"Hey, have you guys watched Director Edward's The Grudge 3 yet? I heard this movie is insanely impressive, and its box office is already close to breaking the eight hundred million mark!"
Inside the school, a male student was chatting excitedly with his buddies. When the others heard him bring it up, they all nodded one after another.
Naturally, they had heard of the film as well—after all, in university life, no one wanted to look out of touch or uninformed.
"I actually watched it last week," another boy said with a hint of pride. He was holding a commemorative ticket stub from The Grudge 3 in his hand. "At that time the box office hadn't even passed seven hundred million yet. I didn't expect it to grow this fast."
His slight bragging tone piqued the curiosity of the others, and it also stirred up their own competitiveness.
During this period, the popularity of The Grudge 3 had exploded to a truly ridiculous level. In fact, to some extent, its current heat could only be described as absurdly high. The entire League was talking about this one movie; all other films released in the same timeframe were practically ignored.
Because of this overwhelming popularity, countless media creators set their eyes on Edward's film, eager to bite into this massive traffic cake. Everyone was curious—why exactly had this movie become such a phenomenon?
Among them, a content creator who specialized in film analysis and industry data released a video sharing his own thoughts.
"Everyone knows that Director Edward's The Grudge 3 is blowing up right now. It has practically become a historical event—one that we are all witnessing, and, in a way, helping to create."
"Let me give you some context. Previously, in the entire history of the League's film industry, the box office record for horror films was only in the seven hundred million range. But Edward's new film has already surpassed eight hundred million. Looking at the current trends, it's entirely possible for the total gross to pass one billion. One billion! That is a milestone that would be almost impossible for anyone else to surpass."
"I was honestly extremely curious how something like this was even possible. Director Edward has produced many films before, yet none of the previous ones reached this level. What changed with this one? Personally, I think it's a combination of several factors.
For instance, people now associate Edward's films with charity. He publicly promised to donate all box office earnings to hospitals. I believe that's one of the main reasons audiences feel motivated to support this film."
"Most people genuinely enjoy doing good deeds or at least appearing compassionate. Edward simply seized the opportunity—and that's how he achieved this height. It's admirable, really."
"But charity alone wouldn't have been enough. Online, there are countless sources of hype every day. What Edward needed was something to ignite a massive public discussion. Coincidentally—or perhaps 'miraculously'—several incidents occurred recently that triggered intense online debate. This helped The Grudge 3 explode across the entire internet, leading to what we see now."
"I can safely predict this: unless the industry undergoes some huge technological transformation, this film's box office will remain unmatched for a long time. Reaching this level is already a miracle. Even Director Edward's own future horror films will have a nearly impossible time surpassing it. In the short term, The Grudge 3 will likely become the undisputed number one horror movie in the entire history of the League."
Edward watched the video with interest. He nodded as the commentator enthusiastically analyzed the situation. To Edward, the man's words indeed made sense. It was rare—almost unbelievable—that the film had achieved such overwhelming success. Edward felt that even his next horror film, even One Missed Call 2, would probably fail to reach this same height.
But Edward didn't care much about box office numbers anyway. Even if the film broke one hundred billion, all that money would be donated to build hospitals; it wasn't something Edward considered his own income. In his eyes, money was never the point.
What mattered more to him was fear value. And the fear points of this film had already surpassed 800,000—and was still climbing. Edward scratched his head. He felt that his future films might not be able to reach this level again.
"Well, either way, The Grudge 3 is basically finished now. Next up, I just need to shoot One Missed Call 2 and the other projects."
With this thought, Edward looked at the computer screen before him. In his opinion, he had already shot most of the horror films he wanted to. Although there were still some left, the genre was starting to feel exhausted.
After all, most horror tropes had already been used countless times. Without fresh, innovative scare techniques, it was hard to impress viewers. Edward's advantage in this world lay in the fact that horror cinema in the Pokémon world wasn't very developed yet. Here, horror films were still a blue ocean—filled with untouched potential.
But in his previous life, horror films had nearly exhausted every type of gimmick. Those who watched horror regularly could practically outline the general structure of any upcoming film and even predict the scare sequences. Naturally, this made the genre much harder to work with.
That was why later horror films in his past world started adopting niche formats—like mockumentaries. The movie Gonjiam, rumored to be incredibly terrifying, used a partially documentary-style approach combined with traditional filmmaking techniques.
Found footage, haunted houses, vengeful spirits—almost every trope had already been explored. Most scares relied heavily on sudden jump scares. To Edward, creating good horror films nowadays was becoming increasingly difficult.
Still, Edward had some new ideas he could try. There was no need to rush. As for producing One Missed Call 2, he wasn't in a hurry.
After all, The Grudge 3 had delivered more than enough fear to the public. If he released One Missed Call 2 immediately, it would be harder to harvest fear value. Edward planned to let the audience settle first, maybe put out something new as a buffer, then release One Missed Call 2 later for maximum effect.
But as for what to release next… Edward didn't have a concrete plan yet. Picking a project and deciding how to execute it were both giving him a bit of a headache.
After thinking for a while, he figured he could finish the next season of Sherlock Holmes first. Giovanni had already been arrested, and the Moriarty storyline still had plenty of room to explore.
Shooting another season of Sherlock Holmes wouldn't be a bad idea. But Edward suddenly had a bold thought: What if he adapted the Harry Potter series?
The idea of bringing a magical world into this world seemed incredibly interesting. Whether it would work or not, Edward wasn't entirely sure. He decided he would rest for a bit first; once he was recharged, he could start planning the film.
In his previous life, Harry Potter had stirred up monumental attention. Each movie became a global sensation. When the final book was published, it even received police escort—absolutely unbelievable.
This alone proved just how mind-blowingly popular Harry Potter had been. But would it succeed in this world? Edward wasn't certain. After all, this world already had superpowers, Pokémon, and psychic humans. Would magic still hold the same appeal?
"…Wait."
Edward suddenly realized something.
Even though psychic powers existed here, the vast majority of people were still ordinary. Psychic individuals were extremely rare. Most people dreamed of having supernatural abilities, but they didn't actually possess them.
In that case, magic—something anyone might hope to learn would be incredibly appealing. Edward felt that the magic world might actually have huge potential here.
He started to feel excited. Still, whether the idea would succeed or flop was unknown. But even if it failed, Edward didn't really mind. He had made so much money by now that investing one or two billion into a film was hardly an issue.
Besides, he'd already bought that old castle. With some renovations, it could easily become Hogwarts classrooms. Thinking of this made him even more enthusiastic. As for the Harry Potter storyline, Edward remembered it well. Though from his perspective, some plot points had always felt strange.
For example—why did Dumbledore leave Harry in a family that didn't love him at all? The later explanation about "blood protection" felt somewhat logical, but also a bit questionable.
But unless he could ask the original author, he'd never get a definitive answer, so there was no point dwelling on it.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, though…
He remembered that many parts were interesting. Edward felt he could start by adapting the first book. Since the series had multiple installments—and since the story was long and detailed—it made sense to test the waters first. If the first film performed well, he could adapt the sequels and even publish new novels under his authorship, creating a brand-new IP.
Edward believed this IP could become extremely valuable. After all, every IP he currently controlled had brought him massive profits. Even those that were niche, like Alien—a film he made solely to participate in a sci-fi horror contest had performed decently. He had never intended to film Alien sequels anyway.
"Boss! Boss! A film program wants to invite you as a guest!"
Zoroark rushed in excitedly. The enthusiasm in her voice made Edward raise an eyebrow—if Zoroark was this hyped, the program must be something big.
During this period, countless shows had tried to invite him as a guest. Edward had already gotten used to it.
"So, which film program is it?" Edward asked curiously.
Zoroark was still panting from excitement.
(End of Chapter)
If you want, I can translate the next chapter as soon as you send it!