Hollywood Director 1992

In its third week, "Speed" grossed $21.08 million, bringing its cumulative total to $71.06 million and securing the second spot for the week.

The top spot was still held by "The Lion King," which had grossed $104 million in two weeks, making it the fastest film to surpass $100 million in North America this year.

Michelle Pfeiffer's "Wolf" ranked third, earning $37.51 million in its second week.

Other films released during the same period grossed less than $5 million. Several films originally intended by the Big Seven studios to suppress "Speed" only made a few million this week, quickly entering the loss column.

"Speed's" strong performance against the odds led many in the industry to view Link and Guess Who Productions with newfound respect.

Harvey Weinstein and Robert Shaye called to flatter him and build connections, urging him not to forget about them when he had good projects.

Hollywood media also made some adjustments in their coverage. They had previously claimed that Link would inevitably fail this summer due to the Big Seven's suppression, and that Guess Who Productions would face setbacks.

Now, the media was more cautious in its commentary, stating that Link and Guess Who Productions had a slight advantage in the summer competition with the Big Seven, gaining a slight lead. However, they would inevitably face a fierce counterattack from the Big Seven, and Link and Guess Who Productions could still potentially fail.

"Speed's" financial success was a good thing, but Link had some concerns recently.

The first was the "Titanic" project.

After Fox Studios learned of his willingness to invest in this large project, they immediately reacted, doing their best to retain director James Cameron, who was preparing to withdraw from the project, and expressing their willingness to invest in the project, with everything open for discussion.

Fox Studios' sudden enthusiasm stemmed from Link's proven track record with multiple films. Except for "Very Bad Things," all the films he favored were box office hits.

This "Titanic" project had great potential.

Even if the investment failed, they wouldn't let it fall into the hands of a competitor like Link.

Director James Cameron called to apologize to Link, promising to collaborate in the future if the opportunity arose.

Link was somewhat disappointed, but he didn't mind.

This year, Universal Studios joined forces with superstar Kevin Costner to create the water-themed epic "Waterworld," with a budget of nearly $200 million. The film was already in production.

Carolco Pictures partnered with MGM to create the pirate film "Cutthroat Island," with a production budget of nearly $100 million.

Both of these films were water-themed. After their consecutive box office failures next year, Fox Studios would be frightened into suspending investment in the "Titanic" project, and Director James Cameron would have to seek investment again, presenting another opportunity.

The second concern was that after a deep conversation with Winona Ryder, Winona began frequently asking him out on dates, even following him to the "Shawshank Redemption" set in Ohio.

At first, Link was patient and willing to play along, but as the frequency increased, Winona Ryder seemed to become infatuated with him, becoming increasingly clingy. She even proposed being his girlfriend during their intimate moments, and even wanted to marry him and have a bunch of kids.

Link was almost scared out of his wits.

He clearly told Winona that he had no plans to marry and was not considering having children at the moment. If she was willing to maintain this type of relationship, they could continue dating in the future. If she had other ideas, they shouldn't meet again.

Winona Ryder sullenly agreed.

Seeing her being so obedient, Link didn't want to appear too heartless. He suggested that she focus on her work at this stage and promised to help her choose several suitable scripts after she returned. An actress with her talent should have more classic roles.

Winona happily nodded, her fair skin glowing in the sunlight.

After pacifying the love-struck Winona, Link continued to busy himself with the work on the "Shawshank Redemption" set, striving to gain a higher degree of involvement.

"Link, are you so free? Why are you even doing these things?"

On the set of "The Shawshank Redemption," Tim Robbins finished filming a scene and was preparing to chat with Link. After searching for a while, he saw Link moving props on the set.

"I have nothing to do after editing the film. I saw that you needed help here, so I came to lend a hand. Is there something you need?"

Link clapped his hands.

Tim Robbins was speechless. A great director and wealthy man doing manual labor on the set was such a waste of talent.

"I wanted to ask you something, it's about the script. After taking on the role of Andy, I went to several prisons to gather material, chatted with many serious offenders, and also read some related articles. A report I read a few days ago moved me a lot, it's about the story of Sister Helen Prejean."

Tim Robbins began to tell the story of Sister Helen Prejean. Helen Prejean is a leading figure in the current American anti-death penalty movement and has a great influence in religious and political circles.

The nun opposes the death penalty because the American judicial system is chaotic. Rich people can afford big-name lawyers and can often escape the death penalty, while poor people can't afford lawyers and are easily sentenced to death.

From this point of view, the existence of the death penalty is unfair.

She hopes to abolish the death penalty and use the power of faith to redeem every fallen soul.

In Tim Robbins' story, the nun received a request for help from a death row inmate, hoping to get her help. At first, the nun also hoped that he was innocent. Later, after investigating, she discovered that the death row inmate and his partner had murdered a young couple, causing great pain to the victims' families.

The nun took the initiative to find the victims' parents and, with the greatest courage, asked them to forgive and pardon the death row inmate's crimes.

The death row inmate was also moved, admitted his guilt, sincerely repented, and peacefully faced death.

It tells a story of humanity and divinity.

Link listened to it and felt familiar, like a movie called "Dead Man Walking," starring Tim Robbins' girlfriend Susan Sarandon, who also won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this film.

"What do you think of this story? You are a professional screenwriter, please give me some advice."

Tim Robbins said.

"The overall structure of the story and the design of the main characters are fine. It's worth adapting. I need to see the script for the details."

"Okay, I'm relieved to hear you say that. After filming the movie, I will write the script and ask you for advice then."

Tim Robbins smiled.

Link agreed.

No errors, one song, one shot, one content, one look, one look!

While working on the "Shawshank Redemption" set, Link also received a call from Joan Chen in China.

After Joan Chen returned to China in April, she established a film company in Beijing called Dongfeng Film Industry with his support. Its main businesses include film and television investment, artist management, records, and entertainment marketing.

Currently, it has only invested in one film, the literary film "Red Rose, White Rose" directed by Stanley Kwan.

Joan Chen is the female lead, and the male lead is Winston Chao, who became famous last year with "The Wedding Banquet."

The production cost is 3.5 million yuan.

Joan Chen called to tell him that after the news of the company's establishment spread, many people came to seek investment with scripts, including old directors and new directors, but she couldn't make up her mind and asked him if he wanted to invest.

Link told her that the company had just been established and could invest in two to three films each year. Investments under 5 million yuan would be decided by her and the company's production department, and for projects over 5 million yuan, she should send the scripts over for him to review and make the final decision.

When Joan Chen heard that she would decide on projects under 5 million yuan, she asked him if he wasn't worried about losing money?

Link didn't care. Small projects of a few hundred thousand dollars wouldn't lose much money even if they failed, and being seen as a fool would attract more people to seek cooperation, and reverse publicity was also an effective form of publicity.

Joan Chen smiled and said okay, saying that after filming "Red Rose, White Rose," she would bring a few projects to Los Angeles to ask for his guidance and get some private tutoring.

Link thought of her big butt and the mature charm she exuded at the dinner table, and couldn't help but feel a surge of heat. He cursed, "You flirtatious woman, be serious."

Joan Chen laughed happily and asked him what gift he wanted, which she could bring him from China.

Link said no need.

Joan Chen smiled and asked if he didn't even want the little beauties from China?

Link was speechless.

Before receiving private tutoring, Joan Chen seemed very nervous and cautious when talking to him, afraid of offending him in any way.

After a few private tutoring sessions, Joan Chen began to become casual and liked to tease him a few times when speaking, preventing him from concentrating on his work.

"Link! Didn't you say you were going to move props? Why are you slacking off here?"

Chris Bauer came over wearing a vest, with his arms bare.

"Get lost! I'm here to experience life. Do you really think I'm a laborer?"

Link threw down the gloves in his hand and returned to the director's area to edit the film.

This step was rough editing, where the director immediately cut out large sections of useless footage after filming, retaining the main parts, which was equivalent to tracing and cutting before doing paper-cutting.

After the film was finished, the fine editing of each group of shots would reduce the workload a lot.

Link was an old filmmaker and was very good at doing this. Even director Frank Darabont kept praising him after seeing it, saying that he was definitely a genius and all-rounder in the film industry.