【英语国际】好莱坞电影刮起国际风

When director Adam McKay pitched a sequel to his 2004 hit movie 'Anchorman,' he thought it would be a no-brainer for Hollywood.

The $20 million comedy, starring Steve Carell and Will Ferrell, grossed more than $90 million at the box office. But only $5 million of that came from ticket sales abroad. Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures nixed the sequel this spring, fearing the comedy's uniquely American brand of humor wouldn't play abroad.

'At the end of the day, the economics of the business have changed -- there is so much more pressure to play globally, and we couldn't fight that,' says Mr. McKay.

The rising clout of international audiences is a sea change for Hollywood. Decades ago, a movie's foreign box office barely registered with studio executives. Now, foreign ticket sales represent nearly 68% of the roughly $32 billion global film market, up from roughly 58% a decade ago, according to Screen Digest Cinema Intelligence Service.

The result is that one of the most American of products is now being retooled to suit foreign tastes. Studios have begun to cast foreign actors in American-themed blockbusters like 'G.I. Joe.' Scripts are being rewritten to lure global audiences. And studios are cutting back on standard Hollywood fare like romantic comedies because foreign movie-goers often don't find American jokes all that funny. Several Hollywood studios have gone as far as financing, producing and marketing original movies for markets like South Korea and Brazil.

'We need to make movies that have the ability to break out internationally,' says Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures. 'That's the only way to make the economic puzzle of film production work today.'

The rise of the international box office has as much to do with a shifting global economy as with the evolution of the movie business. For years, Hollywood's bottom line was propped up by double-digit growth in DVD sales. From 2000 to 2005, for example, home-video sales increased by 91% in the U.S. But during the tough economy of the past two years, home video -- which used to account for the bulk of a film's profits -- fell more than 20%, according to Screen Digest U.S. Video Intelligence Service. Dwindling in-theater audiences in North America also have contributed to the shift.

Another factor: Regions from Asia to Eastern Europe went on a credit-fueled building boom, erecting shopping malls -- often with multiplexes attached.

The Chinese government is expected to support the opening of roughly 35,000 more screens over the next five years, up from the current 5,000 in the country. The Chinese government recently announced that the country's box office had spiked 86% in the first half of 2010, after several Hollywood imports, from 'Avatar' to 'Alice in Wonderland,' proved popular with Chinese moviegoers.

IMAX Corp. has opened 66 big-screen theaters abroad in the last three years, including 25 in Asia. The company last week unveiled its first foreign-language film: 'Aftershock,' a Chinese film that IMAX executives hope will increase the company's brand awareness in Asia. Early next year, IMAX will target rural viewers abroad with portable movie theaters -- domes equipped with IMAX screens.

After passing on the 'Anchorman' sequel, Paramount decided to use the money it could have spent on that to buy a new project from Sacha Baron Cohen of Britain. Mr. Cohen is one of the rare comedians whose films -- like 'Borat' and 'Bruno' -- bring in global audiences.

Since 'Anchorman 2' was killed, Mr. McKay, the director, has been trying to broaden the foreign appeal of his next project, 'The Other Guys.' A $100 million comedy, the movie stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Will Ferrell,and Mark Wahlberg as law officers, some good, some crooked. Sony Pictures will bring it out in August.

A key plot point of the film involves Mr. Wahlberg and Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter. Sony's executives initially worried that Mr. Jeter -- and the joke that involves him -- would seem too American. They found a solution: The studio asked Mr. McKay to spend his summer re-shooting those scenes with international sports stars, and it went after soccer stars David Beckham of England and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal.

Sony wanted to release a separate version of the film abroad starring Messrs. Beckham or Ronaldo -- rather than Mr. Jeter.

Neither soccer player was available in the end. But the studio plans to use the strategy in the future. 'I gotta tell you, I loved the idea and still think it's really smart,' says Mr. McKay.

'It's a whole new way of looking at movies,' he adds. 'Rather than trying to veer your audience toward the film, just tweak your film to the audience. Next, I'd like to start tweaking movies by region, one version for the Midwest, another for the East Coast, and the South.'

当导演亚当•麦凯(Adam McKay)提出要为他2004年的热门电影《王牌播报员》(“Anchorman”)拍摄续集时，他以为这对好莱坞来说就是顺理成章的事情。

斥资2,000万美元、由史蒂夫•凯瑞尔(Steve Carell)和威尔•法瑞尔(Will Ferrell)主演的喜剧片《王牌播报员》当年获得了超过9,000万美元的总票房，但其中的海外票房收入只有500万美元。今年春季，维亚康姆(Viacom Inc.)旗下的派拉蒙影业公司(Paramount Pictures)枪毙了拍摄续集的计划，他们担心电影里独特的美式幽默在海外不受欢迎。

麦凯表示，“归根结底，电影经济已经发生了变化──登陆全球院线的压力要比以前大得多，我们必须顺应这个潮流。”

Associated Press《阿凡达》剧照海外观众日益增强的影响力对好莱坞而言是个翻天覆地的变化。几十年前，一部电影的海外票房几乎不被好莱坞电影公司的高管放在眼里。Screen Digest Cinema Intelligence Service的数据显示，如今，在价值约320亿美元的全球电影市场中，海外票房占了近68%，10年前则是大约58%的水平。

结果就是，作为最具美式风格产品之一的电影正在重新定位以迎合外国观众的口味。电影公司已经开始让外国演员参演像《特种部队》(“G.I. Joe.”)这样的美国主题大片。剧本也被重新编排以吸引全球观众。而且，电影公司还在减少浪漫喜剧等好莱坞标准套路影片的制作，因为外国电影观众通常不能理解美式幽默。数家好莱坞电影公司甚至开始为韩国和巴西等电影市场的原创电影进行融资、制作和营销。

派拉蒙影业副董事长罗布•摩尔(Rob Moore)表示，“我们需要制作出能在国际范围内脱颍而出的电影，这是当前解开电影制作经济迷局的唯一途径。”

海外票房比重的提高与全球经济的变迁及电影产业自身的演变都大有关系。多年来，好莱坞电影的收入一直是由以两位数增长的DVD销量来支撑的。例如，美国家庭录影带的销售从2000年到2005年增长了91%。但是，Screen Digest U.S. Video Intelligence Service的数据显示，在过去两年的经济低谷期，过去占了电影利润大头的家庭录影带的销售下降了20%以上。北美地区影院观众的减少也是促成这种转变的原因。

另一个原因是从亚洲到东欧的很多地区都兴起了一股由信贷推动的建设大潮。一座座大型购物中心拔地而起，它们通常都配备有多厅影院。

中国目前拥有5,000块电影屏幕，预计在未来五年内政府会支持新增约3.5万块屏幕。中国政府近期宣布，由于《阿凡达》(“Avatar”)、《爱丽丝梦游仙境》(“Alice in Wonderland”)等多部好莱坞大片票房大热，中国电影票房在2010年上半年大幅增长了86%。

IMAX Corp.在过去三年里在海外开设了66家大银幕影院，其中有25家位于亚洲。该公司最近推出了第一部外语电影：《唐山大地震》(“Aftershock”)。IMAX高层希望通过这部中文电影来提升公司在亚洲的品牌知名度。明年初，IMAX将通过移动式影院──一种配备了IMAX大银幕的圆顶影院──将目标瞄准海外的农村观众。

在否定了《王牌播报员》续集的拍摄计划之后，派拉蒙影业决定用这笔资金来投拍英国明星萨沙•拜伦•科恩(Sacha Baron Cohen)的新电影。科恩是一位非主流喜剧演员，他主演的影片受到了全球观众的欢迎，比如《波拉特》(“Borat”)和《贱男布鲁诺》(“Bruno”)。

《王牌播报员》续集拍摄计划泡汤后，导演麦凯就努力想要扩大他的下一部影片《二流警探》(“The Other Guys”)对海外观众的吸引力。这部喜剧片耗资1亿美元，巨石强森(Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson)、塞缪尔•杰克逊(Samuel L. Jackson)、威尔•法瑞尔(Will Ferrell)和马克•沃尔伯格(Mark Wahlberg)等一众明星在剧中饰演警探，这些警探中有些人是警界精英，有些人则笑料百出。索尼影业(Sony Pictures)将于今年8月推出这部新片。

这部电影的一个主要桥段是沃尔伯格和纽约洋基队游击手德瑞克•基特(Derek Jeter)之间的对手戏。起初，索尼影业的高管们担心基特──和围绕他的搞笑桥段──会显得太过美国化。后来，他们找到了一个解决办法：让麦凯在夏季邀请国际体育明星重拍那些镜头，他们把目标锁定在英格兰的大卫•贝克汉姆(David Beckham)和葡萄牙的克里斯蒂亚诺•罗纳尔多(Cristiano Ronaldo)两位足球明星身上。

索尼影业打算为这部电影单独发行一个海外版本，由贝克汉姆或者罗纳尔多出演这场戏份──而不是基特。

最后，两位足球明星都没能参与拍摄。但是电影公司计划在未来采用这一策略。麦凯说，“我告诉你，我喜欢这个主意，我认为这个点子实在是太棒了，”。

他补充道，“这是一个全新的看待电影的视角，与其努力让观众去喜欢电影，不如让电影主动去迎合观众。下阶段，我将会拍摄不同的电影版本以针对不同的地区，中西部地区一个版本，东部海岸一个版本，南部再来一个版本。”