章節 278: Fan favourite

William's immediate reaction was: Brandomania is actually in Los Angeles too! And they're at tonight's premiere at the landmark theater! How come they didn't get to meet!

So, he quickly left a comment under the post, "Also at the landmark theater in Los Angeles. Young Master Renly is like a moving feast, the vibrant colors only truly shine when he's actually moving. Just like when I watched his performance of "Ophelia" on the street, and now tonight, seeing him discuss acting at the cinema."

After completing his reply, William swiftly browsed through the other comments below. In the short time he left his comment, the number of replies had surged by over a hundred. Among the comments, many were clamoring, "Did you abandon our Depp? When will you post a picture of James McAvoy? Will you continue with the Robert Downey Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes?"...

William found himself puzzled by this and carefully read through those replies before realizing.

As it turned out, Brandomania was a well-known movie blogger, or more accurately, a renowned cinephile blogger. He or she was even a notable illustrator who not only published their own artbooks but occasionally took on design projects for brand logos, all while maintaining a personal blog.

However, as indicated by the nickname Brandomania, this individual was an ardent fan of Marlon Brando. Their blog was often updated with illustrations from Marlon Brando's golden era, earning widespread acclaim. Occasionally, they would create illustrations of recent favorite actors as well, garnering a loyal following. Their only wish was for their idol's attention.

William quickly searched the nickname Brandomania and found their personal blog website registered under the same name. Upon opening the webpage, he saw that the 24-hour visitor count displayed on the left side was a staggering 300,000. This was an unimaginable figure for a personal domain blog. Clearly, Brandomania had a solid fan base online.

Unfortunately, it had been quite a while since the last time they updated with a hand-drawn image. Although their blog articles were consistently updated, their last hand-drawn image was from April this year, featuring a portrayal of Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. Now, after half a year, Renly's appearance had reignited their artistic passion!

Before this, Brandomania had only been leaving comments and replies, not really drawing much attention in the Yahoo Community. However, today, they had created a watercolor portrait of Renly for the first time, signifying their affection for Renly, and this instantly ignited the enthusiasm of internet users. William felt his excitement surge!

However, the blog hadn't synchronously updated with the Yahoo Community post. Their latest blog entry clearly stated, "No more blogging! Future artwork will be posted on the level of mobile apps, on Instagram. Welcome to follow." The comments below were mostly complaints, lacking trust in the blogger who hadn't updated in six months. Even if they switched platforms, it seemed likely this blogger would continue to be lax.

William swiftly picked up his phone and found the Instagram app in the app store. Surprisingly, this app had only been launched ten days ago, yet it had already secured a place in the top three of the free apps ranking. Its popularity was truly astonishing.

After almost completing his registration, William effortlessly found Brandomanias' user profile. As expected, the latest photo was the hand-drawn image they had just posted on the Yahoo Community. Beneath it, they captioned, "Back from watching "Buried", the biggest surprise of the year!" The added tags were "Renly Hall" and "Buried Premiere".

Although this was a newly launched software, Brandomania had already garnered over 50,000 followers due to their strong supporter base. And the hand-drawn image they had just updated had received 4,000 likes in just 25 minutes, along with a string of comments expressing approval, with many people adding similar tags."

William had a brilliant idea. He checked the rankings on Instagram, and indeed, the tag "Buried Premiere" had entered the real-time popular tags list. Over three thousand three hundred users had used that tag.

What could be anticipated was that more and more people would hear about the movie "Buried", and perhaps due to its positive word of mouth, they would choose to step into the cinema!

An obscure independent film, premiering in just eleven art theaters, and without any promotional expenses, had managed to attract such attention solely based on the audience's curiosity and enthusiasm. In less than twelve hours, it had stirred up a discussion frenzy on Yahoo Community, then widely propagated on Facebook, Instagram, and even entered the trending keyword lists. With zero financial investment, it had successfully carved a path, an achievement that was unimaginable in the past.

The power of the internet had far exceeded expectations, or perhaps it had met expectations as foreseen. Would there be a day in the future when the advancement of artificial intelligence would ultimately overturn human dominance? But regardless of that, the premiere of "Buried" had ignited the internet, riding the wave of this momentum.

Returning to Yahoo Community, it was clear that the reply rate and click-through rate had hit new highs. Just the post by Brandomania had garnered twenty thousand clicks and fifteen hundred replies. This explosive growth was astonishing, and it was difficult to imagine how many netizens in North America were staying up all night, and how many were refusing to sleep due to the premiere of "Buried".

What was even more intriguing was how many people, like William, were unable to sleep due to their excitement. He hadn't experienced any weariness or fatigue from staying up the whole night. His mind remained charged with excitement, replaying scenes and snippets of his interaction with Renly in the theater, recalling details about the movie, Renly's conversations, and the entire movie-watching process. All the information flowed like an active volcano, ceaselessly erupting!

When William saw the nicknames Graham and Hope appear in the replies, he couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter. Clearly, he wasn't alone.

The New York Times, Yahoo Community, social networks... so, what was next?

William quickly opened IMDb.

Undoubtedly, this was the largest gathering place for seasoned movie enthusiasts in North America. People might argue that IMDb's tastes were too mainstream or its preferences too market-driven, but no one could deny that it was the most significant platform for North American core moviegoers to express their viewpoints. IMDb's user rating system was intricate and authoritative, and it had now become comparable to media reviews, Rotten Tomatoes scores, and theater ratings, serving as a crucial measure of a movie's reputation and quality.

Seeing IMDb's rating, William was instantly disappointed. The number of voters was only seven hundred and eighty-one, which was quite pitiful. It hadn't even crossed the threshold of a thousand. While the current rating was an astonishing 8.5, William knew that due to the limited number of voters, this score couldn't be taken as definitive. It wouldn't make it into the top 250 list of great films. Moreover, it couldn't truly represent the audience's genuine opinions.

Expectations had been too high, leading to an even greater disappointment.

However, William quickly calmed down and thought carefully. Currently, "Buried" had only premiered in eleven theaters, and it was a midnight screening. Even if every show was sold out, there would be at most three to four thousand viewers. In reality, this was obviously unrealistic.

In other words, with only one or two thousand audience members having watched the movie, nearly eight hundred people had gone to IMDb to cast their votes, giving it an average score of 8.5. For reference, out of the current top 250 films, only about fifty had an average score of 8.5 or higher.

What did this indicate? It showed that the audience reception for "Buried" had already exceeded expectations!

The audience composition for the midnight screening of "Buried" was incredibly special. It included not only supporters but also opposers, spectators, and even provocateurs who nitpicked for faults. Amidst this diverse range of opinions, "Buried" had achieved an average score of 8.5. Did this mean that Renly's performance had silenced the critics and doubters?

Realizing this, William became excited once again!

Out of habit, he opened the official website of the Los Angeles Times, and he immediately saw a report from thirty-five minutes ago: "'Astonishing, "Fast 5" Cast Attends "Buried" Midnight Premiere, Igniting Movie-Watching Craze!"

In the report, they didn't provide pictures from the landmark theaters. Instead, they offered photos of the entire cast attending a party at Paul Walker's villa in Santa Monica. It was evident that they had missed the classic moments of the midnight screening but still managed to catch the tail of this news focus, successfully hitching a ride on this bandwagon of publicity.

The fact that both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, two top-tier media outlets covering both coasts of the country, had focused their attention on "Buried" was absolutely astonishing for an independent film with no promotional resources.

It should be noted that most independent films were virtually ignored. They relied on word of mouth from the audience, the cast members tirelessly promoting the film everywhere, and hands-on marketing efforts to barely carve out a market share. But now, "Buried" was experiencing an unbelievably bright debut!

What was even more commendable was that the real-time discussion heat for "Buried" had surpassed "Paranormal Activity 2", becoming the hottest topic on October 22nd. That was the true miracle!

This was because "Paranormal Activity 2" not only held a small yet grand premiere but also simultaneously screened in 3,216 theaters across the United States. In other words, the screening venues for "Buried" didn't even match a fraction of what its competition had achieved.