Chapter 452 Titanic Released
"Saving Private Ryan" is now in theaters. In order to promote the movie, Link temporarily put aside his work on the crew and went to Los Angeles and New York to participate in film promotion activities, talk about his experience and feelings in film creation, and pass on some experiences to his peers.
With the strong publicity from the media, "Saving Private Ryan" has become more popular and its reputation has steadily improved. On the imdb movie website, the film scored 9.9 points.
84 media outlets gave this movie a score of 90 or above, which is higher than "Forrest Gump" and "The Shawshank Redemption".
In addition, after the movie was released, many fans saw Captain John Miller and others sacrificed in action, so they questioned the plot design of the movie: Is it worthwhile to exchange the lives of eight soldiers for one soldier in war?
Some people think it is worthwhile, saying that war is not a simple numbers game but involves more considerations and competitions.
The mission carried out by John Miller and eight other people was not only to save a soldier's life, but more importantly, this action embodied the kindness and compassion in human nature, humanitarian care, and respect and cherishment for life.
John Miller and eight others demonstrated with practical actions that the US military respects life and sympathizes with the weak. This spirit is particularly precious on a chaotic battlefield.
Some people also say it is not cost-effective.
John Miller and others also have parents, wives and children, and they sacrificed their lives while rescuing other people's families. This result is very unfair to their families.
After the debate emerged, media outlets including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post got involved, comparing the debate to the famous ethical issue of the 'trolley problem' and listing their own reasons.
With the involvement of mainstream media, the controversy broke out in the United States, making the film even more popular in North America.
In its second week of release, "Saving Private Ryan" earned $75.71 million in 3,034 theaters in North America, with a cumulative box office of $167 million in two weeks.
"Link, as a fan, thank you so much for making such a wonderful movie, and as an actor, I also thank you for letting me be in this movie."
Tom Hanks said while holding a bottle of champagne at the celebration party.
"Tom, there's no need to say thank you. Your superb performance made the movie even better. I and the fans should thank you."
"Haha, it's my pleasure."
At the party, Tom Hanks and other cast and crew members took turns coming up to congratulate Link, praising the movie and hoping to have a chance to work together again in the future. Link did not disappoint them and expressed hope that there would be a chance for further cooperation.
"Link, I recently saw a new script called The Talented Mr. Ripley, which is based on the novel of the same name by female writer Patricia Highsmith. It tells the story of the protagonist Ripley, who is commissioned by a wealthy businessman to go to Italy to persuade the businessman's son Dickie to return to the United States. However, during the contact, Ripley yearns for Dickie's life. Driven by desire, he loses his mind and kills Dickie, and steals Dickie's identity to live in Italy. This is a thriller crime movie, what do you think?"
Matt Damon asked.
"It sounds good. Send me the script when you have time."
"good!"
Matt Damon nodded repeatedly.
"Director Link, congratulations on making a great work. I am also honored to be involved in this film."
Actor Vin Diesel came by to say hello.
Link smiled and asked Vin Diesel what he was doing recently and whether he was interested in a racing movie.
Guess What Pictures is currently preparing a racing movie project about underground racing in Los Angeles. The main content includes elements such as drag racing, police-gangster battles, and urban crime. If he is interested, he can come to the company to take a look.
Vin Diesel immediately expressed interest and hoped to have the opportunity to participate.
Link chatted with Vin Diesel about movies and continued to entertain other people at the party.
"Link, Saving Private Ryan is so good, I've watched it three times and still want to watch it. The only pity is that there are no female characters in the movie, otherwise I could play a role."
Nicole Kidman smiled and took his arm.
"Stop praising this movie. I've been hearing people praising movies every day these days and I'm almost confused by them."
"Okay, I won't brag anymore. If you need anything later, how about going to my apartment to rest? I'll introduce you to my good friends."
Nicole Kidman winked and her smile became seductive.
"Sophia and Brooke said they would have a barbecue at the villa this afternoon."
"It's okay to miss a barbecue. My good friend is a beautiful lady. She likes you very much and wants to meet you."
“You can bring your friends to the villa for a barbecue.”
Link held her waist and squeezed her full breasts.
Nicole Kidman blushed and snuggled into his arms, and before the party was over, she dragged him to the bathroom to relive their old times, asking him to use the toilet as an operating table like he did the first time.
Link wasn't that perverted, he just held her against the wall and relaxed for once.
After the party was over, seeing that it was still early, Nicole Kidman took her to the apartment to rest and introduced her good friend Cate Blanchett to him. Naomi Watts was also there.
Originally, the four of them were chatting properly on the sofa, but Nicole Kidman started messing around in the middle, and soon the living room became a mess, with clothes scattered everywhere.
However, Link did not spend the night at her place. After Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts fell asleep, he drove back to the mountaintop villa to attend a barbecue party hosted by his girlfriends.
After promoting the movie, Link returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to continue filming the follow-up scenes of "Armageddon".
"91st scene, 3 shots, 1 time, start!"
After the space shuttle was launched, the drilling team led by Harry successfully reached the meteorite, but the surface of the meteorite was very solid. The drilling team scrapped two drill bits and only drilled to a depth of 50 feet, which was far from the target of 800 feet.
After receiving the news, the President of the White House ordered the military to detonate a nuclear bomb on the surface of the meteorite by remote control.
The nuclear warhead begins the countdown.
Harry strongly opposed this, as he believed that detonating a nuclear bomb on the surface of a meteorite would not only fail to destroy the meteorite, but would also kill everyone.
Harry gets into an argument with Colonel Willie Sharp, the head of the space team.
"Give us some time, Sharp! Turn off the nuclear bomb quickly."
shouted Bruce Willis in a space suit.
“This is not my decision.”
Colonel Sharp said.
"So who decides?"
“It can only be the president’s decision.”
“But the president isn’t here.”
Harry shouted.
"The nuclear bomb will explode in 3 minutes."
Assistant Chick reminded.
"Sharp, I said give me more time. I want you to shut down the nuclear bomb immediately."
Harry yelled.
"I told you, this wasn't my decision."
"In that case, can I give you an order now?"
Harry turned around and picked up a pair of large pliers from the operating table, ready to use force to force Colonel Sharp to shut down the nuclear bomb.
Colonel Sharp pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Harry.
“Cut!”
Link looked through the footage and felt that the argument between the two sides was not intense enough. He asked several actors to speak faster and the lighting effects on the scene to be stronger. Using strong contrast light during shooting can intensify the characters' emotions and the intensity of the conflict.
The second take went really well, so Link asked the crew to continue filming.
After a fierce conflict, Harry persuaded Colonel Sharp, and Sharp and his assistant worked together to dismantle the automatic detonation device of the nuclear bomb.
The nuclear bomb stops counting down when it is about to explode.
Harry continued working with the drilling team, vowing to drill an 800-foot-deep hole in the meteorite.
While Link was concentrating on filming on the Florida set, "Saving Private Ryan" continued to be a hot hit, earning $56.41 million in North America in its third week, and the cumulative North American box office reached $224 million, making it the fastest movie to break the $200 million box office in North America this year.
Total Film magazine predicts that the film's North American box office will surely exceed $400 million.
This week, Guess What Pictures has another new movie released, which is the biographical film "Evita" starring Madonna. The film is set against the historical process of Argentine society before and after World War II and tells the legendary life of Eva, the wife of the former Argentine President.
The movie grossed $460,000 in two theaters in its first weekend, which is an excellent result. However, since Madonna is a superstar and most of the audiences who saw the movie first were her fans, this result cannot be used as a reference for the movie's box office performance.
In its second week of release, "Evita" earned $15.99 million in 704 theaters, which is a pretty good result and there is a chance of recovering the cost.
Just in the second week of the release of "Evita", "Titanic" released by 20th Century Fox was also released at the end of the year. The film took in $52.96 million in the first week in 2,674 theaters in the United States, which was a good result.
However, even more impressive than the results is the film's reputation, which is almost overwhelmingly positive.
Many media had just praised "Saving Private Ryan" as the best movie of 1997, and then turned around and praised "Titanic" as the best movie of the year, an exciting movie, an epic love movie, etc.
As many media praised "Saving Private Ryan" in the past, there are even more media praising this movie.
"Complete Cinema" magazine excitedly said, "1997 is the most exciting year in film history. This year not only has the epic war movie "Saving Private Ryan", but also the epic love movie "Titanic" presented by James Cameron. Both movies are very worth watching. Audiences all over the world will be amazed and feast their eyes for these two movies."
The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and other media also used enthusiastic articles to praise "Titanic". For a time, "Titanic" firmly surpassed "Saving Private Ryan" in popularity.
"Yes! That's great. Titanic is a box office hit. Let's see how Link can still make money."
Harvey clenched his fists and shouted excitedly.
In the past few weeks, every time he saw reports about "Saving Private Ryan", he would be very unhappy. The movie he collaborated with Guess Pictures lost money, but the movie produced by Guess Pictures alone made a lot of money and had a great reputation.
This situation is more painful than killing him.
It also caused Harvey to fall into a deep depression over the past five weeks.
Now that The Ship has been released, it has successfully surpassed Saving Private Ryan in popularity and weekly box office, so that Link's movie can no longer devour the box office in the film market as recklessly as it did in previous weeks, which is excellent news for him.
In addition, in terms of movie reputation, "Saving Private Ryan" originally had a very good reputation and was almost touted by the media as the best movie in film history. After the release of "Titanic", the reputation of "Private Ryan" was gradually overshadowed by the big ship, and its momentum was also inferior to that of the big ship.
In addition, many media believe that "Titanic" and director James Cameron also have a chance at next year's Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. If this is true, Link's chances of winning the award next year will drop significantly.
As long as he doesn't win the Oscar for Best Director, Link will still not be considered one of the top directors in Hollywood.
"Harvey, Titanic is a big hit, which is not a good thing for us."
Bob Weinstein reminded.
"You mean our movie box office will be suppressed? That doesn't matter. Compared with the loss of Guess Pictures at the box office, our loss is nothing."
Harvey stroked his fat double chin and smiled.
Originally, "Saving Private Ryan" had a weekly box office of more than 40 million US dollars. After the release of "Titanic", the weekly box office of "Saving Private Ryan" dropped to more than 20 million.
The subsequent box office decline will be even greater.
If there had been no Titanic, guess what, the studio would have earned tens of millions more dollars, more than the loss their company suffered.
"Harvey, that's not what I meant. I meant that Titanic is a big hit at the box office, which is also good news for Guess What? Pictures. Don't forget that Guess What? Pictures is also the producer of this movie and has the overseas distribution rights for Titanic. If the big ship sells well in North America, it will definitely do well at the overseas box office, and then Guess What? Pictures will make a lot of money again."
Hearing Bob's words, Harvey was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered that the funding chain was broken during the filming of "Titanic" two years ago, and director James Cameron had to leave the crew and go to Fox Film to ask for money.
However, Fox Films saw that "Waterworld" and "Cutthroat Island" had both lost money at the box office and was worried that it would not be able to recoup its costs, so it refused to provide funding.
This decision almost caused the entire film project to fail.
Later, James Cameron found Link and obtained $100 million in production funds from Guess What Pictures, so that "Titanic" could continue filming.
The condition for Guess What Pictures to invest $100 million in "Titanic" is the overseas distribution rights of the film.
So what Bob said is right. If Big Ship sells well in North America, it will definitely do well at the overseas box office. As the distributor, Guess Pictures will probably make a lot of money.
"Damn it! That bastard Link got away with it again."
"Barry Diller is such a pig. Why didn't he insist on investing in a good movie like Titanic? If he hadn't given up investing halfway, guess what, the studio wouldn't have had the chance to get such a great bargain."
Harvey shouted angrily.
Bob Weinstein also shrugged his shoulders and guessed that the film industry was indeed very lucky and would probably make a lot of money this year, which was enviable.
(End of this chapter)
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