Chapter 336: Cannes (2)

Chapter 336: Cannes (2)

In the largest screening hall of a major cinema in Tokyo, the end credits were rolling. Hundreds of reporters, sitting among the audience, were watching the names of the actors following the movie title as they scrolled across the giant screen in white text.

“......”

“......”

Their faces were blank, as if they’d been hit hard on the back of their heads. Expressions of confusion and disbelief were everywhere. Although each person's emotions were slightly different, the one thing they all had in common was that the movie they had just watched was an extreme cultural shock.

The movie they had just seen was 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger'.

Of course, it wasn’t an official screening, but a pre-release press screening.

Today was the first press screening for 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger'. The press screening was an event where not only the hundreds of reporters present but also media personnel and film critics were invited to watch the movie. There are many types of screenings like general, VIP, and test screenings, but among them, the press screening is particularly important.

Because it’s directly tied to publicity and marketing.

Although releasing articles immediately after the screening is forbidden, once the set timing arrives, a flood of articles related to the movie will be released. Before the movie's release, those articles are what the public first encounters when searching for information.

In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the press screening determines the first impression of the movie.

While spoilers about the movie's direct story or ending are prohibited in the articles, the journalists' personal impressions or a brief synopsis are allowed. Given this, the film companies and production teams place great importance on press screenings and often hold several rounds of them.

The 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger' team was no exception.

However, 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger' had scaled up the event to more than twice the usual size. This was prearranged by Director Kyotaro and the film company, resulting in a number of attendees in this large screening hall that far exceeded the norm. They had also increased the number of screening rounds several times over.

In any case, watching the end credits on the screen now was a man seated at the very front row on the right, with his hair streaked with gray.

“Hmm.”

That man was Director Kyotaro, the master director who had directed 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger'. Next to him sat Japan's top actor Mana Kosaku and about five or six other lead actors who had appeared in 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger'. They were present for the stage greeting that would take place after the first screening ended.

Naturally, Director Kyotaro and the actors were the only ones with composed expressions.

Some of the actors seemed a little flushed.

‘As expected! Seeing it on the big screen makes the tension several times more intense. It’s completely different from what I saw during the test screening!’

Overall, they were calm. Having already experienced the completed test screening, this was to be expected.

On the other hand.

‘......Oh my God! What, what did I just watch??’

Sitting in the same row as Director Kyotaro and the cast of 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger', holding a handheld microphone, was the event's host. He couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. His mouth was slightly agape. His face was filled with the same shock as the hundreds of reporters behind him. In fact, this host had read the original book 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger' multiple times.

That’s why it was even harder for him to process what he had just seen in the movie version.

‘I knew there would be some adaptation and revisions, but they went this far?? Even the ending! This is completely different from the original!!’

Because the ending of the movie was a complete 180-degree turn from the original.

‘This movie’s ending......is this really okay??! When it gets released, it’s going to blow everything up, isn’t it???’

Just as the end credits of 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger' were about halfway through, the lights in the large, dim screening hall turned on. Then, instead of the end credits, different words began to appear on the screen. Of course, they were in Japanese.

-[The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger / Stage Greeting]

It was time for Director Kyotaro and the Japanese actors who had been waiting to step forward toward the screen. But before they could, the dazed host stood in front of the screen first.

“...Th-then! Let’s invite the main cast of 'The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger' to the stage.”

It was around this moment.

“Hey, hey, hey, why the hell did the movie end like this??”

The murmuring of the hundreds of reporters and media personnel filling the audience quickly escalated in volume.

“Is it really over just like that?! Did it really end like that, with Kang Woojin's face???”

“With this ending, Kang Woojin is the centerpiece......but the ending is different from the original, and drastically so.”

“Director Kyotaro has lost his mind. If he releases the movie like this, the hardcore fans of the original are going to absolutely rip him apart-”

Their minds, frozen in shock, were slowly starting to function again.

“Is he denying cause and effect or saying it’s meaningless?? And he completely changed the protagonist Kiyoshi’s setting!”

“Hurry up! We have lots of places to go.”

Indeed, it was the day before the Cannes Film Festival, and there was so much to see. Just watching the people could make the day fly by. Among all the sights, what stood out the most were the movie posters scattered throughout the city. These were the posters for the 20 films invited to this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the main 'In Competition' section.

The posters were displayed on monitors, attached to building walls, printed as pamphlets, and even on the sides of buses.

There were particularly many cameras around these posters.

From reporters from around the world to broadcast teams, all were capturing the posters. After all, there was nothing better than the invited films to convey the atmosphere and mood of the Cannes Film Festival. Naturally, the main awards of the festival, like the Palme d'Or, Best Director, and Best Actor, all come from the 'In Competition' section, so the attention was focused there.

Thus, promoting the posters was essential.

It was quite a sight to see international broadcast teams gathered around the 'In Competition' section posters, and among them, of course, was a team from Korea.

At this moment, a team was shooting in a vacant spot.

“Here? Is this a good spot?”

“Good- perfect!”

"I'll start with a rehearsal."

“Okay!”

A female reporter holding a handheld microphone stood in front of the camera. Surrounding her were a few team members. The camera bore a label marked with the logo of Korea’s public broadcaster, MBS. Anyone could tell it was MBS’s news team. They had set up in front of a giant banner poster attached to a building.

Soon, the female reporter positioned herself in front of the camera to ensure the large poster behind her was visible, and began her segment.

“We’re here in Cannes, France, and this place is already swarming with people for tomorrow’s opening of the Cannes Film Festival. Can you see the large poster behind me? It’s the poster for Director Ahn Ga-bok’s Leech.”

The poster showed a full-body image of Park Ha-seong against a dark background. He was looking at a family photo, and inside the frame were the chaebol family members including Chairman Yoon Jung-bae. Park Ha-seong was smiling at the photo, but his reflection in the frame was eerily expressionless. The poster itself portrayed Ripley’s syndrome, but unless you had seen the movie, you wouldn’t know that.

One thing, however, was clear.

“The large poster featuring Kang Woojin’s face is certainly striking.”

It meant that Kang Woojin’s face was displayed prominently in Cannes, a place teeming with global stars and hundreds of thousands of tourists.

“Leech is the only Korean film to be selected for the 'In Competition' section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and there’s already much anticipation surrounding it. Even now, foreign reporters and international broadcast teams are filming the Leech poster-”

In other words, the battle had already begun.

The morning of the 30th, late morning.

A large line of fencing had been set up in front of the entrance to the airport’s arrivals hall, and on both sides, over 300 people were packed in tightly. The interesting part was that they were all of different ethnicities, as if a mix of people from various countries had gathered.

And that was exactly the case.

The crowd of over 300 consisted of journalists dispatched from all over the world. Among them, dozens of Korean reporters could also be seen. Whether seated or perched on small ladders, they all held cameras as big as cannons.

And there was certainly a good reason for this.

For the past few days, global stars had been appearing at this very arrivals hall. Celebrities, actors, sports stars- the list went on and on.

At that moment

-Srrrrk.

The doors to the arrivals hall slid open. Instantly, hundreds of reporters from different nations began furiously pressing their camera shutters.

-Pabababababapak!

Soon, a black-haired Korean actor appeared before the reporters. His outfit was casual, a zip-up hoodie, but his expression was as solid as could be. There wasn’t a hint of surprise on his face at the sight of the hundreds of reporters.

“......”

He simply raised his hand indifferently.

-Pabababababapak!

A barrage of flashes rained down on him.

Just a few minutes later, articles with the same content began flooding news outlets in Korea. Each article prominently featured photos of one particular actor.

『[Cannes Film Festival+] Unfazed ‘Kang Woojin’ arrives at Nice Airport late in the morning / Photos』