续集撑起好莱坞票房掘金众任

LOS ANGELES — “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” took in about $153.5 million in North America over the weekend, for an estimated $545 million total since opening in mid-December, putting Hollywood in position to set a full-year domestic box-office record.

洛杉矶――在刚过去的周末，《星球大战：原力觉醒》(Star Wars: The Force Awakens)在北美获得了1.535亿美元票房，自12月中上映以来，它已经获得了约5.45亿美元的票房，好莱坞有望创下国内全年票房纪录。

But reaching that summit was not easy: The “Star Wars” phenomenon notwithstanding, the film industry in many ways limped to the top. For the first time in at least 35 years, for instance, the once-impregnable Warner Bros. landed not one movie in the Top 15.

但是到达这样的高峰并非易事：尽管有《星球大战》现象，但是从很多方面来说，电影工业是很艰难地才行走到顶峰。比如说，35年来，一度坚不可摧的华纳兄弟公司首次没有一部电影打入票房前15名行列。

When the final returns are in, domestic ticket sales — currently at $10.89 billion, up 7.1 percent from the count at this time last year — are expected to exceed $11 billion, according to Rentrak, which compiles box-office data. The previous record was $10.9 billion in 2013.

Rentrak公司收集票房数据后统计得出：国内票房收入目前是108.9亿美元，比去年同期上升了7.1%，随着最后一批电影放映期到来，国内票房数字有望超过110亿美元。上一个全年票房纪录是2013年的109亿美元。

Until the year’s average admission price is finally settled, strict adjustment for ticket price inflation is impossible. Theatrical attendance this year appears to have roughly matched the 1.34 billion tickets sold in 2013, and handily outstrips the one billion level of the late 1980s; but it remains behind a recent peak year, 2002, which had 1.57 billion admissions. That would translate into roughly $13 billion in sales at current ticket prices, although in reality today’s higher prices would probably have discouraged some consumers and trimmed admissions.

直到今年的平均电影票票价数据出来后，才能得出严格的票价通货膨胀值调整。今年的影院观影情况似乎与2013年卖出的13.4亿张电影票大体相当，当然也超过20世纪80年代末期的10亿张票的水平；但仍然比2002年售出15.7亿张电影票的高峰要少。按照现在的票价，票房大概会达到130亿。尽管事实上，如今较高的电影票价格很可能会令若干消费者不愿走入影院，从而影响了观影人数。

Two hand-me-down film properties drove this year’s results: The best-selling releases of the year are likely to be the seventh chapter in a “Star Wars” franchise that began 38 years ago, and the fourth entry in the 22-year-old “Jurassic Park” series.

两部大片续集促成了今年的票房结果：今年最卖座的影片很可能是《星球大战》系列片上映38年以来的第七部影片，以及拥有22年历史的《侏罗纪公园》(Jurassic Park)系列的第四部。

Behind those nostalgia-driven megahits, however, dozens of high-profile films struggled, especially when they tried to take the moviegoing masses somewhere entirely new.

在这些怀旧驱动的超级大片背后，还有几十部大片在竞争，特别是它们都想带给观影者全新的体验。

“The Big Short,” centered on the housing collapse of the late 2000s, with $10.5 million in weekend box-office sales and $16 million to date, and “Concussion,” a hard look at the National Football League and brain injury, with $11 million in sales since opening on Friday, were fighting for attention. Both placed well behind “Daddy’s Home,” a comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell that had $38.8 million in sales. But they beat “Point Break,” a critically derided 3-D action remake that became Warner’s latest collapse, with just $10.2 million in first weekend sales from about 2,900 theaters.

《大空头》(The Big Short)关注21世纪10年代末期的房地产崩溃，上映当周周末获得了1050万美元票房，到目前共获得1600万美元票房。《脑震荡》(Concussion)正在努力获得关注，它严厉地审视国家橄榄球联盟与脑震荡之间的关系，自周五上映以来，共获得1100万美元票房。这两部影片都位居《老爸当家》(Daddy’s Home)之后，这部喜剧由马克·沃尔伯格(Mark Wahlberg)和威尔·法瑞尔(Will Ferrell)主演，已获得3880万美元票房。位居这三部影片之后的是《极盗者》(Point Break)，这部遭到取笑的3-D重拍动作片是华纳公司最新的失败之作，推出的第一个周末在约2900家影院上映，只获得1020万美元票房。

The year’s overriding lesson: Bold strokes, for the most part, don’t pay.

今年最大的教训是：大刀阔斧的尝试通常付之东流。

“I hope I have the nerve to do it again,” Thomas E. Rothman, Sony’s movie chairman, said of the drubbing he took on Robert Zemeckis’s “The Walk,” a daring 3-D spectacle that reconstructed a tightrope stunt between the World Trade Center towers in 1974.

“我真希望自己有勇气重来一遍，”索尼影业主席托马斯·E·罗斯曼(Thomas E. Rothman)谈起自己在罗伯特·泽米吉斯(Robert Zemeckis)的《云中行走》(The Walk)一片所遭到的失败。这是一部大胆的3-D奇观片，重现了1974年世贸双子塔之间行走钢索的情景。

That film took in a total of $10.1 million after its release in September. Speaking at the Paley Center for Media in New York last month, Mr. Rothman noted that original movie fare was being routinely ignored by Viewers, who similarly turned away from “Everest,” a 3-D thriller from Universal Pictures. Other expensive “original” movies (though sometimes based on books or other source material) that went belly up included “In the Heart of the Sea” (Warner Bros.), the retro-themed “Tomorrowland” (Walt Disney Studios) and the space adventure “Jupiter Ascending” (Warner).

影片于9月上映，共获得1010万美元票房。上个月，罗斯曼在纽约帕利媒体中心指出，这部原创影片照例被观众忽略了，他们的注意力被类似题材的《绝命海拔》(Everest)所吸引，这是环球影业(Universal Pictures)推出的一部3-D惊悚片。其他昂贵而遭到失败的“原创”电影（其中有些是根据书籍或其他素材改编的）还包括华纳兄弟的《海洋深处》(In the Heart of the Sea)、沃尔特·迪士尼公司复古题材的《明日世界》(Tomorrowland)，以及华纳影业的太空冒险题材影片《木星上升》(Jupiter Ascending)。

One original-minded film that bucked the trend was “The Martian,” starring Matt Damon as a kind of Robinson Crusoe on Mars. The film dominated the fall, taking in $225 million for Fox and setting up a possible Oscar run for its director, Ridley Scott.

原创电影《火星救援》(The Martian)突破了这一趋势，它是由马特·达蒙(Matt Damon)主演的太空鲁滨逊片。它在秋季票房榜占据统治地位，为福克斯公司获得2.35亿美元票房，导演雷利·斯科特(Ridley Scott)有可能凭此片角逐奥斯卡奖。

The audience for the most part preferred to curl up in its comfort zone, turning out for new iterations of old screen stories, including “Creed,” in which Sylvester Stallone again played Rocky Balboa; the fifth “Mission: Impossible” movie, in which Tom Cruise was still Ethan Hunt; and “Spectre,” the 24th film in the 53-year-old James Bond series.

大部分观众情愿留在舒适区，观看以新的方式讲述的旧故事，这其中包括了《奎迪》(Creed)，片中西尔维斯特·史泰龙(Sylvester Stallone)再度饰演洛基·鲍尔勃亚(Rocky Balboa)；《碟中谍》(Mission: Impossible)第五部，片中汤姆·克鲁斯仍然饰演伊森·亨特(Ethan Hunt)；此外还有享有53年历史的007系列的第24部影片《007：幽灵党》(Spectre)。

But even the old stuff didn’t always work. Arnold Schwarzenegger sagged in “Terminator Genisys,” from Paramount, and nostalgia couldn’t make hits of Warner’s “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and “Vacation.”

但老片新拍也并不总是奏效。阿诺德·施瓦辛格(Arnold Schwarzenegger)在派拉蒙的《终结者：创世纪》(Terminator Genisys)中表现不佳；怀旧情绪也未能令华纳兄弟的《秘密特工》(The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)和《假期历险记》(Vacation)走红。

In his talk at the Paley Center, Mr. Rothman said studios are now firmly committed to finding their future in the past — something that will become fully apparent in 2017 when the next iterations of “Spider-Man,” “Wolverine” and “Star Wars” are scheduled to hit screens.

罗斯曼在帕利中心的谈话中说，制片公司现在致力于从过去之中发掘自己的未来——2017年，这种趋势将充分显现出来，届时《蜘蛛侠》(Spider-Man)、《金刚狼》(Wolverine)与《星球大战》系列的新作都将上映。

“Every weekend of that summer now has a giant sequel on it,” Mr. Rothman said.

“到夏天，每个周末都有一部大片续集上映，”罗斯曼说。

While banking on nostalgia and growing international markets to make up for flat home-entertainment sales, studios and their indie competitors will find much to contemplate in the behavior this year of a domestic audience whose likes and dislikes were often startlingly pronounced.

制片公司期待怀旧情绪与日益增长的国际市场能弥补平淡的国内销售，另一方面，国内观众的喜好通常非常明显，今年，从他们的好恶之中，大制片公司与独立制片公司可以发现很多值得深思的东西。

“The ceiling has risen, and the floor has dropped,” said Howard Cohen, a co-president of the indie distributor Roadside Attractions. That company did particularly well with two small prize contenders, “Love & Mercy” (released in partnership with Lionsgate) and “Mr. Holmes” (with Miramax). Mr. Cohen said the films succeeded in part because they opened for a long run in the summer months, rather than waiting for the fall awards season.

“天花板在上升，地板在下沉，”独立发行公司Roadside Attractions联合总裁霍华德·科恩(Howard Cohen)说。该公司推出了两部小奖项竞争者：其一是与狮门公司(Lionsgate)合作推出的《爱与慈悲》(Love & Mercy)，其二是与米拉麦克斯(Miramax)合作推出的《福尔摩斯先生》(Mr. Holmes)。科恩说，这些电影获得成功，部分是因为它们在夏天上映了很久，没有等到秋天的评奖季才上映。

“We saw a lot of lemmings jumping over the cliff into the fall,” he said of the box-office carnage in September and October, when “Spotlight” and “Brooklyn” were among the few survivors.

“我们看到很多片子前赴后继地匆忙跳进秋季，”他谈起九、十月份很多片子遭受票房惨败，《聚焦》(Spotlight)和《布鲁克林》(Brooklyn)是其中为数不多的幸存者。

Viewers clearly were not interested in stories about hard-edged climbers, creative powers notwithstanding. “Steve Jobs,” with Michael Fassbender as the sometimes noxious Apple executive, bombed; “Burnt,” with Bradley Cooper as a manic celebrity chef, also found few takers.

然而，观众们显然对犀利的攀登者与赋予创意的掌权者们的故事不感兴趣。《史蒂夫·乔布斯》(Steve Jobs)一片由迈克尔·法斯宾德(Michael Fassbender)饰演这位时而名声不佳的苹果公司执行官，结果遭到惨败；布莱德利·库珀(Bradley Cooper)在《燃情主厨》中饰演一个疯狂的明星大厨，该片同样反响不佳。

As of Sunday, prospects looked better for a similar story of female ambition. “Joy,” in which Jennifer Lawrence plays the tough Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano, took in a fairly strong $17.5 million for Fox, though its ultimate commercial prospects were yet to be decided over the long holiday.

周日上映的《奋斗的乔伊》(Joy)是类似反映女性野心的故事，反响似乎好了一些，詹妮弗·劳伦斯(Jennifer Lawrence)在其中饰演“魔力拖把”坚强的发明者乔伊·曼加诺(Joy Mangano)，该片为福克斯赢得了不菲的1750万美元票房收入，尽管它的商业价值仍然有待在漫长的假期中得到证明。

While some ensembles faltered — Warner’s “Magic Mike XXL” took in only a little more than half the box office of its 2012 predecessor — audiences for the most part responded to films with large casts. (The more Twitter followers, the merrier.) The car-racing ensemble movie “Furious 7,” with $353 million in domestic ticket sales, helped power Universal to No. 1 in studio market share after years of being an also-ran.

有些众星云集的大片遭到惨败，比如华纳公司的《魔力麦克2》(Magic Mike XXL)最终获得的票房只合2012年《魔力麦克》票房的一半多一点，但观众大部分时间里还是喜欢这样的影片（Twitter上的粉丝越多越好）。追车大片《速度与激情7》(Furious 7)获得了3.53亿美元国内票房，帮助强大的环球影业在陪跑多年之后，终于跃居制片公司市场份额第一位。

Universal’s “Straight Outta Compton,” about the rap group N.W.A., took in $161.2 million, setting sales records for a musical biopic. And Disney struck pay dirt with “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which grouped together Marvel superheroes and delivered $459 million in domestic sales.

环球影业的《走出康普顿》(Straight Outta Compton)是关于说唱组合“N.W.A.”的影片，获得1.612亿美元票房，创下了音乐传记片的票房纪录。迪士尼公司找到了宝藏，它的《复仇者联盟：奥创纪元》(The Avengers: Age of Ultron)集合了漫威超级英雄们，获得4.59亿国内票房。

The breakouts were often driven by female leads.

突破通常是由女性主角带来的。

“Cinderella” was a major hit for Disney, which also got a boost from Pixar’s “Inside Out,” featuring the voice of Amy Poehler. (On the downside, Pixar’s unblemished track record ended with “The Good Dinosaur,” which was a box-office dud.)

《灰姑娘》(Cinderella)是迪士尼今年的重点大片之一，此外迪士尼也受到皮克斯的《头脑特工队》(Inside Out)一片的推动，埃米·波勒(Amy Poehler)在其中献声。不好的消息是，皮克斯完美的票房纪录被《恐龙当家》(The Good Dinosaur)终结，它成了一场票房灾难。

Amy Schumer, the devotedly inappropriate comedian, became a movie star with “Trainwreck.” “Pitch Perfect 2,” centered on a group of misfit a cappella singers, nearly tripled the performance of its 2012 predecessor, with $184.3 million in sales.

热心而不靠谱的喜剧演员埃米·舒默(Amy Schumer)在《生活残骸》(Trainwreck)和《完美音调2》中成了大明星，后者讲述一群不搭调的无伴奏合唱歌手，该片票房比2012年的《完美音调》高出将近三倍，达到1.843亿美元。

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” (Lionsgate) kept Ms. Lawrence on top, no matter how her Miracle Mop movie fares. “Mockingjay Part 2” has so far collected $264.6 million.

不管詹妮弗·劳伦斯的魔法拖把电影反响如何，狮门公司的《饥饿游戏3：嘲笑鸟（下）》(The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2)依然由她主演。《嘲笑鸟（下）》获得2.646亿美元票房。

Even the success of “The Avengers” could be traced to women, with Elizabeth Olsen stealing scenes as the Scarlet Witch, and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow in a much more prominent role.

就连《复仇者联盟》的成功也可以追溯到女人，伊丽莎白·奥森(Elizabeth Olsen)饰演的绯红女巫(Scarlet Witch)非常抢戏，斯嘉丽·约翰松(Scarlett Johansson)饰演的黑寡妇(Black Widow)也是重要角色。

Ms. Johansson’s next film is more of a question mark, however. She will appear as a bawdy water ballet star in “Hail, Caesar!” — a dangerously original Hollywood spoof that will buck the trend of sequels with its release on Feb. 5.

不过约翰松的下一部影片还充满疑问。她将在《凯撒万岁》(Hail, Caesar!)中饰演一个粗俗的水上芭蕾明星，这是一部危险的好莱坞原创戏仿之作，于2月5日上映，是对系列大片风潮的一种抵抗。