Made in Hollywood

Just entered July, Warner Studios, which had been deserted for a while, was full of voices again. Anna Prinz, Hannah Serena, Mike Dawson, Jimmy Carter, John Schwartzman and others rushed After the vacation, he regrouped at Warner Studios and prepared to prepare the latest project with Duke.

Since no press conference was held, a large number of reporters and paparazzi surrounded the gate of Warner Studios, and almost all the cars they rode were squeezed into the studio.

However, like Duke, they have long been used to this kind of scene.

Also appearing on the set were Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Lawrence Fishburne and many other star actors.

That's right, Duke's new project is Batman. Under the continuous urging of Warner Bros., a new Batman crew was officially established. This one also does not have the title of Batman, and the project is named The Dark Knight Rises.

This is also the final chapter of the new Batman trilogy.

As a sequel, high remuneration for actors is unavoidable. Christian Bale's salary alone is as high as 20 million U.S. dollars, and the estimated production cost of the entire film is as high as 250 million U.S. dollars. The highest single film investment since the industry.

In addition to these old actors, Duke has also finalized some new actors before, such as the tall and long-legged Gal Gadot as Selena Kyle, and James Franco as John Blake.

As for the big villain Bane, Duke has no feelings for Tom Hardy, who has been in the independent and literary circles, and intends to let a real big guy play this role.

In fact, Duke knew very well that Bain would never be able to surpass the Joker no matter what.

The role of the clown can become a classic, on the one hand because of the setting and the performance of the actors, and more importantly because of the death of Heath Ledger.

Without the death of Heath Ledger, the Joker would never have reached the heights he is today. There is no doubt about this.

Duke can't let the actor who played Bane die too, he's not that crazy yet.

Bane the Destroyer, in Duke's setting, will show more powerful fighting ability, inciting ability, and madness for anarchism, and there is no need to dig too much into the psychological level.

The Dark Knight Rises will move towards the epic final chapter in the form of a trilogy, when The Dark Knight is about to end. 'Batman' is the real hero who saved Gotham City, but now, he has become a superfluous existence, abandoned like a shoe.

It's a conspiracy-filled but fateful ending that ultimately makes Batman a murderer who is responsible for Harvey Dent's tragic death—but what everyone doesn't know is that, Not only was Harvey not dead. He also became the vengeful Two-Face, the vanguard of a vicious reform movement who paid a heavy price for the city's peace.

Arguably based on lies, Gotham City implemented high-handed and tough new laws that put all criminals behind bars. Or completely drive out the city...

A new episode of the story will begin 8 years later, it seems that 'Batman' and Jim Gordon seem to have got the result they wanted, and the whole city has entered a state of order, it seems There's really no need for a 'Dark Knight' anymore - maybe viewers will think it's 'Batman' the real Bruce Wayne who won the fight. But he was tortured because of everything that happened, and he lost himself completely. Not sure how to reappear as Batman - so by the 3rd film Duke basically had to deal with the fallout from previous events, including 'Batman' himself and other characters that have appeared .

As the final chapter of the Batman trilogy, Duke decided to tell a story that won't get any further extensions. And these contents as early as 2005 when he produced Batman: Beginning of War, he had already submitted the script outline and character settings to Warner Bros.

The scale of this film is smaller than The Dark Knight. As a super giant with an investment of 250 million US dollars, the film must be at the PG-13 level.

In essence, none of the Batman trilogy has departed from the scope of PG-13 family fun, and it is the PG-13 rating that ensures that the film can be sold well.

In Hollywood, if film operation wants to get enough market returns, it must be considered to be understood and accepted by different ethnic groups and different media platforms. In the diversified development platforms of home entertainment - cinema, TV, home theater, games , toys or other forms of derivatives, PG and PG-13 rated movies are the genre most likely to be accepted and commercially successful.

This type of film refers to a series of films that can reach audiences under the age of 17 on various media platforms. These films can cross demographic and cultural barriers and appeal to a wider audience.

All superhero movies can basically be classified into this category.

The biggest feature of this type of film is to shape stories and images with popularity, spectacle, emotional lines, and positive energy, and to please as many audiences as possible and offend as few audiences as possible under the demand of commercial profitability. features.

Although Hollywood family movies can be traced back to the early sound era, its current market dominance is a phenomenon that only began in the late 1980s.

The centrality of family movies in the post-Hollywood era is often seriously overlooked, and many people define family movies as movies aimed at children and their parents, but this definition of family movies is actually outdated.

After the mid-1980s, this type of film was not just a pastime film for parents and children, but expanded its target to the global media market, and spread it to more audiences across regions and cultures with popularity as much as possible.

Family carnival movies are no longer just a single film context. Most family carnival movies are a collection of intellectual property rights in various media, and many of them are built on existing brands.

For example, the Warner Bros. Harry Potter series, Lord of the Rings series, Superman series and Batman series.

The core brand image of these films has been accepted by the audience, has a certain mass base, and can be presented in various media forms such as film, TV, computer games, comics, toys, etc. Therefore, Hollywood family carnival films can cross the boundaries of films and reach a wider area Sky.

In Hollywood, practitioners including Duke have a consensus - those who win the family market win the world!

Examining the list of the 100 most successful films at the box office worldwide, more than ninety-five percent are labeled or widely recognized as family movies, and most of them were released in the late 90s.

In addition, these 100 films are all produced or distributed by the six major Hollywood film companies Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Sony Columbia and Universal Pictures, and they also jointly form the Motion Picture Association of America-MPAA.

Although these film companies only produce less than 30% of Hollywood films each year, they occupy the vast majority of the global box office market and major film franchises. These American Film Association member companies almost occupy the hegemony in the global film distribution market. status.

Today's box office blockbusters of these big companies, both in terms of format and target audience, have clearly begun to show a trend of standardization. More and more mainstream Hollywood movies are rated as parental guidance required (PG) or 13 years old. Parental guidance should be used by children below (PG-13), which illustrates that these films are increasingly targeting the global family market.

In contrast, R-rated (R) movies that were once studio mainstays, where children and teens are not allowed to watch without parental supervision, have dwindled in number and appeal.

And so far, none of the top 30 films in the global market is restricted.

Since the mid-1980s, an obvious attempt by Hollywood film companies to expand the audience for family carnival movies has been to create a PG-13 rating (special counseling level, recommended for children after the age of 13), which originated in the 1984 American movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. .

PG-13 is a buffer between PG and R ratings, allowing children under 13 to watch with an adult. PG or PG-13 ratings have become a prerequisite for box office success because of the range of people who can enter theaters. broad enough.

Although family carnival movies have evolved into various types, the most popular are fantasy and sci-fi genres, the most typical being superhero movies, and no matter how the Batman trilogy changes, it can't change superhero movies However, the fantasy and science fiction genres are the movies that can really break out of North America and spread across the world.

Various cooperations in the film industry and the integration of derivative markets have directly affected the subject matter of the film itself.

Most notably, we've seen the enormity of the splicing and fantasy themes that have become a staple of family-friendly blockbusters post-millennium.

And it is not without reason that such films have become mainstream in Hollywood.

First of all, fantasy themes have a highly visual sense of form, which can meet the needs of international consumers for visual shock.

Second, because the realm of the subject matter is generally out of touch with the reality of the earth, it avoids alienating non-Western audiences due to socio-cultural factors.

Third, and most importantly, a rich fictional world can provide unlimited opportunities for the development of movie merchandise and other commercial tie-ins. Such as Warner Bros. through the Batman, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series, using movies to bring to life an already famous, narrative world with an entrenched fan base. , spin-offs, and film style made Warner a leader in world building after the millennium.

Audiences’ positive descriptions of movies through word of mouth, social networks, and fan clubs, and purchases of related products, extend the life of a work to a large extent, and it is this cross-media interaction that sustains post-Hollywood. The film development of the era also provides a basis for the decision-making of the film industry.

There's no doubt that The Dark Knight Rises is bound to follow that. (to be continued ~^~)

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