Global box office rankings:
First place: The Exorcism, released in 1973.
Global box office: $430 million.
In the small box next to it, Gu Wenhua wrote in small red letters: After multiple inflations, the box office is approximately US$3 billion.
Second place: The Great Shark, released in 1975.
Global box office: $490 million. Equivalent to $2.8 billion.
The table was long, and reading it cell by cell, the third, fourth, and fifth spots were occupied by *The Whale*, *It*, and *Alien*, respectively. Following them were mostly familiar films, such as *The Conjuring* and *3 Ring Ring*. Shang Yechu had seen most of them while extensively reviewing horror films.
“I’ve seen most of the films on this list.” Shang Yechu knew that what Gu Wenhua was about to say would definitely be related to this list. “Are you trying to say that ‘The Rules General Store’ is too different from the films on this list?”
After watching a large number of films in a short period of time, the brain becomes numb to the aesthetics of film. Upon seeing this list, countless similar plots immediately surged into Shang Yechu's mind. The aesthetic fatigue from watching films had returned.
“This script is indeed somewhat different from traditional horror films, but I think the concept is very novel. Maybe we can give it a try?” Shang Yechu stretched out her finger and gently tapped Gu Wenhua’s phone screen. “Take this list for example, many of the films on it were groundbreaking at the time…”
Gu Wenhua traveled hundreds of miles to come back, and regardless of whether his conclusion was right or wrong, Shang Yechu couldn't bring herself to speak harshly to him. Although her tone was questioning, it wasn't aggressive.
Gu Wenhua shook his head: "That's different. Ye Chu." He stood up, seemingly wanting to walk over to Shang Ye Chu for closer guidance, but then leaned forward and stopped.
Shang Yechu rummaged through her backpack; her notebook was still there. She took it out and handed it to Gu Wenhua along with her phone: "Try writing on paper?"
Gu Wenhua seemed relieved, sat down, and began scribbling on a piece of paper: "While I was in the car, I compiled a list of the top 100 highest-grossing horror films worldwide—"
Gu Wenhua sketched a simple table on a piece of white paper and wrote three lines of text:
A happy ending for the whole family;
Tragic ending;
Open ending.
After writing these three lines, Gu Wenhua picked up his pen and wrote a large "65" after "Happy Family Ending".
"so much?"
Horror films target the audience's fear and suspense, but surprisingly, over 60% of them have comedic endings. This surprised Shang Yechu. She hadn't noticed this many when watching the movie.
Gu Wenhua then added "20" and "15" after the "tragic ending" and "open ending" respectively.
Shang Yechu understood somewhat: "You think the ending of 'The Rules General Store' is too dark and hopeless?"
While box office performance is unpredictable and beyond anyone's control, from a purely probabilistic standpoint, horror films with comedic endings seem to have a higher success rate than those with tragic or open endings combined. If Gu Wenhua's disapproval of the film stems from its ending…
“It’s not just a problem with the ending.” Gu Wenhua tore off the page with the table drawn on it. “From a commercial film perspective, this script as a whole is completely unacceptable.”
Gu Wenhua rubbed his head, looking somewhat annoyed: "I'm sorry, Ye Chu, I'm not questioning your taste—how about this, what do you think is the scariest horror movie you've ever seen?"
Many movies flashed through Shang Yechu's mind. Strange-looking monsters eagerly raised their hands in his cerebral cortex, and finally, half of a skull hollowed out by worms reached the top.
Shang Yechu firmly replied, "The Grazing."
Gu Wenhua was slightly taken aback, then smiled: "That movie was indeed quite scary, you're really brave... Do you know the box office of 'The Grain Eater'?"
Ye Chu really didn't know about this business. But anyway, it wasn't on the global top 100 list.
Shang Yechu shook his head.
"I don't know either," Gu Wenhua said softly. "How about we make a bet, Ye Chu?"
Gu Wenhua trained with Gao Sanfu for several months, and his courage grew.
Shang Yechu's interest was piqued: "What kind of bet?"
“Name a horror movie you think is terrible. I’ll compare its box office performance to that of ‘The Siege.’ If I’m right, I win. If I’m wrong, you win.”
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