Chapter 27 Supernatural phenomenon

The box office results of "The Legend of the Ghost" in the first week were finally frozen at 1.0567 million. In the last few days, three cinemas participating in the trial were full. Even from 2:00 to 4:00, the attendance rate was as high as 90+%. There were countless young people coming to stay up late to watch the movie.

The 1.0567 million weekly box office result also made "The Ghost Record" top 16th in the North American weekly box office rankings (July 31 to August 6); the first place was the World War II masterpiece "Save Private Ryan" directed by Steven Spielberg, which was its second week of release, with a weekly box office of 36.612 million; and the 15th place was the still-released Titanic, which is already the 33rd week since its release, but it can still receive a weekly box office of 2.022 million, and its total box office in North America has reached 596.3 million.

It is not embarrassing to be behind "Titanic", which is released for 33 weeks. Look at the number of theaters released by "Titanic"; then look at "Spiritual - Ghost Records", which has 25 theaters released.

The position of the 16th place is not amazing, but the number of "25 screening theaters" and the score of 1.0567 million really scares all the film companies. Oh my God, where did Lions Gate find this dark horse?!

Lionsgate is now laughing so hard that they can't help but laugh. The box office in the first week not only made them recover the cost, but also made a small profit. The most important thing is that the super potential shown by "The Legend of the Ghost" is definitely a big-selling movie. Therefore, the movie's release in the second week also changed from limited release to large-scale release, with the number of theaters released to 750.

Although "The Legend of the Skills - Ghost Record" has been labeled as a "dark horse", its performance in the second week (August 7 to 13) still made everyone stunned. This dark horse is so dark... 37.5176 million! "The Legend of the Skills - Ghost Record" ranks at the top of the weekly box office rankings in North America! And "Save Private Ryan" has a weekly box office score of 26.5048 million, and can only rank second.

It was like a thunder sound! The film companies and entertainment media in the entire North American region were shocked, and the critics and fans were also shocked. Looking at the rankings, they were so shocked that they couldn't speak. Many people even couldn't figure out what type of movie "paranormal-activity" (translated as paranormal-activity, translated as paranormal-activity, is a free translation) is a movie? Science fiction? Horror? Or a comedy?

750 theaters actually defeated "Save Soldier Ryan" with 2,592 theaters. That was the work of the great director Steven Spielberg! What a joke!

Faced with this result, the management of Lionsgate Company only said one sentence, add! So in the third week, the number of theaters released by "The Ghost Record" came to 2,142. In the end, the box office in the third week (August 14 to 20) did not disappoint Lionsgate Company. This horror film continued to beat "Save Private Ryan", which won 19.7281 million per week, and ranked the championship in the North American weekly box office rankings with a box office of 48.7693 million, and the total box office also reached 87.3436 million!

In addition to Wang Yang's expected, this result scared Rachel, Jessica and others, Joshua kept sighing like Alzheimer's disease, "My DVD machine is valuable."

The news-chasing media cannot ignore this "supernatural phenomenon". In fact, as early as the weekly box office rankings of the first week were released, some media began to pay attention to the movie, and some reports also marked the movie as the "dark horse". With the second week of "Ghost Records" winning the weekly box office championship and winning the championship again in the third week, this movie also detonated the whole United States.

"We are now at the entrance of a ticket hall in a movie theater in New York. Although it is already early in the morning, it is like a party, which is very lively." On the NBC Channel news program, a middle-aged white female reporter held a microphone and told the camera: "These young people gather here to wait for the next "Spiritual - Ghost Records" because the tickets for the first game have been stolen."

As soon as the screen shot turned, I saw young people in the ticket hall reading books, playing cards, chatting, and even dancing street dance.

The female reporter took a few steps, called a white boy who had just grown up, pointed the microphone at him, and asked with a smile: "Hi, hello, are you watching "Ghost Records"?" The boy said excitedly to the camera, "Yes, yes", and the female reporter asked again: "Why are you so eager to watch this movie, and would rather wait here late at night?"

The boy thought about it and shrugged, "I don't know either. But my friends have already watched it, and they asked me to come. If I didn't, they wouldn't even talk to me." He waved to the camera and smiled, "Hey, baby, are you watching? I love you!"

The program director cut the screen back to the live broadcast room, and the host smiled and said, "Let's listen to the opinions of parents and the police."

As soon as the picture changed, it cut to the video of an interview with a middle-aged white woman. The woman looked angry and said helplessly and angrily: "My child is like a different person. He always went home before nine o'clock, but now, he has spent the night outside just to watch that movie! Oh my God, he is still an unadulterated high school student, but he doesn't even come home at night! I'm really afraid that he will learn bad things."

The camera turned to an interview with a black male police officer, who said seriously: "Too many children gathered near the cinema late at night. I have seen this for the first time. But we will strengthen the security in the cinema area and protect the children with all our might. They will come to the cinema, watch the movie, and go home without any accidents."

Of course, nbc is not advertising "Ghost Record", but reports on a social problem that has been happening across the United States in the past two weeks. This is the famous "Ghost Record" that has led to a large number of teenagers' no-return incidents."

Those who pay attention to society and people's livelihood have seen the side of the young people's family; those who pay attention to movies have seen more. Whether it is the media or movie fans, the biggest question is, what is going on with this movie? Where did this dark horse come out?

The "ghost craze" on the Internet continues, and the media knows it, but they all smile and shake their heads, possessing evil spirits to kill people? Real DV videotapes are adapted into movies? Only simple students will believe it. The media immediately raises strong doubts about these rumors. First of all, if there are DV videotapes that are shooting clues of murder, they will be important evidence of the police, and they should stay in the police station rather than in the film company; in addition, if this is a real murder documentary, how can it pass the MPAA review? And it is PG-13 level?

So, the media are refuting rumors on the Internet: "Real movies? This is a very ridiculous statement, only the 'animal world' is real."

Naturally, the media will not give up. They have begun to investigate the truth behind this "supernatural" movie. When they are determined to investigate, it will be easy to get the truth. There is no airtight wall in the world, let alone so many film companies have reviewed "Ghost Records"?

So, the Los Angeles Times immediately got the truth. The film purchasing manager of Dimen Film Company said: "This is just a movie, a movie shot with a DVD, not a real video clip. Kevin and Meir are all played by actors, and the director of this movie is a very young Chinese man. You see, they are the producers they played at the end, which is him, young-wang, maybe 22 years old? Maybe 20 years old?"

Another film company that didn't want to name it, a distribution department salesman said: "Oh, I've seen this movie, not in the cinema, but in the company's screening room. We just nodded at the time and the movie would belong to us, but you know, we finally rejected that young man. To be honest, we regret it now, and our manager was suspended for it, maybe I'm the next one."

Then the reporter went to the Actors Union and found the information of Zachary Levi, the actor who played "Kevin", which proved that "Kevin" was still alive in this world. The reporter also interviewed Mark Slunt, who was responsible for the interview of actors on "The Art of Ghosts" that day. He said: "Oh, this is of course a movie. I also took the signing commission of "Kevin" and "Mer". The young director was very picky. From morning to night, he interviewed about a few hundred actors before he selected the final person."

The evidence is conclusive. As soon as this report from the Los Angeles Times was released, rumors on the Internet were self-defeating.

In response to this, Lionsgate and Wang Yang have already prepared the promotional method of pretending to be a god. They are just hoping that it will work in the early stages of the movie. Because things are so big, the truth will inevitably be revealed. As long as the first batch of audiences are lured into the cinema and get a huge sensation, "pretending to be a god" can retreat successfully. When things develop to this current situation, even if the audience knows that this is just a filmed movie, they will still go to the cinema.

Because people are even more curious, the DV movie costing 10,000 US dollars has received more than 80 million yuan in box office! It has also caused a lot of controversy, and almost everyone is discussing this matter. How can they miss it? Young people are unwilling to fall behind. As long as "watching "Spiritual Records of Ghosts" becomes a trend, there is no need to worry about no one watching it.

Therefore, the promotional focus of "Spiritual - Ghost Record" has long been shifted to the method of "Do you dare to watch?" Lionsgate Company adopted Wang Yang's suggestion and held an event on the official website of the movie "Who is scared the most?" The way to participate in the event is very simple. Use a camera and a DVD player to take down the scared reactions of family and friends when watching the movie, and then upload it to the official website to participate in the two selections of pictures and images. Then netizens voted to select the top ten, and the winners can get prizes such as Santa Monica's weekly tour, home theater, and DVD cameras.

This is viral marketing that extends to reality.

So when the Los Angeles Times report came out, Lionsgate clarified the facts generously. Distribution manager Jon Philtimer admitted to the media that "The Legend of the Ghost" is a movie with directors and actors. They did not have this information on the official website of the movie before. They just wanted to create a real atmosphere, and the purpose of shooting those trailers was the same.

When Lionsgate uploaded the information of director Wang Yang, "Kevin" Zachary Levi, and "Mer" Rachel McAdams to the official website, everyone was suddenly "shocked" again! Oh my God, no, the director and producer who is 18 years old and over 6 months old?! Looking at Wang Yang's young face, everyone felt incredible. It was this kid who used 10,000 US dollars to produce a movie with a box office of more than 80 million!?

Oh, God! What is the record of Guinness, the youngest director in Hollywood? Stephen Paul, 20 years old; and now Wang Yang, 18 years old and more than 6 months old, has broken the record without any controversy. Besides, Stephen Paul's "Love Again" does not have a box office of more than 80 million.

Roger Ibert, a well-known film critic in the United States, described it as "a miracle happening" and "a supernatural phenomenon"; and he praised "Agility-Ghost Records" as an incomparable innovation, which created a pseudo-documentary model and pointed out the way for DV movies; and the psychological horror techniques of the movie itself have also reached the limit, without the awkwardness of the rookie director.

"This movie can scare you into a cardiac arrest. If you don't just like the 'ketchup' movie. Also, I don't recommend that children watch this movie. Even if they are accompanied by their parents, they will leave a shadow of childhood. Well, I need to bask in the sun, which will drive away the fear in my heart."

This film critic who is so powerful that it can influence the film company to decide whether to buy a movie, and influence the audience to decide whether to watch movies and buy DVDs. He calls Wang Yang a "magic-young" and praises him for his bright future, but he must maintain the sharpness of young people and avoid losing himself.

Finally, Roger Ibert gave "Two-thumbs-up" exclusively to "Spiritual Records of Ghosts" himself, registering the trademark "two-thumbs-up"!"

Regarding this comment, Wang Yang joked with Rachel on the phone, "Hey, Rachel, see if I'm going to be magic? My hand stretched out from your phone and was grabbing your hair." Rachel was amused by him and smiled, "Wow, is this the content of your next horror movie?"

Wang Yang pretended to be serious and said, "No, I won't make movies anymore. This time I can share a lot of money. I retired early and retired at the age of 18. Isn't it cool?" Rachel laughed teasingly and said, "Oh, this is like a drunkard saying he wants to quit drinking, so I don't believe it."

"Don't you give the drunkard a chance to reform?" Wang Yang looked very hurtful. Rachel seemed to be thinking and smiled, "Well, I will give everyone else; but you, there is no way." Wang Yang laughed, said a few "ok", and then said seriously, "To be honest, I shouldn't make horror movies anymore. This time the girl scared me, I don't want to scare anyone to death."

Of course, not everyone thinks "The Legend of Ghost" can be scary, and there are many media that pour cold water on it. They scolded the whole movie as a scam, a carefully planned by Lionsgate. It can get such a high box office all depends on despicable means. What everyone needs is to ignore it and it will disappear.

Kevin Thomas, a film critic of the Los Angeles Times (who later praised "The Promise") said, "This is a very boring movie, like a child playing the game of "playing director, actor." This guy with the same name as the male protagonist of "The Legend of the Ghost" seems to be very angry about the movie, and his tone is very vicious: "The performance of the male protagonist of the movie is extremely bad, and seeing them on the screen is like a disaster. The youngest director? Oh, that's a little guy with good luck, but that's it. In another ten years, people may remember "The Legend of the Ghost", but they won't remember Wang Yang."

Although some film critics spoke harshly, and although most people on the Internet knew that the "Kevin murder" was a fake news, the box office of "The Ghost Record" did not cool down significantly, but it was just a normal phenomenon of slowing down momentum. Half of the fourth week, more than 15 million yuan had been received, and it seemed that it was not a problem to be close to 30 million in a single week; and in the total box office, it had exceeded 100 million. It seemed that "miracle" was a bit unfulfilled.

Tom Odenberg, the film purchasing manager of Lionsgate, finally knew why he felt uneasy when he signed a contract with Wang Yang. It was not that he bought the wrong movie, but that the paper-sharing contract was a real loss for Lionsgate! If he insisted on buying out at one time, 500,000 or 1 million would be fine, then now...

Of course, this is just a temporary greedy idea. Most of the time, including Tom Odenberg and other senior Lions Gate executives, were already satisfied. This time, they not only made a fortune, but also greatly promoted the Lions Gate. They accepted interviews from some media, and through the film promotion of "The Art of Ghosts", they also promoted their own company, so that North American movie fans knew that there was a film company called "Lions Gate" in Santa Monica.

And now, they have another good news.

Jon Filtimel has been in a breeze recently. Because he has helped to release "Spiritual Art of Ghosts", he has received praise from the board of directors and has the opportunity to be promoted to the next CEO of the company and even become a partner. Now he meets Wang Yang in a café, and he comes to Los Angeles to work and tell Wang Yang good news in person.

"Hey, Jon, what kind of news is it?" Wang Yang looked at Jon with a mysterious face, took a sip of coffee, and smiled unhappily: "Please, tell me quickly! I hope this news will not waste my fare."

The movie usually only takes a month after the screening, the theater chain will share the accounts with the distribution company, and then the issuing company Lions Gate will share the accounts with Wang Yang. Therefore, although the box office of "The Ghost Record" is over 100 million, it has nothing to do with Wang Yang for the time being, and his wallet is still dry. Of course, he no longer has to save money, because he can swipe his credit card first.

Jon Filtimel smiled and said, "Okay, Young, then I'll reveal it." He coughed and said, "Man, we have received an invitation to "Opra's Talk Show"!"

"Opra talk show? Oh, my god! Really?" Wang Yang couldn't help but stare in surprise. Oprah talk show is the most famous talk show in the United States with the highest ratings. It is simply a symbol of American culture. He also grew up watching this show. He liked the misfortune of childhood, but the "telling show queen" Oprah Winfrey, who succeeded through hard work. Now he is going to go up as a guest for an interview!?

Jon picked up the coffee cup, nodded with a smile, and said, "Of course it's true. The show will be recorded next week, and the theme is 'discussing the path of success for young people'. You know, it's probably to let you talk about the process, and then discuss the meaning and influence, which is Oprah's set." He took a sip of coffee and smiled, "They invited the main creators of the movie, you, Zachary and Rachel, and me, a guy with unique vision; this Sunday, we will fly to Chicago with Zachary and Rachel; Rachel went in Toronto."

Going to Chicago to record Oprah talk show... Wang Yang was very excited, but at the same time he felt a little anxious. There was one thing that was always like a fish bone thorning in his throat, and there was no way to avoid it, especially since he is getting more and more attention from the media, and this matter will be exposed sooner or later. It can be said that the incident has not been exposed yet, which is really a "miracle".

He frowned and thought for a while, looked at Jon opposite him and said seriously: "Jon, there is something I think I need to say."

"What?" Jon frowned when he heard Wang Yang's expression was serious, not like joking.

Wang Yang said calmly: "A few months ago, I was a freshman at Nanka University, majoring in film and television production." Jon was stunned when he heard this, and then heard Wang Yang say: "Then I was fired because of racial discrimination." Jon couldn't help but scream: "What!? God! What are you kidding?!" Wang Yang pressed his hands and calmed him down, saying: "Don't be anxious, listen to my explanation." At that moment, he explained the causes and consequences clearly.

After listening to his story, Jon fell silent. He frowned and kept drinking coffee. After a long time, he sighed and said blamingly: "Yang, you should have told us earlier."

If I had told you earlier, Lionsgate would have released "Ghost Records"? Wang Yang shrugged and said nothing.

"This is a time bomb, and there is not much time left, and the bomb will explode soon." Jon grabbed his hair in distress regardless of his demeanor, and his good mood just now disappeared.

Racial discrimination is a very sensitive thing. Maybe Wang Yang will be ruined, but if it is just like this, he will most likely feel sorry for him. The problem is that now Lionsgate has been dragged into the water, and he has been dragged into the water. If this matter is not handled well in the end, Lionsgate's reputation will definitely be seriously damaged. It is not just as simple as buying movies of racist discriminatory people. The biggest problem is that the previous "Kevin murder" incident will also be caught and attacked. Movie fans will also change their attitude, believing that Lionsgate is a liar, defrauding consumers, etc.

If all this happens, he won't have to think about being promoted to Ceo, let alone becoming a partner. Jon tried hard to think about the solution, thought for a while, and asked, "Yang, are you sure no one else was there at that time?"

Wang Yang thought about the scene at that time again, but it was no different, and he still couldn't get clues. He shook his head and said, "I can't be sure, because my attention was all focused on Terrence Ben at that time. He pushed me, and then I hit him. Later, when the teacher came, there was no one around." He spread his hands helplessly and said, "I ran through the entire college afterwards and asked all the classmates, but no one said he was present at that time."

Jon nodded silently and asked again: "It seems that you are not very popular in school?"

"Am I like that?" Wang Yang rolled his eyes. He was not an introverted and autistic person, nor was he a slutty person. He had always had a very good popularity. He remembered the happy life in high school and smiled and said, "In fact, when I was in high school, I had many good friends, not only Chinese, but also white and black people." After a pause, he continued, "But when I went to college, you know, I usually go to class when I have classes, and when I don't have class, I will do part-time jobs, so I haven't had time to make friends yet."

He smiled. The money he earned from part-time jobs was intended to be used to buy a DVD machine; the money ended up being used to shoot movies.

"Oh! This is good news." Jon's face eased a little, and he also smiled bitterly: "It's easier to have black friends in high school. If this matter is exposed, we will help you. Just interview your previous high school, teachers, and classmates. You can almost prove who you are." He smiled again: "Don't worry too much, we will ask someone to investigate at the University of Southern California to see if anyone else was there at that time."

"Originally, the University of Southern California should have done this, but they didn't. They fired me hastily." Wang Yang shook his head slightly, maybe he was unlucky, or... he was in the school director's office at that time, and he was far from being mature now. In his rage, he irrationally contradicted the school director.

Jon smiled and drank coffee, saying, "Then we have to thank Nanca for not firing you. If they don't fire you, you can't make this movie, right?"

Wang Yang was stunned for a moment, and then laughed in his heart. It seemed that there was indeed such logic. Not only could he not make this movie, but he would not have experienced so many things and would not have the mentality he is now. It would only be the "brave and cruel" Wang Yang mentioned by Old Man Wu. Does setbacks make people grow? Could it be that the ruthless firing of the University of Southern California has made him successful?

While Wang Yang was thinking about these things, Jon stood up, patted his shoulder, and said half-complainted and half-jokingly: "I have to leave. Young man, you really have brought me too many 'surprise'." Wang Yang replied with a smile: "Oh, then should you thank me?" Jon smiled and said: "Come on, Yang, you are such a cunning guy."
Chapter completed!