Box Office Bronze Medalist

Wrong Turn primarily tells the story of several tourists who accidentally wander into a forest, find themselves on an abandoned road, and must escape the pursuit of deformed cannibals.

The film begins with the appearance of the protagonist, played by Joaquin Phoenix.

The protagonist, Chris, is a journalist who receives an urgent interview assignment, requiring him to reach Raleigh, North Carolina, within three hours.

"Damn this interview assignment!"

Clearly, Harris is extremely resistant to the three-hour deadline imposed by his boss.

But, there is no choice.

He has to make a living!

However, what should have been a smooth journey is disrupted by a traffic accident. A vehicle carrying chemicals has overturned, causing a massive traffic jam on the highway.

"Damn interview, unlucky car accident; today is truly a terrible day."

With no other options, Chris has no choice but to take a secluded, sparsely populated side road.

On the other hand, five friends—Jessie, Carly, Scott, Evan, and Francine—are driving into the mountains for a camping trip.

Well, typical thrill-seeking American youths!

Who would have thought their car would mysteriously get a flat tire halfway there?

"The tire actually blew out?" says Jessie, played by Lima.

The other four are at a loss and can only wait for a rescue vehicle to arrive.

However.

What they wait for is not a rescue vehicle, but Chris, who has just encountered his own emergency.

"What the hell!"

Harris, grumbling and cursing, spots Jessie and the others and immediately asks them for help.

"Buddy, you want to catch a ride with us?"

Scott points to the car with the flat tire and says, "Do you think this thing can still run?"

With no other choice, the group sets off together to seek help nearby.

Little did they know, they were walking straight into the traps set by the deformed cannibals.

Meanwhile, seeing the beginning of the film, many audience members in the theater also sense that the plot ahead will have its ups and downs.

"I reckon the next part of the plot will be the appearance of the monster on the poster," a young audience member whispers to his friend.

"Thompson, just watch your movie and don't bother me, okay?"

"Sorry, sorry."

The film continues...

The cannibal makes a grand entrance; his hideous face and chilling laughter reveal that he is undoubtedly the main villain.

And that is exactly the case.

As soon as the cannibal appears, he brutally murders one of them.

"No... Francine!"

As one person meets their end, the blood spraying everywhere drives the others into a frenzy.

From this moment on, the style of the film shifts drastically.

Prop-based slaughter, cannibalism, further killing, humans fighting back...

A series of thrilling chase sequences and battles erupt. The high-octane plot, the cannibal's cruel methods of killing, and the visceral, bloody scenes leave fans of horror films feeling thoroughly satisfied.

"That was awesome!"

"We should go camping in the wild more often, though it would be even better if we ran into a psycho cannibal."

"Exactly, I'd blow that damn cannibal's head off with a single shot."

Well, it's no wonder the film is like this; in reality, there are truly many thrill-seeking young men and women in America.

Of course, one cannot rule out that they are "Lord Ye who loved dragons"—they hope to see a cannibal in their words and minds, but if they actually encountered one, the result would surely be a joke.

Strictly speaking, Wrong Turn 1—no, the entire Wrong Turn series—doesn't actually have much of a plot. Its appeal lies in the repetitive slaughter, chases, and struggles between the cannibals and humans. The constant, bloody scenes are its best selling point.

Moreover, in recent years, American horror films have mostly focused on supernatural or ghost-themed stories, with very few pure slasher films appearing.

It must be said that Zucker choosing Wrong Turn 1 as the company's first horror film series is quite cunning.

The movie ends quickly!

But the discussion surrounding the Wrong Turn film has only just begun.

A white youth excitedly says to his companion, "9 out of 10! This is the best slasher horror film I've seen in years."

"Exactly!"

Another person adds, "It's better than the old Halloween or Scream movies. I can't wait to see the second one."

Another person chimed in: "Then why don't we watch it again?"

Immediately, this suggestion was accepted by everyone.

"Cannibals? Do such creatures really exist?!" a brown-haired girl asked.

Her companion beside her affirmed: "Of course they do! Not to mention that African cannibals are real, just look at the many people who go camping in the wild every year and end up mysteriously missing or dead. Now it seems very likely they encountered cannibals."

Hearing this, the brown-haired girl's face instantly turned deathly pale.

In her fear, she couldn't help but throw herself into her companion's arms.

"Hehe, I knew it would work. Next time the sequel comes out, I'll bring her to see it again." Her companion's little scheme had succeeded.

At a certain cinema chain in America.

"What?"

"You're saying the number of people watching Wrong Turn has increased significantly, right?"

"You idiot! Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"What should we do? Add more screenings, of course. As for the screens, follow the old rules: pull them from films with lower attendance. Such a simple matter, you should be able to handle it."

"What? You say the other film companies aren't happy about it!"

"Whether they're happy is their business. Why do we run cinemas? To make money!"

The long-term development of Hollywood had long since fostered the growth of cinemas, giving major chains their own set of operating principles.

As for the scheduling contracts between cinema chains and film companies?

Heh!

Cinema contracts were basically flexible.

In other words, after providing a film with the minimum number of screenings for a certain period, the cinema chain could completely adjust the schedule on its own based on the contract. The criteria for adjustment were even simpler: whichever films made the cinema more money got more screenings.

The reason Wrong Turn was even more explosive upon release than it was in the original timeline of 2003!

The reason was also that there were too few slasher films in '96!

Moreover, many sequels to well-known horror films were not released during this window.

Additionally, although director M. Night Shyamalan was just starting out, he possessed extraordinary talent in the horror genre. In terms of sharp chase sequences, slaughter scenes, and other aspects, he did a much better job than the director in the original timeline.

"Hehe, could they be the same?"

"Rob Schmidt, the director who filmed Wrong Turn in the original timeline, was just a fairly ordinary director."

"As for M. Night Shyamalan, in the future, he would become a famous director who made hit films like The Sixth Sense and After Earth."

"The gap between the two is truly vast, which also created the difference in the final visuals and quality of the film."

While Zucker sighed, he also had to admit that Shyamalan was indeed talented.

Well, better than himself.

Fine, Zucker, who carried the title of "Ten-Million-Dollar Box Office, Genius Director," only occasionally bragged about himself; in reality, he knew deep down that his own directing skills weren't much to speak of.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Wrong Turn 1 also concluded its opening weekend, with a cumulative three-day box office reaching 12.45 million dollars, ranking third on this weekend's box office chart!

The third-place ranking for the weekend box office was also the best result for Wald Pictures since its establishment!