Chapter 960 Let bygones be bygones (2)
On September 12, Lu Yanhe arrived in New York to participate in the promotional activities for the film "The Boat" with director Luo Yuzhong, Wen Shengming, and Yu Mengling.
Midoriya adopted a traditional small-scale screening strategy for this art film, which was unlikely to perform well at the box office.
Throughout the early part of the awards season, the number of theaters showing the films was limited to double digits.
This is experience that Hollywood has gained over the years.
Any art film that adopts a large-scale release strategy will inevitably suffer from negative word-of-mouth because a large number of non-target audiences will not see what they want to see and will instead attack the film. This is especially true for art films with a star-studded cast.
Conversely, by releasing a small-scale film, the initial audience can be controlled to consist of the film's "die-hard fans." Only viewers who truly understand the film will know about it and buy tickets to see it without large-scale promotion, effectively controlling the film's reputation and allowing it to slowly build up.
During this fermentation process, what kind of movie is it? There will be a "first impression" drawn by the reviews. Other viewers will then go to see the movie with this "first impression". Even if they still don't think it's that good in the end, they won't directly call it a terrible movie. After all, so many people say it's good. If you say it's bad, even if you stubbornly refuse, you will still think in your heart, "Do I just lack appreciation?"
To promote the film "The Boat," Lu Yanhe and others not only had a conversation with last year's Oscar-winning director, but also appeared together on the cover of Variety magazine.
Green Valley's publicity and public relations resources have always been top-notch.
This is also why Lu Yanhe collaborated with Midoriya on many of his award-winning films.
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The overseas rights to the film "The Boat" have basically all been sold.
The film starring Lu Yanhe even won an award at the Situ International Film Festival, so there's no worry about it selling well.
However, if *The Boat* performs well during the North American awards season, like *Windfall One*, which, despite not ultimately being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, gained mainstream global attention through extensive pre-release exposure and positive word-of-mouth, every media outlet will discuss the film; anyone who follows film will find it impossible to ignore.
On a simple level, the film's copyright value will be better preserved, rather than just remaining a work of temporary critical acclaim. On a deeper level, it will enter film history along with the awards season of that year, rather than being gradually forgotten over time due to a lack of attention.
The significance of an award for a work lies largely in this.
"Although both 'The Boat' and 'Dingfeng No. 1' are films co-starring Wen Shengming, their themes and styles are completely different." In a media interview, Lu Yanhe emphasized this point repeatedly, based on the public relations strategy formulated for this year. On one hand, he wanted to leverage the unexpected drop in acclaim for 'Dingfeng No. 1' to garner support for 'The Boat'; on the other hand, he wanted to break free from many people's preconceived notions about the film.
"This film actually focuses on a secret that happens within a family. Every family has its own secrets, and no matter what secrets they hide, everyone tries to maintain a harmonious facade." Lu Yanhe introduced the film, saying, "Facades and reality, secrets and truths—from the moment I received the script, I decided I had to act in it."
“We saw reports that the screenplay for this film was written by a deceased female screenwriter. She wrote the screenplay based on her family relationship with her parents, and that the film's ending actually expresses the theme of patricide. Is that true?”
“I have my own answer, but I think the most important thing about this movie is to try not to watch the story with preconceived notions,” Lu Yanhe said. “The movie presents a surface, and what kind of truth you want to see from this surface depends on your understanding of the characters, details, and story. If I give my answer, everyone will inevitably watch the movie with my answer in mind, which will take away a lot of the fun.”
...
The release of the film "The Boat," as a Chinese film, has indeed attracted the attention and discussion of American film critics.
As many people have said, the unexpected drop in the rankings of "Calm Wind No. 1" made "The Boat" a top contender for Best Foreign Language Film after its release.
The Jury Prize at the Situ Film Festival already put it in the top tier of this year's North American awards season for Best Foreign Language Film. With the support of Lu Yanhe and others, as well as the "feeling of indebtedness" in many people's hearts, "The Boat" was predicted by almost all major media outlets to be a strong contender for this year's Best Foreign Language Film.
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Three days later, filming began for Murken Sorge's new film, The Island, following Get Out.
The film was shot on a small island.
The official account posted a photo from the scene.
This is a very common form of publicity work.
If it weren't for the fact that the film is directed by Murken Sorge, it probably wouldn't have garnered much attention even at the very beginning of filming.
After all, while the cast of this movie has some fame, none of them are the big names that attract all the media attention.
However, just two hours later, media outlets suddenly reported that the crew of "The Island of Horror" had unearthed a mysterious coffin at the filming location.
There are even photos from the scene.
Muken Sorge and the others stared in shock and disbelief at the coffin still lying on the ground, their faces filled with astonishment.
This topic quickly went viral on social media.
It's a horror/thriller movie in itself—
For films of this genre, a common promotional tactic is to claim that various supernatural events occurred on set.
The target audience for this type of subject matter consists of enthusiasts of this kind of event.
Therefore, when this news and this photo came out, many people's first reaction was that it was a publicity stunt.
However, two hours after the photo was released, no one from the movie "The Island of Horrors" came forward to claim responsibility for the publicity.
Even the media outlet that published the photo never followed up.
Searches and discussions about "The Island of Horrors" surged due to this "silence of being out of touch."
Everyone knows it's likely just a publicity stunt, but they can't help but feel excited—
What if it's true?
Late at night, "The Island of Horrors" suddenly released a video.
The video appears to be footage taken by a camera that has fallen to the ground and is still running.
Its images are not upright.
It happened to be aimed directly at the coffin.
The video also shows a pitch-black night.
The background sounds also include the roar of the wind and the crashing of waves.
The atmosphere was very eerie.
It's the kind of atmosphere that appears in many suspenseful and horror movies.
Suddenly, the coffin lid made a "click" sound.
There was some noise.
Two seconds later, the coffin lid made an even louder noise.
It was as if something was trying to burst out from inside.
Then, it was completely pushed open from the inside.
A bloodstained, muddy hand reached out.
A figure crawled out.
He let out a weak, labored gasp.
Listen closely, and you can hear him calling out in a very soft, weak, almost powerless voice: "Help—"
Then, as if he sensed something, he turned around and saw the camera.
A bolt of lightning suddenly appeared, illuminating his face.
He looked at the camera in horror and shouted, "Help!"
Viewers who have seen "Buried" will recognize him at this moment.
That's Li Zhibai from "Buried Alive"!
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How should a movie be promoted?
Opinions vary.
The final result is reflected in the box office.
If the box office is successful, then the publicity is successful.
The video posted by "The Island of Horror" remained on their homepage for a full twenty-four hours without any explanation or response, generating tremendous attention.
By this point, everyone had realized that this was some kind of propaganda tactic.
But because this promotional method is somewhat novel—
The fact that they actually managed to get Lee Chi-pak from "Buried Alive" to perform this scene was a pleasant surprise for everyone.
The movie "Buried" is quite famous among thriller fans.
A confined space, filmed in one continuous shot.
With these elements combined, and the film itself being excellent, the viewership numbers were outstanding after its release on streaming platforms.
It wasn't until 24 hours after the video of "The Island of Horrors" was released that "Buried 2" reposted the post, adding the comment: "Escape is not the end, but the beginning."
Twelve hours later, Li Zhibai finally logged on and posted a photo.
It was the instant his terrified expression was illuminated by the lightning.
However, the photo also includes the words "Buried 2" and its release date.
It has already been turned into a promotional poster.
This joint promotional campaign successfully propelled both "The Island of Horrors" and "Buried 2" to the top of trending lists on major social media platforms and attracted widespread media coverage.
Everyone likes interesting and creative things, including promotional methods.
If a film company uses an unexpected and creative promotional method, major media outlets will report on it as if it were a news story.
Don't let the film's publicity team negotiate with each party individually; treat the reporting entirely as a commercial transaction.
Another twenty-four hours passed.
Buried 2 has released a short trailer that is only five seconds long.
A coffin lid was pushed open from the inside.
The coffin lid fell to the ground upside down, revealing the bottom side.
It was covered with all sorts of scratches, as well as a few lines of words written in blood.
—Buried 2
—Starring: Li Zhibai.
—Director: Clive Kubziri.
—Creative Promotion: Lu Yanhe.
Within a few days, a series of promotional materials were released in quick succession, and the trailers, box office pre-sales and other data for "Buried 2" all saw a surge.
The streaming viewership of "Buried 1" has also been among the top ten on the global charts for several consecutive days.
This promotional approach not only generated a lot of buzz for both "Buried 2" and "The Island of Horrors," but also made Li Zhibai appear as glamorous as a top Hollywood star during the promotional phase, thanks to such massive exposure.
Lee Ji-baek's terrified face as he looked at the camera and shouted "Help!" has become one of the most talked-about faces globally in recent days.
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Buried 2 was released on September 19.
Friday.
The film grossed a preliminary $8.2 million on its opening day, a significant increase over the first film's opening day box office.
Although Lu Yanhe is no longer the screenwriter for "Buried Alive 2", he still holds the title of producer. Coupled with the promotional methods he planned for "The Island of Horror", he remains deeply connected to the IP, preventing fans of the first film from feeling unfamiliar with the "changed course".
The story of Buried 2 is not a direct continuation of the first film, but rather features entirely new characters and a completely new world.
It only makes a formal connection to the ending of the first part at the beginning of the story.
This resulted in a slight decline in the reputation of Buried 2, but it still maintained a good standard.
The second-day box office of "Buried 2" is the best proof of this—it grossed $8.5 million on its second day, a slight increase from its opening day.
This is a very good trend for horror films.
Reviews from various media outlets have been released one after another, and the general consensus on "Buried 2" is positive.
In fact, the first film was shot entirely in a coffin, which was ingenious, a gimmick, and a creative idea because it was the first to do so. But if the second film does the same thing, it won't be anything new.
By Sunday, box office revenue had dropped significantly to only $5.7 million.
Nevertheless, the film grossed over $20 million in North America over its opening weekend, and with overseas box office revenue, especially in China where it was released simultaneously, it grossed over $50 million worldwide.
Such a figure makes Buried 2's global box office exceeding $100 million a realistic and attainable goal.
Parameters immediately announced that it would discuss the possibility of making a third installment with the film's creators, adding fuel to the fire at the box office of "Buried 2".
Buried 2's box office performance in China was roughly the same as in North America. For Parameters, this clearly showed the potential to become a cash cow series. However, unlike The Mist, whose rights belonged to D19, the rights to Buried were held by Lu Yanhe. Parameters had to renegotiate with Lu Yanhe for each film they developed; otherwise, it couldn't be called the Buried series.
This is somewhat similar to the relationship between Harry Potter and Warner Bros.
Why has Warner Bros. consistently championed J.K. Rowling and supported her from beginning to end—even when she faced massive backlash? Is it because the company has a conscience? No, it's because J.K. Rowling has always held the rights to Harry Potter, and she can terminate her collaboration with Warner Bros. at any time.
In short, she owns a gold mine, and Warner has to appease her if he wants to acquire the mining rights to it.
(End of this chapter)
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