Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

How much did the PR for Chapter 191, "The Sixth Sense," cost?!

Early Friday morning, at a movie theater ticket counter, Michael was flirting with the female ticket seller.

"Jenny, you know what? I've been to so many movie theaters, and you're the most beautiful one I've ever seen!"

"Thank you, Michael, but you don't need to praise me so much because of this coffee, it's just instant~" the ticket seller said with a shrug and a smile.

“Oh no, Jenny, I’m telling the truth! You could totally go into movies and become a star!” Michael said sincerely.

Jenny smiled and changed the subject, saying, "Michael, isn't CinemaScore the most accurate prediction agency? So tell me, which of these two movies premiering at midnight tonight will have a higher box office?"

CinemaScore is a Las Vegas-based third-party market research firm. The company surveys moviegoers to rate their viewing experience and uses this data to predict box office revenue. It deploys 35 to 45 cinema rating teams in 25 major North American cities. Audiences are randomly selected, given survey cards asking about their age, gender, and other information, and asked to rate the films from A+ to F.

Before the internet age, CinemaScore was the most valued rating system for major film companies, even directly influencing box office performance. Its survey results symbolized audience reception of a film, and it was widely recognized as an authoritative survey institution by film companies and theaters.

Michael is an employee of CinemaScore, and tonight he's responsible for collecting audience feedback on the two newly released films, "The Sixth Sense" and "Runaway Bride," at this theater.

That's why he had the time to flirt with the ticket seller while the movie was still playing.

When the topic turned to his field of expertise, Michael puffed out his chest and pointed to the poster for "Runaway Bride," which featured the iconic actress, known for her large mouth, fleeing in a wedding dress.

"Julia Roberts and Richard Gere are both A-list Hollywood stars, and it's Julia Roberts' favorite romantic comedy. With all these elements combined, its opening weekend box office is bound to be high. Moreover, the teams of these big stars are never simple, especially Julia Roberts. She's very skilled at romantic comedies and rarely makes mistakes in her judgments, ensuring the script won't fall apart. Therefore, the success rate is extremely high!"

This is also why American superstars have such influence. Teams that can maintain their status as top stars year after year rarely have problems with their script selection, and the quality is generally guaranteed. Otherwise, if you stumble twice in a row, you would fall out of the top tier.

“Hmm~” Jenny nodded, signaling him to continue.

Then Michael pointed to the poster for "The Sixth Sense," which showed Bruce Willis walking with a little boy:
"Look, Bruce Willis, teaming up with director Wu Yuchen, the lineup is barely on par, but actually a bit lacking, after all, Wu Yuchen is not a front-of-the-scenes figure."

Secondly, this time, Bruce Willis abandoned his forte, action films, which will undoubtedly cause some of his fans to lose interest, a point deduction.

And look at the promotional slogan on the poster..."

Jenny looked over and saw a poster for "The Sixth Sense" that read:

"If you like horror and thriller movies, you definitely have to see this!"

If you enjoy heartwarming family films, you definitely have to watch this!

Michael said, "To be honest, there's a conflict between horror/thriller and family drama. Think about it, romance + comedy is a good combination, romance + tragedy is a good combination, action + comedy is also pretty good... but family drama + horror, well, it's very difficult to combine these two elements."

Although Wu Yuchen has achieved success in the past two years, it doesn't prove he's omnipotent. Moreover, his young age and achievements may have made him arrogant, and his desire to tackle challenging topics and innovate could easily lead to failure. This is an unstable factor, hence the negative points.

“What you said seems to make a lot of sense. So you’re optimistic about ‘Runaway Bride’?” Jenny asked.

Michael took a sip of coffee and smiled, saying, "That's how it is for now, but it all depends on the quality of the film. The survey results will be available after the audience comes out!"

At this moment, Jenny suddenly spoke up: "The performance in Hall 3 has ended, and the audience for 'The Blair Witch Project' will be coming out soon."

Michael quickly put down his cup, took out a stack of survey cards from his briefcase, and went to wait at the exit.

A moment later, a group of audience members came out in a flurry, and Michael quickly handed out cards and pens: "Sir, could you please..."

Before he could finish speaking, a hot-tempered man grabbed Michael's card and tore it to shreds.
"Fuck! This is a fucking idiot movie! The damn producers have fooled my emotions and insulted my intelligence! Refund!"

“Oh, sir, please don’t say that. Maybe those people really are dead?” A kind-looking middle-aged woman nearby advised.

"It would be better if they were dead! You idiot, haven't you realized it yet? This is a complete hoax from beginning to end, they're just playing us! They tricked us into going to the movie theater!"

"Yes! This movie is garbage! It's a pile of shit!"

Before Michael could even speak, a debate had already erupted among the fans, with one side believing they had been tricked and the other insisting that it was a true documentary and that the college students were dead.

A moment later, after Michael returned with the cards, he sighed and said, "Not even 10, let alone the reviews..."

Many people simply refused to mention the movie again.

Jenny smiled at him and said, "I've seen quite a few people leave these past few days cursing and swearing, and some even left halfway through."

Michael shrugged and sighed, "This is a fraudulent movie. These people have lowered the bar for the film industry. It's pathetic!"

The two chatted for a while longer, and Jenny reminded him, "The runaway bride in Hall 5 has ended."

Michael immediately ran out again, and this time he was treated much better. Although some people refused him, quite a few audience members took the cards and filled them out, since the questions weren't difficult and he could get a small gift like a keychain.

At the same time, Michael would chat with these people who were filling out forms and ask, "What are your thoughts on 'Runaway Bride'?"

"Aside from the gimmick of the runaway bride, which is quite appealing, this movie is really cliché; it's the same old stuff..."

As this person was speaking, another girl who was filling out a card said, "Oh, don't say that, that's Julia Roberts!"

“Okay, I like Julia too, but I think she needs a change. Two months ago it was Notting Hill, and now there’s Runaway Bride. I feel like I’m getting tired of her making romance movies so often. Maybe it will be better if she takes it longer.”

"Dude, it's not as bad as you say. Richard Gere's casual proposal speech was actually quite touching."

"That's all that's left. If it weren't for Julia Roberts, I would give this movie a B-!" Michael listened to these people and quickly jotted down their comments in his notebook. These were the most direct feedback from the audience.

Five minutes later, seeing Michael return to the counter with a stack of cards, Jenny asked curiously, "How did it go?"

As Michael sorted through the cards, he said, "There are 34 cards in total, including 2 A+, 3 A, 6 A-, 6 B+, 8 B, 5 B-, 2 C, and 2 D."

Just considering the number of these 34 images, it's already far superior to the Blair Witch Project.

Jenny didn't quite understand the CinemaScore criteria, so she asked directly, "How would you rate this?"

"It was alright, but there were many fans at the premiere, so if you take away the fan filter, it was just average."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw another group of audience members leaving, realizing that the premiere of "The Sixth Sense" was over, and immediately grabbed a stack of cards and ran out.

"Sir, could you help me fill out a card?"

“Of course! I’m so excited, I feel like I have so much to say right now!” the man said as he took the card and pen.

"Ma'am, could you please fill out a survey?"

“I’d love to! I’m definitely giving this movie a high score; it’s absolutely fantastic!” the mother-like woman exclaimed excitedly, holding up the card.

"I'd give it an A+! This ending really shocked me! I was absolutely stunned! My God!" A young man, his face flushed, said excitedly.

"I never expected it to end like this! Bruce Willis was dead from the very beginning, and he's been a ghost all along!"

Another person nodded repeatedly: "Yes! I never expected Bruce Willis to be such a good actor. I never noticed before! No wonder it was said to be his turning point; this time, he really succeeded in his transformation!"

"Oh! Speaking of acting, shouldn't you mention that little boy? His acting is absolutely superb! I've never seen a child actor better than him before!"

"Yes, this little boy's performance was fantastic! I almost forgot about Bruce Willis!"

"I think the biggest credit should go to director Wu Yuchen. He was the screenwriter and the project initiator. He had already helped Stallone transform his career a couple of years ago, and this time, Bruce Willis and the little boy were in his hands, and their acting was phenomenal. Moreover, the atmosphere of the whole movie was so well done, and the details were all very well hidden. I definitely have to watch it again with my friends tomorrow!"

After watching the film, moviegoers joined the discussion. This time, Michael didn't even need to hand out cards; people were already approaching him to ask for them, filling them out and sharing their thoughts as they went. The group was having a lively discussion.

Michael was quite surprised as he watched from the side. He had been in the industry for over a year and had never encountered such a situation before. His colleagues told him that the last time this happened was during the Titanic!
After a while, Jenny saw Michael return with two large stacks of cards and asked in surprise, "Oh, Michael, how come there are so many!"

Michael placed a stack of cards on the counter, grinning, and said, "Hey Jenny, can you help me count how many there are? I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow!"

Jenny rolled her eyes at him: "Is this how you invite girls on a date?"

Although she was saying that, she still picked up the cards and started counting them for him. After a moment, Jenny said, "I have a total of 53 cards here, 27 of which are A+..."

Michael listened to Jenny report the data, jotting it down in his notebook and then summarizing it with his own data, finally arriving at the figures from the premiere of "The Sixth Sense":
A total of 125 survey cards were received, of which an astonishing 68 were A+, exceeding 50%! There's no need to even count the comments below A+.

You should know that out of the 34 cards in "Runaway Bride", only 2 received an A+ rating!

With 125 votes compared to 34, the audience enthusiasm for "The Sixth Sense" was nearly four times that of "Runaway Bride," and the positive reviews far surpassed those of the latter.

This time, Michael didn't even need to do the analysis; even Jenny could see it from the results: The audience reviews for "The Sixth Sense" were phenomenal, completely crushing "Runaway Bride"! As for "The Blair Witch Project," that garbage, there's no need to even mention it.

Jenny smiled at Michael and said, "Michael, it seems even your predictions, as a professional, aren't always accurate!"

Michael laughed and said, "Even professionals can make mistakes. Director Wu Yuchen is truly amazing! To make up for my mistake, Jenny, please allow me to invite you to dinner the day after tomorrow!"

……

Early Friday morning, newspapers had already published their reviews of the newly released films "Runaway Bride" and "The Sixth Sense".

"A mediocre romantic comedy, with Julia Roberts as the only bright spot."

"Julia and Richard team up again for a heartwarming yet hilarious film!"

"True love creates miracles! Julia Roberts' romantic movies will never disappoint you! — Runaway Bride"

Opinions on "Runaway Bride" are mixed, after all, the production company spent money on public relations.

As for "The Sixth Sense," it received almost unanimous praise:
"Best suspense film of the year! You won't know the truth until the very end!" — Los Angeles Times
"A thriller/horror film that can not only scare you to tears, but also move you to tears! Highly recommend 'The Sixth Sense'!" — San Francisco Chronicle

"A classic horror film, the best psychological thriller, the unmissable 'The Sixth Sense'!" — Chicago Sun-Times

"Bruce Willis's successful transformation in 'The Sixth Sense' speaks volumes about his acting skills!" — Entertainment Weekly

"Bruce Willis's best performance ever, yet overshadowed by child star Haley's genius!" — American News

"A deeply moving plot that unfolds layer by layer, textbook-perfect suspense and twists, and the little boy's phenomenal acting!" —The Washington Post
"A heartwarming film disguised as a horror thriller, a family movie that the whole family should watch together." —The New York Times

After waking up and having breakfast, Julia Roberts' first reaction upon seeing these comments was:

"How much did they spend on PR for 'The Sixth Sense'? And not a single person is saying it's a bad movie?!"

(End of this chapter)