Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 444 American Beauty
Back at the company, Link called together Jon Gordon, head of the publicity department, Remy Scola, vice president of public relations, and Sean Don, head of legal affairs, for a meeting to discuss the recent negative media reports attacking him.

"Boss, these recent negative news stories are all pretty old and lack originality, so they don't have much impact. We're dealing with them and trying our best to prevent these rumors from affecting the movie's box office."

Remy Scola said.

Link nodded. After the release of "The Rock," several media outlets started rehashing old news, bringing up the news that broke during the March Oscars about Michelle Obama and other women getting pregnant, trying to portray him as a scumbag who liked to play with women and disrespected women's rights, and calling on the public not to support his movie.

However, since his chaotic private life was no secret, the news did not cause much of a stir after it was released.

"Boss, according to our investigation, those media outlets have close ties with Miramax Films. This hype also seems to be the work of the Weinstein brothers. We just don't know if Michael Ovitz of Disney was involved."

Jon Gordon said.

"Treat it as if it exists, regardless of whether it exists or not. In Hollywood, all your colleagues are enemies."

Link said, arms crossed.

"Boss, I've heard from lawyers that Harvey Weinstein was sued by women for engaging in sexual favors at the company, and not just once, but Harvey always managed to settle things with money. Should we use this to deal with Harvey?"

Sean Tang suggested.

“That’s a good idea. You guys start by searching for evidence, the more the better. Ideally, you should get Harvey to spend some time in jail.”

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements later."

After the meeting, Link continued working in his office.

After the public relations department of Guessing Movies intervened, negative news about Link and Guessing Movies in the media decreased rapidly, while positive news about Link increased.

This includes recent developments at Link and Diana's charitable foundation, Link's close and stable relationships with his girlfriends, Link being a responsible and good man, and Guess What Films plans to invest $2 million this year to support independent films, among other things.

Although some media outlets are still speculating about Link's scandals, guess what? The film studio is incredibly wealthy, investing several times more money and resources in the media than its competitors, who simply can't stop them.

Thanks to the strong public relations efforts of Guessing Pictures, public opinion has gradually improved.

In its second week of release, "The Rock" grossed $4451 million in 2914 theaters across North America, bringing its total to $9564 million in two weeks. It is projected to gross over $100 million in North America in 15 days.

Based on this data, the recent negative news has not had a significant negative impact on the film.

However, starting this week, The Rock is also facing some challenges in the film market, as Universal Pictures' Jurassic Park 2 was released on Friday, grossing $4297 million in 3281 theaters across North America in its first three days.

If "The Rock" hadn't been released for a few more days, it would have been difficult for it to maintain its position as the top-grossing film this week.

Because "The Rock" and "Jurassic Park 2" both had very high box office returns, almost taking up 80% of the market share, other film companies were afraid of clashing with these two blockbusters and dared not release their films at the same time.

This has led to the continued popularity of "The Rock" and "Jurassic Park 2".

Guess what? Films and Universal Pictures also put a lot of effort into promoting the film, using various methods to encourage audiences to go to the cinema.

These two films have become the most-exposed films in the media recently.

"The Rock" earned $3547 million in its third week of release, bringing its total box office to $1.31 million.

Jurassic Park grossed $1.02 million in its opening weekend, successfully taking the top spot at the box office.

Guess what? Another movie is coming out this week: Steven Soderbergh's "The Master," starring George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, and others.

The production cost was $2500 million.

The story revolves around robber Jack and his criminal accomplice Buddy attempting to escape from prison. Federal detective Karen initially tries to stop them, but during the chase, she develops feelings for Jack and her mindset changes. However, when the police launch a massive manhunt for Jack, Karen becomes determined to arrest him herself.

It grossed $1335 million in its opening week in 2016 theaters, a mediocre performance.

Based on the current situation, breaking even shouldn't be a problem.

However, director Steven Soderbergh was disappointed with the opening weekend box office figures.

In the past few years, he has made three films, but none of them have performed well at the box office, and none of them have been as successful as Link's films.

Steven Soderbergh began to wonder if he had exhausted his talent after making Sex, Lies, and Videotape, and was no longer suitable to be a director.
Link and Quentin comforted him, telling him not to be defeated by the current difficulties. Although "The Master," "The Untold Story," and "The Anatomy of Grey" had only mediocre box office results, their quality and word-of-mouth were quite good; they were all above average films, just not in line with market trends. As long as he persisted in making films and made more, one day he would be able to make a film that was both critically and commercially successful.

"Link, is it really possible?"

In the bar, Soderbergh asked with a worried look, "Why is it that every film you make is a success, while every film you've made since 92 has lost money, while none of my films, except for my debut, have been big hits? Tell me, what's the difference between us?"

Link laughed and said, "I guess it's because I have a better grasp of market trends and only make movies that audiences like, while your movies have a stronger artistic flavor and a higher viewing threshold, so the box office is naturally not as good."

“Steven, stop thinking about it. I’ve seen through it all now. We’re just ordinary directors, while Link is a freak director. We can’t compare ourselves to him. If we do, we’ll only end up collapsing.”

Quentin shook his beer can and glanced at Link with a displeased expression.

“Steven, Quentin is right. Compared to Link, we can’t be considered successful, but compared to other directors in the industry, we’re pretty good. You don’t need to be discouraged at all,” Robert Rodriguez laughed. “Besides, with a big boss like Link supporting you in making movies, you don’t have to worry even if you lose a hundred million.”

Steve Soderbergh sighed, touching his bald head. "I'm not comparing myself to Link, I'm comparing myself to myself. When I debuted in '89, I made 'Sex, Lies and Videotape,' and it became a hit on a whim. Now, I make a movie very seriously, and I've made three in a row without any success. This situation makes me very anxious. I don't know what attitude I should have towards making movies. Should I just make them casually?"

“You can give it a try. Anyway, with Link supporting you, you don’t need to worry about not having investors,” Rodriguez said.

Steve Soderbergh shook his head. "Making movies is too expensive, so we have to be careful when filming."

Quentin took a swig of beer. "Link, three movies again this year?"

"Here's the plan."

Quentin curled his lip and said, "If you keep working yourself to the bone like this, constantly dating girlfriends and changing pretty female assistants, I bet you'll collapse from exhaustion sooner or later."

"I won't."

Link laughed, holding his beer.

After the party, Link returned to the company to continue preparing for his new film, "American Beauty".

This film tells the story of the various problems faced by a middle-class American family.

The protagonist, Lester, is a middle-aged advertising executive with mediocre social status. At home, he is oppressed by his materialistic wife and looked down upon by his daughter, leaving his life feeling empty and repressed.

Later, Lester became infatuated with Angela, his daughter's classmate. This desire compelled him to rebel against his mundane life. He quit his job, worked out, and took drugs in an attempt to recapture the passion of his youth.

Meanwhile, Richie, the boy next door, begins secretly filming his daughter Jane and falls in love with her. Their romance rekindles a spark in Lester's life, reminding him of his own youth.

But before Lester could truly 'awaken,' Richie's father mistakenly believed that he and Richie had an immoral relationship, and broke into the villa on a rainy night and shot him dead.

On his deathbed, Leicester had an epiphany about the beauty and absurdity of life.

The film exposes the hypocrisy and alienation of the 'American Dream' through the collapse of an ordinary middle-class American family, revealing how material success, social norms, and false appearances lead to the distortion of human nature.

It also criticizes the prevalence of consumerism and the ugliness of a utilitarian society, calling for stripping away pretense and confronting one's true self and desires.

The core conflict of the film's story lies in the fact that "human beings want to pursue freedom and happiness, but are always imprisoned by social rules," which has many similarities to the "Eight Sufferings" in Buddhism: not getting what you want, being with those you hate, and being separated from those you love.

The story is profound, deeply analyzing the spiritual predicament of the American middle class, and also has a certain dark humor. Link decided to make it into a film immediately after reading the script last year.

In terms of casting, most of the original cast members were retained.

Kevin Spacey was cast as the male lead, and Diane Lane played the wife, a role she excels at.

The role of the daughter was given to newcomer Amy Adams, the role of the blonde classmate to Charlize Theron, the role of Richie to Casey Affleck, and the role of the grumpy neighbor to Chris Cooper.

Filming began in early June and is expected to be completed by the end of August.

Before filming, Link traveled to Seattle and Paris to check on his girlfriends' health and prepare them for their next pregnancy.

However, their due dates are all after July, so there's no need to be too nervous for now.

(End of this chapter)