Cui Ting's recently released imported film is already facing an existential crisis in the Chinese mainland market. In the fast-paced environment of cultural consumption, filmmakers need to spend a lot of time creating.
This is in stark contrast to the habits of audiences and theaters, and it feels somewhat ironic. This dying film is the crime film "Dog God" directed by Luc Besson.
The poster was released at 6 p.m. on December 19, and it has been 5 days since the film was released in the mainland, and the cumulative box office has reached 6.5 million yuan. The final box office of the third-party platform ** "Dog God" will reach 8.76 million yuan, which is not even as high as the one-hour box office of the popular blockbuster.
"Dog God" has been highly praised by fans on multiple movie platforms, and is a rare word-of-mouth masterpiece in the mainland film market in December. Why did such a film that has been carefully conceived by the director for many years suffer Waterloo in the mainland market?
In recent years, Hollywood movies have gradually lost their advantage in the mainland market, and superhero movies such as Marvel and DC are no longer as popular as before.
The English title of "Dog God" is dogman, which looks like the name of a superhero movie, but it is actually a realistic film that blends cruelty, warmth, romance and sophistication, and belongs to the crime film genre.
This is a film with French and American elements, although the story takes place in the United States, but the director Luc Besson is French. "Dog God" has half of the American genes, so it has been affected in this round of Hollywood movie cold.
Since mainland audiences have little interest in Hollywood movies, "Dog God" has also been implicated. The film has two unique highlights, namely the fate of the characters and the dog group scene.
The protagonist Douglas (Caleb Landry Jones) is a "dog god", he is like a chivalrous man, punishing evil and promoting good in the community;It was as if he had divine help and could communicate with dogs without barriersAt the same time, he is also an orphan, and once called the police to arrest his father and brother.
The film expression of "Dog God" is different, completely detached from the creative mode of Hollywood commercial films, and is an American film with a European spiritual core. The film uses the creative techniques of legend and reality to create a never-before-seen "dog god" character.
He has a heart-wrenching upbringing, as well as an amazing ability to survive. He is an ordinary person, but he has a superhuman will to fight. His joys, sorrows, and sorrows are closely related to dogs.
Douglas was a drag singer by profession, and whenever night fell, he would wear a gorgeous long dress, a wig and jewelry, and sing to his heart's content in bars.
In the movie, Douglas's experience encapsulates almost all human suffering. Since he was a child, he suffered extreme domestic violence from his father, and was even locked in a dog cage with a group of dogs.
His mother could not bear such a life and mustered up the courage to run away from home. However, she did not dare to take Douglas with her, and only left him some food before leaving.
What a family experience it was!Luc Besson, the film's director and screenwriter, was so moved by the news in the newspaper that a boy was being kept in a dog cage by his father in his early years, and he decided to use it as inspiration for his film.
He imagined what life would happen to the rescued boy when he was 15 or 25 years oldDouglas in "The Dog God", all his suffering stems from his family of origin, and his father's violence has made him withdrawn and physically disabled.
The indifferent environment of the orphanage made him gradually lose his trust and closeness to humans, and he could only become the best companion with the dogs. Douglas's upbringing was full of frustrations and pains, but the dogs' performances were amazing.
During the filming of the movie, the crew trained hundreds of dogs and dozens of them appeared on camera. There are many types of dogs in the film, including petite pet dogs, fierce hunting dogs, vigorous shepherd dogs, etc., each of which takes on different tasks under the command of Douglas, forming an invincible dog army.
The climax of the movie is a fierce battle between the dogs and the gangsters. The dogs used their physical advantages to skillfully perform tasks such as ambushes, raids, and frontal toughness, helping Douglas successfully defeat the gangsters.
This dog group show has undoubtedly become a classic in film history, and the training ability and endurance of the crew are also incredible.
Luc Besson's films have always produced impressive characters, and his talent is unmatched. Each of the main characters in his work has unique personalities and skills, and their respective stories are full of adventures and challenges.
In "The Dog God", we see again Besson's amazing creative style, he created a unique one"Dog God"Douglas.
Douglas is an orphan and a disabled man, but he's also a chivalrous man who wanders the fringes of the city with a pack of dogs. In front of people, Douglas is a drag queen, but in the eyes of the dogs, he is their king.
Superbody is Luc Besson's masterpiece of realism, telling the story of Douglas, a disabled but powerful character with a good appearance and a good heart. Luc Besson spent almost 20 years conceiving the work "The Dog God", which was only recently completed.
The script and presentation of the film are imbued with Luc Besson's personal style. Douglas is Luc Besson's most complex character in recent times, and despite the harm and discrimination he suffers from family and society, he maintains a sense of kindness and justice, perhaps because he is under the light of the dogs.
The story, characters and scenes of "Dog God" are full of room for viewing and interpretation, but unfortunately, this movie is rarely appreciated in the market. The film's excellent performance is inseparable from the excellent performances of the actors, especially the lead actor Caleber Landry Jones, although he is young, he has already won the Cannes Best Actor award.
In 2007, Caleber Landry Jones entered the film industry with his debut film, No Country for Old Men, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture the following year, laying a solid foundation for his acting career.
Since then, he has shown excellent acting skills in works such as "Get Out", "Florida Paradise" and "Three Billboards".
In 2021, Caleber Landry Jones ushered in a turning point in his career, he starred in the thriller crime thriller "Netram" this year, successfully portrayed a hot-tempered and eccentric young Netram, a role that helped him win the Best Actor Award at the 74th Cannes Film Festival and solidify his position in the European and American film industry.
Caleb Landry Jones's performance in "The Dog God" is even more at the level of an actor, and his appearance as Douglas in the film is reminiscent of the image of a clown in a DC movie, and his eyes reveal a sense of cynicism.
Netram Although Douglas is not a clown, he has always maintained a friendly attitude towards society and humanity. Caleber Landry Jones's performance not only shows the evil and wild of the character, but also reveals the sensitivity and delicacy of the character.
He shines on stage and can be used in a wheelchair. Such diverse and rich characters are given vivid screen life by Caleber Landry Jones.
With this role, "Dog God" is also worth enjoying on the big screen. At 6 p.m. on December 19, the mainland box office of "Dog God" reached 6.5 million yuan, accounting for 15% and attendance of 33%。
This data does not seem to be outstanding, but if you compare it with the list of the day, you will find that the proportion of films in "The Three Teams" is 24%, and the attendance rate is 26%；"Angry Tide" accounted for 18% of the film schedule, and the attendance rate was 23%。So, does "Dog God" still have a chance to counterattack?
Although "Dog God" has a good reputation, due to the small number of film schedules, many fans can't get a glimpse of it. Manager Yu of a Beijing theater explained that last weekend there were only five shows of "Dog God" a day, but the audience was small, and this Monday it was reduced to three.
Although third-party platforms show that the attendance rate of the film is good, this is because of the small number of screenings, and some viewers can only concentrate on one or two screenings**, so it seems to be crowded. Manager Yu said that the competition for the Chinese New Year file is very fierce, and 13 new films were released last weekend.
He also wants to give "Dog God" more space, but new films are constantly pouring in, and if "Dog God" wants to gain a foothold, it must have a stable attendance.
Manager Yu pointed out that if the current situation of "Dog God" wants to turn things around, the only possibility is spontaneous fan support. If these fans can speak up for "Dog God" on the Internet, and can spontaneously organize partners to ** "Dog God" together.
At present, although "Dog God" still has a certain proportion of films, if these spontaneous fans can form an influence and increase the number of moviegoers of the film, they may be able to save the building that is about to collapse.
However, with the release of "Aquaman 2" on December 20, the proportion of "Dog God" will definitely be greatly reduced. Is this word-of-mouth masterpiece really going to sink here?We hope that the market and the audience will give it a little more confidence because it is an excellent film that deserves to be seen in theaters.