Chapter 192 Counterattack

The United States naturally pays attention to public relations when it comes to publicity, but the seven major Hollywood companies all have media that keep close contact with them. For example, 21st Century Fox Pictures, Fox Television and the Wall Street Journal are all owned by Murdoch's News Corporation; Time Warner, the parent company of Warner Bros., controls the HBO television network.

Of course you can have your Warner movies appear on my Fox TV show, but you have to pay for them. You can also want me, the Wall Street Journal, to promote them for you, and you have to pay royalties. If you don’t give me money, then don’t blame me. The Wall Street Journal upholds its conscience and evaluates your movie from an objective perspective.

Therefore, when promoting movies, the Big Seven often choose some media that are close to them. It is impossible to get all the media and let them sing your praises. The public relations costs for this are too high and not cost-effective.

So now that Big Mouth Sister saw all the newspapers praising "The Sixth Sense", she couldn't help but be shocked.

At this time, Richard Gere happened to come over and couldn't help but ask Big Mouth Sister: "Good morning, Julia, what happened?"

Julia Roberts handed a stack of newspapers delivered by her assistant to Richard Gere: "Look, they just blew "The Sixth Sense" to the sky!"

Richard Gere quickly flipped through the newspaper titles and frowned.

Julia Roberts' agent also said: "Don't worry, Julia, I'm going to inquire about the situation~"

At this time, the film's producer Ted came over: "No need to ask, I have already gone to understand the situation. The reputation of The Sixth Sense has exploded, not only from these film critics, I also got the premiere score from CinemaScore , more than 50% of the audience gave it an A+!"

"More than 50% A+? Ted, are you serious?!" Big Mouth Sister suspected that she heard wrongly.

Several of them are people who have been dealing with movies all year round, and they all know the significance of the CinemaScore survey. In fact, as long as a movie can get an A, that is, an A- or above, it is considered a good review. Generally speaking, if it can account for half of the A- or above ratings, it means that the reputation of your movie is good in the minds of the audience.

And now, "The Sixth Sense" has achieved an A+ rating of more than 50%. Doesn't this mean its reputation is so good? Achieved classic status? Just thinking about it makes a few people feel a little unbelievable!

"I also wish I was joking, but unfortunately this is the truth..." the producer said helplessly, spreading his hands.

"Damn it, something like this happened!" Julia Roberts' originally beautiful mood suddenly turned bad. No one would feel comfortable meeting such an opponent in the same period of the movie.

I originally thought that Bruce Willis would switch to acting and give up the action scenes that he is good at. So shouldn't the romantic comedy between her and Richard Gere be easy to handle? Unexpectedly, he became famous thanks to his acting skills that were criticized in the past!

Then she thought of director Wu Yuchen. Could this young director really have the Midas touch? Not only did he create hit movies one after another, but he also helped two tough guys, Stallone and Bruce Willis, transform successfully and their acting skills exploded.

It seems that she will have to make friends with Wu Yuchen if she has the opportunity in the future. His talent and market acumen are top-notch, and he is on the rise. He may not necessarily become a good friend, but it is always good to be familiar with him.

Julia Roberts put aside these thoughts, immediately returned to the current situation, and said decisively: "Ted, you have to increase publicity, we must win the first weekend box office championship!"

"Of course, this is why I came to you. You and Richard will work as hard as possible in the next two days. If we win the first weekend box office championship, we will be at an advantage."

Seeing that the atmosphere in the room was a bit solemn, producer Ted smiled again and said to lighten the atmosphere:

"Hey, Julia, Richard, actually the situation is not that bad. Even if "The Sixth Sense" has received rave reviews, it is just a horror-themed movie after all. No matter how good it is, can it be compared to "The Silence of the Lambs"? ?The box office of "Silence of the Lambs" is far worse than your previous "Pretty Woman"!"

Julia Roberts and Richard Gere also smiled after hearing this.

"The Silence of the Lambs" is known as the most classic crime horror movie. It won the 64th Oscar for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Director and Best Screenplay. It can be said that it truly swept the Oscars.

But what was the final box office take for "The Silence of the Lambs"? The total global box office is 272 million. Although it is already a very good result, the last time "Pretty Woman" jointly produced by Julia Roberts and Richard Gere had a total global box office of 463 million. The difference in release time between the two movies is also Just less than a year.

To put it bluntly, horror movie themes are inherently weak, not to mention that romance movies are now a craze around the world. After thinking about this clearly, Big Mouth Sister regained her confidence and showed her bright smile again.

You have confidence, but they still work hard when it comes to publicity. There is Julia Roberts, a Hollywood sister, the most popular female star today, and Richard Gere, a first-line male star. Everywhere they go Movie fans cheered everywhere, various reporters followed, and the response was very enthusiastic.

In the evening, Julia Roberts, who had been running for promotion all day, did not rest early. Instead, she put on a facial mask and waited with Richard Gere for the first day's box office results.

When she saw the smile on the face of producer Ted who came over with the documents in hand, Big Mouth Sister couldn't help but smile and said: "Ted, I think this must be good news!"

Ted shook the documents in his hand and said confidently: "Of course, with you here, we are the well-deserved first place!"

…

On the other side, Wu Yuchen and Bruce Willis were also looking at today's first-day box office:

"First place: "Runaway Bride", 12.53 million.

Second place: "The Sixth Sense", 10.8 million.

Third place: "Blair Witch", 7.23 million. "

Wu Yuchen looked at the first place in front of them, "Runaway Bride" which was ahead of "The Sixth Sense" with more than 1.7 million box office results, and thought that it was indeed Hollywood's top sister, Richard Gere, he and Bruce Willis The appeal of joining forces is still a little worse than that of the other party!

Bruce Willis was quite satisfied: "Wu, I think the box office is very good, and I think everyone seems to think highly of us. We should have good results in the end!"

This time Bruce Willis transforms, naturally he will not hold "The Sixth Sense" to the box office standards of previous action movies. He feels that it is a victory if North America can cross 100 million this time. The key is that this word-of-mouth explosion makes him very happy. , haven’t you seen that the media are all praising his acting skills?

Wu Yuchen thought to himself, after all, you are one of the most popular people in Hollywood at the moment. Why are you so happy with a few compliments from the newspapers outside? You don’t have the ambition to compete with Big Mouth Sister for the first weekend box office this time. Champion?

Wu Yuchen asked the producer: "James, do you think we can win the first weekend box office championship this time?"

James rubbed his chin and said: "Saturday's box office is critical. Of course there is hope. The box office difference between us and "Runaway Bride" is not much different, and our reputation is very good. The CinemaScore score will be released today. It should bring more people into the cinema.”

CinemaScore scores will only be released to the public after a sufficient number of data are collected. Otherwise, if the data sample is too small, it will not be convincing.

Wu Yuchen also nodded. He had a hunch that "The Sixth Sense" would be rated very high, but the specific number was unclear.

"Bruce, we have to work harder in the past two days for promotion. Don't let that bitch Julia Roberts get you under your skin!"

"Actually, there's nothing wrong with being pressed by her~"

Bruce Willis joked, but then immediately added:

"Oh, of course, I still enjoy being up there more!"

At night, after returning to the room, Wu Yuchen was entangled by a delicate body. Jennifer Connelly pressed against Wu Yuchen's back, hugged his neck and asked:

"Dear, how much do you think our "The Sixth Sense" will make at the box office?"

Wu Yuchen smiled, turned around, held her buttocks, then pressed her against the wall and kissed her. After a moment, he released his lips and said, "I think there will be more than 600 million!"

Jennifer Connelly smiled coquettishly and patted Wu Yuchen's chest: "Oh, honey, don't use such kid-like words to coax me~"

Obviously, she didn't believe that "The Sixth Sense" could have such a high box office, and felt that this was Wu Yuchen's nonsense to please her.

Wu Yuchen raised his eyebrows, bit her lip gently, and asked with a smile: "Then how many do you think there will be?"

Jennifer Connelly blinked her charming eyes and exhaled: "Two hundred million, can you fulfill my wish?"

Jennifer Connelly didn't have high hopes, thinking that this movie could break 300 million worldwide like John Woo's previous two films. In her opinion, breaking 200 million is already a good result. After all, there was the previous "Silence" The box office results of "The Lambs" are there.

Although Jennifer Connelly became famous around the world through the movie "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​more than ten years ago, in fact, until now, she has not even had a movie with a box office of over 100 million!

If "The Sixth Sense" can break 100 million in North America and 200 million worldwide, she will be satisfied.

In North America, box office over 100 million and less than 100 million are completely different concepts. The Billion Dollar Club is a great reputation for actors who have participated in movies. They can directly use it to negotiate their worth and exchange it for real money.

"It's only 200 million. You look down on me too much. I can satisfy you tonight!" Wu Yuchen pressed forward against her body.

Then, he pushed aside Jennifer Connelly's hair, bit her earlobe and asked: "Jenny, if the final box office exceeds 600 million, how will you thank me?"

Jennifer Connelly tightened her grip on Wu Yuchen's waist, held his head and said: "Then I will be at your disposal from now on, you are my only God~"

Wu Yuchen laughed and said, "Then I will inject some faith into you now!"

…

The next morning, Wu Yuchen felt refreshed. After all, he was always willing to help others. Last night, he fulfilled Jennifer Connelly's request of 200 million, making both of them happy physically and mentally.

And just after breakfast, he also got the survey and rating from CinemaScore:

"The Sixth Sense" A+: 52%, A: 27%, A-: 15%, B+: 4%, B: 1%, B-: 1%.

There is also a horizontal column chart placed next to the survey very intuitively. There is no doubt that the long A+ is very conspicuous, and the results are presented to readers intuitively.

At the same time, CinemaScore also gave them an overall score: A+.

And attached a comment: A very rare, tender horror movie that is worthy of being included in the classics. More than half of the A+ reviews are enough to make you go into the movie and watch it!

Finally, there is another item that is the box office prediction of "The Sixth Sense": North American box office 180 million and global box office 350 million.

Then he looked at Cinemascore's box office forecast for "Runaway Bride" for the same period: North American box office of 120 million and global box office of 250 million.

Wu Yuchen smiled when he looked at this investigation report. As expected of a professional organization, this is a good vision. He is optimistic about their "Sixth Sense" over "Runaway Bride". And this person has a lot more confidence in the box office than Jennifer Connelly!

However, even a professional organization would have had a hard time imagining how terrifying this family movie with a horror theme would be at the box office!

When Saturday ended, Julia Roberts originally planned to take a rest early. After all, they had taken the lead, and after all, the horror genre was niche and could not compare with the popular love movies. However, out of respect for Bruce Willis and director Wu Yuchen, she still put on the facial mask and sat for a while longer to wait.

"What! How could this happen?"

Big Mouth Sister stood up suddenly, opened her mouth wide, and almost shook the mask off her face, but she didn't care about the mask anymore, tore it off and looked at the numbers displayed on the document carefully:

"First place: "The Sixth Sense" 15.18 million.

Second place: "Runaway Bride" 13.11 million.

…”

The box office of "Runaway Bride" increased on Saturday, but the growth rate cannot be compared with that of "The Sixth Sense", which surged 40% compared to Friday!

And now the two-day total box office, "The Sixth Sense" has also achieved a lead over "Runaway Bride", 25.98 million versus 25.64 million. "The Sixth Sense" is still ahead of "Runaway Bride" with a weak 340,000.

"Ted, didn't you say that not many people would watch this horror movie?!" Big Mouth Sister asked loudly.

Producer Ted also looked unhappy:

"I asked the investigators, and they said that this movie is not actually scary. It is essentially a movie about family affection and mutual understanding. Children can also watch it, so many parents began to bring their children into the cinema. …”

"Oh, damn it! Why didn't you investigate clearly before!" Big Mouth Sister complained.

What are the scariest movies during the summer and Christmas seasons? It's the kind of family fun where the whole family goes out together, and the box office keeps rising.

Ted immediately cheered: "It doesn't matter, the difference is only 300,000, we still have one day to get it back!"