[Chapter 92: SSomeone was Scared to Death]
"Link, congratulations! Paranormal Activity hit global box office sales of $400 million, even surpassing the blockbuster Batman Returns. That's incredible!"
On the other end of the line, Jennifer Connelly exclaimed with excitement.
"What else can you say? Can't you praise me a bit more?"
Link leaned back in his office chair, talking on the phone while sketching out a script for The Blair Witch Project.
"Do you want me to shower you with compliments?"
Jennifer chuckled.
"Absolutely! There were thousands of articles today calling me a genius director, a miraculous filmmaker, a self-made multi-millionaire, but honestly, none of that compares to your single compliment of 'You're amazing.'"
"Haha, you are such a conceited guy. Alright then, let me say you're very clever and talented. You can write scripts, direct films, act, and handle cinematography. You're truly multi-talented, teaching yourself how to be a director and making a brilliant movie like Buried. That's just unbelievable!"
"Is that all? What about my looks or personality? Surely there's something to praise. Of course, if you can't appreciate the looks, I won't force you."
"Turns out you're not just conceited, you're also extremely narcissistic and vain."
Jennifer laughed uncontrollably on the phone.
"This isn't narcissism; I'm just curious about how you see me. Beautiful or unattractive, elegant or crude, cold or approachable? I genuinely want to know your opinion."
Link continued to jot down notes in his script.
"I've only seen you twice; how could I have a strong impression? Well, let's say you're not particularly handsome, but you give off a nice vibe. You're not very tall, but you're lean and graceful, which fits my aesthetics."
"If I were standing right in front of you, about to kiss you, would you pull back?"
"Ha, it's quite possible! We talk just fine over the phone, but face to face? Who knows."
"True enough. Do you have time this weekend? Let's hit an amusement park together."
"An amusement park? Aren't we too old for that?"
"Why not? When I was a kid, I wanted to go to the amusement park. I didn't have the money or time then, but now I have both. Why not take the chance to fulfill a childhood dream? You grew up in New York; you must have gone to kiddie parks all the time. I want you to show me around."
"Not at all! How could I go often? My dad ran a clothing store, and my mom dealt in antiques. They were always too busy to take me. By the time I was ten, I started acting in commercials and films, and I still had to go to school -- I was always busy. I hardly went to amusement parks, and I've never even been on a roller coaster."
"Well then, it's settled. We're going to the amusement park this weekend to make up for lost time."
"Alright then."
...
After hanging up, Link called Lily, asking her to book two full-day tickets for Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park.
Six Flags Magic Mountain, located in Valencia north of Los Angeles, was famous for its thrilling roller coasters and had plenty of attractions suitable for kids. Link had taken Lily and her daughter there several times, so he was quite familiar with the place.
---
Knock, knock, knock!
Daniel DeVito pushed open the office door with a stack of documents in his hand.
"Link, after two rounds of auditions, we've narrowed it down to six suitable actors. Do you want to take a look?"
"Sure!"
Link had initially meant to skip it, but suddenly recalled that selecting actors could boost participation. So he figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out.
Daniel handed over the documents, which included photos of over ten missing persons to compare with the selected actors.
To his surprise, the top two were familiar faces: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
"I know these two! What are they doing auditioning? I remember there was a requirement that favored those without acting experience, and they've both been in films before."
"Link, do you have a problem with them?"
"No, they're friends."
"Well, we selected them because they performed better in the auditions and had great chemistry. Matt had acted five or six years ago but has been off-screen for the last two years. They're unfamiliar faces for audiences now, and Ben hasn't had a significant role yet. They also resemble the missing persons, Mike and Anthony, especially after makeup."
Link looked through the newspaper and noted there was indeed a resemblance.
"Alright then, have them come in for auditions."
Link handed the documents back to Daniel.
...
Considering that Paranormal Activity had just been released, it was challenging to lure regular audiences to theaters with a documentary-style marketing approach. This also posed some difficulties for The Blair Witch Project.
He couldn't quite gauge how much subsidy there was for the box office. The only option was to use this movie as an experiment. If the box office subsidy was too low, they could shoot again or choose not to release it at all, just distributing it on tape.
With production costs in the tens of thousands, even if they lost money, it wouldn't be too much.
---
"Link, we have a situation."
Before Daniel could leave, Michael Leeson and Lily rushed in.
"What's going on?"
Link straightened up.
"Early the other morning, in Fowler County, New York, a dentist suffered a heart attack and died while watching Paranormal Activity. Yesterday, The New York Daily News reported the incident, and this morning CNN covered it as well. Other newspapers, like USA Today, picked up the story, and now a lot of people know about this."
Michael stated.
Link flipped through USA Today and found the news item in the society section.
In northern Fowler County, New York, a 53-year-old dentist passed away from a heart attack while watching Paranormal Activity in a movie theater.
According to the paper, there were only about twenty people in the cinema at the time, with the dentist sitting alone in the back row. No one noticed when he had his heart attack. After the film ended, as the theater began playing another movie, another audience member discovered him motionless in his seat.
They called the police.
Upon examination by doctors, it was confirmed that the cause of death was a heart attack.
However, the dentist's family claimed he had no history of heart disease and insisted that the movie had frightened him to death, demanding $100 million in damages from the theater.
Media outlets like USA Today began urging cinemas to pull Paranormal Activity from screens.
The reasoning was that the film was so frightening. In the initial weeks of its release, with full auditoriums, the atmosphere was lively, and it wasn't too scary. Now the film had reached the tail end of its run, the audiences were much smaller, making it more terrifying; thus, accidents could occur while watching.
In addition to this incident, two others had also unexpectedly died following screenings of Paranormal Activity in the past three weeks.
The first person died in a car accident on the way home from the theater. For unclear reasons, their vehicle flipped over on a flat road, resulting in the driver's death. After the media reported, many claimed this person had been psychologically traumatized by a ghost in the movie, which led to the accident.
The second incident was a prank that went wrong, where a group of Black men, after watching Paranormal Activity, dressed up as ghosts to scare a timid friend. Since they wore dark clothes, the target of their prank got so frightened that he fell down a flight of stairs and died.
While these accidents were tangentially related to the film, the connections were quite weak. The media and the deceased's families had no real reason to blame the movie.
But this was different; the dentist had died while watching Paranormal Activity.
The causal relationship was much stronger.
Fellow filmmakers would not let go of an opportunity to take a jab at Paranormal Activity, and the media would come clamoring to make a bigger story out of it.
This incident represented a significant crisis for Paranormal Activity. If handled well, it could be an opportunity, but if mismanaged, it could lead to serious problems.
"It's very unfortunate to have an audience pass away in the theater," Link mused for a moment, "If media comes for interviews, we can express our condolences while reiterating our viewing warnings. This is a horror movie, and it's quite intense, so it's advisable for those under 18 or with high blood pressure or heart issues to be cautious. As for the rest, we'll leave that to the theaters to handle."
"Okay!"
*****
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