Hollywood Director 1992

After Robert Downey Jr., Richard Gere, and others publicly praised "The Blair Witch Project" in the media, Tri-Star Entertainment and director Ed Merick publicly thanked them, praising them as people who truly understood the film.

Robert Downey Jr. responded with a cheerful, "No thanks needed," and expressed his hope for future collaborations with Tri-Star Entertainment and director Ed Merick.

Richard Gere also praised Ed Merick as an excellent young director—humble, talented, and with immense potential.

Ed Merick also thanked Richard Gere during the film's promotional activities, praising him as a dedicated and excellent actor, and expressed his hope for future collaborations.

The two sides frequently interacted through the media, mutually praising each other, which brought a lot of buzz to the currently released "The Blair Witch Project."

At the same time, it also showcased the qualities of veteran actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Richard Gere, demonstrating their high level of tolerance for new directors and new types of films, and their willingness to support newcomers.

This contradicted rumors that they were petty and jealous of Link's youth and filmmaking abilities, and were constantly suppressing him.

Jay Good, a special commentator for the "San Francisco Chronicle," commented on this matter, stating that Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr., and others are all professional actors who would not deliberately target someone out of jealousy for their success.

This can be seen from their help in promoting "The Blair Witch Project."

If someone believes they are being targeted, that person should reflect on what they did wrong and why they are being criticized by everyone.

Other media outlets followed up with reports on this matter.

They praised Richard Gere and others for their good character and as high-quality actors, subtly implying that Link's behavior was eccentric and unsociable, which is why everyone was targeting him, and that Link should seriously reflect on his actions.

Amidst the media hype, the third-week box office results for "The Blair Witch Project" were released.

This week, it earned $23.37 million in North America. Compared to the previous two weeks, the box office revenue decreased significantly, but the drop was smaller than expected. The distribution department believed this was due to the efforts of Richard Gere and others.

After this week's box office results were released, "The Blair Witch Project" officially surpassed the $100 million mark in North America, reaching $106 million, becoming the first film to gross over $100 million in 1993.

The success of "The Blair Witch Project" made its Hollywood peers envious and jealous. The film's production cost was at most $100,000, and the marketing cost was less than ten million. Earning over $100 million in North America after three weeks of release was extremely envy-inducing.

Because "The Blair Witch Project" completely adopted the "Paranormal Activity" model for production and promotion,

this also prompted Hollywood film companies to study the "Paranormal Activity" model with a more pious attitude, hoping to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in box office revenue like the previous two films.

According to a survey by "Variety" magazine, more than sixty similar films are expected to be greenlit this year. Because these films require small investments and have short production cycles, most of them are expected to be released within the year.

"Link, the newspapers are saying that many film companies are copying the production and promotion methods of 'Paranormal Activity.' Will this have any impact on the company?"

In the apartment, Jennifer Connelly leaned against him while reading a magazine.

"It doesn't matter. Let them copy. If they succeed, it will also prove that the film marketing model I developed is very good,"

Link said with a chuckle, holding her waist.

Without the system's box office subsidies, those people will fail miserably if they copy.

It is foreseeable that Hollywood will be very lively after those films are released.

"The marketing model you developed is indeed great. 'The Blair Witch Project' copied you, and its North American box office sold for over $100 million, which also shows how amazing you are,"

Jennifer Connelly hooked her arm around his neck, looking at him with a face full of admiration.

Link kissed her forehead, then kissed her lake-blue eyes, upturned nose, and rosy lips.

Jennifer responded passionately.

Before night fell, the two were already engaging in passionate lovemaking on the sofa, doing things that could only be done after dark.

Just as the third-week box office results for "The Blair Witch Project" were released, something else happened.

The "Los Angeles Times" published an in-depth investigative article in its new issue.

The headline was, 'How Differences in Cognition Lead to Polarization of Reviews and Box Office for "The Blair Witch Project".'

The article pointed out that after the newspaper's reporters surveyed 2,000 viewers of "The Blair Witch Project," they discovered a shocking fact.

Among the audience of "The Blair Witch Project," 96% had an education level below high school, and many of them had not received any education.

These people believe in strange things like ghosts, witches, vampires, sea monsters, and bat boys, and often talk about these things in social interactions.

To them, "The Blair Witch Project" is a documentary that reveals the truth of the world, not a movie.

This is also why they like "The Blair Witch Project."

And the audience who do not like this movie generally have a higher level of education.

Most of them have a bachelor's degree or higher, and some have a lower level of education but have seen many more movies, averaging more than 5 films per year, mainly arthouse films.

According to this survey, the "Los Angeles Times" concluded that—

The supporters and opponents of "The Blair Witch Project" are extremely closely related to their level of education.

People with lower levels of education tend to rate this film higher, while people with higher levels of education generally rate the film lower after watching "The Blair Witch Project."

In addition, people with lower levels of education are difficult to be persuaded. Even if they are told that "The Blair Witch Project" is a hoax, they will still go to the cinema to watch it.

The "Los Angeles Times" believes that the main reason why "The Blair Witch Project" currently has a high box office but film critics generally rate the film low is that the audience and film critics have different levels of education, and there are huge differences in cognition and aesthetics.

This situation is extremely similar to "Paranormal Activity."

Both films target ordinary audiences, which is the main reason why the films are selling so well.

After the "Los Angeles Times" article was published, it caused a heated discussion in Hollywood.

Some thought this survey was very meaningful, while others were furious after seeing this investigative article.

"The lower the level of education, the higher the rating of this movie? What kind of evaluation is that?"

"F*ck, who stipulated that people with a high level of education can't like this kind of movie?"

"The Los Angeles Times' survey is all bullsh*t."

Seeing the "Los Angeles Times'" analysis, Robert Downey Jr., Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, and others gnashed their teeth in anger.

They had publicly praised this film in the media, saying how wonderful and interesting the film was, and that people who thought the film was bad didn't understand it.

Now this damn newspaper says that people with low education levels like "The Blair Witch Project" more, and the lower the education level, the higher the evaluation of the film.

This is tantamount to scolding them for being uncultured to their faces.

It's too embarrassing.

As a public figure, nothing is more embarrassing than personally admitting that you are uncultured.

How will they face those fans who admire and worship them in the future?