[US Entertainment] Actor

Giorgio Armani, a famous Italian fashion brand, was founded in 1975 and is the brand of the same name founded by fashion designer Giorgio Armani.In addition to high-end fashion Giorgio Armani, Armani also includes the sub-line brand Emporio Armani and Armani denim series. This time, Ebert was invited to be the spokesperson for the Armani Jeans autumn and winter series.

As soon as Ebert got off the plane, he was rushed over by Lynn's phone call. Lynn was very emotional-you know, even with good magazine sales and fashion reputation during this period, and Ebert's appearance in "Saturday" The good performance of "Night Live", it is also difficult for Lynn to work for Ebert as an endorsement for the Armani denim series.

Armani haute couture and high-end ready-to-wear series may be unattainable for Americans, but the Armani denim series of the sub-line is very approachable. Coupled with the huge influence of the brand itself and the amount of advertising for the denim series in the United States, Lynn is completely One can imagine Ebert's soaring popularity after the ad was launched.

"Giorgio Armani is optimistic about your performance in the fashion industry this year. The endorsement period is two years. They are willing to pay you 80 US dollars a year as an endorsement fee. The requirement is that you must wear the clothes provided by Armani on important occasions during the endorsement period. Ready-to-wear and denim, the ad shoots after a while, and they want you to work the magic on that Givenchy shirt, ideally out of stock."

"It's a bold decision," Mark interjected.

Lynn nodded: "Giorgio Armani generally prefers people in the sports industry. Even if they choose stars, they will choose stars who have made achievements in a certain field. You are still a newcomer now. The internal team of Armani will choose you There are many controversies about the spokesperson, and Mr. Giorgio Armani personally decided to pick you."

"All I need to do is to prove to him that his choice is not wrong." Ebert raised his eyebrows, "For the endorsement fee of 80 US dollars, I have to work hard, don't I?"

"If your performance can't satisfy Armani, they don't mind changing to a new spokesperson. Boy, $80 is not so easy to earn. The decision is in the hands of the brand."

In short, being able to get the endorsement of the Armani denim series is definitely a surprise for Ebert. This not only means that Ebert can get a considerable amount of money, but also means that he has finally won the recognition of the fashion circle. Contacts with big names will go much smoother.

The specific cooperation with Giorgio Armani was given to Lynn by Ebert. After half a year of silence, the manager finally tasted the taste of a famous manager. He now has four or five movie scripts, numerous magazine appointments and several A brand endorsement invitation, for an actor whose reputation in the film industry is not yet prominent, this kind of treatment can be said to be top-notch, and Ebert has already walked ahead of many actors.

"For a while, your only job is to promote "White Night." After the premiere, no matter what the box office results are, you have to prepare for "Pirates of the Caribbean" audition. Jerry Brookhead Mo that person has always been vicious, and it is not easy to win his favor."

Entering May, the Hollywood film market is uncharacteristically showing a booming scene, which seems to be warming up for the next summer. On May 5, "Spider-Man" was released in 5 theaters in North America, and its revenue in the first three days reached an incredible 3 million US dollars, not only breaking the box office set by "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" record, and even drove the growth of the entire market in May with his own power. On May 3615th, George Lucas took "Star Wars: Episode 1: Attack of the Clones" to the North American market, raking in a box office of 4000 million U.S. dollars in 5 days, forming the same position as "Spider-Man" in the box office list. The momentum of the enemy.It is worth mentioning that in the week from May 5th to May 16th, the cumulative box office of "Spider-Man" has reached 2 million US dollars, almost pre-booking the top ten annual box office in North America.

Squeezed by "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones," recent releases haven't been great."Infidelity" starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane has accumulated a box office of 2 million U.S. dollars in its two weeks of release. Since its release, it has been ranked among the top ten at the weekly box office. The week of May 2900 still achieved a good result of 4 million U.S. dollars, and the cumulative box office has reached 5 million U.S. dollars so far.

May 5th is the day when "White Night Chaser" is officially released. In this week, the film will not only face the two-sided attack of "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars Episode 24", but also compete with the animated film "My Little Pony". Birett" and the comedy "Enough" starring Jennifer Lopez.

Box-office analysts and film critics weren't too optimistic about the film's box-office success.They believe that under the attack of the two box office masterpieces "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars Episode 2", it is difficult for a drama-like police film such as "White Night" to perform well at the box office, even with Al Pasi Nuo and big names like Hilary Swank and Robin Williams have joined, but none of the three are actors with strong box office appeal. Coupled with the limitations of the subject matter, it is very difficult to break through the siege.

Not only professionals think so, but the crew also has insufficient expectations for the film's box office. The total shooting cost of "White Night" is 4600 million US dollars, and Al Pacino's salary accounts for a quarter. For the producer Warner, as long as the movie can earn about 8000 million at the box office, plus DVD The sales income is enough to recover the cost.

Of course, there are still big differences between Warner Bros. Film Company and professionals on box office expectations. Professionals believe that the estimated box office of the movie "White Night" should be around 4000 million US dollars, and the possibility of not recovering the cost great.

That night, Ebert appeared on the red carpet of the premiere wearing a brand new Armani suit. Although the film brought together several big names, the red carpet was unremarkable. Only dozens of reporters and hundreds of fans arrived on site.This was the first time Ebert attended the red carpet, but he didn't feel nervous at all. Instead, he waved leisurely to the fans on both sides, and occasionally offered his smile to the screams from both sides of the red carpet.

It seems random, but Ebert also made perfect preparations for attending this red carpet.In the words of agent Lynn, Ebert has reached an agreement to cooperate with Armani. This time the red carpet is a platform to show his identity as a spokesperson. As long as his photo is printed in the newspaper through the reporter's camera, this month's The Hollywood men's best-dressed list may once again have Ebert's place.

In fact, the treatment enjoyed as a spokesperson is not the same as that of ordinary stars.Since the premiere red carpet of "White Night" is difficult to compare with the red carpets of major award ceremonies, it is impossible for Ebert to wear custom-made clothes to attend the premiere. His only choice is high-end ready-to-wear.Even so, Armani America has prepared more than 60 suits for him to choose from. Ebert chose a thousand and one, and finally chose a suitable shirt.

"You only need to see how many times the reporter's flash lights go on, and you will know how well you are wearing this dress." Lynn said, "Now is the beginning stage, and every detail is perfect so that you will not lose your job."

Ebert re-appreciated the complete version of "White Night Chase".After the premiere, he went back to the apartment and took an early sleep. The next morning, he rushed to the newsstand to buy all the newspapers related to the movie, and began to read one by one.

All kinds of paper media that developed film critic columns mentioned this just-released movie in unison.

The evaluation of "Premiere" magazine is very concise: ""White Night" is the third work of director Christopher Nolan. Compared with the brain-burning "Follow" and "Memento", "White Night" is obviously closer. Real life. Al Pacino and Robin Williams duel adds watchability to the movie, overall it's a worth watching movie, the scene laying is in line with the original, Al and Robin's The performances are above the passing line, but perhaps limited by the adaptation of the original book, this movie did not display the aura and talent of Christopher Nolan in "Memento". Deliberately an unsolved mystery..."

"Premiere" believes that the movie "White Night Chase" is 70 points for the director + 50 points for the script + 90 points for the performance of the actors. Al Pacino played the image of an old man suffering from insomnia very well. Williams' image difference from comedy style to behind-the-scenes is also eye-catching.

The evaluation of "Entertainment Weekly" is similar to that of "Premiere". It gave the film a rating of 70 points, thinking that it is Christopher Nolan's initial attempt from niche to commercial, and Nolan handed over a satisfactory answer sheet .

The "Hollywood Reporter" film review is more focused on the actors. Unexpectedly, Ebert, who is only a supporting role, is the most inked in the entire film review of the magazine: "The work of Al Pacino and Robin Williams The performance is as old as ever, and I am very surprised that the performance of the new generation of actor Albert Dawson, who won the Golden Raspberry Boy for "The Girl Cheerleader's Puberty" The protagonist, whose acting has always been criticized, but once turned around, I was very impressed by Albert Dawson's short three 10-minute appearance in "White Night". He perfectly interpreted Hap The image of this policeman, the resentment and resentment in the confrontation with Domo, and the despair and pain when he was finally killed, his performance is simply at the textbook level! Before writing this film review, I deliberately re-watched "The Girl Cheerleader" Puberty, it's hard to imagine both performances being the work of Albert Dawson alone."

The "Hollywood Report" even declared at the end that if Ebert could maintain this level of acting, he would be No. 80 in acting among Hollywood male stars born in the 1s.

Of course, in Mark’s words, you can only half believe what the media says. When you become popular, their words of praise are enough to make a determined person blush. Once you are abandoned by the audience, they will not hesitate to deepen your wounds. Nicolas Cage and Keanu Reeves are examples.

In any case, Ebert can still be secretly happy. For him, these positive comments are enough to clear the obstacles to his future development.His appearance is excellent, and his reputation has gradually turned around. What he lacks is the affirmation of his acting skills. As long as he is regarded as a powerful member by film companies and Hollywood professionals, his future acting career will only become wider and wider. .

"Oh, Ebert, I can't bear it, you actually want to post these comments on the wall, I can't bear it!" Seeing Ebert's action, Mark rolled his eyes fiercely, "I always thought that trophies only The value of collection, I never thought that one day movie reviews could be carefully treasured. The owner of this handsome face would care about an old man's evaluation. In my opinion, the only thing worth cherishing in this world is a love letter written by a girl..."

"Mark, you're disgusting."

"To each other, I think you should not rush to post movie reviews now, you should worry about the box office of the movie. Now both the Internet and the print media are full of praise for "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars Episode 2", maybe " White Nights' final box office fell short of Warner Bros.' expectations."

Ebert thought for a moment, then shook his head: "The result may not be that bad. Those two movies have driven the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies. This month's movie market is expanding, and "White Night" can even take advantage of this trend to occupy First opportunity."

Ebert guessed right. "White Night" easily earned more than 3500 million US dollars at the box office in the first week of its release, ranking third on the box office list, second only to "Star Wars Episode 2" and "Spider-Man". This week is the fourth week of the release of "Spider-Man", and the box office is still strong. Tobey Maguire has become one of the most watched post-70s actors in Hollywood through this film.

Although it only ranks third, compared with the investment of 4600 million yuan, the production company Warner Bros. was really excited to achieve such a result in the first week of release.Judging from this trend, "White Night Chase" can make a fortune in addition to recovering the cost, which has exceeded Warner Bros.' original expectations.Most importantly, the box office of "White Night" this week is only $100 million lower than that of "Spider-Man".

Even the media who firmly believed that the total box office of "White Night" would be around 4000 million US dollars were dumbfounded. They really don't understand how "White Night" is such a movie that has no box office competitiveness. It achieved a box office of 3500 million U.S. dollars in the first week, which is even more than the final box office expected by some media!

——Until some media conducted a questionnaire survey and drew conclusions with reference to the audience's speeches on IMDb.

"The plot of this movie is not very attractive to me, the subject matter is not my favorite genre, as to why it went to the cinema? Of course it is because of Albert Dawson, his performance on "Saturday Night Live" is really good. , Of course, he is also very good in "White Night", and the last scene where he struggles in the snow really makes my heart ache." - From an audience in San Francisco.

"Ebert Dawson. In fact, I have seen this film at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York before, and I happened to get Ebert's autograph again. I feel that I need to go to the cinema to support him again. , so I called my parents and my sisters.” The excited fan posted Ebert’s signature, with chubby English letters that look like cute pandas from the mysterious East.

Hundreds of viewers left comments on IMDb declaring that last month's "Saturday Night Live" was the reason they went to the theater to watch "White Night" because of the hard-working performances of Hilary Swank and Ebert. The desire to watch movies arose, and of course more, it was the natural attraction of Ebert's face to girls.

Once again, Ebert has entered the public eye.

This time, it wasn't just the Hollywood Reporter that was evaluating him.Hollywood has always liked to promote stars who have reformed their ways and turned their prodigal sons back. This is conducive to shaping the positive image of the entire industry and embodies the dreams that Americans insist on.Stars such as Drew Barrymore and Robert Downey Jr. have also won the support of countless viewers for their efforts to quit drug addiction and focus on their careers.

The focus of media attention is naturally how Ebert transformed from the best actor in Golden Raspberry to a rising star in acting. They dug up Ebert's dark history again and compared it with Ebert's performance in "White Night". , declaring him an "actor who has worked miracles".

Nothing has a more powerful publicity effect than the media. Within a week after the release of "White Night Chaser", Ebert made entertainment headlines for three or four days in a row. The media portrayed him as a new idol, calling him brave after knowing his shame, Know what it means to be an actor.

Of course, there were also some discordant movements among the colorful reports—naturally, they came from Ebert’s old rival, the National Enquirer. He played a role in the box-office growth of "The Fierce", thinking that he had no shame in imposing on himself the box-office appeal that originally belonged to Al Pacino and Robin Williams.

"Ha, Albert Dawson is really the thickest-skinned star in Hollywood history. To be honest, if it weren't for Al Pacino and Robin Williams, who would have known that there would be a movie called "White Night" in May this year What about the release of the movie? An actor who only had one leading role in a super bad movie before, only appeared in "White Night" for half an hour and brazenly declared that the box office results were related to him. Biggest joke!"

The article in the "National Enquirer" also attracted a lot of echoes. They believed that it would be difficult for Ebert's popularity and appeal to drive the growth of a movie's box office. It occupies only a small part.

"Damn "National Enquirer", they always like to put your face on the ground, but now it's hard to get real reasons to refute them." Lynn threw down the newspaper angrily, "I just don't know Where did you offend it?"

Ebert picked up the newspaper from the ground and read it word by word.When it was over, he gave an evaluation: "The writing is not bad."

The broker glared at him.During this time, Ebert was in a very good mood. He had basically read all the comments about him in the media, and he was prepared to receive bad comments. After all, he was not loved by everyone.

Ebert himself didn't care, but the fans who supported him were furious. After the first week passed, the box office of "White Night Chase" suddenly exploded in the second week!

The weekend box office in the second week was 2200 million, ranking second in the weekend box office list, second only to Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman's new film "The Sum of Fears", which received 3120 million in its first week of release. total box office.The third and fourth places this week are still "Star Wars Episode 2" and "Spider-Man". With a box office of 2000 million US dollars, it ranks first among all the movies released this year. Only "Harry Potter 1450: The Vanishing Chamber" and "Lord of the Rings 3" are expected to make an impact on it this year.

Nevertheless, under the light of "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars Episode 2", the box office performance of "White Night" is even more commendable.As of this week, "White Night" has earned a box office score of 7300 million U.S. dollars. Compared with the cost of 4600 million U.S. dollars, Warner Bros. can completely relax.

On top of that, "White Night" saw a small drop in its second week, down just $1300 million from its first week.You know, the box office of "Spider-Man" in the second week was only 4600 million U.S. dollars, a drop of 9000 million U.S. dollars from the first week.In the off-season, $2200 million would be enough to put a movie at the top of the weekend box office charts.

At the same time as the box office of the movie exploded, discussions about the movie on the Internet and in professional forums were also gradually fermenting. The website established by Ebert's fans received 10,000+ visitors in a week, and fans flocked to Express their love for Ebert and their disapproval of the National Enquirer's nasty review.

The way they express their disapproval is - posting ticket stubs.

Within two weeks, more than 5 movie fans posted the ticket stubs of "White Night Chase" on the website, and tens of thousands of people did not do so, but left a message under the post saying that they bought tickets to watch the movie .

Based on the average ticket price of US$5.81 for American movies this year, only a small group of fans on fan websites contributed about US$100 million to the film's box office, not to mention those fans who leave messages on IMDb and other websites.

The behavior of movie fans strongly proves that Ebert is indeed a box-office appeal. Although he has only appeared on the inside page of a magazine once and once on a variety show, the money returns he has generated are worthy of the attention of all film companies.

In any case, although Ebert is still a small figure in Hollywood, no one will deny his future potential, and some media even assert that he will become a figure like Leonardo DiCaprio, because they all have handsome Appearance, strong audience popularity and outstanding acting skills.

In the early summer of 2002, Ebert achieved real popularity.