America: Child stars start with The Shining

As dusk fell and the sky was just beginning to darken, long lines had already formed outside movie theaters across Los Angeles.

The poster for "Friday the 13th" was placed in the most prominent position, and the blood-red title stood out brightly under the lights.

Several people dressed in strange costumes and with their faces painted pale stood nearby, handing out leaflets and posters to passersby.

But no matter how you look at it, the clothes he's wearing seem cheap and don't create that scary atmosphere.

Many viewers were excitedly discussing the movie while waiting in line.

"Have you heard? The movie seems to be extremely gory..."

"A friend of mine saw a preview screening, and according to his description, it seemed to be even more brutal than the deaths of the characters in 'Halloween'."

"Really? I'll have to take a good look tonight."

In this era, horror films have gradually become mainstream. Influenced by films such as "The Exorcist," "Halloween," and "Alien," people's expectations for this type of film are getting higher and higher.

When "Friday the 13th" was first promoted, it directly targeted "Halloween," which naturally and easily aroused the interest of countless people.

More and more people gathered at the cinema entrance, and the line turned the corner and stretched all the way to the front of the shop next door.

A few hours later.

One by one, audience members walked out of the theater, their faces still showing a sense of lingering excitement.

This film is so violent and bloody, with the killer's perspective appearing again and again, which hits the spot that these young people love most.

They are fascinated by the thrill of immersion.

Moreover, almost every element that could stir their emotions was crammed into the film's plot.

While the film doesn't offer anything particularly novel, at least... it's plentiful and satisfying, which is enough.

"Hey handsome guy/beautiful lady, I have some official VHS tapes of 'Friday the 13th' here, want a copy?"

Tupac appeared out of nowhere, dressed in a bizarre Halloween costume.

At first glance, he seemed almost no different from the staff who stood at the door handing out posters and flyers.

Several young people stopped in their tracks upon hearing the sound and turned to look at him.

Tupac's eyes lit up, and seeing that they seemed somewhat interested, he immediately pressed his advantage and continued his sales pitch:

"The rental fee is only $3, which is much cheaper than a movie ticket! And you guys definitely haven't had enough yet, have you?"

Tupac waved the videotape in his hand.

One of the young men smiled somewhat awkwardly and said:

"But...we don't have a video recorder at home."

"That's perfectly fine. I can take you to the appliance store next door. We have a partnership there, and including the rental fee for the videotapes, it will only cost $35 in total. You can split the cost, and it'll be a great deal."

"Furthermore, I have several other horror movies of the same genre that you can rent out together."

The young people exchanged glances.

They had just come out of the movie theater, and the excitement hadn't subsided yet. Naturally, they couldn't contain themselves, so they immediately followed Tupac into a nearby store.

The staff members standing at the door glanced in this direction and then looked away; none of them intended to go forward and ask anything.

Anyway, they were just handing out posters and didn't want to meddle. Besides, the kid was wearing similar clothes to them, so he was probably just a temporary publicity worker hired from somewhere.

Such scenes are being repeated outside movie theaters across Los Angeles.

Charles ordered a large number of Dog Lord's henchmen to frequent these places, specifically targeting these young people who liked new things and promoting their products, and the results were remarkable.

And this was only the first day of the movie's release.

......

WMA, an office.

Morgan was holding a report on the opening day box office of "Friday the 13th" in his hand, and the coffee on the table was steaming.

He wasn't in a hurry; he slowly took a sip and then continued reading.

He got this report from Paramount, and it only showed box office data for a few key cities and cinemas.

After all, this was an era where data was collected manually, unlike later years when box office figures could be aggregated nationwide in real time via a network system as soon as a movie was released.

However, even with just this incomplete report, Morgan could see that Friday the 13th was performing quite well at the box office.

A rough estimate shows that the box office on the first day was already close to one million US dollars. At this rate, it will break ten million US dollars in less than two weeks.

WMA has clearly made the right bet this time. As long as the subsequent trend doesn't collapse, the betting agreement they signed earlier will definitely be a sure thing.

Moreover, he heard that Paramount would be allocating an additional $500,000 to the advertising budget, which was undoubtedly good news.

only......

Morgan glanced at one of the charts on the report.

Several theaters in Los Angeles seem to be performing slightly below average, dragging down the overall performance a bit. I wonder what's going on.

But he didn't take it too seriously.

It's normal for the data to fluctuate a bit; maybe it will rebound tomorrow?

Overall, Friday the 13th did not disappoint and is currently gaining momentum.

Morgan nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Mark sitting on the sofa and said with a smile:

"Mark, there's no need to be so nervous. Friday the 13th's box office numbers are great, and we've already taken care of those film critics. Everyone has seen your performance in the movie, so relax."

Mark shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and then said:

"No, no, I'm just worried..."

"The Shining?"

Morgan seemed to have guessed his thoughts immediately and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Ha, if I remember correctly, it's not going to be released until the end of the month, right? By then, Friday the 13th will probably have already grossed over ten million at the box office, so it won't pose any threat to us at all."

"Moreover, I heard that Kubrick has fallen into his old habit with 'The Shining,' making it too profound, which young people won't like."

Morgan shook his head. Although "Friday the 13th" was a copycat film, this was the safest approach.

The horror film market is booming. Since those films have already figured out the formulas that audiences like, there's no need for them to try to be clever and create something new.

This is the fundamental reason why the WMA chose "Friday the 13th".

Although Kubrick is a well-known director in the industry, he had never made a horror film before, so Morgan was not optimistic about the performance of "The Shining" in the mainstream market.

He picked up the coffee on the table, took a sip, and gently exhaled a breath of hot air.

The Shining?

They were no match for them at all.

......

So, the next day.

Morgan slammed the box office report on the table and roared:

"Fuck! What the hell is going on?"