Chapter 79 What's going on? (Add 1 more chapter, please bookmark and read)
"Paranormal Activity" is in its fourth week of release.
It grossed $48.34 million in 2,312 theaters across the United States.
The cumulative box office in North America reached 114.93 million US dollars.
It became the sixth film to gross over 100 million dollars in North America in 1992.
This also made the movie's box office revenue ratio reach an astonishing 5,500 times.
At the same time, "Paranormal Activity" also had a box office record of 48.34 million US dollars.
It retained the title of weekly box office champion.
It firmly puts the summer season's commercial blockbusters under its feet.
Even the newly released commercial films such as "Against the Stars" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" have failed to shake the position of this movie.
Although the box office results were good, there were a lot of negative reports about "Paranormal Activity" in the media during its release.
Some movie fans sued Guess Pictures for false advertising.
The film was advertised as not being a documentary, and the audience member felt fooled and demanded a refund.
The matter was brought to the Los Angeles District Court.
Although the fans lost the case, it also caused a negative impact at the social level. "Paranormal Activity" was also labeled with negative labels such as "false propaganda" and "money-making".
At the same time, last Wednesday, Robert Downey Jr. publicly stated in an interview with the media that he had not seen "Paranormal Activity", but he had heard about it from his friends, who said that it was a very poor movie and not worth watching in the cinema.
He also recommended Tom Cruise's "The Last Thing", Dustin Hoffman's "Unsung", and Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" on the spot.
These are the movies that normal people should watch.
Almost at the same time, Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman also mentioned this movie at the new movie roadshow ceremony.
He said that he had seen Link's first film, "Buried", and said that the film had some depth and was quite interesting.
But Paranormal Activity is a pure gimmick movie.
There is no depth and not much artistry.
Finally, Dustin Hoffman said with regret that Link, a promising new director, seemed to have taken the wrong path.
At the same time, Sean Thorpe, a famous Hollywood film critic, published an article in the Los Angeles Times calling for:
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Theater Association of North America are required to strictly review films released in American theaters and not give too high a screening rate to junk films.
Giving too high a screening rate to junk films will inevitably affect the box office performance of high-quality films released at the same time.
If a good movie performs poorly at the box office after its release, it will dampen the enthusiasm of the cast and crew, as well as the investment enthusiasm of the film company.
From a long-term perspective, it will also affect the development of the film industry. Bad money will drive out good money, leading to bad movies rampant in major theaters and fewer and fewer good movies.
If this continues, the film industry will inevitably decline or even die.
What Sean Thorpe meant was that the huge sales of Paranormal Activity would inevitably lead to the decline and demise of the film industry.
What a big hat.
However, after this bad article was published, it was reprinted and reported by more than 30 media outlets.
Many filmmakers also posted messages to agree.
I think Sean Thorpe is right that the MPAA should regulate the movies shown in theaters.
We cannot allow all movies to be released on a large scale in North American theaters, as this will squeeze the living space for good movies.
Because many people echoed Sean Thorpe's words through the media, "Paranormal Activity" was condemned by everyone in the film industry and its reputation plummeted.
This is also one of the reasons why the box office performance of "Paranormal Activity" dropped significantly after the scale of its release was expanded in the fourth week.
However, when Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Sean Thorpe and others criticized "Paranormal Activity", there were also righteous people who stood up to support the film.
Well-known film critic Will Rogers wrote an article in The Hollywood Reporter, publicly refuting the words of Sean Thorpe and others.
Will Roger's article mainly discusses what is a good movie and what is a bad movie.
From the perspective of film art, movies that are praised by professional filmmakers are good movies, and movies that win relevant film awards are also good movies.
From an entertainment perspective, a movie that is supported and loved by the audience is undoubtedly a good movie.
So is Paranormal Activity a good movie?
Without a doubt, yes.
From an artistic point of view, Link made bold innovations in this film, using the documentary approach to create a wonderful thriller.
Compared with horror movies in the past, this new type of horror movie is more thrilling and more immersive.
Link's innovation and exploration in this film are of great inspiration and reference value to his fellow filmmakers.
It not only tells filmmakers how to make a qualified movie with the least investment.
I also want to tell all my colleagues in the film industry that being conservative and complacent will only lead to the decline of the film industry.
The spirit of daring to explore and innovate is the spirit needed for the development of the film industry, and filmmakers who dare to innovate and explore are also the talents needed for the development of the film industry.
These people represent the future of the film industry.
Will Rogers believes that if the Hollywood film industry wants to grow and develop, it needs more Links and more "Paranormal Activity".
In addition, from an entertainment perspective, "Paranormal Activity" has grossed $115 million in North America in four weeks since its release, and nearly 15 million people have seen the movie.
How could a movie that everyone likes to watch be a bad movie?
Do you think everyone is a fool?
At the end of the article, Will Roger emphasized that Link is a very young and talented director, and also a director who dares to try and explore.
As senior members of the film industry, we should accept such directors with an open and inclusive attitude and encourage them to make more good films.
Instead of using your status to maliciously suppress him, discredit his work, and curb his growth.
Constantly suppressing new directors, suppressing new films, being complacent and refusing to accept new things will lead to the decline and destruction of the film industry.
Will Roger is also a famous film critic and has many like-minded people in the film industry.
After his article was published, he received support and solidarity from many people, and some positive comments were made in the media.
But compared to those negative reviews, the voices supporting Link and Paranormal Activity are much smaller.
"Boss, it's the fourth week. Do you want to arrange for the suspect to speak?"
Jon Gordon asked in the office.
"Wait a little longer. At this stage, Paranormal Activity is still very popular in the media, and the box office has not dropped much. Wait another week. Next week, we can arrange for the suspect to speak publicly."
Link said as he looked through the documents in his hand.
"OK.
However, affected by these negative news, your reputation in the film industry is on a downward trend.
If you continue to use the criminal suspect for hype, your reputation will probably deteriorate. Right now, the box office performance of "Paranormal Activity" is very good, far exceeding expectations.
Boss, I suggest that we use this method of publicity with caution."
Jon Gordon said.
"Don't worry.
As a director, everything is said through movies. As long as I can continue to make movies that are both critically and commercially successful, I don’t have to worry about not having a good reputation.
You have to remember that Guess What Pictures' goal at this stage is to make money, and do everything they can to release the movie and earn more box office revenue.
As for art and reputation, we will consider this in the future.”
"Understood, boss."
Jon Gordon nodded and left.
Link continued to read the newspaper.
As Jon Gordon said, with the huge box office success of "Paranormal Activity", many movies that vilified Link and "Paranormal Activity" appeared in the media, which also led to this movie being called a bad movie by many people, and Link was even the representative of the new generation of bad movie directors.
Some film critics even called him the 'second Ed Wood'.
Ed Wood is a famous American B-movie director who was active from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Plan 9, directed by Johnny English in 1959, was rated by many film critics as the worst film of all time.
Three of IMDb's ten worst films of all time are from Ed Wood.
Like Link, Ed Wood is also a filmmaker who is a director, actor, producer, screenwriter, and independent film company operator.
These critics compare Link and Ed Wood, listing their similarities and trying to firmly attach the label of 'trash film director' to Link.
It is full of malice.
At this stage, Link is busy with the promotion of the movie and has ignored the negative comments.
On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter published a story with photos of Robert Downey Jr. looking terrified while watching Paranormal Activity.
After this news broke, it perfectly exposed Robert Downey Jr.'s lie that he had not seen the movie, making him look like a dishonest person.
As for Dustin Hoffman and others, the higher the box office of "Paranormal Activity", the greater the damage to them.
As long as Link continues to stay in the company and supervise the work of the publicity and promotion department, he will surely fully unleash the box office potential of "Paranormal Activity" and create more box office results, leaving these people speechless.
(End of this chapter)
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