Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 23 Box Office Explosion
"Buried" was released in 28 theaters under United Cinemas for one week and earned $158.8 million at the box office.

This weekly box office result ranked 8th among the movies released during the same period, successfully surpassing "Chaplin" which had been released for two weeks, and became a box office dark horse.

The current cumulative box office of "Buried" has reached 216 million US dollars, which is 108 times the production cost.

After United Cinemas announced the data, media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Film Variety, and the New York Post reported on the box office information of Buried.

"Buried" was praised for its high quality and received support from movie fans.

He also praised Link for his talent, saying that he was able to perform multiple roles well and was a "newcomer" among the new generation of young directors.

In its film review section, Movie Variety called Buried the "lost pearl" of this year's Sundance Film Festival, and that it was a pity that it did not win any awards.

The New York Post analyzed "Buried" from the perspective of its artistry, and believed that the artistry and quality of "Buried" were in no way inferior to award-winning films such as "Reservoir Dogs" and "The Trouble."

Influenced by these reports, Link also became famous in Hollywood.

"Link, it turns out that what you said is true. Your movie can increase the attendance of movie theaters."

Jerome Preston exclaimed over the phone.

"Jerome, I told you I'm an honest man and I won't lie."

"Okay, I admit that I did underestimate the potential of Buried Alive, and I apologize to you."

"It doesn't matter. Buried Alive was able to be released thanks to your help."

"Haha. I don't deserve that. The release of Buried Alive was all thanks to you. You did everything you could to get Buried Alive into theaters and refused to listen to anyone's advice. At the time, William and I thought you were crazy and that you would not turn back until you got hurt. Now these box office data prove that you were right. Buried Alive has great potential at the box office."

"I just wanted to take a gamble, and luckily I won."

“Yes, congratulations!”

After the call, Link went into the Union Theater in Chicago to watch a movie, participating in the roadshow of "Buried" here.

By the second week, due to its good box office performance, the release of "Buried" was expanded to 116 theaters in North America.

In addition to the 28 theaters under United Theatres, there are 88 theaters under United Artists Theaters, with a total of more than 2600 screens.

Theaters have also stepped up their publicity efforts and arranged many film promotion activities, from the United States to Canada, from one city to another.

Every day, Link is either on a roadshow or on his way to a roadshow.

In order to get more box office revenue, he is happy to participate in more such activities. Unlike before the movie was released, when he begged for media attention, the media ignored him.

"Buried" was released in 116 theaters for one week and earned $389.5 million at the box office. It ranked fourth in the weekly box office rankings of movies during the same period, only behind the newly released erotic film "Basic Instinct", the comedy sports film "Black and White", and "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle".

That's $23 more than the hit movie "Chaplin" took in this week.

"Buried", a movie with an investment of only 2 US dollars, actually surpassed "Chaplin", a movie with an investment of 1500 million US dollars and starring popular movie star Robert Downey Jr., in the weekly box office rankings.

This incident caused a heated discussion in the media.

With the release of this week's box office results, the total box office of "Buried" has reached 605 million US dollars.

"605 million? Impossible! How could such a crappy movie have so many people watching it? Do those viewers have no brains?"

When Robert Downey Jr. saw that the box office of "Buried" was higher than that of "Chaplin", he threw down the newspaper in displeasure.

"In terms of quality, Buried is indeed not as good as Chaplin, but Buried created a very high box office performance with a very low cost, and it was quite topical, which made Buried receive a lot of attention in a short period of time, and the box office performance is getting better and better."

said Donny's agent Jimmy Rich.

"Hype? Tell Carlock Pictures that we need to step up our efforts to promote the film. Chaplin can't be overshadowed by a crappy movie that only cost $2."

Robert Downey Jr. shouted.

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

-

"It grossed $605 million in two weeks? How is that possible? Will even such hardcore moviegoers like it?"

In an apartment near Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Quentin was flipping through the newspaper in his hand and was shocked by the data on it.

He has seen "Buried". From a professional point of view, the quality of the film is very good, but the scenes are too monotonous and the content is too hardcore, not to mention that the leading actor is Link, an Asian face.

How could a movie like this get such a high box office when released in the United States?
"Reservoir Dogs" has been released for more than a month, and its current global box office is only 220 million US dollars, which is a small loss compared to the production cost of 120 million US dollars.

Fortunately, the DVD sales of "Reservoir Dogs" were good, so he and his investors did not lose money.

Link's film only had an investment of 2 US dollars, and was screened on a small scale for two weeks, earning more than million at the box office.

The box office revenue ratio reached 300 times.

incredible.

"Maybe we have all been wrong. In fact, the audience really likes this kind of innovative movie." Producer Lawrence Bender was also reading the reviews about "Buried" in the newspaper.

"Link is such a lucky guy."

Didi didi~
The phone on the table rang. Quentin picked it up and took a look. It was a call from Harvey Weinstein. He was curious about why Harvey called at this time.

"Quentin, last time I heard you mention Link, do you know him?"

"Yes, before we moved, he and I lived in the same neighborhood."

"Quentin, I want to meet him, can you help me contact him?"

"Harvey, are you interested in Buried? Last time you said Buried wouldn't be a big hit."

"Damn it, don't mention the past. People always make mistakes."

"Haha, I can help make the contact, but he's out doing promotions lately, so he may not have time."

"You can ask him if he still has the distribution rights for Buried Alive. I'm willing to pay a high price for it."

"Okay, I'll tell him."

After hanging up the phone, Quentin spread his hands.

"You heard it, I wasn't the only one who misjudged Harvey. He didn't expect that Buried, which cost only $2 to make, would get so much at the box office. It can be called a box office miracle this year."

"Link is such an amazing guy."

Lawrence Bender exclaimed.

-

"605 million box office, 300 times box office revenue ratio? Did I really misjudge it?"

On the east side of Hollywood Boulevard, in the president's office of New Line Cinema, Robert Shea held a copy of the Los Angeles Times with his thin fingers, his blue-gray eyes staring at the data in the newspaper in a daze.

After watching "Buried", he couldn't help but think of the young man who greeted him enthusiastically downstairs of New Line Cinema that day. When the young man saw him, he enthusiastically recommended his movie "Buried".

Robert Shea has often encountered people like him since he became the president of New Line Cinema. After New Line Cinema became a famous film production company, the number of people who came to the company to recommend themselves increased exponentially.

He was not surprised by Link's behavior.

I didn't want to pay attention to him at first, but I found it interesting to listen to Link's introduction of the plot of "Buried". Also, when Link spoke, he revealed a strong confidence and outstanding temperament, which was very different from those nervous and restrained directors.

It was also for this reason that he agreed to watch "Buried" before getting on the bus.

After watching "Buried", I didn't feel very good. It was an actor, a scene, and it was talking about a serious topic like "anti-war".

Plus the male lead has an Asian face.

After watching it, he and the heads of the distribution department all agreed that "Buried" lacked selling points, did not suit the tastes of current audiences, had no profit margins, and was not worth spending money to distribute.

After rejecting Link, he also heard the news from his peers that Link continued to look for other film companies to cooperate with, and approached more than 20 companies, but without exception, all were rejected.

Seeing that his colleagues also refused, Robert Shea became more convinced that he had made the right decision to reject "Buried".

But no one expected that a few weeks later, Link would gradually increase the popularity of the film by distributing it at his own expense, allowing "Buried" to enter more theaters, and the box office performance of "Buried" continued to rise. After only two weeks of a small-scale release, it earned more than 6 million US dollars.

It created a 300-fold box office revenue ratio, and this figure will continue to expand as the movie is released.

At the same time, this data also sounds like a loud slap in the face.

Snapped!
It slapped him, Harvey, and many of his colleagues hard in the face.

They are blind and mistake gems for stones.

This incident will probably become a classic joke in the Hollywood film industry in the future.

"Alas, I am getting old. I have made a mistake."

Robert Shea touched his thin old face, picked up the phone and called the film distribution department, asking them to send someone to contact Link to see if there was any chance to get the North American distribution rights of "Buried" from him.

Although Link has a distribution agreement with cinema chains, cinema chains are not as professional as film distribution companies in promoting and distributing films, and they also lack funds and distribution channels.

To prevent losses, theaters will keep their releases small, with release cycles sometimes exceeding a year.

If "Buried" wants to get more box office revenue, the best option is to cooperate with a film distribution company and use the distribution company's channels to expand the film's influence.

Robert Shea was not sure whether Link would cooperate with New Line, but he also wanted to try. If he could get the distribution rights of "Buried", the company could also benefit from this blockbuster movie.

In addition, Link has demonstrated extraordinary talent and potential in directing films, and is also someone worth making friends with.

(End of this chapter)