Hollywood Director 1992

In its third week of release, "Seven" grossed $17.32 million, bringing its total to $68.34 million.

Its weekly ranking dropped to fourth.

The top spot was taken by Fox Studios' action blockbuster "True Lies," which debuted with $25.86 million.

Second place went to "Forrest Gump," with $24.12 million for the week and a cumulative total of $143 million.

Third was Warner Bros. Pictures' suspense film "The Client," which premiered with $17.84 million.

Following the release of the weekly box office results, media outlets such as the "Los Angeles Times," "New York Post," and "USA Today" reported that after "Very Bad Things," Guess What Pictures' latest film had once again encountered box office setbacks, indicating a decline in Link's judgment of the film market.

Some media outlets also analyzed that Link had made hundreds of millions after the first round of financing and had become arrogant and complacent, no longer paying attention to the film business, making the company's declining performance inevitable.

The media outlets under the seven major media groups collectively sang a bearish tune about Guess What Pictures.

Wall Street investment firms were also preparing to downgrade their investment assessments of Guess What Pictures.

In response, Guess What Pictures held several internal meetings to focus on discussing how to improve box office performance.

"Boss, there's no doubt that 'Seven' is a good movie, but its current box office performance isn't ideal. I think the main reason is that the promotion hasn't been effective enough, and its impact isn't as strong as 'Paranormal Activity' or 'The Blair Witch Project.' To address this, I suggest increasing the promotion to make more audiences aware of this movie," said Joe Feller, head of the distribution department, at the meeting.

Link didn't speak, but looked at the other executives.

Jon Gordon said, "The situation is different now. We are being suppressed by the seven major media groups in terms of promotional channels, and the cost of promotion has increased. Recently, we've spent $15 million on promotion. If we continue to increase spending, the risk of losses will also increase, which is not cost-effective."

"If we don't expand the scale of promotion, the audience won't know about this movie, and they won't go to the theaters to support it. 'Seven's' box office performance won't improve, and the box office revenue that should have been earned won't be earned. This is a significant loss for the company," Joe Feller said.

The summer season is so competitive mainly because there are too many blockbusters, and there's too much promotion for them. Whether on TV or in newspapers, there's information about different new movies being released every day.

To make the audience notice "Seven" among the many new movies and become interested in the movie's plot,

promotion plays a significant role.

However, the current predicament facing Guess What Pictures is that "Seven" is being surrounded by the films of the seven major studios in terms of distribution, squeezed by the promotion of other films in terms of publicity, and taken advantage of by the seven major media groups.

To expand promotion, it is necessary to continue to increase investment, which is equivalent to sending money to the seven major media groups.

In the end, no matter how much Guess What Pictures earns, the seven major media groups will be the biggest winners.

"Ahem!"

Executive producer Danny DeVito adjusted his glasses. "'Seven' has grossed more than $68 million in its three weeks of release. It won't be difficult for it to break $100 million at the North American box office by the end of its run. This is a very good result, and continuing to increase costs and directly competing with the seven major studios is too risky and the return is too small. I don't agree."

Content Officer James Schamus suggested, "Currently, there are many blockbusters in the summer season, and the competition is fierce, and increasing promotion will lead to increased costs. However, the movies released in the summer are mainly commercial films, with high box office in the early stages and weak box office growth in the later stages. 'Seven' has good quality and word-of-mouth, and the current box office decline is not significant. We can consider appropriately increasing promotional investment after the summer season ends, depending on the market and box office situation."

"I agree with James's opinion."

Co-executive producer Ted Hope spoke.

CEO Michael Rison and Public Relations Director Liu Xiaoli also agreed to temporarily avoid the limelight and see what happens after the summer season ends.

"Let's do this. Continue to distribute according to the original plan. Whether or not to increase promotion in the later stages will depend on the box office situation," Link suggested, adjourning the meeting.

Jon Gordon followed up and said that the reason why the promotional effect of "Seven" was not as good as films like "Paranormal Activity" and "The Blair Witch Project" was mainly because it had not created a more controversial topic to hype.

Jon Gordon suggested finding suitable criminal cases in various places, and by bribing the police and the murderer, linking the case with "Seven," and doing another 'Murrieta Husband Killing Case.'

Link rejected this proposal. Not to mention that this kind of thing has too many loopholes and is easily seized by opponents, even if it is successful, one or two small cases will not help the movie's box office much and will also bring some negative impact to the movie.

The disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

Link told Jon Gordon not to worry. "Seven's" current box office situation is good, and the company's situation is also good. It's not as bad as the newspapers say. He is in charge of publicity and should not be influenced by external publicity in his judgment of the situation.

"Haha, Link, I heard that your new movie isn't doing so well at the box office. Do you need any help?" Michael Ovitz called back to the office, his voice full of victorious smugness.

"Oh, how are you going to help me?" Link asked, leaning back in his office chair.

"Haha, it's very simple. If you sell another 50% of Guess What Pictures' shares at a valuation of $300 million, I can help contact the seven major studios and lobby them to no longer deliberately target Guess What Pictures. How about that proposal?"

"$300 million?"

This guy's calculation is really good. Link sneered, "Guess What Pictures is releasing two films this summer. 'Speed' has currently grossed over $120 million in North America, and it won't be difficult for 'Seven' to break $100 million in North America. Even the seven major studios can't achieve two films grossing over $100 million in North America in a row. A valuation of $300 million is too low for Guess What Pictures at this stage."

"How much do you want?"

Hearing him relent, Michael Ovitz laughed and thought that to deal with hard bones, you must use a heavy hammer to strike. Look, isn't Link about to give in?

"My offer isn't high, $1 billion. With two more films grossing over $100 million, the market value only increases by $500 million. Isn't this offer very reasonable?"

"$1 billion? Haha, a film company that hasn't even been established for three years dares to quote $1 billion?"

Michael Ovitz's laughter gradually turned cold.

"Michael, the value of a film company cannot be measured by how early it was established. It should be based on its ability to make money. Guess What Pictures was sixth in box office revenue last year and first in net income in the industry. This year, Guess What Pictures' revenue situation is more optimistic than last year, so a $1 billion valuation is very reasonable."

No mistake, one first, one inside, one content, one at a time!

"There's no room for negotiation?"

"$1 billion is a friendly price."

"Hmph hmph hmph! Very good, Link, I wish you and Guess What Pictures will break $1 billion soon."

"Thank you, we definitely will."

Beep beep beep ~

Before he could finish speaking, a prompt tone indicating the end of the call came from the microphone. Link shook his head. This guy was too impolite, not even saying goodbye before hanging up.

After rejecting Michael Ovitz, there were more negative comments about "Seven" in the media, and more voices sang a bearish tune about Guess What Pictures.

Many media outlets claimed that the production and distribution costs of "Seven" exceeded $50 million, and the current box office was less than $70 million. Guess What Pictures had suffered serious losses, and multiple film projects had been called to a halt. Guess What Pictures was on the verge of bankruptcy.

They said it with such detail and conviction that people who weren't in the know might actually believe it.

"Link, do you want to think of a way to hype 'Seven'? Don't worry about others saying you broke your promise afterwards. For a film company, box office revenue is the most important thing," Robert Shaye couldn't help but call and ask.

"Robert, don't worry, 'Seven' has grossed more than $68 million in North America in its three weeks of release. This is a very good result, and it won't be difficult for it to break $100 million in North America."

"Your goal is just to break $100 million at the box office?"

Robert Shaye was incredulous.

In the past, Link used tens of thousands of dollars to make movies that grossed three or four hundred million, five or six hundred million worldwide.

The production cost of this "Seven" is as high as more than $30 million. In his prediction, the North American box office should be above $300 million.

Now Link is telling him that the goal is only $100 million.

This is hard for him to accept.

Link didn't comfort Robert Shaye much, but only told him not to worry. "Seven" is still showing, and the occupancy rate is still good. After some time, the box office performance will gradually improve.

In addition to Robert Shaye, Vanguard Capital and Morgan Investments also called to inquire about the situation.

Vanguard Capital investment officer Greg Davis joked that he was slacking off. Given the current situation, it would be good if Guess What Pictures could stand its ground under the suppression of the seven major studios without going bankrupt, let alone swallowing the seven major studios.

Link told them to mind their own business. "Seven" had not lost money, Guess What Pictures had not gone bankrupt, the shareholders had not suffered any losses, and they should not interfere in the company's affairs.

No matter how the outside world was bearish on Guess What Pictures, Link remained calm and composed.

Originally, in his prediction, "Seven," under the suppression of the seven major studios, would slowly break through $500 million or $600 million in box office revenue with its strong staying power, and finally surprise everyone.

However, the occurrence of one thing accelerated this process.