中国能否拯救在北美失利的电影？

　　当《重返地球》在5月31日北美首映周末只拿下平平无奇的2750万美元票房时，媒体迅速将其恰如其分地标注成一枚炸弹。

　　When After Earth opened to a mediocre $27.5 million in North America during the weekend of May 31， the media was quick to rightfully label it a bomb.

　　那么《重返地球》首映到底有多糟糕？嗯，威尔·史密斯另一部令人失望的电影《飙风战警》，1999年首映周末拿下2770万美元。《重返地球》甚至赶不上一部10几年前被视为彻底失败的电影。因此，许多人开始质疑史密斯的吸引力。在好莱坞，仅需一次大失所望，就有人开始写你的祭文了。

　　Just how bad was After Earth’s opening？ Well， Wild Wild West， another disappointment from After Earth star Will Smith， made $27.7 million during its opening weekend in 1999. After Earth couldn’t even match a film that was viewed as complete failure more than ten years ago. As a result， many are now questioning the drawing power of Smith. In Hollywood， it takes only one big disappointment for people to start writing your obituary.

　　然而当本文付印之时，《重返地球》于7月12日在中国首映，这也提出一个有趣的问题：中国能否拯救在北美失利的电影？至于《重返地球》，最可能的答案是“不能”。这部夏季的科幻电影要完成似《钢铁侠3》那样的数字是不太可能的，而且它或许需要超越《钢铁侠3》，才能弥补在（北美）主场的不佳表现。

　　Yet After Earth’s opening in China on July 12 is raising an interesting question as this issue goes to print： Can China save a movie that failed in North America？ In the case of After Earth， the answer is most likely no. It’s unlikely that the sci-fi movie will put up the kind of numbers that Iron Man 3 managed this summer， and it would probably need to exceed Iron Man 3 in order to help make up for the poor performance at home.

　　尽管如此，来自中国的票房收入仍然可能会帮忙在主场失利的好莱坞电影扭转命运。即使2013年对于在中国的好莱坞电影而言是相对缓慢的，潜力仍然存在。例如，美国观众可能厌倦了某位明星，但那位明星在中国保不准仍有拥趸。或者一个特定的题材可能让美国人感觉陈腐老套，但中国影迷或许仍能乐在其中。

　　Still， it is very possible that grosses from China could help turn around the fortunes of a Hollywood film that failed to catch on at home. Even though 2013 has been a relatively slow year for Hollywood films in China， the potential is still there. For instance， American audiences may grow tired of a star， but that star might still have a passionate following in China. Or a particular subject matter may feel old and stale to Americans， but Chinese moviegoers may still find some value in it.

　　好莱坞迅速学习到，美国影迷和中国影迷观影取向常常迥然不同。如果一部电影能打动美国观众，那就未必能打动中国观众；反之亦然。只有通过不断摸索，好莱坞才能学会如何在中国取得真正的成功。不幸的是，错误通常相当昂贵。

　　Hollywood is quickly learning that American moviegoers and Chinese moviegoers often have very different expectations when they go to the movies. If a film connects in America it might not connect in China， and vise versa. Only through trial and error will Hollywood learn how to truly succeed in China. Unfortunately， the errors are often quite costly.

　　我认为在未来几年里，票房一定会让我们喜出望外。我们会看到越来越多的例子，一部电影在北美败北，但在中国却完全打破预期，让好莱坞片商弹冠相庆。似这样不可预知的情况，是观察中国之类如此飞速发展的电影市场的迷人之处。

　　I think over the next few years we are in for some real surprises at the box office. We’ll see more and more instances where Hollywood distributors cheer up after a film shatter expectations in China after failing in North America. Unpredictable situations like that are what’s so fascinating about watching a film market like China grow as fast as it is.

　　菲尔·康崔诺

　　By Phil Contrino