"Oh my God!"
"This movie gave me a creepy feeling. Even though there were no demons in the movie until the very end, I felt a chill down my spine watching it!"
"At first I thought the DV footage was terrible, and I even had the urge to leave the cinema, but after watching it for a few minutes, I was suddenly attracted by the plot. Reality! Yes, God, I finally figured out why this movie was shot with DV, realism! Yes, the blurry DV footage just highlights the realism of this movie! Director Forrest got it right!"
"Oh my god, who is this screenwriter Eleven? He is such a genius. This reminds me of the previous movie "This Man From Earth"... Although they are two movies with different themes, it seems that they have taken a path that traditional movies have never had!"
"Maybe this is a revolution in movies? Maybe horror movies can be made without too many special effects, too many shooting equipment and scenes?"
"Without a doubt, this Paranormal Activity is the best horror movie this year... No, it's the best horror movie in the past few years! It's much better than October 33! Although October 33 was also scary, the fear was only felt when watching it. As for this Paranormal Activity, it looks very memorable. Even after watching it, I still feel trembling, as if there is something in the room... I probably won't be able to sleep tonight..."
"The movie title is Paranormal Activity. Wait! Is it possible that everything in this movie is real? Maybe it's a documentary?"
“…”
"Paranormal Activity" has indeed received both praise and criticism in China.
But in the United States it has received rave reviews.
At first, not many people went to the cinema to watch movies, and ticket sales were average. However, after the first group of people were scared after watching "Paranormal Activity", they immediately went to the largest movie website in the United States and wrote their messages tremblingly.
Reality!
Yes, Americans are naturally interested in weird things. In addition, although the plot of "Paranormal Activity" seems bland, when you really watch it, you will feel the suffocating horror in this movie...
This feeling of terror is continuous! It is not just short-lived like in "October 33".
The rating of Paranormal Activity also started to rise instantly. The total rating of movies on Fanshu Movies.com is 10. This Paranormal Activity instantly got a high score of 8.8, which was 3 points higher than October 33rd and ranked in the top ten of Hollywood's new movie ratings. Not only did it score in the top ten, but some niche horror fans even tried to push this Paranormal Activity into the recommended position of a classic must-see...
Overnight, this "Paranormal Activity" seems to be on the verge of becoming a hit...
Generally speaking, if a movie with a 70,000-dollar budget can earn 100,000 U.S. dollars on its premiere, it’s considered a good box office result. But now, it took in 200,000 U.S. dollars on the first day of its premiere…
this……
etc!
It has exploded!
“It exploded, it exploded!”
"It's incredible, this movie actually, actually became a hit!"
Forrest stayed awake all night, staring at the online reviews and box office with bloodshot eyes. In the past, the box office data would be available in the early morning of the same day, but this time the box office statistics of major theaters seemed to be particularly slow...
Forrest waited from early morning till noon the next day before he finally received the box office statistics reports from all major cinemas!
When the final box office statistics came out, Forrest's eyes widened!
…
"Is the boss... here?"
"What's wrong?"
"Dearest boss, guess why I'm calling you now? It should be midnight there, right?"
“How much did Paranormal Activity make?”
"Boss, can't you just cooperate with me a little? You asked about the box office right away. That's really too much. Can you have a little sense of humor?"
"Ah...Forrest, it's incredible that you can call me. Oh my God, is there something great going on? I'm so excited..."
"boss……"
"What's wrong?"
"Your acting is a bit exaggerated..."
"Didn't you say I wouldn't cooperate with you? I'll cooperate with you..."
"Boss, this tastes different. This... you should at least be more sincere..."
"Well, dear Forrest, let me ask you sincerely, what is our box office?"
The other end of the phone.
Forrest's smile faded.
The excitement gradually turned into confusion.
He felt that the scenario he had planned was completely different.
Planning...
He spoke in an ups and downs manner, deliberately brought up some other issues, and then went back to the box office. Of course, he also had to keep the box office in suspense, and only then would he tell his boss the final results after everything was almost done.
However……
But my boss doesn't play by the rules at all.
The reaction was totally beyond his expectations.
Although the boss's voice, tone, and language were very powerful...
but……
Why does it sound like you're just taking the time to deal with it casually?
Forrest suddenly felt hurt.
Finally, Forrest took a deep breath.
"Boss! The box office of our Paranormal Activity just broke 200,000..."
"oh……"
"boss."
"What's wrong?"
"Our box office revenue on the first day exceeded 200,000!"
"I heard it, two hundred thousand... Well, although the result is a little bit bad, don't be discouraged, it will get better. In fact, this result is not bad... I can break even and maybe make a small profit."
"ah?"
"It's getting late. Don't think too much and don't be sad. We Chinese have a saying that failure is the mother of success... If you fail this time, you will succeed next time, right? Good night..."
"Oh...good night, boss."
"Good night."
After hanging up the phone, Forrest looked into the distance blankly.
Is there something wrong with what I just said?
Is failure the mother of success?
etc!
That's not right!
Did we do poorly with Paranormal Activity?
Not bad!
The total investment was less than 80,000 US dollars, but the box office made 200,000 on the first day. This is a horror movie!
Moreover, this result was achieved with absolutely no resources to support it and with average screening volume. Isn’t this a pretty good result?
Even among the midnight movies of the same period, "Paranormal Activity" has the potential to become a blockbuster.
but……
Why are you still comforting me?
Forrest couldn't figure it out. He put down the phone and sat in his office chair, falling into self-doubt.
He subconsciously looked out the window.
The midday sunlight outside the window seemed to be a little dazzling to his eyes.
It is noon in the United States and midnight in China...
At this moment, Forrest suddenly realized something.
He suddenly understood!
Looking at Lu Yuan's first movies, it seems that they always had small investments but big box office...
Groundhog Day, Buried Alive, Nomadland…
These movies also didn't have much investment.
But the box office is getting stronger and stronger.
Especially "This Man From Earth"...
When thinking of "The Man from Earth", Forrest took a deep breath and compared it with his own "Paranormal Activity".
It seems that compared to this, the box office of "Paranormal Activity" is indeed not that impressive.
It seems that the boss is very dissatisfied.
In just a few minutes, Forrest went from excitement to disappointment, to disappointment, to reflection, and then to enlightenment.
Just when he thought he completely understood his boss's mood, his phone rang.
"boss?"
"Ah, Forrest, congratulations! Congratulations on the box office success of our Paranormal Activity. I'll go to the United States and give you a celebration party when I have time!"
"???"
What?
Forrest shuddered and almost dropped his phone.
The voice on the other end of the phone was very excited, and sounded a little bit thrilled.
Forrest stared at his phone as if he had seen a ghost, and then stared at it for a long time.
At this moment, when he saw that the phone number was indeed Lu Yuan's and that Lu Yuan's voice was on the line, he was confused.
???
Is the boss suffering from schizophrenia?
…
Although Lu Yuan's brain circuits are slightly different from other people, they are not to the point of schizophrenia.
At least he was mentally normal.
I was busy until midnight and felt a little tired.
Fatigue caused the brain to react a beat slower.
When he heard Forrest say the box office was 200,000, he thought it was RMB, not USD. But in his mind, he automatically converted the 70,000 USD he invested into 500,000 RMB...
In other words, there was something a little off about the way he was converting.
With an investment of 500,000 RMB and a box office of 200,000 RMB, the performance in China is indeed quite average, even for a horror movie...
I spent 500,000 yuan on investment, only 200,000 yuan on the premiere, and even my share of the box office was deducted. Can you say this is a good result?
At most, it's just a small profit...
A small profit is acceptable, at least it’s not a loss…
Lu Yuan yawned and walked onto the bed...
But when he lay down, he was suddenly startled!
wrong!
Forrest seems...
Does he have US dollars?
Oh shit!
He is awake!
I'm not sleepy anymore...
Two hundred thousand US dollars converted into RMB would be 1.4 million RMB!
With an investment of 600,000 RMB, the box office revenue was 1.4 million RMB, and it was on the first day...
This is totally profitable, okay? It can be said that it is a huge profit!
then……
He was so excited that he immediately called Forrest to congratulate him, seemingly completely forgetting that he was still comforting Forrest by saying that failure is the mother of success just a few minutes ago...
…
James frowned.
He was naturally concerned about the box office of "Paranormal Activity".
The box office did not meet his expectations and was indeed a small hit.
After looking at the box office, James looked at the screenwriter and director.
He noticed one thing.
Although Forrest is the director, in the detailed information, Forrest seems to be an executive director...
An executive director is not the same as a director.
There is a big difference. If you really think about it carefully, it is a person like the assistant director.
eleven……
James noticed the screenwriter again.
Maybe Eleven is the director of this film?
Is Forres just an agent?
He frowned.
He looked up information on the Internet.
But nothing was found...
Then he called Jenny.
A few minutes later Jenny came in with some information.
"Director James... this is the information of screenwriter Eleven."
“Why are all the information blank?”
“Nothing can be found…”
"Huh? You can't find anything?"
"Yes, Forrest did a good job of keeping it secret, and we couldn't find any information at all..."
“…”
James's frown deepened.
eleven……
Who is Eleven?
Why is there no information?
Is it intentionally hidden?