Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion Chapter 421

Chapter 421 Warner's Compromise

"What's up?"

 “Anna called and Bob Weinstein wanted to talk to me.”

Link put down his phone and smiled.

 “What does he want to talk to you about?”

Ivaca said while holding a piece of strawberry with a fork.

"This is what I'm curious about, so I agreed to him. Compared to the arrogant and grumpy guy like Harvey, I prefer to deal with profit-seeking businessmen like Bob."

"I heard from Catherine that after "Scandal Project", "Bridesmaids" became a hit again, and now many production companies want to cooperate with Palm Beach Pictures. Maybe Weinstein also has this intention."

Evaka guessed.

"can you?"

Link thought for a moment and was not sure, so he simply put down his work and went to eat with Ivaca. He just looked at her cold and dignified face and her **** red lips, and couldn't help but hold her face and kiss her.

 “Stop making trouble, I'm eating.”

Ivaca gave him a cold look.

Link smiled softly, took out a box and put it on the dining table, pushing it in front of her. It was a relatively large box. Obviously, it contained not a diamond ring, but a watch.

 “Why buy such boring things.”

Ivaca glanced at it and asked calmly.

"I also thought about giving you a diamond ring, but it doesn't seem solemn and romantic enough to give it to you on this occasion, so I will give you a watch first, and don't be cold-faced. Anyway, this is what I have been doing in Zurich for a long time. I decided to buy it for you, let's take a look.”

Link said.

Ivaca opened it and took a look. It was an elegant and simple gold watch that looked very expensive.

She picked it up and put it on her white and tender jade wrist, which made her arms look whiter and more delicate. Matched with her beautiful hand shape, it was a perfect match, like a work of art from the Palace of Versailles.

 “Your taste in buying gifts is a little better than last year.”

Ivaca raised the corners of her lips with a faint smile on her face.

"Learn from you!"

Link raised the juice glass and touched it to her.

Ivaca smiled softly, blinked her eyelashes and looked into his eyes and asked: "Would you be angry when you saw in the newspaper that you relied on me to start your career?"

"Of course not. You are a princess-like woman. You are beautiful, intelligent, noble and generous. You are unique in the world. You can tolerate my shortcomings and accept me as your boyfriend. This is my honor. From the media and netizens, I can feel their strong envy and jealousy in the comments. Not only am I not angry, I also find it cool.”

Link shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

Ivaca looked at him and smiled slightly, then took the initiative to come over and kiss him.

Link felt that it was not enough, so he put his arms around her waist and kissed her lips passionately, with a sweet and moist strawberry-flavored fruity taste, which was more mellow and wonderful than the taste of the collector's edition of Lafite red wine.

 But everytimesheasksmedoIlookokay

ˆˆIsay

 There's notthing that I would change

 Causeyou'reamazing

Just the way you are

While the two were kissing passionately, a pleasant sound of music came from the living room. It was Link's version of "Just the Way You Are" and it was also Iwaka's cell phone ringtone.

 “Let me go, someone's calling.”

Ivaka pushed him away with a rosy face, and raised her soft jade hands to cover his lips, preventing him from continuing to kiss her neck.

Link took his hand away from her waist unhappily and said, "Why don't you just leave her alone, it will definitely be nothing serious."

“It can't be like this. We are the person in charge of the company and are in charge of the overall situation. Usually small things will not find us.”

Evaka kissed him, straightened out the hem of her skirt that was messed up by her, got up and went outside to answer the phone.

Seeing her graceful back, Link felt a little helpless. He had experienced more than a dozen outstanding women. He believed that his understanding of women was deeper than ordinary people, and his attraction to women had reached a very high level.

Generally, as long as a woman shows a little bit of mating pheromones, they will eagerly pounce on him, offer everything they have, and be at his mercy.

Few women can remain calm and rational while being intimate with him, including strong women Marion Goliath and Beyoncé.

 Even though they look strong and mature.

 But in this kind of matter, he will eventually become a puddle of water, and he will be completely obedient to him, and even agree to help him break through the bottom line that he was unwilling to try before.

The only opponent before was Taylor. Even if Taylor's body turned into a puddle of water during his attack, he could still remain rational and calm and would not completely follow his wishes.

　Sometimes even if the body cannot move, she still has to firmly grasp the initiative, like a woman whose body and soul are separated.

And now he met another one. Evaca would be very involved in intimacy, and her whole body would become as soft as a bone. But once she encountered external interference or touched her bottom line, she would immediately wake up and act rationally. Cope with everything.

Link thought that if he married her, his married life would probably be a protracted war.

“It's Catherine calling. Guess what it's about?”

Ivaca walked into the restaurant swayingly, the corners of her beautiful lips raised slightly.

 “That's good news, right?”

"Yes!"

“I think about it, Catherine should be preparing to hold a press conference at the company at this time. Is there any other victims who have contacted her and are ready to support us?”

Link asked.

"It has something to do with Warner Pictures, but it's not other studios that support us, but Warner Pictures president Toby Emmerich just called Catherine to agree to the conditions we proposed before and re-arrange people to discuss compensation. , I hope we can cancel this reception.”

Iwaka chuckled.

 “That's good news indeed.”

If we go to court with Warner Pictures, the final result may be that both sides lose.

 To be precise, Palm Beach Pictures' losses will be greater.

  Warner Pictures is large and can withstand hardships. After this incident passes, Warner's board of directors only needs to fire a few of the executives involved and use its media to do some positive publicity to calm the dispute and restore its reputation.

And Palm Beach Pictures will not only lose tens of millions, but will also have a strong enemy, which is not a good thing for a new company.

Now Warner Pictures has proactively proposed a settlement and promised to compensate for the losses.

 Palm Beach Pictures can not only recover its losses, but also establish an image in the industry that is not to be messed with.

If other cooperating companies want to take advantage of Palm Beach, they will probably think twice about whether it is worth it.

 The ones who played the biggest role in this matter were undoubtedly Ivaca and Catherine.

In an era when large studios and independent studios coexist, many independent production companies and independent producers have suffered losses at the hands of several major film companies, and have had their box office stolen by the big six or seven. Movies that were originally profitable , but when settling the accounts, a large amount of six large sums of money had to be paid.

 To go to court to sue, you first need to have enough evidence.

The major theater chains are closely interdependent with the six major film studios and will not hand over real evidence easily to avoid offending the six major movie studios. If the theaters do not have movies to show, their profits will drop significantly.

Even if there is evidence, the process of litigating a lawsuit is very expensive. The money is even more than what was swallowed up by the Sixth National Congress.

 After hearing about this incident, Ivaca and Catherine decisively arranged for people to investigate. They were not afraid of wasting money and only demanded fairness and justice. Their attitude was very tough.

This attitude is probably one of the reasons why Warner Pictures took the initiative to seek peace.

Link thought for a moment and suddenly discovered something strange.

"Catherine and I analyzed before that a lot of scandals about you suddenly broke out in the media today. It was probably the handiwork of Warner Pictures. They wanted to use this method to disrupt our layout. But as soon as the matter started, Warner Pictures proposed reconciliation. Their attitude seems to have changed a little too quickly.”

Iwaka nodded and said: "When I saw the news in the morning, I thought it was the handiwork of Warner Pictures, but after thinking about it, I felt it was wrong. Stealing box office is negative news, and Warner should find a way to cover it up, not Take the initiative to expose the news that the two parties are negotiating, let alone use this kind of thing to hype up the scandal and aggravate the situation.

Thinking about it now, there should be other forces involved behind this incident, perhaps Warner's competitors, who want to detonate this incident to damage Warner's reputation. "

After hearing her analysis, Link felt that there was another possibility. The main focus of this scandal was his relationship with Ivaca. The person who caused the trouble seemed to want to see him and Ivaca break up, and at the same time, he would be hurt. reputation.

From this point of view, the love rival Kunas is the most suspicious, because he and Ivaca break up, and the other party will benefit the most.    —

As for the speculations about Ivaca and Link, Pam Abdi, who was attending the aftermath in the conference room of Palm Beach Studios, had different ideas.

 He had a sullen face and looked across the conference table with a depressed expression.

There, Palm Beach Pictures President Katherine Baker was reading carefully with a contract that Warner's legal department rushed out more than two hours ago.

The contract fully complies with the requirements put forward by Palm Beach Pictures, filling the box office shortfall of more than 56 million, and paying 2 million in investigation fees.

This is the first time Warner Pictures has issued such a contract, and it will be an indelible black spot in his career.

Originally, they had no intention of compromising with Palm Beach Pictures. Even if it went to court and the case was fought for three, five, or ten years, they would not admit it.

But Palm Beach Pictures was too cunning. During their negotiations, they actually arranged for people to secretly take photos, and then used the scandal to hype it up, turning a small matter into a major event that attracted national attention.

While all the media were paying attention to the scandal, Ivaka used the "Hollywood Reporter" reporter to expose the "box office stealing incident", attracting more people's attention and putting pressure on Warner.

Although Time Warner is a media giant and owns dozens of TV stations, newspapers, and magazines, it is unable to influence current public opinion when it comes to hot social events. To eliminate the negative impact of these public opinions, the cost will be even greater.

 Warner Pictures executives felt the pressure and did not want to be blamed by the board of directors, so they sent him over for peace talks.

Thinking of this, he also had to lament that Palm Beach Pictures handled this matter very cleverly. They were keenly aware of Warner's mentality of not wanting to make a big deal, and went in the opposite direction to make the matter bigger, leaving no room for error.

This desperate style of doing things also makes Warner feel wary.

only

 Pam Abdi touched her chin and looked at Catherine opposite, as well as "Bridesmaids" producer Kristen Wiig and three lawyers, secretly guessing whose idea it was?

 Catherine is an agent and has been in the industry for a long time. She is well-informed and knows the influence of Warner Pictures in the industry.

If faced with Warner, she should adopt a more diplomatic way to handle this matter.

As for Kristen Wiig, she is only a second-tier actor in the industry and would not have the courage.

Neither any of the other executives at Palm Beach Pictures.

Then the remaining answer is Link or Iwaka. Considering that Link attended the film festival in Cannes some time ago, he was not deeply involved in the company's affairs.

 This matter can only be the work of Ivaca.

Thinking of the woman Ivaca, Pam Abdi narrowed his eyes. Even if he had been married and experienced many beautiful women, he couldn't help but feel sad when he saw Ivaca.

Ivaca not only has top-notch looks and a great figure, but what's even more amazing is her elegant conversation, shrewd and capable handling style, and her cool, dignified and inviolable aura.

 These are like drugs to men and have a fatal attraction.

The first few times he was negotiating with her, he had to concentrate and stop staring at her in order to behave normally when talking to her.

 Once you focus on her appearance and conversation, you will be deeply attracted to her and fall into her trap without realizing it.

That is really a dangerous and beautiful woman.

 Fortunately she is not here today.

Pam Abdi thought to herself.

"President Abdi, I suggest adding a time limit to this compensation agreement. After signing the contract, Warner Pictures needs to pay the first batch of box office shares within 15 days after the end of the screening period of "Bridesmaids", and other shares need to be paid within six months. The remaining 2 million investigation fees need to be settled immediately when the contract is signed, do you agree?”

 Catherine said as she put down the contract.

Pam Abdi sighed secretly and responded with a stern face.

For this incident of being caught stealing box office, he didn't feel ashamed, he just felt helpless.

  It is common for major film companies to secretly divert a portion of the box office when releasing films from independent production companies. This is a routine practice, but this time many problems arose.

 The first is that the box office of "Bridesmaids" exceeded expectations.

At the test screening, the distributor evaluated the film's box office potential as , and the North American box office is expected to exceed 100 million.

When I told Palm Beach Pictures, I only said 70 to 80 million, and the rest was room for maneuver.

Since the North American box office of "Bridesmaids" far exceeded expectations, theaters have made bigger moves.

Almost half of the box office was taken in the first three weeks. The action was too big and the traces were too heavy, making it easy for people to detect.

  Second, there are problems with the cooperation between Warner Pictures' distribution department and marketing department.

 When "Bridesmaids" was initially released, Warner Pictures obtained all the distribution rights in North America. Later, the distribution department did not notify the marketing department and transferred the distribution rights in more than 20 states to Lionsgate Pictures without authorization.

 At the time of release, the box office in the regions released by Lionsgate Pictures was high, while the box office in the regions released by Warner Pictures was generally low, and problems immediately arose.

If the publishing department and the marketing department had acted in unison, they would not have been easily caught.

Third Warner Pictures encountered a very tough opponent this time.

Link is not short of money, and Evaka is not short of connections. The two of them are not afraid of not winning the lawsuit together. The two of them are very well-known in the United States. Even if the matter involving them is small, it will change after being reported by the media. Become a big deal.

 After comprehensive consideration, Warner Pictures executives decided to compromise and reduce major issues to minor ones.

 Pam Abdi looked back on the whole thing and felt that it was so unlucky. If she had been more careful and changed to another film company, everything would have been different.

“President Abdi, do you have any questions?”

 Catherine signed the contract and looked at Pam Abdi with a complicated expression and asked.

“President Baker, after the contract is signed, we hope that Palm Beach Pictures will destroy all data to avoid information leakage.”

Pam Abdi said with a serious expression.

“No problem, we at Palm Beach Pictures are an honest company and all the terms printed on the contract will be strictly implemented.”

 Catherine said calmly.

Pam Abdi twitched the corners of her mouth, understanding what Catherine meant. She was satirizing Warner Pictures for not abiding by the contract agreement.

If Warner is trustworthy, it will strictly abide by the contract when it signs the film distribution agreement, and all film profits will be distributed in accordance with the prescribed proportions, and there will be no box office theft.

He didn't want to refute this matter. After quickly signing the contract, he took the people and left Lionsgate Pictures.

Catherine also announced to all media through the public relations department that the press conference originally scheduled for three o'clock in the afternoon was postponed and the specific time will be awaited for the next notification.

 Journalists also left the Palm Beach Pictures office building disappointed after receiving the news.

 Originally, the "box office stealing incident" has the chance to become a hot event in the future.

Now that there has been a sudden change, the media have speculated that Warner Pictures should have reached some kind of compensation agreement with Palm Beach Pictures, so Palm Beach Pictures did not continue to expose this matter.

From this point of view, Warner Pictures did steal the box office when it released "Bridesmaids", and it was even caught by Palm Beach.

 Many reporters saw the potential of this news to become a big hit and prepared to dig deeper. However, due to the intervention of Warner Media Group, they finally dropped the matter.

Only people in the film industry are still paying attention to this matter. Their focus is not on Warner Pictures stealing the box office, but on "Bridesmaids" and the production company Palm Beach Pictures.

 One month after its release, "Bridesmaids" has grossed a total of US$228 million at the global box office.

 This is the data after part of the box office revenue was stolen.

 It is rumored that the actual box office revenue is more than 300 million US dollars.

 The film cost only 32.5 million yuan to produce. Within one month of its release, it grossed 200 to 300 million U.S. dollars at the global box office, ranking among the top 15 in the annual box office rankings.

There is no doubt that this is another dark horse movie at the box office, and it is also the second blockbuster movie invested and produced by Palm Beach Pictures.

At this time, not only Weinstein Pictures thought of cooperating with Palm Beach Pictures, other film companies were also very interested in the film projects being prepared by Palm Beach, hoping to make a fortune together.

 For a time, Palm Beach Pictures became the most popular film studio in Hollywood.

 (End of this chapter)

Chapter end