[Chapter 374: Richard Gere Apologizes to Link]
"Link, the opening week figures for Hachi: A Dog's Tale just came in!"
Lewinsky, holding some documents, approached the crew of the movie studio while they were in between shoots.
"How did it do at the box office?"
"It was the weekend box office champion!"
Lewinsky smiled slightly.
Link took the documents and glanced them over.
Earlier in the year, Guess Pictures had released four films in quick succession.
...
The first one, Gray's Anatomy, had been in theaters in North America for eight weeks, earning a total of $257,000 at the box office.
...
The second was Paul Thomas Anderson's debut film, Hard Eight, which had been in theaters for six weeks, pulling in a total of $212,000.
With a production cost of $350,000, this film was expected to incur a loss of more than $100,000.
Having two consecutive box office flops was highly unusual for Guess Pictures.
Media outlets from the Big Seven media groups saw an opportunity and began publicly speculating that Guess Pictures was suffering from a directional error in filmmaking, merely increasing the number of films produced without paying attention to quality, leading to a spate of bad movies -- an omen of decline.
They also sensationalized claims that Link, after gaining fame, was out chasing women, using the company resources to entice starlets, and neglecting company management, leading to chaos within Guess Pictures.
Ultimately, the media predicted a significant drop in Guess Picture's box office market share, suggesting that the entire movie industry would soon have greater opportunities for growth.
In response to such rhetoric, Guess Pictures offered no explanations, quietly continued filming and releasing new movies.
...
The third film was Trainspotting.
This film premiered in early February with somewhat better box office performance.
In its opening week, it earned $262,000 across eight theaters in North America.
In the second week, it raked in $1.22 million in 38 theaters.
After playing for four consecutive weeks, its total box office reached $6.53 million, with projections of at least $18 million in North America.
The North American rights for the film were sold for $3 million, and based on the current box office results, it proved to be a blockbuster.
The executives at Guess Pictures breathed a sigh of relief now that Trainspotting was pulling in profits; if this film had continued to lose money, as the media claimed, the studio would likely have started a downward spiral.
The fact that Trainspotting was now profitable indicated that the marketing efforts were on point, and the trouble lay with the first two films and their directors.
Daniel DeVito and James Schamus advised Link that with Steven directing two consecutive losses, they should approach any upcoming projects with caution.
Link dismissed their concerns, asserting that those two films were merely practice for Steven, low-budget projects, and that low earnings were understandable; given Steven's talent, he was confident the next film would do much better.
...
This year's fourth release was Hachi: A Dog's Tale, which came out in early March.
Directed by Jodie Foster with Link as the writer and editor, it starred Robin Williams, Joan Allen, and Cameron Diaz.
The production budget was $22 million.
In its opening week, it earned $14.91 million across 2,377 theaters in North America, making it the box office champion.
The film also received excellent reviews, with positive comments prevailing.
Edward Porter, a critic from the Los Angeles Times, noted, 'The film's storyline is simple yet profound, its themes are straightforward but deeply meaningful, and the filming style is minimal yet beautifully touching, making it a family-friendly animal-themed movie.'
Derrick Adams from the New York Times praised Jodie Foster's directing, pointing to a significant improvement in her emotional depth and nuanced style, and stated that she was a female director worth looking forward to.
Total Film described how 'Jodie Foster's directorial finesse resonates deeply by capturing lifelike experiences that evoke powerful emotions and provoke thought, avoiding excessive sentimentality. This story can profoundly move dog lovers.'
However, some negative reviews pointed out similarities between this film's style and several of Link's films, highlighting rumors of Link and Jodie Foster's romantic involvement, insinuating that he might have ghost-directed the film.
...
Link chuckled at this and instructed Lewinsky to inform the PR department to clarify that he was busy filming Batman Forever at that time, so it was impossible for him to direct Hachi.
Moreover, as the movie's writer and editor, it was natural for there to be elements of his style in it.
"Understood, boss!" Lewinsky noted down the instruction, twirling a wayward strand of hair with her finger.
"By the way, Ms. Crawford and Ms. Shields have arrived. Are you leaving early today?"
"No need; they are familiar with this place and can manage themselves. I'll join them once I'm done here." Link replied without looking up.
"Alright, just take care of yourself and don't overwork yourself," Lewinsky smiled sweetly, blinking her big eyes.
...
Link shot her a look as he returned the documents and picked up the phone to call Jodie Foster, congratulating her on the film's box office success and encouraging her to keep creating great works.
Jodie was delighted to receive the call, saying she would be in San Francisco in two days for the movie's promotion and would visit the set then.
Link told her to hurry; they had been so busy that it had been a week since they had seen each other, and he missed her dearly.
Jodie playfully scolded him for being lustful.
Link joked back, asking if she didn't want him to be that way, then they could stop when she arrived.
Jodie finally sheepishly admitted she did want that.
Link smiled; even without seeing her, he could picture a prim woman saying such things with flushed cheeks, biting her lip, and eyes adorned with embarrassment, much like Lily from a couple of years prior, an attractive charm.
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After hanging up, Link received another call from Jon Gordon.
Jon was currently investigating the scandal surrounding him.
After some research, it seemed that the Weinstein brothers might have been behind the media's smear campaign against him in February.
There was evidence showing that the World Entertainment News and other outlets that had reported such stories had received funds from accounts belonging to Miramax Films.
Just before Richard Gere appeared in an interview with ABC, there was also a transfer of $200,000 from Miramax to him.
These pieces of evidence were gathered by Jon's team through bank investigations, adding substantial credibility to their claims.
From the evidence at hand, it was clear there was strong suspicion against the Weinstein brothers, though it couldn't be ruled out that they had accomplices or patrons aiding them.
Additionally, while looking into Richard Gere, they had acquired numerous dirty details on him from private investigators, such as infidelity before marriage, hiring sex workers post-hospitalization, using a wheelchair while high, and making racially insensitive remarks.
These documents were enough to ruin Richard Gere's reputation.
Jon asked Link how he should handle the situation.
After some thought, Link decided to hold off on acting against the Weinstein brothers for the moment.
Their established connections in Hollywood meant that punishing them this way was ineffective; instead, it would be more beneficial to squeeze Miramax's survival by competing in films to push the Weinstein brothers towards financial ruin.
For Richard Gere, they could take a more direct approach: leverage the dirt they had against him to force him to admit his mistakes and publicly apologize; if he did, they'd let him off the hook, but if he refused, they'd go public with the materials.
Jon confirmed he understood and went off to take action.
After hanging up, Link returned to shooting the film.
---
On Thursday, Richard Gere publicly apologized to Link during an interview with CBS.
He claimed that the reason for his divorce from Cindy Crawford was because of his infidelity, and that their relationship had already deteriorated long before his incident -- it wasn't Cindy's fault and had nothing to do with Link.
On the contrary, he stated that after his incident, Cindy helped set him up with the best doctors and was there for him in the hospital for a year until he recovered enough to be released, after which she filed for divorce.
Cindy Crawford was a good woman, a good wife; missing out on her was the biggest loss of his life.
Richard Gere apologized directly to the camera, addressing both Link and Cindy Crawford.
When CBS reporters asked why he had previously publicly accused Link of interfering in his marriage, he explained it was out of jealousy. Seeing Link romantically linked with Cindy Crawford while on vacation in France drove him to irrational statements, and he again apologized to Link.
...
"Wow, so that's what happened. I just knew Link wasn't that kind of guy; otherwise, why wouldn't he be after my beautiful wife?" Tim Robbins laughed as he playfully wrapped his arm around Susan Sarandon's shoulder.
Susan shot him a disapproving look, shoving him onto the sofa.
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"Shit! How dare this loser say that!"
Harvey Weinstein, upon seeing Richard Gere's sincere apology on television, couldn't help but curse in frustration.
Previously, he had spent $200,000 persuading Richard Gere to come forward and denounce Link for stealing his wife.
That interview had garnered substantial public attention, resulting in a barrage of backlash against Link, making it difficult for Link to pay for clarifications amid public outrage.
As long as Richard kept his silence, Link would be forever branded a homewrecker.
But now Richard Gere suddenly reversed his stance, admitting fault and asserting Link's innocence, highlighting Cindy Crawford as a good woman.
All the effort Harvey had put in previously went wasted.
Harvey glared at the television with a twisted expression.
"This isn't normal," Bob commented, "Gere's injury was related to Link, and he hated Link; it seemed he wanted to kill Link. Why would he back down and apologize out of nowhere? Is he controlled by Link?"
Harvey narrowed his eyes, "After his paralysis, no one wanted to cast him in a film, leading to a drastic drop in income. Now with some cash thrown at him, he'd do whatever. Link isn't short on money; it's quite possible he bribed him."
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Ringing!
The phone on the table rang.
Harvey picked it up and recognized it was Paul, Richard Gere's agent.
Previously, he had used Paul to persuade Richard Gere to denounce Link, acting as the intermediary in that incident.
Paul informed Harvey that Link's people had obtained damaging information on Richard Gere, heavy enough to ruin his reputation, which Richard had no choice but to retract his statements.
Before Harvey could belittle the notion of why a cripple would care about his reputation, he heard Paul mention that Link's people had checked Richard's accounts and might have uncovered their dealings.
Paul advised Harvey to be careful, as Link might trace it back to him.
Harvey cursed under his breath, his face darkening as he hung up the phone.
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"What's wrong?" Bob asked.
Harvey briefly explained the situation.
"Huh? What should we do? Will Link retaliate against us? Ovitz mentioned that Link holds grudges and is vengeful; what if he comes after us?"
"Calm down!" Harvey glared at him.
"We're using intermediaries; Link probably won't trace it back to us. Even if he does, we can always shift the blame onto Ovitz, Ron Meyer, and Barry Diller, saying they instructed us -- showing Link the strength of our Jewish connections. He'll understand well enough not to act against us."
Hearing this, Bob's eyes lit up with admiration for Harvey.
"Did you really plan this ahead of time?"
"Of course! I strategize; I never fight a battle without preparation," Harvey boasted as he picked up the unfinished cigar from the ashtray, his gaze icy as he stared at the television screen.
---
The news showing 'Richard Gere Apologizes to Link' on CBS immediately captured the attention of North American audiences.
The following day, many major news outlets followed suit with reports detailing Link's tumultuous relationship with Richard Gere and the smear campaigns he had faced in the preceding weeks.
Since this story involved several big stars and had an unexpected twist, it made the headlines across major media by the end of the day.
Many movie fans voiced their disapproval of Richard Gere's actions, criticizing him for wrongly accusing an innocent man and allowing Link to suffer unjustly.
The Hollywood Reporter stated that not only did Richard Gere owe an apology, but the media that had reported negatively on Link also owed a debt of remorse; they should restore Link's reputation and compensate his economic losses.
ABC News was the first to apologize, acknowledging their failure to maintain objectivity in their reporting, negatively impacting Link.
They expressed their apologies and promised to discipline the staff involved.
Additionally, many tabloids issued written apologies.
Thanks to the efforts from Guess Pictures' PR department, many mainstream media reposted these apology pieces, amplifying the news coverage.
The reputations of Link, Cindy Crawford, Nicole Kidman, and others involved were swiftly on the road to recovery.
...
Cindy, grateful for the help, decided to stay at the studio for three days afterward, allowing Link to indulge as she had previously denied Richard the pleasure.
Nicole Kidman also wanted to visit the set and genuinely become Link's woman, but with the Oscars approaching, Link intended to attend the awards ceremony and postponed their date until after the Oscars.
...
"Link, I have to apologize to you as well," Nicolas Cage said during lunch at the studio, biting into a sandwich.
"Apologize for what?" Link asked, flipping through a newspaper.
Nicolas chuckled, "When those negative stories initially came out, I took them at face value and joked about you and Cindy, Nicole at the poker table. In hindsight, I realize I was wrong to question your character."
"Alright, I accept your apology," Link replied, shaking his head.
Given his reputation, after the media revealed the story of him as a homewrecker in February, not only Nicolas had misunderstood him, but also Quentin, Sam, Ben Affleck, and others had likely shared similar views.
During that period, the media was rife with negative stories about him, labeling him a playboy who toyed with women's feelings and ruined other people's families, and the backlash against him was overwhelming.
Even with Guess Pictures and WMA's combined PR efforts, they bore little fruit.
In the end, Link had to turn a deaf ear and endure the criticism.
Now that Richard Gere had apologized, he had finally triumphed over the clouds of misunderstanding.
"What a shame, the second round of Oscar voting has already ended. If he had apologized sooner, you might have garnered a few votes from the judges," Cage remarked, lamenting.
"It's alright; I'm young and still in my struggle phase. I'm not in a hurry to win an Oscar just yet," Link replied nonchalantly.
He had five nominations this year at the Oscars, including best director and best editing for The Sixth Sense, and best editing and best original screenplay for The Butterfly Effect.
Given his age, the chances of the group of 'old white male' voters awarding him the best director Oscar were slim.
Moreover, last year at the Oscars, he had won the Best Editing trophy for Se7en, making a repeat less likely.
Ultimately, the only award left was the Best Original Screenplay. Without the previous negative press, he had a great chance of winning; however, that opportunity was now slim.
...
After lunch, Link continued filming at the studio.
Shooting large-scale blockbuster scenes for the first time required much learning and summarization, causing production to be slow.
After a month, only 40% of the film was completed, with an estimated wrap-up by the end of April.
During the filming, Monica Bellucci, Jodie Foster, Sandra Bullock, and others paid visits; despite the busy shooting, Link was enjoying an enriching time on set.
By late March, as the Oscars approached, Link and Nicolas Cage set aside their work temporarily to return to Los Angeles for the ceremony.
*****
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