美国国家公共电台 NPR Hollywood Suffers Worst Summer Box Office In A Decade

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

2017 has been a record year in Hollywood, but it's not a good record. This has been the worst summer at the box office in a decade. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports even hits like "Wonder Woman" and the latest "Guardians¹ Of The Galaxy²" could not save a summer of flops⁴.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE⁵: To be clear, we've seen some terrific movies this summer. Still, films like "Girls Trip," "Baby Driver" and "The Big Sick" are not exactly tent poles.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DUNKIRK")

FIONN WHITEHEAD: (As Tommy) Where's the bloody⁶ air force?

ULABY: Even the epic⁷ World War II drama "Dunkirk," already getting buzz for best picture, was not enough to rescue a box office down 16 percent over last summer. This is partly due to what we can only call sucky sequels about mummies or...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES")

JAVIER BARDEM: (As Captain Salazar) Pirates.

ULABY: Few people it seems were that invested in the ongoing⁸ travails⁹ of Captain Jack¹⁰ Sparrow of the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" or even the big, noisy robots of "Transformers." But these movies still made plenty of money abroad, says media analyst¹¹ Paul Dergarabedian of comScore.

PAUL DERGARABEDIAN: Yeah, well, the international marketplace is different than North America. The novelty factor I think of these big, bombastic¹² American-made films - that hasn't worn off. Although, we are seeing a little erosion of that popularity.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WOLF WARRIOR¹³ 2")

WU JING: (As Leng Feng, foreign language spoken).

ULABY: Partly because places like China are coming up with massive summer blockbusters of their own. A fast-paced action movie called "Wolf Warrior 2" has made about as much money worldwide as anything the U.S. produced this summer.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WOLF WARRIOR 2")

DERGARABEDIAN: A good movie is a good movie anywhere, and a terrible movie is pretty much a terrible movie no matter where you find it.

ULABY: And that's why relying on subpar sequels to be international hits is not a smart long-term studio strategy, Dergarabedian suggests. Even though this summer's box office has tanked, he says Hollywood need not panic.

DERGARABEDIAN: This is a cyclical business. It's going to come back. We - every few years, we go through one of these big downturns, and everyone proclaims that the - you know, the movie theater is over. That's not going to happen.

ULABY: Just in the next few months, we'll see the new "Blade Runner 2049"...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLADE RUNNER 2049")

HARRISON FORD¹⁴: (As Rick Deckard) You're a cop. I had your job once.

ULABY: ...and "Justice League" and the new "Thor" movie and the latest "Star Wars" plus all those Oscar contenders. Paul Dergarabedian says 2017 may well redeem¹⁵ itself. That said, it might be time to re-evaluate some weaker sequels. In the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" flop³, Johnny Depp faces an executioner who asks him...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES")

JOHN REYNOLDS: (As Hangman Executioner) How would you like to die, pirate - hanging, firing squad¹⁶?

ULABY: The answer might be the box office. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRAKE SONG, "PASSIONFRUIT")

1 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

2 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

3 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

4 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

7 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 travails   

n.艰苦劳动( travail的名词复数 )；辛勤努力；痛苦；分娩的阵痛

参考例句：

• In the and travails of businesses you'll always need hometown help. 就算你的业务扩大到其他城市，也不要忘了你的发源地。 来自互联网
• Tata Motor's travails with Land Rover and Jaguar spring to mind as recent less-than-favorable examples. 印度塔塔汽车公司对陆虎和捷豹品牌的辛苦收购就是最近一个不如人意的例子。 来自互联网

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 bombastic   

adj.夸夸其谈的，言过其实的

参考例句：

• The candidate spoke in a bombastic way of all that he would do if elected.候选人大肆吹嘘，一旦他当选将要如何如何。
• The orator spoke in a bombastic manner.这位演说家的讲话言过其实。

13 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

14 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

15 redeem   

v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等）

参考例句：

• He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.他无法赎回典当的家具。
• The eyes redeem the face from ugliness.这双眼睛弥补了他其貌不扬之缺陷。

16 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。