Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 92 Someone was scared to death

"Link, congratulations! Paranormal Activity has grossed $4 million worldwide, which is higher than the blockbuster Batman Returns. It's amazing."

Jennifer Connelly said excitedly on the phone.

"Anything else? Can you praise me a little more?"

Link leaned back in his office chair, talking on the phone while drawing the director's script for The Blair Witch Project.

"Do you like me to praise you?"

Jennifer Connelly laughed.

"Yes, there are thousands of articles in the newspaper today praising me, such as genius director, miracle director, self-made billionaire, etc. But to me, all these praises combined are not as good as your words that I am really amazing."

"Haha, you are such a conceited guy. Well, how about I praise you for being smart and talented? You can write scripts, shoot movies, act, and take photos. You are a very versatile guy. You taught yourself to become a director and made a wonderful movie like "Buried Alive". It's incredible."

"Anything else? For example, his appearance and personality. Is there anything worth praising? Of course, if you can't appreciate the looks of Asian men, I won't force you."

"It turns out that you are not only conceited, but also very narcissistic and conceited."

Jennifer couldn't stop laughing on the phone.

"This is not narcissism. I just want to know what kind of image I am in your mind. Beautiful or ugly, elegant or rude, cold or friendly. I really want to know what you think of me."

Link continued to write and draw on the manuscript.

"I've only seen you twice, so what impression can I have? How can I describe you? You're not particularly handsome, but you look comfortable. You're not that tall, but you're tall and slender, which is more in line with my aesthetic."

"If I was standing right in front of you and about to kiss you, would you duck?"

"Ha, it's very possible. We just had a good chat on the phone, but not necessarily in person."

"That's right. If you have time on the weekend, let's go to the amusement park together."

"Playground? We are already adults, is it appropriate to go to the playground?"

"Why not? When I was a kid, I wanted to go to the amusement park, but I had no money and no time. Now I have money and time, so why not find a chance to make up for the regrets of my childhood? When you were a kid in New York, you must have often gone to the children's park. I want to ask you, an acquaintance, to take me with you."

"No, how could I go there often? My father runs a clothing store and my mother is an antique dealer. They were very busy at work and had no time to take me to an amusement park. When I was ten years old, I started filming commercials and movies. I also had to go to school. I was very busy. I only went to an amusement park a few times since I was a child. I have never even ridden a roller coaster."

"Then it's settled. Let's go to the amusement park to make up for our regrets this weekend."

"Ok."

After hanging up the phone, Link called Liu Xiaoli and asked her to book two full tickets to Magic Mountain Amusement Park.

Magic Mountain is located in Valencia, north of Los Angeles. It is famous for its thrilling roller coasters and many activities suitable for children.

Link had taken Liu Xiaoli and Liu Qianqian there several times and was quite familiar with the place.

Boom boom boom!
Daniel DeVito pushed open the office door with a stack of documents in his hand.

"Boss, after two rounds of screening, we have selected six suitable actors from more than 200 people. Would you like to take a look?"

"Row!"

Link was originally planning not to watch it, but suddenly remembered that selecting actors would also increase participation, so it wouldn't hurt to take a look.

The information handed over by Daniel DeVito included photos of more than a dozen missing persons, which were compared with the photos of the selected actors.

The two at the top turned out to be acquaintances.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

"I know these two people, why are they here for the audition? I remember one of the audition requirements was that those without acting experience would be given priority. They both have acted in movies before."

"Boss, do you have any conflicts with them?"

"No, they're friends."

"Well, they were chosen because they performed well in the audition and cooperated well. Matt Damon filmed a movie five or six years ago, but not in the past two years. They are unfamiliar faces on the screen, and Ben Affleck has not appeared on the big screen yet. Secondly, they look similar to Mike and Anthony in Missing Persons, and they look even more similar after makeup."

Link took the newspaper and looked at the photo. They were indeed about 30% alike. In fact, in his eyes, except for those familiar male stars, the looks of other people were not much different.

"Okay, let's call and ask them to try it." Link handed the information to Daniel.

Considering that "Paranormal Activity" was released not long ago, it is difficult to lure ordinary audiences into the cinema using the promotional methods of documentary films.

This also makes it somewhat difficult to promote "The Blair Witch Project".

He couldn't say for sure how much subsidy there would be at the box office.

Now we can only use this movie as an experiment. If the box office subsidy is too little, we can shoot it a few more times, or not release it in the theater and only release it on videotape.

The production cost is tens of thousands of dollars, so even if there is a loss, it won’t be much.

"Boss, something happened."

Without waiting for Daniel to leave, Michael Leeson and Liu Xiaoli hurried in.

"what's up?"

Link sat up.

"The day before yesterday, a dentist in Fowler County, New York, died of a heart attack while watching Paranormal Activity at midnight. Yesterday, the New York Daily News reported the news. This morning, CNN reported the news on the morning news. USA Today and other newspapers also reprinted the news. Now many people know about it."

Michael Rison said.

Link flipped through USA Today and saw a news story on the social page about this incident.

In Fowler County in northern New York, a 53-year-old dentist suffered a heart attack while watching "Paranormal Activity" in a movie theater and died after failed rescue efforts.

According to the newspaper, there were only about twenty people in the theater at the time, and the dentist was sitting alone in the back row, so no one noticed him when he had the heart attack.

When the movie ended and other movies were re-screened in the theater, some viewers found him lying motionless under his seat.

The audience called the police.

After examination by the doctor, it was found that the deceased died of sudden heart attack.

But the dentist's family claimed that the dentist did not have a heart disease and insisted that he was scared to death while watching a movie. They demanded compensation from the cinema and even asked Link to pay $1 million in compensation.

USA Today and other media outlets called on theaters to remove Paranormal Activity from their shelves early.

The reason is that this movie is very thrilling. When it was hot in the first few weeks, there were many audiences at each show, and the atmosphere was lively, so watching the movie was not too scary. Now that the movie is in its later stages, there are too few audiences at each show, and the movie has become scary, and accidents are more likely to happen while watching the movie.

In addition to this time, two people have died unexpectedly after watching "Paranormal Activity" in the past three weeks.

The first person was on his way home from watching a movie. For unknown reasons, his car overturned on a flat road and the driver died.

After being reported by the media, many people said that the man was traumatized by the ghost in the movie and had a car accident.

The second case was caused by a prank. After watching "Paranormal Activity", several black people pretended to be ghosts to scare their timid companions. Because black people are darker, they look like ghosts at night.

The person being played a prank was frightened and tumbled down the stairs to his death.

Although these two accidents are related to the movie, the connection is rather weak.

There is no reason for the media and the families of the deceased to blame the movie.

But this time it was different, the dentist died while watching "Paranormal Activity".

The causal relationship between the two parties is strengthened.

Colleagues will not pass up this good opportunity to criticize "Paranormal Activity", and the media will also rush to join in the fun and make a big deal out of it.

This incident is a big crisis for "Paranormal Activity". If handled properly, it will be an opportunity; if handled improperly, it will be very troublesome.

"It is unfortunate that an audience member died unexpectedly in the theater."

Link pondered for a moment and said, "If any media come to interview us, we can express our regrets and reiterate our viewing instructions. This is a horror movie with a high degree of thriller. People under 18 and those with high blood pressure or heart disease should be cautious. The rest will be left to the theater chain to handle."

"Good boss!"

　Thanks to book friends ying999 and Love Song V Xiaoyao for their tips.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)