New 'Matrix' Posts Ticket Sales Below Those of Previous Release
Domestic ticket sales for "The Matrix Revolutions" ran about 45% below last spring's "The Matrix Reloaded" during its opening weekend, the latest sign that movie fans are less than satisfied with the diet of blockbuster sequels Hollywood has been serving up.
"Revolutions" sold $50.2 million worth of tickets in the U.S. over the weekend, and a total of $85.5 million since Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. released it world-wide Wednesday. While still a substantial tally, the five-day take is 37% below the $135 million that "The Matrix Reloaded" reaped in a four-day opening stretch last May. The gross of "Reloaded" included $91.8 million on its opening weekend.
"The Matrix Revolutions" fared somewhat better in international markets, where it has sold about $118.6 million of tickets since Wednesday. Warner Bros. said the overseas figure was about 14% behind comparable periods for "Reloaded." In all, the new film has taken in $204 million world-wide since Wednesday.
Warner Bros. and "Matrix" producer Joel Silver called the weekend a success, noting that the "Matrix" films this year have together grossed nearly $1 billion at the box office so far. Warner Bros. distribution chief Dan Fellman said he was happy with the results, coming just six months after the release of the previous "Matrix" film.
"It was a six-month intermission," Mr. Silver said, calling "Revolutions" "the second half of one movie" that began in May. "At $200 million, I don't know how you can say it's not successful."
Mr. Fellman conceded that, heading into the busy holiday movie season, "Revolutions" is likely to fall short of the $281 million domestic gross that "Reloaded" earned. But he said he believes it will play more steadily in theaters than the second film, which dropped off sharply after its big opening. Indeed, if "Revolutions" falls off as quickly as "Reloaded" did, it might have trouble topping the $171 million taken in by "The Matrix," the influential 1999 hit that kicked off the science-fiction trilogy.
"Revolutions" and "Reloaded" each cost more than $175 million to make and tens of millions more to market around the world. In releasing the two sequels within six months of each other, Warner Bros. bet that an aggressive publicity blitz behind "Reloaded" would carry over and help sell "Revolutions." The earlier effort also was aided by four corporate sponsorships, while the new film has none.
But the dropoff from the second "Matrix" film to the third seems to confirm that many U.S. fans were unhappy with the much-hyped "Reloaded." The last film sold more than $455 million of tickets in overseas markets.
For "The Matrix Revolutions," Warner Bros. took the unusual step of launching the film simultaneously in more than 100 countries, an attempt to minimize piracy problems. Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, president of distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures International, said the film did open more strongly than "Revolutions" in some piracy-plagued territories like China and Russia, though it was down steeply in big markets like Germany and Australia. The Warner Bros. strategy was to put the film before as many possible moviegoers as possible before bad worth of mouth could spread, a problem that dogged "Reloaded."
《骇客任务》最后的战役表现平平
《骇客任务3：最后战役》(The Matrix Revolutions)首映第一个周末的美国票房收入较今年春天《骇客任务2：重装上阵》(The Matrix Reloaded)下降了大约45%，再次显示影迷对好莱坞接二连三拍摄大片续集越来越不满意。
时代华纳(Time Warner Inc.)旗下的华纳兄弟(Warner Bros.)从上周三开始在世界各地同步上映《骇客任务3：最后战役》，该片在美国的周末票房收入为5,020万美元，全球周末票房总收入为8,550万美元。尽管成绩还算不错，但新片上映5天内的收入仍然比《重装上阵》5月上映后4天内的收入少了37%。后者首映后第一个周末的票房收入达9,180万美元。
《最后战役》在国际市场的反响要相对好一些。上周三上映以来，该片的海外票房收入已达到1.186亿美元。但华纳兄弟表示，《最后战役》的海外票房仍然较《重装上阵》的同期收入少了大约14%。总体算来，该片自从上映以来世界票房总收入已经达到2.04亿美元。
华纳兄弟和《骇客任务》的制片人乔尔?希尔弗(Joel Silver)称，《最后战役》周末的票房表现很成功，这一系列的电影今年已经实现近10亿美元的总票房收入。华纳兄弟发行经理丹?费尔曼(Dan Fellman)说，在《重装上阵》上映大约半年后，《最后战役》就能有这样的结果，他感到很满意。 但与此同时，费尔曼也承认，由于这段时间有很多新片上映，所以《最后战役》可能达不到《重装上阵》在美国实现的2.81亿美元的票房收入。不过，他相信新片的票房表现会比较稳定。《重装上阵》只是在首映阶段很火爆，可随后票房就大幅下降。事实上，如果《最后战役》的票房也在首映后出现大幅下滑，那它在美国实现的总收入可能会比《骇客任务》的1.71亿美元还要低。后者在1999年大获成功，所以才有了后来的两部续集。
《最后战役》和《重装上阵》的制作成本分别都超过1.75亿美元，在世界各地的宣传费用也有数千万美元之多。两部续集在半年内相继推出，华纳兄弟是赌定《重装上阵》所产生的瞬间轰动效应可以刺激《最后战役》的票房收入。《重装上阵》获得4家公司的赞助，但《最后战役》就没有这么幸运了。
从《重装上阵》的票房滑坡可以看出，很多美国影迷对大肆宣传的的影片并不喜爱。该片的海外票房收入超过4.55亿美元。
华纳兄弟将《最后战役》在全球100多个国家同步上映，这可是前所未有的举措，目的就是尽量减少盗版。Warner Bros. Pictures International的发行总裁Veronika Kwan-Rubinek说，虽然《最后战役》在德国和澳大利亚等规模很大影视市场票房出现大幅下降，但在中国和俄罗斯等盗版猖獗的市场的首映表现就比以前要强。华纳兄弟的策略就是坏的口碑传开之前，使尽可能多的人到电影院看这部大片，不要在重蹈《重装上阵》的覆辙。
