Hollywood Director 1992

"Buried" grossed $1.588 million in its first week of release across 28 theaters under the United Cinemas banner.

This result ranked eighth among films released in the same period, successfully surpassing "Chaplin," which had been in theaters for two weeks, becoming a dark horse at the box office.

"Buried" currently has a cumulative box office of $2.16 million, 108 times its production cost.

After United Cinemas announced the data, media outlets such as the "Los Angeles Times," "Variety," and the "New York Post" all reported on the box office information of "Buried."

They praised the high quality of "Buried" and the support it received from movie fans.

They also praised Link's talent, noting he held multiple positions and excelled in all of them, making him a 'rising star' among the new generation of young directors.

In its film review section, "Variety" called "Buried" a 'hidden gem' of this year's Sundance Film Festival, regretting that it did not receive any awards.

The "New York Post" analyzed "Buried" from an artistic perspective, believing that its artistry and quality were in no way inferior to award-winning films such as "Reservoir Dogs" and "Shallow Grave."

Influenced by these reports, Link's reputation in Hollywood also rose rapidly.

"Link, you were right, your movie can increase the theater attendance rate," Jerome Preston exclaimed on the phone.

"Jerome, I told you, I'm an honest man and I don't lie."

"Okay, I admit, I underestimated the potential of 'Buried.' I apologize."

"It's okay, 'Buried' was able to be released thanks to your help."

"Haha. You're welcome. 'Buried' was released entirely because of you. You insisted on getting 'Buried' into theaters, and no one could dissuade you. At the time, William and I thought you were crazy, a guy who wouldn't turn back until he was bloodied and bruised. Now, these box office numbers prove you were right. 'Buried' has great potential at the box office."

"I just wanted to take a gamble at the time. Fortunately, I won."

"Yes, congratulations!"

After finishing the call, Link walked into the Chicago-United Theatre to watch a movie and participate in the roadshow for "Buried" there.

In the second week, due to the good box office results, the release of "Buried" expanded to 116 theaters in North America.

In addition to the 28 theaters under United Cinemas, there were also 88 theaters under United Artists Theaters, totaling more than 2,600 screens.

The theater chains also increased their publicity efforts, arranging many film promotion activities, from the United States to Canada, from one city to another.

Link spent his days either on roadshows or on the way to roadshows.

In order to get more box office revenue, he was happy to participate in these activities, unlike before the film's release when he begged the media for attention, but the media ignored him.

In its second week of release in 116 theaters, "Buried" grossed $3.895 million, ranking fourth in the weekly box office charts for the same period, behind only the newly released erotic thriller "Basic Instinct," the comedy sports film "White Men Can't Jump," and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle."

It grossed $230,000 more than the popular film "Chaplin" this week.

The fact that "Buried," a film with an investment of only $20,000, surpassed "Chaplin," a film with an investment of $15 million starring the popular Robert Downey Jr., in the weekly box office charts caused a stir in the media.

With the release of this week's box office results, "Buried" has a total cumulative box office of $6.05 million.

"6.05 million? Impossible! How could so many people watch such a terrible movie? Are those audiences brainless?"

Robert Downey Jr. threw down the newspaper in annoyance when he saw that "Buried" had a higher box office than "Chaplin."

"In terms of quality, 'Buried' is indeed not comparable to 'Chaplin,' but 'Buried' created extremely high box office results with extremely low costs. Its topicality is relatively high, allowing 'Buried' to gain a lot of attention in a short period of time, and the box office results are getting better and better," said Downey's agent, Jimmy Rich.

"Hype? Tell Carolco Pictures, we also need to increase the film's publicity efforts. 'Chaplin' cannot be suppressed by a terrible movie with a cost of only $20,000," Robert Downey Jr. shouted.

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

—

"6.05 million in two weeks? How is that possible? Do audiences even like such hardcore movies?"

In an apartment near Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Quentin Tarantino flipped through the newspaper in his hand and was startled by the data on it.

He had seen "Buried." From a professional point of view, the film's quality was very good, but the scenes were too monotonous, and the content was too hardcore, not to mention that the lead actor was Link, an Asian face.

How could such a film be released in the United States and achieve such high box office results?

"Reservoir Dogs" has only grossed $2.2 million worldwide after more than a month of release, a small loss compared to its production cost of $1.2 million.

Fortunately, the sales of "Reservoir Dogs" DVD videotapes are good, so he and the investors didn't lose money.

Link's film, on the other hand, had an investment of only $20,000 and grossed more than six million in two weeks of limited release.

The box office return ratio reached 300 times.

Unbelievable.

"Maybe we were all wrong. In fact, audiences really like this kind of more innovative movie," said producer Lawrence Bender, who was also looking at the film reviews of "Buried" in the newspaper.

"Link is really a lucky guy."

Didi Di ~

The phone on the table rang. Quentin picked it up and glanced at it. It was Harvey Weinstein's call. He was curious about what Harvey wanted to talk about at this time.

"Quentin, I heard you mention Link last time. Do you know him?"

"That's right. Before moving, he and I lived in the same neighborhood."

"Quentin, I want to meet him. Can you help me contact him?"

"Harvey, have you taken a liking to 'Buried'? You said last time that 'Buried' couldn't be a big hit."

"Damn it, don't mention the past. People always make mistakes."

"Haha, I can help you contact him, but he's been promoting it outside recently, so he may not have time."

"You can ask him if the distribution rights for 'Buried' are still in his hands. I'm willing to pay a high price to buy them."

"Okay, I'll tell him."

Hanging up the phone, Quentin spread his hands.

"Did you hear that? It's not just me who was wrong. Harvey didn't expect that 'Buried,' which was made for $20,000, could get so much box office revenue. It's a box office miracle this year."

"Link is really an amazing guy," Lawrence Bender praised.

—

"6.05 million box office, 300 times the box office return ratio? Was I really wrong?"

East Hollywood Boulevard, New Line Cinema, President's Office, Robert Shaye held a copy of the "Los Angeles Times" with his thin fingers, staring blankly at the data on the newspaper with his blue-gray eyes.

Seeing "Buried," he couldn't help but think of the young man who greeted him warmly and asked him how he was doing that day downstairs at New Line Cinema. The young man enthusiastically recommended his film "Buried" to him when he saw him.

Robert Shaye often encountered people like him after becoming the president of New Line Cinema. After New Line Cinema became a famous film production company, the number of people who came to the company to recommend themselves increased exponentially.

He was not surprised by Link's behavior.

Originally, he didn't want to pay attention to him, but he heard Link's introduction to the plot of "Buried" was quite interesting, and Link's strong confidence and outstanding temperament when speaking were very different from those nervous and restrained directors.

It was also for this reason that he agreed to take a look at "Buried" before getting in the car.

After watching "Buried," he didn't feel very good. One actor, one scene, and it was still talking about 'anti-war,' a relatively serious topic.

Plus, the male protagonist has an Asian face.

After he and the heads of the distribution department watched it, they unanimously believed that "Buried" lacked selling points, did not meet the current audience's tastes, had no room for profit, and was not worth spending money to buy and distribute.

After rejecting Link, he also heard news from his peers that Link continued to look for other film companies to cooperate with, looking for more than twenty, without exception, all were rejected.

Seeing that his peers also rejected him, Robert Shaye was even more convinced that the decision to reject "Buried" was not wrong.

But no one expected that, a few weeks later, Link would promote the film himself through self-funded distribution, gradually stirring up the film's popularity, allowing "Buried" to enter more theaters, and the box office results of "Buried" would get higher and higher, with limited release for only two weeks, earning more than six million US dollars.

Creating a box office return ratio of 300 times, this data will continue to expand as the film is released.

At the same time, this data is also like a loud slap in the face.

Pa!

It slapped him, Harvey, and many of his peers hard in the face.

They were blind and mistook gems for stones.

This matter will probably become a very classic joke in the Hollywood film circle in the future.

"Oh, I'm old, I'm old, I was wrong," Robert Shaye touched his thin old face and picked up the phone to call the film distribution department, asking them to send someone to contact Link to see if there was a chance to get the North American distribution rights of "Buried" from him.

Although Link has a distribution agreement with the theater chain, the theater chain is not as professional as a film distribution company in promoting films, and lacks funds and distribution channels.

In order to prevent losses, the theater chain will maintain a small-scale distribution, sometimes with a distribution cycle of more than a year.

If "Buried" wants to get more box office revenue, the best choice is to cooperate with a film distribution company and use the distribution company's channels to expand the film's influence.

Robert Shaye is not sure whether Link will cooperate with New Line, but he also wants to try to win it. If he can get the distribution rights of "Buried," the company can also benefit from this big-selling movie.

In addition, Link has shown extraordinary talent and potential in directing films, and is also an object worthy of making friends with.