Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 201 Box Office Ranking

Just then, the new issue of 'North American Movie Box Office Rankings' was announced.

According to statistics from The Hollywood Reporter, a total of 267 films were released in North America last year, grossing 48.2 billion yuan.

The box office champion is "Jurassic Park", with a North American box office of 3.57 million and a global box office of 10.2 billion.

The runner-up is "Final Destination", with a North American box office of 2.41 million US dollars and a global box office of 3.96 million US dollars.

The third is "Mrs. Doubtfire", with 2.19 million in North America and 4.41 million in global box office.

Fourth is "The Trap", with $2.07 million in North America and $2.9 million worldwide.

Fifth is "The Fugitive", with 1.83 million in North America and 3.68 million worldwide.

Sixth is "The Blair Witch Project", with 1.58 million in North America and 3.1 million worldwide.

Seventh place: "Sleepless in Seattle", with a North American box office of 1.26 million and a global box office of 2.27 million.

"Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" ranked eleventh with a box office of 9837 million.

Three of the top 12 films of the year are from Guess Pictures.

In addition, The Hollywood Reporter also listed the top ten companies in the film industry in 1993, which were arranged according to the box office data of the films released by the film companies.

No. 1: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Last year, Warner Bros. released a total of 24 films, including "The Fugitive," "The Pelicans," "The Mermaid Fairy Tale," "The Madman," etc., with a total box office of 6.5 million US dollars in North America and 15.7 billion US dollars worldwide, ranking first in the total box office list for three consecutive years.

Second place: Universal Pictures.

Last year, Universal Pictures released 12 films, including "Jurassic Park" and "Schindler's List", which earned $5.8 million in North America and a total global box office of $16.6 billion.

The global box office is higher than Warner Bros. Pictures.

Third place: Columbia Pictures, which has good box office performance with films such as "Sleepless in Seattle", "Clarks of the Mountain" and "Ace Ventura", with a North American box office of 5.37 million.

Fourth place: Paramount Pictures, $5.12 million. Movies such as "Trap" and "Indecent Proposal" performed well at the box office.

Fifth place: 16th Century Fox, which released 4.85 films last year, including "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Rising Sun", "The Kid with the Golden Arm", etc., with a North American box office of million US dollars.

Sixth place: Guess What Pictures, with North American box office of 4.47 million US dollars and global box office of 8.17 million US dollars.

Last year, Guess What Pictures released five films, including "The Blair Witch Project," "The Wedding Banquet," "Dazed and Confused," "Final Destination," and "The Joy Luck Club." Among them, "Ace Ventura" was released by Columbia Pictures.

"Final Destination" grossed $2.41 million in North America.

"The Blair Witch Project" grossed $1.58 million in North America.

"The Wedding Banquet" was released in August and grossed $2671 million in North America and $4217 million worldwide.

The revenue ratio reached 56 times, making it the film with the highest box office revenue ratio in North America in 1993 except for "The Blair Witch Project".

"Dazed and Confused" was released in November and grossed $11 million in North America and $563 million overseas.

The film cost $220 million to produce and had a revenue ratio of about four times, making it a profitable film.

The Joy Luck Club is released in late December.

The film cost $1050 million to produce.

It grossed $14 million in North America in 2037 weeks and $3583 million worldwide.

If "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" is included, the six films under Guess What Pictures have grossed a total of 5.36 million in North America and 8.89 million worldwide.

Guess What Pictures' total box office will surpass Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox and rank fourth.

Seventh place: Disney Pictures.

Last year, Disney released 15 movies, but none of them made over 6885 million dollars at the North American box office. The best-performing one was "The Pond on Ice," which made million U.S. dollars in North America, while the other movies made around million.

MGM, which ranked eighth, performed even worse, releasing a total of 13 films last year. The highest-grossing film, "Bonnie and Joon," only grossed $2326 million in North America, and the 13 films had a cumulative North American box office of $2.13 million.

The ninth and tenth places are Miramax and New Line Cinema respectively.

After the film industry's report card was released, Guess What Pictures caused a sensation in the entertainment industry and Wall Street.

The Wall Street Journal used the term "Hollywood miracle" to describe the success of Guess What Pictures, which was founded in early 1992.

In the past two years, Link has led Guess Pictures to achieve many brilliant results.

Among them, "Paranormal Activity" set the record for the highest box office revenue ratio in film history and was also the annual box office champion. "Final Destination" was the annual box office runner-up. "The Blair Witch Project" was also a model of success for low-cost movies and ranked sixth in the annual box office.

This kind of performance has never been seen in the Hollywood film industry.

In addition, it took only two years for Guess Pictures, an independent film company, to surpass Disney and MGM, two film industry giants with a history of more than 70 years, in box office revenue.

This is nothing short of a miracle.

After the 1993 movie box office list was released, a Wall Street consulting firm raised the market value of Guess What Pictures to between $3 million and $3.5 million, second only to the Big Seven Pictures and New Line Cinema.

Link's valuation of Guess What Pictures is still $5 million.

While Wall Street capital was still hesitating, an investment company called Flash Gold Capital invested US$1 million in Guess the Picture and acquired a 20% stake.

The market value of Guess What Pictures was also raised to $5 million.

"Damn it! Is this investment company crazy? Just guess, that little movie company is also worth $5 million?"

When Michael Ovitz received the news, he was so angry that he burst into curses.

If Flash Gold Capital had not exited, they could still bargain with Link and get the most shares with the least amount of money.

Now Flash Gold Capital has taken action to raise the market value of Guess the Movie to 5 million.

Others either have to follow suit or give up. If they want to buy shares of Guess Pictures at a low price, they have to wait until the next movie of Guess Pictures loses money.

Longmeyer lit a cigarette and said, "You underestimate Link. He is not an ordinary movie company owner, but a billionaire worth hundreds of millions. That Flash Gold Capital may be his property. If you want to cut him off and make back the money you lost in the bet, it will probably be difficult."

Michael Ovitz's face darkened. He used the power of capital to suppress Link and did intend to retaliate against Link.

But Link has no shortage of money or connections. He can not only write scripts and make movies, but also engage in public opinion propaganda.

This kind of person has comprehensive abilities, and it is very difficult to deal with him, unless a large amount of money and connections are invested to encircle Link from all sides. However, doing so is also risky, and failure will result in greater losses.

Michael Ovitz looked at Link's photo in the newspaper and regretted again that he had not signed Link in 1992, or let Link's movie fail miserably at that time and fail to gain a foothold in Hollywood. Then he would not be in such a difficult situation as he is now.

Jingle Bell!
The phone on the desk rang. Michael Ovitz picked up the phone and listened for a few words. It was Greg Davis, chief investment officer of Vanguard Capital Investment Company.

Reg Davis said on the phone that Vanguard Capital planned to acquire a stake in Guess the Picture Company and asked him to contact Link so that the two sides could start negotiations on the stake.

Michael Ovitz said that Link's offer was too high and it was not cost-effective to invest at this time. He could continue to suppress Guess What Pictures and force Link to bow his head.

Reg Davis rejected the proposal. Guess what? The film industry had great potential and was worth investing in. Bankrupting a profitable company was not what an investment company should do.

Michael Ovitz had no choice but to agree.

Shortly after he hung up the phone, Hank Paulson, senior partner of Morgan Investment Company, also called and proposed to invest in Guess the Picture Company and asked him to help contact and negotiate.

Michael Ovitz suggested that due to the influence of The Hollywood Reporter's list, the current price of Guess What Pictures is relatively high, and he suggested waiting until Link's next movie is released. If the box office is lower than expected, Guess What Pictures will definitely be affected, and you can buy it at that time.

Hank Paulson laughed a few times and asked him if he thought the box office of "Final Destination" would be lower than expected when he made a bet with Link last time. It turned out that it wasn't. He made a mistake once in this matter, so why would he make it again?
Hank Paulson said that he was the best entrepreneur but not a professional investor and advised him not to do venture capital.

Michael Ovitz's face turned red when he heard this. Hank Paulson tactfully told him that he was an amateur and asked him not to tell professionals to do things.

Michael Ovitz agreed silently and said he would arrange it as soon as possible.

"Vanguard and Morgan are going to invest in Guess What Pictures?"

Longmeyer asked.

Michael Ovitz frowned and nodded.

"As expected, the films produced by Guess What Pictures require less investment, have higher box office revenue, and have higher net profits than the Big Seven studios. They have produced six films, all of which sold well, with extremely low risk. In the eyes of investors, Guess What Pictures is a gold mine, so it is understandable that they are willing to invest in advance," said Langmeyer.

"Damn it! This guy won again."

Michael Ovitz smashed the photo in the newspaper and reluctantly picked up the phone.

(End of this chapter)