Chapter 170: High Stakes

[Chapter 170: High Stakes]

"Richard, calm down; this is too risky," his wife, Cindy Crawford, urged.

"Don't worry about it. We're going to win this bet, 100% guaranteed," Richard Gere waved her off, disregarding her concerns.

Dustin Hoffman nodded in agreement. "The odds are in our favor; I've got 3 million dollars on this. Plus, we can rope in a few more people to place bets. With enough folks in the mix, we could easily raise it to 10 million, even 100 million. Once more people are betting, I doubt Link is going to back down."

"We could get the bookmakers involved, give them a cut, and I'm sure they'd be eager to act as arbitrators," Richard said with a grin.

"I'll throw in 2 million," Robert Downey Jr. chimed in, clenching his fists.

Kiefer Sutherland thought for a moment before also agreeing to bet 2 million. With Tom Cruise, David Duchovny, and others adding their bets, the total amount soared to 21 million dollars, far exceeding the initial estimate of 10 million.

Just as he was about to contact Link for the bet, CAA's Vice President, Ron Meyer, called Richard. Some executives in the company were also interested in the wager, ready to put forth 30 million dollars to bet against Link, suggesting that Robert Downey Jr. speak with Link about the betting arrangement.

Upon hearing that CAA higher-ups were in on the betting, Robert and the others felt a rush of excitement. Only a few key figures at CAA, like Michael Ovitz and Ron Meyer, had the means to stake such significant amounts.

Their participation indicated a strong belief that The Firm would outperform Link's new film, heightening their confidence in the bet.

Determined, Robert Downey Jr. decided to leverage his property and took out a 3 million dollar loan from the bank, bringing his total stake to 5 million dollars.

His father, Robert Downey Sr., called to caution him against the risk. He believed The Firm did not have the box office potential his son thought.

Ignoring his father's advice, Robert continued to line up more bets. With three days left on the clock, he called Link in front of Richard and others.

...

"Bet of 55 million dollars?" Link was surprised when he received Robert's call. Although he suspected Robert might join the wager, he didn't expect him to stake such a substantial amount.

Estimates of Robert's worth placed him under 10 million dollars. His willingness to bet over 50 million suggested many other investors were also involved.

"55 million, Robert. Are you sure?" Link asked, eyeing the situation cautiously.

"Cut the chatter. Just tell me if you're in. If you're scared, admit defeat now," Robert scoffed.

Link pondered. Robert and his team were proposing to use Tom Cruise's new movie The Firm for the wager. He was unsure of the film's exact box office potential but recognized its lower impact compared to Tom Cruise's hits like Top Gun, Rain Man, Interview with the Vampire, Jerry Maguire, and the Mission: Impossible series.

This indicated that The Firm likely had an average quality and would not perform exceptionally well in theaters.

Unless an unforeseen circumstance arose, Link's chances of winning this gamble seemed promising.

...

Link didn't immediately respond; he said he needed time to think it over. He called Sean, the head of the legal department, to ask whether such betting would be legally sound and how they could ensure the funds' security. He needed to know how to protect against potential backtracking by his opponent and how to minimize taxation.

Sean suggested they seek a bank or a betting agency to act as a third party. Before placing any bets, both sides would deposit their funds into a shared bank account and sign an agreement, leaving the winnings to the victor.

This type of wager was common in the financial sector, with banks arbitrating many similar agreements, which lent credibility to the process.

Handing it over to a betting agency was also an option but came with higher fees.

To reduce taxes, they could open the account in a state with lower tax rates or an offshore tax haven, allowing for greater gains upon winning.

After consulting with Sean, Link still didn't call Robert back to accept the wager. He simply didn't have a strong interest in betting and saw no need to pursue such risky ventures.

...

Less than half an hour later, Robert called again, challenging, "Are you afraid to take the bet? If you're not willing, just admit defeat. We've raised our stakes to 65 million dollars."

"65 million is nothing to me. If you want to bet, I'm all in, but are you certain you can come up with that 65 million?" Link replied.

"Stop with the excuses. If you're ready to gamble, I want that 65 million deposited within three days," Robert said decisively.

"Alright, I'm in," Link replied.

---

After hanging up, Link went back to focusing on his new movie. His next project, co-produced with New Line Cinema, was Se7en. After Final Destination, New Line's President, Robert Shaye, approached him and proposed to start preparing for this film project and strive to shoot it by the end of the year.

With free time ahead of him, Link agreed to kick off the preparations for Se7en.

This film revolved around a series of murders in New York City, featuring veteran detective Somerset and rookie cop David Mills. As they investigated, they uncovered that the victims represented the seven deadly sins -- gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, pride, lust, and wrath -- according to Catholic doctrine.

The killer's methods were brutally violent, lacking any moral boundaries, and enjoyed playing mind games with them.

As the investigation deepened, even rookie Mills became embroiled in the case, ultimately embodying one of the seven sins himself.

Se7en was an ambitious project that aimed for Oscar consideration and would present significant challenges in production. However, after gaining experience with multiple films, Link felt confident he could pull it off.

...

While he commenced pre-production, Sean led negotiations with the legal team at CAA to iron out the specifics of their bet.

Due to the lengthy overseas release cycles, some films continued to screen internationally long after their US premieres. CAA proposed betting solely on the North American box office results for the first 15 weeks for The Firm and Link's Final Destination. The movie with the higher earnings after that period would win.

Sean disagreed, arguing that The Firm had a more appealing creative team for the North American audience, while Link's film had broader global appeal.

Only betting on the North American earnings placed The Firm at an advantage.

With The Firm about to release, both sides settled on using the North American earnings for the first 15 weeks while agreeing to keep the account in Caribbean Cayman Islands, known for being a tax haven.

As The Firm neared its release date, representatives from both sides signed the betting agreement at Citibank in the Cayman Islands.

They agreed to stake 72 million dollars each for the box office results of The Firm and Final Destination in North America over the first 15 weeks.

*****

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