Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 163 Word-of-mouth explosion
At noon on the 18th, "Hollywood Reporter" reporter Kerry was conducting a random interview in front of the theater.

"Excuse me, what movie tickets did you buy?" he asked the couple at the counter.

The couple took out their ticket stubs: "We bought "Saw"."

"Why did you choose this movie?"

"I heard from my friends that there are many twists and turns in it, and it's very exciting." The couple answered Kerry's question honestly.

He then asked the next white guy in a baseball cap.

"I'm going to watch "Saw"... Why? Because it's the coolest movie on Halloween! Aren't you curious about those scary torture devices? And I heard from my friends that the movie is great!"

Then another girl was interviewed.

""Saw", I like Jigsaw. I have been following his website, and everyone I have seen said the movie is very good and very suspenseful!"

"Okay." After interviewing several "Saw" moviegoers in succession, Kerry's expression became a little uneasy.

Film critic Fernando: "I think "Saw" created a new series. The director very cleverly established a complex and principled villain character. Coupled with the excellent lens presentation and art pictures, as long as the follow-up maintains level, and the audience will buy into it.”

"Jigsaw is not a murderer in the traditional sense. As a cancer patient, he just wants to punish those who are ungrateful for life...

"The whole process was done in one go. At that time, I noticed that all the audience were very nervous. No one looked away. After seeing Jigsaw, they were all as shocked as the characters in the film.

"Whether it's the long shot used to introduce the characters in the environment at the beginning, or the continuous switching of various fast and slow shots. It keeps people tense at all times. But the most stunning shot is undoubtedly the last scene, when the jigsaw appears.

In addition to this kind of professional long review, there are also many film critics who have posted short reviews of the movie.

"First of all, I want to say that this is by no means an ordinary R-rated movie. Although it is a thriller and horror movie on the outside, at its core it is a profound movie about human choices.

"I hate the old-fashioned murderer on the run. Jigsaw is the new god!"

"Needless to say, of course it's "Saw"."

"If you like horror and thriller movies, you must watch it. This movie is very innovative."

The well-known film critic Bunch wrote in his column: "After watching "Saw" this morning, I was filled with exclamations of wonder when I walked out of the theater.

The result was still that "Saw" was a complete winner, and on the afternoon of the 18th, film critics from various newspapers and websites also expressed their opinions on the movie.

"So which one do you think is better, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Saw"?" Carrey asked again about the comparison of the two movies.

"After talking about the plot, let's talk about its lens design. Although the film cost is very low, the picture expression is better than that of a big production like "Texas". This is due to Tang De, the Oscar-winning photographer. Fingering.

"I believe this shot will go down in the history of horror movies and become a memory for all movie fans."

“Do you think ‘Saw’ is good?”

"The camera starts from Adam's eyes, and we can see the reflection of the bathroom in his shocked pupils. Then the camera slowly moves, matching the music to maximize the sense of oppression and tension, and finally moves to the back of Adam's head, allowing the audience to see Know the action of the jigsaw.

"It's very beautiful! The twist at the end is amazing! I was shocked when Jigsaw appeared! It's amazing!"

"I like Jigsaw, his concept is great! And Billy the Puppet, I must buy one to take home!"

"The director and screenwriter tried to explore what kind of judgment human nature would make when faced with death and choices that violate one's own morals. This is also the core of the entire film.

“Saw is undoubtedly better.”

After all, the previous box office predictions of "The Hollywood Reporter" were not like this. They believed that "Saw" was the catcher. But looking at this momentum, why do you feel that "Texas" is lagging behind?
This situation is even more obvious when interviewing passers-by about their movie viewing experience.

Film critic Ubia: "Movie score: 7/10, picture score 8.5/10, story score 6/10. A decent film but with a breakthrough in character, the first film of Tang De who won the Oscar for Best Cinematography I think the director’s work is barely passable and can be watched.”

Film critic Phoebe Thorner: "I like the character of Jigsaw and the various depressing scenes in the movie, just like watching a Hitchcock suspense movie. But I think the story is a bit rough, and Jigsaw's performance also makes other supporting actors It looks like a fool, so I can only give it a 7. But in the category of R-rated horror movies, I would give it an 8 because it is much better than "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

The comments from these film critics prompted more passers-by to make up their minds to watch "Saw", which further boosted the movie's box office.

When the time came to the 19th, Tang De, Jimmy and others received a call from Lionsgate Pictures in the office.

"How is it? Tang?" Wen Ziren looked at Tang De who had answered the phone and couldn't help but ask.

Tang De turned his head to look at everyone and stretched out his hands: "The first day's box office has been released. It's a pity..."

"What?" Wen Ziren frowned: "Didn't you perform well?"

"Impossible!" Jimmy shook his head: "Don, stop showing off!"

Karl also shrugged: "I think it must be more than ten million." Among the few people, only Wen Ziren could not see Tang De's teasing and was kept in the dark.

"Hahahaha!" After seeing Wen Ziren's worried expression, Tang De laughed: "Unfortunately, our first-day box office was only 1500 million!"

"1500 million!" Wen Ziren's eyes widened and he covered his head with a shocked expression.

Jimmy and Carl also shouted in surprise.

"Oh my god, there are 1500 million!"

"Then how many can there be today! I can't imagine!"

Due to the good performance at the box office yesterday, theaters have directly increased the number of screens for "Saw" to 3000.

If nothing else happens, today, when the movie's reputation explodes, it will achieve a higher box office than on its premiere day.

"What about "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"?" Carl became concerned about this matter again.

Tang De shrugged: "967 million."

"Only 967 million! The two-day box office combined is less than 2000 million!" In the office of the president of New Line Cinema, Shea was getting angry.

With such a high film schedule, the box office is only this. Even if weekends are included, the box office is less than 3000 million. Compared with "Saw", this is already a step up.

Not to mention comparing it to "Scream 3".

Although there is not much pressure to repay the capital, and you can even make some money, "Texas" has already lost during the Halloween period.

Without Saw, New Line's judgment for this movie would have been at least $80 million in box office.

But now it seems that it is estimated that 50 to 60 million will be the top.

After getting angry, Shay sighed, and then knocked on the table: "Do you think we have a chance to cooperate with Tang?"

"What?" Wilbon from the production department was a little surprised.

"I have already watched "Saw"." Shea explained while thinking: "I think Tang De's director skills are very proficient. He is very good at both pictures and stories. And this is his first film. The price for a work is not high, so we can evaluate whether there are any movies suitable for cooperation.”

Although Shay was not very happy that "Saw" defeated "Texas", a qualified businessman must see through the phenomenon to see the essence.

Since Tang has shown enough ability in this movie, why not cooperate?

At the same time that New Line was considering cooperating with Tang De, the news that "Saw" had a box office of 1500 million on the first day also reached the ears of people familiar with Tang De.

When Renee Chigwe heard the news, she expressed her admiration for Donde to the media.

"I think Tang deserves to achieve such results. He has extraordinary control over the camera. He should have been a director a long time ago."

Quentin, who is currently promoting "Kill Bill", also told the media that he has a good relationship with Don De.

"I have a very good relationship with Don. You saw the killing scene in the tavern in the movie, with Don as the art director! He is a genius, an absolute genius, so I will go to the cinema to support his movie. But at the same time, everyone also Come and take a look at my "Kill Bill"! You won't be disappointed!"

After Tang De heard the news, he immediately invited all employees to watch "Kill Bill" in a movie theater and invited the media to report it.

The next day, the fact that the art director of "Kill Bill" turned out to be Tang De also attracted the attention of movie fans.

Fans from both sides expressed friendly interactions on the forum, and some fans who were not interested in the other's movies also bought tickets to watch the movie.

On the third day of the movie's release, the first-week box office of "Saw" was released.

US$1500 million on the first day, US$2100 on the second day, a total of US$3600 million!
In just two days, the movie earned more than $30 million!
All of a sudden, all Hollywood companies, media and artists began to pay attention to this movie.

Although there are movies that exceed 100 million in every schedule, and it has not been difficult for a long time to exceed 100 million, the first work of a new director is an R-rated horror film, and it actually has the possibility of exceeding 100 million in North America. The implications of this make everyone who knows the film industry take a breath.

This means that "Saw" will develop into a series of movies and create a brand new horror series. In the next ten or twenty years, it will attract crazy money!

Just like the Scream series!
This is a real cash cow.

It was at this moment that something even more shocking happened.

The cost of the entire "Saw" movie was suddenly revealed by a media that focuses on film investigation.

And in the report, they also estimated a box office return ratio that would make all film production companies jealous!
20 times!
(End of this chapter)