[Chapter 382: Next Plans]
The uproar over the 'threatening letter' calmed down after a few days in the media and did not affect the filming schedule.
By the end of April, the filming of The Rock officially wrapped. Link took the crew back to Los Angeles for editing and post-production.
...
As April drew to a close and the summer blockbuster season approached, competition in the North American film market started to heat up. In April, Guess Pictures had six films in theaters, including the three that had been released over the past three months: Gray's Anatomy, Hard Eight, Trainspotting, Hachi: A Dog's Tale, Kolya, and Dangerous Minds.
The box office results for the first two films were still underwhelming, with total earnings of $343,000 and $415,000 respectively.
Trainspotting, however, raked in $15.45 million, achieving a box office return ratio of 5 to 1, classifying it as a hit film.
Hachi: A Dog's Tale grossed $72.05 million in its seven weeks of release in North America and earned over $35 million from international markets, pushing its total box office past $100 million, with an impressive return ratio of over 4 times, making it another successful film.
Kolya, a Czech film purchased by James Schamus at the Berlin Film Festival, was released in early April and accumulated $4.72 million in North America over three weeks. The North American rights had cost $1.5 million, and the film was already profitable for the company. Additionally, it received good reviews, providing a positive boost for the Guess Pictures releases.
The sixth film, Dangerous Minds, starred Michelle Pfeiffer and was both a leading and producing role for her. The film was based on a true story. It focused on the main character, Louanne, who served nine years in the Marine Corps before becoming a high school teacher, facing challenges due to a class filled with troubled students dealing with various social and familial problems. Louanne eventually found ways to help her students overcome obstacles.
With a production budget of $42 million, the film debuted to $21.93 million during its first week across 1,348 theaters, becoming the weekly box office champion and receiving relatively good reviews, leading it to be projected as another hit film.
...
Following April, Guess Pictures was set to promote three more films: The Net, Rush Hour, and Final Destination 2. There were also two co-released films with Columbia Pictures, The Mask of Zorro and The Fifth Element, along with Link's new film Batman Forever, in which Link needed to participate in promotional activities.
These movies were all scheduled to be released during the summer blockbuster season, competing against commercial behemoths from other studios. This included 20th Century Fox's sci-fi film Independence Day; Paramount Pictures' collaboration with Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible; Universal's The Nutty Professor and Dragonheart; MGM's comedy films The Birdcage and Kingpin; Warner Bros.'s A Time to Kill and Eraser; Disney's Phenomenon and The Hunchback of Notre Dame; and Columbia's The Cable Guy, among others.
In recent years, costs for labor, talent, and special effects in Hollywood had surged significantly. From 1985 to 1990, films released in North America averaged a production cost of about $15.09 million, while, over the past three years, the average production cost had risen to $18.57 million.
As a result, higher-budget films costing over $50 million became more prevalent. The consequence was fiercer competition at the box office, as film companies pushed hard on marketing campaigns to boost visibility and recoup costs. However, the high investment also indicated high risk, and if filmmakers couldn't break even, the studios faced significant losses.
...
"Link, here's the film production report for the first quarter, with four more films and budgets; take a look at it," Daniel DeVito said as he strolled into the office, carrying a folder, plopping down in the chair across from the desk.
"How's Fight Club coming along? Is it going smoothly?"
Link flipped through the folder.
"Going pretty well. David Fincher is a solid director, we're over halfway done, and we should wrap in about a month."
"That's great to hear."
Originally, Link had planned to direct Fight Club himself. However, due to time constraints, the production team had reselected director David Fincher. The cast included Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Angelina Jolie, and Casey Affleck. The production had a budget of $55 million, equally divided between Guess Pictures and Miramax.
Daniel brought up three new film projects: the thriller The Devil's Advocate, the crime-comedy Nothing to Lose, and a new film directed by Steven Soderbergh titled Out of Sight and another by Thomas Anderson called Boogie Nights.
The Devil's Advocate was a script tailored for Keanu Reeves by WMA, submitted to Guess Pictures seeking collaboration with Link as the director.
After skimming through the script, Link thought the story was decent but not quite to his taste. He decided not to direct it.
Nothing to Lose was Tim Robbins's new film, a low-budget comedy that had passed the review from the production department. Link didn't remember this film but approved it after checking its modest budget and the department's stamp of approval. In earlier board meetings, he had stated he could delegate more to the production team moving forward.
The company's film projects transitioned from being his personal responsibility to the responsibility of producers. Those who performed well would receive box office bonuses, while those with poor performances faced deductions. He only reviewed mid to high-budget projects, freeing up more time for filmmaking.
The other projects, Out of Sight and Boogie Nights, were also promising, and Link signed off on them.
With those four films, plus Final Destination 3, Julia Roberts's My Best Friend's Wedding, Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, Madonna's Evita submitted earlier in the year, and Tornatore's The Legend of 1900, Guess Pictures would hit 22 films for independent and co-productions this year, which was the current production capacity limit for the company.
...
"Link, as we approach the millennium, the marketing department's research predicted that sci-fi and disaster movies will perform better at the box office in the coming years. They suggest we should make these kinds of films, and several stories from your novel Interstellar would be great for adaptation. Do you have plans for that?" Daniel adjusted his glasses and asked.
"Sci-fi disaster films?"
"Yes, not just our company's prediction; studios like the Big Seven are already developing such films. For example, Universal's Dante's Peak, with Pierce Brosnan as the lead, reportedly has a budget exceeding $100 million, and Columbia Pictures is working on Starship Troopers and Men in Black, with Paramount and Fox showing interest as well."
Link nodded; it was approaching the year 2000, which was less than four years away. The year 2000 was the last of the twentieth century and carried significance. Around important milestones, the media and public discourse often sparked interesting rumors, including doomsday scenarios and alien invasions, which made such films and TV shows appealing.
"Adapting sci-fi films sounds good. The production team can start collecting scripts and stories with these themes. The stories from Interstellar are also worth looking at. Once they are ready, pass them to me for review. Additionally, with the rapid advancements in special effects, we could also consider adapting characters from Marvel Entertainment, taking cues from Warner Bros.'s Batman for the adaptation approach," Link explained.
Daniel nodded in agreement.
...
After bidding farewell to Daniel, Link called Mark Amin, who was in charge of the company's development planning, inquiring about the progress on acquiring Carolco Pictures. After the release of Cutthroat Island the previous year, it had only grossed $24 million worldwide, and with production and marketing costs, Carolco faced losses exceeding $100 million. They had announced bankruptcy in February.
Warner Bros., MGM, and Fox were planning to acquire Carolco, and Guess Pictures also considered this move, with several companies currently in a bidding war. Given Guess Pictures' strength, the Big Seven was keen to prevent further expansion by Guess, showing interest in the acquisition of Carolco.
Link told Mark to raise the offer, asserting a strong stance since they had plenty of money. Mark acknowledged this.
...
After hanging up, Link called Quentin, Robert, and Richard Linklater to inquire about the preparation for their new films, urging them to work diligently and focus on their projects. Quentin, on the phone, complained about how several of his scripts weren't good. He was gearing up to shoot Kill Bill next.
"Kill Bill? Sounds good. Have you done any budgeting? If you need investment, you can approach Guess Pictures," Link twirled a pen as he spoke.
"Are you sure you want to invest? I did a preliminary budget with Lawrence, and if we go by the specs in the script, it'll take at least $40 million for production, which is quite a hefty investment."
"That's not too much; if it can be done well, a little extra cost is fine," Link said casually.
"My last film cost $12 million and only brought in over $4 million at the North American box office, resulting in a $10 million loss for Miramax. Are you not worried I might botch this project with an investment of $40 or $50 million?" Quentin chuckled.
"Don't worry about that, go ahead and make it. A few million on a small project isn't a concern for Guess Pictures."
Quentin was momentarily speechless at Link's confident remarks.
"Get your shooting plan together first, and bring it to me for approval. Make sure it's quick. Don't drag this year's matters into next year," Link said before hanging up on Quentin without waiting for him to say more. He got up and returned to the studio to finalize the edits for The Rock, completing the film editing in three weeks and sending it to the effects department for post-production.
*****
https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.