The age of Internet

In the distant future, the internet has become an indispensable part of people's lives, and the mutual influence between the virtual world and real life has gradually merged. Especially with the emergence of various social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, the impact of the networked world composed of independent individuals on reality has been growing.

Both Barack Obama and Donald Trump have become presidents of the United States who are very fond of using social networks to express their political views, but the latter is even more extreme. "Twitter governance" has become synonymous with him.

However, in the current year of 2002, the rise of the internet was still in its early stages of development. Even the number of North American households with computers was not significant. However, when it came to the internet's connection to movies, it had been quite vibrant.

IMDb was such an internet movie and television database related to the film industry. Founded in 1990, it was acquired by Amazon in 1998 and became its subsidiary.

Although the built-in message board section was also a popular feature of the website, allowing registered users to share and discuss news about actors, movies, and directors on their corresponding message boards, IMDb, as one of the most well-known movie websites in the United States today, primarily relied on its rating service for films.

Film ratings are determined by an extremely complex system mechanism.

It includes not only professional staff rating films but also allows ordinary film fans to rate movies. When there are a significant number of votes, it can be considered that the film's score objectively reflects its quality. However, this website was not as advanced as the on in the future, and currently, the threshold for ratings was exceptionally low, and almost all registered users could rate their desired films. Bella was no exception. She had just registered an IMDb account and naturally opened the webpage to rate the film "3 Idiots".

It must be said that with the backing of a powerful company and platform, IMDb's real-time aspect had been greatly enhanced. Amazon was indeed wealthy. For films like "3 Idiots", which had just started with small-scale screenings, a separate rating section had been set up.

After opening the webpage, Bella did not immediately rate the film but first looked at the existing number of ratings next to the movie poster. Currently, there were 53 user ratings with a score of 9.6! Without much thinking, it was evident that these 53 users were definitely film enthusiasts who loved artistic films.

In all honesty, Bella felt that this rating was a bit high. "3 Idiots" was indeed well made, but it didn't mean it was flawless. Moreover, a score of 9.6 was too exaggerated and somewhat unrealistic.

"Overrated, everyone!"

Bella gave it a score of 9.3 and then typed this passage with a somewhat mocking tone. She closed the webpage, leaned back in her chair, and felt an inexplicable sense of emptiness enveloping her entire body.

When will there be such a masterpiece again?

....

The night wind blew through the streets of Los Angeles, bringing a coolness. On a sidewalk, several young people, both male and female, chatted and walked in the direction of the cinema.

"Is it really as good as you say?" asked a blonde girl.

"Really, I swear!" a young man with blonde hair said emphatically, "After watching "3 Idiots", you will definitely be satisfied." The young man had just watched it in the morning and was eager to share it with his friends, who were also good friends from the same university and had all been brought along.

"If it's not good," he continued, "and you find it very boring, I'll twist my head off and stick it in the toilet."

The others laughed, "Haha, that's a big statement. Are you really willing to stick your head in the toilet?"

Finally, they arrived at the cinema, probably during the time people were leaving after the show, and many people were coming out. Like most moviegoers after watching a film, these people discussed the plot as they walked.

"It's really good."

"Rancho is so pitiful."

"Nonsense, the most unlucky one is the senior, he lost everything."

"..."

All these comments reached the ears of the group of blonde girls. The young man with blonde hair couldn't help but say, "See, I wasn't wrong. So many people think it's good."

Such a phenomenon inevitably raised expectations for the film in their hearts.

In the absence of sufficient marketing and promotion, small-scale screenings like "3 Idiots" rely on word-of-mouth. Although it may not be as widely known as mainstream commercial films, it has a significant promotional effect on specific groups of viewers, particularly those inclined towards artistic films. Many people learn about this film from friends, colleagues, or relatives, and then enter the cinema. The majority of them find it good and further spread the word to their circles.

This type of information obtained through word-of-mouth may not spread quickly, but it has a greater impact on actual ticket sales than the hype in newspapers and media, which has both advantages and disadvantages.

...

Chris Rand was a freelancer who made a living in the film industry, and there were many people like him. His work was usually diverse. For example, when a celebrity held an event in Los Angeles, they could be hired to act as the most enthusiastic fans. They could also go to the premiere venues to maintain the atmosphere. Now, he was helping as an interviewer, collecting audience feedback at the cinema.

According to the employment terms, he had to record the data of a film in a nearby cinema throughout the weekend. For a daily pay of $200, he had been present from morning till night, putting in a lot of effort.

The cinema was located near downtown Los Angeles, and Chris Rand was familiar with the cinema staff as he often did similar jobs. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get this temporary job.

As the night grew late, the cinema gradually became quiet. Chris lit a cigarette for a person opposite him and asked, "How is the film I'm investigating?"

The person was the director of the cinema's operations department. After taking a deep drag on the cigarette, he said casually, "It's similar to what you've seen. The number of viewers for "3 Idiots" has been increasing. In the last screening, there were 73 people."

"It seems this film has good potential," Chris Rand said with a smile. "This is the last screening today, right? Have you got the box office figures?"

"I knew you would ask about that," the operations department director flicked the ash off his cigarette and said irritably, "There were two screenings in the morning, totaling around $760. The situation was even better in the afternoon, with about $1,700 from four screenings combined. As you saw tonight, the occupancy rate of the 200-seat hall has exceeded 50%. After three screenings, we can expect a minimum of $1,800 in revenue. So the total box office for today should be around $4,260."

Seizing the opportunity, Chris asked, "How is this result? What's your opinion?"

The operations department director shrugged. "The market potential of "3 Idiots" has definitely not been fully realized. That's a given. Our cinema only has one hall for screenings, and in terms of single-hall performance, it's higher than New Line Cinema's "John Q." and second only to Paramount's "We Were Soldiers", both of which are under the same distributor. Comparing the box office performance of art films with commercial films is not a fair comparison, so it's normal to be ranked lower. With this thought in mind, Chris Rand ended the conversation with the cinema's operations department director.

Returning to the hall, he found a seat and took out a resting chair, carefully organizing the first-hand film data he had obtained today.

Throughout the day, he consulted the opinions and feedback of 123 moviegoers. It was probably because those who go to watch this kind of film are often enthusiasts of the same genre, and their evaluations of the film were mostly positive, with an astonishing 95% approval rating. They particularly appreciated the plot crafted by the director himself.

He had already heard the name Lyman Lattes from many viewers. Unfortunately, this director seemed to be an unknown newcomer; otherwise, a film of this caliber should have been shown in more theaters. Shaking his head, Chris Rand stuffed the neatly organized files into his briefcase, then went to the theater counter and picked up a well-prepared box office report to do the final check.

The audience survey for "3 Idiots" showed overwhelmingly positive word-of-mouth, and such films often achieve good box office results. Based on what Chris Rand knew about this cinema, he could roughly speculate that the film's data from the limited screenings and average occupancy rates would be quite high.

Moreover, after a day of interviews and surveys, he instinctively included "3 Idiots" in the category of films that could be expanded for screenings. Otherwise, he wouldn't feel regretful about it.

Turning his head, Chris Rand looked at the movie poster hanging in the cinema. The director's name, Lyman Lattes, was written on it, still as unfamiliar as ever.

He patted his briefcase, checked the time on his watch, and decided it was time to wrap things up. The last screening of the day had not yet ended, but he didn't want to wait any longer. He had done enough work this time, and there was no reason to linger.