[US Entertainment] 1994

Josh naturally did not expect his embarrassing photos to be taken in by the "National Enquirer". If he knew, besides feeling that the "National Enquirer" loved him almost as much as Carlos, he would also like to There are no other words to express my feelings.

At the beginning of September, all the crew members of "The Shawshank Redemption" were interviewed by "Hollywood Reporter". While the national media was not interested in "The Shawshank Redemption", this professional film media showed that it had a strong interest in "The Shawshank Redemption". Due to the strong interest in "Redemption", at the end of August, the magazine sent an invitation to the crew of "The Shawshank Redemption", and the report was able to proceed smoothly in early September.

As a professional movie magazine, "Hollywood Reporter" always focuses on movies. At the beginning of each year, the magazine will select the top ten best movies and ten worst movies of the year as a review of the Hollywood movie market in the past year. To sum up, last year, "Schindler's List", "Farewell to the Piano", and "Jurassic Park" were all honored to be selected into the top ten, and the year before last, "Scent of a Woman" was also selected into the top ten.

"Hollywood Reporter" reporter Sophie Crohn stared at Josh curiously: "Josh, what is your reason for taking this movie? Can you introduce this movie to readers?"

Josh smiled slightly: ""The Shawshank Redemption" is a very good movie. It tells a story about freedom. That's why I took this movie. Many people have read Stephen King's original book, but How many people in Andy's situation can do the same thing as Andy?"

"I admire Andy. He is brave, wise, never gives up, and pursues hope and freedom even in adversity. This movie is not a simple revenge story, it is more like a long poem about pursuing freedom."

"Sounds very mysterious." Sophie Krohn laughed.

"That's right." Josh also smiled, "I can't reveal what kind of story it is now, because if I tell you now, the story will not be so interesting."

Sophie Crone nodded: "If you were asked to rate this movie now, how much would you rate it?"

"I give this movie a 10 out of 9.9."

Sophie Crohn suddenly showed a surprised expression: "Wow! Josh, you really have confidence in this movie."

Josh smiled and shook his head: "It's not that I have confidence in this movie, but that it deserves such an evaluation. I even think Andy is the best role I have played in the past two years. It has nothing to do with acting skills, but But Andy is a charismatic character, a plump, free-spirited character with all the beautiful words to describe it."

After Josh's interview, Sophie Krohn interviewed Frank Darabont and Bob Gunton respectively, combining Stephen King's original work and the description of the film by the crew. The Hollywood Reporter published an exclusive interview with "The Shawshank Redemption", and Sophie Krohn specifically pointed out that this is the best role played by Josh himself in the past two years.

After the release of this exclusive interview, "The Shawshank Redemption" immediately attracted all-round attention from the North American media.

Amon Goss in "Schindler's List" just made Josh win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The role of Jack in "Speed" made the film earn more than 1 million US dollars at the box office. Jack has become the dream girl of all American girls, but Josh Walter, who plays these roles, claims that "The Shawshank Redemption" protagonist Andy is the best character he has ever played?

Under normal circumstances, actors will not boast easily, otherwise the media reports will slap them in the face, they will only exaggerate and praise the work they performed in order to attract more audiences to enter the cinema to enjoy.

If actors were too quick to boast or assert something, they might end up much like Richard Gere.

Yes, Richard Gere.

In just over half a year, poor Richard Gere has transformed from a romantic and wealthy playboy to an object of ridicule. Every prediction he makes is like a slap in the face. If this half year was a brilliant start for Josh, then for Richard Gere, this half year is undoubtedly a nightmare.

He even got very close to the "National Enquirer", just to step on his feet when the "National Enquirer" blacked Josh, but with the box office of "Speed" rising day by day, even "National Enquirer" The Enquirer has dropped Richard Gere.

A drunken editor of the National Enquirer accidentally leaked the editor's words:

"Richard Gere is a religiously brainwashed fool and we'd better stay away from him. Every paper wants to sell the National Enquirer, but none of them can because they always Get played around by fools."

He even revealed the reason why the National Enquirer was reluctant to part with Josh.

"Please, that's because the editor-in-chief is also very optimistic about Josh Walter's potential. If he can grow into a superstar, our newspaper will have a steady stream of topics!"

After listening to Josh, he could only sincerely express that the "National Enquirer" really loved him.

During this period of time, there were also many contradictions in the marriage relationship between Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford. Although the "National Enquirer" gave up cooperating with him, this unscrupulous supermarket tabloid He didn't let him go at all, but turned around and reported Richard Gere's embarrassment.

"Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford's Marriage Breaks Down, Cindy Crawford: It's Unbearable to Be in the Same Space as Him"

"Richard Gere predicts another failure, and the contract with Warner may change"

"Richard Gere loses female audience: He has lost his presence"

In short, compared to Josh's beautiful face, Richard Gere's life is much more miserable and miserable, but none of the audience who watched him and Josh tear each other expressed sympathy for him.

After all, he was the one who provoked trouble, and he was also the one who got slapped in the face repeatedly.

On September 9, "The Shawshank Redemption" was screened on a small scale in 23 theaters across the United States. Although the cost of the film was not high, Columbia still showed full sincerity because of the joining of Josh, a new Oscar-winning actor. There was a small meet and greet for the film before its release.

In fact, what Columbia Corporation cares about is not Josh's Oscar supporting role, but Josh's great luck in the box office market.

In the eyes of these film companies, luck is undoubtedly a part of strength.

Columbia even thought that as long as Josh superimposed part of the luck of "Speed" on "The Shawshank Redemption", the box office of this movie might really be a miracle.

As a producer, Columbia does not have high requirements for films. Although the crew of "The Shawshank Redemption" has great confidence in the film, in Columbia's view, apart from the leading actor Josh Walter, "The Shawshank Redemption" "does not have the temperament to become a dark horse at the box office.

Columbia only hopes that the box office of this movie will be 7 to 8000 million, which is enough to reach half of "Speed".

For this veteran Hollywood film company, the 90s was not a time of prosperity and harvest. Since Akio Morita of Sony bought the company, it is not known whether it is the Japanese who are not acclimatized to the land in the United States, or Colombia’s decision in recent years. In short, since 1990, Columbia Pictures' gains in the Hollywood film market have seemed a bit miserable.

In 1990, Columbia Pictures didn't have a single film in the top ten at the box office that year.

In 1991, there was only one, Billy Crystal's "Urban Hicks", which successfully surpassed [-] million at the box office and ranked fifth on the box office list that year.

In 1992, Tom Cruise's "The Heroes of the Righteous Sea" finally saved Columbia Pictures some face, the movie box office was good, and it was also shortlisted for many Golden Globe nominations.

In 1993, Clint Eastwood's "The Wire" earned Columbia Pictures $1 million at the box office, and it was the only Columbia Pictures film to appear in the top ten at the box office last year.

These results seem to be pretty good. However, last year, Universal's "Jurassic Park" alone raked in 6 million in North America, and 20th Century Fox's low-cost film "Slim Dad" also raked in 2 million. By this year, Disney's "The Lion King" and Paramount's "Forrest Gump" are competing to the death at the box office, and the two films are expected to break [-] million together.

20th Century Fox relied on "Speed" to make a lot of money. Although the investment in "True Lies" was not high, Schwarzenegger's appeal allowed the film to occupy a place in the top ten of the year in advance.

Although Warner didn't make a lot of money in this year's summer vacation, several films have great potential. "The Gambler Ma Huali" has a box office of nearly 1 million, and "The Ultimate Witness" is not far away from the [-] million threshold.

Where is Colombia?

Of all the films released this year, "Wolf" is the only one to make more than 5000 million at the box office.The box office of "Urban Hillbilly 2", which Columbia Pictures has bet on with great hope, is only more than 4000 million, which is not much higher than the cost. The box office of "Big Boys" released in multiple theaters was only over 2 million, and it went offline after only two weeks of release...

It is no exaggeration to say that throughout 1994, there was no film company that was in a more miserable situation than Columbia Pictures.

The box office of all their movies combined is not even as good as a single 20th Century Fox film, or even Warner Bros. "Mahuali"!

1994 was a nightmare for the big-name studio behind several classic films.

However, if the upcoming "Shawshank Redemption" can perform miracles, the nightmare may bloom.

— as long as the miracle of Josh Walter can continue.