Chapter 52: Two Films Released Together

"Yawen, you must know Director Lin Nan's schedule, right? How long will he be staying over there?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yawen instinctively wanted to press his temples; this was the thirteenth person to ask him a similar question today.

Early in the morning, Wang Jinghua had called him to the company to ask about Lin Nan. It was all online, so he told her, but after that, he couldn't find any peace. As fellow artists under Sister Hua, those people also came one by one, asking in roundabout ways.

Looking at the woman three years his senior, Zhu Yawen sighed, "Sister Bingbing, I know his schedule, but I don't know when he'll be back."

Perhaps Liu Yifei knew roughly, Zhu Yawen thought. But he certainly couldn't say it out loud.

"It looks like he intends to keep an eye on the box office over there for a while; I suppose he has other plans..." Fan Bingbing probed.

"My dear sister, even if he really has other arrangements, he would certainly keep them confidential. Can such things be told to others?"

Zhu Yawen remembered the other Bingbing from the morning; she didn't have as many questions as the one before him.

"Alright, alright, I won't bother you anymore."

Fan Bingbing looked at the listless Zhu Yawen and walked away with a smile.

The company atmosphere had been strange lately, with many artists frequently coming back to hang around. Zhu Yawen had a premonition that Wang Jinghua might be about to show her hand.

Fifteen hours ahead of domestic time, "Return to Dust" was the first to be released. China Film Group handled the distribution and promotion, doing everything that needed to be done. Lin Nan's recent buzz would certainly provide some boost. As for the box office, it would depend on the audience; after all, given the film's subject matter, one couldn't be too demanding about the numbers.

Liu Yifei's daily routine was very regular; apart from attending classes, she just stayed home and played with her cat.

Mother Liu had asked Liu Yifei about Lin Nan; currently, many people in the industry were very concerned.

In the past, there were only two forms of domestic film and television circles going abroad: either your actors were picked and chosen to go over, or you used your money to participate in some particularly terrible films. There was almost never any profit, and both opportunities were very rare.

This time, Lin Nan used a very rare third method: participating in production as a screenwriter, owning a twenty percent share. If this was successful, it was not hard to imagine that he would possess a certain degree of leverage in the future.

"He might stay a while longer, wait for the results of 'Dead Silence' to come out, and then decide on his next work arrangements."

Liu Yifei was curled up on the sofa, a solid-colored cat lying in her arms, holding a foreign classic in her hands, speaking casually.

Mother Liu could understand the implication: it meant that once the results of "Dead Silence" were good, Lin Nan would have subsequent film arrangements over there.

"Oh, I see. Then remember to give him your birthday invitation."

"Got it."

Liu Yifei looked up at her mother and realized something was off about her today; why was she suddenly so concerned about Lin Nan?

The audience who went to the cinema to support Lin Nan all came out with red eyes, constantly cursing while they spoke.

"Peacock" and "Qinghong" weren't this miserable; even as realistic feature films, there were always some warm scenes at the end.

"Return to Dust," however, started with misery, and just when there was a glimmer of hope in the middle, it turned out to be the only warm scene in the entire film. The second half took a sharp turn for the worse, returning to misery, and finally ended in pure tragedy.

"It made me so uncomfortable, it's miserable, they aren't even treated like humans, boohoo..."

Ordinary audience members who were a bit older would all feel deeply touched.

The word-of-mouth for "Return to Dust" was established on the first day amidst a chorus of tears and curses.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Los Angeles time, Lin Nan saw an email from China Film Group.

Because of the time difference, it was still morning here, while the first day had already passed over there. The opening day box office for "Return to Dust" was 1.2 million.

The word-of-mouth from ordinary audiences was very good, but there were also many critical voices, roughly consistent with the tone used to criticize directors like Jia Zhangke in the past.

After searching domestic news, "Return to Dust" mostly received positive reviews. Being able to reach 1.2 million on the first day was already an unexpectedly good result.

"Dead Silence" hit North American theaters at midnight. The opening box office for the first three days was very important. It wasn't just Lionsgate and Lin Nan watching this data, but also other Hollywood companies eyeing Lin Nan's scripts. Just waiting three more days would determine the scale of negotiations with Lin Nan.

During these three days, Lin Nan stayed in a Santa Monica hotel, keeping an eye on the domestic box office while monitoring film information here.

Although the word-of-mouth for "Return to Dust" was good, it still couldn't significantly change the box office, which reported 1.0something million on the second day.

Meanwhile, "Initial D" had been released for two weeks, with the domestic box office exceeding 50 million, Hong Kong 30 million, and over 100 million in Asia combined.

Having received the news from China Film Group, Lin Nan already had a rough prediction for the box office of "Return to Dust." The total box office should exceed 10 million; as for how much more, it was hard to say, but it wouldn't reach 15 million.

Lionsgate received some data on "Dead Silence" from the theaters; the attendance rate was high, with no obvious regional differences, and the main demographic was young people and students.

"Lin, they look very excited. Is the box office very high?"

Tang Mu asked Lin Nan curiously. He hadn't seen the box office data, but the people at Lionsgate looked like they had it in the bag, with smiles on everyone's faces.

"I suppose so. From the existing data, we can roughly infer that the opening box office is good."

Horror films in the large North American market were also niche films, with a very fixed audience, which could almost be described as stable.

On the 4th, local time, Lin Nan rushed to Lionsgate Films early in the morning. There was no need to worry about whether they were at work; there were definitely people who arrived earlier than Lin Nan.

"Oh, dear Lin, we succeeded. This film is destined for a bumper harvest."

A middle-aged foreigner from the business department shouted excitedly at Lin Nan.

"The data is out? How much is it?"

Lin Nan was also eager to know.

"I only know it's very good. We have to wait for James and the others to come over to reveal it together."

Lionsgate employees entered the building one by one. Wan Zhiren arrived with a senior vice president.

"Director Lin Nan, I didn't expect you to come so early. Are you too impatient to know the box office results?"

Wan Zhiren joked, a rare occurrence, "Let my boss tell everyone."

The thin, tall foreigner who accompanied him walked up to the crowd with a smile, "Dear friends, just a few hours ago, we received the opening box office data for 'Dead Silence,' our two and a half months of work.

Our opening box office is ranked second on the chart. Our three-day opening box office is 15.4 million. Let's cheer..."

Lin Nan was very unaccustomed to this way of celebrating, with a group of people howling and screaming, but he could still feel the excited emotions of these foreigners before him.

He knew that the reputation of "Saw" and Wan Zhiren accounted for at least half of it, and the rest was the word-of-mouth of this film.

Wan Zhiren moved to Lin Nan's side, "At the time, the opening box office for 'Saw' was several million less than this. Congratulations to us."

"Congratulations to us."

Lin Nan met Wan Zhiren's gaze and said mechanically, his brain still buzzing with the string of numbers he had just heard.

At this moment, Lin Nan knew that he had stepped into the gates of Hollywood with one foot. As for how far he could go, it depended on how he walked from here on.

For the whole morning, the Lionsgate building was lively.

"Lin, you are not just a genius director, you are also a genius screenwriter. We need you..."

"Stay, everything you want is here."

All kinds of temptations filled his ears. It was indeed the most prestigious vanity fair. Lin Nan declined them one by one.

The opening three-day box office was already out. Lin Nan and Tang Mu began to wait, waiting for those eager film companies.

Lionsgate sought Lin Nan's opinion. They planned to make "Saw 2" first after "Dead Silence," and then start "Insidious 1." Lin Nan expressed his approval; doing so would also whet the audience's appetite and maximize expectations.

The news spread back to the country, and Sina pinned the news about "Dead Silence."

"'Dead Silence' opens at 15.4 million, North American box office expected to exceed 100 million."

"Silver Bear Director Lin Nan, Hollywood debut, opening weekend box office released."

"Shocking! 'Dead Silence' production cost is less than 3 million USD!"

The news about Lin Nan on the other side of the ocean appeared overwhelmingly on various news websites. Given the subject matter of "Dead Silence," official media did not report it.

Those who had Lin Nan's contact information had already tried, but the calls wouldn't go through.

Those with email and QQ were much more convenient, sending messages in a flood, either to congratulate or to build connections.

"Sigh, those guys in the Directing Department are grinning from ear to ear. A Lin Nan has emerged, and I think he could also transfer to our department."

A teacher from the Literature Department of the Film Academy muttered in the office.

"Keep your voice down, especially don't chatter about it near the Acting Department lately," someone said quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"The people in the Acting Department don't look very good lately. Who told the guys in the Directing Department to be all smiles every day and keep mentioning Lin Nan?"

"Oh, oh, got it, got it..."

The box office for "Return to Dust" rose by 100,000 that day, reporting 790,000.

The release of "Dead Silence" continued, and reports about it here in Hollywood also came out, among which the introductions of director Wan Zhiren and screenwriter Lin Nan were particularly detailed, especially Lin Nan.

Chinese, student at the Film Academy, film company owner, top director, winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival, excellent screenwriter, owner of how many registered scripts, highly favored by film companies in the industry...

Lin Nan's situation was reported accurately for the first time, and in a foreign land at that.

"Lin, someone is asking me about your schedule."

Tang Mu's smiling appearance was slightly sleazy.

"Are there many people?"

"Not many."

"It doesn't need to be many. I only need to wait for one; more would be a burden and would bring me trouble."

"Is this what you call the 'tall poppy'?" Tang Mu asked.

Lin Nan didn't expect Tang Mu to know this term, "I'm still too young, and my steps are too big; it's not good."

Tang Mu listened, confused, and said nothing more.

After the first three days, the word-of-mouth for "Dead Silence" spread rapidly. Lionsgate's top management immediately prepared to strike while the iron was hot, accelerating the release in other overseas regions.

This day, several people from Lionsgate invited Lin Nan to a banquet. Wan Zhiren mentioned "The Conjuring."

"You mentioned it once before. They and I were curious about what you said, so we went to the guild to check and sure enough, we saw this script. Lin Nan, I have to say, this is another series script I don't want to miss..."

At the end, Wan Zhiren looked at Lin Nan. The latter understood the meaning, but he shook his head.

"Let's take it one by one. After the 'Insidious' series is finished, we'll talk about 'The Conjuring.' At that time, it will definitely be worth more than it is now.

The results of 'Dead Silence' are so good that I even regret signing the 'Insidious' series with you all in one go, hahaha."

Lin Nan said the last sentence as a joke, and everyone present was amused.