Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 232 A chance encounter on the court
After the first week's box office results came out, many media outlets joined in the fun and reported that "Speed" defeated several blockbusters released during the same period and won the weekly box office championship.

The publicity department of the Guess What film industry took the opportunity to arrange for film critics to praise the film, saying that the film was well-made, with gun fights, car racing, explosions, handsome men and beautiful women, and that it was a thrilling and exciting film, and that it was the most unmissable action movie of this summer.

Due to the poor box office performance of several films released during the same period, the publicity costs were drastically cut to avoid further losses.

In terms of current publicity, apart from The Lion King which is released on Friday, other movies cannot be compared with Speed.

Influenced by the publicity, the box office of "Speed" increased instead of decreasing in the second week, earning 2923 million US dollars, and a total of 4998 million US dollars in two weeks.

However, it only ranked second at the box office this week.

The champion is "The Lion King", which took in $2552 million in 4465 theaters, with an average daily box office of $1.6 per theater. It is also the film with the highest average daily box office among large-scale commercial films.

Ranked third is "Werewolf," which was released this week and starred Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson. It took in $1791 million in its first week, which is also a good result.

While the three movies were selling well, the box office performance of several other movies shrank rapidly. The highest-grossing movie, "Beverly Cop 3," only had a box office of 736 million U.S. dollars. This movie was destined to bring huge losses to Paramount Pictures.

"Link, while the situation is good now, why don't you consider stopping and releasing some more shares? I believe that at this time, there are people willing to raise funds with your valuation of 6 million US dollars."

On the Pelican Hill Golf Course, with blue sky and white clouds and green grass, three men in white golf shirts and light-colored casual pants were walking and chatting while carrying golf clubs.

"It's too fast. The first round of financing was at the beginning of the year, and the second round of financing will be at the latest in the second half of next year."

Link was wearing a baseball cap and walking in the middle. Jerome Preston and Jay Maloney next to him were shorter than him and had slightly thinner bodies.

"Then you should also release a timetable for financing in advance and show your willingness to continue financing, otherwise entertainment investors will jointly target you as a rival. Competition in Hollywood is more than just about publicity and movie box office."

Jerome Preston said, raising his heavy eyebrows.

"I understand. But the situation is not that serious. The rise of Guess What Pictures not only divides the box office revenue of the seven major studios, but also intensifies the competition and survival of the fittest in the Hollywood film market, forcing the seven major studios to make changes to improve the competitiveness of their films. Film companies that cannot improve their competitiveness are doomed to be eliminated. In this respect, the existence of Guess What Pictures is also in the interests of entertainment capital, and they are also happy to see this kind of competition."

"Catfish effect?"

Jamalone shook his head. "Guess the Movies is not a catfish, but a shark. Last year, Guess the Movies ranked sixth in total box office, and this year's total box office performance may be even higher, which means that the entertainment capital behind Hollywood will gain less, and they will not tolerate this happening."

Link said, "You also mentioned tolerance. So far, it has not reached the point where they cannot tolerate it."

On this matter, he exchanged views with Vanguard Capital and Morgan Investments.

He said that Guess Pictures' next round of financing will be more than US$10 billion, and it will give priority to accepting investments from friendly parties.

Friendly parties refer to those who are willing to provide assistance when Guess Pictures is under pressure from the outside world.

Vanguard Capital and Morgan Investment saw that the films released by Guess What Pictures this year performed well. The first one suffered a small loss, the second one currently has a North American box office of 1.25 million and a global box office of 2.2 million US dollars, and the third one has exceeded million in North American box office in five weeks.

This result is better than that of movies under the seven major film studios.

As shareholders of the company, they are also beneficiaries and want to continue to benefit and obtain more benefits.

When they heard Link say that friendly investments would be given priority in the second round of financing, the two investment companies immediately showed a friendly attitude, saying that they would provide some help within their capabilities and asked how they could help him.

Link said that he didn't need help, he just wanted to give Guess the Picture a chance to compete fairly with the Big Seven Studios. Before the outcome was decided, the capital behind the Big Seven Studios could not interfere.

Morgan Stanley and Vanguard Capital, as the two largest investment companies behind the Hollywood film and television industry, have the ability to do this.

After a meeting and discussion, the two companies agreed to his request.

But there is also a requirement that if he loses, he must give up his controlling stake in Guess Pictures and remain as the chairman of Guess Pictures for at least five years.

Link agreed.

After becoming a Microsoft shareholder, he had enough capital and no longer needed to make money by making movies.

The reason why he continues to be a director and make movies is to make more good movies, improve his filmmaking ability, and at the same time improve his personal physical fitness and physical fitness. It doesn't matter if he loses and continues to be a chairman or a director.

However, he also made a request that if he won, the two investment companies would need to support him in acquiring one of the seven major film studios.

Greg Davis, chief investment officer of Vanguard Capital, and Hank Paulson, senior partner at JPMorgan Investment Company, were stunned by his request.

This guy is too ambitious. Not only does he want to defeat the Big Seven Pictures, he also wants to acquire the Big Seven Pictures through Guess What Pictures. He is like a python trying to swallow a dragon. He is not afraid of choking to death.

The two agreed to his request.

First of all, it is unlikely that Link will succeed.

Secondly, if Link succeeds, the two companies will also be beneficiaries and can share the fruits of victory.

In the end, Link was able to defeat the seven major studios and acquire one of them. This shows that Link is a very capable person. It is also a good thing to make him the head of one of the seven major studios.

After getting the guarantee from the two companies, Link can compete with the Big Seven Pictures with confidence and can also find time to play golf in his free time.

Unlike what outsiders thought, facing the suppression from the seven major film studios, he was anxious and under tremendous pressure. He worked until late at night every day and became a workaholic.

"Link, the seven major film companies are coming at you aggressively. Do you have the confidence to hold out until next year to raise funds?"

Jerome Preston asked.

"Pretty much. So far, the company is doing pretty well."

Link walked to the golf ball, looked at the distance, pulled out a No. 5 iron, aimed the club head at the side of the ball, tried the angle and distance, then raised the club and hit the ball with moderate force.

Whoosh!
The little white ball flew into the air and landed on a flat area more than thirty meters away. It rolled forward more than three meters and stopped less than five feet away from the hole.

"nice shot!"

"Another birdie."

J. Maloney and Jerome applauded.

A birdie is a hole-in-one shot below par, less than two is an 'eagle', and less than three is an 'albatross'. The fewer strokes used, the better, similar to playing billiards.

On a par 4 hole like the one Link played, being able to hit a birdie is considered a good level and gives one a chance to advance into the third round in a professional competition.

After playing a game of ball, the three went to the club bar to drink and chat.

Link and Jay Maloney talked about the situation of CAA agency and asked whether CAA was planning to ban Guess Pictures and prohibit its artists from cooperating with Guess Pictures' films.

Jamalone said there were also disagreements within CAA on the matter.

Michael Ovitz wants to ban Guess Pictures and prohibit its artists from starring in movies produced by Guess Pictures.

However, the vast majority of artists under CAA are unwilling to participate in the fight between the two companies and are willing to cooperate with any film company as long as the film role is good enough and the pay is generous enough.

Michael Ovitz was worried that the artists would jump ship because of this incident, and he did not explicitly prohibit his artists from participating in the Guess What project. He only made this request to important clients of CAA, and it was up to the clients to decide whether to agree.

Link also said that he had no intention of banning CAA artists, and that he would treat CAA actors who came to audition fairly when casting for the film.

While chatting, he noticed that Michelle Pfeiffer also came to the bar, accompanied by Winona Ryder. The two had worked together in "The Age of Innocence".

Link invited the two to come over for a chat.

(End of this chapter)