From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Everything, just as expected—

A movie having easter eggs is a pleasant surprise, bringing extra fun.

But a movie having multiple endings is a fright, causing aversion.

Imagine watching a movie on Friday night, relaxing and unwinding from a week of work, purely for entertainment, only to be told that the movie ended but didn't really end, because there were other endings, and not just one, but five.

Surprised? Unexpected?

Instantly, the entire weekend is ruined.

If you thought that was the worst thing, you'll then discover the easter egg.

The endings are screened randomly.

No one knows which cinema to go to in order to see all the endings; the entire weekend might be spent in unrest because of this one suspense.

Damn.

Netizens are genuinely angry; which genius came up with such a stupid and narcissistic promotional method? It's like playing with clowns.

Immediately, curses and complaints erupted, everyone venting their anger.

Clearly, this is a risky attempt, completely breaking the conventional model—

The backlash was foreseen early on.

People still tend to prefer things they are accustomed to; every innovation and every break from convention will, to some extent, face some discomfort, and the first reaction is often a subconscious rejection, possibly even more intense.

"The Butterfly Effect" prepared for this when planning such a distribution method.

Moreover, the actual situation is slightly different.

Amidst the noisy curses, applause and praise gradually began to emerge.

The reason lies in the movie itself—

The Butterfly Effect: every choice can lead to completely different endings.

Obviously, judging from Ansen's performance, this movie is not just popcorn; it's also a reflection on life. The final decision to arrange multiple endings to be released simultaneously and randomly, while a gimmick, has the real meaning of breaking the fourth wall and bringing the movie into reality—

Every viewer's choice can affect their perception of the movie, and make the movie's box office prospects full of unknowns; everything is a gamble.

If it were any other movie, such a strategy might just be to attract attention; but clearly, Ansen is not like that.

Most importantly, while avoiding spoilers, premiere audiences said they were stunned into silence by the ending they saw, pinned to their seats in the cinema, contemplating life, so they were very willing to see what other tricks the director could pull out.

"If you don't like it, just watch it once, and the other endings don't matter anymore, because it's just a bad movie, right?

If you like it, then you can freely choose whether to enter the cinema again to challenge other endings.

More importantly, the way you deal with the possibility of different endings is itself a choice; from here, the butterfly effect has already taken effect.

Isn't this unknown the most fascinating part?"

Netizens singing praises said this was a rare and innovative movie premiere.

From the method of participation to the content of the premiere, from the theme of the entire event to the movie itself, the entire evening was tightly focused on "the connection between people", not just love, kinship, and friendship, but also strangers who meet by chance; even a fleeting encounter can change a life.

Without a doubt, this was the most innovative and movie-immersive premiere they had ever experienced, not rolling around on the ground for gimmicks, nor mystifying for suspense; everything was traceable and completely tied to the movie.

This is true dedication, and a 100% understanding of the movie's core, ensuring that every audience member at the premiere can experience the movie's charm firsthand.

Because the premiere shifted the spotlight from the actors to ordinary viewers, the entire premiere site was a carnival, but lacked a gimmick, a flashpoint, to ignite the topic and grab the public's attention.

In other words, it was just slightly novel.

On the contrary, the starlight was submerged and surrounded, not in line with market demand.

But now, the combination of the premiere and the movie has created an incredible chemical reaction, starting from the controversy over multiple versions of the ending and returning to the refreshing nature of the premiere, it quickly became the focus of the internet.

Thus, a strange scene appeared—

From the news media, there were overwhelming reports of "Master and Commander"; "The Butterfly Effect" was suppressed and struggling to breathe, difficult to break through.

From the internet forums, "The Butterfly Effect" occupied the center of the spotlight, all the discussions revolving around the movie, with no room for "Master and Commander" to survive.

Two clues, two scenes.

So, what is the truth?

Accurately speaking, it is true that "Master and Commander" set off a storm in the media, and it is also true that "The Butterfly Effect" became a hot topic on the internet.

Both are true.

The difference lies in the two lines, two promotional methods:

"Master and Commander" insisted on the traditional route, promoting in an orderly manner; "The Butterfly Effect" took a different approach, pioneering and innovating, pushing open the door to a new world.

In the end, who can stand out?

Especially with "The Butterfly Effect's" bizarre release of five versions of the ending, whether this is honey or poison, what impact it will have on the market, no one can predict; what lies ahead is a brand new subject.

Everything awaits the market to reveal the answer, the audience will vote with movie tickets—

No tricks, no gimmicks, it's that simple.

Not to mention the audience, even the media began to be curious.

From the perspective of industry insiders, although Ansen relied on flash mob surprise events last year to subvert the market and lay the foundation for the excellent performance of "Catch Me If You Can"; this time "The Butterfly Effect's" strategy is indeed too risky for Ansen, and can be called crazy.

They are not optimistic.

After all, the multiple endings being screened randomly just sounds unreliable.

Based on their professional knowledge and past experience, playing tricks like Ansen often results in being trapped by one's own ingenuity, burying one's own prospects.

In the final analysis, Ansen is just getting carried away.

His soaring speed has been too fast, so fast that Ansen's head is now hot, flying to the clouds like a hot air balloon, unable to see reality clearly.

Moreover, Ansen's opponent is not an unknown soldier, it is Russell Crowe and "Master and Commander"; just look at the performance of "Pirates of the Caribbean" this summer.

Perhaps "Master and Commander" has just seized the opportunity for the revival of naval warfare movies.

Discussions and debates can fly for a while; now let's first look at the quality of the movie, because no matter how the audience reacts, the media's comprehensive reviews from film critics are released first!