I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director (Patreon)

Chapter 89: The First Global Box Office Record

Moving the timeline back a bit...

On the second day of Ophelia and Cloris's "date," she wrote in her blog diary:

[I went to meet Miss Flora for a date, and she was extremely shocked.]

Lilia: Ehhhhhhh!!! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ

Titi: I think I'm more shocked!

Night Grass: Yani-san, you... really are bold.

Yani: Am I?

Lilia: Are you trying to fight fire with fire?

Night Grass: I have a newfound respect for Yani-san.

Lilia: Um, should we really be respecting this kind of thing? (⊙?⊙)

Night Grass: And I've learned a lesson from Yani-san. When dealing with someone who dares to make a move on someone else's husband and crosses moral boundaries, forget about ethics; you have to make a move that scares them to death!

Lilia: I see... I've learned a lesson too! The best way to handle an affair is to be intimate with someone who's having an affair with... emmm...  is that right? (???*)

Titi: No, I don't think it needs to go that far...

Night Grass: And then? What did that woman say? Did she say she wouldn't bother your man anymore?

Yani: She said she wouldn't leave him.

(Clarrise's exact words: "Are you worried I'll betray Shinji? No way, I can make more money if I cooperate with a genius like Shinji. I won't betray him.")

Lilia: Ehhhhhhh!!! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ

Titi: Night Grass-nee is right, adulterers have no bottom line.

Night Grass: For her to bravely say that kind of line to someone else's partner, this person is either really brave or bold.

Lilia: Yani-san you should just leave him! Quickly separate from that kind of man! Staying like this will only make you more unhappy! (○??д?)?

Yani: I don't want to leave his side.

Night Grass: Ah~ you must have your reasons.

Titi: Don't give up! The three of us are all on your side!

Night Grass: At this point, we can only start with Yani-san man!

Lilia: Isn't it because it's too difficult? Didn't that man start cheating on Yani-san because he got tired of her? (╯‵□′)╯

Night Grass: Why not start with his interests? Since he likes excitement, I think we can start from there.

Titi: Ugh~

Night Grass: Titi, you should know, when couples enter a period of boredom, they need  a good stimulation.

Lilia: Does Night Grass-sama's family also do this? ??(? ? ??)

Night Grass: Exactly! When we are bored, me and my husband make out a lot outside in public, it’s pretty exciting!

【Night Grass Deleted a message.】

Night Grass: Ah! How could you make me say such things!

Titi: So, Night Grass-nee, what's your suggestion?

Night Grass: Yani-san, you need to conquer your man.

Yani: Huh?

Night Grass: Let me tell you, I'll introduce you to a good website, specifically...

"Ohhh~ I see, so that's what I should do?"

Opening the mysterious website, Ophelia didn't blush or feel her heart race like an ignorant girl.

Some magecraft involve bodily fluid exchange, and certain knowledge is essential for female Magi.

Instead, Ophelia found the explanations of male reactions on the website intriguing.

"Could such behavior really work?.... Will this win over the boss's heart?"

A certain unrealistic dream gradually expanded in Ophelia's mind, and a light laughter naturally escaped from her lips.

"Hehehe~ I can put this method into practice. Anyway, there won't be any loss."

Ophelia secretly made up her mind.

Then—

"Boss, please ravage me."

Ophelia, who was kneeling on her desk, imitated the words on the website and spoke in a blunt and emotionless tone.

"What?! Ophelia! You—What's wrong with you?"

"Don't worry about me, You can be as rough as you want.” replied Ophelia in her usual stiff tone.

"Onii-sama—!"

"That voice—!?"

Sensing a fiery presence behind him, Shinji quickly turned around.

"Sakura!!! When did you arrive—?"

"I came to ask you which restaurant you're going to tonight—Hmph, looks like I came at the wrong time. No wonder you insisted to come to the office after finished work~"

Sakura said with a dark expression.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Shinji had the feeling that Sakura's hair had turned white with anger.

"–It's a misunderstanding—!"

"Onii-sama—!"

After that, Shinji and Ophelia were ordered by Sakura to kneel on the office floor and endured her extremely harsh and continuous scolding.

This lecture didn't end until Arturia, who had come to settle the bill after eating all the food in the restaurant, arrived.

The next day.

[After Sakura found out, she scolded both of us harshly.]

Night Grass: Who's Sakura?

Yani: His sister.

Night Grass: An annoying little sister huh~~

Titi: That's outrageous, why did you get scolded? Isn't the intimacy between spouses their own business?

Yani: Sakura said doing that kind of thing in the office would incur divine punishment.

Lilia: In the office—? Σ(?д?|||)??

Night Grass: Yani-san, you're bolder than I imagined.

Titi: So, what about that man, Yani-san?

Yani: He didn't say anything, but he stared at me for a long time.

Night Grass: It seems to have an effect, then we must redouble our efforts!

Yani: Please tell me more.

The secret group of housewives continues today as usual.

Throughout August, Shinji spent his time preparing for the FSN adaptation and attending various social events.

During this period, apart from continuing to prepare for new projects, Shinji also paid attention to the current box office situation of Fate/Zero.

After four months of release, even in Fate/Zero's home market of Japan, the number of theaters had decreased to less than 120.

Moreover, both the screening rate and the box office per theater were declining steadily, indicating that it was entering the final stages of screening.

The situation in other important movie markets was similar. The vitality of commercial films ultimately couldn't survive in theaters for too long.

However, Fate/Zero's global box office had already reached $990 million, ranking first in film and television box office.

However, Toei Company was not satisfied with this achievement. Perhaps to challenge Disney, the Toei Company was planning to find a way to push Fate/Zero's box office past the $1 billion mark.

To achieve this, Toei Company began contacting smaller movie markets. Although the box office numbers in these places were modest, squeezing out an extra $10 million altogether was not a problem.

To incentivize local distributors to promote the film, the Toei Company even adopted a buyout system, which included the likes of San and Usagi.

Although this meant the Toei Company would earn slightly less at the box office, the label of [First film with a global box office exceeding $1 billion] held more symbolic significance and would potentially bring in more profits from DVD sales.

As for the introduction of their films into the Chinese market, Shinji wasn't particularly excited. He didn't have high expectations for the film's performance either.

Because in recent years, the Chinese movie market has been in a slump. Having a film gross over 100 million RMB in a year was worthy of lengthy reports. If it grossed over 200 million, it would be like a gift from the heavens, worthy of prayers and offerings.

Of course, Shinji wouldn't let the current low box office numbers stop the film from entering the Chinese market. Market cultivation requires space, and the popularity of IPs also needs to be nurtured gradually.

Otherwise, like Star Wars in his previous life, even if the Chinese market grew in the future, you wouldn't earn much money from it.

The only thing that made Shinji somewhat amused was that since Fate/Stay Night hadn't been introduced in China before, this time they were introducing both films together. And to comply with the Toei Company's box office plan, Fate/Zero was released first, with Fate/Stay Night scheduled for release six months later.

With this manipulation of the box office data bug, Fate/Zero's global box office finally accumulated to $1.066 billion!

However, earning this extra $10 million wasn't easy. It was already September by this time.

And by now, the film adaptation of Fate/stay night had begun production, with both Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel starting simultaneously.

"I don't want to say anything unnecessary. We've already cooperated twice, and we know each other very well."

On the set, standing on the platform, Shinji spoke to the crowd below with a megaphone.

His gaze swept over several main actors, from Shirou and EMIYA glaring at each other, to a displeased Rin, then to the unusually eerie smile of Sakura, and Arturia constantly feeding rice balls into her mouth, and finally to Gilgamesh, whose mouth was bound by Enkidu's chains.

‘I just can't shake this feeling of unease’

Feeling vaguely uneasy, Shinji took a deep breath to calm himself down, then he spoke into the megaphone again.

"All right, Fate/Stay Night, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel, officially begin production from now on!"