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Chapter 150: Outstanding Action
🕑 Added 2025-01-01 09:07:24 +0000 UTCOn the weekend, in the office of Lionsgate Entertainment in California, Richard from the distribution department decided immediately to distribute Saw after watching it.
Regarding the profit-sharing ratio, after hearing Ethan and the team's marketing strategy, Richard also gave a positive response. However, they wanted to sign an additional betting agreement with Ethan.
If the film's opening weekend box office reaches $10 million, Lionsgate will increase the number of screens while reducing its share percentage.
But if the film's opening weekend box office falls short of $10 million, Lionsgate will increase the number of screens while also increasing its share percentage.
This was undoubtedly a different approach. Regardless of whether Saw became a hit or not, they would still make money.
Since Ethan learned about this betting agreement, he naturally tested the waters with other companies as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, except for Miramax and MGM, no other companies were willing to sign such a betting agreement, and the initial profit-sharing ratio offered by these two companies wasn't significantly lower either.
After careful calculation, Lionsgate remained the most suitable choice.
In the final agreement signed by both parties, Norton's Eye would receive 45% of the profits, Lionsgate would get 15%, and the rest would go to the theater chains.
Under the betting agreement, if the film's opening weekend box office exceeded $10 million, Lionsgate's share would drop to 12%. If the opening weekend box office didn't reach $10 million, their share would increase to 20%.
As for the release date, Richard suggested choosing the Halloween season. This period is traditionally dominated by horror film competitions, and audiences have psychological expectations for such movies.
However, in terms of screen allocation, Lionsgate couldn't match the financial strength of MGM or Universal. They could only promise 1,500 screens for the first week. But if the box office performed well, they would double the screen count to over 3,000 in the second week.
This was already sufficient for Ethan and his team, so they signed the contract without much hesitation.
Next, they had to plan a series of promotional strategies.
The forum post about the Horry pumpkin Head and the follow-up Saw personal website were the handiwork of Ethan. Judging from the current results, it was highly effective. Everyone was discussing the serial killer, but no one could find any evidence of his existence.
In fact, this type of promotional tactic was used as early as The Blair Witch Project. Before the film's release, the crew created an official website for the movie. They posted news reports about the missing persons, along with handwritten notes, photos, and family details of the victims.
The offline promotional team simultaneously published missing person notices in major magazines, weekly journals, and video rental stores, making many people believe the events in the film were real.
Such internet-based promotional methods weren't new, but this was just the first step in Ethan's marketing plan. The most crucial promotional strategy would be carried out a month before the movie's release, so it wasn't the right time yet.
For now, the key was to maintain the persona of Jigsaw through photos and videos, creating a true urban legend. When the time came, they would coordinate the film's release to create a massive impact. Only in this way could they achieve the best results.
Before that, they couldn't reveal any movie-related materials to avoid bursting the bubble of illusion.
Ethan's caution stemmed from the fact that two heavyweight movies were already announced for the Halloween slot: the nationally renowned classic IP The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the third installment of the famous horror-comedy Scary Movie. Both were undoubtedly box-office heavyweights.
If Saw was exposed too early, it would definitely become a target for comparison and ridicule. Even though Ethan had confidence in the film's quality, it couldn't compete with the fanbase and status of those two movies.
Thus, timing was critical. The marketing campaign needed to strike at the most opportune moment to capture the largest potential audience.
For now, they would let the rumors spread for a while.
In a video store, Devar was staring at the bald duo in front of him. No one spoke or blinked, as if engaged in a prolonged staring contest.
Finally, when the bespectacled Poochie felt his eyes aching, he raised his hand in surrender: "Alright, I give up! You win, boss. I'll pay you the money."
He took out an adorable frog-patterned knitted wallet from his pocket and handed Deval ten dollars. However, the next second, the store owner roared angrily: "Do you think this is a staring contest? FXXK! You already owe me for three CDs! Damn it, do you think I have endless patience? Pay up, or I'll go to your house and find your father!"
Deval had only recently discovered that Poochie and his family lived in the same neighborhood. That was why he tolerated Poochie buying CDs on credit.
But Poochie, wearing an unbothered expression, said, "Deval, even if you find my dad, it's useless. He spends all day drinking. The money he gets is taken from my mom's pockets. For this ten dollars, I'll get spanked when I go home tonight."
The bald black man, Madden, immediately repeated loudly: "Wow, Poochie, you're nineteen and still get spanked by your mom?"
"Damn it! Madden, shut your stinking mouth!" Poochie angrily jumped up and punched him in the chest. "Watch out, or I'll call Jigsaw to tie you to the Sacred Artifact and twist your arm off!"
Madden raised his arms, made a gesture of them going limp, and then cried out in mock fear: "So scary, Poochie!"
"Enough! Madden, stop your lousy physical comedy in my store!" Devar, exasperated, stopped the two clowns and walked to the TV with a CD in hand. "I'm giving you ten more days. If you still can't pay for the CDs, I'll go to your house and demand payment from your parents!"
"Heartless!" Poochie shouted indignantly.
"Shameless!" Madden echoed. The next second, they both ducked to avoid the chalkboard eraser Deval threw at them.
Then, they saw Deval writing today's new song, Crazy in Love, on the blackboard by the door.
"Whose song is this?" Poochie asked Madden, who shrugged.
They saw Devar add a few words: Destiny's Child Beyoncé's Solo Work, Directed by Ethan.
"Wow! So it's Ethan!"
"It's Ethan!" The two exclaimed Ethan's name in unison, immediately showing their excitement.
Although Ethan didn't direct many music videos, his profound impact made every one of his videos a classic. Many regulars at the video store started actively following and collecting Ethan's MV works.
Especially Milon, the original Ethan fan, who collected every MV he directed, whether official or not. He even enthusiastically recommended them to others who expressed interest in Ethan.
Poochie and Madden were two of those converts. Their decision to give up freeloading and actually buy CDs was partially due to Milon's influence.
So when they saw Ethan's new MV, they immediately grabbed chairs from the store, sat in front of the TV like attentive students, and even looked ready to take notes with pens and notebooks.
The other people in the store, influenced by them, also gathered around. Deval pressed the remote, and Beyoncé's new song began playing.
The opening featured Jay-Z rapping as he sat in a car, looking out from the driver's seat at Beyoncé, standing gracefully with her back to the audience.
As Jay-Z's rap continued, the car drew closer and stopped in front of Beyoncé. When she turned around, Madden immediately exclaimed: "She's beautiful!"
"What's so beautiful about a black girl?" Poochie countered without hesitation.
Madden pointed at his own skin tone and widened his eyes: "Say that again?"
Poochie turned back to the screen, shrugged, and said, "Alright, fine. She's beautiful for you."
After the rap, the MV transitioned into the main song. The camera followed Beyoncé as she walked briskly in front of a factory gate. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, she crouched down and began a series of mesmerizing ground dance moves, perfectly in sync with the song's rhythm, extending her legs and thrusting her hips.
The fluidity of her movements captivated everyone, even Poochie, who whistled despite his disinterest in black women.
As the song continued, Beyoncé performed various hot dances in multiple outfits and settings. When night fell in the video, she set a few cars ablaze and sang alongside Jay-Z in front of the roaring flames.
"Ethan truly knows how to film women. None of his women are anything less than sexy," Madden said with genuine admiration, earning Poochie's agreement.
"Exactly, women! Ethan is the best at filming women. By the way, didn't the photographer for those photo albums we bought also go by Ethan?"
Hearing this, Madden recalled the sexy photo shoots they had previously seen. "You're right. Could it be the same person? I mean, he's already an MV director. Would he still work as a photo shoot photographer?"
"Why is it impossible?" Puchi and he widened their small eyes: "Women! Ethan likes women the most, so of course he can work as a photographer while also shooting MV."
"Alright, maybe you're right."
"Achoo!" Ethan sneezed, and Avril immediately took out a few tissues from the tissue box and handed them to him. "What's wrong? Did you catch a cold?"
"No, maybe someone is talking about me." Ethan smiled, thinking to himself about which little imp was secretly whispering about him, and then pulled Avril into his arms.
They had finally met, so they couldn't be disturbed.
Avril leaned against Ethan's shoulder like a little cat. The two were watching a variety show, and Beyoncé, as a guest, had just performed the rapid squats and continuous dance moves from the MV on stage.
The male host expressed his amazement and extended his leg, eager to try the same.
But unfortunately, as he finished the squat, "crack," the host's crotch split open immediately.
Seeing the host's awkward expression as he desperately looked for something to cover himself, the two burst out laughing. Avril reached down and touched: "Ethan, I think this guy definitely did it on purpose."
"Of course, how could the crotch tear so easily?" Ethan said, then immediately felt a little hand moving around: "Avril, what are you doing? Are you trying to see if my crotch will tear?"
"That's right, I want to see if it will tear when it gets hard!"
"Oh! God, don't treat it like that, it will be very sad."
"Hehe, I don't care! Let me try!"
"FXXK! You're so naughty!"
