Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 391 Harvey's Test: What if we lose money?
“Link, look at Edward Norton, he’s so listless. You’re probably driving him crazy.”

On set, Renée Zellweger smiled as she watched Edward walk away with his head down.

"It's great. Every time you get into character, it's a learning experience for the actor. The more times you get into character, the more mature your acting skills become."

For directors, using language to guide actors into their roles is a common practice. Link likes to use this method when filming, and actors from Leonardo DiCaprio to Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Edward Norton have all experienced it. Although they may feel bad after filming, they also gain a lot.

"Yes, my acting skills have grown little by little through working with you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, which also proves that your method is correct."

Renée Zellweger leaned close to him, her hand stroking his firm back. Although she was a voluptuous woman, she appeared petite and dependent at that moment.

"Boss, Harvey Weinstein is calling. Do you want to answer now?"

Lewinsky came over with the phone.

Link took the phone and asked Harvey what was wrong.

Not long ago, Star Weekly reported that Harvey also participated in a meeting of the presidents of the seven major film studios to discuss how to deal with him and Guess the Movies.

Therefore, Harvey is also a suspect.

However, Link knew Harvey was a bad seed and had never considered him one of his own, so he wouldn't be surprised if Harvey actually got involved.

"Haha, Link, how's the new movie going?"

Harvey asked with a chuckle.

"Great, everything went smoothly."

Link took the water glass that Renee handed him and took a sip.

"Link, you're really something. Something so serious happened last week. Anyone else would have been terrified, but you were still able to calmly film on set. Your mentality is really strong, I admire you."

Harvey showered Harvey with flattery on the phone.

"It's nothing. I'm a thriller director, so I'm pretty brave."

Renée Zellweger and Monica Lewinsky couldn't help but laugh when they heard his words.

Harvey laughed heartily and praised him for his humor.

The crew had a lot of work to do, and Link wanted to end the call, but Harvey was very talkative and didn't want to end the conversation. They talked about everything from the shooting to the summer movie season, and then about the collaboration between the two companies.

In May, after filming for "Fight Club" wrapped up, Harvey mentioned a new collaboration, asking when he would have time to discuss the script and for the two companies to reinvest in a film project.

Link agreed.

After hanging up the phone, Link continued filming.

After his guidance, Edward Norton performed somewhat better, but still did not meet his requirements. Link then instructed the crew not to speak to Edward Norton.

On the one hand, we created a closed environment for him to more easily immerse himself in the role; on the other hand, we also created psychological pressure through this method.

Although this approach is somewhat cruel, finishing filming a day earlier can save more than $100,000 in costs, making this cruelty worthwhile.

After finishing filming in the afternoon, Link arranged the crew's work and took Renée Zellweger, Emmanuelle Béart, Maggie Cheung, Jodie Foster, and Gong Li, who had come to visit the set, back to his Manhattan mansion to rest.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Harvey held the phone, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

His purpose in calling Link this time was to test Link's attitude, to see if Link suspected him of being the murderer after the 'shooting incident'.

Link sounded calm on the phone just now, showing no signs of anything unusual, and did not refuse to work with Miramax Films.

This situation was difficult for Harvey to understand.

He didn't know if Link truly had no suspicions, or if he was just pretending not to care while secretly plotting something. If it was the former, they could cooperate as before.

If it's the latter, Harvey is most afraid that Link will manipulate the film projects, deliberately using unprofitable film projects to scheme against Miramax.

Given Miramax's current financial situation, if it loses money on a few more film projects, the company's production and distribution departments will struggle to operate, and he may be laid off by its parent company, Disney, in advance.

Harvey cursed angrily, hating Link to the core. If Link hadn't been so outstanding, and if the film company hadn't eaten up so much of the box office, he wouldn't have been forced to play the villain. It was all Link's fault. People like Link should be shot dead.

Jingle Bell!
The phone rang again before I could even hang up.

Vice President Scott Greenstein called to tell him that, guess what? The film distribution department called to say that post-production on Fight Club was complete and they were planning an internal screening soon, asking if he wanted to attend.

Harvey said he wanted to go and see for himself.

On Friday, Fight Club held a preview screening at a theater owned by Guessing Movies.

Since Link and lead actor Edward Norton were busy filming and didn't have time to come back for the preview screening, the main attendees were the film crew and producers from both companies.

The cast includes Daniel DeVito, Joe Ferrer, the Harvey brothers, director David Fincher, lead actor Brad Pitt, and supporting actress Angelina Jolie.

Fight Club is adapted from Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name.

The film unfolds from Jack's perspective, a corporate employee suffering from insomnia who gradually loses himself in a mundane consumerist life.

During a business trip, he met the charismatic soap merchant Taylor, and the two founded an underground 'fight club' to vent their repressed emotions through fighting.

Because there were many similar people in society, the club quickly expanded into a nationwide antisocial organization shortly after its establishment, and at the same time, Taylor gradually lost control.

The final part is the climax of the film: Tyler is actually Jack's split personality, and all their destructive behavior is Jack's subconscious rebellion against the real world.

Ultimately, Jack redeemed himself by 'killing' Tyler.

It's a very profound cult film.

clap clap clap!
After the movie ended, a round of enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted in the audience.

Harvey was also very satisfied with the film. He approached Joe Ferrer and Jon Gordon to discuss the film's distribution, hoping that the two film companies would jointly promote and distribute the film.

Joe Ferrer had no objection; joint promotion could mobilize more funds and resources to promote the film, and the box office results might be better.

After the Weinstein brothers left Guess the Movies, Bob asked Harvey, puzzled, "Why did we get involved in the promotion and distribution of Fight Club? Promoting a movie costs a lot of money. With that money, we could invest in one or two more movies and make more money in the film market."

Harvey smoked a cigarette, gazing at the bustling streets outside the window. "Did you read the article in Star Weekly last time? Someone falsely accused us of collaborating with the seven major film studios to gang up on Link."

"Isn't this just a rumor? The mastermind behind the shooting is Puff Daddy. What does this have to do with the release of Fight Club?"

"It has a lot to do with me. Compared to the police saying that Bragging Daddy is the murderer, Link may believe the article in Star Weekly more. In other words, he also has some suspicions about me. If he regards me as an enemy, we must be more careful when cooperating with Guessing Pictures and make more preparations to prevent being deceived by Link."

On the other hand, "Fight Club" performed well at the box office, so it should do well too. Our joint promotion and distribution with GuessGuessFilm will also help prevent GuessGuessFilm from manipulating box office figures.

Harvey said slowly.

Bob nodded without arguing further, but said worriedly, "Guess what? The studio spends a lot of money promoting each movie. If we participate in the promotion, we'll probably have to spend a lot of money too. If Fight Club is a big hit, we'll make back the money, which is good. But if the movie's box office is lower than expected, we'll probably lose even more."

"Will not!"

Harvey frowned and interrupted him, “Fight Club is the script that Link chose. Link has a good eye; he rarely makes mistakes when choosing movies. Besides, we just saw the movie, and it’s of very good quality, so the probability of this movie losing money is extremely small. You don’t need to worry about losing money.”

Bob thought of the plot of Fight Club and nodded in agreement with Harvey's words. The movie couldn't possibly lose money, and they could make even more money by cooperating with Guess the Movies' marketing and distribution.

(End of this chapter)