漫威
——驚人的造星工廠

by Ben Fritz

喬皙 譯

漫威
——驚人的造星工廠

Marvel Studios’ Star-Making Machine

by Ben Fritz

喬皙 譯

O n screen, they’re Earth’s mightiest heroes. But in Hollywood, they were has-beens and never-weres. That is, until Marvel got a hold of them.

Avengers: Age of Ultron1)kicks off the summer movie season with a whirlwind of superheroes joining forces to once again save the world and shatter boxoffice records. The director and several key stars in the ensemble cast either kick-started their film careers with Marvel Studios (Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, director Joss Whedon) or staged a dramatic comeback (Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man).

The next few months could mark the most lucrative summer in Hollywood history, thanks to a wave of followups to major franchises. After Avengers, some of the most anticipated entries include Mad Max: Fury Road, Jurassic World, Terminator: Genisys, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and the Despicable Me2)spinoff Minions.

在大銀幕上，他們是地球上最強大的英雄。但在好萊塢，他們是已經過氣或無人問津的角色——直到漫威把他們收入麾下。

《復仇者聯盟：奧創紀元》為夏天電影季拉開了帷幕。這股超級英雄旋風再次拯救了地球的同時還打破了票房記錄。劇組名單中的導演和幾個主要演員要么是通過漫威工作室進入電影行業的新人（如飾演雷神的克里斯·海姆斯沃斯，飾演美國隊長的克里斯·埃文斯，導演喬斯·威登），要么是卷土重來的過氣明星（如飾演鋼鐵俠的小羅伯特·唐尼）。

多得一大波后續的同類型大制作，接下來夏季的幾個月將會是好萊塢歷史上獲利最豐厚的一段時間。《復仇者聯盟》后最值得期待的影片包括：《瘋狂的麥克斯：狂暴之路》、《侏羅紀世界》、《終結者：創世紀》、《碟中諜：神秘國度》和由《卑鄙的我》衍生出的《小黃人》。

不喜歡數字技術創造的恐龍而想看原創故事

1) kick off 開始，啟動

2) spinoff ['sp?n,??f] n. 副產品，衍生影集

3) surfeit ['sз?f?t] n. 過量，過度

Those moviegoers who prefer original stories over digitally created dinosaurs also have a surprising3)surfeit of choices, as Hollywood has learned that summer can be a smart time for sophisticated counterprogramming. Two of the most celebrated movies from January’s Sundance Film Festival, the dark comedy Me, Earl and the Dying Girl and hip-hop comedy Dope, both released in June.

But in a summer with 18 sequels, reboots, spinoffs and comic-book adaptations, it’s the second Avengers that will set the tone. The film also demonstrates a new casting calculus in Hollywood, in which it’s not the actors who make the character, but the character who makes the actor.

不喜歡數字技術創造的恐龍而想看原創故事的電影觀眾同樣有非常多的選擇，夏季是劇情巧妙的反主流影片上映的好時機，好萊塢深明此理。一月份舉行的圣丹斯電影節上最矚目的兩部電影——黑色喜劇《我和厄爾以及將死的女孩》和嘻哈喜劇《酷斃了》——都在六月上映。

但這個夏天，在18部上映的電影續集、重拍影片、衍生影片和漫畫改編影片中，《復仇者聯盟2》占據了最重要的位置。這部電影同時展現了一種新的好萊塢演員成名方式——不是演員造就角色而是角色造就演員。……