美国票房遭遇15年来最惨淡周末

上周末，美国国内电影票房可以用“惨不忍睹”四个字来形容。

当然，这种小事与飓风哈维造成的损害相比，实在是不值一提。据美国国家气象局称，飓风哈维自上周五登陆得克萨斯州的墨西哥湾区以来，已经导致灾区降水超过20英寸。哈维对电影业当然也造成了一些影响，比如导致了德州南部的影城大量停业。不过哈维对全美的票房成绩是否造成了实质性的打击，仍然是有争议的。

另一个影响上周末美国国内电影票房的因素，则是上周六晚的一场UFC赛事。在这场比赛中，弗洛伊德·梅威瑟在第十个回合技术性KO了康纳·麦格雷戈。这场比赛也是UFC历史上付费收看率最高的比赛之一，估计一晚就狂揽了10亿美元收入。到底有多少观众观看了这场比赛，详细数据得等到本周晚些时候才会发布。不过不少分析师表示，这场万众瞩目的拳王决战，应该会让不少观众选择周末不去看电影，而是守在电视机前看直播。

当然，除了这些场外因素，本周没有能吸引大量观众的新片，才是导致票房成绩不佳的主要原因。本周美国国内电影票房成绩估计不会超过6500万美元，各大院线票房前12名的电影总计也只贡献了不到5000万美元。以上数据都是近15年以来最低的。

类似这样的“票房魔咒”似乎特别喜欢出现在9月前后。比如2014年9月的第一个周末，美国国内票房总额只有6600万美元。2012年9月7号到9号，美国国内票房总额也只有6700万，票房成绩前12名的电影仅贡献了5190万美元。2008年9月5日到7日的票房成绩也很不理想。

以上这几次“黑色周末”的票房好歹还维持在6000万美元以上。新世纪以来，美国票房市场最惨淡的两个周末出现在2000年和2001年。2001年9月21至23日，美国的电影票房跌破6000万美元大关，该周末总计收入5900万美元，前12名的电影总共贡献了4350万美元。而在此一年前的9月15日至17日，全美票房收入跌至5370万美元，排在前12名的电影总计只贡献了3790万美元。

在单片票房方面，上周末排在前两名的依旧是狮门影业出品的《杀手的保镖》和华纳兄弟出品的《安娜贝尔：重生》。其中《保镖》在3377家影院获得排片，票房收入达到1010万美元。截止到上周末，该片在美国累计已斩获3960万美元。《重生》则凭3565家影院的排片获了740万美元的票房，使其累计票房突破了7790万美元。

狮门影业的分销总裁大卫·斯皮茨表示：“我们认为到了九月，它（指《保镖》的票房表现依旧会很好。”

除这两部电影之外，时代华纳公司上周末也有两部力作上映，其一是动画电影《了不起的菲丽西》，该片在北美的2575个影院上映，预计收入500万美元。不过该片是时代华纳公司以300万美元的低成本购入的，该片的海外累计票房已经超过了5820万美元。它号称是一部音乐探险喜剧片，讲述了一个孤儿院出身的女孩儿立志成为一名芭蕾舞者的故事。该片的配音囊括了艾丽·范宁、麦蒂·齐格勒、卡莉·蕾·杰普森、纳特·沃尔夫、凯特、麦金农和梅尔·布鲁克斯等一线红星。虽然它在“烂番茄”上的新鲜度只有37%，但知名票房研究公司CinemaScore却根据观众口碑给它打出了A的高分。

时代华纳的分销负责人劳伦特·欧柯宁表示：“这真是一个艰难的周末，连一部票房只有500万美元的影片都可以挤进前三名。不过好在我们有一部观众喜欢的电影。”他表示，虽然这部影片的观众主要是女性和年轻人，但是“有些跟家人一起来看的男孩子也喜欢这部片子。”

另一部影片《风河谷》上周末在2095家影院上映，并收入440万美元。该片已经在北美上映四周，它也可以看作是“边境三部曲”的最后一部（另两部分别是《边境杀手》和《赴汤蹈火》）。在《风河谷》上映的第一周，它在四大院线创下了全美年度最高的上座率，不过它也不见得就比前作更加成功。曾获奥斯卡最佳电影奖提名的《赴汤蹈火》在上映第四周的周末也斩获了440万美元，但当时排片的只有1303家影院。

在上周末票房前五名的电影中，时代华纳有两部影片上榜。欧柯宁表示：“我们决定把范围拓得更宽一些。我们看到了市场的空间，也意识到对于目标受众来说，已经没有什么新鲜的东西了。”

以功夫大师李小龙为原型的《龙之诞生》本周也在1618家影院上映，并收入250万美元票房，略低于其分销商325万美元的预期。该片在2016年多伦多电影节上映后，BH Tilt和WWE Studios公司共同签下了它的美国放映权。这部片子在美国上映前也没花什么钱做宣传，而是主要着眼数字推广和目标观众。本片主要讲述的是上世纪60年代，李小龙（伍允龙饰）在旧金山与武术大师黄泽民（夏雨饰）进行的一场精彩比武。

由索尼影业出品、Affirm Films和Provident Films发行的《他们皆圣徒》（All Saints）在846家影院上映，上周末共收入155万美元。作为一部宗教片，该片虽然预算极低，却受到了专业影评人和观众的一致好评，在“烂番茄”上的新鲜度达到89%，CinemaScore也给出了A-的好成绩。本片由约翰·考伯特和卡拉·布欧诺主演，史蒂夫·戈玛执导。本片的剧本由史蒂夫·阿默尔根据真实故事改编，讲述了一个由销售员转职的神父与一群东南亚难民的故事。

虽说目前比较流行的一种说法是，各大电影公司在发片上已经充分做到了“全年无死角”，然而8月似乎仍然是一个缺少票房强心针的月份。当然，前几年的8月也不是没有出现过票房奇迹。比如索尼幕宝影业去年这个时候上映的《屏住呼吸》在首映周末就狂揽2640万美元。虽说在目前的《安娜贝尔：重生》和即将于9月上映的《它》之间，似乎已经不太可能杀出一匹票房黑马了，不过在这个青黄不接的时候，一些电影还是具备再榨出一些利润的潜力的。比如《神奇女侠》和《极盗车神》排片量的二次上涨，就充分说明了不少电影公司已经意识到了8月末的“票房黑洞”，只不过他们还没想好如何填满这个大坑。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

There's no getting around it: This weekend's domestic box office is a catastrophe.

In the grand scheme, it can seem like a small issue when compared with Hurricane Harvey — the deadly natural disaster that tore through the Gulf Coast of Texas on Friday, dumping more than 20 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. But Harvey also had at least some impact on the business, forcing theater closures in South Texas. Still, the degree to which the storm hurt the bottom line of moviegoing is up for debate.

Another factor under inspection is Saturday evening's UFC match which saw Floyd Mayweather beat Conor McGregor with a 10th-round TKO. The fight was estimated to reap as much as $1 billion in revenues, and among the biggest pay-per-view draws in history. Numbers regarding the amount of viewers will be released later in the week, but some analysts predicted the highly-anticipated brawl could keep those who would ordinarily see a movie, out of theaters.

All that said, no amount of outside factors can excuse the reality that no major releases this weekend managed to connect with audiences in a significant way. The overall box office this weekend is not expected to pass $65 million, and the top 12 films will gross less than $50 million. Those figures are the lowest in more than 15 years.

There have been lulls around this time in recent years. In 2014, the first weekend in September made $66 million overall. Two years before that, the September 7-9 frame made $67 million overall and $51.9 from the top 12. 2008 saw a similar slump in the September 5-7 frame.

But not since late September in 2001 have they dropped quite so low. The September 21-23 frame in 2001 earned $59 million overall and the top 12 made $43.5 million. The year before,September 15-17 fell to $53.7 million for the weekend and $37.9 for the top 12.

Back to the current day, once again, "Hitman's Bodyguard" and "Annabelle: Creation" will top the charts for Lionsgate and Warner Bros., respectively. "Bodyguard" is expected to earn $10.1 million from 3,377 theaters — combined with last weekend, its total domestic gross should be $39.6 million. And "Annabelle" will make $7.4 million from 3,565 locations, raising its current domestic cume to $77.9 million.

"We expect it to continue to perform well right into September," said Lionsgate's distribution president David Spitz.

Otherwise, TWC made two of the weekend's biggest plays with the animated feature "Leap!" and the expansion of Taylor Sheridan's "Wind River." The former opened at 2,575 locations in North America, and is expected to take in $5 million. The film was acquired for a low cost of $3 million, and under its title in every market outside of the U.S., "Ballerina," has already picked up $58.2 million from foreign locations. It's billed as a musical adventure comedy about an orphan girl who aspires to become a dancer. The voice cast is led by Elle Fanning, and also includes Maddie Ziegler, Carly Rae Jepsen, Nat Wolff, Kate McKinnon, and Mel Brooks. Critics smushed it to 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences earned the film an A CinemaScore.

"It's a tough weekend out there in the marketplace when a $5 million movie is ranked third," remarked Laurent Ouaknine, distribution boss at TWC. "On our side, we have a film that audiences love," he said, adding that, while the audience is predominantly young and female, they're seeing that boys "that are coming with their family like it too."

"Wind River," meanwhile should make an additional $4.4 million this weekend from 2,095 locations. The film, now in its fourth week of release, is intended as the conclusion of a trilogy that includes "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water." During its first weekend at four theaters, the thriller scored one of the year's best per-screen averages, but its mass appeal seems more questionable. "Hell or High Water," which earned a best picture nomination at the Oscars, also made $4.4 million during its fourth weekend, but from fewer locations (1,303).

"We did decide to go a little bit wider," Ouaknine said. "We saw the room in the marketplace, and that there was nothing new out there for the intended audience," he added, touting that TWC is responsible for two of the top five films in the marketplace.

Also, "Birth of the Dragon" is opening at 1,618 locations to $2.5 million. That's below the $3.25 million goal set by the distributor. BH Tilt and WWE Studios co-acquired the film after its premiere at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival. The marketing campaign was inexpensive and focused on digital promotion, and targeted events. The movie — an homage to Bruce Lee's style of martial arts films — lends its inspiration's name to the main character, played by Philip Ng. Set in 1960s San Francisco, Lee challenges kung fu master Wong Jack Man (Xia Yu) to an epic fight.

And Sony's "All Saints," from Affirm Films and Provident Films should earn $1.55 million from 846 locations. The faith-based film has a low budget, and is generally embraced by critics (89% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (A- CinemaScore). John Corbett and Cara Buono lead the cast of the flick, directed by Steve Gomer. Steve Armour wrote the script, based on a true story, that centers on a salesman-turned-pastor and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia.

Despite the recent popular assertion that movie releases are moving to a year-round schedule with fewer dead zones, August remains a predictably sleepy month for theaters. Still, years past have managed bigger successes than we are seeing in 2017. Last year at this time, for example, Sony's Screen Gems launched "Don't Breathe," which grossed $26.4 million in its opening weekend. While a similar sort of horror hit would be difficult to position between "Annabelle" and September release "It," there is potential for movies to perform well at the tail end of summer. That "Wonder Woman" and "Baby Driver" saw their theater counts upped only adds as further emphasis that studios see the hole in the schedule — they just aren't quite sure how to properly fill it.