How did "The BFG" that Spielberg had no interest in finally make a comeback?

Recently, the topic of Steven Spielberg in China has been hot one after another. First, Alibaba Pictures Group acquired part of the shares of Amblin Partners, which was recently established by Spielberg, and reached a strategic partnership with it. Now, "The BFG", directed by him and adapted from British children's literature, was released in major domestic theaters yesterday. In addition, Spielberg himself also spared no effort to promote the film in China for the first time.

Obviously, the authorities have put in a lot of effort, but considering the viewing habits of domestic theaters, whether the final result can meet the expectations of the audience and the film company remains to be verified. At present, the prospects for the release are not clear.

The decisive triple insurance is not reliable

In the second half of the month after the National Day holiday, we can still pick out a handful of imported films from the buried domestic productions. In addition to the sentimental work "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection of Frieza" which was quite eye-catching in its first domestic release, the second most eye-catching is the fairy tale masterpiece "The BFG". More importantly, both of them are more "family-oriented". The fun of the young and the old has always been one of the main forces of domestic theater viewing. It can be said that this has laid the first guarantee for the box office cornerstone.

Although the director himself stated that this film does not involve satire and metaphor, it still involves some realistic elements.

Roald Dahl wrote many novels in his life. As a second insurance, this film adapted from the famous British children's literature writer Roald Dahl has gathered a strong fan base with its story-filled and imaginative plot. In addition, his works have always been a gold mine for film and television adaptations. Driven by the universal emotional audience of the original IP, it will undoubtedly contribute a lot to a certain extent.

But for Chinese people, this is not a case of shallow personal knowledge or self-righteousness. When it comes to children's literature, the first thing we remember is almost all the Danish Andersen fairy tales and the German Grimm fairy tales. Compared with the works of this British writer, although the audience has had some exposure and understanding through early adapted films such as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox", I believe that this sentimental value can basically be ignored in stimulating consumption among domestic audiences.

Compared with the other three, Fantastic Mr. Fox seems to be more interesting.

Although the film was based on the work of Roald Dahl, it received mediocre box office response when it was first released in North America. It was released in 3,561 theaters in North America and only earned $19.58 million in the first weekend, failing to make it into the top three of the box office list.

The most powerful trump card is naturally Spielberg himself as the director. Michael Wright, CEO of the new company Amblin Partners, once said: "The company is built on the foundation of a world-class brand headed by Spielberg himself."

I believe this line is also Spielberg's inner monologue.

Well, the "golden signboard" fan base is indeed useful. But you have to know that the continued appeal depends on the reputation of the work and the market acceptance. So this cannot be regarded as an absolute guarantee. After all, the surprises that Spielberg has brought to the audience in recent years are no longer the same as before.

Like other forms of entertainment, the loss of sincerity, the rejection of content creation by the market, the wrong decisions in business operations and the missed opportunities for good prospects are the dominant factors that largely influence the audience's orientation towards your work. In the end, your value will only be abandoned because of the blandness of your content. The consequence of disregarding it will destroy this brand.

Just like chewing tasteless gum, can you taste the flavor of the old routine?

Although "The BFG" is well-made and has the performance impact of a standard Hollywood production, it is difficult for the audience to be satisfied with the warm and tender old fairy tales because of the previous children's films such as "Frozen" and "Zootopia" that have realistic depth and face social problems. Spielberg has also said that this film will not have the profound characteristics of his previous works. Instead, it is a pure dream-making journey back to innocence.

It's like a dream trip to Neverland. In fact, from the current trailer of the film, we can see that many of the plot designs are similar to the story of Peter Pan.

In the early years of ET, Peter Pan's plot was already used in the plot.

People can never refuse to grow up. When you are no longer a child, you will lose your imagination, your body will become heavier, some beautiful and simple things will be gradually forgotten, and only the worldly troubles will remain. Never grow up, this is a child's fairy-tale dream. Every person who embraced fairy tales as a child has a Peter Pan in his heart, but he will eventually fade away from your heart as you grow up.

However, Peter Pan expresses a reflection on growth and helplessness. The BFG can be seen as Spielberg's return to the innocent world without any realistic metaphors. However, little did people know that in the early 1990s, The BFG was once spotted by a Hollywood producer who wanted Spielberg to be the director, but Spielberg refused because he was not interested.

He called his works about "childhood" like "ET" "candy substitutes". Later, he once decided to end this "sweet feeling" and try to explore more profound and cruel themes in the film. In this way, the classic "Schindler's List" that exposes war and human nature came into being.

In fact, many of the routines in this film have a long history and are similar in nature.

Looking at Spielberg's many film and television works, it is not difficult to find a pattern that can be traced; the creation of science fiction and war themes is more consistent with his expression. On this basis, the films he supervises usually overshadow the limelight of directing. This is especially evident in the past two years. The technical attempts of "The Adventures of Tintin", which was a remake of an old dish, did not achieve the expected response in the end. And the old brand "Indiana Jones" is basically difficult to achieve good results under the trend of new treasure-hunting films such as "National Treasure".

To be honest, the legendary era of St. Petersburg is gradually fading away. In the future, perhaps we can only hope that he can bring us more surprises and thoughts in his works constructed in the fantasy world.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.