Chapter 294: Memories of Murder: Upcoming Release

Prior to this, due to concerns regarding the social impact of the serial murder case, the filming of the movie "Memories of Murder" had once fallen into a stalemate.

Upon learning that it could not be released immediately, many of the cast members became quite discouraged.

Fortunately, the director, Utsumi Takuto, was experienced; by dangling the carrot of participating in Akiwara Yuto's future works, he managed to fire up this group of actors.

After many bumps in the road, the film finally wrapped at the end of August, taking nearly a third longer than originally estimated.

Besides this, there was another major issue: other investors, upon learning it could not be released immediately, had one after another proposed withdrawing their capital.

To make them shut up, Akiwara Yuto spent 100 million yen directly to buy out all the remaining shares.

After all, in his view, as long as this movie could be released, it was bound to be a big hit! Rather than wasting energy bickering with these investors, it was better to just fully fund it himself!

Now it was all good; after all the bitterness, the time for release had finally arrived!

……

The next morning, Akiwara Yuto immediately made a call to contact Utsumi Takuto. After a brief conversation, he took a car directly to the site rented by the production crew.

Although the filming had wrapped, it still needed to go through post-production to cut out redundant or unnecessary parts.

Upon arriving at the office, Akiwara Yuto saw Utsumi Takuto reviewing the footage, so he joined in to watch for a moment and asked, "Are there any parts that need adjustments?"

Utsumi Takuto shook his head: "The actors all performed very well."

After saying this, he added a bit of flattery: "The people you recommended are truly different; the students from the Tokyo Woman's Christian University drama club have such great acting skills, it's simply surprising."

Akiwara Yuto nodded, though he didn't feel surprised.

Because of the previous brief suspension, several actresses playing roles like the victims had left.

So he had directly contacted the Tokyo Woman's Christian University drama club, who had performed the "Seven Rooms" stage play, to request assistance.

He had only asked casually at the time, but he hadn't expected that when these students heard there was an opportunity to act in a movie, they were all very excited, not even intending to take any pay.

However, despite their strong desire to participate, there weren't actually many scenes for them, and most of them were just playing "corpses."

Speaking of which, what kind of acting skill does that require?

Thinking of this, Akiwara Yuto looked at Utsumi Takuto suspiciously.

Utsumi Takuto did not know his flattery had missed the mark and continued: "Please take a look at the final cut."

Immediately after, he began to rewind and play the edited film.

Akiwara Yuto watched with great focus, while simultaneously comparing it to the memories of his past life, and found that it was indeed filmed quite well.

The actors' performances went without saying; the two male leads brought in were seasoned veterans, and their acting was quite good. As for the other supporting roles, suitable people had also been found for all of them.

Besides the acting, the overall atmosphere of the movie was also very intensely rendered; it could be said to be a step-by-step progression that left one feeling breathless.

Two hours passed in a flash, and Akiwara Yuto finished watching the entire film, revealing a satisfied expression.

Up to now, the cost spent was nearly 180 million yen, but overall, it was worth the price!

Seeing Akiwara Yuto satisfied, Utsumi Takuto also felt a sense of relief.

"We have already sent the film for review, but for promotion and theater chains, we still need your help, Akiwara-sensei."

Utsumi Takuto revealed an embarrassed smile.

Promotion? Theater chains?

Akiwara Yuto asked suspiciously, "Did something go wrong?"

Utsumi Takuto replied with a bitter smile: "Promotion is fine, it's just a matter of funds. But as for the theater chains, that was the responsibility of one of the previous partner investors."

Hearing this, Akiwara Yuto immediately realized what had happened.

That investor had been kicked out by him, so this matter was still his own fault.

He thought for a moment and said: "Let's do this. I will invest another 50 million yen into the production's financial account, but you should first produce a specific promotional plan. As for the theater chains, I will have Asano-san go talk to some people."

……

Three days later, at the production office.

Asano Aiko said in an unnatural tone: "Sorry, Akiwara, there are only 30 theaters that have agreed to screen it..."

Hearing this result, Akiwara Yuto became puzzled.

For theaters, the reason for whether or not to schedule a film is mainly whether the movie will make money.

He had now invested quite a bit of promotional capital, and after all, he had put his own name on the posters; logically speaking, the theaters should value that point to some extent, right?

Asano Aiko glanced at Utsumi Takuto, not knowing if she should speak, and Utsumi Takuto took the initiative to say: "Akiwara-sensei, it should be because of me."

Akiwara Yuto glanced at him, feeling a bit puzzled.

Utsumi Takuto continued: "When theaters schedule films, a very important point is looking at the director's track record, and everything I've filmed before has been R18 violent subject matter, so the audience size is limited, and therefore the box office..."

Akiwara Yuto pondered for a while and quickly understood what he meant: because of the theaters' lack of trust in the director, they had reduced the number of screenings.

He patted Utsumi Takuto on the shoulder and said with a smile: "It's fine, I believe in you."

If he were to blame the other party now, wouldn't that just mean his own judgment back then was poor?

Moreover, he didn't think this was a big problem.

One must know, there was a movie in Japan called "One Cut of the Dead" that started with only 2 theaters, yet it still managed to become a nationwide blockbuster.

His own "Memories of Murder" was closely tied to current hot topics, and the quality of the film wasn't bad, so it wasn't impossible to achieve the same.

He smiled and said earnestly: "Don't worry too much, let's just release it as is!"

Things had already reached this point; thinking more about it wouldn't help.

Whether it's a good movie or not, let the audience judge it!

As long as the quality of the movie is sufficient, other theaters will come knocking on their own!

Soon, the review results came out.

Although "Memories of Murder" had quite a few sensitive areas, Utsumi Takuto summarized his previous experience and didn't let it become an R18 movie during the review, instead making it PG-12.

Regarding promotion, Asano Aiko and those 30 theaters also quickly completed the coordination work, and they agreed to release it on September 20th.

In order to maximize the promotional effect, the production crew entrusted the remaining 20 million yen in the account, along with the 50 million yen newly invested by Akiwara Yuto, to four advertising agencies.

They had them place advertisements inside the carriages of Shinkansen trains in major cities.

Not only that, Satake Maki also found a group of internet water army to promote this movie online.

After this series of operations, two weeks passed in a flash, and soon the day of the release arrived...