OMG didn’t refer to Omega, but a website subordinated to YAHOO. It engaged in star and celebrity gossip, and the posts there exceeded one’s imagination.
There was a group of amateur reporters who were good at uncovering the dirty laundry of the stars. They would combine clues they found in their junk and share the information with the public regularly.
The information was always about trifle things, such as the food and shopping habits of the stars, but the public was very interested in them.
Vivian logged into OMG and posted a picture of an escaping Qin Guan and a copy of her movie ticket.
The title of the post was the meaningful, "The secret hero of an indie film."
She described the process of meeting Qin Guan at the cinema, as well as the handsomeness of the actor in real life. She added a picture of Qin Guan from VOGUE.
Everyone was really jealous of her
experience. As a senior member of OMG, she got 1,000 kudos for her post in half a day.
"The film is not in theaters in my state. Is there a DVD out yet?"
"Same question. I’m interested in watching it."
The school newspaper was already being printed. Vivian was really glad to see the replies. Although she was extremely busy, she managed to post detailed information about the film.
"Right now, the film is only in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, but you should pay attention to Netflix. There will be a DVD for rent soon."
OMG was the largest gossip forum in America. The news spread in only one day. The power of underground movies was slowly growing. However, the official critics, which Qin Guan was focused on the most, were as silent as the suburbs in the morning.
The next day, he bought "The New York Times" on his way to college. Unfortunately, he
he saw nothing about "Elephant" in the movie review section.
Depressed, he was planning on asking his girlfriend to comfort him. However, he realized that everyone on campus was staring at them. Cong Nianwei smiled when she saw the school newspaper on a shelf. Qin Guan’s photo took up the whole page. He was in a military uniform, holding a gun. His beauty was unparalleled!
"Cheer for Our Handsome Qin Guan: An Indie Film."
Cong Nianwei waved the paper at Qin Guan. "At least you are popular on campus."
Qin Guan's supporters decided to contribute to his box office success after reading about the news.
After class, Liu came over with her girl force. "President, we just got some funding from the Chinatown small traders. It’s a special sponsorship for you."
"A film club? What's that?"
"Why didn't you tell me about the movie? You are not loyal!" Xu finally said after restraining himself during the whole class.
"I just invited
just invited our Chinese schoolmates to watch the film in the name of the trading union. Do you know what we called this before 1949? Flattery!"
Bang! Qin Guan patted him on the back. "That’s poor Chinese of you. I’m not a Peking Opera actor!"
Xu felt wronged. "I tried my best to promote you. Everyone in Chinatown heard about the news... Hey, come back! I’m your sponsor..."
Hundreds of students from Columbia poured into the Sunshine Cinema. The ticket seller, who was used to being lazy, was now in a hurry to deal with the long queue before him.
"Two tickets for ‘Elephant’."
"Ten tickets for ‘Elephant’."
Several couples were confused by the long queue.
"What's happening? Is there a famous indie film on?"
"‘Elephant’? No idea. It must be an independent film with a limited budget. It has to be good if there’s so many people here to see it though. Shall we take a look?"
All 400 tickets were sold tickets were sold out soon. The long queue was not shortened though.
"What? It’s sold out for today? Tomorrow? I will be busy tomorrow. Will you add another screening?"
The manager was shocked by the crowded hall. He checked the timetable and decided to add a temporary screening.
Luckily, the long queue went into another hall. The shrewd manager called the boss to report everything to him.
"Yes, I have taken care of everyone, but there are still people coming occasionally. Yes, I’ll add two more screenings tomorrow. We have one spare theater... No problem!"
The screenings were doubled after the call. The film would be played for two weeks.
New York Box Office on the first day: 720 dollars
Los Angeles Box Office on the first day: 600 dollars
New York Box Office on the second day: 7,000 dollars
Los Angeles Box Office on the second day: over 800 dollars
The box office the next day was multiplied by 10!