January 15th.
The Christmas holiday had long since ended, and countless people had begun a new round of labor. However, the North American box office market had not slumped due to the workdays; instead, it showed an increasingly fierce trend.
University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
As a world-renowned film and television institution, it has always been the first choice for countless people wanting to enter the entertainment industry. Whether it's talent in directing, acting, producing, dubbing, scoring, cinematography, or even theoretical talents engaged in film theory and film history research, you can see many of them here.
Among them, the most famous alumni are director Spielberg and the director of Star Wars and owner of Industrial Light & Magic—George Lucas!
Especially George Lucas!
Lucas donated $175 million to his alma mater, which is the highest single donation received by the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the fifth single donation to exceed $100 million.
(Note: The USC School of Cinema-Television would change its name to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2006.)
Inside one of the classrooms.
At this moment, Monica, a Professor in the acting department, was teaching 28 students in her class.
The students were also listening attentively.
After all, Professor Monica was very beautiful. Only 30 years old, with a head of red hair, she exuded a mature charm different from that of a young girl, filled with the radiance of intellect.
In the words of the students: "It's only because this is a small class. Otherwise, if it were a large lecture in a tiered classroom, boys from the entire school would come swarming in. Well, who can help it when our Professor Monica is so beautiful and moving?"
During the lecture~
"First, let's talk about the 2000 Christmas season that just passed."
Facing the 28 acting students, Professor Monica said loudly: "Mentioning the recent Christmas season, we must mention the movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This film was produced by Page Pictures, directed by Chris Columbus, and stars young actors such as Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson."
"As of now, the Harry Potter movie has been in North American theaters for a month."
"So, what about its box office? I wonder if any student can tell me?"
As soon as she finished speaking, more than a dozen students scrambled to answer the question.
Of course, this was only because it was a question from the beautiful Professor Monica; otherwise, there definitely wouldn't be so many students supporting the session.
"Erin, you answer," Professor Monica called out.
"Yes, Professor."
The girl named Erin stood up confidently and replied: "As of now, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which has been out for a month, has achieved over $265 million at the North American box office. Overseas markets in various countries and regions have also successively achieved over $350 million."
"At the same time, according to analytical data provided by the Comcast Data Center, the final North American box office for the Harry Potter movie should exceed $300 million, and the cumulative global box office data should exceed $800 million, even crossing the $900 million mark."
The answer was finished.
Immediately, Professor Monica took the lead in applauding, and the other students followed suit, cheering.
As a member of the film school's acting department, if you can't keep up with the status of popular films, then you are unqualified—especially for a powerhouse like Harry Potter that dominated the Christmas season!
In the following time, Professor Monica continuously analyzed the movies of the Christmas season.
Harry Potter, someone like you, The Emperor's New Groove, chocolat... these movies were constantly mentioned.
Of course, the focus of this class was still discussing the series of Oscar-contending films released at the end of December 2000.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, traffic, Divided We Fall, Finding Forrester, and other movies were mentioned repeatedly.
As of now, among the series of Oscar-contending films, the most outstanding performer is the movie traffic, released on December 27th.
At the beginning of its release, this movie also adopted a limited release model, opening in only 285 theaters.
The opening three-day weekend box office was only $2.5 million.
However, it is undoubtedly the movie that has earned the most box office among the Oscar contenders. As of now, after recently expanding its release to 890 theaters, its North American box office has already surpassed $3500 million.
Next, the other standout performer is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
On December 27th, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released in 210 North American theaters.
Without expanding its release range, it has now achieved over $9 million at the box office, a performance that can be called quite strong.
As for the other series of Oscar-contending films...
"Haha!"
Professor Monica smiled and said: "It's not that I look down on these Oscar contenders, but it's very difficult for them to get good box office data before the Oscar nominations are announced. For example, the film Divided We Fall is from the Czech Republic, and it's mainly competing for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 73rd Academy Awards to boost its box office numbers."
"However, I am not optimistic about its results."
"By comparison, I feel that the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee, has a high probability of winning the Best Foreign Language Film at the 73rd Academy Awards."
"Of course, this is just my personal judgment as a teacher."
Hearing this, many students couldn't help but laugh.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?
Quite a few people shook their heads; clearly, they hadn't gone to the cinema to see the film. After all, many people find it hard to be interested in movies starring non-Western actors.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, the investor and distributor of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is Page Pictures!" Professor Monica reminded them.
Hearing this sentence, many people's eyes immediately lit up.
Looking at all of Hollywood, the film company most popular among young actors today is undoubtedly Page Pictures, which promotes and boldly employs newcomers without following convention.
Not to mention that movies like 300, Spider-Man, and Harry Potter were all produced and distributed by Page Pictures.
"Maybe I should find some time to go to the cinema and watch this so-called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," a student muttered.
This is the brand effect of a film company!
Page Pictures, which frequently produces excellent films, has not been established for long, but it has still established a positive brand effect in the minds of countless people with one high-praise, high-standard, and high-box-office movie after another.