"It's an excellent horror film. ”

On the TV screen, Susan Arnold, a producer from DreamWorks, is being interviewed by reporters, "The goal of 'Ghost Invasion' is to be the top box office, there is no doubt about it!"

A TV reporter asked, "What do you think of the real-life documentary "Blair the Witch" released at the same time?

Many journalists are afraid that the world will not be chaotic.

Susan Arnold, as a veteran of DreamWorks, couldn't see the reporter's intentions, and only hesitated for a moment before replying: "Blair the Witch is not a selfie, it just uses some special shooting methods. ”

This kind of thing that anyone with a discerning eye can see, and if you say it, the popularity of "Blair the Witch" is, of course, rubbed on it.

She told the truth: "It's unfair to compare "Ghost Invasion" to "Blair the Witch", the production cost of "Ghost Invasion" is as high as $80 million!"

The meaning of this is obvious.

The interview was not long, and it was played quickly.

Ronan picked up the remote and turned off the TV.

"The people at DreamWorks are too much!" Robert said, then, "talking nonsense." ”

He looked at Ronan, "Do you want to refute it?"

Ronan shook his head directly: "She is telling the truth, how can we refute it? Now she is not the only one who says this." ”

The public is not blind, "Blair the Witch" has been screened in 200 theaters for almost a week, and many media and fans have seen the problem with this film.

There was a lot of scolding on the Internet, in newspapers and in private from fans, but "Blair the Witch" was not only not negatively affected, but further increased.

Sometimes it's not a bad thing that a film can attract a lot of scolding.

There are countless examples of the higher the box office.

"We're hiding behind the scenes, and it's not fit to stand out. Ronan added: "It's not good for us to fight, DreamWorks just wants to gain popularity." ”

Although many media have mentioned the name of Embassy Pictures, compared to the excitement of "Blair the Witch", basically no one pays attention to the distribution company.

Ronan's plan is very clear, and when the main creators of the crew are pushed to the front of the stage, the curiosity and inquisitive heart of the media can be quickly satisfied.

"Leave her alone?" asked Robert.

It seems that Ronan is not such a good-natured person.

Ronan nodded slightly: "Leave her alone, it's enough to be good for us." ”

At the critical moment when "Blair the Witch" was expanded, I didn't want to cause any accidents, and I didn't have the time and energy to fight with the people at DreamWorks.

As for this weekend's box office winner, it won't necessarily fall to anyone.

There are only three theaters that have maintained large-scale screenings this weekend: "Eyes Wide Open," "Blair the Witch," and "Ghost Invasion," which opened this weekend.

The Hollywood film industry has developed to this day, not only with a complete industrial chain, but also with a relatively accurate market estimation mechanism.

A film is often only shown in North American theaters for one to three days, and the estimation mechanism can predict the next box office trend and even the final box office figure based on the audience's word-of-mouth and box office situation.

"Eyes Wide Open" was the first to fall behind, just like the prediction of Emperor Entertainment Group, although this film has a top cast, Stanley Kubrick's films have never been good at the box office, and the box office champion in the first week is more due to Stanley Kubrick's legacy and Tom Cruise's appeal.

Even, the big gimmick of Stanley Kubrick's posthumous work did not attract many audiences for the film.

On Friday, "Eyes Wide Opening" earned less than $3.5 million at the box office, leaving the race for the box office title this week ahead of schedule.

DreamWorks' "Ghost Invasion" won $11.95 million, beating "Blair the Witch" with $11.9 million, and won the box office on the day.

Jane de Bont, who directed "Life and Death" and "Tornado", is undoubtedly a well-known commercial director in Hollywood, and Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones are also some of the second-tier stars.

The cast lineup is the biggest bonus to the box office of the film in the first week.

"Ghost Invasion" brought the power of the release of the new film and grabbed a good start.

On the other hand, after the release of "Blair the Witch" has expanded to 2,750 stores and more than 3,500 screens, the attendance rate will inevitably decline significantly, and it is normal for the market to have a short-term adjustment.

But the next day, Saturday, "Blair the Witch" broke out again, earning $15.6 million in a single day, beating "Ghost Invasion" with $12.19 million, not only regaining the box office champion of the day, but also taking a lead this weekend.

As for "Eyes Wide Open", the box office just reached $6 million in two days, and it has been left far behind.

Ronan took the time to collect information on "Eyes Wide Opening", not because he was interested in the rumors of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and even more so because he wanted to see Nicole Kidman's large-scale footage.

A literary and artistic female star like Nicole Kidman has countless large-scale scenes, and she has seen it countless times.

He's learning lessons.

Perhaps because of the type of film, Warner Bros. did not work the promotion of "Eyes Wide Opening", and the gimmick of Stanley Kubrick's posthumous work was not used at all.

For Hollywood movie promotion, the dead people in the main creators are much easier to use than the living.

If the film had been able to plan for the rumors of Stanley Kubrick and the Crews, the North American box office would not be what it is now.

Ronan doesn't think it's Warner Bros. disciplined and respectful of Stanley Kubrick, but he doesn't think much of the film himself.

Hollywood studios, who would hesitate when it's time to throw away the festival?

In his previous life, Warner Bros. was one of the most successful film companies to make a fortune.

Maybe that success is just a lesson learned from this time.

Ronan simulated in his mind how to use Stanley Kubrick's death to promote and market "Eyes Wide Opening", which can be regarded as accumulating some experience in the future, and maybe when, he can also make a fortune.

Unfortunately, it can only be simulated, not practically used.

You can't just make a movie and kill one of the main creators, right? That would be crazy.

It's okay to drill into legal loopholes or something, and it's okay to make a fortune in practice in law.

As Sunday passed, a new week began, and the weekend box office was freshly released.

"Ghost Invasion" did well at the box office in its first week, earning $33.43 million in three days in more than 2,800 theaters, fully meeting DreamWorks' expectations.

But the box office top missed out on them.

After "Blair the Witch" completed a counterattack on Saturday, it continued to lead the way on Sunday, winning the first box office title since the film's release with $34.46 million in three days!

Coupled with the previous gains, the North American box office of "Blair the Witch" has already earned $53.4 million!

It's only been ten days since it was released.

This box office figure is enough for Embassy Pictures to recoup all of its investment.

As the number of viewers who saw the film skyrocketed, there were more and more voices questioning "Blair the Witch".

But doubts and arguments brought "Blair the Witch" a box office figure that went all the way up.

Over the next four working days, the film fetched another $6.2 million in North America, and the third weekend was just 30 percent down from the following weekend, with another $25.12 million, on the back of Julia Roberts' new film "The Runaway Bride."

This week's box office champion belonged to Julia Roberts, and "Runaway Bride" easily earned $35.05 million in its opening weekend thanks to the huge appeal of the Hollywood first sister.

However, the box office of $25.12 million is enough to ensure that "Blair the Witch" will beat the $15.25 million of "Ghost Invasion" and occupy the second place in the box office list.

"Blair the Witch" has accumulated more than $80 million at the North American box office, reaching a whopping $84.72 million.

There is no doubt that in the media and Hollywood industry, this is a miracle.

Anyone who knows a little about movie screening can understand at this time that the North American box office of "Blair the Witch" will inevitably exceed 100 million, and 100 million US dollars is definitely not the end.

The high box office naturally attracted more media attention, and the media gradually focused on interpreting the essence of the film as it reported.

A pseudo-documentary like "Blair the Witch" is okay to create a gimmick during the publicity stage, and it is difficult for veteran fans to deceive it after a long time of screening, let alone media reporters.

"This is a movie that has never appeared in the past history of Hollywood, "Blair the Witch" has created a historical precedent, shot with a novel DV documentary technique, giving every viewer a very real feeling, so that the audience can naturally bring themselves into the world of this witch Blair, the protagonists' every move tugs at the heartstrings of the audience, and the first-person shooting technique can be described as quite successful. ”

This is a relatively polite way to put it.

"'Blair the Witch' is a complete hoax, they use publicity and marketing to deceive the audience's new appointment, and then reap the box office ......"

The media has always had their own positions, and there is nothing wrong with that.

"Blair the Witch" is essentially a hoax.

Some newspapers and magazines are relatively fair: "Blair the Witch uses the trick of 'lost videotapes' to make a scripted film like a documentary, confusing the audience's judgment of the authenticity of the film, and creating a new category in the industry." ”

Because of its novel narrative method and promotional marketing, this film once made people think that the film was a real documentary rather than a fictional work of art, which attracted the attention of many Hollywood companies, many of which were analyzed as classic cases.

No matter what the media reported, Ronan asked Embassy Pictures to stay behind, and even if media reporters came to interview, they all refused.

Not admitting, not denying, not responding, this is the strategy of Embassy Pictures.

But as more and more viewers realized that "Blair the Witch" was not a lost footage, scolding gradually became mainstream.

Many viewers who have paid attention to the event but have not yet watched the film heard someone scolding the film, but they curiously bought tickets to watch it, and then watched it while scolding.

Ronan has been paying attention to the specific situation and knows that the audience's dissatisfaction needs an outlet to vent, otherwise it may burn the embassy films.