上周末，美國國內(nèi)電影票房可以用“慘不忍睹”四個(gè)字來形容。

當(dāng)然，這種小事與颶風(fēng)哈維造成的損害相比，實(shí)在是不值一提。據(jù)美國國家氣象局稱，颶風(fēng)哈維自上周五登陸得克薩斯州的墨西哥灣區(qū)以來，已經(jīng)導(dǎo)致災(zāi)區(qū)降水超過20英寸。哈維對(duì)電影業(yè)當(dāng)然也造成了一些影響，比如導(dǎo)致了德州南部的影城大量停業(yè)。不過哈維對(duì)全美的票房成績是否造成了實(shí)質(zhì)性的打擊，仍然是有爭議的。

另一個(gè)影響上周末美國國內(nèi)電影票房的因素，則是上周六晚的一場UFC賽事。在這場比賽中，弗洛伊德·梅威瑟在第十個(gè)回合技術(shù)性KO了康納·麥格雷戈。這場比賽也是UFC歷史上付費(fèi)收看率最高的比賽之一，估計(jì)一晚就狂攬了10億美元收入。到底有多少觀眾觀看了這場比賽，詳細(xì)數(shù)據(jù)得等到本周晚些時(shí)候才會(huì)發(fā)布。不過不少分析師表示，這場萬眾矚目的拳王決戰(zhàn)，應(yīng)該會(huì)讓不少觀眾選擇周末不去看電影，而是守在電視機(jī)前看直播。

當(dāng)然，除了這些場外因素，本周沒有能吸引大量觀眾的新片，才是導(dǎo)致票房成績不佳的主要原因。本周美國國內(nèi)電影票房成績估計(jì)不會(huì)超過6500萬美元，各大院線票房前12名的電影總計(jì)也只貢獻(xiàn)了不到5000萬美元。以上數(shù)據(jù)都是近15年以來最低的。

類似這樣的“票房魔咒”似乎特別喜歡出現(xiàn)在9月前后。比如2014年9月的第一個(gè)周末，美國國內(nèi)票房總額只有6600萬美元。2012年9月7號(hào)到9號(hào)，美國國內(nèi)票房總額也只有6700萬，票房成績前12名的電影僅貢獻(xiàn)了5190萬美元。2008年9月5日到7日的票房成績也很不理想。

以上這幾次“黑色周末”的票房好歹還維持在6000萬美元以上。新世紀(jì)以來，美國票房市場最慘淡的兩個(gè)周末出現(xiàn)在2000年和2001年。2001年9月21至23日，美國的電影票房跌破6000萬美元大關(guān)，該周末總計(jì)收入5900萬美元，前12名的電影總共貢獻(xiàn)了4350萬美元。而在此一年前的9月15日至17日，全美票房收入跌至5370萬美元，排在前12名的電影總計(jì)只貢獻(xiàn)了3790萬美元。

在單片票房方面，上周末排在前兩名的依舊是獅門影業(yè)出品的《殺手的保鏢》和華納兄弟出品的《安娜貝爾：重生》。其中《保鏢》在3377家影院獲得排片，票房收入達(dá)到1010萬美元。截止到上周末，該片在美國累計(jì)已斬獲3960萬美元。《重生》則憑3565家影院的排片獲了740萬美元的票房，使其累計(jì)票房突破了7790萬美元。

獅門影業(yè)的分銷總裁大衛(wèi)·斯皮茨表示：“我們認(rèn)為到了九月，它（指《保鏢》的票房表現(xiàn)依舊會(huì)很好。”

除這兩部電影之外，時(shí)代華納公司上周末也有兩部力作上映，其一是動(dòng)畫電影《了不起的菲麗西》，該片在北美的2575個(gè)影院上映，預(yù)計(jì)收入500萬美元。不過該片是時(shí)代華納公司以300萬美元的低成本購入的，該片的海外累計(jì)票房已經(jīng)超過了5820萬美元。它號(hào)稱是一部音樂探險(xiǎn)喜劇片，講述了一個(gè)孤兒院出身的女孩兒立志成為一名芭蕾舞者的故事。該片的配音囊括了艾麗·范寧、麥蒂·齊格勒、卡莉·蕾·杰普森、納特·沃爾夫、凱特、麥金農(nóng)和梅爾·布魯克斯等一線紅星。雖然它在“爛番茄”上的新鮮度只有37%，但知名票房研究公司CinemaScore卻根據(jù)觀眾口碑給它打出了A的高分。

時(shí)代華納的分銷負(fù)責(zé)人勞倫特·歐柯寧表示：“這真是一個(gè)艱難的周末，連一部票房只有500萬美元的影片都可以擠進(jìn)前三名。不過好在我們有一部觀眾喜歡的電影。”他表示，雖然這部影片的觀眾主要是女性和年輕人，但是“有些跟家人一起來看的男孩子也喜歡這部片子。”

另一部影片《風(fēng)河谷》上周末在2095家影院上映，并收入440萬美元。該片已經(jīng)在北美上映四周，它也可以看作是“邊境三部曲”的最后一部（另兩部分別是《邊境殺手》和《赴湯蹈火》）。在《風(fēng)河谷》上映的第一周，它在四大院線創(chuàng)下了全美年度最高的上座率，不過它也不見得就比前作更加成功。曾獲奧斯卡最佳電影獎(jiǎng)提名的《赴湯蹈火》在上映第四周的周末也斬獲了440萬美元，但當(dāng)時(shí)排片的只有1303家影院。

在上周末票房前五名的電影中，時(shí)代華納有兩部影片上榜。歐柯寧表示：“我們決定把范圍拓得更寬一些。我們看到了市場的空間，也意識(shí)到對(duì)于目標(biāo)受眾來說，已經(jīng)沒有什么新鮮的東西了。”

以功夫大師李小龍為原型的《龍之誕生》本周也在1618家影院上映，并收入250萬美元票房，略低于其分銷商325萬美元的預(yù)期。該片在2016年多倫多電影節(jié)上映后，BH Tilt和WWE Studios公司共同簽下了它的美國放映權(quán)。這部片子在美國上映前也沒花什么錢做宣傳，而是主要著眼數(shù)字推廣和目標(biāo)觀眾。本片主要講述的是上世紀(jì)60年代，李小龍（伍允龍飾）在舊金山與武術(shù)大師黃澤民（夏雨飾）進(jìn)行的一場精彩比武。

由索尼影業(yè)出品、Affirm Films和Provident Films發(fā)行的《他們皆圣徒》（All Saints）在846家影院上映，上周末共收入155萬美元。作為一部宗教片，該片雖然預(yù)算極低，卻受到了專業(yè)影評(píng)人和觀眾的一致好評(píng)，在“爛番茄”上的新鮮度達(dá)到89%，CinemaScore也給出了A-的好成績。本片由約翰·考伯特和卡拉·布?xì)W諾主演，史蒂夫·戈瑪執(zhí)導(dǎo)。本片的劇本由史蒂夫·阿默爾根據(jù)真實(shí)故事改編，講述了一個(gè)由銷售員轉(zhuǎn)職的神父與一群東南亞難民的故事。

雖說目前比較流行的一種說法是，各大電影公司在發(fā)片上已經(jīng)充分做到了“全年無死角”，然而8月似乎仍然是一個(gè)缺少票房強(qiáng)心針的月份。當(dāng)然，前幾年的8月也不是沒有出現(xiàn)過票房奇跡。比如索尼幕寶影業(yè)去年這個(gè)時(shí)候上映的《屏住呼吸》在首映周末就狂攬2640萬美元。雖說在目前的《安娜貝爾：重生》和即將于9月上映的《它》之間，似乎已經(jīng)不太可能殺出一匹票房黑馬了，不過在這個(gè)青黃不接的時(shí)候，一些電影還是具備再榨出一些利潤的潛力的。比如《神奇女俠》和《極盜車神》排片量的二次上漲，就充分說明了不少電影公司已經(jīng)意識(shí)到了8月末的“票房黑洞”，只不過他們還沒想好如何填滿這個(gè)大坑。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：樸成奎

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.