Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 453 Overseas Box Office Results Revealed, Deepest Regret

"God help me, may Titanic not be a huge box office hit."

Harvey made a new wish.

Unfortunately, God couldn't help him. In its second week of release, "Titanic" grossed $7209 million in 2711 theaters, a stronger box office performance and attendance rate than its opening week, something many films can't achieve.

Meanwhile, Titanic was also released in more than 50 countries and regions overseas, distributed by Guess Movies.

The film grossed $2.55 million in its opening week in Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, China, and other countries, setting a new record for the highest-grossing opening week for a North American film in an overseas market.

$2.55 million in its opening weekend? More than its domestic box office?

"Guess what, the film studio is going to make a killing."

"I really envy Link. That bastard has never failed in film investment."

"Haha, the people at Fox must be regretting it to death. They could have made a lot of money by investing another $1 million, but they couldn't stick to it."

The opening weekend box office results for "Titanic" caused a huge sensation in Hollywood.

In 1995, Guess Movies invested $1 million to acquire the overseas distribution rights for "Titanic".

Many people were skeptical of the deal, believing that the investment in Guess Movies would be a waste and that the company's development would suffer a severe blow.

But now, the movie has grossed $2.55 million in just one week in overseas theaters. Guess what? The studio broke even in just one week, and the rest is all profit.

Based on the film's critical reception and box office performance overseas, Total Cinema magazine estimates that Titanic's overseas box office will be no less than $10 billion.

If this is true, guess what? A $1 million investment in the film industry would yield a return of more than 10 times the profit.

This deal is such a good deal.

"Damn! How could this movie have such a high box office?"

In the Fox Studios president's office, Barry Diller angrily threw down his newspaper, his face turning extremely sour.

As an investor in "Titanic", he hoped the film would be a box office success before its release, so that the company would not suffer losses.

After the first week's box office results for The Big Ship came out, he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that The Big Ship could recoup its costs and that he wouldn't need to be criticized by the board for it.

In its second week, The Big Ship's box office revenue actually increased, reaching $1.24 million.

Based on this data, The Big Ship has enormous box office potential, with a high chance of exceeding $4 million or even more in North America, which would make Fox Studios a fortune.

Barry Diller was overjoyed and couldn't stop smiling as he received congratulations from his friends.

But before he could be happy for long, the overseas box office results for "Titanic" were released.

It grossed $2.55 million in its opening week in overseas markets.

This result is incredible, even better than the domestic box office in the United States. I guess the studio might be the biggest winner of the Titanic project.

Upon receiving the news, Baridil was filled with remorse, regret, and endless sorrow.

When he was investing in Titanic, he and the Fox management team saw huge losses in ocean-themed films like Cutthroat Island and Waterworld, and lost confidence in the Titanic project, so they decided to reduce their investment in the film.

They intended to use this method to force director Cameron to revise the script and save costs.

But director James Cameron was stubborn and firmly disagreed, even finding Guess Movies to invest.

Guess what? Film Studios also took this opportunity to get involved in the film project.

If Fox hadn't stopped investing in the big ship and hadn't sold the overseas distribution rights to Guess the Movies for a mere $1 million...

After the release of "Titanic", Fox Studios was able to make a fortune in the global film market with this movie, and may even become the most profitable film company in Hollywood.

As the CEO of Fox Studios and the leader of the Titanic project, he also garnered countless praises and envious glances.

However, because he sold the overseas rights to "Titanic" to Guess Movies for a pittance, Guess Movies got a huge bargain and made an extra billion dollars.

Now his peers all regard him as a fool, a sucker, a CEO with no vision and extremely stingy, a negative example among film company management.

Link, however, was regarded as a shrewd film investor, an enviable guy.

"Damn it!"

Barrydiller angrily clenched his fist, filled with deep regret for not continuing to invest in "Titanic," allowing Guess the Movies to reap the huge profit. If he could turn back time two years, he would have worked tirelessly to persuade the board to continue investing in the "Titanic" project, regardless of how much James Cameron spent on the film; he would have continued to support its production.

He would never give Link the opportunity to interfere in this project.

Unfortunately, time cannot be turned back, and he could not undo the company's losses or the damage to his personal reputation.

Jingle bell~
The red landline on the table rang. Barry Diller took a deep breath, picked up the phone, and heard Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox Studios, on the other end.

Murdoch asked him if there was any chance of getting back the overseas film rights to "Titanic"?
Barrydiller said no. After filming was completed, the master tapes of "Titanic" were split into two parts, one for Fox and the other for Guess the Movie. It is said that the version given to Guess the Movie, edited by Link himself, had slight differences from the American version. They could not control the film with the master tapes.

Murdoch inquired whether there were any problems with the contract signed by both parties, and whether it was possible to reclaim the copyright by exploiting loopholes in the contract.
Baridil said no.

When signing the cooperation agreement, GuessSee Pictures was very careful. They arranged for more than ten professional lawyers to draft the contract and added many supplementary clauses to prevent loopholes in the contract.

They also cannot use the contract to reclaim the film rights.

Murdoch listened without saying anything more, simply grunted in response, and hung up the phone.

Barrydile knew Murdoch was angry.

He could understand that.

If the overseas rights to "Titanic" hadn't been sold to Link at a bargain price, Fox Studios could have earned over a billion dollars more, and Murdoch himself and his shareholders would have made a lot of money as well.

But now that money has been stolen by Guess the Movies.

No one can remain calm and not get angry when faced with something like this.

Jingle Bell!
The phone on the table rang again. This time it was Lang Mayer calling. Lang Mayer's question was similar to Murdoch's: whether they had any way to regain control of the overseas distribution rights for the large ship.

Baridil said no, firstly because there were no loopholes in the contract signed by both parties;

Secondly, Guess what? Film Studio is also a large company with plenty of money and manpower, so they can't succeed in bullying others by taking advantage of their power.

"it's a pity!"

Ron Mayer sighed regretfully, expressing his disappointment that Fox could not reclaim the overseas rights.

After Langmeyer, several acquaintances called to ask the same question, hoping that Fox could win back the overseas screening rights for "Titanic" and prevent Guessing Movies from making money.

After hearing that the money couldn't be taken back, everyone felt sorry for him. Fox Studios spent more than four years painstakingly making a good movie, only to find that after the movie's release, Fox Studios became the biggest winner. This kind of thing is outrageous.

Barry Diller put down the phone with a dark expression. He had initially felt some regret about the huge overseas success of "Titanic," but after hearing everyone's sighs, his regret turned into anger.

If Fox hadn't interfered recklessly when Titanic was short of funds, they would definitely have continued to invest, and ultimately all the box office revenue and all the credit would have gone to Fox.

Now, because of the interference of Guessing Movies, he and his company have not only lost a lot of money, but have also become a laughing stock in the industry.

He won't settle this score with Guess Movies easily; he'll definitely get his revenge if the opportunity arises in the future.
-
Titanic has grossed $1.69 million in the United States in its first three weeks, showing a strong upward trend in box office revenue.

However, box office growth was even better in overseas regions.

After two weeks of release overseas, The Big Ship has grossed $5.13 million in 76 countries and regions.

With the film's release in more overseas regions, its box office is expected to grow even more in the coming months.

Meanwhile, "Saving Private Ryan," which was released in November, also achieved great success in the global film market.

The film grossed $2.84 million in North America over nine weeks and $6.35 million worldwide, with a projected global gross of over $10 billion.

Titanic and Saving Private Ryan performed very strongly at the box office, almost dominating the North American and overseas box office markets.

As the distribution company for "Big Ship" and "Big Soldier," Guess What Films has once again become the object of envy and jealousy among countless peers.

When the executives of the seven major film studios talked about Guess Movies, they were all so envious that they gritted their teeth, wishing they could destroy the company as soon as possible and take all of Guess Movies' box office revenue.

After the two films became huge hits, the shareholders of Guess the Movies kept calling Link, praising his excellent leadership, keen investment acumen, and as an outstanding business manager and a very trustworthy partner. The shareholders used almost every word they could think of to praise him.

The media also expressed their admiration for Guess Movies' performance this year.

Link remained calm in the face of such praise, not letting it cloud his judgment.

(End of this chapter)