The Most Profitable Film in History

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Hollywood's greatest financial success is not what you'd expect.
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[@EmperorLemon]

Thank you to Opera for funding my cinematic dreams. Download the BROWSER EVENT OF THE WINTER Here: opr.as/12-Opera-Browser-EmpLemon

[@noeyeguy]

peak

[@brettv400]

Bro was first

[@digitmidget6973]

ok

[@UsefullPig]

I like how all these KZbinrs are promoting opera amidst concerns of the VPN being spyware. I guess everything is though so nobody cares.

[@ray017ray017]

opera has so much money for sponsoring nerds lmao. you nerds love your "NERD ADS" lol F operah the lame webbrowser to make nerds feel like they have friends

[@foxdie6274]

"Throughout Hollywood's obsession with making movies more profitable, they forgot how to make them valuable." truer words have never been spoken

[@duffman18]

At least there's still great movies being made here and there. The horror genre has never been better than right now, with things like The Witch and Midsommar and The Lighthouse, and all of Jordan Peele's stuff. Horror is being taken seriously as an artistic genre for the first time, really. And Arrival was one of the best sci-fi films I've ever seen. And Annihilation is absolutely fantastic despite everyone misunderstanding what it's actually about (it's not about aliens invading, that's just a metaphor, the film is about loss and trauma and how it changes you into a different person, with the film making it so they were quite literally physically altered by the trauma they went through even before they entered the shimmer, but yeah). Only watching marvel movies, and then declaring that movies are terrible, is like only listening to Justin Bieber and then claiming all music is terrible. There are brilliant films out there being made every year, just like brilliant music is being made constantly, you just have to actually put in the tiniest bit of effort into finding the good stuff, as has always been the case. It's really not that hard to find good modern movies. Everything written and directed by Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead for example. Especially The Endless. All their films are in one shared universe too, and they're doing it with these very low budget indie films instead of the huge marketing might of Disney. And they don't look even remotely low budget, despite the fact they are. They can do a lot with very little, because they're world class filmmakers.

[@timewarpdrive77]

Lmao; tell that disney and their year of deliberate, blackrock funded, flops

[@youraverageguy7842]

Fr who remembers any movie the Rock has been in outside of Moana and F&F.

[@timewarpdrive77]

@@youraverageguy7842 the jumanji sequels?

[@Eminentharp]

this is definitely seen in the military films. Napoleon and Dunkirk weren't all that good overall because they lacked a passion. The reason we see movies like Das Boot, A Bridge Too Far, Saving Private Ryan, and Waterloo as masterpieces or great movies is because they held the passion of their crews. You can even see this in what Tom Hanks did in Greyhound which, while dramatic, I thoughourly enjoyed because it wasn't cartoonish

[@sebastianwittenkamp2738]

I worked the movie theater when BWP came out. Hard to overstate how big an impact it had. We were asked all the time to walk people to their cars after the movie because they were scared.

[@shorewall]

That's awesome!

[@juannaym8488]

man I would've fucked with these people. Like telling them the movie depicted real events or that there were sightings recently of the witch in the area

[@ghostfrieza2904]

I remember asking my mom all the time if this was real because I couldn't sleep at night after watching the movie a few times and she would always tell me that no its not real the actors went on talk shows afterwards and stuff like that. I'm 28 now, this was a couple of years ago

[@Tipzyyy]

and the lines to see the movie too...

[@bobbyferg9173]

That has the vibes of the early silent film movies where people thought the train would hit them

[@lordfizzz]

I grew up in a tiny farm town on the cusp of it being developed into suburbia. This movie was so impactful that somebody or bodies took the time to decorate an old abandoned shack deep in old dirt bike trails with the wood symbols from the BWP and like headless barbies and all that. I mean were talking a hundred decapitated barbies and even more of those symbols. I was old enough to realize it wasnt something paranormal or whatever but at the same time was old enough to realize the effort this person or people went to make this little shack so freaking unnerving.

[@The_Bigot]

As a kid, like 12-13, I ventured off into the woods behind my house. I did a lot of weird shit out there. Cut down a palm tree with a machete just to see if I could do it. Build a tree house, surrounded the area in the Blair witch symbols to creep out anyone to ever find it. There’s also a big ass out that I dig out there that was like 7 feet deep. Hopefully nobody fell into that thing. This was over 20 years ago. No smart phones, limited tv, plenty of free time. I’m sure whoever made that stuff you found was also just someone like that

[@SuperFlashDriver]

To be honest, it's this reason why I love Cryptids as much as I do with other monster franchises. Cryptids still live on to this very day. And whether they're extinct, or still living but hiding in the woods/in the shadows is something that's been debated for decades, even spanning conspiracy theories and missing links in it's timeline that a time machine, whether large or small, would've solved in a matter of minutes/hours.

[@Jaykooooo]

Just to put into perspective how convincing the marketing campaign was - the actors family and friends started getting calls wishing them condolences because people were so convinced that they had really died.

[@bentucker2301]

That just proves how dumb people are

[@AaronHayne]

What I love about BWP is that less recognized faces as the leads works so well in making it feel like a real event. Immersion would have gone right out the window if there were big name actors in place of the selected cast.

[@lonesome3958]

Absolutely

[@karlgustov9648]

Yes!

[@BeSk9991]

Sucks a bit that they didn't really get paid lmao Imagine working your ass off on a movie, which makes 250 million, but you still only got paid 8 000 dollars Even if it's not in the contract, I would feel bad as the creator to not give them for example 500k each

[@dmitriysamusenko5910]

Yea, more movies should employ unknown actors.

[@cokelover-nb1qz]

@@dmitriysamusenko5910 to be honest though a big part of the money comes from your actors marketing something albeit it would be nice to have a few big names to fill that role while having the majority of the cast be minior actors.

[@FlameIsLucky]

its insane that the directors for the Blair Witch Project weren't even present for a majority of its filming. It was pretty much all in the actors hands to create the film... and it worked beautifully.

[@rydz656]

They were collecting the film every night and giving them notes on where there characters were at.

[@WobblesandBean]

And yet they didn't get credit for it, and didn't see any of the film's profits.

[@WobblesandBean]

​@@rydz656 Lol yup. The directors acted like cryptids.

[@malif1279]

​@@WobblesandBeanlmao that's a scumbag move from them

[@Lordidude]

​@WobblesandBean they were paid for the acting. Their contract which they signed didn't have profit share as payment.

[@kingchuckfinley]

The Blair Witch Projects marketing is the greatest of all time. I was around 12 when it came out and I was so scared of the movie. We all thought it was real at school and I found the website and it was so real to me. Really brilliant.

[@moonasha]

I remember in like 4th grade kids arguing about whether the movie was real or fake, lol

[@BrotherBattle21]

If we’re not just talking about Hollywood, Bruce Lee’s final film “Enter the dragon” what is the most profitable film ever made. It had a budget (adjusted for inflation) over around $850,000. It’s total box office run collected and astonishing total (adjusted for inflation) of $1.76 Billion.

[@SmoothCriminal12]

One thing I remember Matt Damon say was that previously, studios were more willing to take risks with films because VHS/DVD sales would generally be able to make up any underperformance at the box office. But now that home media sales are at an all time low due to streaming, now studios aren't willing to take those same risks.

[@nathanclark2424]

Well, congratulations companies. You played yourselves. You wanted to get rid of physical media, and look where you are now.

[@clusterflick6333]

@@lrsb1678 Yeah, but it's kinda the same problem a lot of artists are facing in the music industry right now. In the olden days, the general rule of thumb was that, after costs and label fees and whatnot, the artist received roughly $1 per album sold. So if you managed to sell 100,000 albums, that was some pretty good cash coming in. Nowadays, artists receive like $0.005 per stream on Spotify, so if you manage to reach 100,000 streams, you made pretty much NOTHING. Artist get paid *far* less per stream than they did back in the days of physical media, and that's affecting the economics of the industries across the board.

[@stolenshortsword]

@@lrsb1678 when was the last time you purchased a movie for $15 on itunes? when that could buy a month of whatever streaming service its on - and there's no real ownership value, its hardly a popular choice.

[@EneTheGene]

​@@lrsb1678I reckon more people pirate movies than buy them digitally. Not based on anything, just a hunch.

[@fortynights1513]

Matt Damon said that on Hot Ones. The thing that seems to have been implied there is that in the old DVD rental setup, customers only had to pick from what was on the shelf and if your movie looked interesting, it could make some money back there. Whereas on streaming, a movie that didn’t do much in theaters would theoretically have to compete with everything that the streamer has the rights to, and thus could offer, and they’d be less likely to earn money back in that scenario. Some have also argued that streaming might have led to mid budget movies being transformed into season long TV series that are highly serialized. At least that’s what I’ve heard people say. What say you?

[@KeebeThePlush]

The most disturbing thing is that if the actors where in real fear and really got unexpectedly hurt on set, they could of been seen as just acting really well

[@tomassmith2088]

This happened in a movie; something about magicians I think. Girl was supposed to pretend to be locked in water; actually locked in water. Another example some comedian had a bit about pretending to have a heart attack. He had a real one on stage with the audience laughing at him

[@preflex3502]

Deodato was arrested and put on trial for _Cannibal Holocaust_ because the Italian cops thought it was real.

[@smiledawg]

⁠@@tomassmith2088Now You See Me, Isla Fisher was the actress

[@williamdittmann9281]

>Could of

[@AuroraAce.]

@@williamdittmann9281 minor spelling mistake? your point is now invalid ☝️🤓

[@JD-ve6kn]

i was 8 when this movie released. as a kid obsessed with horror movies in a sparsely-populated, heavily forested community in northeastern Canada, this movie scared the HELL out of me. i will always remember my first time watching it

[@YerDaddY.]

Where abouts in Canada?

[@JD-ve6kn]

rural Newfoundland

[@ruffmadman]

Thats a very specific thing to be obsessed about

[@jureigeeksoutoccasionally]

I have a special love for this movie. I grew up not even a mile away from one of the forests they used as a filming location, and it’s wholly shaped my entire creative existence.

[@thatonechick1318]

I always tell people that Blair Witch Project was an experience. I saw it in theaters back in 1999. I was 14. The internet was so new and it wasn't as simple as going online and finding out it was fake. Found footage was a very niche genre and not many people had ever seen it before. And their marketing campaign had fake FBI websites and everything. Back then people didn't genuinely know if it was real or not. Today most people hate the movie because there aren't special effects, no loud music, and no jump scares. Since I saw it when it was in theaters (and as a young teen) this is still one of my absolute favorite horror movies. Great fucking video, my dude.

[@shifty1927]

Yup seen it at 11. Thanks to my grandmother. 😂 Being from Maryland it was a must see.

[@HoopleBogart]

I had to sleep with my light on for weeks after watching Blair Witch with my stepmom.

[@Karamaru_Crow]

Yea the whole excitement and atmosphere around the movie hype was certainly an experience it was everywhere.

[@doggerlander]

Proejct is such a funny typo

[@marcespinoza6068]

I was 14 as well, it's hard to explain to people now what the experience was actually like. We are flooding with 1000's of found footage movies at this point but seeing one for the first time on a nationwide stage is something else.

[@LucidMakesVideos]

The ambiguity of the "5-letter word" setup being changed from the obvious answer (money), to the correct answer (magic) is incredible script writing. Hats off to EmpLemon!

[@SIKICIBIRKANAL]

Oh shit spoiler.

[@therokku7393]

yooo i watch your videos, good to see you here :)

[@LucidMakesVideos]

@@therokku7393 thanks homie!

[@i_starving7889]

@@SIKICIBIRKANAL why'd you read the comments before actually watching the video brother in christ it is your own fault im sorry

[@SIKICIBIRKANAL]

@@i_starving7889 i watch it with my phone and it is easier to scroll through comments while watching, but regardless you're right.

[@noot_noot3210]

As a kid in high school trying to become a filmmaker I think it’s really sad to see movies these days and the few good ones not getting enough recognition. I think the film Talk To Me was amazing but no one every talks about it. I hope to bring the magic back to film and I believe that I do that whenever I make short films. Thanks for the great video Emp.

[@Celesterance]

I will check that movie out and come back here if you want to talk about it! If you wanna talk please leave another comment, so I won't forget where I got that recommendation from :) have a nice day

[@aroukar47]

I watched it. That was a good movie!

[@fortynights1513]

What’s Talk to Me about? And why’s it worth talking about?

[@aroukar47]

@@fortynights1513 Basically Australian teenagers mess with supernatural powers for fun and clout, and they suffer the consequences. If you want a bit more detail; there is a "stone" hand that allows you to be possessed by the dead (or demons pretending to be dead people, I wasn't too sure). Bad things happen as a result of using it.

[@noot_noot3210]

@@fortynights1513 I just think it’s not the usual horror slop that’s usually put out nowadays and I think it’s reminiscent of KZbin that was done on a low budget by first time directors

[@MrBURSHAK]

I was in grade 12 when this movie came out. The hype was intense! People were talking about it in school all the time, and early internet chat rooms were full of discussions about it It came and went pretty quickly, but it was a lot of fun

[@storgasaur]

The most profitable film is obviously the one played in health classes

[@JamEater-cj2eu]

So your mom is rich?

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

Old mate Healthy Harold?

[@Raycifer]

Super-size me?

[@OtherMomo]

Makes sense. I mean, everyone I know saw it.

[@mars_donato]

@@JamEater-cj2euOHHHHHHH

[@inversion9651]

Emp videos are always the most cinematic. A very high form of storytelling.

[@illytree]

the glazing is getting out of hand

[@jswagpsn2285]

​@@illytree what do you mean?

[@feztroutthetripledeluxefan]

​@jswagpsn2285 someone poured actual plasma on the glazing machine and i predict the donut factory will go to ruin

[@banan9782]

read a book

[@duffman18]

Even the ads for products or companies he makes are entertaining.

[@pgb033]

Michael Williams was my middle school counselor, he said when I asked him at the time about it was that he didn’t think middle schoolers should be watching that kind of stuff and that he didn’t really want to pursue acting. he is a great guy too, a really good counselor and very humble. He won’t even talk about the film without being asked

[@CoachNolan]

My old film professor often used the Blair Witch project as example to show how budget doesn't matter. He also used it as an example of protecting yourself when making deals because if i remember right the creators made a deal for it's distribution in which they didn't receive any royalties/residuals.

[@MakerInMotion]

Todd Phillips directed THE HANGOVER for free and agreed to a percentage of the back end instead. Ended up being a great decision.

[@lymphomasurvive]

​@MakerInMotion Taking money from the back end is always a horrible idea in general. Need the money off the top. Maybe he was an exception but Hollywood accounting is money laundering.

[@bengaunt3505]

My dad emailed the director of the Blair Witch project telling him it sounded like a cool idea and asked him if it would be released in the UK The director himself replied. If that doesn't sum up the scale of the film (and also the internet in the 90s) IDK what does.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

It was possible back in the early days of the internet when email and the internet were still novelties to write to indie type filmmakers and get responses like that. I wrote Michael Moore back around '98 I think, after he'd made Roger and Me and The Big One but before he'd made the more high profile Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 911 and he wrote me back. I was kind of floored by that. I can't even remember now what I wrote him for.

[@freshmaggot]

Another interesting thing about the Blair witch is that the modern analogue horror format that’s so popular today is still derivative of it. Granted it’s so much different now but the base ideas of this found footage format are still there.

[@j.2512]

cancer begets cancer

[@jjcoola998]

Yeah it really planted a lot of seeds

[@ManiacMayhem7256]

​@@j.2512 Cancer doesn't have diamonds in the rough. Found footage and analog horror does

[@HOOTwheelz]

@@j.2512 you seem extremely upset about found footage films. like, way too upset.

[@cauliflowerconnoisseur2710]

I was only 4 when BWP came out, but i can still remember the hype behind it. My cousin who worked in the local theater in Sydney would tell me every session was sold out that summer school holidays. When it came to VHS, the local Blockbuster or Video Ezy never had a copy since it was always rented out. Brothers convinced me it was real and i lost so much sleep over it. never know if there will be a time like that again

[@fluffcake]

It sucks that horror movies aren’t treated as the same vein as other types of films because to me, they serve as the most experimental. BWP went on to inspire so many different works and many that came before it were just as intriguing. Sucks that most of the ones pumped out are often times bad sequels or remakes.

[@qjames0077]

I remember watching this in the early days of the internet after renting it from Blockbuster. Right after it ended I waded through the molasses that was AOL to find out if the cast were ever found alive 😅

[@j.2512]

normies are really stupid

[@chardaskie]

Isn't is insane how fast shit is changing

[@jjcoola998]

Yo I used my dads dial up account from work after I got home to do research as well and everyone in yahoo chat was going wild lmao

[@qjames0077]

@@lrsb1678 sure, but who watches the credits?

[@HenryDaNinth]

I just wanted to say you are a legend of KZbin, Emp. Your influence and contributions to the culture are unforgettable. Thank you for being great, year in and year out.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

Agreed. My first video I ever saw of EmpLemon was There will never ever be another driver like Dale Earnhardt :P

[@HenryDaNinth]

@@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299 my first were his Spingebill and King of the Hill YTPs. I came for the poop, I stayed for the cinematic diamonds that are his full-length commentaries.

[@evilmonarch6721]

Mine was meme theory

[@Rynoverse]

I don’t even remember what was the first emplemon video I saw, all I know is I’ve seen a lot of them by now

[@kjm3672]

I remember mine was his Phineas and Ferb YTP, it was deleted a while ago and if it ever resurfaces I'm sure twitter would love to watch it

[@watermeloneman]

Emp: Spends months creating another masterpiece of a video. YT ad sense: That will be $3.41

[@ferleal24]

"turn off that pesky adblock"

[@samplexample]

“Avatar was unique… totally new experience” >basically just Pocahontas in Space

[@danielbaran4724]

It was new in the sense that the CGI, IMAX, and 3D made Pandora look and feel real. But that’s just me though.

[@MrMrprofessor12345]

More the sheer scale and intensity of the imagery than the plotline. The plotline is drab and uninspired. Honestly if it had those visuals paired with a plotline that tackles the same topics with depth, it would probably be one of the best movies of the early 21st century. Instead it's a technical marvel people enjoyed then mostly forgot, if they weren't discussing the visuals.

[@lymphomasurvive]

Ferngully.

[@RhymeStranger]

After watching Blair Witch in theaters when I was younger I specifically remember no one left right away after the credits rolled, we all just sat there for a few like did we just witness someone ACTUALLY die? We didn't have Google at our fingertips, so as we all left the theatre everyone who watched the movie stopped again outside the exit and we all just kinda stood around talking about it, I do remember vaguely a couple people having very intense feelings and emotions couple people were crying but when you went home that night you knew you had just been through an experience. Imagine that today 🤔

[@j.2512]

lmfao, no. I saw it as a kid in theaters and everyone though it was boring bullshit and obviously fake

[@RhymeStranger]

​@@j.2512I feel ya and can't speak for everyone my friend just my experience, thanks for sharing your experience though you clearly are a tougher person than me 💪💪

[@limaecho6107]

@RhymeStranger Had the same experience, but I was in my early 20s so we went straight to the bar. We were convinced it was some kind of hillbilly cult.

[@danielmorris7648]

Yea this either isn't true or you went with 10 year olds come on man

[@cattysplat]

As kids we were highly believed by what we saw. It was so completely new. It mimicked home video recorded videos and had actors just adlibbing that it genuinely felt real. No internet for most people back then and certainly no online video to easily release this kind of video too.

[@4fives992]

BWP is such a specific moment in history nestled right at the start of the digital age. It's got such a unique feel to it that really feeds into the narrative. There will never be another film like it.

[@fortynights1513]

There have been found footage films (side note: I’ve seen Cloverfield which they mentioned and that one’s pretty good in my book), but a found footage film that turns that kind of ROI without major industry backing is something we aren’t likely to see again.

[@elijahfuder8883]

Emp. Your nascar videos single handedly got me into Motorsport. And I would love for you to write a review about f1. More specifically the 2009 season with brawn gp. It’s a super interesting story that not a ton of people know about (ignore the Hulu series about it) Sincerely fan of Motorsport

[@worldendingful]

I live only a few miles from the actual state park that Blair Witch was filmed in (Seneca Creek, in Maryland) and it's an experience to hike that same area after seeing the films.

[@Fleshcut]

The first time I saw Blair Witch Project was with my father and my best friend at age 12 in broad daylight. I felt bored and underwhelmed. The second time I saw it alone around 1 AM. I shat my pants. Oh what a difference the setting can make.

[@dogshake]

Broad daylight, is the term.

[@TheHippyProductions]

yeah...youre not playing a horror game until you live alone with all the lights off at 2 AM with a headset on. playing Condemned like that is something else, man.

[@Franciskev2]

I saw an early screening of this movie. When the credits rolled, the theater was silent. Everybody thought it was real.

[@Sw4gr1]

Truly a moment history 10:13 when he says Roblox

[@mikalzanna2076]

My friend was obsessed with Blair Witch in the early 00's, such good times watching it and then going out in the woods to get even more scared lol. It's dawned on me that it really was the end of an era, whereas now after decades of compounding cynicism & greed the system is really starting to collapse in on itself. But like Emp said, hard times make meaningful art. Bravo on the video.

[@mattc3279]

The most profitable film in history is MORBIUS (2022), it made a staggering 1 MORBILLION dollars in the box office

[@evilotto9200]

bumpn this in hopes of sony releasn it a 3rd time

[@cringespasm]

why did i laugh at this so hard wtf

[@ElectrikStatik900]

and rightfully so. I thoroughly enjoyed the part where they viciously and ferociously morbed all over every character.

[@ayuminor]

You mean in the morb office

[@squidvis]

"It's morbin time!" Such a classic

[@dutch_asocialite]

Surreal to hear a case where the critics are right liking a film and the audience is wrong hating it for once. I guess the past really is a different time after all.

[@_Avstin_]

could this be?

[@inversion9651]

When critics were actually critiquing films.

[@RugbyRyan]

Critics are usually right tbh. Most of the going public would tell you avengers endgame is much better than some of the best movies if all time like Seven Samurai or Parasite

[@whyiwakeup6460]

@@inversion9651 buffoolery is afoot

[@firestarr5812]

⁠@@RugbyRyan I think it’s more that Endgame was one of the best movies ever to specific members of it’s audience- the ones who had followed Marvel for years by that point. Of course they loved it and critics didn’t- it wasn’t a movie made for critics.

[@CarpeDiem8711]

Yet another masterpiece documentary from the great EmpLemon. I cherish the time I spend watching your content and seeing your growth into something special. Not once have I been disappointed with your content, not because I'm familiar with it, but because of the great deal of care you put forth in creating content worth (re)watching.

[@screwyourhandle]

Yeah, he's just one of those creators where you know the video will be great, no matter what it's about

[@fortynights1513]

@@screwyourhandleHe’s a great narrator and storyteller. I’ve seen better out of him, but this was a good video.

[@emma_tm]

It's crazy how recognisable your style is. i saw 'the art of the choke' months ago and thought it was amazing in how you did build-up and everything. before and after that i saw none of your other content, and yet within minutes of watching this i knew exactly who made the video. very impressive

[@DeadHatzGuy]

It’s incredible the effects this movie has on not only cinematic horror but that of online horror. I can only imagine how many different works of unfiction, ARGs, and web series had their inspiration spawn from this one lil movie Excellent video as always EmpLemon

[@arghpee]

Blair Witch was the first successful "lost footage" horror film and they deserved their success. Marble hornets, Slender, Mandela, and a lot more stuff were directly inspired by this film. (You explain it very well in this video, well done!)

[@j.2512]

so nothing good came out of it, only cancer for mongoloid zoomers

[@sven_bender]

​@@j.2512 did this film run your dog over or something?

[@arghpee]

blud's comment was so toxic I couldn't even see it past the YT filter @@sven_bender

[@PZ_Lima]

my dad was following this on the internet and after watching the movie with his friends they went to talk about it over coffee. They still thought it was real so it was followed with complete silence until someone said, "it has to be demons."

[@fecal_position6412]

Before the mass adoption of the internet socializing was wild. The 90s were so different it'd almost like we were living in a different world.

[@Decembersbreath]

Emp, the build up from that thumbnail to the reveal made me shout in echoing joy. Well done good sir.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

I still remember being a kid in the late 90's and seeing various random promotional stuff for Blair Witch, then when the movie came out, everyone and their grandmother including cartoon network (shown in the video) parodied it. This movie just sets the right tone for me, I come back to it every few years.

[@SgtGatorade]

Finished a film class this semester, and Blair witch is by far THE found footage movie referenced. Super influential, who knows what modern horror would look like without it. Loved the vid as always, love how you jump from topic to topic. Stay fresh!

[@jonathananker9671]

4 months now. Emp, wya?

[@garbageman366]

One final amazing video to end this year with, thanks Emp for making these for us.

[@volodymyrbilyk555]

The whole rollout campaign with mockumentary on blair witch, website, diaries was so much fun. And then the games while rough around the edges had so much lore and atmosphere. And then sequel went crazy. Also do you remember McFarlane Toys Witch?

[@raymondpenland4310]

The film "Skinamarink" has a similar story to "The Blair Witch Project" of how it became an incredible hit despite being an extremely cheaply made movie. It made its debut at online film festivals, generating a little buzz until it leaked onto the internet, leading to hundreds of TikTokers and KZbinrs exlaiming about how it's the newest "scariest movie ever made". Due to this reception and demand to see it in theaters, places like AMC expanded its limited release, resulting in it making over $2 million from a scant $15,000 budget.

[@robertholland3895]

It is similar but Skinamarink moreso was a hit in the arthouse/experimental film market. We also don’t really know how successful it was since it went to a streaming services. Although another similarity is it being a symbol for an oncoming genre (for Blair Witch it was found footage, and many view Skinamarink as the first analog horror feature film) l That director definitely has a future in art films for sure though. Amazing movie!

[@Thugshaker_thequaker]

8:37 my parents told me that when it came out it was easily the most terrifying movie they had ever seen so naturally I had to watch it an being gen z I was entertained but not scared but what’s important is to realize the technology for the time made it so relevant, to my parents when they first watched it it was as if their friend had sent them this from a home video which was what made it so invasive and polarizing. Absolutely a brilliant cinematic piece regardless of quality.

[@CZsWorld]

Emplemon 🤝 Horror Content

[@Dodododifogugytgggggggtgtttttt]

Wow

[@ToastedTater420]

Always good finding out emplemon is still alive and kicking.

[@frogmouth2]

One topic I feel is very interesting that you could cover is the movie, Charlie in the chocolate factory. Pretty much every label attached to the product like “cash grab” or “made unnecessary changes” applies much more accurately to the first adaptation, Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. It’s an interesting example of how audiences can perceive and label a product despite creative aspirations.

[@Vilo24]

your content is A+ man, never stop pumping out quality

[@misterkefir]

Highest-grossing films as of 2022 adjusted for inflation --> 1 Gone with the Wind - $4,192,000,000 / (1939) 2 Avatar - $3,824,000,000 / (2009) 3 Titanic - $3,485,000,000 / (1997) 4 Star Wars - $3,443,000,000 / (1977) 5 Avengers: Endgame - $3,165,000,000 / (2019) 6 The Sound of Music - $2,884,000,000 / (1965) 7 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - $2,815,000,000 / (1982) 8 The Ten Commandments - $2,665,000,000 / (1956) 9 Doctor Zhivago - $2,526,000,000 / (1965) 10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens - $2,491,000,000 / (2015) according to wikipedia

[@jamesmmcgill]

The Blair Witch Project is proto-analog horror at its finest.

[@htsgm]

that was the best sponsorship ad section i ever watched 10/10 everyone should give you sponsorships I already use opera though lol

[@thomasfriedlander7208]

This was a solid video on a neat topic. Nicely done!

[@or6060]

wow one video per month? emp's really kicking these uploads into high gear!

[@gentlydown41]

Honestly the idea at the end of how after a depression there is often a Renaissance is really exciting. Unless the film industry fully collapses, which I don't think will happen, drastic change has to happen

[@jeffrey1954]

You just summed up everything I've been wanting to say about cinema but never knew how to say. You're an excellent writer.

[@mjack01]

Great video! I watched this again recently on Halloween with my partner who had never seen it. It really stands up as one of the few more genuinely scary films. As someone who has been watching horror since the age of 4 few films are as convincing, I had no idea it was mostly improvised and I guess the genuine performance is what sells it. Thanks for the continued great work. Can we get a one off YTP for old times sake?

[@ijustwantacookie4148]

When emp asked a 5 letter word that starts with m I confidently said Monday

[@PsRohrbaugh]

Another masterpiece by our savior and leader. Even the best Opera ad I've seen.

[@laxio-oq6yo]

What a sheep you are.

[@seva7500]

Why would you do that?

[@606808909]

Imagine doing what you want with you're own money......madness..........Monica please@@seva7500

[@rqb6731]

Cuz he fw emplemon and its his money @@seva7500 (I wouldnt personally but thats cuz im not wealthy, money has a different value to everyone)

[@Toykio]

Opera is owned since 2016 by a chinese investor conglomerate and has been running on the Chromium Webkit since 2013. If you actually value your privacy then to not use Opera.

[@charliephillips51]

Wonderful as per usual. Thank you EmpLemon!

[@emperorceegle]

Wow Christmas came early! We only had to wait one less month than usual for a new emp video 😍

[@TheNavigator4552]

My favorite form of video essays, keep up the good work, man🎉

[@skeletontoes7692]

Seeing the BWP in the theater as a kid was one of my best movie going experiences. I totally bought into it being real.

[@redpenink12]

Thank you for your final words. I have felt this way about the movies that are coming out for a long time. But there are still some gems being released for sure!

[@Zeoxis6]

Love the crystal caves music at the end!

[@blastonightfb77ryan86]

Hey Emp! Love the videos! I’ve got an idea! Why don’t you make a video talking about the history of the most controversial referee calls in sports? I think that would be interesting!

[@ray017ray017]

you should stop brown nosing dude. you should like you got no friends

[@AManOnline.]

Great idea I'd watch that 👍

[@_Jay_Maker_]

That's a cool idea! Emp's sports content is some of the most entertaining on KZbin.

[@goom-]

'The Great Monkey Baseball'

[@CaraCreations1000]

yes please

[@localgyakutenkenjitu]

I do think it’s interesting to discuss horror because, despite how bad people say Hollywood had gotten, us horror fans have been eating GOOD for a long time. It helps tremendously that the barrier to entry for this genre has remained pretty low, and granted most fans will tell you about all the shit you have to sift through to find good horror, but it’s been my experience that it’s always a worthwhile venture, and the positives tend to outweigh the negatives. I’m hoping that, in light of what’s happening in Hollywood, creatives who strive in different genres normally reserved for big studios get their chance to shine.

[@Caffeine_Addict_2020]

yea there's a pretty massive indie scene for horror movies. When I first heard of Shudder I thought, there's no way something this niche makes it to the end of the year. But it's been thriving for years now! It's pretty cool

[@UchennaKema]

I mean the big giant monster of horror, SAW has what 10-30 mil budgets and thats a giant budget and still easily gets 100-300 mil.

[@brandonedwards6119]

The fact that you can make a horror movie for 6 figures and audiences will not care about the bad image/audio quality lets you ignore a lot of the problems with filmmaking sustainability.

[@JonathanDiNamesMusic]

Always coming at us with something unexpected and interesting. You really are the GOAT Emp

[@ameene]

In every film appreciation class, there's a section on the process of making a film. Specifically on the multimedia marketing as very effective part of rocketing a project to the moon. My prof mentioned how easily one may make a big hit with so little. Always reminding us that the budget doesn't matter but what does is the art of making the film instead.

[@redinthesky1]

Watching Disney and some others in the past few years really has me wondering if they are really trying to profit.

[@shorewall]

They are dangerously out of touch. They have no clue what audiences want, and marketing only works until it doesn't.

[@alexs7670]

I thnk most of the people at the top are, but they're so out if touch they can't comprehend the modern audience. Like, less scrupulous activist types who's movie concept amounts to "white man bad" can spin that as "(generic people group) is an untapped market and we're aiming for that audience" But sometimes you have people with proven track records just dropping the ball. Kathleen kenedy is the best example of this.

[@Celesterance]

Oh yes they do it for profit. But at the same time they're pushing an agenda. That's why it isn't for everyone. Little kids will still get brainwashed by these movies.

[@HOOTwheelz]

@@alexs7670 i mean the real issue with tokenism (implementing a diverse cast of characters for the sake of diversity rather than strengthening the film) is that it's performative in nature and lacking in narrative purpose. Get Out was a massively successful film and it was *explicitly* about systemic racism and white supremacy, and all the people who benefit from it - including "non-racists" who still use the benefits of their privilege to keep their position of power while harming black people in the process. it was poignant and impossible to miss, yet did fantastically well financially because it was a well-written story. it wasn't written by committee to smooth all the rough edges out that might squick people out; those squicky parts were intentionally designed to make the audience feel uncomfortable so the movie could make its point. so like. it's not the presence of minorities in a film that make it suck, it's just the performative tokenism from the C-Suites. Executives think pandering to people will work every time, but at some point people wise up to the fact that it's just a marketing gimmick with no substance and stop bothering with those movies.

[@Golemoid]

They only make movies to boost their ESG score, the real revenue comes from Blackrock investments.

[@JoeMama-fp3xl]

This dude is so good at making videos that he makes 22 minutes feels short

[@feartheb33k33p3r]

thought for sure you were gonna bring up the sequel but this was pretty damn good anyway. cheers emp, merry christmas

[@ianfreud]

I had the perfect experience of BWP. I’d sort of heard of it - and maybe seen the project website - but hadn’t even heard of found footage films. In fact, I only stumbled across it on a shady DVD at a car boot sale, so took it home with no preconceptions that it was a film. I genuinely thought it was a documentary. So I sat down with my mate and we watched it in increasing, unbroken silence. I think I even passed it on to people to tell them to watch it, and it felt like an age (but probably like a week in reality) before I understood what it was. So while I’ve never rewatched it, it remains one of my most profound experiences of film - and it’s great to see how many people had that same experience.

[@MichaelGallagher97]

I love that you use Geowizzard's music. Works well in video essays and videos about walking in straight lines.

[@kazma6866]

Great Video dude. Would love to see something like this for the Video game industry

[@DJVolte]

Great video emp. You should make more so I can watch them also. Thank you.

[@Alex-vm6ef]

Great video, it's incredible how you cover these seemingly arbitrary things (in terms of their timing) which always have such topical lessons for us, I appreciate the depth you go to in your analysis/planning/writing. The hard work shows

[@repsaj9817]

Another banger of a video! Emp always delivers! Also, loved hearing music from Xenosaga at 16:35! Man's got good taste!

[@ohioisforlovers4]

An emp lemon video is best Christmas gift :)

[@vaughnbenson3777]

Hell yeah new Emplemon video for Christmas!

[@JK-gm6kk]

My friends older brother told me the blair witch project was real. We had internet, but it was dial up and far from what it is today. Plus my young impressionable mind. I lost alot of sleep. It was for sure a big deal

[@bruceismay5440]

Of course this releases while I’m watching starwars 8 during a 24 hour starwars marathon. The point where Disney throws the entire property down the drain

[@shagnasticator89]

Nope that was the farce awakens

[@Ramsey276one]

O M G XD

[@j.2512]

It went downhill after Starwars vs Freddy Krueger

[@flakes1184]

Please tell me you watched the Holiday Special

[@Ramsey276one]

@@flakes1184 O M G XD

[@herzogsbuick]

Using GeoWizard's music under the Blair Witch hikes is a beautiful homage, 13 out of 5 stars

[@milesmacmahon6001]

I love that you used music from spatulas. Very cool

[@unownnnn]

They say to individuals if you wanna get rich don't go into creative arts but then we have companies who are only bothered about making money

[@henkearn1132]

I love that you included a clip from The Nerd Crew. Those guys are a bunch of sellouts!

[@starman9933]

They aren't sellouts. They are the best nerdy nerds in the world!

[@dbbbbbbb1952]

@@starman9933lol the joke is that they’re sellouts. It’s the self deprecating humour they’re known for

[@starman9933]

@@dbbbbbbb1952 and the joke is that I'm a blind consumer of nerdy media. I watch them too.

[@dbbbbbbb1952]

@@starman9933 then you’re clearly aware they’re a bunch of hack frauds

[@HLGpanda]

Thank you for these videos Emp. Love you so much man.

[@chocobii4669]

Thank you for your videos Emp! you're awesome!

[@CohenDanielJ]

The GOAT has blessed us today. Thank you, Emp.

[@ThatWontHurt]

WE MAKIN IT OUT OF THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL WITH THIS ONE!🔥🔥

[@stonegiant4]

I had often wondered about the actual profit margins for many of these big numbers everyone always trumpets. Ty for the interesting video.

[@lawsontake7383]

0:43 oh my gosh its guillotine guy

[@_Avstin_]

I noticed you used music GeoWizard made! Super cool addition