Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 305: Morning Rope Training, Monica's Transformation

"You tied Monica up like that last night. Was it the Japanese rope technique? How do you know this?"

Early in the morning in Beverly Hills, the sun shone through the mist onto the runway. Sofia jogged while turning her head to look at Link curiously.

She was wearing a tight sports vest, revealing her white and sexy neck and collarbone, and black sports shorts. Her legs were long and straight, making her look full of energy.

As she continued to run, her golden ponytail swayed behind her, beads of sweat oozed from her forehead, and her cheeks were faintly flushed due to the exercise.

"What Japanese? This technology was originally from China.

In ancient times, in order to tie up captives and prevent them from escaping, they were tied up with ropes, some by their hands and feet, and some by their entire bodies.

Later, this technique spread to Japan, where it was used on beds and even made into a movie. There was a Japanese prop master in my crew who knew this skill, so I learned a few tricks from him.”

Link said as he ran.

"Monica looked so happy last night, I want to try it too, okay?"

Sophia blinked, her voice a little coquettish, her eyes full of anticipation.

"Okay, as long as you like it."

Link ruffled her hair. Sofia rolled her eyes at him and suddenly jumped onto his back, hugging his neck and refusing to let go.

Link smiled and continued running forward with her on his back.

"Ah, slow down, my chest hurts!"

Milla Jovovich saw the two of them playing, smiled, and followed them with her long legs.

After morning exercise, Link returned to the living room of the villa.

Except for Monica, everyone else got up. Some were doing aerobics, some were applying facial masks, and some were putting on makeup and changing clothes. Only little Qianqian was still yawning on the sofa, as if she had not slept enough and was forced to get up early.

When Link came back, Liu Xiaoli asked the servants to serve breakfast, and the family started to eat.

In the restaurant, sunlight shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the oval dining table. There are twenty seats on both sides of the table. More than ten kinds of breakfast are placed on the table, with various flavors. The air is filled with the aroma of coffee and toast.

"Link, look at these."

Liu Xiaoli was used to reading newspapers while eating. After flipping through a few newspapers, she handed them to Lin Ke with a serious expression. "After the box office results of This Man From Earth came out, many media took the opportunity to criticize us and mentioned that the second round of financing would fail. This news is very unfavorable to us."

Link took it and flipped through a few pages.

The three newspapers were the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune and the Wall Street Journal, all of which reported the box office failure of "The Man From Earth" on their front pages.

The Los Angeles Times published a commentary saying, "The lavish lineup can't hide the box office failure. Guess what, the movie industry's box office myth has been shattered?"

The review specifically mentioned the film's production team, saying that the legendary director Francis Coppola was the producer and art director, the current most popular film director Link was the screenwriter and editor, and Sofia was both the director and producer. The cast is full of veteran actors, including Richard Custer, Talia Shire and others.

Judging from the cast, this movie won't do too badly at the box office.

In addition, the film is adapted from Link's best-selling novel "Interstellar".

Since the novel was released in 1992, global sales have exceeded 1.2 million copies, making it one of the best-selling works in the history of science fiction literature.

"This Man From Earth" is a classic chapter among them. It is regarded as a treasure of science fiction literature by countless book fans for its profound philosophical thinking and wild imagination.

Because of this, when it was announced last year that the novel would be adapted into a movie, fans' expectations were pushed to a peak.

There is a luxurious plastic surgery, a popular IP, and Guess the Movies' promotion at all costs.

Before the movie was released, many media predicted that "The Man from Earth" would most likely become the first movie in North America to break the 1995 million box office mark in , and that Guess Pictures would also achieve new success with this film.

However, the film only earned $121 million in box office in three weeks.

It was far below expectations and can be called the first box office disaster of the year.

The International Herald Tribune reported similar content, saying in a mocking tone that "Lucky Link seems to have lost the box office code!"

In 1991, Link shot Buried with $2, which grossed $7500 million worldwide. In 1992, he shot Paranormal Activity with another $2, which grossed over $ million worldwide.

At the end of the same year, he made "The Blair Witch Project" with the same low cost, which grossed $3 million at the global box office.

These brilliant achievements have given people confidence in Link's low-budget movies.

When Guess What Pictures announced that it would spend $2 to shoot "The Man From Earth," many people believed that the film would continue this myth.

The result is not.

The box office failure of "This" not only exposed Link's lie that he had mastered the "box office code", but also cast a shadow on the development of Guess What Pictures.

The Wall Street Journal's focus is on Guess Pictures' second round of financing.

The financing cycle of most companies usually does not exceed four months. Companies that can successfully complete financing within this period often mean that their development prospects have been recognized by both the market and investors. Once the financing time exceeds this period, it means that the company may be in some kind of predicament, and the uncertainty in the financing process will increase accordingly.

Last December, Guess the Movies announced the launch of its second round of financing, offering a price of up to $12 billion. However, more than two months later, the investment market seems unusually quiet, and no investment company is willing to take over.

The reason is that the market value offer of Guess What Pictures exceeded the psychological expectations of investors. Coupled with the recent fluctuations in the film market, the investment risk was further magnified, and investors chose to wait and see.

Commentators from The Wall Street Journal believe that if Guess Pictures can launch a few movies with outstanding box office performance during the financing period, it may be able to rekindle the enthusiasm of investors and make them see the potential of the company and the value of its stocks.

However, the reality is not optimistic.

This year, the first film released by Guess What Pictures, "The Man from Earth", was a box office failure, which not only made the company's financial situation worse, but also seriously undermined investors' confidence.

The newspaper's commentator concluded the article with some sarcasm: "Guess What Movies is in an awkward situation of 'having a price but no market' - no matter how high the valuation is, it cannot withstand the market's indifference."

Link looked at the newspaper and twitched the corners of his mouth.

As soon as the news of "This Man"'s poor box office performance came out, so many people were gloating. It seems that the 15 billion offer did offend a lot of people.

"Link, how do we deal with these negative reports?"

Liu Xiaoli asked with a serious expression.

"Don't worry about it. We are a film company. Everything depends on the box office. If the box office performance of the film is good, the words we say will be more powerful. If the box office performance is not good, no matter how good the public relations is, it will be useless. Let's ignore these negative news for now. When the box office performance of the next film improves, the media will take the initiative to help us promote it."

"The next movie is Rumble in the Bronx, which probably won't do well at the box office."

Liu Xiaoli said worriedly.

"It won't be too bad. Kung Fu movies also have a market in North America. It doesn't matter if it's a little worse. In addition to these two movies, we have many other movies this year with great box office potential. You don't have to be so sad or you might get wrinkles."

"Huh? Are there any wrinkles? Where?"

Liu Xiaoli quickly touched the corners of her eyes and felt relieved when she didn't feel any wrinkles.

"No, she looks like an eighteen-year-old girl."

Link hugged her and kissed her.

"Kiss me again."

Mira and Sofia were cheering on the side, and little Sissi was also clapping and cheering.

Liu Xiaoli pushed him with red cheeks and returned to her seat to eat.

"Hi, good morning, everyone!"

Monica walked into the restaurant with a smile on her face. She was wearing a silver suspender skirt, revealing her fair skin, curvy figure, and long, white and round legs.

On the exposed parts, there were several light red linear marks on the arms, calves and shoulders.

These are the traces left from last night's play, with a strange sexiness and charm.

Although she had a lot of fun last night, Monica looked very good today. Her eyes were as bright as stars, her cheeks were flushed like peach blossoms, and her skin was crystal clear and moist.

The few brown spots on his face miraculously disappeared, and he looked radiant, as if he was several years younger.

"Monica, what's going on, you look so great like this."

Seeing Monica's condition, several women couldn't help but leave their seats and surrounded her to examine her carefully.

"Nothing, I just had a good rest last night."

Monica smiled happily.

"Last night? We all know what happened last night. Can doing that kind of thing be considered beauty treatment?"

Liu Xiaoli touched Monica's skin with curiosity in her eyes.

"Monica, is this true?"

Sofia, Renée Zellweger and other women asked excitedly.

"Probably. I feel great today. If you are interested, you can try it."

Monica smiled slightly and leaned down to kiss Link.

Liu Xiaoli and others also stared at Link closely, their eyes becoming hot and fiery.