Chapter 607 Okay, I’m Rich!

The most famous of the pseudo-documentary movies is of course "Blair Witch". It cost US$60,000 and achieved a box office of US$140 million in North America and US$248 million globally. It is one of the most famous low-cost and high-return movies.

Of course, the first truly influential mockumentary was "Cannibalism" in 1980.

The story mode is very similar to "Blair Witch": a film crew composed of three men and one woman searched for a disappeared cannibal tribe in the jungles of South America, but unexpectedly they never returned...

The actors of the indigenous cannibals in "Cannibalism" were real cannibals, and some clips in the film were so realistic that many people believed the film clips to be true. Some even sued the director Lu Jie German murder…

It is said that in order to make the movie look more real, the producer signed a contract with the starring actors and they were not allowed to appear in public for one year after the movie was released...

So, it's really true.

The film was suspended 10 days after its release, and the director and the behind-the-scenes team all went to court.

Director Rugged had to find the actors and explain to the court that the clips that the audience believed to be true were just the plot of the movie and no one was harmed.

However, the animals that were killed in the movie were real, and Rujed was eventually sentenced to four months in prison for animal cruelty.

To bring it back, in fact, after "Blair Witch", there were a bunch of horror films in the pseudo-documentary mode, trying to make a big difference out of small things!

But...the influence is far less than "Blair Witch"...

Even the sequel "Blair Witch 2" failed to continue its miracle at the box office!

Speaking of which, the pinnacle of pseudo-documentary horror films should be the Spanish horror film "Death Video" - the heroine is hunted and killed.

"Death Video" is well-made and has a high degree of completion. It lays out the zombie virus in detail and develops a complete series from it. The "night vision" plot at the end of the film is quite groundbreaking, even among all pseudo-documentary horror films. All are excellent ideas;

The masterpiece should be "The Deadly Video". The plot involves ghosts, demons, supernatural beings, zombies, perverted killers, and alien invasions, covering almost all horror themes!

But the most profitable one is definitely "Ghost Story"!

This movie is so famous. It uses a pseudo-documentary technique to tell the story of a young couple who were troubled by supernatural phenomena at home and decided to use a camera to capture all the incredible events...

The film uses DV photography to truly record the strange situations in various homes, creating an immersive and thrilling effect...

The cost was US$11,000, and the final global box office was close to 200 million. Moreover, six films were filmed in a row, and almost every film achieved incredible box office returns!

That's why Shen Xudong is careful...

He told Jason Blum this: "Suppose a couple feels that there is a ghost in their home, and then records it with a documentary... In the end, the ghost really appears..."

Therefore, although Shen Xudong did not participate in the screenwriting or production of "Ghost Chronicles", he is the biggest contributor behind the scenes of the entire drama - he is an investor and creative provider of this drama!

Let's put it this way, without him, "The Ghost Story" would have been impossible to film!

Therefore, Jason Brun wanted to call Shen Xudong as soon as possible to tell him the good news.

…

Shen Xudong is revising the novel - "Become Famous"...

Shen Haobo told him that a publishing house wanted to publish the novel version of "Famous" and offered a buyout price of two million...

Damn it, two million!

Shen Xudong immediately decided to do it...

Why not just change the script into a novel...

The maximum number is 100,000 words. Shen Xudong has been coding these days to finish the draft, revise and polish it...

Then I got a call from Jason Bullen.

Of course I’m happy…

"Promotion cost...$18.65 million..."

"I understand, the promotion of "Purge 2" and "Happy Death Day" should also be increased to 15 million US dollars..."

"Well, don't let Lions Gate be responsible for the publicity, who knows whether they will deliberately exaggerate the quotation!"

"... A sequel can of course be made. It will be a family drama, reorganizing the family... The focus of the drama will be on the children... In the third part, let's reveal the secret..."

"I have a comprehensive plan... Well, that's it, hang up now."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Xudong felt that he was not... not that surprised!

Is it because the money didn't arrive?

No, when the "Human Purge Plan" was a big hit and the money didn't come in, he excitedly tried playing ten of them again - challenging the limit!

This time "Ghost Chronicles" made more money than "The Purge", and it is also a series, which is equivalent to a gold mine...

Generally speaking, the audiovisual copyrights, TV copyrights, and home entertainment copyrights for horror films like "The Ghost Story" are quite high!

This time, I can make a profit of more than 50 million US dollars...

Could it be?

Burned out?

Impossible. How can there be a burnout period when making money?

If there really is a burnout period, then why would he accept the novel version of "Famous"?

No matter what, let’s revise the novel "Famous" first...

…

Shen Xudong ‘don’t care’. In China, a lot of media were excited. As for itself, the paper cost of “Ghost Story” was US$17,000, shot in three days, and then won the North American single-week box office championship...

What is this called?

American dream!

The American dream can only be realized by going to the United States...

These days, the media promotes the American dream in various ways. Even articles such as "Tonight, We Are All Americans" and "To American Soldiers" can be published publicly...

Even in 2011, Yuan Tengfei was still promoted on Youku’s homepage...

Then, upon investigation, it turned out that this movie was made by Shen Xudong!

Shen Xudong This is a real case of the American dream!

It must be reported well.

As a result, the story of "The Ghost Story" costing US$17,000 and grossing US$60 million at the box office was widely reported, triggering a lot of discussion in a short period of time - as long as you have talent, the American dream will come true...

Oh, these are just media reports. Inside the circle... well, not only the inside circle, but even Director Han was alarmed this time and called specifically to find out whether it was true or false.

Shen Xudong explained: "It's a horror movie. It tells the story of a couple who suspected that there was something dirty in their home and filmed it with a camera... Americans are relatively simple, so they went to watch it to promote it..."

"We found a lot of celebrities to promote it... The cost was really low. The shooting took seven days and the total cost was less than 20,000 US dollars... but the publicity and promotion expenses were close to 30 million US dollars!"

"...It must be promoted. Without advertising or publicity, who knew there was such a movie?"

"It's unlikely to be released in the Mainland. There is a ghost in this movie... Horror movies without ghosts and ghosts are two different concepts..."

"I just earn a script fee and production fee...how can I make a huge profit..."

"If they want to report it, just report it..."

Seeing him hang up the phone, Gao Fenfen immediately asked: "Did Director Han call too?"

"Hmm..." Shen Xudong shook his head and said, "The media reports are too exaggerated, 10,000 times profit..."

"Isn't it ten thousand times?"

"The most you can make is..." Shen Xudong originally wanted to hide his clumsiness, but when he thought about it...he let it go. "Ghost Chronicles" cannot hide clumsiness - it is a pseudo-documentary model, the actors are all unknown, and the cycle is only seven days...

Simply tell the truth: "It's only 4,000 times..."

"4000 times..."

Gao Fenfen quickly did some calculations, okay, no need to do any calculations, 4000 × 17,000 = 68 million...

A show made $68 million?

"Absolutely!" Shen Xudong continued: "The overseas copyright was packaged and sold to Fox for a price of US$38 million... plus one dollar, there should be a net profit of US$68 million."

Gao Fenfen is a little short of breath...

Uh, last year, okay, not last year, but this year, the company's pure film profit was less than 68 million U.S. dollars. Shen Xudong was able to make a horror movie?