Conquer America, Start with a Boxing Champion

"Link, what's the situation between you and Harvey? I heard in March that you two had a falling out, and Harvey threatened to ban you. In April, the news said that you were planning to use movies to compete for the list. The quarrel was very tense. Why now? Suddenly collaborate on a movie?”

Under the palm tree, Joaquin did not sit on a chair, but leaned directly against the tree trunk, stretching his legs and asked.

When other people heard Joaquin talking about this matter, they also stopped talking and looked over curiously.

"The collapse is real. If Harvey hadn't interfered with the casting of The Hunger Games, I wouldn't have spent the money to buy Lionsgate."

Link said while lying on the bench, massaging his fingers.

"Link, it's crazy that you actually bought Lionsgate for Jennifer Lawrence."

James Franco marveled.

"Hey, everyone, please allow me to introduce you. This is the world-famous playboy, oh, no, Mr. Link Baker. He spent 800 million US dollars to buy Lions Gate Pictures for his rumored girlfriend. , It’s so affectionate, we all need to learn from him and find more girlfriends.”

Paul Walker patted Link on the shoulder and shouted in an exaggerated voice.

Everyone laughed.

Link shook his head and continued to Joaquin: "Cooperation is also real. Bob took the initiative to find me and asked to participate in the investment of "The Master", and I had no objection."

At first he thought it was Harvey and Bob.

When the contract was later signed, Bob invested in the name of Dimensions Pictures instead of Weinstein Pictures, and Harvey was not involved from beginning to end.

But it doesn't matter.

The Weinstein brothers are an item, and after Bob took the initiative to collaborate, people in the film industry thought he and Harvey had reconciled.

"Link, it's better for you to cooperate with the Weinstein brothers than to have conflicts. You are an upstart and an established tycoon. If you cooperate in investing in movies, you will definitely make many well-received and popular movies."

Joaquin Phoenix commented.

Others nodded in agreement.

Link is the boss of Lionsgate Pictures and is worth more than 2 billion. He is richer than the Weinstein brothers and is also very famous.

The Weinstein brothers are authorities in the field of independent production, with deep connections, good production and distribution capabilities, and are the best promoters of the Academy Awards.

If the two of them join forces, they will definitely be the best combination and have a great chance of defeating the six major movie studios.

But Link knew this was impossible.

Let’s not mention political stance.

He and Harvey are the owners of a large independent production company and have a competitive relationship. The most important thing is that Harvey has too many problems and being too close to him will easily be affected when he is liquidated in the future.

Just like Epstein, after his death, everyone who had contact with him was regarded as an accomplice without exception.

Link doesn't mind being labeled a 'scumbag' or a 'playboy', but he doesn't want to be a criminal.

"Link, actually you don't have to compete with Harvey. You are more than thirty years younger than him. He will retire in ten years. By then, all of Hollywood will be yours."

James Franco quipped.

"That makes sense."

Link chuckled.

"Hi, Link!"

While chatting, Cassie’s brother Ben Affleck walked over from the path among the coconut trees.

Wearing a straight casual suit, he is 192 cm tall and handsome. Compared with him, Cassie, who is 174 cm tall and ordinary-looking, seems a bit unremarkable.

If it weren't for the fact that both of them were named Affleck, it would be difficult to tell that they were brothers just by looking at them.

Next to him was a tall woman, his wife Jennifer Garner, who worked with Link on "Valentine's Day."

After Ben Affleck sat down, he took a few sips of beer and took the initiative to chat with Link about the movie.

Ben Affleck says he has a new script based on the Iran-Contra affair.

The script tells the story of six American diplomats and civilians who were held hostage for 444 days during that incident. During this period, Tony Mendez, a CIA agent who was proficient in disguise, disguised himself as a crew director and went to Iran to film a movie. Successfully removed the hostages trapped in the Iranian embassy from Iran.

When Link heard this story, he remembered that the movie should be "Escape from Tehran" directed and starred by Ben Affleck, which won the Best Picture Oscar.

Ben Affleck asked him if he was interested in the story and wanted to work with him.

"Ben, aren't you planning to cooperate with Warner Pictures on this movie?"

Joaquin Phoenix asked.

Ben Affleck shrugged, looked at Link and asked: "I heard that the North American box office of "Bridesmaids" was originally 140 to 50 million. Is this true?"

Others also looked at Link. They had all heard about these gossips and were very curious. Now that they finally met Link, they couldn't let it go easily.

"About that, I don't know exactly how much."

Link said.

"It's amazing. If the North American box office is 150 million US dollars, the global box office of this movie is more than 300 million US dollars, which is another ten times the profit."

Cassie said enviously.

Ben Affleck nodded and continued to explain the preparations for "Escape from Tehran" to Link.

The budget of this movie is 45 million US dollars. There are currently three producers, George Clooney's Smoking Room Pictures, Graham King Pictures, plus Ben Affleck's Film Studio. The three parties have raised 30 million US dollars to produce. funding.

Initially, he planned to continue cooperating with Warner Pictures. Last year, the two parties cooperated well with "The City", which had average box office results but good reputation.

It's just that Warner Pictures has been stealing box office revenue, and Ben Affleck can't help but hesitate.

"The Town" cost 37 million to produce, and the global box office was 121 million US dollars. He originally thought that this box office data was good, but now he thinks that there is a problem.

According to the reputation of this movie, the box office performance should be higher, perhaps 200 million US dollars.

The second person Ben Affleck wants to find is Harvey.

Unfortunately, Weinstein Pictures has limited funds. Not long ago, it invested 10 million in "The Master". The remaining funds have been arranged. At this stage, it can't take out 15 million to participate in the investment.

He repeatedly found Harvey three times, and seeing that Weinstein Pictures really had no money, he could only find investment again.

Just saw Link, his wife Jennifer Garner persuaded him to come and try. The Weinstein brothers invested in "The Master" in Palm Beach, which means that the two sides have reconciled. Now there is no need to worry about offending Harvey if he cooperates with Link.

Ben Affleck listened to her advice and took the initiative to come and talk to Link.

Hearing that Ben Affleck was investing, Link did not refuse, nor did he immediately agree.

Next year, Lionsgate will invest in many movies, including "The Hunger Games", "Moneyball", "The Expendables 2", "The Oath", and eight horror movie projects such as "The Evil Within", "Mother Invasion" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D", with a production budget of more than 300 million US dollars.

Investing in other movies will exceed the budget, causing the company's capital chain to be tight.

He needs to go back and discuss with Eva Ka and others before making a decision.

"That's enough business, let's go, let's go play volleyball."

Paul Walker shouted.