A previously unused storage room at Embassy Pictures had been renovated into an office. With over twenty workstations and corresponding computers, it appeared somewhat cramped.
This was the newly established Network Promotion Department.
"In our market research, including even niche art films, we found that among all moviegoers, one-third are teenagers under twenty, over one-third are young adults in their twenties, and only less than one-third are over thirty," Michael said as he entered the office with David Villa.
David Villa responded, "The target audience for Final Destination is those under thirty."
Michael continued, "As long as we can win over a portion of the under-thirty audience, Final Destination will be a success." He glanced at the busy employees in front of computer screens. "The internet is already widespread in North America, with young people making up the majority of users. We don't have the advantage in traditional media, but on the internet, the gap between us and the big companies is much smaller."
"In fact, after the success of The Blair Witch Project," David Villa said confidently, "our internet promotion is already industry-leading."
Michael smiled and said, "Final Destination has been released. Let's have our people pose as movie enthusiasts and be active on various movie websites and popular forums to pique more people's interest."
As for those over thirty, Michael didn't make specific arrangements targeting them. This demographic generally had established preferences for movie genres, making it difficult to sway them unless the film was already their type.
Having teenagers influence their parents to watch a horror movie together wasn't practical either. A family going to see a horror movie together seemed ridiculous.
The word-of-mouth marketing strategies for family movies and horror movies are completely different.
Following David Villa, Michael approached a young man and glanced at his computer screen. A post filled with text and a few stills from Final Destination had just been published.
The young man turned around and stood up, saying, "Director, Chairman…"
David Villa introduced Michael, "Chairman, this is Bill Martens from the Network Promotion Department."
Michael sized him up briefly. The man looked very ordinary, the type that wouldn't stand out in a crowd. He was quite young, probably not even twenty-five.
"Hello," Michael said, shaking his hand.
David Villa added, "Bill joined us during the promotion of The Blair Witch Project. He had a network studio, and after collaborating with us, he brought his team into Embassy Pictures. Bill and his team were responsible for the Blair Witch Project website and its initial promotional phase."
"Well done," Michael said approvingly.
Bill Martens seemed somewhat awkward in social interactions and scratched his head with a smile.
"Report any difficulties to David promptly," Michael emphasized the importance of this network promotion department and reminded him, "Be mindful of legal issues."
Bill Martens assured him, "Everything we do is legal and compliant. Internet freedom of speech."
Michael shook his hand again and said, "Carry on then, I won't disturb you further."
In reality, this network promotion department was closer to an internet marketing team. They had to purchase legitimate internet services, which wouldn't be handed over to them.
After leaving the office, Bill Martens gathered his team, summarizing the current internet situation for Final Destination and reallocating tasks. They quickly got back to work.
In just one morning, Bill and his team, using multiple accounts, raised the IMDb audience rating of Final Destination from 7.2 to 7.8.
At this time, IMDb's rating system wasn't very robust, and there were many loopholes.
The review section on the website was full of positive feedback.
"The plot of Final Destination is tight, the perspective unique, the theme innovative, and the characters well-developed. The storyline is flawless, naturally progressing from one step to the next. The most shocking aspects of the film are the psychological implications: one, that every everyday object around you could kill you; and two, that if you escape one disaster, you should be even more despairing because you're next."
Not only on IMDb, but various forums were also flooded with posts from the promotion team.
Genuine movie enthusiasts who had seen the film were already spreading the word about Final Destination, and the promotion team further amplified their reach.
Some enthusiasts, true to their name, analyzed the film's subtle elements in detail after just one midnight screening.
A movie blogger named Jerry posted on his blog, noting the film's numerous subtle hints.
"This film foreshadows all subsequent events right from the beginning."
"The reflection of what looks like a wing in the window, seemingly unstable in the rain, hints at the upcoming plane crash; a doll hanging with its shadow resembling a hanged person, hints at Todd's death; a picture in a magazine showing the guillotine of the French Revolution, hints at Billy's death; a picture in a magazine showing a woman lying in a pool of blood and a person with a knife in their chest, hints at Ms. Lewton's death; the book Death of a Salesman with a billboard on the cover, hints at Carter's death; Alex's mother tearing off a label from a suitcase, signifies the start of the catastrophe…"
Final Destination had left a deep impression on this ardent fan, who not only analyzed the opening sequence but also detailed the hints before each character's death, filling an entire page with his insights.
This article was quickly discovered and went viral on major movie forums, attracting a lot of attention from fans.
Bill Martens' promotion team also noticed this article and helped it gain even more traction, making it the most popular movie post of the weekend.
Jerry's blog alone received thousands of comments.
"I've seen this movie; the plot is terrifying and well-connected!"
"We could die at any time, not knowing when, where, or how—we believe this because of the film's strong psychological suggestions."
"Final Destination? I'm going to watch it after work tonight."
"Anyone in Boston? Let's go together. I love horror movies, but I'm a bit timid…"
With the film's quality assured, effective marketing, and some innovation on the traditional horror formula, Final Destination outperformed all currently showing films on its opening day, grossing $9.3 million and seizing the daily box office crown from Toy Story 2, which earned $6.5 million that day.
On Saturday, CinemaScore released the latest statistics, giving Final Destination a "B" rating from audiences, with a projected North American box office gross of no less than $60 million.
Additionally, after its opening day, Final Destination had a 7.5 IMDb audience rating and a 64 media score.
For an R-rated horror movie, this was excellent word-of-mouth.
However, there was one thing Michael didn't expect, which surprised the entire management team of Sandsea Entertainment and Embassy Pictures.
Rotten Tomatoes, which collects critic reviews to score movies, released its consensus after collecting 50 reviews. With 15 positive and 35 negative reviews, the film had a freshness rating of only 30% and an average critic score of 4.7.
Michael was taken aback. Why did the critics dislike Final Destination so much?
Thinking back to the summer, The Blair Witch Project had a 90% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes after its premiere, whereas Final Destination had only 30%.
The difference was as stark as the quality of the two films.
Ironically, the situation was reversed.
Out of a hundred people who watched both The Blair Witch Project and Final Destination, at least eighty would likely say the latter was of far higher quality, possibly even ninety-nine.
Yet, The Blair Witch Project, a film of questionable quality, was well-received by critics, while the significantly better Final Destination was given low scores...
From a cinematic art perspective, this made no sense.
It was a reminder that this group could not be understood by common logic.
Perhaps their tastes were simply different.
Michael also considered another reason: it was awards season, a time when critics wielded significant influence. A commercially-driven horror film like Final Destination releasing during this period probably didn't sit well with them.
This didn't significantly impact the promotional work of Embassy Pictures.
With the internet and traditional media as the core, the marketing campaign for Final Destination remained robust.
By the opening day, Embassy Pictures had invested nearly $10 million in promoting and distributing the film.
The results were clear.
On Saturday, Final Destination's daily box office remained unaffected by Rotten Tomatoes and critics' negative reviews, increasing from Friday to $12.95 million.
It continued to outperform Toy Story 2, which grossed $12.7 million that day, retaining the top spot in the daily box office.
In just two days, Final Destination had surpassed $20 million in North America!
By Sunday, the film's momentum continued, and its screening rate had risen to the highest among all films being shown.
For December in the North American market, this was rare, a phenomenon not seen since Scream premiered a few years ago.