Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

Chapter 552 The Hunger Games 2

Shortly after the release of "The Wolf of Wall Street", Lionsgate Pictures' annual drama "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" was also released simultaneously in North America and 34 countries and regions around the world.

In North America, it was released in 4,136 theaters simultaneously, with a box office of US$70.95 million on the first day, and a box office of US$158 million in the three days of the opening weekend.

It set a new weekend box office record for a movie opening in November in history, and is also the fourth highest opening box office of any movie in history. The only movies with higher opening results than this movie are "The Avengers" and "Batman Begins: The Dark Knight Rises" "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

The box office in its first week was US$262 million.

The overseas box office results were similar to those in North America, with a box office of US$258 million in all regions in the first week.

The total box office is 520 million US dollars.

The production cost of the film was 130 million US dollars, and the publicity and distribution cost was 100 million US dollars.

It has successfully recovered its capital, which also makes Lionsgate Pictures heave a sigh of relief.

In fact, when I was preparing to shoot "The Hunger Games 2" at the end of November, I encountered a lot of resistance.

First, Gary Ross, the director of the first film, refused to continue directing the film because of the pay and dissatisfaction with the script.

To this end, Lionsgate Films' production department has extended cooperation invitations to many first-line directors, including "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuarón, "Desire" director David Cronenberg, and "Source Code" director Duncan Jones and "Notting Hill" director Joe Cornish, etc., but after the interference of the six major film studios, these directors refused to cooperate.

Finally, Link found director Francis Lawrence based on his memory.

The other party has directed films such as "Hell Detective", "I Am Legend", "Elephant Tears", and is also the director of the follow-up series of "The Hunger Games". He is also a MV director.

He has directed five song MVs for Link, and has also filmed song MVs for singers such as Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Shakira, Will Smith, Avril Lavigne, and the Black Eyed Peas. , very famous in the music industry.

He is a film director who has successfully transformed from a MV director.

Choosing such a music video director to direct the popular movie "The Hunger Games 2" was not favored by many people at the time. Even in the early stages of the movie's release, many media were negative about the movie, thinking that the series would be destroyed in the hands of director Francis Lawrence. , the second part will also be the final chapter of the series.

Now that the movie is released, the global box office in the first week is 520 million US dollars, which is better than the first film. The total box office is expected to exceed 1 billion US dollars, becoming the best-selling movie of the year.

This data also made people who watched the movie shut up collectively, and made colleagues go crazy with jealousy.

Originally, the total box office performance of Lionsgate's movies was already very high. Now that "The Hunger Games 2" continues to be a hit, it may rise from the top three in the industry to second, or even first.

Now not only Universal, Fox, Paramount, and Sony Pictures are feeling the pressure, industry leaders Disney and Warner Pictures are also under great pressure. They invest more than 2 billion US dollars in movies every year, and in the end they have not invested 6.7 billion US dollars. Lionsgate, which makes movies, makes more money.

In the eyes of peers, Lionsgate Pictures is very powerful from top to bottom, and can continuously launch many blockbuster movies.

In the eyes of the shareholders of the six major film studios, the management of the six major film studios appears to be very incompetent.

For this reason, it is said that the management of Universal Pictures, Fox Pictures, and Sony Pictures are all facing changes, and many managers who were originally in high positions will be fired due to lack of ability.

The "Hollywood Reporter" claimed that the rise of Lionsgate has broken the original pattern of Hollywood and has also brought a great sense of crisis to the six major film studios. It has also tempted film companies to launch new films and make more films. High quality movie.

At this point, when Link was watching a movie with Ivaca, he also discovered that there were good-quality movies in the cinema that he had never seen before. He didn't know whether it was a new movie that he had never seen before or a new movie that appeared under his influence.

For example, there are several movies that imitate "Buried Alive", in which a beautiful woman is buried in the sand and you see how she escapes, and the box office results are pretty good.

The success of "The Hunger Games 2" has also made Lionsgate Pictures prosperous. Its market value has been overestimated by Wall Street investment companies to US$5.2 billion to US$5.5 billion. Some investment companies are willing to raise US$600 million to obtain 10% of the shares, which is more than last year. Ichiban.

When Link acquired Lionsgate Pictures in 2011, Lionsgate's market value was only US$800 million. After his acquisition, it dropped to US$500 million. Many peers believed that Lionsgate would go bankrupt within three years.

Three years have passed. Not only has Lionsgate not gone bankrupt, but its market value has increased tenfold. It has also ranked among the top three in its industry and has become the most profitable film company in the entire industry.

In addition, colleagues also felt sorry for the original shareholders of Lionsgate Pictures.

Before Link took over Lionsgate Pictures, "The Hunger Games 1" was already in development and was about to enter the filming period. If Lionsgate Pictures had not been sold, they could have made more than one billion from this series, but now all the money has been lost to Link. Earned.

"Damn Link, what a blessing."

When Harvey, Kunas Jr., Jay-Z, Kanye and others saw the report, they were so angry that they couldn't make 1 billion despite working hard for decades. Link took advantage and easily made billions.

This kind of person is so annoying.

"How about we reconcile with Link? As long as we are willing to reconcile, Link will definitely agree. He is not a stingy person."

said Bob Weinstein, putting down his newspaper.

"Shut up, I will never reconcile with him."

Harvey said angrily.

In 2011, Link was just a small figure in Hollywood. With just one phone call, he could get Link to come to a party, make Link lose several movie roles, and make everyone isolate Link and let Lionsgate film The movie also couldn't find the right actors.

At that time, if he just used a little more strength, he could get Link out of Hollywood.

But now Link is a big shot in Hollywood, and Lionsgate is worth twenty times the Weinstein Pictures.

Because of the bad relationship with Link, the Weinstein Films began to be isolated. This made Harvey very angry. He regretted that after the conflict with Link, he did not use all his strength to deal with Link and give Link room to grow. .

If he had started earlier, suppressed Link and Lionsgate at all costs, and nipped the threat in the bud, Link would not have been so successful, the Weinstein Films would not have been in this state, and he, the king of Hollywood, would not have lost his grip. of power.

All this is a tragedy caused by too much carelessness.

Harvey regretted it beyond measure.

"Link's influence in the entertainment industry is growing. These are exactly what the politicians need. I heard that the members of the Donkey Party and the Elephant Party are wooing him recently. Without the support of the Donkey Party, we are in Hollywood. The company’s influence will continue to decline, and if the conflict with Link continues, the company’s situation will be even worse.”

Bob said.

Because the brothers have deep connections in the entertainment industry and know many actors, over the past two decades, the Clintons and Obama actively courted Harvey when they were in office, and Harvey received a lot of benefits.

Now that they cannot give the Donkey Party the benefits they want, they will naturally be abandoned.

Bob wanted Harvey to see this clearly.

"Will the Donkey Party win over Link?"

Harvey frowned.

"Of course, Link is worth tens of billions, is an Olympic champion, has strong connections in the music and film industries, and has countless fans. If you win over him, you can get the support of many people and get a lot of votes. People from the Donkey Party have no reason to do that. Let him go.

As for his father-in-law, the influence is not big. Link is a businessman and he values ​​interests. As long as he is given enough benefits, he will choose the favorable side. "Bob said.

Harvey held the cigar and frowned fiercely. He felt very bad about being abandoned. He thought for a while, picked up the phone and called a close Donkey Party politician, hoping that there was still a chance to recover the loss.

—

On Link's side, he and Ivaca did receive invitations from many politicians, both from the Donkey Party and the Elephant Party. Some invited him to parties, and some invited him to play golf.

Link didn't know how to deal with this kind of thing, so he called his old father-in-law to ask him for advice.

The old father-in-law said that as long as he has time, he should participate in as many such activities as possible. Regardless of whether he is a donkey party or an elephant party, for a person of his status, he does not need to establish his own position, he only needs to see the benefits and which side provides the benefits. If there are more, whichever side you support.

Link asked him if he was a member of the Elephant Party. Is it appropriate for him to support the Donkey Party?

The old father-in-law laughed and said that he was just a new member of the Elephant Party. If the Donkey Party was willing to give him enough support, he could also consider joining the Donkey Party.

Link understood what his old father-in-law meant. He was a standard opportunist and wanted to try joining the Xiang Party. He had little confidence in running for the election and winning, and he didn't know what kind of person he would become in the future, so Remain indifferent to his choice.

Link advised his old father-in-law that since he has chosen this path, he should go all out and actively prepare for that goal, and he will fully support him.

The old father-in-law was very moved and praised him repeatedly. He also told Ivaca on the phone that he should do more work so that Link could have more time for rest and entertainment. He also asked her not to talk to Lin Ke over trivial matters. Ke was conflicted, saying that Link was the head of the family and she should do her best to support him and be a good wife.

"knew."

Ivaca rolled her eyes at Link charmingly, and after hanging up the phone, she pursed her red lips and hummed, "Dad now treats you as his own son and me as an outsider."

"We are all a family, no insiders or outsiders."

Link held her soft waist and kissed her red lips.

Ivaca also hugged his neck and responded to him warmly.

"Dad! Dad! Play with me."

Little Margarita ran over dragging a stuffed giraffe.

The little guy had a cute apple head, wearing overalls, a pink T-shirt, and a very delicate pink face. When he came to the living room, he saw the two of them kissing and didn't care. He grabbed his trouser legs and climbed onto the sofa.

Link smiled softly, picked up the little one and lifted her up high, then carried her to the playground in the villa to ride the train.

"Christmas is coming soon. I'm going to call and invite Taylor to bring Alexander and Cynthia to my house. What do you think?"

Ivaca came over and asked.

"Sounds good, but Taylor probably won't agree."

"I'll try."

Ivaca shaved the little guy's face, returned to the living room, called Taylor, and invited her and the two children to spend Christmas at home.

Taylor said she wanted to make a bet with Link. If Link's pure music song "Victory" could reach the top ten in terms of weekly downloads on the Billboard singles chart, she would bring her two children over. If not, Link and Evaka would So I took little Margarita to her house for Christmas.

Iwaka agreed with a smile and told Link about it.

Link was helpless, Taylor was still so strong.

—

In the second week of its release, "The Hunger Games 2" grossed a total of 369 million U.S. dollars at the North American box office and 414 million U.S. dollars at the overseas box office. The total box office reached an astonishing 780 million. It is temporarily ranked third in the North American annual box office rankings and the global total box office ranking. in fifth place.

This is only the result of two weeks of release. According to the current situation, "The Hunger Games 2" has a great chance of becoming the annual box office champion in North America.

With this movie, Jennifer Lawrence also became the most popular actress in the European and American film circles.

At the same time, more female stars are actively approaching Link, hoping to become the next Jennifer Lawrence, or Emma Stone, Daddario, and Jessica Chastain.

But now Link has to accompany the great beauty Ivaca every day, and he has to spare time every week to help Taylor solve her physical problems. He also has to accompany Jennifer Lawrence, Daddario, and occasionally Emma Roberts, Emma Watson, Beyoncé and others, or Marion Cotillard, Nozomi Sasaki, Jun Ji-hyun, and Taeyeon who came to work in the United States, have no extra money to pour into the fields of outsiders.

In the second week of the release of "The Hunger Games 2", the North American box office of "The Wolf of Wall Street" slowly reached 135 million US dollars, and the overseas box office reached 320 million US dollars. From this point of view, the North American box office has been greatly affected by negative public opinion.

However, the total box office of 445 million can also make Lionsgate Pictures more than 100 million US dollars, and Link feels pretty good.

In mid-December, Link's carefully crafted symphony "Victory" was released on multiple platforms including Spotify, iTunes Music Store, Amazon Digital Music Store, and Pandora Music Box.

Originally, he only planned to release it on Spotify, but after people from iTunes, Amazon Digital, and Pandora heard this pure music, they took the initiative to come to his door and proposed many favorable terms to increase his share, hoping to participate. Release this pure music.

This was an advantage, and Link didn't refuse.

"Victory" is performed by Link and the New York Philharmonic.

The New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. Founded in 1842, it is also the longest-established orchestra in the United States. It is one of the five most famous symphony orchestras in the United States.

Link is mainly responsible for the piano performance in this symphony, and lady Gaga is responsible for the female vocals at the back.

The song is 6 minutes and 32 seconds long.

The momentum is majestic and soul-stirring.

On the first day of its release, "Victory" was played 132.7 million times across all channels, and the number of paid downloads of the high-definition lossless version reached 3.196 million. The first-day sales easily topped all major charts.

"USA Today" used an exaggerated tone to say that all Americans had heard this song at least once that day.

"Rolling Stone", "Billboard", "The New York Times", "Village Voice" and other media have devoted extensive space to analyze this song, and used many praises for Link, calling him a 'talented' musician and an incredible person. musician.

The overall media rating was as high as 92 points, with 34 media giving it 99 and 100 points.

In the first week of its release, "Victory" was downloaded 6.635 million times in the United States, easily topping the Billboard singles chart. It was also the first single to top the list since Nielsen Data Company began to collect data on the singles chart in 1991. Chart-topping pure music.

Overseas, this pure music was downloaded 8.046 million times in the first week and topped the singles charts in 44 countries and regions including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, New Zealand, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, and Spain.

(End of chapter)