Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 214: Supporting the high and suppressing the low
"Damn it! Link has taken away another project from us."

In the president's office of Castle Rock Pictures, Robert Reiner hung up the phone heavily and said to Alan Horn, the head of production,
"We received news that Frank Darabont took 'Shawshank' to Guess What? Films. After talking with Link, Link agreed to take on the project. We can't just watch Guess What? Films snatch this project away. We must fight back and have the legal department sue Darabont and Liz and make them pay for breach of contract."

Executive producer Alan Horn spread his hands and said, "This is difficult. The copyright of this film is in the hands of Frank Darabont. If we give up investing in this project, we will actually be the party in breach of contract. Frank Darabont has the right to choose a new partner. It will be difficult to win the case in court."

Robert Reiner looked gloomy and unhappy. Not long ago, Guess What Pictures snatched the "Good Will Hunting" project from Castle Rock, and now it's trying to snatch "The Shawshank Redemption". It's really too much.

"Rob, we are short of funds and cannot continue to support the filming of Shawshank. We have no choice but to give up. We have given up. It is expected that Director Darabont will look for other companies to cooperate with."

President Robert Reiner also knew this, but the company that took over the project was Guess What Pictures, a company that had an unfriendly relationship with Castle Rock Pictures, which was why he was angry.

What made him even angrier was that with Castle Rock Pictures' current financial situation, there was no way it could fight back against Guess What?

"Rob, look at it calmly. The Shawshank project is limited by the subject matter and it is difficult to sell at the box office. This is also the reason why we gave up on this movie. If Link rashly takes it over now, there is a great possibility that he will lose money, tens of millions of dollars. Isn't this the result we want to see?"

Alan Horn persuaded.

Robert Reiner frowned. When they were screening the projects, they considered that "Shawshank" had no heroine, no romance, only prison life, male friendship, and hope for freedom. The theme was very simple and there were no big scenes.

It is difficult for this type of movie to get a good box office result.

Thinking of this, he relaxed his brows. "I heard that Link has a very high standard for selecting films. All the film projects that he is optimistic about will eventually become big hits. "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective", "The Wedding Banquet" and "The Joy Luck Club" are all examples. If "Shawshank" is in Link's hands, will it become a hit movie?"

"Haha, this is a misunderstanding. The reason why Link invested in "The Detective" is because he has a good relationship with the screenwriter and starring actor Jim Carrey. He invested in "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Wedding Banquet" because the directors of those two movies are Chinese. These three movies are not actually the film projects selected by Link, but these projects took the initiative to find Link. In addition, if Link's vision is good enough, how could "The Uncanny" directed by Soderbergh lose money?"

Alan Horn smiled nonchalantly.

When Robert Reiner thought of the losses of "The Uncanny Murders", his eyes suddenly lit up and he nodded in approval.

Robert Reiner couldn't let go of his anger when he thought about how Guess What Pictures had repeatedly snatched away Castle Rock Pictures' projects, and how Richard Gere and others had gotten into trouble, causing the company's projects to lose money.

He picked up the phone, called Michael Ovitz, and accepted his invitation.

"Pulp Fiction" earned $1241 million in its second week of release, and its cumulative North American box office reached $2174 million.

The film's reputation continued to rise, and industry insiders enthusiastically praised Quentin in the newspapers, saying that "Pulp Fiction" perfectly combined cinematic and commercial qualities to create a classic film, and that he pioneered the aesthetic form of romantic violence and was a representative figure of violent aesthetic films.

When praising Quentin, many film critics would mention Link in passing, saying that the two used to live in the same community and both made their debut at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. Link first became famous through several low-cost thriller films and became a hot figure in the director circle for two years.

Now Quentin has become popular through "Pulp Fiction" and is showing a trend of catching up.

Professionals in the industry generally believe that Quentin has greater potential as a director than Link.

"Look! What a nice thing it says."

"But I really don't understand why my movie has such a good reputation but the box office growth is so low, while Link's movie has such a bad reputation but the box office data is growing so fast."

"Harvey, can you tell me why?"

Miramax Films, Quentin Tarantino patted the newspaper in his hand. It was full of nice words, but the box office results were just so-so.

It didn't feel real to him.

It's like a group of professionals are entertaining themselves in the media, while ordinary audiences are completely unmoved.

This situation is the exact opposite of Link's film.

After Link's films were released, they were often criticized and despised by professionals, and some newspapers even directly criticized them, saying that the audiences who liked Link's films were illiterate and had little cultural level. However, the audiences ignored all that and still went to the cinema to show their support.

This situation made Quentin feel helpless.

"Haha, Quentin, don't worry. Pulp Fiction is an art film with a long run and strong box office momentum. According to the current box office growth trend, it won't be difficult for the North American box office to exceed 1 million."

Harvey said happily as he looked at the newspaper.

In the past, when he saw Link's movies selling well, he often regretted that he paid too much attention to Quentin at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival and ignored Link's talent, losing the watermelon for the sesame seeds.

Now Quentin's second movie is released. It has made more than 800 million in box office in two weeks with a cost of 2000 million, and the box office performance is expected to exceed million.

The box office revenue ratio is more than ten times.

This result is amazing.

Although it is not as good as Link's "Paranormal Activity" and "The Blair Witch Project", it is better than many young directors.

This movie could make Miramax ten times more money.

But Harvey still feels a little regretful. He regrets not investing all his money in this movie and letting Guess What Pictures take away half of the box office revenue for nothing.

Thinking of this, Harvey secretly cursed Link in his heart as a lucky bastard.

"One hundred million?"

Quentin couldn't help but frown when he heard Harvey's words, "You expect Pulp Fiction to only make 100 million in North America?"

"One hundred million is pretty good. Pulp Fiction is not a commercial blockbuster, and the North American box office of over one hundred million is a very remarkable achievement."

"One hundred million is too little. Harvey, Pulp Fiction is better than Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project, and it should have more box office results. I hope Miramax Films can vigorously promote this movie, use the media to create topics, and attract more people's attention, just like Link did. As long as the promotion is done well, I believe the box office results will be better, maybe even better than The Witches and Final Destination."

As for "Paranormal Activity", its North American box office was 3.18 million, which is an absurdly high result and it is very difficult to surpass it.

"Quentin, Link's movies can be hyped up because the subject matter is closer to real life, which is easy to resonate with ordinary people. It is also easy to connect with social news, giving Link room for hype. The story of Pulp Fiction is more artistically processed and not topical, so it is difficult to hype it up."

Pulp Fiction tells three stories, 'Vincent and Marsha's Wife', 'The Gold Watch', and 'Bonnie's Situation'. Each of the three stories has a protagonist, and the other characters play supporting roles in the other two stories.

This kind of story has been artistically processed and rendered, and contains many exaggerations, fictions, and illogical elements.

There is no material suitable for hype during publicity.

Quentin frowned. "Call Link and ask him for his opinion. He has extensive experience in film promotion."

Harvey didn't agree with this statement. He had worked in the film industry for more than 20 years and had promoted and released dozens of films. In terms of experience in this area, Link was far behind him.

In addition, the movie "The Uncanny Murder Case" which was released not long ago suffered box office losses, and Link spent a lot of money and worked hard on publicity but still saw no improvement.

From this point of view, Link is not that powerful.

However, he did not refute Quentin's words, and said that he would talk to Link about the publicity later to see if Link had any good ideas.

(End of this chapter)