The Best Director-Chapter 509 - 508: Steel!

Chapter 509: Chapter 508: Steel!

Time flies, and the summer movie season of 2007 arrived under the increasingly hot weather.

On May 4th, the $258 million production “Spider-Man 3” made its debut, followed by the $160 million “Shrek 3” on May 18th, and the $300 million “Pirates of the Caribbean 3” descended on May 25th, with the three blockbusters taking turns bombarding theaters!

“Spider-Man 3” dominated the North American weekly box office for two weeks, raking in ticket sales like crazy. Four weeks later, it had amassed $310 million in North American box office and $824 million worldwide. Other movies released at the same time such as “28 Weeks Later,” “Georgia Rule,” and “Delta Farce” were all blown to pieces. However, as the last installment of the series, it only managed mediocre Rotten Tomatoes scores of 63%/41%/54%. Roger Ebert smashed it with 2/4 points, “Too many villains, too many pale plot lines, too many romantic misunderstandings, too much talking, too many street crowds looking up at the sky, exclaiming ‘oooh!’ and then turning to look the other way, exclaiming ‘aaah!'”

The May 18-24 weekly champion “Shrek 3” wasn’t much better off in terms of reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 41%/48%/57%. Roger Ebert gave it 2.5/4 points, “It uses the wrong type of farce as an excuse for fun. In reality, hopping and energetic character stories are easiest to write because they lack creativity, and their actions are all the same. But so what?” This certainly couldn’t stop it; 15 days later, it had a box office tally of $227 million/$250 million, without having launched in a major overseas market yet, and it was expected that a final global total of $700 million would be no problem.

By the end of May 25-31, “Pirates of the Caribbean 3” unsurprisingly took over the weekly crown with $160 million, reaching a total box office of $173 million/$476 million, setting the Pirate series up for another shot at a billion global box office. But behind the success was only a lackluster Rotten Tomatoes score of 45%/34%/74%. Roger Ebert didn’t pen a review, probably too lazy to go see it; while Tom Lang from “The Detroit News” slammed it with a “C” grade: “The film, nearly three hours long, continues the senseless violence of the second part, while completely losing the romantic charm of the first.”

Although none of them could break the series of crazy records set by “Firefly,” they all proved to be great successes at the box office! However, none of the three major films released in May could win unanimous applause from critics and audiences alike. Not a single one.

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In this context, people were looking forward with greater anticipation to the $140 million production “Iron Man,” a superhero comic movie produced and adapted by Wang Yang, directed by Jon Favreau, and starring Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams, and others. What would it be like? What would its performance be?

Previously, “Dead Silence,” which had been showing for five weeks, hastily left theaters with only $26.28 million in North American box office revenue, meaning Universal took a big loss. “Dead Eyes Open” was currently showing in 319 theaters and had already taken in $5.08 million at the box office, expecting to end up with around $8-10 million, so Lionsgate made a small profit. “The Green Hornet,” still in 165 theaters after 11 weeks, was picking up the last of its box office, having already collected a near-final tally of $202 million in North America and $514 million worldwide, marking another acclaimed and commercially successful classic from Flame.

FF had proven for the first time its capability to produce superhero movies, which greatly reassured Warner Bros. and fans, who were looking forward to more. “The Dark Knight” had started filming in early April, with Christopher Nolan leading Christian Bale, “Heath” Ledger, and others to create a new crisis in Gotham Town. “Firefly 2,” meanwhile, began shooting in late May. As early as half a month prior, the Serenity had assembled once again in Vancouver for martial arts training, among other things, with Jessica naturally part of the team.

However, she was very reluctant to leave Keke, even if the daily video calls and weekend flights back to Los Angeles for reunions were hard, she also worried that if this went on too long, Keke might become less affectionate towards her…

In order to ensure Jessica was in the best possible working state and also as one of the screenwriters and executive producers for “Firefly 2,” after the production of “I Am Legend” was completed, Wang Yang took Keke and Danny to Vancouver as well. Before the release of “I Am Legend,” his main tasks involved participating in the promotional work, and formally starting on the actual preparatory phase for the next 3D film. Any later, and there would not be enough time.

Due to the high level of secrecy and keeping a low profile, the media still knew nothing about this film, except for rumors that “Magical Yang intends to make a 3D sci-fi movie.” Their cameras were all focused on “Iron Man” and “I Am Legend,” which was exactly the effect Wang Yang and Flame wanted.

On June 1st, Flame Film’s second movie of the summer was about to take the stage! The highly promoted superhero blockbuster “Iron Man” powerfully hit 4154 North American theaters, as well as nearly 60 other overseas markets in synchronization!

Perhaps sensing that “Iron Man” might face a Waterloo, or at least not be as dominant, and considering the following movies like “Ocean’s Thirteen” were not going to be pushovers, whereas in May each of the big films premiered in a large scale on its own, the first week of June saw three other releases: the comedy “Touch & Go” in 2871 theaters (PD $30 million), the thriller “Mr. Brooks” in 2453 theaters (PD $20 million), and the sports film “Gracie” in 1164 theaters (PD $9 million).

The war was about to explode!

“Uh, it’s been a while since I’ve spoken like this, so I’ll just have to read it off,” Tony Stark said, looking down at the packed audience of reporters. He pulled out a speech and began to read, “Some people suspect I am involved with the incident on the highway and on the company’s rooftop…” Just then, reporter Christine interrupted him, “Sorry to interrupt! Mr. Stark, do you really think we’ll buy the ‘armored bodyguard from the sky’ story? And besides…”

Tony interrupted her as well, “I know, it sounds unbelievable! Questioning the official explanation is one thing; but insinuating that I am a superhero and condemning me for it is quite another,” Christine laughed, “I didn’t say you were a superhero.” A wave of laughter erupted in the auditorium, and Tony mumbled to himself, “You didn’t? That’s good, because the thought is quite strange and ridiculous… I am clearly not hero material, I have a ton of flaws, and I’ve made many public mistakes…” Colonel Rhodes reminded him, “Stick to the script.” Tony nodded.

He lifted the speech and continued, “In fact…” he started but stopped, the flashlights kept bursting into light, he was done running from his responsibility, and said lightly, “I am Iron Man.”

“Whoa—” All the reporters jumped up and surged forward, voice recorders and cameras buzzing incessantly, their questions creating a cacophony of noise. In a close-up shot on the big screen, Tony’s calm face froze and turned into a comic book page, the end credits rolled, listing “Director: Jon Favreau; Screenwriter: Wang Yang, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby; The Producers: Wang Yang, Susan Downey…”

“Hoo hoo hoo—” Accompanied by the stirring end credits music, the auditorium boiled over into excitement, the audience, just like the reporters, spontaneously erupted into applause and cheers. It was too fun, too thrilling! Another masterpiece! Another superhero masterpiece!

The film lasted two hours, from the beginning with the carefree and arrogant genius playboy, to the tense and excitable times of adversity, to the return… right up to the climax of the battle and the ending, audiences across North America were captivated, engrossed as if in a trance, the two hours passing in the blink of an eye. The explosively cool Robert Downey Jr., the assertive and composed Rachel, all of it—the superb and lifelike performances, the engaging story, the witty and humorous dialogue, the lavish and realistic special effects, the smooth and exciting action sequences… everything was performed to perfection!

Maybe “Iron Man” wasn’t the best movie of the summer, as there was “I Am Legend,” but there was no doubt it was the most exhilarating, the most exciting! That’s what viewer Austin Ashkin thought. “Spider-Man 3” had great action scenes, but its dramatic sequences were tediously long, especially the preachy dialogue. “Iron Man” was too cool! Will “Transformers” be better? Maybe, but now it’s Iron Man’s time!

“Wow—” The audience, with smiles on their faces, couldn’t stop expressing their amazement. Cool, stylish, exhilarating, an adrenaline rush… This was a crazy movie! They started to stand up and leave their seats, laughing and talking with friends and even strangers, “Incredible! The magic of Yang prevailed!” “Favreau did not disappoint, Downey was too good!” “Wow, I really liked that opening scene, I’ve never seen anything like it!” “So, Yang is that kind of guy, huh?” “I love the magic of Yang!!!”…

“Wang Yang + Robert Downey Jr. is this movie.” — 4/4, Richard Roeper, “Ebert&Roeper”; “Iron Man may not be the first-tier member of Marvel Comics, behind Spider-Man, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, but he might be the superhero we can rely on in movies.” — 4/4, Kirk Honeycutt, “Hollywood Reporter”; “For years, there have been only a few outstanding superhero movies, ‘Iron Man’ is one of them.” — 4/4, James Berardinelli, ReelViews; “It’s a blockbuster of the summer that accomplished the smartest thing, without being boastful.” — 3.5/4, Colin Covert, “Minneapolis Star Tribune”;

“It inherits all the personal charm of Yang, except for the attitude towards women, a notorious playboy, completed by Robert Downey Jr., who has a past.” — 3.5/4, Michael Philip, “Chicago Tribune”; “Despite some adrenaline-pumping moments, Favreau and Downey kept focused on the true story of a perfect script, a man who learns to take responsibility for his actions. All its firepower and CGI are well-crafted, and that makes Iron Man truly take flight.” — 3.5/4, Frank Lovece, “Newsday”…

Rotten Tomatoes gathered 205 reviews, 98% freshness from the general film critics, 95% from the top critics! 95% audience approval (from 259,639 participants)! IMDb rated it 8.6 out of 10, the film critics and audience alike were captivated and impressed, the whole world gave it a thumbs-up, a perfect wave of acclaim!

“Fast-paced, fun, and extremely exciting entertainment.” — 3.5/4, Carrie Rickey, “Philadelphia Inquirer”; “‘Iron Man’ makes the summer officially hot, with almost no other film daring to compete.” — 3.5/4, Peter Travers, “Rolling Stone”; “‘Iron Man’ is fantastic escapist entertainment! It’s rightfully the first blockbuster Yang dropped for the summer of ’07.” — 4/4, Bill Zwecker, “Chicago Sun-Times”; “‘Iron Man’ will inevitably become one of the most unforgettable blockbusters of the summer of ’07.” — 3.5/4, Peter Howell, “Toronto Star”…

A superhero blockbuster that puts other superhero blockbusters to shame! If “The Green Hornet” is an unconventional action comedy, then “Iron Man” is the most traditional yet unique blockbuster of the summer!

The box office champion on opening day without a doubt, the weekend champion without a doubt… When June 1-7 passed, “Iron Man” unhesitantly climbed to the top of the North American weekly box office throne! How did those three new movies think they had a chance to split the box office with “Iron Man”? Movie fans collectively felt, how foolish!

Yet another upstart has fallen. Last year’s indie distributor Picturehouse, which gained fame and fortune from distributing “Pan’s Labyrinth” (PD $19 million, box office $37.63 million/$83.25 million; 2/6 Oscars), lined up eight new movies for release this year. However, their highly anticipated “Soccer Women’s Captain” only grossed $1.93 million in its first week (averaging $1,666 per theater), with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 60%/50%/61%. Picturehouse was completely stunned by this massive blow, what happened!!

“Mr. Brooks” had MGM sighing deeply, its debut box office was $10.68 million (averaging $4,353 per theater), and with Rotten Tomatoes scores at 55%/47%/75%, it looked to be another loss.

Originally, “Knocked Up” was a prime example of a well-received, commercially successful film, yet today’s comedies, R-rated comedies, and pregnancy-themed comedies have evolved and changed the landscape. Under the onslaught of countless hilarious films, the relatively unchanged “Knocked Up” has become just another typical movie—quite funny, yes, but with no surprises. It carried decent Rotten Tomatoes scores of 80%/82%/75%, but had a rather average opening weekend box office of $26.22 million (averaging $9,132 per theater).

And in first place… Box Office Mojo’s report headline was “Iron Man Ignites and Soars,” a truly sensational launch, what a phenomenon! The summer’s fourth blockbuster, insane! It grossed a crazy $162 million in North America within seven days, averaging $38,998 per theater! At the same time, it netted a global box office of $327 million!

“Flame Films has created another miracle,” said producer and chairman of Flame Films, Wang Yang. “This is a dream start, but it’s well-deserved.”

Brandon Gray’s report read, “A new milestone has been erected, with the roaring debut of Iron Man. Its opening weekend take of $130 million is the second-highest ever for a Marvel comic adaptation, only behind the record-best of ‘Spider-Man 3’ at $151 million; it’s the best of the first instalments in any series.

This means another Marvel hero has dazzled on the big screen, with Flame Films reviving a superhero that had been shelved for many years. CEO Mark Strong said, ‘We are fortunate to have such a powerful brand that represents quality family entertainment, and it proved to appeal to audiences of all ages who love ‘Tony Stark.’ Now, we can confidently roll out the full slate of creativity.”

In the face of recent high-quality movie drought, “Iron Man” was an oasis, even exceeding the box office performance of of top-tier superhero movies. Previously, only the most popular superheroes reached such heights—like “Spider-Man,” “Batman,” “Superman,” “X-Men”; while the second-tier ones like “Fantastic Four,” “Hulk,” “Ghost Rider,” “Daredevil” were in the middle. In advertising, Iron Man was portrayed as a smart and funny figure, showcasing the character’s distinctive personality. Who doesn’t love the latest, wittiest, happiest superhero?

According to exit polls conducted by Flame Films, 65% of the audience was male and 55% were over 25 years old. More importantly, it seems that audiences really loved the movie, as it scored an ‘A’ in both CinemaScore and Mojo users’ polls.”

That a mid-tier superhero would make it to the silver screen and become even more popular than Superman or Batman is astonishing! New Line, one of the investors, was thrilled with the results; but also, heartbroken, pounding their chests in regret—Oh no! Why was the intellectual property for “Iron Man” sold to Flame Films! Why! Why!…

But then again, why could such a derelict project like “Iron Man”, which wasn’t looked upon favorably, explode in such astounding popularity? If it weren’t for the magic of Yang, who knew what would have become of it? Nobody dares question his decisions now, as actions speak louder than words, and Jon Favreau’s work has proven to be no less than any Hollywood heavyweight director, maybe even better!

“Hollywood’s weapons of mass destruction: Wang Yang, the young Robert Downey Jr.; previously undiscovered: Jon Favreau.” — 3.5/4 Claudia Puig, USA Today; “The trendiest, best-scripted and best-directed superhero movie. It joins the summer season with brilliance.” — 4/4, Lou Lumenick, New York Post; “A superhero who has as much brain as muscle.” — 3.5/4, Chris Vognar, The Dallas Morning News; “Even as ‘Iron Man’ fulfills the demands of its genre, it surpasses other films.” — 3.5/4, Christopher Orr, The New Republic…

When June 8-14 passed, the globally sweeping “Iron Man” remained North American champion for the week with $72.57 million (-55.2%), a total box office of $234 million/$474 million! A steel tornado swiftly took the whole Earth by storm!

“Ocean’s Thirteen,” the runner-up, only brought disappointment to Warner Brothers with a first-week box office of $50.7 million (averaging $14,223 per theater) and Rotten Tomatoes scores at 70%/59%/74%. The all-star cast didn’t seem to work this time. As for “Surf’s Up” and “Hostel 2”, they were almost negligible.

“Iron Man” has understandably cemented its place on the silver screen, while Paramount’s execs were nervously drumming their fingers, wondering if this was the ill effect of a “miracle director”. Would the robot market be devoured before they could get to it? “Transformers” was coming on July 6th! And they were particularly concerned about how many fresh tomatoes Michael Bay might receive, even though the producer was Spielberg, especially since they had to face a unique blockbuster like “I Am Legend”.

“What about me? What about me?” While New Line was both joyful and sorrowful, Warner Brothers’ executives, like a child craving candy, were hoping so dearly that “The Dark Knight” could boast the explosive momentum of “Iron Man”. But Alan F. Horn and others certainly weren’t fools; seeing “Iron Man” riding high, what was there to question? The word ‘miracle’ appeared tailor-made for Wang Yang! They genuinely changed their stance, sweet-talking the Nolan brothers and Wang Yang, forgetting all the previous fuss.

Wang Yang had not forgotten his original promise, and he wrote on his blog: “Hey, guys! Did you watch ‘Iron Man’? Jon Favreau and his team did a fantastic job!!! Robert Downey Jr., you are half as handsome as me! LOL, Rachel McAdams is so hot! By the way, all you guys who bet against it, have you seen it? How does it feel? Give me a reply.”

Those who questioned it mostly disappeared, and amid the vast praises on the message board, only occasionally one could find a few stubborn remarks like, “‘Iron Man’ sucks!,” which were far fewer than the love confessions from Wang’s female fans.

“My boyfriend loves this stuff, so he dragged me to watch every superhero movie so far. I must say ‘Iron Man’ is one of the rare ones that has unbelievable fun and an entertaining story, I really enjoyed it!” — Saskia, four stars; “One of the greatest superhero movies of all time, Wang Yang + Robert Downey Jr. are the best, Captain Marvell, genius modern version.” — DreamExtractor, five stars; “Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! A powerful jolt! Non-comic book fans can enjoy too.” — Richard P., five stars;

“Compared to other superhero movies, ‘Iron Man’ is frightening! It makes them look very juvenile! Brilliant movie, ‘I am Iron Man.'” — Owen D., five stars; “Amazing film, Tony Stark and Pepper are portrayed so perfectly, miraculously great.” — Fess F., five stars; “How else can you praise the amazing Yang? Incredible! Brilliant performance, excellent action, fully humorous lines and a perfectly tense and exciting script, you’ll just love it, as delicious as jam! This is the best superhero movie, epic, like I haven’t seen in years.” — Simon O., five stars…

Robert Downey Jr. added another classic screen persona to his repertoire, setting the woods on fire, who is now one of Hollywood’s most dazzling A-list stars? His name is definitely on that list.

Without a doubt, audition invitations and film offers started to be delivered to Downey’s agency team in droves, but this former wayward son, now a happy man, is the top partner at Flame Film. Besides the currently filming ‘Firefly 2’, the future ‘Iron Man 2’, and ‘Due Date’, he was going to star in a new Flame Film production.

Turning Lionel Wigram’s comic ‘Sherlock Holmes’ into a big-screen picture! This project, proposed, established, and led by Lin Wei, the vice president of the production department, is expected to start shooting in the fourth quarter of next year and be released at the end of 2009. This is also Lin Wei’s ticket to promotion. If ‘Sherlock Holmes’ turns out to be a massive success, he will be promoted to president of the production department and receive partnership shares. Meanwhile, Susan Downey, bearing the credits of ‘Firefly’ and ‘Iron Man,’ recently officially joined Flame as the co-president of the production department, and she will also be the producer of ‘Sherlock Holmes’.

“‘Iron Man’ is an atypical superhero movie, high-concept popcorn.” — 4/5, A.O. Scott, The New York Times; “This little gizmo is definitely dazzling. Too many exhilarating actions, sparkling comedic fun have provided a massive dramatic energy.” — 4/4, Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal; “A super confident, excellently entertaining film. It is destined to accelerate the pace at which other summer blockbusters are eliminated.” — A, Tom Charity, CNN.com; “‘Iron Man’ does what I did not expect, it makes this erstwhile inferior man look like a supremely righteous superhero.” — A+, Ethan Alter, Giant Magazine;

“At the end of the day, Iron Man takes off, leaving the vast majority of other superhero films behind.” — 4/4, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times…

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As time passed amidst the hubbub, the box office of the superhero masterpiece ‘Iron Man’ kept growing, striding towards $600 million, $700 million!

Under these circumstances, ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’ with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 37%/34%/55% (Prod. $130 million) took the weekly crown with $67.45 million (average $17,037 per theater) but seemed like a severe letdown, a terrible movie! It proved how wise Rachel was to not return to play the Invisible Woman and instead join the cast of ‘Iron Man’ as Pepper.

If the 20th Century Fox was barely tolerating the box office performance of ‘Fantastic Four 2’, at least it would probably break even on the global box office after factoring production costs, marketing, copies transportation, et cetera, when the home video sales began; ‘Bruce Almighty 2’ (Prod. $175 million) had Universal crying rivers with an opening weekend of $45.53 million (average $12,635 per theater), Rotten Tomatoes score of 23%/8%/56%, no Jim Carrey = doomed; as ‘Ratatouille’ and ‘Live Free or Die Hard’ entered cinemas, the former took the weekly crown for June 29 to July 5 with $80.51 million, and the summer already stepped into July.

To deal with the harsh main battleground, ‘Transformers’ had already moved its release date to July 6, ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ also delayed by two days, returning to the Friday of July 13.

What had thrown them into such disarray? July 6 was the global release date for ‘I Am Legend’! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at qidian.com with your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)