Movie Master

Before the release of Saharan Cavalry, this work attracted much attention, and the overseas market also showed a thriving scene. Forty-five countries and regions around the world bought the distribution rights of the film at the first time, and decided to release it according to the North American release. Time to adjust their respective premiere times, so as to allow audiences in the country to meet the movie as soon as possible. Although it is not the world premiere at the same time, it is not far away, and this treatment is completely implemented in accordance with the summer works.

In comparison, before the release of Sin City, only the United Kingdom and Germany decided to introduce the distribution rights. . Obviously, overseas markets still have reservations about such a work with a unique style and an average cast. There is really a world of difference in such treatment.

However, in the long history of film, there are always disappointing works under the high expectations, and such box office duds appear almost every year, with rare exceptions. This year, the Saharan Cavalry became the first victim.

After landing in eight countries including Australia, Greece, Egypt, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Spain and Russia, the media reviews were gloomy, and the box office performance was even more gloomy. 100,000, while none of the other seven countries had a premiere box office of more than 1 million—strictly speaking, most of them were below 500,000.

The opening weekend box office in a single region in the overseas market can't even break through one million. It doesn't require any professional knowledge at all. Even ordinary people know that the box office of this movie is completely finished.

Although people have long been mentally prepared because of the poor box office performance in North America, the possibility of Saharan Cavalry going to be a big hit overseas is not high, but seeing such a performance, the media is still full of consternation—— This work is indeed terrible, but it's not so terrible, is it? Could it be that the throne of the best bad film of the year has been booked in advance?

It's too early to call Saharan Trooper the best bad movie of the year, after all, it's only April; however, no one will object to calling it the worst movie of the year.

With an investment of 160 million U.S. dollars, more than 50 million publicity expenses were spent in North America alone, and the publicity investment in overseas markets is still increasing, just judging from the official cost data of Diorama Films and Baldwin Films , This work has already entangled more than 200 million dollars in funds, and those figures that have not been announced to the public, I am afraid it will be even more terrifying. Industry professionals estimate that this work has burned at least 240 million US dollars so far.

The sensational premiere in the United States was full of stars and topics; the publicity activities all over the United States were full of inspiration and discussions; You can see news related to Sahara Troopers on five different programs, including interviews with Matthew and Penelope, including reports on the side of the movie, including Matthew and Penelope's love trivia, And so on, and this is just the TV part, if you include print media, then the number will continue to rise.

But even under such a powerful momentum, under the circumstances that everyone thought that the movie box office was about to take a rocket to fly into space, the movie box office was reduced to a tragedy, an outright tragedy, Shakespeare's four major tragedies are incomparable, The miserable level has already begun to snow in June.

Saharan Cavalry finally landed in 61 overseas countries and regions, but the cumulative box office in no region exceeded the 10 million threshold, not a single one! Even if such an ending is described as heroic, it is not enough to express the degree of shock.

The box office with the highest performance is the third largest box office market in the world, the United Kingdom, where Saharan Cavalry achieved a box office of 7 million US dollars, becoming the largest box office in the film's overseas market. Seven million, looking at such a number, he couldn't even vent his anger, only a ridiculous and empty wry smile remained, helpless.

What's even more ridiculous is that the United Kingdom is the only one among the 61 countries and regions overseas whose cumulative box office has crossed the five million threshold. The only, the only, the only, the lonely area.

Needless to say, this is the concentrated expression of the overseas box office market of Sahara Cavalry.

In the end, Sahara Cavalry earned a total box office of 33 million in overseas markets.

The Waterloo at the North American box office indicates that Saharan Cavalry needs to earn at least 400 million box office in overseas markets to ensure that it does not lose money, and this is the most optimistic estimate. Considering the money-burning actions of the film promotion department, it may be 500 million In order to meet the demand of not losing money.

But now, whether it is 400 million or 500 million, these are just a series of unattainable numbers, because the overseas box office of Sahara Cavalry is only 33 million, which is even worse than the North American box office performance. Looking at such data, it is estimated that any company will collapse and cry even if they want to.

The fact is also true, Saharan Cavalry has a cumulative box office of 81 million worldwide, and it doesn't need any effort from its competitors.

For reference, the Future Water World, which has become the laughing stock of film history, has a North American box office of 88 million, an overseas box office of 175 million, and a global box office of 264 million. Due to the investment cost As high as 175 million, plus a series of accidents during the filming process, as well as the promotional expenses after the release, this movie directly caused Universal Pictures to lose more than 100 million US dollars, and it did not recover in the next five years .

Now, Sahara Cavalry has replaced Future Water World and has become the benchmark of the new generation. The global box office of the former is not even comparable to the North American box office of the latter. People can't even bear to make things worse, and can only express their sympathy and condolences.

According to the analysis of industry insiders, Sahara Cavalry was jointly filmed by Diorama Films and Baldwin Films. However, the cost sharing and benefit distribution of the two film companies are not sure, so it is temporarily impossible to determine the fate of this film. What is the direct impact on the two companies, but what is certain is that the two companies will definitely not have a good time.

Leaving aside the undisclosed accounts of the two companies, just judging from the figures we have learned so far, the loss of Sahara Cavalry is at least 180 million US dollars, and this is the bottom line of conservative estimates. Judging from the publicity campaign and the newly exposed extravagant situation in the filming stage, the loss may be as high as 220 million.

220 million, even a top-tier film company with such wealth and wealth as Warner Bros. will take a breath, and may even need to adjust the filming plan for the coming year, which is inevitable. Not long after, in 2012, Disney's Alien Battlefield invested 250 million yuan, and the global box office reached 270 million yuan. The final loss exceeded 200 million U.S. dollars, which directly caused the then chairman Rich-Ross (Rich-Ross) )Resign.

Now, the Sahara Cavalry jointly produced by two medium-sized film companies has caused a loss of 220 million. It is hard to imagine how these two companies will bear such a loss, and how to fill the huge black hole left by the capital chain . At the moment in 2005, it has undoubtedly surpassed Cut Throat Island and has become the most money-losing film in film history.

Back then, Cutthroat Island invested 92 million dollars, but in the end it only got a box office of 9.5 million U.S. dollars, directly dragging down its production company Carlock Films. This production company is not unknown. Prior to this, it has successively produced works such as Terminator 2, The Great Wind, Total Recall, Ben/Neng and other box office successes and good reputations. Mistakes in decision-making lead to a complete loss.

Now, it's the turn of Diorama Pictures and Baldwin Pictures.

On June 20th, 2005, everyone was excited because Batman Begins: Homecoming redefined the superhero movie, which made the summer frenzy reach unprecedented heights, but few people noticed A piece of news reported by San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and other media:

Diorama Films is officially declared bankrupt.

Since its establishment in 1996, Diorama Films has achieved countless amazing results in just nine years. Even at the Oscars four months ago, their production of Hotel Rwanda was even more impressive. Won two nominations, but in the blink of an eye, the company was history.

This seems like an incredible thing, the demise of a company seems to be done overnight. But the real people in the industry know that this is nothing more than normal. Before that, Diorama Films had already faced losses due to the poor performance of two consecutive works of Troy and Ocean's Twelve. The problem of capital chain was originally a link. The next link, especially for such a medium-sized film company, turnover is not easy; what's more, a loss of 220 million yuan is like a mountain, and even a company with healthy funds and flexible turnover will immediately fall into deep trouble. Swamp, Saharan Cavalry was like the straw that broke the camel's back, completely killing all hope, nothing more.

It is not as tragic as imagined, nor is it as difficult as imagined. Bankruptcy, but in the blink of an eye, this is just a Wall Street game.

Three days later, Baldwin Pictures also declared bankruptcy.

Two medium-sized film studios were both in financial trouble because of the fiasco of Sahara Troopers, and finally had to end in bankruptcy. Such cases are not uncommon in Hollywood, and they did not stir up too many disturbances, nor did they trigger too many discussions. Those in the know only shared the news, and then turned around and returned to their daily lives. .

On August 1, 2005, the Guinness Book of World Records officially awarded the official certification. Sahara Cavalry replaced Cutthroat Island and became the biggest loss in film history.