At Kyle's command, Page Pictures immediately sprang into action.
Page Pictures President Bill McNichols and Vice President Kevin Feige jointly took charge of the matter.
"Everything will proceed according to the predetermined plan!"
The promotion and distribution of "The Blair Witch Project" film was also different from typical Hollywood movies.
Generally speaking, a film's promotion and distribution would involve large-scale advertising before its release, but "The Blair Witch Project" was different; it would have a limited release first, followed by a broader promotional campaign.
Secondly, the main promotional battlegrounds were vastly different!
Traditional promotional channels like TV platforms, high school and university journals, and mainstream social media newspapers were all discarded.
Instead, new channels such as magazines popular with young people, trendy weekly publications, "missing person" posters displayed across multiple locations in the US, and online forums became the main battlegrounds for "The Blair Witch Project's" promotion and distribution.
"I want to see results for the offline missing person posters tonight! They need to be put up in major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, New York, Atlanta, and Washington!" Old Bill shouted.
"Mr. President, won't the police tear down our missing person posters?" an executive suddenly asked.
"They wouldn't dare!"
Old Bill roared, "Even though our movie is fake, those missing person cases aren't! Let them tear one down and see; our legal department isn't just for show. We'll sue them to death!!!"
"Yes, Mr. President!" the executive immediately responded.
Immediately after, Old Bill ordered the hired internet trolls to stir up trouble on various internet forums.
"Missing Persons!"
"The Legend of the Witch!"
"Missing Persons Likely Due to Witchcraft!"
"'The Blair Witch Project' is a true case, a top-secret file of the police department!"
Previously, there were only a few scattered reports on the internet, but with the hype generated by capital, it immediately stirred up a huge wave.
All sorts of words related to witches began appearing on major forums.
This was the power of capital!
As long as it was public opinion, it could be manipulated!
...The next day.
July 10th, Saturday.
It was the fifth day of the "The Blair Witch Project" release.
The number of cinemas showing the film immediately climbed from the initial 29 to 97.
A movie like "The Blair Witch Project," which employed viral and deceptive marketing, absolutely could not be released on a large scale from the start. That would surely ruin its reputation. It could only proceed gradually, using the power of internet trolls and capital to control public opinion and maximize profits.
As expected... on July 10th, the attendance rate for "The Blair Witch Project" soared significantly, almost reaching 80%, with prime-time attendance exceeding 90%.
That day, the box office raked in another $350,000!
On July 11th, the single-day box office hit a new high, reaching $430,000!
As of this moment, "The Blair Witch Project" had become a hot topic of discussion for many.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Logically, as university students receiving higher education, we should firmly believe in science, but many people at our school have seen 'The Blair Witch Project,' and they insist it's real."
A young man with an afro excitedly said.
Clearly, he had a great interest in the topic of witches.
The other roommates in the dorm couldn't help but feel curious.
The thin young man with glasses said, "I saw several missing person notices in 'WQ Fashion' magazine today. They shouldn't be fake, right?"
The guy with the small dreadlocks said, "I just saw reports about witches on both Yahoo and Microsoft forums. Well, many people are discussing it. As for whether it's real or fake, I don't know."
The tall young man in a basketball jersey laughed, "Who cares? We can just go see it at the cinema tomorrow, can't we? I heard from Avril that 'The Blair Witch Project' is pretty scary. One of her roommates cried on the spot."
Cried?
Really?
A few roommates who were initially uninterested immediately found it amusing when they heard someone cried.
No wonder, seeking thrills is youth's tradition!
At the same time.
"The Scariest Top-Secret File — 'The Blair Witch Project'"
This topic had become a hot discussion on Microsoft and Yahoo forums, with 300,000 and 350,000 comments respectively.
The popularity was evident!
The combination of internet trolls and organic buzz further boosted the popularity of "The Blair Witch Project."
The next day.
Many interested people couldn't even buy movie tickets!
"Bastards!"
"What are your cinemas doing? You clearly know how popular 'The Blair Witch Project' is, yet you refuse to increase the showtimes. You're not even willing to make money when it's offered to you. Do you even know how to run a business?"
"Tickets! I want movie tickets!"
"Damn it, there are only 97 cinemas showing it across the entire US?!"
Audiences who couldn't buy tickets immediately started cursing. Compared to Chinese moviegoers, American moviegoers were much ruder; if they weren't happy, they might even smash up the cinema.
There was no other way; they had this tradition.
The managers of the various cinemas were speechless, feeling a bit wronged.
Didn't they want to expand the screenings?
No, they did, very much so!
However, Page Pictures had informed the cinema chains not to expand the screenings for now!
This was the first time in Hollywood history that a viral, deceptive promotional campaign had been launched using the internet, and the results were surprisingly good. Many people had heard about "The Blair Witch Project," a mysterious top-secret file.
Were there dissenting voices?
Of course!
During the few days the film was released, many moviegoers felt their intelligence was insulted and that they had been deceived.
"I've been tricked!"
"This isn't a top-secret file at all!"
"The witch never appeared from beginning to end. Are you sure this isn't a scam?"
"I can responsibly say, I've been fooled!"
There were many such voices.
However, due to the small scale of the release, too many people hadn't seen the movie, so the voices claiming to be "deceived" couldn't make any waves.
At this stage, the power of the internet trolls was enough to suppress all dissenting voices!
The promotional funds were spent step by step, hyping up the popularity of "The Blair Witch Project" to an extremely high level...
Warner Bros. Pictures.
"Dirty!"
"So dirty!"
"Page Pictures' tactics are truly endless!"
"Their so-called top-secret files, true cases, and missing person notices are simply deceiving moviegoers."
"Especially since the film is currently in limited release, any dissenting voices that appear can be quickly suppressed by them."
Barry Meyer, Vice President of Warner Pictures, sneered, "Just you wait. It won't be long before 'The Blair Witch Project' will be widely released, tricking countless audiences into cinemas and making a fortune at the box office."
Hiss~~
Miss Tess, the secretary, gasped, surprised, "Aren't they afraid that audiences, once they realize they've been tricked, will tear them to shreds?"
"Heh heh!"
Barry Meyer sneered, "Page Pictures isn't afraid. By then, they'll just push the director and actors to the forefront, and everything will be clean! That's why I say, they're truly dirty~"