Chapter 61: Explosive Word-of-Mouth! 500 Million in a Day and a Half!

Iwata Group.

Takeshi Iwata sat alone, staring blankly at a telephone. The desk was littered with messy sheets of paper, showing clear signs that he had been in the middle of writing.

He had to admit, he really had been played by Akina that day.

Late at night, coupled with Takeshi's naturally intimidating appearance...

After scaring off three taxis and five small delivery trucks, and walking about six or seven kilometers, he finally helped fix a car that had broken down on the side of the road, and the driver reluctantly agreed to give him a ride back.

Akina, you just wait!

Takeshi wasn't in a hurry; there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

As for why he was staring at the phone now?

It was Christmas, and Takeshi naturally spent it alone.

After all, up until now, this fierce-looking man had no romantic partner.

There were no Christmas gifts to buy or send.

In short, Takeshi Iwata had spent an extremely economical and practical Christmas.

Even so, didn't he still have a bunch of subordinates?

He had dispatched all of them, and right at this moment, they were...

The phone rang.

"Boss."

"How is it? Speak."

"It's amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

"Oh."

"A huge success! All my friends say it's fantastic! They even praised my performance greatly."

"Not bad, Kagawa, you did well."

It was a call from Kagawa. After a brief chat, they hung up.

A faint smile appeared on Takeshi's face. Good thing there was no one else in the room, otherwise...

Well, it wasn't that terrifying either.

Speaking of which, certain things were quite inconvenient in this era.

In the era Takeshi Iwata originally came from, the internet was a ubiquitous part of human life, and opinions on a movie could be easily presented online.

America had Rotten Tomatoes, and China had Maoyan, Douban, and so on.

Here in the 1980s in Japan, figuring out a film's word-of-mouth reputation required much more primitive methods.

Generally speaking, the most common method at the time was street questionnaires.

This method was used not just for movies, but for almost all consumer goods, and there were specialized agencies hired to do this work.

Both Toho and Shochiku would receive the relevant reports.

However, the actions of those research agencies were much slower.

The previous film, *Violent*, hadn't utilized this kind of targeted tracking, as it had already won major international awards, meaning audiences were naturally influenced by the prestige.

Now, however, this new movie, *Infernal Affairs* (Mujian), was crucially important, and Takeshi was eager to get firsthand feedback on its word-of-mouth reception.

Since he had people on hand, he simply sent them out.

The person who had just called was Kagawa, and his target demographic for the survey was his own classmates.

Despite Kagawa's rather rustic appearance, he was a genuine graduate of the University of Tokyo, majoring in literature.

People who studied literature were usually quite interested in movies, and given their level of education and their status as Todai students, their opinions on *Infernal Affairs* should hold significant reference value.

Of course, they weren't forced to watch it; Yakuza also believed in reasoning and fairness.

Judging from Kagawa's description over the phone, several of his classmates had indeed gone to see the film, and their reviews were overwhelmingly positive.

A smile surfaced on Takeshi's face; after all, everyone liked hearing praise.

Right after, the phone rang again.

"Boss, everyone at the Tsukiji market says they love it!"

"Really?"

"Really, really! They all say it's simply fantastic!"

"You didn't use any strange methods, did you?"

"How could I? These are definitely everyone's genuine voices!"

"Good."

...

"Boss, the response here in Kabukicho is fantastic!"

"Could it be that you..."

"No, it was a friend of mine who told me."

"That friend of yours..."

"It really is my friend."

...

"Everyone in the small theater troupe is so envious of me."

"They went to see it too?"

"They all said the movie is extremely, extremely good!"

"Very good."

...

Call after call came in. Cat, Fish, Kiyoshi, as well as Yutaka Matsushige, Kenichi Endo, and Kagawa—they all reported what they had seen and heard.

Although Kiyoshi that guy had resorted to the classic "I have a friend" excuse, it didn't really matter.

A massive word-of-mouth success!

Even before the official survey reports came out, Takeshi Iwata already felt confident in his heart.

Sure, there would inevitably be some negative opinions, but based on the samples they collected, the reception should be stellar.

So, how about the box office?

This year's Christmas, counting Christmas Eve the day before, fell right on a Saturday and Sunday.

And the premiere of *Infernal Affairs* was scheduled for the afternoon of the day before Christmas, which was Saturday afternoon.

Calculated this way, *Infernal Affairs* had already completed its first week of release, even though this week was less than two days long.

To be precise, it could only be counted as a day and a half, but this still constituted the "opening week."

Just how much box office revenue could there be?

Takeshi Iwata waited by the phone, knowing that person would call.

Sure enough, the telephone ring finally shattered the silence.

"Moshi moshi."

"Hello, Iwata-san."

"Hello, Shimoya-san."

"The opening box office for *Infernal Affairs*..."

Takeshi Iwata's brows furrowed.

...

After completing his "survey," Yutaka Matsushige's steps felt remarkably light.

Back during his small theater days, opportunities rarely came his way; his fierce and menacing face naturally made people keep their distance.

Now, things were different. When he returned to the small theater, the way everyone looked at him had changed.

Their gazes carried a mixture of envy and jealousy, accompanied by showers of praise.

Even someone as shy as Yutaka could not help feeling a bit proud.

All of this was thanks to Iwata-san!

Arigatou!

The mushroom-haired actor had already made up his mind to follow Iwata-san to the end.

Right now, he had returned to the Iwata Group headquarters.

Where else was there to go after finishing the survey?

Besides, there was an important matter at hand.

"I'm back."

Acting as if this place were his own home, Yutaka pushed open the door and saw that everyone else had returned as well.

Cat, Fish, and Kiyoshi—the three of them were full of vitality.

Kenichi Endo and Kagawa were also two actors with immense potential.

Well, including himself, they were all capable generals assisting Iwata-san in conquering the world.

Yutaka's thoughts carried a strong theatrical flair, but at this moment, he quickened his pace.

Everyone was gathered around Iwata-san's desk.

"Boss! Is the box office figure out yet?"

"Yeah, even though the time was short, the opening week is technically over."

"Could it be that because the runtime was too short... it lacks any real reference value?"

"Don't say such discouraging things, hey!"

"Spirit, we need spirit! Anyway, based on my survey results, there's definitely no problem!"

It was obvious that everyone, just like him, was eagerly anticipating the opening box office data for *Infernal Affairs*.

Yutaka was relatively tall, so he walked over and stood slightly toward the outer edge of the crowd.

At that moment, he observed Iwata-san's expression: stern, or rather, completely expressionless.

For a man as fierce-looking as him, having no expression was already intimidating enough.

Full of anticipation, immense anticipation, extreme anticipation!

Yutaka's shy little heart was pounding wildly in acceleration.

Then, he heard Takeshi Iwata give a light cough.

"Ahem... You guys, are you really that anxious to know?"

This remark made everyone's eyes light up with fierce anticipation.

Takeshi finally delivered the answer: "500 million!"

500 million yen in the opening week?

The simple number fell like a spark into dry tinder, instantly igniting the entire room.

"Sugoi!"

"Cho sugoi!"

These guys were still the same, relying on a single word to express their awe.

Only their expressions and gestures were overflowing with passion.

Hearing this, Yutaka Matsushige almost burst into tears.

Only two days! No!

To be precise, only a day and a half!

This 500 million meant the earnings had doubled compared to their previous film, *Violent*.

Of course, being a group of Yakuza, while shouting "Sugoi" felt exhilarating, they didn't entirely grasp what this 500 million actually signified.

"Just how impressive is this box office number?" Kiyoshi perfectly illustrated what it meant to ask when you don't understand.

At that moment, Sion Sono walked in from somewhere. "Roughly speaking, it means that in about two days, over one hundred thousand people a day watched this movie in the theaters."

As soon as these words were spoken, they triggered a brand-new wave of excitement.

Cries of "Sugoi" continued to ring out, leaving people both amused and speechless.

However, Sion Sono stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Takeshi Iwata, and said, "Boss, according to the usual practices of major Japanese studios, what happens next will probably..."

What would happen next? Why did this eccentric fellow look as though he were facing a difficult problem?

The others were puzzled, but Takeshi Iwata simply smiled.

Terrifying.

Yet, gathering their courage, everyone noticed the boss's finger tapping rhythmically on a stack of manuscript papers resting on the desk.

Clearly written on top of them were the words:

*Kill That Man*.