Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 471, Page 469: Hollywood Debut
In March, Los Angeles still enjoys warm sunshine during the day, but the nights remain chilly.

With less than two weeks to go before the Oscars, the air in Hollywood is thick with the tension and extravagance typical of awards season.

However, beneath this glitz, glamour, party and public relations clamor, an undercurrent from the underground, carrying the scent of blood and rust, is quietly stirring as March 14th approaches.

Saw, a psychological thriller with a budget of just over one million US dollars and an astonishingly short shooting period, was once regarded within New Line Cinema as an insignificant piece in Wang Sheng's vast business empire, or even a "hobby" attempt.

Even after Wang Sheng showed his chilling rough cut, New Line executives saw its potential to achieve great results with a small budget, but in terms of the allocation of publicity and distribution resources, it could not be compared with A-list productions that often cost tens of millions of dollars.

However, Wang Sheng's "precision sniping" marketing strategy, tailored for this low-budget film with his vision ahead of its time, has begun to show its power.

Recordings of “I want to play a game…” and clips of the trapped person’s desperate expression circulated quietly on online forums; tickets for the “midnight screaming screenings” on university campuses were hard to come by, and the students’ pale faces and excited discussions after the screenings became the best advertisements; the slightly morbidly humorous “Dare to watch?” challenge was even reported as anecdotes by several local tabloids, which inadvertently increased the film’s popularity.

This quietly accumulating popularity finally caught the attention of some "big shots".

Jon Stewart, with his sharp wit and unique sense of humor, has made "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" an undeniable force in North American evening talk shows.

Months ago, it was his show's seemingly "criticism" of "Shaolin Soccer" that sparked a huge discussion, unexpectedly igniting the first spark for the oriental comedy's North American comeback.

Although that "collaboration" was largely due to the clever operation of Zhao Jingsong from the New Line Marketing Department and the program team's natural sense of hot topics, the result was undoubtedly a win-win situation.

This time, Karen Lee, who was in charge of marketing for "Saw" at New Line Cinema, once again thought of this "lucky star" within a limited budget.

However, this time the strategy was more direct—a modest but sincere "travel allowance" and a carefully prepared promotional material highlighting the film's "extreme challenge to psychological endurance" were quietly delivered to a writer for The Daily Show.

The intention is clear: they hope that Jon will "mention" the movie on the show, even if it's just to complain.

March 14, Friday, is the North American release date for "Saw".

A multiplex theater located in the West Side of Los Angeles, showing a midnight screening (a true midnight screening, not an advance screening).

The theater was packed, the air thick with the buttery smell of popcorn and the restless energy unique to young people.

Jon Stewart, wearing a baseball cap, discreetly blended into the audience. He had indeed paid to see the film, but his attitude was one of perfunctory completion of a job and a preconceived disdain for yet another "cheap horror movie."

The lights dimmed, and the screen lit up.

There were no celebrities, no flashy opening, only a cold, oppressive color palette and a sense of unease brought by handheld photography.

The two men awoke from their coma to find themselves imprisoned in a filthy, dilapidated basement bathroom, their feet chained together.

In the middle lay a "corpse" soaked in blood. The tape recorder emitted emotionless instructions, proclaiming the cruel rules of the "game"...

At first, there were subtle conversations and soft laughter in the theater, but as the plot unfolded, when the characters were forced to make chilling self-sacrifices for survival, when Jigsaw's deadly traps gradually revealed their cold logic, and when the "corpse" stood up slowly and astonishingly at the end of the film, uttering "Game Over" and slamming the iron door shut...

A deathly silence fell over the theater. Only the sound of the end credits rolling and the heavy breathing of some audience members who were still recovering could be heard.

Jon Stewart took off his hat, and the usual playful expression on his face disappeared.

He felt a chill run down his spine, not out of fear, but as a physical reaction to the film's creativity and uncompromising brutality. This film... was completely different from what he had expected.

It doesn't rely on jump scares to fool people, but uses an almost cruel wisdom to directly address the deep-seated human desire for survival and the questioning of moral bottom lines.

“Holy crap…” he muttered under his breath, unconsciously rubbing his arms.

……

The next day, Saturday evening, March 15th, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" aired on time.

After making fun of the day's political farce and a few social news stories, Jon changed the subject, his face showing a complex expression that mixed lingering fear and excitement.

“Okay, friends, let’s lighten things up… if that can be called ‘light’.” He spoke rapidly into the camera, “Last night, for… uh, some professional reasons, I went to see a newly released movie called SAW. Let me tell you, it was absolutely the most… ‘unique’ movie-going experience I’ve had recently.”

He began describing the plot, using his signature exaggerated tone and expressions: "Imagine you wake up in a public toilet that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a hundred years, your feet are chained, there's a stranger next to you, and in the middle lies... well, let's call it a 'decoration' for now." A low chuckle came from the audience.

"Then, a voice that sounds like your broken microwave is telling you that to survive, you have to do something... small. Like, saw off your own foot!" Jon makes an expression of extreme pain and disgust. "That's right! Saw it off! Right on the screen! Full of detail! Realistic sound effects!"

His rant began, but it sounded more like a wistful exclamation: "Seriously, after watching this movie, I still get chills when I see my bathroom door!"

The director is a Chinese guy named Wang Sheng? The guy who made *Night at the Museum*? Good heavens, what's going on in his head? Jumping straight from a magical museum that's supposed to entertain kids to this… this kind of deadly game that could scare adults to death? That's a huge leap!

He pointed at the camera, as if accusing the film: "This movie is unreasonable! It has no stars! Its budget is probably less than the price of this suit I'm wearing! But it manages to use such a damn, ingenious (or rather, perverted) idea to keep you in your seat and make you forget to eat your popcorn! It's so unfair!"

Jon's nearly five-minute "roast" was full of his signature humor and exaggeration, but the core message he conveyed was that Saw is an extremely special, extremely impactful, and one that you have to see for yourself to know how outrageous it is.

For the core audience of The Daily Show—young people who crave novelty, rebel against the mainstream, and enjoy exploring subcultures—Jon's seemingly critical yet impactful description was undoubtedly a powerful catalyst.

"If even Jon is disgusted like this, then I have to go and see!"

"It sounds way more exciting than those cookie-cutter teen horror movies!"

"Wang Sheng? It's him again? Just how many types of games can this guy play?"

The online discussion surged instantly. What was originally a topic limited to horror movie enthusiasts and a small group of students quickly went beyond their immediate circle.

The official website and forum for "Saw" (simple but fully functional) saw a surge in visits. Even the hotline for New Line Cinema's marketing department (primarily for inquiries about theater scheduling) rang more frequently.

Monday, October 3.

After three days of development over the weekend, preliminary box office figures for North America have been released.

When Karen Lee received the preliminary report from the data company, her hands trembled slightly, and she could hardly believe her eyes.

Saw's opening weekend box office (March 14-16):

Number of theaters showing the film: 1,492

Opening weekend box office: $21,387,501!

"Over twenty-one million?!" Karen Lee exclaimed in shock, quickly checking the production cost—one million three hundred thousand dollars. The opening weekend box office was almost twenty times the production cost! The per-theater box office reached an astonishing $14,335, ranking among the top films released that week!

This figure not only far exceeded the most optimistic expectations within New Line Cinema, but also instantly shook the entire North American film market's low-budget genre film sector.

Tuesday, October 3th.

Reports from major entertainment media outlets poured in like snowflakes.

The Hollywood Reporter featured a front-page analysis article: "'Jigsaw' game shocks the box office! Wang Sheng's low-budget thriller 'Saw' has created the first box office miracle of the year with over $20 million in its opening weekend! This film, which cost only a million dollars, has proven the enormous power of precise positioning and creativity in today's market with its unique concept and viral marketing."

Variety magazine's headline was even more direct: "Saw: A Million-Fold Return? New Line Cinema and Wang Sheng Hit the Bulls Again, Low-Budget Horror Film Ignites Spring Box Office!"

The article provides a detailed analysis of the film's marketing strategy, with particular mention of the "divine assistance" from Jon Stewart's talk show. It argues that this approach of leveraging specific media channels and opinion leaders (even those who criticize) to ignite the target audience offers a fresh perspective on the promotion and distribution of low-budget films.

Entertainment Weekly focused on Wang Sheng: "From Museum to Death Trap: Wang Sheng's Genre Magic. After raking in over $300 million worldwide with Night at the Museum, this Chinese director has turned around and proven his omnipotent control with an extremely brutal low-budget thriller. He always seems to be able to find the perfect climax between commercial success and creativity."

Even tabloids like the New York Post jumped on the bandwagon with sensational headlines: "Talk show host's nightmare comes true! Saw makes a killing by 'disgusting' audiences!"

Online media and forums were in an uproar.

"SAW" has become a popular Google search term.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the number of ratings and discussion posts about "Saw" has grown exponentially. Although the ratings are polarized—lovers regard it as a masterpiece and haters condemn it as garbage—its popularity is undeniable.

(End of this chapter)