In addition, there are still several movies under Lionsgate that have not been released. This year's total box office revenue will surely exceed last year.

If there is no dark horse in the next six major movies, Lionsgate may be the box office champion again this year.

The Hollywood Reporter joked that Lionsgate has become a nightmare for the top executives of the six major film studios. Link is conquering Hollywood with high-quality and high-grossing movies, and competitors are powerless to fight back.

However, Link is not so optimistic. As far as he knows, Disney still has a "Star Wars 7" and three movies with a production cost of over 100 million yuan. Universal Pictures and Warner Pictures also have many movies that have not been released.

It is not easy for Lionsgate to continue to maintain its leading advantage. In addition, the box office of several movies released by Lionsgate this year also belongs to Disney and Paramount. The figure of 1.94 billion has a lot of water.

So now is not the time to be happy. The remaining few movies need more efforts and more publicity to strive to maintain the existing advantages and prepare for the listing of Lionsgate next year.