"The Exorcism Video" is a 100% successful independent film from beginning to end, a creative new style of mockumentary, a sentimental story that makes people cry, and an extremely frightening weekend experience." ¡ª¡ª6 Kevin Castor, "Los Angeles Times
"A masterpiece that is tense, suspenseful, shocking, unbearably painful, and has a depth rarely seen in horror movies. Everyone can have their own fright and interpretation. There is no better exorcism movie since The Exorcist." ¡±¡ª¡ª44 Christopher Orr, "LA Weekly"
"Eunique Culler's genius debut film awakens the fear in our hearts. It produces heart pain and brain fainting. Horror movie lovers will love it. The shocking damage it causes to the audience will last a lifetime." - 44 Frank Sher G, "Hollywood Reporter"
"If this is a movie you make about picking up girls, I hope you continue to pick up girls (e, the more, the better." - Gia Coppola, text message to Culler
Who is a? The three full-score film reviews all praised this young genius, but they couldn't explain it clearly. There is no detailed information on INDb, no Wikipedia, and nowhere The latest people who have become his fans only know that it is not slang. Handsome girl, it is confirmed that he is a man; he is not a "cooler" in the casino, nor is he an ice-cold cocktail such as 11Iu (Collins) or a (Kule).
Cooler is Cooler
Another genius
"I can't remember how many times I screamed. I cried when I saw the end. I couldn't help it. It was so uncomfortable." Debbie H wrote.
"I didn't think it would scare me before watching it, but I was wrong. It has become my most unforgettable horror movie experience. There is nothing bloody, but the atmosphere makes you want to escape from the screening room, and the tension and excitement keep you there. In the seats. Maggie's cast gave a great performance and the whole movie was brilliant and effective," Cassandra wrote.
"Probably my favorite horror movie so far, great story and a lot of really touching moments, and its director knows how to break your heart. I love it, but I really can't bear to watch it a second time, I am still shaking as I write these words." Kp wrote.
Everyone at Lionsgate never expected that "The Exorcism Video" was released two days ago, with a 100 Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating (10/10 points, - article), 8 likes, and a B- score by a few users on INDb. "Blair Witch" scored 64 points, and "Saw" scored 7 points.
It has received incredible word-of-mouth reviews from both film critics and audiences.
The distribution department headed by Tom Oldenberg was collectively shocked. It is not uncommon for a horror film to become a CHLT film and have a group of fans, but it is unusual for a horror film to be praised by critics. "Chainsaw" only had 48 points (10,146 articles), and last year's other big surprise "Thriller" had 2% (610 points, 186 articles).
Film reviews don¡¯t determine everything, but they are an important indicator. Oldenberg had long felt that TPT was in line with the aesthetics of film critics, but he didn't expect it to be so consistent.
This is a mockumentary except for the groundbreaking "Blair Witch" which was up to 87%. 10 points, 110 articles, Roger Ebert gave full marks), none of which has been highly praised, the best one may be "The Dangerous House" (6 (.010 points, 18 articles), just passing That¡¯s all.
Now, although TPT only has one film review, they are all mainstream film reviews, and it has received full marks and rave reviews. According to the three film critics, it has the ability to create a new era. And this was agreed by the vast majority of the audience. What does it mean for film critics?
Lionsgate immediately took it seriously and had to do this. Oldenberg and others didn't want to be fools, and they were already feeling very uneasy - the three film critics were invited by Cliff Films. There are many things to do, one of which is contacting Doctor Who
When the weekend passed and Monday, April 25th arrived, the Lions Gate Publishing Department was filled with joy and worry.
Fortunately, the child prodigy Ye Wei was finally invited to write a film review for "Crash". On that day, "VIY Said" was published in the film section of the "Los Angeles Times". He praised "Crash" with his official film review, calling it "A classic that touches the soul." Oldenberg is very happy about this, Jon is also very happy, and Lionsgate is establishing a friendship with VIY.
But Culler gave them a headache. They still couldn't contact him. It was still Grande and Potko. So what could they do even if they had to spend money on publicity? Really Terrence Malick?
What¡¯s even more troublesome and heartbreaking is that two of Lionsgate¡¯s three April films have already been finished
"Heartbreak", which had high hopes, was released on the 15th. The box office in the first week was really good. It received B79- in 2 theaters (single theater I8). However, the joy only lasted for one week. It turned out that it was only David Duchovny's Fan spending is still pitifully low, with only 0 and 449 accepted in the second weekend (single theater B2. Not to mention its film critic reputation, Rotten Tomatoes¡¯ 10 film critic screenings that are paid for are asking for trouble. It That's it.
"State Property 2", which is even more highly anticipated, was released on the 13th. Rotten Tomatoes 14 received a total box office of 2B million in the first two weeks, not bad? That was 22 theaters and now in the third week it¡¯s onlyThere are 192 movies left, and the momentum is falling unstoppably to the center of the earth. The latest plan is to release the movie after it is released this week and next week, and there will be no box office results either.
¡°On the contrary, it is the exorcism video that has received the least attention before and has almost zero distribution fee¡±
The opening weekend grossed 10,76B (2,3 in a single venue, not too much, not too little, but it firmly held its ground, enough to have a second week of screenings.
And don¡¯t forget what kind of distribution it achieved, what would happen if it was released under a respected distribution? Will there be a single-venue B4 opening weekend like "The Thrilling Ocean"? Its reputation supports this imagination.
So the distribution department and even Lionsgate made major mistakes in TPT's theatrical distribution. If it was irreparably messed up, what was missed?
A "Thrilling Ocean"? "Saw"? "Blair Witch"?
At this time, the Monday distribution meeting was being held in the conference room of the distribution department. The atmosphere was frozen, and everyone was not looking very good. Those jokes and laughter about TPT in the past seemed to still ring in their ears. "Cliff Movie Screen Dream", " Doctor Who", "Mockumentary Once Is Enough"
Oldenberger had a sullen face, looking at the end-of-field survey statistical documents on the table, paying special attention to some of the questions and answers.
¡¾Where did you learn about this movie? (Multiple choice)
The first place: posters in the cinema lobby; the second place: Internet promotion; the third place: information obtained from relatives and friends]
What a failed publicity that it was ranked first on the "ticket office poster". This means that most of them are random viewers, and there are many people who are interested in the "mock documentary demon".
¡¾When you come to the theater today, which one is the key choice for watching this movie? (multiple items)
First place: mockumentary horror theme; second place: heroine; third place: exorcism theme]
By directly verifying this, the entire film industry¡¯s default assumption that ¡°audiences dislike pseudo-documentaries¡± seems to be just a wrong imagination.
¡¾What's your age?
The first place: 1824 years old); the second place: 2-4 years old (2); the third place: 2-17 years old (l0), the fourth place: over 3 years old (10.0)]
18-4 years old, the largest market
¡¾After watching this film, how do you evaluate it? (select only one)
The first place: very good-looking (B0); the second place: perfect (60); the third place: poor (.); the fourth place: good (.), the fifth place: average. 0)¡¿
This is something that shocked the company. First of all, the entire survey statistics are very beautiful, but a big problem is that the sample size is not large. Only one-tenth of the thousands of viewers who have watched the movie are willing to take the survey, and the enthusiasm for cooperation is very low. This usually happens because they I don¡¯t have the enthusiasm to be dissatisfied with the film and criticize it.
But is TPT a bad movie? The overall approval rating is as high as 83.0, which is consistent with the excellent response from the Internet. Whether it will be a hit or not is another matter, at least most of the viewers who watched it were not disappointed.
¡¾Does this movie meet your expectations? (single item)
First place: better than what I expected (20); second place: worse than what I expected (14.0); third place: about the same as what I expected (13.0)]
The weirdness made Oldenburg excited and puzzled when he first watched it. This shows that TPT breaks through the audience impression caused by the "Blair Witch" and The Exorcist series. It is not cliched and mediocre, it makes people feel I feel like I have found a treasure, so why am I not enthusiastic?
¡¾After watching the movie, what highlights of the movie will you tell your friends? (multiple items)
The first place: the ending; the second place: the heroine¡¯s performance; the third place: the story
What is your greatest movie-watching experience? (multiple items)
The first place: sad; the second place: scary; the third place: horror; the fourth place: nervous
Are you satisfied with the ending of the film? (single item)
The first place: Can¡¯t tell 0); The second place: Not satisfied (); The third place: Satisfied 0)]
The answer emerged. Obviously the audience was very fascinated by the ending, but the paradox is that most people were actually not satisfied with the ending. "Can't tell" actually means they are unwilling to accept it. Those who are really satisfied can only be considered a small minority. part. According to the survey results of "many viewers cried", the reason is not difficult to find.
Oldenberg has already made this judgment. Of course he knows how uncommercial the current ending is. Death is not a problem. Everyone in the barn can die, but dying Maggie in that way is so depressing and sad. It is an independent film, and it is difficult for the audience to bear it.
So Lionsgate has already asked Cliff Movies if it could change the ending? Also leave some room for a possible sequel?
Cliff Films said no directly and forcefully. There is nothing negotiable in this regard and not a single scene will be changed.
This has led to the current weirdness. The audience was moved, but their mood was very complicated. This will have a bad impact on word-of-mouth marketing. Think about it,An audience member talked about this movie with a friend and said, "The ending made me cry." There are two problems in it. First, the audience's focus is on sadness, not horror. However, horror film audiences are most concerned about horror and unknown Interest cannot be maximized in a local situation; secondly, "sadness" is not what young people like to consume, which may scare away many people.
When making a low-cost film with a small investment, you must rely on word-of-mouth marketing. The purpose of investing in publicity expenses is to spread word-of-mouth. Ultimately, it is necessary to rely on word-of-mouth to draw audiences into the theater, and then it is possible to achieve the commercial success of "Thriller". Can TPT be done like this?
Despite his rich distribution experience, Oldenberg was really unsure. Each release was different, and there had been too many misjudgments on TPT. According to what they had previously thought, it was not suitable for the big screen at all ¡
"There are too few sample data in various aspects, and it has not yet reached the reference level for expanding the scale. We should focus on observation first."
During the meeting, Jon gave his CPO attitude on the phone, and Oldenberg also agreed with this strategy, because the sample was small, the genre of TPT was too special, and there was "Doctor Who" Week 2 continued 2 Home theater observation is the best. Whether it can expand in the third week depends on its subsequent performance.
The first is to maintain the current box office momentum and fully prove its market potential; the second is to maintain the evaluation reputation after the number of samples increases. Don¡¯t seek perfection, just be excellent.
In order to increase the number of samples, Lionsgate decided to quickly organize a replacement preview screening for film critics.
If there are more than 100 movie reviews, and the Rotten Tomatoes freshness score is still 70, then you can be sure of something.