Chapter 26: Blowout

Corrected some typos and re-uploaded. This is the 16th update, today's update continues in the evening.
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With the smiling smile of Rachel played by Meier, the DV machine was turned off strangely, and the movie was also declared over. The logo of the Lion Gate Company appeared again on the big screen. There were a few small lines of text under the logo, "Producer: Young-Wang" and "This film is purely fictional", but these texts are very small and small. And the stay time is only one or two seconds, unremarkable; and the audience is scared like a dementia, and no one pays attention to the words.
After the audience recovered, the exclamation and discussion sounded one after another, filling the entire movie theater. The first group of people who ate crabs believed that "Spirit-Ghost Records" was a real person and a real thing. The sense of substitution and fear of watching the film were naturally the highest. Their evaluation of the film was very important. Decide whether they will "viral marketing" in reality.
"It's crazy! Oh god! I was really scared to death in the end, oh my god, are there really evil spirits in this world?" "We must ask the guy Shawn to come and see, I can't wait to see it What will that guy be scared ... "Two white youths walked through the aisle between the seats. One of them was still unable to get rid of the fear that the movie gave him; the other prepared the scary plan with great interest.
"This is the most terrifying horror movie I've ever seen, it! I regret to watch it now. I think I must be awake and fall asleep and have nightmares, ..." Friends chattered endlessly as they walked through the aisle.
Wang Yang sat on the seat and listened to the words of the leaving audience. He felt unprecedentedly full in his heart. He closed his eyes slightly, felt all this, and enjoyed all this. He found, found what he had pursued since childhood, What he dreamed of, he made people the same as the villagers in "Paradise Cinema", he made something that made people laugh, made people cry, and made people crazy.
He bit his cocoon and turned into a butterfly, ready to fly into the sky at any time!
The Jessica next to him did not disturb him. She looked at Wang Yang. Her sweet face was quiet. She could feel Wang Yang ’s heart. The heart that touched her dream and achieved success. She remembered her first participation. Acting, so excited and happy, I feel that I have found the true meaning of life.
Has been sitting for a long time, the audience leaves one by one, and then there are sporadic new audiences. Wang Yang opened his eyes suddenly, took a breath, and looked at Jessica who smiled. Jessica smiled at him: "Congratulations, Yang." Wang Yang grinned and said, "Jessica ,Thank you."
The two had just walked into the cinema hall, and Wang Yang received a call from Joshua. On his cell phone, Joshua's voice was very excited. He shouted, "Dude, it's so fun! They almost scared to pee. Pants! Haha, there's a guy next to me. He was frightened by the last one and ran into a frantic chaos, shouting 'Save me, ah'! Haha, it's a great harvest, but it's too much time now It's late, otherwise I really want to watch another one, and the reaction of these people is too interesting. "
Wang Yang finished listening to Joshua ’s phone call, and Jessica next to her ended her call. She shook the phone in her hand and smiled to rejoice: "Yang, Elin said she and her friends were terrified. Dead, their hearts haven't calmed down yet. "Wang Yang wowed and smiled:" Good news, just don't let them down. "
While picking up the car in the parking lot, Wang Yang received a call from Lion Gate ’s distribution manager Jon Phil Timer. Jon said quietly: "Young man, good news, bad news! Good news Yes, the audience watching the movie is basically scared; the bad news is that the attendance of the first show is not high. "
Wang Yang, while sitting in Jessica's car, smiled at the phone: "Hey, Jon, don't worry about this! I believe the box office will get better and better, as long as the audience is scared." , He asked Jon again: "Oh, you haven't forgotten our second-step promotion plan?"
The second step is to deploy five employees of Lion Gate Company, each with a camera to the five cinemas participating in the screening, secretly film the panic reaction of the audience watching the movie, and then put it on the Internet. Will it be scared like this? "I believe that doing so will definitely arouse people's curiosity and make them eager to try. What horror movie? I won't be scared like this.
"Relax." Jon smiled: "These are our jobs, we will not delay. We are also filming in the 'Vita Projector' cinema, are you watching there? Maybe you will be there I saw myself in the video. "After saying the joke, he said seriously:" Okay, Yang, wait for the box office data for the first day of tomorrow. You know, in the first week of the screening, only more than 100,000 box office, next It will only continue to be screened during the week; if it exceeds 150,000 box office, we will consider whether to increase the number of theaters to 50. "
"I know, Jon." Wang Yang nodded.
It was already late at night, Wang Yang did not let Jessica take him back, she also needed to go home as soon as possible. When the car came to the nearby subway station, Wang Yang got out of the car and waved to Jessica through the window: "Bye, Jessica! Remember to be careful on the road and call me when I get home."
Jessica held the steering wheel in one hand, waved at him with one hand, and said with a smile: "I will. Yang, thank you, I had an unforgettable evening tonight."
"Me too." Wang Yang smiled, watching her stepping on the accelerator and leaving, then waved goodbye again: "Good night, Jessica."
Near three o'clock in the morning to return to the apartment, received a call from Jessica to get home safely, Wang Yang lay down on the bed to sleep. He felt very sleepy, but there was always an excitement in his head that kept him awake from time to time, and fell asleep for a long time before falling asleep. , Everyone is screaming ...
In the early morning, although he only slept for a few hours, the habits he had developed for many years still made him get up as usual. After finishing daily essentials such as washing and punching, he came to the computer with a bowl of cooked noodles ready to see the response of the movie on the Internet. While the computer was entering the system, the phone rang, Jon Fieldier.
Wang Yang couldn't help but wonder, Jon called so early, has the box office already counted? He answered the phone and smiled, "Good morning, Jon. Did you sleep well?"
"Yang, something happened, I was woken up early in the morning." Jon's tone was heavy. Suddenly, Wang Yang asked, "What happened?" Jon took a deep breath and sighed: "Last night, when a 14-year-old girl was watching" Smart and Ghost Record "in San Francisco, He was scared and paralyzed. "
"Oh my god!" Wang Yang froze, frowning tightly, and hurriedly asked: "How is that girl now, how are you?" Jon said with a tone of laughter, "Nothing." Seriously, she is okay now. "Thank God!
Wang Yang couldn't help closing his eyes, relieved, and then scolded: "Damn, Jon, your tone just scared me a lot! It made me think the girl was in serious condition." Fortunately, if there is Which audience is scared to death for watching his movie, he will feel guilty for a lifetime.
Jon smiled happily and said narrowly: "Hah, I just want you to taste the frightened taste, but this is to get justice for the girl." He smiled a few times and said, "Yang, this one It ’s on Yahoo ’s news section, go check it out, there are reports there. "
"OK, I'm right in front of the computer." Wang Yang held the mouse and opened the Yahoo homepage. Sure enough, he found this news. This news was not classified in the entertainment or movie section, but belonged to the people's livelihood news. The title was "San Francisco is 14 years old." The girl was horrified by watching a horror movie. "
It turned out that there was a 14-year-old white girl in San Francisco in the early morning. She and her 20-year-old brother went to the cinema to watch horror movies. They were all loyal believers in the "Kevin Murder Case", so they went in the first scene of the movie. Movie theater. At the end of the movie, the girl was over frightened, and her whole body was paralyzed without listening to her. Her brother, who was also terrified, called the staff of the movie theater, and then he sent the girl to the hospital for emergency treatment. No big problem, just stay in the hospital for observation.
The movie theater staff told reporters: "She was paralyzed there, her face was blue, her lips were black, and she was trembling. You know, uh ... it's like dying. Oh, it's terrible to think of it! "The movie theater boss said angrily:" Why "Smart-Ghost Record" will be PG-13? It should be assigned to NC-17! My movie theater will perform this level, I do n’t want my guests to be scared dead."
The editor of this news then suggested that when heart disease patients, teenagers and children watch horror movies in movie theaters, they should fully consider their psychological tolerance, or directly avoid watching horror movies, so as not to cause tragedy.
"It's a blessing that nobody has anything to do with it." Wang Yang finished reading the news and was also in a mood to laugh. "Oh, Jon, this is not fair. That movie theater will perform NC-17 on my movie, which will make me less Lots of box office. "
"Haha, Yang, I think we should thank that boss!" Jon laughed and said mysteriously: "Do you know? This is a good opportunity for publicity."
Wang Yang froze a little, and then reacted: "Do you mean to use this news as a propaganda?" Only one "Smart and Ghost Record" appeared in this news. It was from the movie theater owner's words, Other places are replaced by "a horror movie".
Jon said "Yes", the voice was very brisk, and seemed to shrug: "Yang, no big deal, that girl is all right now. This is a fact, we just let everyone know this fact, know that your movie has What a horror. "
"So what are you going to do?" Wang Yang asked with a frown.
Jon said his plan: "First of all, we will apologize to the little girl publicly, and then we will invite her and her brother to invite them to come to Santa Monica to play and visit the Lions Gate Company, of course, we will pay the cost. The most important thing is that we will publish these news on the official website, and then publicize them to ensure that each forum can see these news. "
Go to Santa Monica? That's not bad, the little girl is also blessed by misfortune. Wang Yang nodded and said with a smile: "Okay, this program sounds good, and it is beneficial to us and the girl." Jon smiled: "Of course, this promotion is not only to promote your movie, It ’s also promoting our Lions Gate company. "
Talked a few more words, and Wang Yang and Jon ended the call. According to Jon, he didn't sleep well all night and needed to make up for sleep.
In fact, even if Lion Gate didn't pay attention to this news, this news would not lose the value of propaganda, because it has been reposted everywhere by "ghost fans". This is a fact, not a hype for film companies, which makes people wonder and wonder: "Is this movie really so scary?"
Wang Yang browsed the Yahoo Forum and other places. These forums have many more posts about the movie viewing experience of "Ghost Record". Of course, many of these posts are posted by employees of Lion Gate, but a considerable part of them are The netizens posted that most of the movie ’s horrible voices accounted for:
Scared to death, I strongly recommend everyone to watch it, it ’s really scary, Kevin died so poorly!
,
I understand that was scared Paralyzed girl, I was so scared that I overturned from the chair. This was the most shameful time I watched a horror movie. "Wait; but it ’s not all this kind of voice, and some people commented:" Boring, bad, A bad movie, I'm going to fall asleep, the picture is blurry, the camera shakes again ... "
Without the Lions Gate Company and Wang Yang returning to this post, many people said: "Man, this is a real documentary, all made by DV, you can't ask too much."
People who like it are praising; those who scold are also scolding. There are also many more questions such as "The story of this movie is true and false", "Where is Kevin dead", "Where is Meier", "Are there any directors", and the desire to know the truth has become stronger There are more and more people who say they are going to the cinema to find out.
This momentum is very good, Wang Yang will not ask everyone to praise the "Smart and Ghost Record", that is impossible; everyone's movie watching experience is different, especially for the horror film, divided psychology Horror films and visual horror films, psychological horror can not scare most Americans. They seem to have muscles in their brains. They disdain psychological horror methods and only like the visual terror that blood spatters.
Therefore, Wang Yang never expected to get much box office from them.
The box office statistics on the first day of the release came out in the afternoon. Now the box office statistics of the theater line are all networked systems. Selling a ticket and remembering a ticket is naturally convenient and fast. The data obtained by the Lion Gate Company was that it received more than 22,000 box offices on the first day.
The 25 theaters are all open overnight. "Smart-Ghost Recording" only occupies a movie hall. The average number of seats is 500. From 12 midnight to 6 am, three games are played every day, and the first round of the movie The ticket price is 6 US dollars each, and the box office is more than 22,000, which means that the 75 screenings of "Smart and Ghost Record" in 25 theaters only have an average attendance rate of 10%.
This result is very general. It is within the expectation of Lion Gate and Wang Yang. If you can maintain the 10% attendance, you can also receive 154,000 box office in a week, exceeding the 100,000 target that you can continue to show next week.
Wang Yang told Zachary, Rachel, Jessica and others about the box office results, and he smiled with Rachel: "It's enough to continue the show, and the cost can be recovered in two weeks. We are not considered box office poison. Well, maybe I can still get a dozen dollars, haha! "Rachel joked with him:" Wow, a dozen dollars, awesome! But I don't think so, well, at least a few hundred dollars. Wang Yang smiled half-truth: "Well, I will definitely make money."
Just when Lion Gate was thinking about whether to continue the screening next week, the box office results on the second day of "Smart Ghost Record" surprised everyone, and the average attendance of 75 screenings actually rose to 35. %! And the first game at midnight, it was as high as 87%! The box office the next day, reached more than 78,700 US dollars!
The cumulative box office in the previous two days has exceeded US $ 100,000, which means that "Smart-Ghost Record" can continue to be screened next week; and according to this trend, more than 150,000 box office is also a breeze, which means that Lions Gate will give this Movies increase the number of theaters!
"It seems that my own cost of 10,000 yuan has the opportunity to be recovered, and maybe it can still make a small profit." Wang Yang smiled happily at Jessica: "Haha, then I am also a 'profitable director'!" Jessica smiled happily: "Well, the 'profitable director' almost scared the dead."
Jon Filtim and other distributors discussed whether the next week's increase in investment in 50 or 100 theaters, the box office results on the third day once again caught them off guard. Lion Gate received a jaw-dropping report that 25 theaters received a box office of US $ 145,000 on the third day! The average attendance rose to 64%, and the attendance at midnight was as high as 100% ...
When Wang Yang heard the news, he could not help but stunned despite his psychological preparation, and then jumped up and waved his fist, shouting, "God!"
Jessica, Rachel, Zachary ... Everyone was stunned. The box office score was completely beyond their imagination. The cumulative box office of the movie reached 245,700 in three days, and the growth rate was several times a day. This is clearly a dark horse movie gesture that will sell!
Lion Gate Company, which basically recovered the issue cost, watched the "ghost" boom on the Internet and the blow-out of the box office growth. At this point, the entire company and even the front desk lady Jennifer knew that Lion Gate really picked up the treasure this time. ! At the meeting, the company's management unanimously agreed that the number of screening theaters for "Smart and Ghost Record" will increase to 200 next week!
But the blowout continued, when Lion Gate faced an 181,000 box office on the fourth day, with an average attendance rate of 80%; and on the official website message board, those from various cities in North America asked for a release, they changed their minds. Next week, the number of theaters will be increased to 750, and in some cities, multiple movie theaters will play simultaneously. At the same time, they added additional publicity fees, put the panic reaction images of those viewers on the official website, and cooperated with the "Frightened Girl" incident to start a new round of momentum.
Now people who often go to online forums do n’t know about it, "Kevin's murder", "Girl scared to death", and the slogan "Dare you read it?"
At this time, the young people were stirred up with curiosity and ambition, taking advantage of the summer vacation and not having to get up early to school, they went to the cinema in droves to watch this "most scary real movie"; The person, the next day, he pulled a friend who had not seen it before going to see ...
The movie theater in Los Angeles also had a hard-to-find ticket situation. The tickets for the first game at midnight were often sold out as soon as they were on the counter; the young people who did not grab the tickets simply sat in the ticket office and waited for the second game, The third game.
At the ticket office of the "Vita Projector" movie theater, there are now more than 100 young people standing and sitting everywhere, from 14-year-old children to young college students in their 20s, and some of them are talking on the phone. Some are playing with GameBoy and other handhelds, and some are sitting on the ground playing cards together ...
"Look at them ... their parents must be scolding you." Jessica and Wang Yang stood at the ticket office. She looked at the young man who was packed with the ticket office and smiled proudly: "Yang , They will be here, all because of your movie, because of you. "
"Well, this feels really good." Wang Yang smiled with satisfaction, watching the crowd waiting for the next movie, he sighed: "Jessica, it seems that I succeeded. Wow, life is really wonderful! A few months ago, when I was expelled from Nantah, I was very frustrated and I felt like the sky was falling; but now, I became a director earlier than everyone, and I have an unbelievable movie. "
Jessica nodded silently, remembering her reaction when she just wanted to make a DV movie, UU reading www.uukanshu. The cost of com $ 10,000? Are you kidding? How could she not understand how to make a movie for ten thousand dollars?
At that time, Yang said to her very seriously: "Ten thousand dollars is enough, enough to make a good movie!" She remembers that Yang eager for someone to recognize him and support him, he said: "Jessica, Please believe me! You will see it, but I need your support! "Then she said to Yang:" I believe you. "
Next, she saw how to make a movie with ten thousand dollars, saw people crazy for this movie, and saw his success. It's unbelievable, but it's all happening. Young didn't talk big, he let her see the charm of the 10,000-dollar movie and see his charm.
Jessica thought again, but she was still a small character who failed to keep auditioning. While feeling happy for Wang Yang, she was also a bit uncomfortable.
"Hey, how long to wait!" A high-school-age white curly-haired young man walked past them. He looked impatient and complained on his mouth: "Why are there only five movie theaters showing, just a movie theater! God, if I do n’t watch this movie, I ’m like a primitive ... "
He suddenly saw the beautiful Jessica leaning against the wall, his eyes lit up, and then saw Wang Yang beside her. He was startled, and he seemed to be thinking about something. He looked at Wang Yang and said, "Hi, man . You are a bit familiar, where do I seem to have seen you? "
"No, you haven't seen me!" Wang Yang said solemnly and added a smile with a smile in his heart. Was it in the movie trailer? Before waiting for this curly-haired white man to think about it, Wang Yang blinked at Jessica and ran outside the cinema, shouting with a smile: "Jessica, we have to go!"
"Wait for me!" Jessica laughed, interrupted her messy thoughts, and ran to follow.