Chapter 36: A Box Office of 240 Million

  After a week of release, "Lowbrow" grossed $11 million at the domestic box office. Although the box office was not high, for "Lowbrow", a small film with a production cost of only $8 million, it was released in 1,250 theaters across North America and earned $11 million in its first week, which undoubtedly won a victory.

  In its second week, the film continued to gain momentum at the box office, earning $18 million and surpassing the previous weekend's opener "Lorenzo's Oil" as well as "Superstar", which opened against it the previous week, to become the number one film in the United States. In its third week, it earned $17.5 million across the country. In its fourth week, the film began to decline at the box office, earning a total of $15.5 million.

  The film grossed $52 million at 1,250 theaters across the United States and tickets for the film are still in short supply. For Sondra Locke, this spring has been a success with her first film recouping its entire cost in just four weeks and earning a tidy profit.

  It was this mere four-week period that made the name of Da Tang Film Company known throughout America, and Song Tang became a sought-after director in Hollywood.

  April 30, after four weeks of release in the United States with a decent box office, "Trash" was simultaneously released in twenty-three countries including the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Singapore. The overseas premiere was held at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, but George replaced Song Tang to attend the premiere, as Song Tang did not attend in person because he was filming "The Shawshank Redemption" at Mansfield State Prison in Ohio at that time.

  However, at this time, there was one more person in the crew, to be exact, a little girl, Scarlett Johnson, no mistake, George Johnson's niece. As for this little loli, Song Tang still liked her quite a bit. But when Song Tang found out that Scarlett liked performing arts, he invited Scarlett to follow the crew to the movie's filming location.

  However, after Scarlett arrived here, Song Tang only discovered that what he brought was not a lovely little loli at all. Originally, Song Tang wanted to make a loli training plan for himself. But now it's just been discovered that this Scarlett is simply a little devil, undeniable. The eight-year-old Scarlett has a delicate and lovely face, but the eight-year-old Scarlett also has an evil mind. Fortunately, Western girls are more mature, so at this time Scarlett is still relatively sensible. When Song Tang works, she only occasionally says a few words to strike at Song Tang.

  The filming of "The Shawshank Redemption" was a challenge for Song Tang, but also a challenge for all the crew members.

  The film begins with a series of fragmented images: a drunken man in a car, a courtroom interrogation, a romantic encounter between a man and woman, the drunken man loading a gun, an interrogation, and a man getting out of a car with a gun. Through the integration of these possibilities, the viewer is left with a cloud of doubt. Later, the lawyer's eloquent argument helps the viewer find the "facts": the banker, driven by jealousy over his wife's infidelity, killed the adulterous couple in a drunken rage. Importantly, this is all just a hypothetical scenario constructed by the viewer, or rather, the director has helped the viewer warm up their thinking muscles. However, the film does not replay this "fact" in a flashback style. In the subsequent "prison storm," the viewer's doubts about the "facts" are repeatedly teased. When Red asks Andy why he is in prison, Andy replies, "I'm innocent." On one hand, this induces the viewer to suspect and even rebuild hypotheses; on the other hand, it continues to highlight the theme of paradox. Red responds, "Everyone who comes here claims they're innocent."

  In the movie "The Shawshank Redemption", two big-name male stars, one white and one black, come together to engage in multiple intense conversations about their lives. The characters' on-screen performances are impressive and heavy-hitting. Every time the two stars meet, they sit down and talk openly about life, remembering their past escapes, and yearning for freedom outside the prison walls of Shawshank. They long to live freely like geese, constantly striving to become the ideal person outside of prison. However, their methods differ; black inmate Ellis repeatedly applies for parole, but after 40 years in prison, the authorities still don't give him a chance. Unlike his black friend Ellis, Andy only seems to have applied once, making an oral statement to re-examine his case, and after being punished, he no longer tries to prove his innocence. Is this just accelerating his plan for escape? As for Andy's idea of escape, Ellis thinks it's just a fantasy.

  There's no fairy tale inside Shawshank prison. This is what Ellis, a black man who has been imprisoned in Shawshank for 40 years, said: "Whether it's a black or white prisoner, the birds flying high outside the wall are the protagonists of the fairy tale, and every feather on their wings is stained with the glory of freedom."

  Inside the Great Wall, only Hayworth's image is a symbol of freedom and fairy tale. In Shawshank Prison, classic black-and-white films from the 1940s were often screened. Ellis watched Rita Hayworth's starring film "Gilda" three or four times with relish.

  It seems that the black and white poster of Rita Hayworth is not just a simple photo of her. According to the plot, this movie poster of Rita Hayworth on the wall behind Andy in Shawshank Prison should be considered an interesting maze. They were in the same prison, Hayworth always smiled at him, while Andy always responded with a cold face. They accompanied each other, side by side, year after year, day after day, until finally, innocent Andy broke through the thick and high wall behind Hayworth's back.

  Andy gave himself a brand new world of freedom. That night, Andy slid down the gutter and escaped into the stormy weather. That night, as Andy stretched his arms towards the sky, a sudden thunderbolt struck from the dark sky. The lightning that night was just like the calligraphy on Warden Norton's office wall: God's judgment is swifter than expected. Norton received the punishment he deserved.

  Andy's flesh and spirit together, finally redeemed in Shawshank, redemption is not from heaven, but Andy bit by bit, digging, spent twenty years, broke through the high wall behind Warden Norton. Broke through the wall of Norton, Shawshank's redemption. Andy is on a blue sky...

  Song Tang's second film is a labor of love, with meticulous attention to detail. Not only did he re-shoot scenes that didn't meet his expectations, but he also gave Charliez and Scarlett a chance to experience the thrill of acting. Although they weren't major characters, Song Tang made some last-minute changes to the script to accommodate them, which didn't affect the overall impact of the film. The two played the roles of Brooks' granddaughters from Shawshank Prison's library, with no backstory or introduction in the movie. Their fate was also left unexplained, as if they suddenly appeared and disappeared. Charliez played a kind-hearted but timid girl who bore a fleeting resemblance to Rita Hayworth from the prison's pin-up poster, leaving a lasting impression that felt almost real.

  However, Scarlett's portrayal in the film is that of a little devil, but this little devil has a pure heart. As for the two people's screen time, after the film's post-production, whether it can exist on the movie screen without affecting the film's effectiveness, Song Tang doesn't know. Anyway, what Song Tang wants now is to let the two have the feeling of filming together. Later, Song Tang also discovered that the two have an unparalleled talent for acting, although their acting skills are very awkward. However, Song Tang believes that as long as he gives them time, the two will definitely become Hollywood new stars.

  With the film "Low Class" being taken down, the final box office statistics for "Low Class" have finally been released. The total domestic box office is $123 million, and the global box office is $118 million, making a total of $241 million in box office revenue, becoming a myth for low-cost films in 1992. After deducting costs and theater fees, etc., "Low Class" has brought in at least over $100 million in income to Da Tang Film Industry.

  The lowbrow screening was a success, and more media reporters confirmed Song Tang's status in Hollywood. It can be said that Song Tang became famous overnight. In April and May, the talented director Song Tang also became a new topic of discussion among movie fans. However, because Song Tang was busy filming The Shawshank Redemption, he didn't have time to pay attention to these things. After receiving the information from George, Song Tang just smiled calmly, as he had roughly guessed the result, and he indeed had more important things to do.