Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 460 Annual Box Office Ranking

After assigning tasks, Link led the crew to the small town of Seyside, Florida, for filming.

The reason for choosing to film in the small town of Ceside, Florida, is that the environment there is similar to the seaside town described in "The Truman Show".

In The Truman Show, the protagonist lives in a huge film studio built by a television station, where all the buildings are meticulously designed, resembling a utopian city.

The town of Seaside, established in 1980, is a resort community known for its New Urbanism design style.

The community has more than 300 houses in the same style, and you can walk from any point to the post office, art gallery, antique shop, fashion store, bookstore and restaurant. Every street leads to the sea.

Furthermore, the town's unique seaside scenery and architectural style perfectly match the film's concept of a 'man-made utopia'.

This place also became the most suitable location in the world for filming "The Truman Show".

The cast of this film is largely the same as the original, including Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Noah Emmerich, Ed Harris, and others, and the production cost was $6000 million.

"Scene 1, 2 shots, begin!"

"Good morning!"

Jim Carrey's character, Truman, stands at the door, smiling broadly as he greets his neighbors.

"Good morning!"

The neighboring couple and the little girl waved to him.

"Oh, we might not see each other again later. Well then, have a good afternoon and a good evening."

"cut!"

Just as they started filming the first shot featuring Jim Carrey, Link called a pause because Carrey's performance did not meet expectations.

Jim Carrey has become a world-renowned comedy star in recent years with films such as "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "The Mask," "Dumb and Dumber," and "Batman Forever." He likes to use exaggerated facial expressions and physical movements to make the audience laugh during his performances.

This kind of performance style can be used in other movies, but it doesn't fit in "The Truman Show".

The Truman Show is an art film. Beneath the guise of a comedy, the core of the story is tragedy, very depressing, and terrifying.

Overly flamboyant performances can easily distract the audience, making them think of it as a vulgar and shallow nonsensical movie like "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective".

This kind of thing needs to be avoided during filming.

He asked Jim Carrey to use less exaggerated expressions and movements, and that his performances could be funny but not silly. He also forbade the crew members from discussing Jim Carrey's past nonsensical films to prevent them from confusing The Truman Show with other movies.

"Jim, Truman appears optimistic and cheerful on the surface, but he is actually depressed and repressed inside, which is similar to your personality. When filming, you don't need to suppress your inner emotions or try to please the audience. You just need to show your most authentic inner self to perfectly play this role."

Link said.

Jim Carrey frowned and thought for a moment, "We're filming the opening story now, should we portray it as oppressive here too?"

"Yes, Truman lost his father at a young age, and everyone around him was an actor. His wife, mother, and friends were all insincere. He lived in a world of falsehood and lies, with no one he could confide in. People living in such an environment are usually very lonely and depressed. This loneliness and melancholy are the underlying tone of his personality, accompanying him from beginning to end, so you need to try your best to express it in your performance."

"Ok, I see."

Jim Carrey nodded.

After a short break, the crew continued filming.

Truman was on his way to work in the morning, greeting his neighbors. Just as he was about to get into his car, a lamp fell from the sky. He carefully picked it up, which was one of the origins of his questioning of his living environment.

Later, when he saw his supposedly dead father reappear on the street, his suspicions reached their peak. Truman began to overcome his inner fears and prepared to escape Seaview City by boat.

"cut!"

"This one passed."

After filming the first set of shots, the crew took a short break before continuing to film the next take.

While Link was filming in the town of Seyside, The Hollywood Reporter published its 1997 North American box office rankings and total box office revenue for Hollywood studios.

According to the newspaper's statistics, a total of 344 films were released in the North American film market last year, eight more than in 1996. Although the increase was not significant, the total box office revenue was $400 million more than the previous year, reaching $60.3 billion.

其中有13部电影北美票房超过1亿美元，比去年少3部，有38部北美票房达到5000万美元，比去年多4部。

Last year's North American box office champion was "Titanic," which grossed $4.15 million in North America and $13.4 billion worldwide by the end of February, setting a new world box office record.

The runner-up was Link's war film "Saving Private Ryan," which grossed $4.03 million in North America and $9.17 million worldwide as of the end of February.

The third place goes to Link's action film "The Rock," which grossed $2.62 million in North America and $6.25 million worldwide.

Fourth place goes to Columbia Pictures' sci-fi comedy "Men in Black," which grossed $2.47 million in North America.

Fifth place went to Universal Pictures' "Jurassic Park 2," which grossed $2.13 million in North America.

The sixth place went to Warner Bros.' disaster film "Twister," which grossed $1.92 million in North America.

The seventh place goes to the comedy film "Liar Liar," released by Guess Movies, which grossed $1.83 million at the North American box office.

The eighth film in the list is the thriller "Primal Fear," released by Guess Movies, which grossed $1.74 million in North America.

Ninth place goes to Columbia Pictures' action film "Air Force One," which grossed $1.68 million in North America.

Tenth place goes to George Lucas's "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope," which grossed $1.32 million in North America.

Eleventh place goes to the comedy film "My Best Friend's Wedding," released by Guess the Movies, with $1.27 million.

The twelfth place went to Paramount Pictures' action film "Face/Off," which grossed $1.02 million in North America.

Thirteenth on the list is the comedy film "Kung Fu Tarzan" released by Disney Studios, which grossed $1.009 million in North America.

While fewer films grossed over $2 million at the North American box office this year compared to last year, a record high of five films surpassed $5 million. This data indicates that the box office appeal of high-quality commercial films is increasing, the concentration of power among top players in the film industry is becoming more pronounced, and competition across the entire industry is intensifying.

The Hollywood Reporter also compiled statistics on the total box office revenue of the eight major Hollywood film studios.

Guess what? Film Studios is still number one in the North American film industry.

The film grossed $16.5 billion in North America and $31.7 billion worldwide including Titanic, making it the first film company in world film history to have an annual total box office of over $30 billion.

The newspaper predicted that the global film market's total box office revenue last year was approximately $135 billion, and guess what? Film companies alone accounted for 22% of the total revenue, which is astonishing.

In addition, Guess Movies also collaborated with other film companies last year, including "L.A. Confidential" and "12 Monkeys" with Columbia Pictures, and "Austin Powers" and "Austin Powers" with New Line Cinema.

The four films grossed a combined $2.87 million in North America, with Guess the Movies Studios taking about 30% of the box office revenue.

If you include this portion of box office revenue, guess how much higher the film company's box office revenue was last year.

Second place goes to 20th Century Fox.

Last year, Fox released 16 films, including Titanic and Star Wars: Episode IV.

The film grossed $10.41 billion in North America and $15.25 billion worldwide.

Columbia Pictures ranked third, releasing 13 films last year, including Men in Black, Air Force One, Anaconda, and L.A. Confidential, with a total North American box office revenue of $7.36 million.

The fourth to eighth places are Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and MGM Studios. These five film companies have a total North American box office revenue of only $20.7 billion, just $4 million more than Guess Movies.

In terms of global box office revenue, the gap between the seven major film studios and Guess the Movies is even greater.

After the 97 box office rankings were released, a new wave of envy and jealousy swept through the film industry as everyone wondered what would happen next.

At the same time, the news of Guessing Movies' acquisition of MGM was also exposed by the media.

According to the Los Angeles Times, after more than a month of negotiations, the two companies reached an agreement: Guess what, the film studio will invest $42 billion to acquire all of MGM's assets and its huge debts.

If the acquisition goes through, Guess Movies will be burdened with nearly $40 billion in debt, but the company's overall strength will be further enhanced, with total assets exceeding $100 billion, making it a new behemoth in the film industry.

After the news broke, people working in the film industry discussed it extensively.

Jay Maloney, Nobuyuki Idei, Robert Shea, and others called to congratulate Link and expressed their hope for more collaborations in the future.

Quentin Tarantino, Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis, and others called to ask if it was true, congratulating him on the success of his film company and predicting it would become even stronger in the future.

The women in his family were very proud when they heard that Guess Movies was going to acquire MGM. When he was making movies, they would often come over in groups of three or five to visit him on set and help him relax in the gentlest way.

Only the executives of the major Hollywood film studios looked worried after seeing the news.

"This is really not good news. Guess what? Films was already very powerful, and after integrating MGM's studios and distribution channels, it will probably be even more powerful. In the future, there will be no rivals to Guess what? Films in the Hollywood film industry."

Warner Bros. President Miguel Goss remarked after reading the news.

"Unbelievable! Guess what? A small film company that's been around for less than ten years has actually managed to acquire MGM. The growth rate is too fast. Give it another ten years, and there will probably only be one film company left in Hollywood: Guess what?"

Universal Pictures President Ron Mayer said with a worried expression.

"Lang, guess what? The film company is going to acquire MGM. Aren't you going to try to stop it?"

After receiving the news, Harvey Weinstein called Barrydiller, Michael Ovitz, Langmeyer, and others, telling them to guess the harm that would result from the film studio acquiring MGM, and hoping they could find a way to stop the merger.

But no one accepted his proposal.

"Guess what, the studio has plenty of money, MGM is eager to sell, and no one can stop this acquisition."

"Baridil sighed."

“You can persuade Wall Street capital to come up with more funds to stop the acquisition.”

Harvey suggested.

"It's difficult. $42 billion is no small sum. It would take several investment firms to come together to raise it. But after the acquisition, no one is confident that MGM will be profitable. The possibility of losing money is extremely high, and investment firms will not take that risk."

Michael Ovitz said.

"Are we just going to watch Guessing Pictures successfully acquire MGM and become a behemoth in the film industry, with all of us living in Link's shadow?"

Harvey shouted hysterically.

"Guess what?" has been the highest-grossing film studio for four consecutive years and is already a behemoth in the film industry. Even if you prevent it from acquiring MGM, it won't change that fact.

"Langmeyer said."

“That’s right. We can’t stop it, and we won’t stop it. MGM’s internal situation is terrible. The huge debt of nearly $40 billion is not easy to digest. Guessing Pictures’ blind acquisition of MGM may be a mistake. What we should do now is wait and see. Maybe Guessing Pictures’ situation will get worse after the acquisition of MGM. That will be our opportunity.”

"Baridil said."

Harvey snorted, clearly disagreeing with the others' opinions.

Guess what? The studio is devouring MGM and will become even stronger. At this point, as fellow studios, the seven major studios should have rushed to stop it, but they didn't. They just relied on unknown luck.

This approach is too passive.

What if Guess what happens if the film studio doesn't get dragged down by debt?

"I'm at my wit's end, Harvey. Do you have any good ideas?"

"I"

Harvey's chubby face trembled. What could a small film company owner like him do? He just wanted to urge Ovitz's teammates to put in some effort, but unfortunately, they were all pigs, utterly incompetent.

(End of this chapter)