Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession
- ISBN-10
- 1401352006
- ISBN-13
- 9781401352004
- Series
- Open Wide
- Category
- Fiction / General
- Pages
- 432
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2004-09-22
- Publisher
- Miramax Books
- Authors
- Jonathan Bing, Dade Hayes, David Bing
Description
Every weekend, some of the most powerful players in Hollywood hold their breath and wait to be told a number. Years of work, tens of millions of dollars, and entire careers will be judged against this number. Within hours, it will be reported on the morning news and become a topic of idle conversation across the country. The number determines a movie's ultimate destiny, It is the art and science of filmmaking distilled to a few digits and a dollar sign. It is the opening weekend box office gross.
On July 4, 2003, three highly touted studio soldiers were sent to battle for the hearts and souls (and wallets) of American moviegoers. That was the weekend that Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator 3 collided Reese Witherspoon's Legally Blonde 2 and Brad Pitt's Sinbad in thousands of theaters across America. In Open Wide, veteran Hollywood journalists Dade Hayes and Jonathan Bing brilliantly illuminate this quest for box office supremacy. chronicling the nerve-wracking months leading to that summer showdown, following every key decision that took these movies into the nation's multiplexes. They watch as focus groups of suburban teenage girls critique movie trailers and advertising campaigns. They are in Cannes when Terminator 2 robots are unleashed and in London for Legally Blonde 2's lavish, chaotic press junket. A mammoth convention in Las Vegas finds celebrities and studio executives mingling awkwardly with small-town theater owners and vendors hawking high-concept snacks for adventurous concession stands. The films are screened, tested, and frantically re-cut. Publicity stunts are engineered and theater exhibition chains are booked. Star egos are stroked and the Terminator himself announces his campaign for the California statehouse. As the clock ticks down to July 4, opening weekend becomes a moment of eager expectation for some and utter dread for others. And, inevitably, the numbers arrive.
Open Wide shines a bright light on the secretive inner workings of Hollywood's vast sales and marketing machine, past and present. As the authors explore how and why box office receipts have evolved from a closely guarded corporate secret to a national obsession, they bring acute insight to an industry that is increasingly devoted to producing the next big blockbusterthe next high-concept, future-franchise picture that they can "open wide."
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2006-05-17
- - pages
- Paperback
- Miramax Books
-
- 2018-03-06
- 352 pages
- Ebook
- BenBella Books
Similar books
-
丝之屋
By 马爱农, （英）安东尼·赫洛维兹著, 马爱新译本书是福尔摩斯探案集的最新作品。福尔摩斯是柯南道尔创作的一位家喻户晓的人物。柯南道尔去世后，其产权会负责管理福尔摩斯系列作品的版权，本书是唯一获得柯南道尔产权会 ...
-
让时间停止的女孩
By （美）罗伯特·富兰克林·杨著, 赖逸娟译(美)罗伯特·富兰克林·杨著, 赖逸娟译 ... 它最喜欢的是清晨,太阳照耀着邻家屋顶的那种清晨,完全明亮而金黄色的清晨。 ... 都一定带有至少一个能挑起反应的关联词,而它引用的句子从尤维纳利斯到乔伊斯,从卢梭到罗素,或从欧里庇德斯到艾略特都有。
-
布园重访――查尔斯·莱德上尉的神圣和渎神回忆（外国名作家文集·伊夫林·沃卷）
By （英）伊夫林·沃（Evelyn Waugh）蒂安卡拉(希克斯太太)玛奇梅因侯爵的情人维尔考克斯布莱兹赫德庄园管家霍金斯太太弗莱特家的保姆雷克斯·莫特拉姆朱莉娅的丈夫, ... 玛奇梅因侯爵夫人的亲信,监管塞巴斯艾德里安·波森爵士玛奇梅因侯爵夫人的终身密友安东尼·布兰奇查尔斯和塞巴斯蒂安在牛津 ...
-
杜鵑的呼喚
By J. K. Rowling, Robert Galbraith, Jinghua LinTraditional Chinese edition of The Cuckoo's Calling, the novel by Robert Galbraith, the alter ego of J.K. Rowling.
-
臨時空缺
By J. K. RowlingTraditional Chinese edition of The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. In Traditional Chinese. Annotation copyright Tsai Fong Books, Inc. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.
-
坠落之前
By 诺亚·霍利诺亚·霍利著《坠落之前/果然世界不错畅销小说大系》记录了一架私人飞机坠机，11名乘客中，只有2名幸存――一位默默无名的画家斯科特和传媒大亨的四岁儿子。遇难人员包括传媒 ...
-
安妮的青春
By 露西．M．蒙哥馬利安妮自學校畢業後，留在當地任教，度過了充滿歡笑的時光，她用愛與溫暖感化學生，贏得大眾的尊敬和讚美，和戴安娜的友誼依然如花朵般綻放，安妮又結識了許多新朋友和可愛的 ...
-
安妮的戀曲
By 露西．M．蒙哥馬利, 李常傳安妮離開艾德華王子島，到金斯伯德就讀雷蒙大學，學生生活的三大重點：宿舍生活、課業競爭、戀愛學分，大學男生晚上喜歡去女生宿舍拜訪，好跟心儀的女孩聊天，宿舍總是很熱 ...
-
紅髮安妮
By （加）露西．莫德．蒙哥馬利本書又譯為《清秀佳人》。正如國旗上的楓葉一樣，你即將翻開的這本小說也是加拿大的文化地標之一，迄今為止，它已經為全世界成千上萬的讀者所喜聞樂見。《紅髮安妮》之所以 ...
-
清秀佳人
By 露西．M．蒙哥馬利居住於愛德華王子島的馬修和瑪麗娜，希望從孤兒院領養一個男孩，以便幫忙田園間的工作，誰知道在陰錯陽差之下，孤兒院託人帶來了一個精力旺盛、喜歡喋喋不休的紅髮小女孩 ...