Chapter 255: Shut Up
Chapter 255: Shut Up
The premiere began promptly at seven o’clock. After some interaction with the fans, The Others officially began screening.
It still opened with Virginia’s slightly hoarse storytelling voice. As the plot advanced step by step and the fog was gradually lifted, when Grace, played by Virginia, pushed open the door that revealed the entire truth, Eric clearly heard a “Whoa—” sound rise inside the theater.
As the credits slowly rolled and the lights came on, a few drumbeat-like claps first sounded in the theater. Those scattered claps were like sparks igniting a pile of dry grass. In less than five seconds, applause burst out like a sudden downpour striking everything around it, lasting for more than a full minute.
“This is absolutely one of the best horror stories I have seen in recent years. Although the plot is simple and clear, and it does not have the many dazzling Hollywood special effects, the chilling atmosphere during the viewing process remained wrapped around my heart from beginning to end. After conquering completely different groups of moviegoers with Home Alone, Pretty Woman, and Sleuth, Eric Williams has now extended his ‘evil claws’ toward horror-film fans as well. This is truly something unbelievable.”
“An awe-inspiring ending. After allowing people to temporarily escape the real world and enjoy more than an hour of pounding heartbeats, the unexpected ending seems to suddenly pull them back into naked reality, leaving them shivering.”
“This is an extraordinary film. In an era when horror effects can only be piled up with large amounts of blood plasma and nauseating special effects, The Others is undoubtedly a very clever horror film, and perhaps the first of its kind. It does not use those conventional methods, yet it still leaves people chilled enough to scream.”
“A supernatural thriller dominated by atmosphere. It relies on the chilling tension of the plot rather than blood and violence. Virginia Madsen’s performance is also eye-catching. This beautiful vase, who debuted through David Lynch’s Dune, seems finally to have found her place in Hollywood after several years of searching. I hope she continues to bring us even more outstanding films. Mm, alright, I admit that surpassing The Others will indeed be very difficult. So as long as she can bring films of the same level, I believe audiences will already be satisfied.”
“Being immersed in tension and ominous premonition is almost an old routine in horror films. But this film has no strange masked killers, no sudden kitchen knives, and no bloody, brutal conflicts. Yet from beginning to end, it tightly grips the audience’s appetite. No one knows what has happened, but everyone wants to know what has happened. When that final door opens, those of us already drenched in cold sweat finally come to a sudden realization.”
The day after the premiere, positive reviews of The Others appeared in many newspapers and magazines, including the New York Post, Newsweek, The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and the Chicago Tribune. Many people also noticed that the word used most frequently in these reviews was “creepy.”
Audiences who saw these reviews, especially horror-film fans, all looked forward to the arrival of November 1.
At the same time, Eric’s remarks on the red carpet naturally stirred up a storm.
Hollywood Online published George Norson’s article the very next day, which he had rushed out overnight.
“…Perhaps after the success of several films, Eric Williams has become so inflated that he has forgotten the fact that he is only human, not a deity. In front of so many fans, he actually boasted that The Others is so excellent it can ignore all release-window restrictions. Such arrogant words are not something even Steven Spielberg or George Lucas would dare say lightly, yet they came from the mouth of a young man not even twenty years old. What kind of ignorance of the immensity of heaven and earth is this?
Moreover, although this writer was unable to personally attend the screening, according to informed sources who watched the film on-site, The Others is nowhere near as excellent as Eric claims. It is even far inferior in quality to Eric’s previous films. Not only are the sets crude and simple, but the entire film is deliberately mystifying from beginning to end. The plot of the entire movie crawls forward slowly. After dragging on for more than an hour, although the ending contains a slight surprise, for viewers who are already half-asleep, there is no longer any sense of surprise. I would very much like Mr. Eric Williams to appear in person and analyze in detail exactly what qualifies such an unbearably sluggish film to claim that it can ‘ignore release windows.’”
Although many newspapers, out of concern for Disney’s influence, did not openly criticize and smear The Others as recklessly as small tabloids like Hollywood Online, they still mocked Eric’s “ignore release windows” remark from the red carpet to the fullest. In just two or three short days, “ignore release windows” had already become a popular joke.
The three major television networks, which had fallen out badly with Eric because of Friends, also repeatedly used the topic to mock him.
On one NBC daytime talk show, a middle-aged host in his forties named Bonnie Goodwin did not sit directly behind his desk and speak fluently as usual. Instead, after making the audience wait several seconds, he slowly floated down to his seat suspended by a wire. A pair of ridiculous miniature angel wings was also tied comically to his back. When the guest asked why, he said he had awakened the supernatural ability to “ignore gravity,” using it to mock Eric’s so-called theory of “ignoring release windows.”
Although the outside world was in an uproar, and even Jeffrey advised Eric that he had better clarify things, Eric turned a deaf ear to it all.
On Wednesday, November 1, The Others officially opened in 1,700 theaters.
Under everyone’s attention, the next day, The Others’ first-day box office statistics were released. With only $3.1 million on its opening day, the media immediately became full of schadenfreude. Since this film written by Eric Williams could not even ignore a weekday, then wanting to ignore release windows was definitely nothing more than a fool’s dream.
But immediately afterward, after roughly earning another $3.9 million on Thursday, The Others took in $6.3 million, $7.1 million, and $6.4 million on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday respectively. After the final detailed statistics were completed, its total box office for the first five days reached $27.19 million, and all the individuals and media outlets who had questioned it obediently shut their mouths.
A first-week box office of more than $27 million would be a very impressive result even in any popular release window.