Chapter 120: Blame Him

Someone fainting from a horror movie could be due to various factors. If it were any other film, causing someone to faint might not be a good thing. But if a horror movie makes someone faint, doesn't it just prove how terrifying the movie is? At least it's not a bad thing.

Murphy's mind was spinning rapidly. "Do you remember the person who fainted?"

"What do you want?" Kara Farris immediately became wary.

Walking back and forth, Murphy said into his phone, "I'll talk to Fox Searchlight and see if we can get some media to interview you. You can describe the scene..."

"And then have you praised?" Kara Farris's voice carried a hint of sarcasm. "Is that it?"

Murphy saw no need to hide. "Don't you think it's a good publicity stunt? The film's marketing budget is limited."

After a second of silence on the other end, Kara Farris's voice came again. "The person who fainted is a professor from Columbia University. Let me contact the media and see if I can arrange an interview for you."

"I won't say thank you." Murphy chuckled.

Hanging up the phone, he stood in the courtyard, looking up at the sky. *Saw* had been pushed into theaters. Whether it was a success or failure would depend on this weekend.

Picking up his phone again, Murphy called Tony Guzman and mentioned his idea. Perhaps the $260,000 in promotional expenses hadn't been fully spent yet, or maybe the data from Fox Searchlight was promising. Tony Guzman said he would discuss the matter with higher-ups.

By noon, Tony Guzman walked into his boss, Gordon Clyde's office. Things went smoother than he expected. After explaining, Gordon Clyde only took half a minute to call the marketing and PR departments, instructing them to contact Fox's media outlets and arrange an interview with the audience member who had fainted.

"Oh, one more thing." Ready to leave, Tony Guzman added, "Murphy Stanton wants the company to provide him with the latest statistics on *Saw*."

This had been agreed upon when they signed the contract. Gordon Clyde nodded and handed a file from a box on his right to Tony Guzman. "This just came in. It's the attendance statistics from 30 preview theaters this morning."

He waved his hand, and Tony Guzman left, heading to the secretary's office and directly to the fax machine. Before sending the fax, he took a look.

It was already noon Pacific Time, and all theaters screening *Saw* had finished their morning shows. The data, calculated through computer networks, had arrived promptly.

Thirty theaters had screened *Saw* a total of 60 times, with a total audience of 1,500 people.

Ah, so that's it! Tony Guzman suddenly realized why Gordon Clyde had agreed so readily. The attendance rate in the morning was quite good.

With an average of over 20 people per screening, it might seem average, but Tony Guzman remembered it was Friday morning!

If calculated based on the average ticket price of $6, *Saw* had already grossed $9,000 in North America, with a per-theater gross of $300.

The afternoon and evening shows would surely see a significant increase in attendance, which was the natural law of the market. Moreover, there would be more screenings. The single-theater box office might even break $3,000 on the first day. As long as the word of mouth for the film was good, the box office on Saturday might increase again. Thus, the first-weekend single-theater box office was likely to surpass the $10,000 mark.

In the following week, *Saw* would definitely increase its screening scale significantly...

Next was to see the film's word of mouth. For a project with limited promotional investment like this, word-of-mouth publicity was crucial!

Since only thirty theaters were screening the film, Fox Searchlight had also hired a consulting firm to conduct on-site surveys. Audience word of mouth, this kind of thing, couldn't be accurately reflected in the media and sometimes differed greatly from the ratings given by film critics.

Fox Searchlight hadn't specifically invited professional film critics to the preview screenings. It was unlikely that a bloody horror film like this would receive positive reviews from them, nor would they use their opinions to gauge market response. That would lead to incorrect judgments. The opinions of moviegoers watching the film live would be more important.

In North America, there was a company called CinemaScore specializing in market ratings, but Fox Searchlight couldn't expect such a big company to pay attention to small-scale preview screenings of small productions.

For small productions like this, many were released in North America every week, most of them were three-day releases in theaters, who would pay attention to them?

Moreover, hiring a consulting firm to conduct field surveys wouldn't cost much. Fox Searchlight could easily afford it, and it was within the planned budget.

Preview screenings were mainly held in large cities.

At the entrance of a theater in Long Island, a moviegoer recalled the plot of the film he had just seen, "Yeah, I watched *Saw*. It almost scared me to death!"

He lightly patted his chest, still feeling a bit scared, "It's such a good horror film. It's been years since I've seen one like this. I'm going to bring my little brother to see it tomorrow. He's always been timid, and I bet he won't be able to sleep after being scared."

With a mischievous smile and some words of praise, he left the theater.

At an independent cinema in Venice, Los Angeles, a black man was stopped as he walked out of the theater. Upon hearing questions about *Saw*, he grinned, showing his white teeth, "I didn't find it too scary. Those killing devices were just too cool! And the ending was so unexpected, the director really set it up well!"

Several people passed by, and they were also discussing the movie.

"What's the name of the director and screenwriter? Oh right, it's Murphy Stanton. This guy is so cunning. Isn't this ending just making fun of people? "

"Tch!" Another person was disdainful of such remarks, "Is this fooling people? Clearly, the director has ingeniously crafted the plot. Don't you think Murphy Stanton's film breaks away from the clichés of Hollywood?"

"That's right! That's right!" Others chimed in, "With such innovative films to watch, I'm willing to be fooled every day!"

"This director is obviously talented and creative. Don't attack him out of ignorance..."

A cacophony of voices faded away with footsteps.

After watching the movie and having lunch outside, Daisy returned home, poured herself a glass of water, and sat down to rest for a while before coming to her computer.

Ever since *Hard Candy*, she found the director named Murphy Stanton very interesting. Though *Saw* was a bit too bloody for her taste, its suspenseful elements and plot structure were truly outstanding. Especially the scene where the old man stood up at the end, leaving everyone in the theater stunned, it was still fresh in her memory.

It's easy to win applause, but how many directors can leave the audience dumbfounded?

She connected to the internet and skillfully opened IMDB. After a quick search, she found Murphy

Stanton's profile. Since the release of *Fruit Hard Candy*, he had his own IMDB ID. However, his section was barren except for a few lines introducing the director's personal information and the name of *Hard Candy*, along with an IMDB link. There was nothing else.

However, this time Daisy noticed something different. Among Murphy Stanton's credits, there wasn't just *Saw*, but there were also a few comments in the discussion section.

"It's so deserted here. Am I the first one to comment? It seems so. Who is this director, Murphy Stanton? Why doesn't he even have a personal picture on IMDB? He's so mysterious. But I love the director's work. After watching the movie this morning, I wanted to sleep, but I was too scared. I was afraid that if I fell asleep, Murphy Stanton, the maniac, would grab me and play those terrifying games. Oh, and can someone add a photo of him?"

This was a comment around noon. Around 12:20, another person entered.

"I #@#!"

A string of obscenities was blocked by the website. This person seemed very angry and wanted to vent somewhere, "Where's that Murphy Stanton psycho director? Why did he make this movie so terrifying? He scared my girlfriend to tears, and she's still crying now! It's infuriating!"

The first commenter replied, "You could just not watch something that scary, isn't that torturing yourself?"

The person responded, "I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. I tried to tell her to close her eyes or leave early, but she wouldn't listen. She kept crying while watching! She's been shaking the whole time! Okay, I admit, I didn't want to leave either! It's all that damn Murphy Stanton's fault. Why did he make such a good horror film? It makes people not want to leave or close their eyes. Blame him!"

The first commenter was speechless, "Uh..."

Further down, someone else commented, "This film is indeed very scary and quite frightening. It's one of the few gems in horror films in recent years. What's most unexpected is not the ending of the film, but the fact that such a gem comes from an unknown director."

That's all the comments. Daisy quickly finished reading. Although there were some comments, overall, there was still a lack of attention.

She scrolled up the webpage, and next to Murphy Stanton's name, there was still a blank space where the photo should be. What does this director really look like? Is he a fat guy like Hitchcock? Is he as kind as Spielberg? Or is he a psycho like Jigsaw?

After watching *Hard Candy* and *Saw* consecutively, Daisy really wanted to know what this eccentric director looked like.

Unfortunately, this guy's fame was still too small.

She clicked on the *Saw* link under Murphy Stanton's name, and the webpage flipped, revealing a rating page in front of her.