紐時賞析／打敗超級英雄片！ 2023天災人禍多、療癒電影票房崛起

2023 Box Office Lessons: Audiences Sought Comfort, Skipped Spectacle

天災人禍多 2023年療癒電影打敗超級英雄片

Hollywood’s movie factories run on conventional wisdom — entrenched notions, based on experience, about what types of films are likely to pop at the global box office.

關於何種類型電影可能會在全球票房爆紅，好萊塢的電影工廠仰仗傳統智慧，也就是基於經驗的根深柢固觀念。

This year, audiences turned many of those so-called rules on their heads.

今年，觀眾讓許多所謂的規則栽了跟頭。

Superheroes have long been seen as the most reliable way to fill seats. But characters like Captain Marvel, the Flash and Ant-Man failed to excite moviegoers. Over the weekend, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” which cost more than $200 million to make and tens of millions more to market, arrived to a disastrous $28 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada. Overseas moviegoers chipped in another $80 million.

超級英雄長期被視為高朋滿座的最可靠途徑，但諸如驚奇隊長、閃電俠和蟻人等角色，都未能打動觀影群眾。在周末，斥資逾2億美元製作、還砸下數千萬美元行銷的「水行俠失落王國」在美國、加拿大的票房銷售額堪稱災難，落在2,800萬美元。海外觀眾另外貢獻8,000萬美元。

In the meantime, the biggest movie of the year at the box office, “Barbie,” with $1.44 billion in worldwide ticket sales, was directed by a woman, based on a very female toy and spray-painted pink — ingredients that most studios have long seen as limiting audience appeal. An old movie-industry maxim holds that women will go to a “guy” movie but not vice versa.

同時，年度最賣座電影「芭比」在世界各地的票房達到14.4億美元，該片由一名女性執導，奠基在一款極為女性化的玩具，以及噴漆式的粉紅色上，這些元素向來被大多數片廠認定會限縮對觀眾的吸引力。電影業一句老生常談認為，女性會去看「男人的」電影，但反之則否。

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” collected $1.36 billion, a second-place result that also stunned Hollywood; studios have a troubled history with game adaptations. “Oppenheimer,” a three-hour period drama about a physicist, rounded out the top three, taking in $952 million and contradicting the prevailing belief that films for grown-ups are not viable in theaters.

「超級瑪利歐兄弟電影版」吸金13.6億美元躋身第二，同樣震驚好萊塢；對於遊戲改編電影，片廠的歷史紀錄堪慮。長達3小時、關於一名物理學家的時代劇「奧本海默」位列第三，進帳9.52億美元，背離「給成年人看的電影，在戲院裡行不通」的盛行觀念。

“Without question, change is afoot — audiences are in a different mood,” said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box office numbers. “The country and the world are not in the same place. We’ve had seven years of divisive politics, a severe pandemic, two serious wars, climate change and inflation. Moviegoers seem less interested in being overwhelmed with spectacle and saving the universe than being spoken to, entertained and inspired.”

「無庸置疑，改變正在發生，觀眾的心境不一樣了」，發行票房數字相關通訊刊物的影業顧問葛羅斯表示，「我國和世界處境已變。我們歷經7年的政治對立、一場嚴重疫情大流行、兩個嚴峻戰爭、氣候變遷和通貨膨脹。觀影者比起醉心於視覺奇觀、拯救宇宙，似乎較有興趣聽人訴說，受到取悅與啟發」。

Comscore, which compiles box office data, projected Sunday that North American ticket sales for the year would reach about $9 billion, a 20% increase from 2022.

彙整票房資料Comscore公司周日預測，2023年度北美票房銷售額會達到約90億美元，比2022年增加兩成。

Worldwide ticket sales are expected to exceed $33 billion, an increase of 27%, partly because of a surge in Latin America.

全球票房銷售額預期會超過330億美元，增加27%，部分原因是拉丁美洲的票房躍升。

Hollywood’s climb back from the pandemic is expected to stall in 2024. With fewer movies scheduled for release — studio pipelines were disrupted by the recent strikes — ticket sales will decline 5% to 11% next year, according to projections from Gower Street Analytics, a box office research firm.

好萊塢走出疫情的谷底回升預計會在2024年放緩。根據票房研究公司高爾街分析機構預測，片廠生產線受到近期的罷工阻擾，排定發行的電影變少，該年度票房的銷售額將隨之衰退5%到11%。

文／Brooks Barnes 譯／高詣軒

說文解字看新聞

【高詣軒】

「芭本海默」的（Barbenheimer）現象去年席捲全球，超級英雄片黯然失色。紐時點出政爭、戰禍和氣候災難，讓影迷從電影傾向尋求慰藉和娛樂，而非特效或空想。

動詞片語chip in意指幾個人湊錢支付某物，例：We all chipped in to buy Amy a graduation present.在本文可解為「貢獻」，另一個意思是「插話」，接介係詞with時指補充說明，不是亂插嘴：Other committee members chipped in with suggestions.

Period drama指時代劇，以英國已故女王伊麗莎白二世為背景的影集「王冠」就是時代劇：The Crown is a period drama that chronicles Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

近義詞則有歷史劇historical drama，costume drama特指古裝劇，宮鬥劇可以用palace／royal drama。「穿越劇」則是time-travel TV series。歷史作品很忌諱發生anachronism（時代錯置），把不可能出現於同一時代的事物安排在一起。達文西名畫「最後的晚餐」中之餐桌，即為時代錯置的例子，因為在最後的晚餐所發生之當時與當地，並不曉得有這樣的桌子。