Chapter 131
Ten million.
The Apocalypse series.
A franchise loved all over the world.
Since it was based on an already popular novel, the story was solid, and Hollywood’s signature top-tier CGI gave that story a polished, mouthwatering finish. It was a textbook success story of OSMU done right.
The previous film had cost around a hundred million dollars to make, and when it left theaters, hadn’t it grossed three times that amount?
Either way, it was a landmark franchise in this business.
But the new film, released three years later, failed to meet expectations.
The reason was simple.
"It’s not fun."
Well, not exactly. It wasn’t that it was boring.
How should I put it...
Why was this movie so obscure and complicated?
The CGI and the acting were both excellent, but that was as far as it went.
All the flashy devices piled into it never quite blended into the main narrative; instead, they got in the way and broke the immersion.
That flaw stood out all the more sharply when compared with the previous film, which had been so well made.
"Right. The previous one is the problem."
To be honest, it wasn’t the kind of movie that deserved to be torn apart.
But compared to its predecessor, it absolutely did.
The series’ reputation, which had built expectations sky-high before release, ended up tripping itself after the film came out.
So what was the result?
RottenBanana public reviews: 70 | Positive rating: 56% | Audience score: 52
The fans’ outrage and criticism came pouring in. In the past, the loyal core fandom might have rushed to defend it, but these days the public no longer wanted to own works. They wanted to consume them.
It was true that Apocalypse had long been a beloved franchise, but there were now far too many works and media that could replace it.
And just then, a film that could replace the Apocalypse series was showing in the very same theater.
Public interest in Black Bride began exploding again.
Apocalypse: The Red.
Thanks to a brilliant supporting role from a mega-budget Hollywood production that cost one hundred million dollars.
I flicked through my smartphone and looked over the comments under the article about Apocalypse: The Red.
Man. Those comments were brutal.
I clicked my tongue briefly and moved on to the next article. It was a piece about Black Bride, and its comments section.
Before I knew it, a laugh burst out of me.
Was this temperature difference real? It wasn’t just hot and cold; it was hell and heaven.
I tore my eyes from the smartphone and looked up. The bustle of the PR team office came into view.
Just then, the team leader from the PR department, who was glued to Manager Kim’s side and staring intently at the monitor, muttered,
"...Wow. So this is how it turns out?"
She clicked her tongue, as if she couldn’t believe it.
"No, I mean, the lead actor is Mac Clear, and the previous film is Apocalypse, the most beloved Hollywood franchise of all time! How could a movie like that..."
She trailed off, tilting her head hard to one side.
"How can it flop this badly??"
I walked over to the PR team leader.
"It just wasn’t fun."
"Huh? Team Leader Kwon, you watched it?"
"Yeah. It was our competitor, so I went to the theater to see how it came out..."
I paused for a beat, then finished the thought.
"It just wasn’t fun."
The PR team leader’s eyes widened. She folded her arms and tilted her head slightly.
"A classic case of a movie failing because it wasn’t fun?"
"Pretty much."
"Hmm. If that’s true, then it’d be awkward to look for another reason..."
The PR team leader clicked her tongue and spoke again, cautiously.
"So, Team Leader Kwon, you must be happy?"
"About what?"
"Don’t play dumb! Thanks to the Apocalypse series, Black Bride is getting attention again!"
Of course I knew that. That was exactly why I’d pushed for a May release in the first place, to ride this effect.
But the PR team leader, not knowing that, looked at me and clicked her tongue again.
"Seriously, what is it? Huh? It’s weird enough that everything you touch turns to success, and now luck like this is following you too. Team Leader Kwon, be honest! Where the hell do you keep getting these sources?"
I let out a quiet laugh inwardly and answered,
"Aren’t you the one with the sharpest ears, Team Leader?"
"There could be a route I don’t know about!"
"If there is, I’d be very grateful. It’s just..."
I let the sentence hang, then answered casually.
"Like you said, I guess I’m just lucky."
The PR team leader narrowed her eyes.
"Are you going to keep wriggling out of it like that every time?"
"If that’s really what it is, what am I supposed to do?"
"...Agh. Back in the day, you were so cute. Why are you so annoying now? Hm?"
"All right, all right. Stop being jealous and get to work."
"Hm? Work? What work, all of a sudden?"
"Then what, you want to sit around doing nothing when a golden opportunity like this has dropped into your lap?"
The PR team leader’s eyes grew round.
While she was still processing that, I showed her the articles I’d just been reading and said,
"When a dying ember gets one more look, it can still flare up. And this time the fire’s spread for real."
Winner takes all.
In this business, the losers lose everything, and only the winners who survive get to take it all. And now, the winners and losers had been split apart.
So what was there to hesitate about?
"Let’s use this chance to relaunch Black Bride's promotion. And that headline piece..."
We’d sweep it up. All of it. Not a single scrap would be left behind. I felt bad for the Apocalypse series, but... we had our own road to run.
"Black Bride, ten million. Restart the engine? Let’s blast out a full wave of promo articles with that lead, Team Leader."
On the TV variety show Entertainment World Live, the two main hosts pointed at the monitor and said,
"The Apocalypse series finally opened this week, didn’t it?"
"But the response has been... pretty bad."
"Oh, come on, MC Kim. Is it really all right to tear into a movie that’s barely been out a few days?"
The man called MC Kim moved the monitor screen with the script as though he were conducting the segment.
"I don’t want to bash it either, but just look at this reaction! RottenBanana audience score is fifty! How disappointed do viewers have to be not to even give it the average score of seventy?"
"...Oh, really? That bad?"
"Let’s look at some reviews too. Confusing, boring, complicated... that’s basically all I’m seeing. How am I supposed to say anything nice?"
The man across from MC Kim nodded with exaggerated seriousness.
"Fans who haven’t seen the Apocalypse series yet must be pretty disappointed."
"My heart aches too. I thought the Apocalypse series would finally break the jinx of never surpassing the popularity of the previous installment."
"Then what should this week’s recommendation be?"
MC Kim swiped the monitor screen again.
"A movie worth watching again."
The Black Bride poster filled the screen. MC Kim pointed at the two black brides in it and said,
"Before it leaves theaters, I strongly recommend seeing Black Bride, the film that carved a new line into the history of Korean occult cinema, for a second time!"
Black Bride current score: 7.5 million.
Remaining until ten million: 2.5 million.
At Studio A in Hannam-dong, Seo Tae-jun, wearing a brown shirt and wide black slacks, was taking part in a pictorial shoot with a serious expression.
The staff on set were murmuring as they watched Seo Tae-jun’s signature springtime boyfriend look.
"Was Seo Tae-jun always this handsome?"
"So he really wasn’t called the Romance Prince for nothing..."
"But didn’t he change his image really drastically this time? He came out bald in Black Bride, right?"
"A handsome guy looks good even bald... I almost changed my ideal type to a bald man."
Since the subject himself looked so good, the shoot wrapped up quickly. In the interview that followed, the reporter from B Magazine broke into a grin and asked,
"Seo Tae-jun, the lead film you starred in this time, Black Bride, has been getting great reviews, hasn’t it?"
Seo Tae-jun relaxed into his seat and answered,
"Thankfully, the audience has been giving it good marks."
"What do you think is the secret behind Black Bride drawing such a positive response from viewers?"
"I think it’s thanks to the director’s excellent coaching and the help of the staff that a good film came out."
"Ah. So it’s all thanks to the staff and the director?"
"Well, if we’re talking credit, I’d say a big part of it is mine."
Seo Tae-jun shrugged.
"I put a lot of effort into breaking away from my usual acting style, but thankfully the audience received it well."
The reporter smiled as she replied,
"That’s a very Seo Tae-jun answer, isn’t it?"
"Is it? But, well, it’s the truth."
"Haha, true enough. Audiences really did praise Seo Tae-jun’s different kind of performance. Then..."
The reporter trailed off, setting up the next question.
"Black Bride is only a little short of becoming a ten-million-viewer film, isn’t it?"
Seo Tae-jun nodded.
"Right. Isn’t it about two million short?"
"I looked it up, and you never made a ten-million promise, did you?"
"Ah, really?"
"Yes! You already fulfilled promises for five million and seven million, but I haven’t been able to find any mention of a ten-million promise anywhere. Fans are really looking forward to that too, so is there no separate promise for ten million?"
Seo Tae-jun stroked his chin.
A promise, huh... Honestly, if he could hit ten million, what couldn’t he do?
But he’d already done everything worthwhile in the earlier promises.
A nationwide theater tour, a VIP invitation event for a tiny group of fans, and various little proof shots besides.
At this point, Seo Tae-jun had already done everything he could actually promise once.
And so, just as he missed his chance to answer, the reporter sprang the question on him.
"Are you having a hard time deciding?"
"Yeah. I’ve already done pretty much everything I could think of."
"Then may I decide for you?"
Seo Tae-jun nodded readily.
"Go ahead."
"A heart challenge with actress Lee Ha-eun."
"?"
"What do you think? These days idols do that challenge a lot on Shorts, and if the two lead actors did it together and posted it, I think it would get a huge response!"
Seo Tae-jun’s face immediately twisted.
"That’s a little..."
"Ah, is there some kind of problem?"
"There’s no problem, but with actress Lee Ha-eun..."
Seo Tae-jun trailed off and shut his mouth.
He mulled it over for a moment, then let out a long internal sigh.
...Hoo. Fine.
No point poking a hornet’s nest.
The ten-million mark is right in front of me.
Eight years into his acting career. Seo Tae-jun, the Romance Prince, was finally about to become a ten-million actor. So what if he had to shoot one stupid Shorts video with that annoying woman?
Putting his expression under control, Seo Tae-jun declared,
"If the movie hits ten million, what’s a heart challenge?"
At his words, the reporter was startled and hurriedly wrote it down.
"If it breaks ten million, I’ll even hold hands with actress Lee Ha-eun and go bungee jumping. So please, everyone, go see Black Bride."
Black Bride current audience count: 8 million. Remaining audience count: 2 million.
At Baekhak headquarters, Representative Baek Ji-won was looking out the window. Across from her, Director Park Yu-hyeon was tidying documents on the table and said,
“Have you heard the news, Representative?”
Director Park Yu-hyeon murmured with a trace of amusement in his voice.
“I hear the Apocalypse series, Black Bride’s competitor, is getting torn apart by critics.”
Still looking out the window, Representative Baek Ji-won answered slowly.
“Yes, I heard.”
“Are you also aware that, as a result, the Black Bride challenge has started up again?”
There was clear interest in Director Park Yu-hyeon’s voice.
“More and more people are choosing the guaranteed Black Bride for second and third viewings instead of Apocalypse. Thanks to that, the pre-sale rate it gave up on opening day has now come back to even again.”
Representative Baek asked,
“How many viewers is it at now?”
“At present, nine million.”
Director Park Yu-hyeon’s eye twitched slightly.
“To ten million... only one million left.”
With that, a low silence settled over the Baekhak executive office.
How much time passed like that? Representative Baek Ji-won’s cool voice broke the silence.
“Park, isn’t he impressive?”
Director Park Yu-hyeon tilted his head.
“What do you mean, suddenly?”
“Team Leader Kwon. He really brought me a ten-million film.”
Director Park Yu-hyeon’s eyes widened.
Meanwhile, Representative Baek, who had still been looking out the window, turned around.
“At this point, it doesn’t seem like coincidence anymore... what is he, really?”
Representative Baek let out a low chuckle.
“He seems to have the skill, and luck keeps following him too. On top of that, the situation is pushing him forward. How am I supposed to interpret that?”
Director Park Yu-hyeon’s Adam’s apple bobbed faintly.
It’s been a long time.
It had been a long time since he’d seen Representative Baek this pleased.
In the meantime, she walked over and stopped in front of her desk. Then she opened a drawer and took out a business card she had kept carefully tucked away.
-Team Leader Kwon Chan, Baekhak Team 6
Turning the card over in her hand, Representative Baek murmured softly,
“I should have promoted him sooner. This worked out well.”
She lifted her head and looked at Director Park Yu-hyeon.
“Park.”
“Yes, Representative.”
“Promote Team Leader Kwon to official Team Leader at this month’s regular team leader meeting.”
Director Park Yu-hyeon’s eyes widened.
Then Representative Baek, delivering her decision with firm resolve, declared,
“Even if he refuses, this time you absolutely persuade him and make him take the position. You understand what I mean, don’t you?”
Black Bride current audience count: 9 million.
Remaining audience count to ten million: 1 million.
At the famous B barbecue restaurant in Hongdae, I looked steadily at Director Park Jun-seo.
The dozens of staff members gathered in the barbecue place couldn’t hide their nerves, and all of them were staring only at Director Park Jun-seo.
"When is the call coming in..."
"Damn it, the meat’s going to get cold at this rate."
"Is the meat the issue right now? Once the result comes out, we’ll be eating nothing but meat all day long from now on!"
"Agh!! Hurry up and call already, please! Let us relax for once!"
Listening to the staff murmur, I thought to myself,
Yeah. It’s about time.
For the past month, we’d been running with our eyes fixed on a single point.
And for that point to keep feeling just out of reach, just out of reach, all month long had been pure torture.
During that month, everyone on the team, including me and the actors, had worked like crazy.
Honestly... it felt like it was time for a good result.
No, wasn’t it weird if it didn’t hit ten million at this point?
We had done everything we could, gone beyond our best effort, and even luck had come down on our side.
I’m not usually the type to be this sure of myself, but things had gotten this far, and I couldn’t think any other way.
Black Bride had to hit ten million.
And today, the result was coming in.
To celebrate, all the Black Bride staff and actors had gathered, waiting for Director Park’s smartphone to ring, but there was no sign of anything.
He’s really keeping us hanging right to the end.
Was ten million this hard?
No, hard was right.
It was ten million, after all. Ten million.
All sorts of thoughts were racing through my head when—
-Ding-a-ring-ring!
The smartphone resting carefully in Director Park Jun-seo’s hands began to vibrate sharply.
"!"
Every pair of eyes in the barbecue restaurant widened.
Mine did too.
Director Park Jun-seo hurriedly answered the call.
“Yes, yes, Team Leader. I’ve answered. Yes, yes... so, is it the result?”
A heavy silence dropped over the barbecue restaurant.
With only the staff gathered there, plus the actors and managers, there were easily more than a hundred people in the place, and the only sound drifting through it was low, restrained breathing.
Gulp.
Somebody’s swallow rang vividly in my ears.
In the middle of all that, Director Park Jun-seo, fully absorbed in the call, pressed his lips into a straight line.
Watching that, the corner of my eye twitched just slightly, and then Director Park Jun-seo let out a long breath and ended the call.
Seo Tae-jun, seated opposite him, shouted loudly,
“How is it, Director!”
At that cry, Director Park Jun-seo lifted his head.
Then, slowly, he turned and looked around the room.
His expression was strange, neither smiling nor not smiling, and the staff’s faces shifted minute by minute as they read it.
Seeing that, I had a sudden thought.
...No way.
Could it be not enough?
Did we fail to hit ten million?
The instant a bad feeling brushed coldly down my spine, Director Park Jun-seo finally opened his mouth.
“One million...”
What?
One million?
We were still short by one million??
But Director Park Jun-seo’s words didn’t end there.
“It’s 11 million.”
At that, the staff in the barbecue restaurant, myself included, stared in shock with our mouths open.
Then Director Park Jun-seo muttered in a trembling voice,
“The current cumulative audience count is 11.24 million. It’s ranked 12th among all Korean films of all time.”