The Best Director

Chapter 492: Chapter 492: Little Miss Sunshine

“Aaaaah—”

This year’s Halloween wasn’t on a weekend, so on the night of October 31, Tuesday, many spectators seeking a thrilling atmosphere flocked to the theaters to watch a horror movie. Surrounded by jeers and curses, “The Grudge 2” didn’t seem like a treat, while “Saw IV” was the best choice.

The moon was hazy, and a panic-stricken scream came from the cozy baby’s room. There Wang Yang, dressed in a brown bear plush costume, twisted his face in fright, while Keke looked on, puzzled. What was going on? But, influenced by the atmosphere, she started to feel scared and couldn’t help but hug her teddy bear tightly.

“HEY!” Jessica called out, not too pleased. Keke was so young and already experiencing Halloween—she really didn’t know who was the child here! However, seeing Keke with her eyes wide open, she still found it quite amusing. Wang Yang stared at Keke and said in a gloomy tone, “I just remembered a story. Tonight! I’m going to tell you a new kind of story, a scary one.” Keke blinked in confusion, “Eh? Scary?” Wang Yang explained, “It’s like this—you’ll be just as terrified as I was just now, aaaaah—”

Keke pouted a little, seemingly not keen on being frightened. Wang Yang had already cleared his throat and began to speak in a deep voice, “Once, there was a girl with black hair. She walked on the street and was eaten by a big brown bear.” He opened his mouth wide to roar, and Keke let out a surprised “Oh!”

“Yang!” Although a baby at this age might not understand the plot of a story, relying instead on voice and physical language to grasp its emotional tone, what if the baby actually understood? Jessica scolded, “Don’t really scare her! You know how important the subconscious is.” How could Wang Yang bear to scare her? He gave Jessica’s head a push and continued, “Then, she arrived in the world inside the bear’s belly, where many people lived. It turns out they were all people who had been eaten…”

In the baby’s room, Wang Yang’s storytelling alternated between low and high pitches; sometimes he laughed heartily, other times he screamed “Aaaaah” or “Oooooh—” Keke was captivated, and so was Jessica.

As October 27th to November 2nd passed, “Saw IV” effortlessly added another box office champion trophy to Flame’s collection for the year 2006, with an average of $14,546 per theater across 3,175 cinemas, debuting at the top with $46.18 million!

Compared to the series’ highest, “Saw III,” at $53.63 million, “Saw IV” did a superb job of maintaining the franchise’s momentum. The gold mine that had been exploited for years showed no signs of exhaustion, especially considering the production cost was still only $10 million.

Although it failed to defend its title in the week of November 3rd to 9th, losing to the highly-rated R-rated comedy “Borat: Learning the Culture of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” when it added another $19.85 million (-57%), the two-week total reached $66.03 million. With this momentum, a North American box office of over $80 million was entirely expected, and its worldwide gross was even more optimistically projected to be over $160 million.

With the success of “Saw IV,” 27-year-old Darren Lynn Bousman gained instant fame. Although he received mixed reviews, with a large portion of Saw fans praising him and others accusing him of ruining the franchise, he was lambasted by the film critics. Nonetheless, “Saw IV” fully demonstrated his considerable talent in the horror genre, and the majority of Saw fans felt that he would be the one to watch for the next couple of years.

But Flame was unpredictable. Recently, FF and Bousman announced to the media that he would not be directing “Saw V.” Bousman said, “I am saddened not to continue directing ‘Saw,’ as I had many ideas, but I understand and respect Flame’s decision.” Bousman quickly found his next project, negotiating with independent studio Quirky Motion to bring his 2002 stage play “The Genetic Opera” to the big screen.

“Darren did a fantastic job, but Saw needs some fresh blood. We cannot stand still,” Flame announced, shocking fans with the news that “Saw 5” would be directed by 25-year-old Nancy Reno.

For Flame, this was a decision without any question marks. Nancy’s ability was beyond doubt. If we look at her resume, she graduated from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts (renamed in April 2006) with a major in Film and Television Production and a minor in Screenwriting, making her a true scholar. Not to mention her role as assistant director on “Juno.” With credible work on “Saw,” “500 Days of Summer,” and “Saw IV,” she now stands out on the crews of “I Am Legend” and “Infernal Affairs.”

Also, as Wang Yang’s longtime important assistant and one of his carefully nurtured talents, her understanding and experience in all aspects of movie production far exceeded those of her peers. Her grasp and creative vision for Saw also convinced everyone at Flame. As for her age, it has never been a factor for Flame; the average age of the directors for the four Saw films (calculated by release date) is currently 27, and next year it will be 26.8 for the fifth installment.

Although Wang Yang is a USC Avenger, he is also at the heart of the USC mafia, with many members associated with FF, like Jon Chu, Susan Downey, and others. Now with another USC director joining, people were certainly not surprised by this, but rather, the key point was—a female director!

There were certainly successful female directors, and FF had a tradition of employing them. To date, out of the 34 films released by Flame, 6 were directed by women, making up 17.6%. Furthermore, they had just announced that Annie Fletcher would be directing “Bridesmaids.” However, a 25-year-old! They hadn’t seen one so young before, and what was even more astonishing was that she was going to shoot Saw! The Saw fan base felt their brains short-circuiting.

“I am honored to take over Saw, this opportunity means so much to me, and I will do my utmost to create a Saw that surprises everyone,” the new helmsman Nancy Reno said ambitiously. On the official website, she expressed her confidence to Saw fans and revealed that Saw 5 would return to exploring more mystery and the nature of humanity.

“What on earth is Magic Yang thinking?” Despite Nancy Reno being Wang Yang’s capable lieutenant, who could also be seen in some on-set photos taken by reporters at the Rose Bowl at the beginning of the year, and even though according to Flame’s introduction and filmmaker information, she was involved in the production of Saw and was one of the producers of Saw IV, fans still found it very hard to believe: A young, hot, and smart female director, directing Saw V? They just couldn’t believe it!

Some fans expressed excitement and anticipation, but the majority were concerned and made jokes. Wesley S commented on the official website replying to Nancy, “Oh my God, you’re not going to focus on the romantic history of the Jigsaw, are you?” Glen M followed with, “That’s a good idea, the touching story of Jigsaw and his wife. I look forward to crying when I watch it.” Justin D asked, “Will there still be murderous games?” “What worries me the most is not Saw anymore, but how violent a pretty girl can be.” “I hope there are no dating scenes in next year’s trailers.”…

Not just fans, the media too expressed their skepticism. This news was more far-fetched than Jon Favreau directing Iron Man or Nolan directing The Dark Knight. What the answer would be, nobody would know until Saw V was released on Halloween next year.

“Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!” Nancy had been letting out these excited cheers recently. She was going to be a movie director at last! After so many years, she thought she wouldn’t be so thrilled at such a moment, but she was wrong. The moment she signed the agreement to write and direct Saw V, she felt her dreams come true, and it was awesome! But she knew her debut with Saw V was not an easy start. She wanted to make this R-rated gory horror film maintain its style while injecting new charm and meaning into it. Good luck, Nancy!

“Your performance is over, Sweetheart!” “HEY! HEY!! Let go of my daughter! Let her finish—” “Let go, help, let go of me!”

“Hahaha—” Along with the lively music, the fully seated audience in the Little Miss Sunshine theater burst into laughter. The viewers looked at the big screen with smiles on their faces as the film reached its final phase. Olive was energetically performing a striptease (taught by her grandfather) on stage at the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. The staff attempted to usher her offstage, but to everyone’s surprise, Olive’s father Richard rushed up and grappled with the staff, causing immediate chaos.

“Catch her, catch her!” One of the pageant judges by the stage shouted furiously. Olive’s father, who was being pulled away, yelled, “Keep dancing, Sweetheart! I’m okay, keep dancing!” It was her dream. Even though her grandfather may have led her astray, she deserved to finish this performance, it was what her family had fought hard to earn. As the disco music continued to play, Olive, oblivious to it all, cheerfully began dancing again. The lady judge was close to tears with anger, “Get your daughter down NOW! Immediately, immediately!” @@novelbin@@

Olive’s dad slowly moved to the center of the stage and called out, “Sweetheart.” He came up behind his daughter, and his head slowly started to bob. Suddenly, he began twerking, prompting his brother-in-law and son to rush up to the stage and join in the dance. Finally, the mother also ran up with a smile to join the dance group.

“Hahaha!” “Haha, wow—” Watching this happy family dance together, the frowning audience below the stage, and the helpless lady judge, the audience felt warmth, moved, amused, and inspired. Many couldn’t help but applaud and whistle. What a great movie!

The result was that the police intervened, and Olive’s family was let off the hook on the condition that they could never let Olive enter any beauty contests in California again. They, of course, did not win the title of Little Miss Sunshine. Grandpa’s body had already been sent to the funeral parlor, properly wrapped in a shroud, and their van was once again pushed to start as the family embarked on their journey home. The screening room then erupted in warm applause, with the audience expressing their enjoyment with smiles and praise.

“‘Little Miss Sunshine’ offers a surprising blend of black humor and emotion, along with a strong cast.” — 3/4, Christy Lemire, Associated Press; “The character crafting is flawless, Kinnear has never had a role that fits him as well as ‘Richard’ does, a sweet performance and completely convincing; Arkin has the best lines and delivers them with the timing of a vaudeville pro.” — 3/4, Jack Matthews, New York Daily News; “The most amusing and elegant screenplay, performance, and direction, the best American family comedy so far this year.” — 4.5/5, Andrew Sarris, New York Observer…

“Love this movie! From the opening scene of the family having dinner to the last scene of the family dancing, this low-budget film is pure genius! Every second is brilliantly funny, yet entirely genuine and touching. Little Abigail Breslin is so perfect, especially among her uniquely talented co-stars. I’m ready to see it a second time; another great work by Flame Film.” Super user film critic Jamers gave it four and a half stars;

“Every actor seems to have their unique cadence, ‘everyone pretends to be normal,’ but the film often resonates with truth. Abigail Breslin is so endearing, and she shines in this film. It’s excellent and irresistible.” Nadira gave it five stars; “An epic comedy that everyone should see!” Jack G gave it four and a half stars; Ellie D gave it five stars: “Extremely good, brilliant in all respects, one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, it deserves to win an Oscar.”…

On November 15, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ hit the big screens of 7 North American Cinemas to critical acclaim! 91%/92% Rotten Tomatoes freshness score, 90% audience approval rating! IMDB-TOP250 list score of 8.1!

Definitely a crowd-pleaser! When the week of November 10-16 drew to a close, it raked in $130,000 at the box office with an average of $18,598 per venue; then in the second week of November 17-23, keeping the screening size steady, the average per venue surged to $87,862, meeting expectations with a $610,000 haul! With such high praise, its box office prospects were predictably bright, like FF’s previous global hits ‘Crash’ at $109 million and ‘Brokeback Mountain’ at $185 million, while its production cost was $8 million and FF’s buyout price was $15 million, a real dark horse!

Flame Film did it again! Focus Features, which had shelved the ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ script for years, seemed foolish in retrospect, and other studios were equally stunned, finally understanding why Flame had positioned ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ for the awards season. Now it was clear, Wang Yang was right.

With that, all of this year’s Sundance films had been released. Among the report cards, only two drama films were both critically and commercially successful, only two miracles, the two films bought by Flame Film at a high price: ‘The Illusionist’ and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. (