The Best Director

The box office results of the first week of "Spiritual-Ghost Records" were finally fixed at the figure of 1,056,700. In the last few days, the three movie theaters that participated in the trial screenings were full. It is also as high as 90+%, and there are countless young people who come to stay up late to watch movies.

The 1.0567 million weekly box office results also made "Spiritual-Ghost Story" ranked 16th in the North American weekly box office rankings (July 31st to August 6th); the first place is Steven Spielberg's World War II masterpiece "Saving Private Ryan", this is its second week of release, with a weekly box office of 36.612 million; while the 15th place is still in theaters, "Titanic ", this week is the 33rd week since it was released, but it can still receive a weekly box office of 2.022 million, and its total box office in North America has reached 596.3 million.

It is not a shame to be ranked behind "Titanic", which was released for 33 weeks. If you look at the number of theaters where "Titanic" is released, there are 769 theaters;

The 16th position is not surprising, but the number of "25 screening theaters" and the score of 1.0567 million really scared all the film companies. My God, where did Lionsgate find this dark horse? !

The entire Lions Gate Company couldn't help laughing. The first week's box office not only recouped the cost, but also made a small profit. And the most important thing is that the super potential shown in "Spiritual-Ghost Records" is definitely a blockbuster movie. Therefore, the film's release in the second week has also changed from a limited release to a large-scale release, and the number of screening theaters has increased to 750.

Although "Spiritual-Ghost Records" has been labeled as a "dark horse", its performance in the second week (August 7th to 13th) still stunned everyone. It's too dark... 37.5176 million! "Spiritual-Ghost Story" ranked first in the North American weekly box office chart! And "Saving Private Ryan", with a weekly box office score of 26.5048 million, can only be ranked second.

Like a clap of thunder on the ground! The film companies and entertainment media in the entire North American region were shocked, as were the film critics and movie fans, who were speechless in shock when they saw the rankings. Many people don't even know what kind of movie "Paranormal-Activity" is. Science fiction? horrifying? Or a comedy?

With 750 theaters, it actually beat "Saving Private Ryan" with 2,592 theaters. That's the work of the great director Steven Spielberg! What a joke!

Faced with this problem, the management of Lionsgate has only one sentence, plus! So in the third week, the number of theaters showing "Spiritual-Ghost Story" reached 2,142. In the end, the box office of the third week (August 14th to 20th) did not disappoint Lionsgate. This horror film continued to beat "Saving Private Ryan", which won a single week of 19.7281 million, with 48.7693 million box office. The champion of the North American weekly box office rankings, the total box office also reached 87.3436 million!

In addition to Wang Yang's expectation, this result frightened Rachel, Jessica and others, and Joshua kept sighing like an old man with dementia, "My DV player is worth money."

For this "supernatural phenomenon", it is impossible for the news-chasing media to turn a blind eye to it. In fact, as early as the first week's weekly box office rankings were released, some media began to pay attention to this movie and reported it. The title of "Dark Horse"; and as "Ghost Story" won the weekly box office championship in the second week and won the championship in the third week, this movie also detonated the whole United States.

"We are now at the entrance of the box office of a movie theater in New York, although it is already early in the morning,

But it's like a party here, very lively. "NBC channel news program, on the TV screen, a middle-aged Caucasian female reporter held a microphone and told the camera: "These young people are here to wait to watch the next episode of "Spiritual-Ghost Story" ", because the tickets for the first show have been sold out. "

As soon as the screen camera turned, I saw young people in the ticket hall, reading books, playing cards, chatting, and even dancing street dances.

The female reporter walked a few steps, stopped a white boy who had just grown up, pointed the microphone at him, and asked with a smile, "Hi, hello, are you here to watch Ghost Story?" The boy excitedly said "yes, yes" to the camera, and the female reporter asked again: "Why do you want to watch this movie so eagerly, and would rather wait here late at night?"

The boy thought for a while, then shrugged and said, "I don't know either. But my friends have already watched it, and they asked me to watch it. If I didn't watch it, they wouldn't even talk to me." He turned to the camera again Waving and laughing: "Hey, baby, are you watching? I love you!"

The program director cut the screen back to the live broadcast room, and the host smiled and said, "Let's listen to the opinions of the parents and the police."

As soon as the screen changed, it cut to the interview video of a middle-aged white woman. The woman looked angry and said helplessly and angrily: "My child seems to be a different person. He always comes back before nine o'clock. At home, but now, he actually spent the night outside just to watch that movie! Oh my god, he is still a pre-teen high school student, and he doesn’t come home at night! I’m really afraid he’s going to fail.”

The scene shifted to an interview with a black male police officer. He said seriously: "Too many children gather near the movie theater late at night. This is the first time I have seen this situation. But we will strengthen the law and order around the movie theater and do our best to protect the children. Yes, they come to the cinema, watch the movie, go home without any surprises."

Naturally, NBC is not advertising "Ghost Story", but is reporting a social problem that has been happening all over the United States in the past two weeks. Homecoming Event".

Those who pay attention to the society and the people's livelihood have seen the side of teenagers who are at home; those who pay attention to movies have seen more. Regardless of the media or movie fans, the biggest question is, what is going on with this movie? Where did this dark horse come from?

The "ghost craze" on the Internet is also continuing, and the media knows about it, but they all laugh and shake their heads, "Possession of evil spirits to kill people? Real DV tapes adapted into movies? Only innocent students will believe it. The media immediately questioned these rumors vigorously. First of all, if there are really DV tapes showing murder clues, they will be important evidence for the police, and they should stay in the police station instead of the film company; in addition, if this is a true murder documentary, how can it pass the review of the MPAA? And it's PG-13?

Therefore, the media are refuting the rumors on the Internet: "A real movie? This is a very absurd statement. Only the 'Animal World' is real."

Naturally, the media would not stop there, and they began to investigate the truth behind this "supernatural" movie. When they are determined to investigate, it is easy to get the truth. There is no impenetrable wall in the world, not to mention that so many film companies have reviewed "Ghost Story"?

Therefore, the "Los Angeles Times" got the truth right away. The manager of Dimension Films' purchase department said: "This is just a movie, a movie shot on DV, not edited from real video tapes. Kevin, Mel is played by actors, and the director of this movie is a very young Chinese man, you see, the last producer they played, that's him, Young-Wang, maybe 22 years old? Maybe 20 years old ?”

And at another film company, who did not want to be named, a salesman in the distribution department said: "Oh, I saw this movie, not in a movie theater, but in the company's screening room. We just nodded, this movie It would have been ours, but you know, we ended up rejecting that young man. Seriously, we regret it now, our manager was suspended for it, and maybe I'll be next."

Then the reporter went to the Screen Actors Union and found information about the actor in the movie, Zachary Levi who played "Kevin", which proved that "Kevin" is still alive in this world. The reporter also interviewed Mark Slante, who was in charge of the actor interview of "Spiritual Shadow" that day, he said: "Oh, of course this is a movie, and I also selected 'Kevin', 'Mel' The signing commission. The young director is very picky, from morning to night, he probably interviewed hundreds of actors before he selected the final person. "

The evidence is conclusive. As soon as the Los Angeles Times report came out, the rumors on the Internet were self-defeating.

In this regard, Lionsgate and Wang Yang have long been prepared. The propaganda method of playing tricks and ghosts was originally only expected to be effective in the early stages of the film's release, because the truth will inevitably come to light when things get serious. As long as the first batch of audiences are lured into the movie theater and a huge sensation is obtained, "pretending to be a ghost" can be accomplished and retired. When things have developed to the present situation, even if the audience knows that this is just a filmed movie, they will still walk into the movie theater.

Because people are even more curious, a DV movie with a production cost of 10,000 U.S. dollars has already received more than 80 million at the box office! ? It's still making a fuss, almost everyone is discussing this matter, how can I miss it? Young people don't want to be left behind, as long as "watching "Ling Dong-Ghost Records"" becomes a trend, no one will worry about not watching it.

Therefore, the promotional focus of "Smart-Ghost Records" has already shifted to the technique of "Do you dare to watch it?" Lionsgate adopted Wang Yang's suggestion and organized an event on the film's official website, "Who is the scariest?" The way to participate in the event is very simple. Use cameras and DV players to record the frightened reactions of family members and friends when they watch the movie. Take a photo, upload it to the official website, and participate in the selection of pictures and videos. Then the top ten will be voted by netizens, and the winners will get a week trip to Santa Monica, home theater, DV camera and other prizes.

This is viral marketing extended to reality.

So when the "Los Angeles Times" report came out, Lionsgate graciously clarified the facts. Jon Filtimer, the distribution manager, admitted to the media that "The Ghost Story" is a film with a director. actor's film. And they didn't put this information on the movie's official website before, they just wanted to create a real atmosphere, and the purpose of shooting those trailers was the same.

When Lionsgate uploaded the information of director Wang Yang, "Kevin" Zachary Levy, and "Mel" Rachel McAdams to the official website, everyone was "surprised" again! Oh my god, no way, a director and producer who is 18 years old and more than 6 months old? ! Looking at Wang Yang's heroic young face, everyone felt incredible. It was this kid who used 10,000 US dollars to make a movie with a box office of more than 80 million! ?

Oh God! What is the Guinness record for "Hollywood's Youngest Director"? Stephen Paul, 20 years old; and now Wang Yang, 18 years and more than 6 months old, undisputedly broke the record. Besides, Stephen Paul's "Love Again" did not have a box office of more than 80 million.

Roger Ebert, a well-known film critic in the United States, described this as "a miracle that is happening" and "a supernatural phenomenon"; and he praised "Spiritual Ghost Records" as unparalleled, which is an innovation of film language. It created a pseudo-documentary mode and pointed out the way for DV movies; and the psychological horror technique of the movie itself has also been played to the limit, without the jerkyness of a rookie director.

"This movie can scare you into cardiac arrest, if you don't only like 'ketchup' movies. Also, I don't recommend this movie for young children, even with parents, they will leave childhood shadows .Okay, I need to go to the sun, this will take away the fear in my heart."

This film critic, who is so influential that he can influence the movie company's decision to buy a movie, and the audience's decision to watch the movie or buy a DVD, calls Wang Yang a "Magic-Young" and praises him for his bright future. To maintain the vigor of youth, do not lose yourself.

In the end, Roger Ebert gave Ghost Story its own exclusive, trademarked "Two-Thumbs-Up!"

For this comment, Wang Yang joked to Rachel on the phone: "Hey Rachel, watch me do magic, see? My hand is sticking out of your phone and grabbing your hair What?" Rachel was amused by him, and laughed, "Wow, is this your next horror movie?"

Wang Yang pretended to be serious and said: "No, I won't make movies. This time I can share a lot of money. I retired early. I retired at the age of 18. Isn't it cool?" Rachel laughed jokingly: "Oh , This is the same as an alcoholic saying that he is going to quit drinking, I don't believe it."

"Don't you give alcoholics a chance to reform themselves?" Wang Yang said in a very hurt tone. Rachel seemed to be thinking about it, and said with a smile: "Well, I will give it to others; but you, no way." Wang Yang laughed haha, said "OK" a few times, and then said seriously: "Seriously , I probably won't make horror movies again. This time the girl scared me, and I don't want to scare anyone to death."

Of course, not everyone thinks that "Ghost Story" can scare people to death, and there are many media who poured cold water on it. They denounced the whole film as a scam, and it was an elaborate plan by Lionsgate. It can get such a high box office. By mean means. What everyone needs is to ignore it and it will disappear.

Los Angeles Times film critic Kevin Thomas (who later raved about "The Promise") said, "It's a downright boring movie, like a child playing director and actor." The guy with the same name as the lead actor in "Shadow Records" seems to be very angry with the movie, and his tone is very vicious: "The acting of the movie's leading actors and actresses is extremely bad. Seeing them on the screen is like a disaster. At the end Young director? Oh, that’s a lucky little guy, but that’s all, in another ten years, people may remember "Spiritual Ghost Story", but not Wang Yang."

Although some film critics spoke viciously, and although most people on the Internet knew that "Kevin's murder" was a fake news, the box office of "Ghost Story" did not drop significantly, it was just a normal phenomenon that the momentum slowed down. Halfway through the fourth week, more than 15 million box office has been accepted. It seems that it is not a problem to approach 30 million in a single week; and in terms of total box office, it has already exceeded 100 million. It seems that using "miracle" to describe all this is a bit unfinished.

Tom Oldenburg, the manager of Lionsgate's film purchasing department, finally understood why when he signed the contract with Wang Yang, he felt a sense of uneasiness. For the door company, it is really a loss! If you insisted on a one-time buyout at that time, 500,000 or 1 million would be fine, then now...

Of course, this is just a momentary greedy thought. Most of the time, including Tom - Oldenburg and all other Lions gate executives, have been satisfied. This time they not only made a fortune, but also made a big impact on Lionsgate's reputation. They accepted some media interviews, and through the film promotion of "Spiritual-Ghost Records", they promoted their company incidentally, making North America more famous. Movie fans all know that there is a film company called "Lionsgate Films" in Santa Monica.

And now, they got another piece of good news.

Jon Filtimer has been in a good mood recently, because he single-handedly contributed to the release of "Spiritual Ghost Records", he has been praised by the board of directors, and has the opportunity to be promoted to the company's next CEO, and even become a partner. Now he and Wang Yang met in a coffee shop. He came to Los Angeles for work and told Wang Yang a good news by the way.

"Hey, Jon, what is the news?" Wang Yang looked at the mysterious Jon, took a sip of coffee, and smiled angrily: "Please, tell me quickly! I hope this news won't waste me fare."

Generally, one month after the movie is screened, the theater chain will share the account with the distribution company, and then the distribution company Lionsgate will share the account with Wang Yang. Therefore, although "Ghost Story" now has a box office of over 100 million, it has nothing to do with Wang Yang for the time being, and his wallet is still dry. Of course, he no longer has to save money, because he can swipe his credit card first.

Jon Filtimer laughed and said, "Okay, Jan, then I've revealed it." He coughed and said grandly, "Dude, we've got an invitation to The Oprah Show!"

"Oprah's talk show? Oh, my God! Really?" Wang Yang couldn't help but stare in surprise. The Oprah talk show is the most famous and highest-rated talk show in the United States. It is simply a symbol of American culture. He also grew up watching this show, and he likes Oprah Winfrey, the "Queen of Talk Show" who had an unfortunate childhood but achieved success through hard work. Now he is going to do an interview as a guest! ?

Jon picked up his coffee cup, nodded with a smile, and said, "Of course it's true. The show will be recorded next week, and the theme is 'discussing the mentality of young people's success'. You know, it's probably for you to talk about your journey, and then Discuss the meaning and influence, that’s what Oprah does.” He took a sip of coffee and smiled again: “They invited the main creators of the movie, you, Zachary and Rachel, and me with a unique vision Zachary and we're flying to Chicago this Sunday; Rachel is in Toronto."

Going to Chicago to record Oprah's talk show...Wang Yang was very excited, but at the same time he also felt a little anxious. There was one thing stuck in his throat like a fishbone, and there was no way to avoid it, especially his Now that it is getting more and more attention from the media, this matter will be exposed sooner or later. It can be said that it is really a "miracle" that the incident has not been exposed until now.

He frowned and thought for a while, looked at Jon opposite him, and said seriously: "Jon, there is something that I think it's time to say it."

"What?" Jon frowned when he heard Wang Yang's serious expression, not joking.

Wang Yang said calmly: "A few months ago, I was a freshman at USC, majoring in film and TV production." Jon was stunned when he heard that, and then heard Wang Yang say: "Then I was fired, Because of racial discrimination." Jon couldn't help but shouted: "What!? God! What are you kidding?!" Wang Yang pressed his hands to calm him down, and said, "Don't worry, listen to me explain .” At that moment, he explained the cause and effect clearly.

After listening to his story, Jon fell silent. He frowned and drank his coffee non-stop. After a long time, he sighed and blamed him: "Yang, you should have told us earlier."

If I had told you sooner, Lionsgate would have released Ghost Story? Wang Yang shrugged and said nothing.

"This is a time bomb, and there is not much time left, the bomb will explode soon." Jon scratched his hair in distress and disregarded his manners, and the good mood just now was gone.

Racial discrimination is a very sensitive thing. If it is not done well, Wang Yang will be ruined, but if it is just like this, he will regret it at most; the problem is that Lionsgate has been dragged into the water, and he has been dragged into the water. If the matter is not handled properly in the end, the reputation of Lionsgate will definitely be severely damaged. It is not just as simple as buying racist movies. They will also change their attitudes, thinking that Lions Gate is a liar, cheating consumers, and so on.

If all this happened, he would not even think about being promoted to CEO, let alone become a partner. Jon tried hard to think of a solution, thought for a while, and asked, "Jan, are you sure no one else was there?"

Wang Yang thought about the situation at that time again, but it was no different, and he still couldn't get any clues. He shook his head and said: "I can't be sure because I was all focused on Terrence Ben, he pushed me, and then I hit him. When the teacher came later, there was no one else around." He spread his hands helplessly, and said, "Afterwards, I ran across the entire academy and asked all my classmates, but no one said that I was there at that time."

Jon nodded silently, and asked again: "It seems that you are not very popular in school?"

"Do I look like that?" Wang Yang rolled his eyes. He is not an introverted person, nor is he a cheap talker. He has always been very popular. He thought of the happy life in high school, smiled and said: "Actually, when I was in high school, I had many good friends, not only Chinese, but also white and black." University, you know, I usually take classes when I have classes, and do part-time jobs when I don’t have classes, so I haven’t had time to make friends.”

He smiled, the money he earned from his part-time job was going to be used to buy a DV player; it turned out that the money was finally used to shoot movies.

"Oh! This is good news." Jon's face softened a little, and he smiled bitterly: "It's easy to handle if you have black friends in high school. If this matter is exposed, we will help you. Just interview A look at your former high school, teachers, and classmates can almost prove who you are." He laughed again: "Don't worry too much, we will send someone to USC to investigate right away to see if there are other people present."

"Universal University should have done the same, but they didn't. They dismissed me hastily." Wang Yang shook his head slightly, or he was unlucky, or... At that time, he was in the school director's office. Not as mature as he is now, in a fit of rage, he irrationally contradicted the school manager.

Jon smiled when he heard the words, drank his coffee and said, "Then we should thank USC, they won't fire you, you can't make this movie, can you?"

Wang Yang was startled, and then laughed in his heart. It seems that this is indeed the logic. Not only can he not make this movie, but he will not experience so many things, and he will not have the current mentality. It will only be the old man Wu said. "Fighting and ruthless" Wang Yang. Do setbacks make you grow? Could it be that USC's ruthless expulsion actually made him a success?

While Wang Yang was thinking about these things, Jon stood up, patted him on the shoulder, half complained and half jokingly said: "I have to go. Young man, you really brought me too many 'surprises' " Wang Yang answered him with a smile: "Oh, then should you thank me?" Jon smiled and said: "Come on, Yang, you are such a cunning guy."

However, what neither of them expected was that the time bomb suddenly exploded. As night fell, Yahoo's entertainment section suddenly published a piece of news that "a rising Chinese director was expelled from college for racial discrimination"!