Chapter 400: Jealousy is the Best Medicine

[Chapter 400: Jealousy is the Best Medicine]

After these news reports came out, the media's opinion of Link was mixed, but mostly positive. Most praised him as young, wealthy, exceptionally handsome, and incredibly talented in filmmaking. It seemed he had almost no flaws except for being a somewhat playboy.

Thanks to this coverage, Rush Hour gained a lot more exposure and saw a significant increase in theater attendance. Batman Forever, The Net, and the still-running The Sixth Sense all experienced noticeable boosts at the box office as well.

...

"Hmph! Just another hype! This guy can't promote a movie without all this noise," Harvey Weinstein said, shutting off the TV in his office with a frown.

Since Link became the highest-grossing director worldwide, nearly every media outlet had started to sing his praises, applauding his remarkable talent and leadership behind the camera. They credited him with injecting new life and surprises into cinema, leading a new wave of filmmaking.

Harvey was tired of hearing all that. Sure, it was true, but he didn't think Link was all that great. Link's success was mainly due to luck -- he caught the wave of Hollywood's prosperous era. If it weren't for the U.S. economy booming post-Cold War, with people having disposable income and free time for movies, the Hollywood market wouldn't be thriving, and Link's films wouldn't have sold so well.

Directors like Link, who rose thanks to favorable conditions, would also fall when those conditions faded. Harvey was looking forward to that day.

...

The phone on the desk suddenly rang, startling a fly that had been resting there to take off and buzz around. Harvey answered; it was Michael Ovitz.

Ovitz asked whether Miramax and Guess Pictures had formed any new partnerships after finishing Fight Club. Since the releases of Batman Forever, The Fifth Element, and The Mask of Zorro, the Big Seven Studios had all approached Link or Guess Pictures for collaboration.

Especially recently, with Link becoming the 'Mr. Billion Box Office' and 'Highest-Grossing Director Globally,' other studios became more eager.

Ovitz not only wanted to work with Link but also urged Harvey to move quickly to secure a new deal with Guess Pictures, aiming to build a closer partnership.

Ovitz oversaw Disney's film division, managing not only Disney films but subsidiaries like Miramax, Hollywood Pictures, and Touchstone Pictures. If the total box office for movies under his supervision grew, it would prove his leadership, possibly earning him more influence on the board.

But Harvey had been slow to act, forcing Ovitz to call repeatedly.

Harvey replied, "Mike, I talked with Danny DeVito about collaboration, but we couldn't reach an agreement."

"Why? Did they demand too much? A little higher demands are fine. Lots of studios want to work with them. Guess Pictures has the clout to ask for whatever they want. As long as demands aren't unreasonable, we can agree," Ovitz pressed.

"No, it's just no suitable projects," Harvey explained.

He told Ovitz that Guess Pictures was preparing many projects, but low-budget films wouldn't take outside investments, while high-budget ones involved big investments and risks. He planned to wait and see how Fight Club's box office performed before deciding on further cooperation.

"Come on, Harvey, be bold. If Guess Pictures dares to invest in big films, they must be confident of profit," Ovitz encouraged.

"Columbia and Guess Pictures have worked together since 1993, releasing seven films as of now. Although two performed below expectations, none lost money. That shows Guess Pictures is skilled at selecting projects."

Ovitz urged Harvey to keep pursuing Guess Pictures, not to worry about risks.

"Alright, I'll talk to Link again," Harvey grumbled.

"Harvey, I know you envy Guess Pictures' box office success. I do, too. But Link is talented, and Guess Pictures is strong -- that's a fact. We need to accept that to find ways to benefit," Ovitz advised.

"I understand, I'll discuss cooperation with Link soon," Harvey said, hanging up with a grim expression.

...

Harvey sat silently, like a lifeless sculpture. When a fly landed on his nose, he snapped out of it angrily, cursing the fly as it quickly flew away.

Knock knock!

His assistant Simmons came in holding files. "Sir, last week's box office numbers are in."

Harvey suppressed his anger and asked in a low voice, "How did our movies do?"

"Pretty well!"

Harvey took the folder and glanced through it. His face immediately fell, glaring fiercely at Simmons.

"That's 'pretty well'?"

"Sir, our movies didn't lose money. The summer competition was fierce. Not losing money is excellent," Simmons cautiously explained.

Harvey snorted coldly. Although Miramax's films didn't lose money, they were far behind Rush Hour's performance.

Rush Hour had topped the weekly North American box office for two weeks straight, earning $37.19 million from 2,810 theaters -- a 12% increase. The total box office had reached $70.43 million, exceeding Harvey's expectations.

The lead actors were Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, relatively unknown in North America and considered second-tier stars, with mediocre box office draw. Harvey predicted North American box office would be about $60 million.

But after two weeks, the film's North American box office surpassed $70 million, with estimates of a minimum $100 million total. The production cost was only $30 million.

'That guy Link is just too lucky,' Harvey gritted his teeth out of jealousy.

If Rush Hour passed $100 million in North America, plus The Net, Guess Pictures would have at least two films breaking $100 million this year.

The media had mocked Guess Pictures just weeks ago as going downhill. Now, less than a month later, they had another film about to hit $100 million.

Harvey had to admit Ovitz was right: Guess Pictures was savvy at picking projects.

He looked further. This week, Miramax had three films showing.

...

At 13th place, Metro made $1.12 million from 1,134 theaters this week, totaling $9.16 million so far. The film's budget was $8.5 million, so worldwide grosses might just break even.

The second was Emma, released two weeks ago, which earned $2.6 million from 235 theaters, totaling $5.62 million, with a per-theater average of $13,000 -- decent but limited potential.

The third was the newly released biopic Basquiat, shown in just 18 theaters making $86,000, with per-theater average under $5,000 -- far below expectations.

Combined, these earnings were just a fraction of Rush Hour's haul.

...

After lighting a cigarette, Harvey called Link's assistant, Monica Lewinsky, to set a meeting to discuss cooperation.

Lewinsky replied that Link had stopped managing production from the beginning of the year. For cooperation discussions, contact Danny DeVito and James Schamus, who handled production.

Harvey cheerfully agreed, then asked Lewinsky if she had attended any community religious festivals since moving to Hollywood and suggested going together if she had time.

Lewinsky declined, saying she had stopped practicing religion after starting college, then hung up.

...

"Bitch!" Harvey ground his teeth. He knew Lewinsky was from the same ethnic background and had hoped to use that to build rapport and secretly meddle with Link. But she had outright refused, wasting his efforts.

Still, he wasn't giving up. Every woman had a weakness; he believed Lewinsky did too.

*****

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