Chapter 273： point-to-point

At the end of October, the "Mrs. & Mrs. Smith" crew wrapped up filming in France and went to New York for the final part of the shoot.

Not surprisingly, in mid-November, the film can basically be completed.

It is said to be basically finished, because Mel Gibson still has a part of the scene that needs to be shot.

This will have to wait until the filming of "Unsinkable" is completed in mid-December, and it will be filmed in January next year.

"Beautiful Mind" directed by Dunn is procrastinating, and it is estimated that it will be completed in early December.

Now, Dunn is most concerned about, of course, the screening of "Chainsaw" released by Focus Pictures.

With the quality of this film, Dunn can guarantee that if Miramax is to operate and distribute it, there is no need to show it at all, and it will be released directly in the United States. The number of theaters will never be less than 2,500!

However, Focus Pictures has just acquired and has not yet expanded its business, so its strength is limited.

Luckily...there were no trial rounds.

American movies have a very complete distribution model.

Douying is actually a wave of pre-publicity propaganda before the official release in the most developed cities in the United States.

"Chainsaw" will be screened in 20 theaters in 20 major cities, including New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Chicago, to collect word of mouth.

For early publicity, Dunnt approved $1 million.

Director Zach Snyder edited a 20-second trailer and put it on Fox, but the response was muted because of the limited scale.

The publicity reports of several second- and third-tier gossip tabloids have attracted limited attention.

The promotion cost of 1 million US dollars is a drop in the bucket for the marketing of a movie, and it may not be as effective as Dunn's words.

However, Dunn does not want to use his reputation in exchange for the early publicity of the film.

"Chainsaw" was so terrifying that many viewers even fainted in the movie theater.

This of course shows that the movie is very scary, but the impact is not good.

Dunn will never waste his reputation in this area and implement a questionable value orientation.

It is better to let "Chainsaw" ferment through word of mouth and slowly attract the attention of fans.

October 30, late.

Dunn asked Natalie to go to the amc theater in downtown Boston to watch "Chainsaw".

The two dressed up in disguise, looking very inconspicuous, and quietly slipped into the cinema under the **** of two plainclothes bodyguards.

Dunn searched a large circle on the wall full of posters, and finally found the poster of "Chainsaw" in a corner.

The poster design is minimalist - a sawed-off **** hand!

Natalie's face turned pale, "I...I regret coming."

"Let's take a look first, if it really doesn't work, we won't watch it." Tang En patted her waist, grabbed her little hand, took the movie tickets purchased by the bodyguard, and quietly got into the theater.

This is a small hall, but there are very few people, less than ten.

"The response isn't very good!" Natalie frowned. As Dunn's girlfriend, of course, she was a winner.

Tang En's expression was relatively indifferent, "It's a screening anyway, take your time."

...

Five minutes later, the movie begins.

The first shot created enough horror elements.

Dark, damp, confined spaces; lonely, frightened, bound people.

Dunn's hand was grabbed by Natalie at once, and she could feel her little hand a little cold.

Tang En smiled, leaned over and kissed her tender cheek, and whispered, "Don't be afraid, I'll see the audience's reaction, it's really not good, we'll withdraw in half an hour!"

Natalie bit her lip and remained silent.

After a few cryptic and quick conversations, the light on the big screen changed, and the lights in the closed room turned on. Only then did the audience know that there was someone else in the room.

As the camera progressed, a dead man with a smashed head and blood all over the floor lay on the ground.

"what!"

In the cinema, the first terrifying scream sounded.

Tang En is a little funny, but it's just a picture of blood plasma. It's like this. When the plot unfolds, I won't make you cry?

With the development of the plot, the context of the story is gradually presented to the audience.

The bound "Lawrence" is prompted to kill another man "Adam" before 6 o'clock, so he can escape.

This is a test of human struggle. Do you want to save yourself with the life of others, or ignore your own life for the sake of others?

And the audience already knew that this Lawrence, he is a doctor!

Such a cruel choice made Natalie really can't stand it anymore, she couldn't help but drag Dunn out without saying anything.

"I don't want to watch movies like this again!"

Walking out of the cinema, Natalie vented her dissatisfaction angrily.

Tang En felt a little helpless and spread his hands, "How serious are you watching those audiences?"

"Seriously?" Natalie sarcastically said, "Every one is so frightened that they don't dare to breathe, but they are still serious. In my opinion, people who like this type of movies are all psychologically deformed."

Tang En shook his head and smiled and said, "Thank you for majoring in psychology. It's called psychological curiosity! People with mental deformities are the male protagonists in the movie, not the movie audience."

Natalie frowned, "What if... I mean, if some mentally deformed people watched the movie and then imitated the plot, what should I do?"

Dunn rolled his eyes, "What does this have to do with me? Someone watched a movie and wanted to shoot the president. Is "Taxi Driver" going to be banned? No one can restrict freedom of speech in Hollywood!"

"But whether it's Director Scorsese, or Robert Deloney or Jodie Foster, their careers have been silent for a long time because of this incident." Natalie said with a frown.

Tang En smiled and said cynically, "My Nat, she's so smart!"

Natalie curled her lips and said solemnly: "Anyway, I think it's better for you not to participate in similar movie productions in the future You are not bad for such a small amount of money, there is no need to consume your own reputation. Look at it. Those big-name directors, even if there are some sensitive film topics, they finally expressed the correct value orientation, "The Chainsaw" ... is too controversial."

Dunn was silent for a moment, then smiled: "Okay, listen to you! In this world, there is only one person who can control me, and that is Natalie Portman!"

Natalie pursed her lips and chuckled, and gave him a white glance, "It will be nonsense, I can't control you."

Dunn shook his head, "It has had a great impact."

Natalie pursed her lips and smiled, her face pretty.

...

Early the next morning, Dunn was in the "Beautiful Mind" crew and received a fax from Focus Pictures.

Yesterday's screening results are out.

20 movie theaters in 20 cities in the United States, with an average of 9 movies per movie theater, a total of 2,548 movie tickets were sold, the average ticket price was $5.4, and the total revenue... $13,759!

Such a result made Dunn look straight and shook his head.

I'm used to seeing the box office data of hundreds of millions or tens of millions. It's a bit appalling at the box office.

Fortunately, the most important point of the screening is not the box office performance, but the audience's viewing experience!

Every spectator who bought a ticket and entered the venue received a questionnaire to rate "The Chainsaw".

Of the 2,548 questionnaires, 1,789 were returned, of which 478 received a+ score and 1,047 received a score! There are only more than 50 grades below b.

It is no exaggeration to say that for a "shoddy" B-level film with an investment of only $1.5 million, such a score is definitely beyond imagination!

The audience's word of mouth exploded overnight!

(Sanqi Chinese)