五大理由 《银河护卫队》将成今夏票房最热

　　Guardians of the Galaxy recently passed Transformers：Age of Extinction to become the biggest box office hit in North America th is summer.This comes as a huge surprise because industry analysts did not predict Guardians would be the biggest film of the summer.

　　《银河护卫队》最近超越《变形金刚：绝迹重生》成为今夏在北美票房的最大热门。这样的结果大出意料，因为行业分析人士完全没有估计到《护卫队》会成为今夏的最大影片。

　　The latest Disney/Marvel flick’s holding power has impressed following an expectation-shattering $94.3 million opening at home，setting the Marvel

　　Cinematic Universe’s tenth chapter on a guaranteed course to aslo surpass its spiritual predecessor，Captain America：The Winter Soldier，as 2014’s (so far)highest earner in North America. Guardians could end with a final tally above $280 million in North America at the rate it’s going.

　　这部迪士尼/漫威最新影片国内首周票房获得令人跌破眼镜的9430万美元，而且吸金魅力依然强劲难忘，为这漫威电影宇宙的第10部铺垫好了超越其精神前部《美国队长：冬日战士》，肯定成为2014年（迄今为止）北美的最高票房。按目前的节奏，《护卫队》在北美蛮可能以超过2.8亿美元的最终票房完美谢幕。

　　As the summer season comes to a close，let’s look at five keys that went into elevatingG uardians above the rest of the summer heap.

　　随着夏季档接近尾声，不妨让我们来盘点一下让《护卫队》今夏脱颖而出的五大关键点。

　　REASON 1：THESALES PITCH

　　理由一：宣传

　　The theory’s been tested，and social media is a force to be reckoned with over a movie’s lifespan.Disney，Marvel，and writer/director James Gunn knew as much ，ensuring Guardians would leave its mark early on thanks to a strong poster launch and the hard-to-resist teaser trailer featuring Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling”.Gunn himself often kept the fans updated on Twitter throughout production.

　　可以盖棺论定，社交媒体在电影生命周期里是个不可忽视的力量。迪士尼、漫威和编剧/导演詹姆斯·古恩均心知肚明，借助强劲的海报造势和以Blue Swede(蓝色瑞典人)乐队Hooked on a Feeling(《迷上了一种感觉》)为主题的难以抗拒的预告片，确保一鸣惊人。古恩本人在整个制作过程中也常常在推特上向影迷发布更新。

　　Despite persistently muted expectations，both online and real-world anticipation steadily built for six months as each trailer peeled away a layer of the film’s characterdriven quirk. Three weeks after its debut，Guardians remains one of the top trending movies on Twitter and Facebook.

　　尽管对期望值隐而不宣，但随着每部预告片一层层剥离这部角色交织的逗逼剧情，在线和现实世界的预期6个月里稳步聚升。首映三周以后，《护卫队》仍然高居推特和脸谱最热门电影榜。

　　Combined with the film’s online footprint，its overall ad campaign proved to be，arguably，the most unique and effective in quite some time.

　　结合电影的在线足迹，其整个广告攻势可以说在相当一段时间内都是最独具一格和最有成效的。

　　REASON 2：A SUMMER OF FRANCHISES WITHOUT MOMENTUM

　　理由二：系列片不温不火一整夏

　　As far back as last year，we predicted that Summer 2014 could be weak due to a lack of top-tier blockbuster franchises at the peak of audience goodwill.Unfortunately，that prognostication came trueT：he Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Transformers：Age of Extinction continued their respective series’downward trends at the domestic box office with 22.5 percent and 31 percent revenue declines from their predecessors.

　　最早在去年，我们就预测2014年夏季将萎靡不振，因为缺失顶级系列片可资提振观众兴趣。这一预言不幸而言中：《超凡蜘蛛侠2》和《变形金刚：绝迹重生》续写了相应系列片国内票房的颓势，比各自前集分别减少22.5%和31%的收入。

　　Even How to Train Your Dragon 2—despite zero animated competition，strong reception，and the first film’s universal adoration—underperformed in its stateside run after being considered the heavy favorite to win the seasonD. awn of the Planet of the Apes and 22 Jump Street were partial

　　exceptions，and represent two very bright spots of the pas tfew months，but neither were considered challengers for the summer throne.

　　即便《驯龙高手2》登顶众望所归，但在美国大陆的票房也不尽人意，尽管零动漫片竞争、广受好评，外带首部电影的普受青睐。《猩球崛起：黎明之战》和《龙虎少年队2》的确可算例外，成了过去几个月最光彩夺目的2部影片，但两者都不被看好能挑战今夏王座。

　　On top of all that，most expectations for Guardians before release peaked at a $150-175 million run--and far less in the months before buzz became too impossible to ignore.That’s an important perspective to keep if anyone writes this box office story away as a mere beneficiary of a weak market.By the time August rolled around，many audiences were yearning for a crowd-pleasing，family-friendly popcorn movie.Gunn and Marvel gave it to them.

　　最为重要的是，对《护卫队》开映前的最高期望封顶在1.5-1.75亿美元的收入——远远不如窃窃私语甚嚣尘上的那几个月。如果谁想把这个票房的故事当作仅仅是因为市场不景气意外中奖而一笔勾销，那请千万不要忽略这个关键点。的确，到八月一天天地展开的时候，许多观众都在渴望一部普大喜奔、全家友好的爆米花电影，古恩和漫威果然让他们如愿以偿。

　　REASON 3：GIVE THEM SOMETHING DIFFERENT

　　理由三：另辟蹊径

　　Guardians’ charm was crucial to intriguing non-fanboys.The Marvel property is a young and undeveloped one compared to established veterans Iron Man and Captain America，meaning the uninitiated needed introducing to the mere existence of mysterious“a-holes”named Star-Lord，Rocket，Groot，Gamora，and Drax the Destroyer.

　　《护卫队》的魅力关键在撩拨起非粉丝的兴趣。相比已经定格的老片《钢铁侠》和《美国队长》，这部漫威电影仍然面世尚浅羽毛未丰，也就意味着需要向生疏的观众介绍神秘的号称星爵的“X眼”、火箭（浣熊）、加美拉和毁灭者德拉克斯。

　　To counter this potential marketing nightmare，a cast of popular and up-and-coming stars in Chris Pratt，Zoe Saldana，and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel gave the off-beat intergalactic adventure an anchor for moviegoers.Furthering that cause，the film’s tone and striking visuals were unlike anything else playing in cinemas this year.The market was primed for a fresh dose of storytelling.

　　为了抵消这个潜在的市场梦魇，由克里斯·帕拉特、佐伊·索尔达娜、以及配音演员布莱德利·库珀和范·迪塞尔等明星和新起之秀组成的阵容给这部别具一格的星际探险片的观众带来了定心丸。而且，电影的色调和炫目的视觉效果跟今年放映的任何其他电影都迥然不同。整个市场都在翘首以待一部清新的故事片。

　　Impressively，Guardians ended up with a more balanced male-tofemale audience makeup than the typical superhero flick：44 percent of opening weekend patrons were women，compared to 36 percent for The Winter Soldier，38 percent for Thor：The Dark World，and Iron Man 3’s 39 percent.

　　令人难忘的是，《护卫队》的观众男女性别组合也比典型的超能英雄片更加均衡：首映周末观众44%为女性，相应地，《冬日战士》为36%，《雷神：黑暗世界》38%，《钢铁侠3》39%。

　　Reason 4：Mixtapes Are Still Cool

　　理由四：配乐超酷依旧

　　Here’s another arena where Gunn’s playbook stands out.“Hooked on a Feeling” became the film’s star track during the pre-release campaign，but he infused an entire playlist of hits from the 1960s，70s，and 80s which gave Guardians a distinct musical character.More importantly，it wasn’t a soundtrack without purpose，but one which organically connected to the story and our leading hero.

　　这是古恩的剧本出类拔萃的又一个领域。“Hookedon a Feeling”已经成为电影映前宣发的明星配曲，但他还注入了60年代、70年代和80年代的一整批流行金曲，赋予《护卫队》一种超乎寻常的音乐范。更重要的是，配乐并非漫无目的，而是与故事情节和主角英雄有机结合。

　　Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky”became another staple of the film’s TV spots，and The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” ensured audiences walking out during the end credits did so with a huge smile on their face.Throw in the likes of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell declaring “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”and Five Stairsteps’“O-o-h Child”，and the result was a popcorn space adventure with grounded appeal to adults (and fans of music in general).

　　诺曼·格林鲍姆的“Spiritin the Sky”（《天空精灵》）成为电影电视广告的另一个主打歌曲，而杰克森五兄弟的“I Want You Back”（《我要你回来》）保证观众在片尾致谢的时候能脸带笑容地走出场地。放进马文·盖伊和塔米·特雷尔疾呼“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”（《无山足够高》），和五步台阶的“O-o-h Child”（《哦-哦-呵-孩子》），终于打造出一部爆米花太空探险片，同时又对接上了成人（以及一般歌迷）的地气。

　　As we speak，the official soundtrack—appropriately titledG uardians of the Galaxy：Awesome Mix Vol.1—-has claimed number one on the Billboard 200 for two weeks running.It’s the first soundtrack to ever reach the top spot containing nothing but previously released music.

　　就在此刻，正式发布的原声带——恰如其分地命名为Guardians of the

　　Galaxy：Awesome Mix Vol.1（《银河护卫队：精彩原声带第1集》）——荣登《公告牌专辑排行榜》榜首，开创旧歌集锦登顶该排名榜的先河。

　　REASON 5：MARVEL

　　理由五：漫威

　　Guardians’ box office accomplishments cement the drawing power of the Marvel Studios brand. That’s been a generally accepted fact since the phenomenal performance ofT he Avengers，not to mention the boost enjoyed by theI ron Man，Thor，andC aptain America sequels following it.Still，Guardians was their riskiest adaptation yet.After all，even Marvel’s first quasi-independent foray onto the big screen boasted character awareness and Robert Downey，Jr.’s well-publicized comeback.

　　《护卫队》的票房成就强化了漫威工作室的品牌。自《复仇者联盟》的现象级表现以来这已是普遍公认的事实，更不要说《钢铁侠》、《雷神》和之后的《美国队长》系列带来的提升。然而，《护卫队》却是漫威最冒险的改编。毕竟，即使漫威首部半独立制作的大银幕尝试也还可以夸口角色认知和小罗伯特·丹尼广而告之的卷土重来。

　　Fans and nonfans alike have come to know and trust Marvel through their consistent output of entertaining movies，opening up the comic book pantheon to the hordes of parents and families that Disney has spent the better part of a century working to develop into loyal viewers.What Disney and Pixar did together a decade ago，the former is accomplishing again with Marvel Studios.

　　影迷和非影迷一样，透过漫威持续稳定的娱乐电影作品都开始熟悉并信任漫威。漫威电影为千家万户的家长打开了漫画宝库，而迪士尼耗费大半个世纪，一直致力于把这些家长打造成忠实的观众。迪士尼和皮克斯十年前携手达成的，漫威今日也同样功成名就。

　　The fact that Guardians，replete with potential excuses for playing to a niche crowd，is able to stand among 2014’s best box office performers is a testament to the legacy Marvel and its president/creative overseer，Kevin Feige，have been building toward.Here’s hoping that legacy continues thriving into，and beyond，the MCU’s Phase 3.

　　《护卫队》有着千万种理由成为一部小众影片，但却名列2014年的最佳票房影片之列，极好地佐证了漫威及其总裁/创意监制凯文·菲戈一直致力打造的传奇。谨此祝愿漫威传奇昌盛不息，并预祝漫威电影宇宙第3阶段成功！

　　By Shawn Robbins肖恩·罗宾斯

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