Chapter 373 New Movie Preview Rewards, Oscar Awards Coming

Ding-a-ling!

Link put down the script and picked up the phone on the table. Quentin Tarantino's voice came from the microphone.

"Haha, Link, come out and have a drink."

“Any good news to share?”

"No, we haven't gotten together for a long time. Wouldn't it be nice to drink and chat together?"

"I don't have time today. I still have work to do. Let's get together on the weekend."

Link continued to flip through the script in his hands.

The script was sent by Julia Roberts, and its name is "My Best Friend's Wedding". The story is well written and has the potential to be a big hit. Link plans to arrange for the production department to take over this project.

"Work? Are you really working instead of hiding in your office and afraid to see anyone?"

"Don't dare to see people? What do you mean?"

Link leaned back in his office chair and relaxed.

"Hey, don't hide it. I've read every issue of the Los Angeles Times these days. There are a lot of reports about you, saying that you like other people's wives. Hey, are you worried that we'll feel embarrassed when we talk about this at the party, so you don't dare to come out for a drink? Hey, don't worry, come out, we promise not to talk about it."

Quentin laughed as he spoke and seemed to be in a good mood.

Link moved his lips, "Are you talking about the scandals between me and Cindy Crawford and Nicole Kidman? I'm a playboy, I'm used to these kinds of scandals, why should I care about them?"

"Hehe, if you don't mind then come out and have a drink and chat."

Quentin didn't believe him.

"I really don't have time. I'm currently preparing for a new movie, The Rock, which is scheduled to start filming next week. I have a lot of work to do during this period and I can't rest for a moment."

Link continued to look through the documents.

"You're going to shoot a new movie again? Your last movie was only finished at the end of last year, and you're going to start a new one in February?!"

Quentin yelled.

"Yes, there were three movies last year and three movies this year. I have to hurry up and shoot, otherwise I won't be able to finish the plan by the end of the year."

Crunch!

There was a sound of grinding teeth coming from the phone.

"Quentin, what's going on? Your last movie Four Rooms is almost over. When will the next one start filming?"

Quentin's second film, "Four Rooms," was released in North America on December 25 last year. It was produced and distributed by Miramax Films. The current cumulative box office is 3.52 million US dollars, and the box office is expected to be around 4 million.

The film cost $2.5 million to produce and is expected to cause Miramax Films a loss of more than $3 million.

The film's reputation is also average. Although it is a qualified cut film with absurd plot and black humor, it is far inferior to "Pulp Fiction" and seems more deliberate in narrative techniques, dialogue design, and actor performances.

"Complete Cinema" magazine commented on this film, saying that Quentin deliberately made a simple movie into a mess just to show off his skills. This kind of movie does not serve the audience, but is for the director's own pleasure.

This is also the reason why the movie’s box office and reputation were lower than expected.

"Why do you ask that?"

Quentin's tone turned unhappy.

"We are both directors, and we debuted at the same time. I have started preparing for my tenth film, but you haven't even started filming your third. That's too slow. I don't want you to waste your talent because of playfulness."

“Is this your tenth movie?”

"Yes, six have been released, three have not been released, and the tenth one is about to start filming."

Including "The Blair Witch Project", he has completed ten films so far, and "The Rock" is actually his eleventh work.

"Damn it! Shooting nine movies in four years means at least two movies a year. Aren't you afraid of dying of exhaustion by rushing so hard?"

Quentin cursed.

“Rather than dying of exhaustion, I’m more worried about not making more classic films before I die, not fully demonstrating my talent and gift in film. That would be a greater pity.”

Link paused and said, "Quentin, you are more talented than me. If you could be more diligent and make two movies every year, your achievements would be no worse than mine. You are good in every way. The only shortcoming is that you are too lazy. You don't value your time and waste your talent on movies. I feel sorry for you."

Quentin was silent for a long time on the other end of the phone. When Link was about to hang up, he heard Quentin gritting his teeth and saying, "You are right. I have great talent, but I have poor self-control and am quite lazy. I have decided to follow your advice and strive to make two movies every year starting this year."

Bang!

Link clapped his hands and said, "Great. Quentin, I'm really looking forward to your new movie. If you need investment, you can contact me."

After hanging up the phone, Link smiled lightly. Quentin, that bastard, dared to tease him with those scandals, so don't blame him for killing him in this way.

——

"Boss! The preview will start in ten minutes."

At around 1:00 p.m., Lewinsky knocked on the office door to remind him to attend the preview of "The Internet."

The film was edited last September and finished post-production in January, and Link arranged an internal preview for today.

Not many people attended the preview, mainly the main creative staff of the crew and staff from the company's production and distribution departments, a total of more than 40 people.

After Link arrived at the screening room, he greeted Matt Damon and others, pulled Sandra Bullock and Milla Jovovich to sit in the middle, and began to watch the new version of "Net."

The new version of "Net" provides a very good viewing experience, with trendy online social networking, gun fights, extreme racing, violent explosions, handsome men and beautiful women, political scandals, etc.

It has many similarities with "Speed" released in 1994. The extra plot is mainly concentrated on the Internet, which seems very fresh and unique. After watching the movie, it feels like eating a piece of fresh and delicious fruit.

"This scene looks really great. It turns out that I am also suitable for playing a secret agent."

Matt Damon said excitedly, clenching his fist.

After filming "Good Will Hunting", the media thought that he performed well in literary dramas, and his agency also suggested that he focus on literary dramas when accepting roles.

When he received Link's invitation to play the role of Agent Jack in "Network" last year, he was worried that he would not be able to perform well in the action scenes and would hinder the crew.

After watching the movie, he was very satisfied with his performance in the film.

"Yes, you acted well, but my Batman is the best."

Ben Affleck folded his arms and raised his chin.

"Well, we all performed well, but this is all thanks to Link. Without his guidance, we wouldn't be able to perform at this level."

Matt Damon looked at Link in the middle, his heart filled with gratitude.

Ben Affleck doesn't think so, and often recalls the 'torture' he endured while filming Batman after he was freed from the role.

That period was really hard to endure. On the one hand, he was unable to get into the role, and on the other hand, he was threatened with Link's replacement. These things were like a huge rock pressing on his back, making it hard for him to breathe.

Later, at the suggestion of Nicole Kidman, he kept making adjustments, gradually got into the role, knew how to play the role well, and finally even suffered from mental illness in order to play the role well.

He has suffered so much and been exploited, and now he wants him to thank Link?

He can't do it!

Bang bang bang!

At the end of the movie, there was warm applause from the audience. Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Bob Gunton and others applauded and cheered, paying tribute to Link.

The head of the production and distribution department of Guess What Pictures also praised the film as being wonderful.

"Link, the story of 'Network' seems to be more interesting than that of 'Speed'. This movie may have a higher box office than 'Speed'."

Sandra Bullock was so happy that her face was all smiles.

"I predict that the global box office of 'Network' will be at least $400 million."

Milla Jovovich yelled.

Link looked at the two girls beside him and smiled, "Don't be too happy too soon. The movie hasn't been released yet, so nothing can be predicted."

"Don't be afraid, I believe you."

Mira held his arm tightly.

"Me too."

Sandra Bullock also leaned on him intimately, not caring at all about the eyes of the people around her.

Link smiled and kissed both of them on the cheek before chatting with the others, asking them what they thought of the movie and if they had any suggestions for changes.

After the test screening, many movies are found to have problems with a certain plot or the ending is not what was expected, so the crew will start over and shoot the second or third ending. There are many such movies in Hollywood, such as "ET", "Pretty Woman", "Dark Phoenix", etc.

However, the plot of Link's film is logically rigorous, without obvious loopholes, and the ending is handled very maturely, without the need for rework and reshoots.

At the end of the movie screening, Link also received system evaluation.

[The film has been produced and the box office subsidies are being calculated...]

[Host participation is 70.1%, film completion is 95.8%, and film-market compatibility is 91%]

[Rewards: 2.4 times the box office subsidy; Director experience +15%; Director physical fitness +20%; Film quality increase +15%]

Compared to the last "Batman Forever", the participation level has increased, the completion level is almost the same, and the film's degree of compliance is the highest among all the previous films.

The box office subsidy is higher than that of "Batman Forever", and the director's experience and physical fitness bonus is one level lower, probably because the cast of this movie is worse than that of "Batman" and "The Sixth Sense".

But the overall rewards are great.

After Link gained a 20% bonus to his physical strength, his body began to heat up again, and a layer of oily sweat appeared on his skin.

After the fever ended, he clenched his fists and found that his strength had improved significantly, his energy had become better, and any changes in his endurance and stamina would have to wait until the evening to be tested.

After the preview, Link took the film master tape back to his personal studio and re-watched the film to see what changes had occurred to achieve the 15% quality increase, and what he needed to pay attention to, so that he could do better next time.

When they returned home in the evening, Link carried Monica, who was doing yoga, back to the bedroom.

The next day, all the ten people at home except Link got up late.

——

After the preview of "Net", Link finished his company's work and brought the crew to San Francisco-Alcatraz, more than 600 kilometers away, to start filming "The Rock".

And in Hollywood, there are still media outlets that are trying to continue to destroy his reputation by hyping up fake news that he interfered in the marriages of Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford, as well as the marriages of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise.

However, since the mastermind behind the incident could not provide any substantial evidence, and Cindy Crawford and Nicole Kidman came out to clarify the matter many times, the mainstream media wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make a big news but had no fresh and powerful material.

The heat of this news gradually subsided.

Thanks to the efforts of the public relations department of Guess What Pictures, the media began to focus on other entertainment news.

"What a pity! If we had sufficient evidence, Link would be in big trouble this time."

In the Miramax Films office, Bob Weinstein put down the newspaper with a look of regret on his face.

Harvey looked gloomy and said nothing.

When he initially hyped the news, in addition to hiring Richard Gere to speak out, he also arranged for detectives to contact Cindy Crawford and Nicole Kidman, trying to pay them to come forward and admit that they had had intimate relations with Link before their divorce.

Nicole Kidman and Cindy Crawford responded with a 'yes' in exchange for $100 million in cash each.

Harvey was so angry after receiving the feedback that he cursed loudly. If he had $200 million, he would have retired and enjoyed himself long ago instead of being suppressed by Link in Hollywood.

Those two women asked for a whopping 100 million yuan. It was definitely because they didn't want to cooperate and were deliberately making things difficult for him.

Seeing that he couldn't convince them, Harvey tried to collect evidence using other methods, but ended up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and getting no useful evidence at all.

According to information obtained by paparazzi, before Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere divorced, Link had no interaction with the former in daily life.

It wasn't until Cindy Crawford's divorce that her interactions with Link suddenly increased.

After returning from a trip to France, Cindy Crawford spent many nights at Link's mountaintop mansion openly, sometimes staying for more than ten days in a row.

As for Nicole Kidman, although she and Link had many interactions in the past, Nicole Kidman did not admit it and said that they were just friends and work colleagues, and the media could not make up stories.

Harvey also contacted Tom Cruise, hoping that he would also come forward to accuse Link of destroying his marriage.

Tom Cruise did not agree, saying that his divorce from Nicole was due to personality incompatibility and had nothing to do with Link.

The reluctance of several parties involved to speak out also put their investigation into a difficult situation.

Harvey also thought about hyping up the news that Link was a scumbag who played with women's feelings.

However, Vice President Scott Greenstein reminded him that Link was a world-famous scumbag and there were scandals about him in the media almost every week. Using such things to hype up the issue was not only ineffective but also very expensive.

Scott estimated that it would cost $5 million to make this news a hot topic in the entertainment industry, and more than $20 million to have a chance of making it a hot topic in the entire society.

In addition, considering the counterattack from Guess What Pictures, the possibility of hype failure is greater.

Harvey thought that even if he spent so much money, he might not succeed. In addition to the warnings from Michael Ovitz and others, he reluctantly stopped his small actions.

The media no longer reported Link's scandals, which made his previous efforts and contributions in vain.

Harvey let out a breath, "The Oscars ceremony is about to begin. How is our PR? What are the chances of the nominated films winning an award?"

Some time ago, because he was busy hyping up Link's negative news, he handed over the public relations matters of the Oscar awards to Bob and others.

"Not bad, 'The Innocent Aphrodisiac' has a 90% chance of winning an award. 'The Innocent Aphrodisiac' also has a chance, but it's not great. We are guaranteed one Oscar this year, and if we're lucky, we might even win three," said Bob.

Harvey nodded, but he was not very happy.

Before 93 years ago, Miramax Films often released dark horse movies that were both box office and well-received, and won the Academy Awards many times.

Since 1993, Guess What Pictures has risen to prominence, swallowing up most of the box office and profits in the film market, causing Miramax's revenue to shrink significantly and the company's debt ratio to increase significantly.

The company has no money to make more and better movies, and it also has no money to buy too many international film copyrights in the international film market.

This situation has also led to Miramax films performing increasingly poorly at the Academy Awards.

The only thing Harvey is expecting now is that Ovitz's "poison pill plan" will be successfully implemented, causing Guess What Pictures to suffer huge losses, and then all of them will rise up and attack, dividing up Guess What Pictures completely.

"That's it. One or two Oscars are not bad. Anyway, our hype has successfully prevented Link's film from winning any awards, causing his career to suffer a setback. He will have a chance to win another big award in the future."

Harvey slammed his fist on the desk.

(End of this chapter)