Hollywood Director 1992

"Last night, you tied Monica up like that, was it some kind of Japanese rope technique? How do you know that kind of thing?"

Early morning, Beverly Hills, sunlight filtering through the mist onto the running track. Sophia, while jogging, turned her head and looked at Link with curiosity.

She was wearing a tight-fitting sports vest, revealing her fair and sexy neck and collarbone. Her lower body was in black sports shorts, her legs long and straight, making her look full of energy.

With each stride, her golden ponytail swayed behind her, fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and her cheeks were flushed a faint red from the exercise.

"What Japanese? This technique originated in China.

In ancient times, in order to restrain prisoners from escaping, they would tie them up with ropes, some binding their hands and feet, some binding their whole body.

Later, this technique spread to Japan, where the Japanese used it in bed, and even made it into movies. There was a Japanese prop master in my original crew who knew this skill, and I learned a few tricks from him."

Link said as he ran.

"Monica looked very happy last night. I want to try it too, okay?"

Sophia blinked her eyes, her voice with a hint of coquetry, her eyes full of anticipation.

"Okay, as long as you like it."

Link ruffled her hair. Sophia glared at him, suddenly jumped on his back, and hugged his neck tightly.

Link smiled and continued running forward with her on his back.

"Ah, slow down, my chest hurts!"

Milla Jovovich saw the two joking around, smiled, and followed with her long legs.

After the morning exercise, Link returned to the living room of the villa.

Except for Monica, everyone else was up. Some were doing aerobics, some were applying face masks, some were putting on makeup and changing clothes. Only Qian Qian was still yawning on the sofa, as if she hadn't had enough sleep and was forced to wake up early.

When Link returned, Liu Xiaoli instructed the maids to serve breakfast, and the family began to eat.

In the dining room, sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the oval dining table. There were twenty seats on both sides of the table, and more than a dozen kinds of breakfast were arranged on the table, with various flavors. The air was filled with the aroma of coffee and toast.

"Link, take a look at these."

Liu Xiaoli was used to reading the newspaper while eating. After flipping through several newspapers, she handed them to Link with a solemn expression, "After the box office results of 'The Man from Earth' came out, many media outlets took the opportunity to sing us down, and also mentioned the upcoming failure of the second round of financing. These news are very detrimental to us."

Link took it and casually flipped through a few pages.

The three newspapers were the "Los Angeles Times," the "International Herald Tribune," and the "Wall Street Journal," all of which reported the news of the box office failure of "The Man from Earth" on the front page.

The "Los Angeles Times" published a commentary article saying, "A star-studded cast cannot hide the box office failure. Guess Guess Pictures' box office myth is shattered?"

The commentary specifically mentioned the production team of the film. "The Man from Earth" was produced and artistically directed by the legendary director Francis Coppola, and the screenplay and editing were personally handled by the current hottest film director Link. Sophia served as both director and producer. The cast was also full of veteran actors, including Richard Kaster and Talia Shire.

In terms of the lineup, the film's box office should not be too bad.

In addition, the film is adapted from Link's best-selling novel "Interstellar Crossing."

Since it was put on the shelves in 1992, this novel has sold more than 120 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling works in the history of science fiction literature.

"The Man from Earth," as a classic chapter of it, has been regarded as a treasure of science fiction literature by countless book fans with its profound philosophical thinking and imaginative imagination.

For this reason, when this novel was announced to be adapted into a movie last year, the expectations of book fans were pushed to the peak.

With a luxurious lineup, a popular IP, and Guess Guess Pictures' cost-no-object publicity.

Before the film was released, many media predicted that "The Man from Earth" was very likely to become the first film in North America in 1995 to break 100 million at the box office, and Guess Guess Pictures would also rely on this film to create new glories.

However, the film has only grossed $1.21 million in three weeks since its release.

Far below expectations, it can be called the first box office disaster of the year.

The content reported by the "International Herald Tribune" was similar, saying in a teasing tone, "Lucky Link seems to have lost the box office password!"

Link's "Buried," filmed in 1991 with $20,000, grossed $75 million worldwide; in 1992, he once again filmed "Paranormal Activity" at a cost of $20,000, with a global box office exceeding $600 million;

At the end of the same year, he created "The Blair Witch Project" with the same low cost, which won 300 million US dollars in the global box office.

These brilliant achievements have made people full of confidence in Link's low-cost movies.

When Guess Guess Pictures initially claimed to have filmed "The Man from Earth" with $20,000, many people believed that the film would continue this myth.

The result was not.

The box office failure of "The Man from Earth" not only exposed the lie that Link mastered the 'box office password,' but also cast a shadow on the development of Guess Guess Pictures.

The focus of the "Wall Street Journal" is concentrated on the second round of financing for Guess Guess Pictures.

The financing cycle of most companies usually does not exceed four months. Companies that can successfully complete financing within this time often mean that their development prospects have been recognized by both the market and investors.

Once the financing time exceeds this time limit, it means that the company may be in some kind of predicament, and the uncertainty in the financing process will also increase.

Last December, Guess Guess Pictures announced the launch of its second round of financing in a high-profile manner, with a valuation of up to 1.5 billion US dollars. However, more than two months have passed, but the investment market has been unusually deserted, and no investment company has been willing to take over.

The reason is that the market value quoted by Guess Guess Pictures exceeds investors' psychological expectations, and the recent fluctuations in the film market have further amplified the investment risks, and investors have chosen to wait and see.

The commentator of the "Wall Street Journal" believes that if Guess Guess Pictures can launch several films with outstanding box office performance during the financing period, it may be able to rekindle the enthusiasm of investors and let them see the company's potential and the value of the stock.

However, the reality is not optimistic.

The first film launched by Guess Guess Pictures this year, "The Man from Earth," suffered a box office failure, which not only made the company's financial situation worse, but also seriously dampened investors' confidence.

The newspaper's commentator concluded sarcastically at the end of the article: "Guess Guess Pictures is in an awkward situation of 'having a price but no market' - no matter how high the valuation is, it cannot withstand the market's cold shoulder."

Link looked at the newspaper and twitched the corner of his mouth.

As soon as the news of the poor box office of "The Man from Earth" came out, so many people gloated. It seems that the 1.5 billion valuation did offend many people.

"Link, how should we deal with these negative reports?"

The latest novel is first published on 69shu.com!

Liu Xiaoli asked with a solemn expression.

"Don't worry about it. We are a film company. Everything depends on the box office. If the box office performance of the film is good, what we say will be more powerful. If the box office performance is not good, no matter how good the public relations are, it will be useless. Ignore these negative news for now. When the box office performance of the next film improves, the media will take the initiative to help us promote it."

"The next movie is 'Rumble in the Bronx,' and the box office situation is probably not going to be very good."

Liu Xiaoli said worriedly.

"It won't be too bad either. Kung fu movies also have a market in North America. Even if it's a little worse, it doesn't matter. In addition to these two movies, we also have several movies with great box office potential this year. You don't have to frown, be careful of getting wrinkles."

"Ah? Are there wrinkles? Where?"

Liu Xiaoli quickly touched the corner of her eyes, and was relieved when she didn't find any wrinkles.

"No, you look like an eighteen-year-old girl."

Link hugged her and kissed her.

"Kiss again."

Milla and Sophia cheered from the side, and Qian Qian also clapped and cheered.

Liu Xiaoli blushed and pushed him away, returning to her seat to eat.

"Hi, good morning everyone!"

Monica walked into the dining room with a smile, wearing a silver suspender short skirt, revealing her fair skin, curvy figure, and fair and rounded long legs.

In the exposed areas, there were a few faint linear red marks on her arms, calves, and fragrant shoulders.

These were the marks left from playing around last night, with an unusual sexiness and charm.

Although she played a little crazy last night, Monica was in great spirits today, her eyes as bright as stars, her cheeks flushed with peach-like blush, and her skin crystal clear and moist.

The few brown spots on her face had also magically disappeared, and the whole person was radiant, as if she was several years younger.

"Monica, what's wrong? You look great."

Several women couldn't help but leave their seats and surround her to examine her carefully when they saw Monica's condition.

"It's nothing, I just had a better rest last night."

Monica smiled happily.

"Last night? We all know what happened last night. Can doing that kind of thing also be beauty treatment?"

Liu Xiaoli touched Monica's skin, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Monica, is it true?"

Sophia and Renée Zellweger asked with great interest.

"Maybe, I feel great today. If you are interested, you can try it too,"

Monica smiled slightly and leaned down to kiss Link.

Liu Xiaoli and the others also stared at Link closely, their eyes becoming hot and fiery.

Link couldn't help but chuckle when he felt their gazes, "Not now, there's still work to do later."