Hollywood Director 1992

After a week of screenings and promotion, the opening weekend box office results for "Ace Ventura 2" were released.

Despite the film being suppressed by the seven major studios upon its release, its box office performance was quite good.

It earned $37.8 million in its opening weekend across 2,652 theaters.

This surpassed Universal Pictures' "Major Payne" and Sony Pictures' "Boys on the Side," both released in the same period, taking the top spot for the week.

With a production cost of $32 million, the film recouped its investment in the first week, proving its excellence and raising hopes of continuing the success of the first movie.

"Yes! Yes! I won!"

Robert pumped his fist excitedly after seeing the box office numbers, calling Quentin to demand he honor their bet and buy everyone drinks.

Quentin, however, scolded him for neglecting his duties, saying that a director shouldn't be thinking about drinking all day instead of focusing on making movies, calling it a disgrace and declaring a personal ban on alcohol starting that day.

After the box office results of "Ace Ventura 2" were released, many media outlets joined the buzz, promoting the film's success. The Los Angeles Times stated that Guessing Game Pictures was temporarily leading the seven major studios in this round of competition.

"Link is so lucky to have encountered a movie like 'Ace Ventura.'"

In the Warner Bros. Studios office, Meige Gauss sighed while looking at the newspaper.

Richard Fox nodded in agreement.

The seven major studios had many similar nonsensical and comedic scripts like "Ace Ventura 1/2."

However, the character designs in these scripts were too exaggerated, the storylines too weak, and the artistic merit almost non-existent. It could be said that besides being funny, they had no other advantages, making them a risky investment.

Such scripts simply couldn't pass the first round of review at the seven major studios.

But it was precisely these kinds of movies that allowed Guessing Game Pictures to make a fortune. From "Ace Ventura 1" to "Dumb and Dumber," "The Mask," and now "Ace Ventura 2," the first three films all grossed over $100 million, and the fourth also had a chance.

Four movies earning over a billion dollars was akin to discovering a gold mine in a deserted wasteland.

And the person who discovered this gold mine was Link.

In a recent article, The Hollywood Reporter analyzed that without Link, these movies would not have been successful.

There were two reasons for this. First, Link's understanding of commercial films differed from that of the seven major studios. When making movies, he often only focused on developing one specific characteristic of the film.

For example, horror movies only focused on the horror aspect, and comedy movies only focused on being funny, without paying much attention to other aspects.

This was also the reason why movies like "Paranormal Activity" and "Ace Ventura" were so successful.

Second, the popularity of 'Ace Ventura'-type movies was inseparable from Jim Carrey's performance, and Link's discerning eye to cast Jim Carrey as the lead actor was also crucial, daring to invest in him.

Therefore, it was Link's boldness, unconventionality, and good judgment that led to the success of these movies, which others couldn't replicate.

Richard Fox envied Link's good luck, but also knew that even if they were given these scripts, they wouldn't invest in these projects without Link, which was the limitation of large production companies.

"That guy is so lucky! Based on the current box office momentum, 'Ace Ventura 2' won't gross less than $100 million in North America. Guessing Game Pictures is going to continue to dominate the North American box office market this year."

Bob Weinstein said disdainfully.

Harvey Weinstein, smoking a cigar, narrowed his eyes and remained silent for a moment. He picked up the phone and called Michael Ovitz, asking how they planned to respond to the success of "Ace Ventura 2."

Michael Ovitz reassured him that the better the box office performance of the movies released by Guessing Game Pictures, the more unhappy the seven major studios would be. They would step up their efforts to suppress "Ace Ventura 2" and would never allow Guessing Game Pictures' movies to be a big hit, nor would they allow Guessing Game Pictures to continue dominating the North American film market.

Harvey nodded and said he looked forward to their next moves.

As "Ace Ventura 2" became a hit, the seven major studios felt some crisis. In the second week, they used the resources of their parent companies to promote their own movies more vigorously in the media, suppressing the reputation of "Ace Ventura 2" and Jim Carrey.

Because the film had a scene where Jim Carrey crawled out of the rear end of an elephant model, many media outlets accused "Ace Ventura 2" of being a vulgar and terrible movie, a comedy without limits, and urged everyone not to go to the cinema to watch it.

They also groundlessly accused Jim Carrey of feigning madness and selling foolishness, saying that his performance lacked acting skills and that he was a garbage actor who didn't deserve to receive a $20 million salary.

In response to these negative opinions, Link instructed the publicity department of Guessing Game Pictures to resolutely wage a media war against the media under the seven major media groups. If there weren't enough people, hire more; if there wasn't enough money, add more. As long as the publicity was effective, no amount of money was too much.

The publicity department of Guessing Game Pictures spent millions to buy a large amount of media resources to counterattack the negative reports from the seven major media groups and also sued many media outlets that fabricated fake news and leaked the movie's plot.

The two sides argued back and forth, fighting fiercely in the media.

Although Guessing Game Pictures had a strong public relations effort, the media under the seven major media groups were more numerous and had a wider reach.

In the second week, "Ace Ventura 2"'s box office was somewhat affected, earning $31.07 million.

The cumulative total for two weeks was $68.87 million, remaining at the top of the weekly box office.

After the box office results came out, everyone who had hoped for Guessing Game Pictures to have bad luck couldn't help but sigh.

With nearly $70 million in box office revenue in two weeks, it was expected to break $100 million in North America within two weeks, and it would also be the first movie in North America in 1995 to break $100 million.

The seven major studios spent a lot of resources to suppress "Ace Ventura 2," but the movie still became a hit.

They had to admit that Guessing Game Pictures was strong, stubborn, dared to take risks and fight, and also had good luck.

It was only natural that such a company could become the leader in the industry.

After the success of "Ace Ventura 2," Guessing Game Pictures' stock on Wall Street rose.

Many investment companies began to reconsider participating in Guessing Game Pictures' second round of financing.

While filming on set, Link received calls from many acquaintances, inquiring about the second round of financing, including Gregg Davis and Paul Hankson.

The two proposed to continue financing Guessing Game Pictures, based on a valuation of $1.5 billion.

Link said it was too late, and there were no financing slots available, even at $1.6 billion.

Gregg and Paul were shocked and asked why, and who had gotten the investment share.

Link told them to read the newspaper.

In the third week of "Ace Ventura 2"'s release, The Hollywood Reporter broke a bombshell: the movie that many people thought was a box office flop, "The Man from Earth," after ending its theatrical run, had gradually appeared in major video stores across North America.

In just over three months, 1.16 million copies of the film were sold in North America, including VHS tapes and VCDs, generating a total revenue of $37.12 million.

The film's videotapes also sold well overseas.

Over 864,000 copies were sold in just over a month.

Total sales reached $24.08 million.

To date, the film's videotape sales have totaled $61.2 million.

According to predictions by "Total Film" magazine, the film's videotape sales in North America will not be less than $200 million, and overseas sales will also not be less than $200 million.

Based on the videotape sales split, the production company receives 35% of the sales revenue.

Guess Pictures will earn over $100 million from the film's videotape sales split.

And the production cost of this film was only $15,000, with profits tens of thousands of times higher, exceeding the profitability of many crazy stocks, making people extremely envious.

"We all underestimated Link. Since 1992, almost every film he has favored has been successful. 'The Man from Earth' is his script, so failure is even less likely. We should have realized this earlier."

In the investment department conference room of Vanguard Capital, Gregg Davis put down the newspaper and looked at the dozen or so senior partners present.

Behind these partners stood multiple billionaires and foundations.

Their job is to manage finances for clients, making money with their clients' money and taking a cut in return.

If they help clients make money through investments in stocks and companies, clients will trust them, giving them more funds and dividends.

If investments fail, they will also lose client support and their income will decrease.

Therefore, they value projects that can consistently generate profits more than anyone else.

Previously, they were also optimistic about Link and Guess Pictures, but Link was too stingy, offering too little profit to share. They were dissatisfied and supported the Seven Bigs in suppressing Guess Pictures, putting some pressure on Link to force him to cough up more shares, preferably handing over control of the company.

With controlling stake, they would have the right to decide how much Guess Pictures distributes each year, how much it invests, and when it goes public.

It's just that Link was more resilient than they anticipated.

Faced with the joint suppression by the Seven Bigs and capital, Link did not yield, single-handedly resisting the siege of the Seven Bigs.

Through one blockbuster film after another, he gradually turned the tide.

Now that Guess Pictures has had two consecutive blockbuster films and is gradually gaining an advantage in the competition, they have to choose between the Seven Bigs and Guess Pictures, deciding which side to support?

"I propose that we participate in the second round of financing for Guess Pictures as soon as possible. If Link wants 1.6 billion, we will give him 1.6 billion. If we delay any longer, I'm afraid we will miss this good opportunity," Gregg Davis said.

The partners were silent for a moment and began to express their opinions.

Some supported it, while others opposed it.

The supporters' view was that Guess Pictures was developing rapidly, had great potential, and its future market value would be higher, making investing in Guess Pictures a worthwhile venture.

Opponents stated that continued investment was acceptable, but they had to find a way to obtain control of Guess Pictures to prevent being blackmailed by Link.

Just like when the Seven Bigs suppressed Guess Pictures at the beginning of the year, simply because the company didn't support him, he acted like a rogue and announced no dividends, using the money that originally belonged to the shareholders for his own image public relations, publicizing the Oscars, promoting other films, and giving his several girlfriends high salaries.

This approach was very excessive.

From a risk-averse perspective, the control of Guess Pictures must be in the hands of Wall Street, not Link personally.

The opponents' opinion was recognized by many people. Link was indeed very capable of making money, and his ability to manage the company was also good, but he was a very uncontrollable person.

If they continue to invest in Guess Pictures and the Seven Bigs jointly suppress him again next time, if the company doesn't help, Link will repeat his old tricks.

At that time, the company will be in a dilemma.

"Link said that he would give up control in the third round of financing," Gregg Davis said.

"Then we will participate in the third round of financing. In any case, we cannot be kidnapped by Link," partner Anthony said.

"But the timing of the third round of financing is uncertain. We will also miss the high-speed development dividends of Guess Pictures in the intervening years. At the same time, in the second round of financing, some of the shares in our hands will be diluted, and our say on the board of directors will be greatly reduced," Gregg Davis spread his hands.

His words once again sparked heated discussions among the partners.

The supporters and opponents refused to give way to each other.

Gregg Davis asked everyone to vote democratically.

In the end, by a score of 9 to 6, the majority supported continuing to invest in Guess Pictures.

After the news of "The Man from Earth" also becoming a blockbuster spread, not only Vanguard Capital, but also Morgan Investment, Goldman Investment, BlackRock Capital, Deutsche Bank and other investment companies actively contacted Guess Pictures, wanting to participate in the second round of financing.

Some media even revealed that because Guess Pictures' shares were too popular, some investment companies were willing to invest 300 million to purchase 10% of Guess Pictures' shares, pushing its market value to 3 billion US dollars, higher than the market value of Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures.

After this news spread, Hollywood once again ushered in a wave of envy, jealousy, and hatred towards Guess Pictures.

Guess Pictures' market continued to rise.

Wall Street investment consulting firms also once again raised the valuation of Guess Pictures, between 1 billion and 1.5 billion US dollars.

Because Guess Pictures can continue to be profitable, investment consulting firms believe that although investing in this company is risky, the returns are also great, so they raised the maximum valuation limit to 1.5 billion US dollars.

However, Link was not very satisfied with this valuation.

When conducting the second round of financing, he quoted an external price of 1.8 billion to 2 billion, financing 30%, and plans to introduce 10 shareholders, with each new shareholder acquiring a share of about 3%. Shareholders who invest more can get more shares and also get a seat on the board of directors.

At the same time, the newly joined shareholders will not participate in the company's dividends within two years.

His doing this is clearly raising the price on the spot.

It's just that Guess Pictures' shares are too attractive.

Last year, Vanguard Capital and Morgan Investment invested 50 to 60 million to finance Guess Pictures. In just one year, their investment has quadrupled.

There is no more profitable company in the entertainment industry than this.

Many Wall Street investors scolded Link for being black-hearted while waving their checks to invest in Guess Pictures.

However, Link was busy filming movies and didn't have time to deal with the financing matters. He handed this matter over to Jack Brennan, Chief Investment Officer of Flash Gold Capital, and Michael Rison, Joe Feller May and others to execute.

The few people formed a financing team to be responsible for specific matters. Link only needed to keep an eye on the back and control the general direction.

"Cut!"

On the set of "Batman Forever", Link looked at the shot he had just filmed. After watching it once and seeing that there were no problems, he waved his hand in full view of everyone.

"That's a wrap!"

"Yeah!"

The crew members on the set jumped up excitedly, shouting and yelling.

Ryan Phillippe and the others carried champagne and sprayed it everywhere, the aroma of wine filling the set.

After more than seventy days of intense filming, in early April, "Batman Forever" wrapped up, and Link took the crew back to Los Angeles to produce the film's special effects.