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Chapter 161: The day of release
🕑 Added 2025-01-10 18:03:20 +0000 UTCThe intentions of the Lionsgate film industry were as obvious as the blazing sun on a midsummer day, almost glaringly so.
They aimed to gain the most profit with the least expense. After all, it's probably only a penny-pinching company like Lionsgate that would do something like offer a distribution deal based on a stock equity gamble.
But Ethan, on the other hand, needed exactly this kind of deal. Or rather, why would he turn down free money? Even just one percent of the movie's box office profits was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Right now, he needed money to expand his company, and he wouldn't turn down any amount.
So, since Lionsgate was confident enough to gamble big, Ethan would, of course, indulge them.
But he couldn't just agree without hesitation.
"I think your deal is a bit excessive," Ethan said seriously, rejecting it.
"That's right, what's this nonsense? Ten percent of the distribution profits, and you want to gamble with our company's shares? Do you think this is a fair equation?" Jimmy was completely opposed to this betting agreement.
"I think it's quite fair, because this condition is easier to meet. Look at Saw—it was a success, wasn't it?" Even though the movie hadn't officially premiered yet, Lionsgate had internally estimated that the box office would easily exceed ten million dollars.
Therefore, Lionsgate had already lost the original betting deal, which was one of the reasons they were suggesting a second bet.
More importantly, they wanted the Saw IP and the publicity talent.
Lionsgate executives had keenly sensed the possibility of a sequel just from this one film. As long as the first movie succeeded, it would become a money-making machine, and with the iconic Billy the Puppet, owning the IP was certainly a guaranteed profitable deal.
"Fifty million, Moria," Ethan said bluntly. "That means we'd have to earn at least eighty million dollars at the box office. Do you think a small-budget movie studio like Norton's Eye can earn that much with every film?"
Moria shrugged but didn't answer.
"So, you'd better discuss it thoroughly. Let's go," Ethan didn't linger or completely shut down the conversation. He turned and walked out of Lionsgate with Jimmy and Carl.
At the same time, the first few batches of audience members exited the theater after watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In interviews with Hollywood media, they said the film was average and didn't exceed expectations. The only notable aspects were decent cinematography, but the story felt clichéd and full of gore.
Of course, they did think the lead actress was attractive.
It was under this kind of feedback that, just after midnight, the box office numbers for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were released—3,128 screens, grossing just under $998,000.
This figure shocked the theater chains and the media. Despite the wide spread of buzz around the story, and the large number of screens, the movie barely made a million dollars on opening day. This was a huge blow to all the predictions!
This only shifted more attention to Saw.
Could it be that everyone was waiting for this movie and chose to hold off on watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?
That night, some media outlets published brief reports to announce the news.
Of course, Ethan received the news as well. He, along with a few of the main cast, sat in the office of the largest theater in New York, waiting to see the box office results for Saw, including the first-day earnings.
Downstairs, Puchi was in line at the counter.
"I'd like one ticket for Saw."
"Two for Saw, please."
"Three for Saw, thank you."
While waiting, he could hear everyone buying tickets for Saw. It was clearly the main movie of the moment, and hardly anyone was interested in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Moreover, most of the people buying tickets for Saw were couples or groups of friends, joking around about who was the scaredy-cat, making sure no one would run out of the theater, and munching on popcorn as they eagerly awaited the film.
Seeing this, Puchi felt a little lonely, but fortunately, he had brought along the Billy puppet. The little guy instantly drew attention from the crowd.
"Look! It's Billy! So cool!"
"Honey, I want one! Look, it even moves!"
"Awesome! This little guy looks terrifying! I've got to buy one!"
Even a blonde girl in a short-sleeved shirt walked over to ask Puchi, "Hi, where did you get that from?"
Suddenly, Puchi froze, feeling awkward and unable to speak, fumbling for words as he stared back at the girl, who was now looking at him with confusion.
"Uh… I won't tell you."
"Okay, you're really stingy," the blonde girl shrugged and walked off.
Puchi wanted to slap himself. He didn't want to admit he had found the puppet by chance, but now, because of his slip-up, it seemed like he was just being secretive.
Feeling like he had missed a golden opportunity, he bought his ticket for Saw and entered the theater.
When the screen lit up with ads, Puchi finally realized the theater was packed. Everyone had popcorn and soda, eagerly waiting for the movie to start.
"This movie is that popular?" Puchi muttered to himself.
A round-faced guy sitting next to him suddenly spoke up, "Of course, buddy."
Puchi turned to find the guy was wearing glasses too.
"Gruqi"
"Puchi."
They both said their names in sync, then turned their attention to the big screen as the movie began.
The ticking of a clock echoed in the quiet atmosphere, immediately creating a sense of unease in the audience.
Suddenly, from the darkened environment, water splashed, and someone woke up in a bathtub filled with water.
The camera pulled back from his eye as he struggled out of the tub, standing up, and the camera followed his movements in a beautiful long shot that captured the oppressive space.
Puchi held his breath, feeling incredibly immersed.
"This shot is amazing," Gruqi, a seasoned horror movie fan, immediately noticed the difference in Saw's cinematography compared to other films.
It wasn't the usual chaotic editing often found in horror films, but rather, the creation of a tense atmosphere and immersion.
"Oscar-winning cinematographer. Of course, it's impressive," Puchi explained, continuing to watch.
Soon, they saw that there was more than one person in the cramped bathroom—another man, shackled at the ankle on the opposite side, and a bloody corpse lying in the center of the tiled floor.
"WTF, what happened here?" Puchi was starting to feel a bit scared and held Billy tighter.
Gruqi was still enjoying it, whispering, "Two people locked up. Are they the ones being punished? But where are the instruments of torture?"
Though there were no torture devices, the opening already built plenty of suspense, as the two men, unfamiliar with each other, began to introduce themselves. They discovered an envelope in their pockets containing a small recording tape.
After some effort, they found the recording device in the corpse's hand. When they played the tape, a raspy voice began.
"Adam, wake up... You might be wondering where you are, let me tell you. This might be your final resting place... You've always been hiding in the shadows, watching other people's lives... Today, you'll either watch yourself die, or try to stop it."
"It's the Jigsaw!" Gruqi suddenly got excited, like the rest of the audience.
They instantly recognized the voice from an online comment, identifying it with the game's theme. The excitement in the theater was palpable as the second tape played.
"Dr. Gordon, I'm waking you up. Your job every day is to tell people they're dying. Today, you'll become the cause of death. Your goal is to kill Adam, and the time limit is six o'clock..." the voice continued.
Gurqi couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! This is the taste! Self-inflicted killings, what a great show."
The other audience members in the theater were also drawn in by the plot, eagerly staring at the big screen, waiting for the next thrilling development.
Soon, Dr. Gordon seemed to have guessed the identity of the mastermind behind it all and began discussing the yet-to-be-caught serial killer with Adam.
As Dr. Gordon spoke, the camera slowly shifted to the police perspective.
The audience was then shown the first victim.
He had been trapped in a cage made of barbed wire, trying to escape but eventually dying from blood loss.
"Damn!" After seeing the horrific wounds on the man's body, Pucci covered his eyes, his heart pounding.
"Ah!" Some of the more nervous viewers screamed in fright.
But this scene only excited Gurqi. Watching an R-rated film was all about these bloody shots that made it worthwhile.
Especially when the camera zoomed in on the man, who, naked and crawling slowly through the cage full of iron thorns, screamed in agony, sending chills down everyone's spine.
And this was just the beginning. The next victim was burned to death by fire. He was injected with slow-acting poison and covered in flammable substances. To survive, he had to walk on the glass-strewn floor and crack a code on the wall to open a safe to get the antidote.
Unfortunately, when the police arrived, only a charred corpse remained.
After investigating, the police found that one of the victims had once tried to commit suicide, and the other had lied about being terminally ill. Their causes of death were both self-inflicted, which led to the conclusion that the serial killer had a specific fetish.
He was testing human nature, pushing people to their limits and watching their survival instincts, gaining satisfaction from every move they made.
However, there were also some survivors.
Her name was Amanda Young. She was strapped into the "Jaw Splitter" device, and the only way to escape was to kill someone and take the key from their body.
Though just a woman, Amanda's spirit was more resilient than the men's, and she succeeded.
During this segment, Gurqi and Pucci watched in complete silence. Unlike the dizzying spinning shots in the original Saw, the director, Ethan, had abandoned that style in favor of multi-angle editing with the addition of a countdown, creating a tense, relentless atmosphere that left viewers parched.
Just when everyone thought Amanda had successfully unlocked the Jaw Splitter, the creaking sound of a bicycle echoed.
Billy, the puppet, rode his children's bicycle in front of Amanda and uttered the most iconic line.
"Congratulations, you're still alive. People don't appreciate life, but you won't forget that lesson."
The camera slowly zoomed in, focusing on Billy's blood-red pupils hidden in the darkness.
Gurqi felt his scalp tingle, a mix of excitement and unease surged within him.
The Jigsaw killer maintained fairness, never breaking his rules. When he let Amanda go, it seemed everyone understood the principles he upheld.
The plot continued, and the police, after much effort, finally tracked down Jigsaw's location. As he was about to be executed, they aimed guns at him. However, the plot diverged from the original film at this point.
First, a human twisting machine replaced the original machine, and second, the police were not killed by Jigsaw. On the contrary, Jigsaw had repeatedly warned them to stay back, but they ignored him.
They died because of their own recklessness.
This change provided a better understanding of Jigsaw's philosophy and persistence, making the audience feel more connected to him.
"Jigsaw was right," Pucci murmured. "It's their own fault for pursuing him."
"Exactly, Jigsaw warned them multiple times."
"Yeah, if the police had just stopped, they wouldn't have died."
After the police's deaths, the story returned to Dr. Gordon and Adam.
Clearly, they were the next victims after Amanda.
Through conversation and understanding, Dr. Gordon learned that Adam had once been hired to secretly photograph him.
After probing further, he discovered that Adam's employer was someone named Cecil, a janitor at the hospital. Combining his profession with the task of hiring Adam to spy on Dr. Gordon, it quickly became clear.
Cecil had access to everyone's medical records, could interact with the victims, and fit the profile of the killer. He was Jigsaw! The mastermind behind all of it.
At that moment, they discovered a phone that could only receive calls.
Dr. Gordon answered it, receiving a call from Jigsaw (Cecil), urging him to kill Adam quickly or else his wife and daughter would be killed.
Though Dr. Gordon didn't want to kill Adam, he had no other choice.
To get the gun to commit suicide, he had to use a hacksaw he found earlier, biting down on his clothes to endure the pain as he began to saw off his own leg.
"Ah!"
"Don't!"
"Oh my God!"
"WTF!" The entire theater was filled with screams of shock and horror.
Pucci blocked his face with his hand, not daring to look, even covering his ears because the sounds of suffering from the screen were unbearable.
Only Gurqi had an excited, grim expression, biting his lip tightly and muttering to himself, "This is bliss, pure bliss!"
Finally, when Dr. Gordon successfully sawed off his leg, the audience finally calmed down.
"He should survive, right?"
"After going this far, he should be okay!"
"But I don't want him to kill Adam!"
"Adam shouldn't have died."
However, just as the audience thought this, they saw Dr. Gordon take the gun and, at Adam's plea, shoot him.
"Adam's dead... Oh God, he shouldn't have died."
"But Dr. Gordon had no choice. He had to save his wife and daughter."
The audience's emotions surged with the plot's twists, eagerly anticipating Dr. Gordon's escape.
Unexpectedly, the man who had kidnapped Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter, Jigsaw (Cecil), suddenly opened the bathroom door and rushed in!
As he aimed the gun at Dr. Gordon, everyone held their breath, silently hoping that Dr. Gordon wouldn't be killed.
Perhaps their prayers worked. Adam, who was thought to be dead, suddenly grabbed Jigsaw's leg, knocking him to the ground and crushing his skull with a stone.
"He didn't die! Adam didn't die!"
"I knew Dr. Gordon wouldn't kill him!"
Most of the audience cheered in joy, relieved that Adam had survived.
"But how did Jigsaw die? Damn!" A small number of people, like Gurqi, were not satisfied.
But he didn't leave. He wanted to see the conclusion, so he decided to continue watching.
After killing Jigsaw, Dr. Gordon comforted Adam and decided to crawl out of the bathroom to find help.
With his pale face, severed leg, and blood-soaked clothes, Dr. Gordon left the bathroom, while Adam anxiously searched Jigsaw's body for the key to the chain. He suddenly found a familiar tape recorder on him.
At that moment, Adam's expression mirrored that of the audience—shocked.
Adam pressed play on the recorder, and the hoarse, deep voice played again.
"Cecil, I want you to make a choice. There's a slow-acting poison in your body, and I have the antidote. Will you kill a mother and daughter to save yourself? The rules are as follows…"
The speech was exactly the same as what Adam had heard when he first woke up. What did this mean?
It meant Cecil wasn't Jigsaw. He was just another victim being manipulated!
"So where is Jigsaw?" The audience was equally confused. They thought Jigsaw was dead, but now it seemed that he had planned everything all along!
He was able to control so many things at once, every piece fitting perfectly together! It was incredible!
"He's always loved observing the victims' survival instincts up close," Pucci wondered. "Where could he be hiding?"
Gurqi clenched his fists, "Yeah, he didn't die. Where is Jigsaw?"
As the movie neared its end, the audience could sense that Jigsaw would make an appearance in the final moments, providing the story with its conclusion.
But no one expected that, just like Adam hadn't anticipated it, when the clock hit six, the suicide victim on the bathroom floor would suddenly come back to life!
Accompanied by tense, thrilling music, all the audience members stared wide-eyed, watching as the corpse slowly got up, peeling away the blood and grime from its face.
It wasn't a wound—it was a realistic fake injury!
The audience was speechless, holding their breath, just like Adam, staring at the screen in shock.
A series of flashback shots followed, including all the clues about Jigsaw, and finally, the camera focused on the tape recorder.
"The key was in the bathtub," Jigsaw said, revealing the answer to the puzzle.
That made Adam remember the drainpipe in the bathtub, the one place he hadn't thought to check!
Adam desperately tried to break free from the chains, but it was too late.
Jigsaw walked to the door, "People never appreciate life, but you won't forget this lesson."
With that, he turned off the bathroom light, walked out the door, and paused for a moment, listening to Adam's cries.
"Game over."
Bang! The bathroom door slammed shut, and Adam's face was plunged back into darkness, just like at the beginning of the film.
The theater was plunged into endless darkness at that moment—no salvation, no survival, only Adam's anguished and regretful cries echoing in everyone's ears.
Then the music started, and the movie ended.
"OMG!" People around Pucci couldn't help but exclaim in excitement.
"That was incredible! The ending was so shocking! I never expected Jigsaw to be there!"
"I've got goosebumps! This movie is amazing. I must recommend it to everyone I know!"
"Damn it, 'Game Over.' That line is so cool! Jigsaw is truly brilliant."
"Yeah, and those traps—I think I'll be dreaming about them tonight."
"Perfect score! Everything was amazing—the cinematography, the music, the traps, the ending! And Billy, it's absolutely the best!"
Pucci listened to everyone's chatter and glanced at Gurqi, noticing the uncontainable excitement on his face as well.
"What do you think?"
"I need to recommend this to everyone on the forums. Jigsaw is just too cool! I love him!" Gurqi pumped his fists and then turned to Pucci. "What about you?"
"It was fantastic! Those cowards who were too scared to come missed out on the best R-rated movie of the year!" Although Pucci was still a little frightened, he couldn't deny how captivating the movie was. The constant twists and turns left him in a state of shock the entire time, completely enthralled.
As Pucci followed the crowd out of the theater, he could still hear various discussions along the way, all centered around Saw.
At the same time, Ethan received the first batch of data.
"All theaters have now finished the first screening. The current box office… $1.95 million."
This figure excited Jimmy, Carl, and James Wan, as this was only from the movie's first screening. To put it in perspective, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had an opening box office of just $860,000.
If nothing unexpected happened, today's box office would undoubtedly exceed $10 million!
"Excellent." Ethan nodded, feeling much more reassured. "Now it all depends on tomorrow's official box office numbers and the weekend's two-day total."
"Of course, critical and audience reception will also be important. Has the critics' screening been arranged?" Ethan had invited a group of critics to watch the film.
"It's scheduled for tomorrow morning. Don't worry," Jimmy assured him, indicating that everything was proceeding smoothly.
"That's good. Just wait and see—this movie is going to exceed everyone's expectations." Ethan smiled, then picked up an orange and began peeling it leisurely.
