Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 437 Career Crisis
After the box office rankings were released, people in the film industry looked at the box office data of various companies and felt a mixture of envy, jealousy, and deep concern.

Including the previous two years, Guess What Films has topped the annual box office revenue chart for three consecutive years.

The results are very consistent.

There are no signs of decline so far.

Of the seven major film studios, Warner Bros. had the best box office performance, but its total North American box office revenue last year was only $7.33 million, which was more than $500 million less than Guess Movies.

The remaining studios are even further behind Guess the Movies. Compared to the box office data in 95, the total box office share of the seven major studios has shown a clear downward trend.

Judging from this situation, Guess the Movies has become the dominant force in the North American film industry, while the seven major studios are now fighting for survival to avoid becoming the first of the eight to be eliminated.

"Haha, luckily we established a partnership with Guess Movies in advance, otherwise we would have been under a lot of pressure in the next few years."

In the office of the president of Disney Studios, Michael Ovitz said with a smile while smoking a cigarette.

Michael Eisner said, "There are definitely many benefits to working with Guess Movies. If it weren't for the movies produced by Guess Movies, Columbia Pictures' performance last year would have been worse than Universal and MGM. We should definitely strengthen our cooperation with Guess Movies. But Michael, I heard a rumor that you have a plan for Guess Movies. Is that true?"

"Uh...cough cough cough..."

Ovitz choked on a puff of smoke, coughing violently as his mind raced.

How did Eisner know about the poison pill plan?

Has this been leaked?
Even his own name was leaked?
Since Eisner has also heard about it, will Link hear about it, and what will he think if he does?
Do you think there might be any changes to the collaboration between the film studio and Disney?
If something unexpected happens and Disney and Guess the Movies fall out, wouldn't I become the culprit?
Ovitz wiped the sweat from his brow, hesitated for a moment, and then revealed the 'poison pill plan' in detail.

After hearing this, Eisner frowned even more deeply. "Are you sure the script for 'The Rock' is really bad?"

"It's mediocre, the content is empty, the plot is very boring, and it has almost no chance of being a box office hit," Ovitz said definitively.

Eisner shook his head. "Link is a world-class director and screenwriter. His vision surpasses all of ours. To date, none of the scripts he has chosen have lost money. Not to mention that he is personally directing this movie, the probability of it losing money is even smaller. You may think this script is bound to lose money, but in his hands it may become a box office hit. Link has done this before."

"This"

Ovitz's expression changed drastically. Could it be that his plans over the past two years were wrong? "No, he also misjudged a few movies, such as 'The Extraordinary Murder,' 'Before Sunrise,' and 'The Anatomy of Grey,' all of which were box office failures."

"These are art films with good reviews, so it doesn't matter if they lose money."

Seeing that Ovitz was about to argue, Eisner waved his hand, "No need to argue. What I mean is that since this news has reached me, it must have reached Link as well. It's just that he hasn't reacted yet, which means that he and Guess Movies are very confident in this movie and are not worried about losses."

If this movie doesn't lose money after its release, Link might not bother you. But if it does lose money, Guess Movies' box office revenue will decrease, and the seven major studios might benefit from it, but our cooperation with Guess Movies will definitely be affected.

Therefore, before "The Rock" is released, I suggest you apologize to Link first, persuade him not to release the movie, and agree to bear some of the losses. Link is a proud man, he trusts his own judgment, and will definitely insist on releasing the movie.

At this point, Link will bear the greatest responsibility. Even if the film loses money after its release, it won't be your fault, and it won't affect the cooperation between our two companies. What do you think of this suggestion?

Ovitz sighed inwardly, his face grim.

The sigh wasn't because he was saddened by having to confess to Link, but because he often felt a sense of powerlessness and inferiority when facing Eisner and Link.

In the past, in the talent agency industry, he considered himself the best in the world, the most powerful in Hollywood, and an all-powerful figure in the entertainment industry.

But after entering the much larger circle of the film industry, he had to admit that in the past he had been too narrow-minded and often had a narrow view of the world, which led to so many arrogant ideas.

The film industry is different from the talent agency industry. It involves more interests, is more complex, and is more competitive, making it more difficult to succeed.

He originally thought that after becoming co-president of Disney Studios, he could easily handle the position and even have the opportunity to replace Eisner and become the true head of Disney.

But judging from this incident, I am a bit inferior to Eisner. Eisner is a deep thinker. After hearing about the poison pill plan, he immediately thought of a remedy: to send him out and let Link humiliate him to avoid a direct conflict between the two companies.

And he had no choice but to agree.

If they don't do this, and "The Rock" suffers a box office loss after its release, Link will definitely become hostile towards him once he learns the truth, and might even abandon the collaboration with Disney. If Disney wants to continue its partnership with Guess the Movies, it might sacrifice Link to appease him by firing him.

Based on his understanding of Eisner, even if it was someone of his own race, Eisner would choose this method without any mercy.

Ovitz gave a bitter smile. He had racked his brains to come up with a plan that he thought would give Link a hard time, but before the plan could be implemented, he had to accept the bitter fruit of failure.

The film industry is indeed a very complex and complex place.

“Okay, I will call Link to explain the situation, apologize to him, and try my best not to affect the cooperation between the two companies.”

Michael Ovitz said.

Eisner nodded slightly, took a drag of his cigarette, and said, "Don't use that method against Link again. For someone of his caliber, petty tricks won't work. Even if his movies lose hundreds of millions of dollars, it won't affect his status in the industry or his billionaire status. If you want to deal with him..."

Eisner sighed. "Forget it, we're on a different level from him, and we look at things differently. No matter how clever our methods are, they'll probably just seem childish and ridiculous to him. So let's not think about how to defeat him, but rather how to strengthen our cooperation."

"I see!"

Ovitz gritted his teeth and nodded like a schoolboy.

Back in his office, Ovitz sat on the sofa with a gloomy face. After a few minutes of sullen silence, he kicked over the low table in front of him. A crystal vase with several white carnations on it fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

After a moment, he stood in front of his desk and called Link, but couldn't get through after two attempts.

Ovitz angrily slammed his fist on the table again.

More than half an hour later, Lewinsky called to ask what was wrong, and told him that Link was filming a movie and didn't have time to answer the phone, but that she could relay any important information he needed.

Ovitz chuckled and said it was nothing, then asked Lewinsky how the weather was in London, advised her to take care of her health and skin, and mentioned that they were of the same ethnicity, asking if she had ever been to Israel.

Before he could say more, Lewinsky said she was busy and didn't have time for small talk, and asked if he had anything else to say. If not, she hung up.

Ovitz, his face dark, said yes, that he had done something wrong and wanted to apologize to Link, hoping she could tell Link to call him back when he had time.

Lewinsky said "okay" and then hung up the phone.

"Bichi!!"

As Ovitz listened to the dial tone, he cursed and slammed the phone down on his desk.

He was furious. In the past, he was the king of Hollywood, and no one in the entertainment industry dared to disrespect him, not even the president's secretary.

And now, a mere assistant, a shameless woman who has secured her position by her body, dares to hang up on him. This is utterly insulting.

If it weren't for Link's sake, he would definitely have found a way to kill this bitch.

Jingle bells~~

The phone on the table suddenly rang.

Ovitz's expression changed, and he forced a smile as he answered the phone. However, the voice coming from the receiver was rather rough; it was Baridil's voice. Ovitz immediately put on a sullen face and lazily asked him what was wrong.

Barrydiller said he had something to discuss with him, about joining forces to deal with Guessing Movies. Langmeyer, Harvey, and a few others were also there.

Ovitz refused without even listening to a word.

He felt that Eisner was right about something: Link was not on the same level as them. The methods they racked their brains to come up with might not even amount to anything for Link.

Rather than doing that, it's better to wait and see. After all, Disney isn't his, and Link is a Disney shareholder. Even if Disney goes bankrupt, it won't affect him as the co-CEO. He doesn't need to take risks for such a thing.

(End of this chapter)