Conquer America, Start with a Boxing Champion

"Action movies seem to be becoming less and less popular."

At the dining table, Ivaca said with a piece of pineapple on her fork.

"There is no market for old-style action movies that only focus on muscle. Disc war, science fiction, and comedy are all pretty good. For example, Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible" series, as well as Marvel movies and DC animated movies have all achieved good box office results. Not bad, and "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" are also considered youth + action movies."

Link said.

"Recently, the performance of several veteran action movies has been mediocre. Will "The Expendables 2" lose money?"

Ivaca asked.

"Don't be afraid, with me here, the North American box office will hit 100 million yuan."

Link laughed.

Ivaca pursed her seductive lips and smiled: "Yes, you are the best."

"Ahem~"

Selena puffed up her round face and glared at the two of them dissatisfied, "I'm still here, can you guys stop being so bored? I can't even eat anymore."

"Okay, I almost forgot you were here. Selena, how is the recording of your new album going?"

Ivaca smiled.

Selena was busy filming movies last year and did not release a new album. This year she has shifted her career focus back to music and is preparing to release her fourth solo album.

"Still recording."

Selena rolled her eyes, fell on Link, and smiled sweetly, "Brother, you haven't written a song for me in a long time. How about writing another one for me sometime?"

"I don't have time. I have to train and film. I'm too busy."

Link laughed.

"How could it be? You have nothing to do every day. You are the daddy at home. You are the most idle among us. No, you have to write a song for me, or I will cry to you."

Selena pouted her lips and said.

"Okay, you are also an actor. If you can cry in three minutes, how about I write you a song."

Link laughed.

"hateful!"

Selena pursed her mouth even higher and sucked her nose hard a few times. Unfortunately, she still couldn't cry. She threw herself on Ivaca's shoulder and whimpered, "Eva, look at him bullying me. You Please help me teach him a lesson."

Ivaca stroked her hair and smiled, and said to Link: "Taylor often says that you write songs very quickly. When you have inspiration, you will help Selena write one."

"Yes, Taylor often said that you can write a No. 1 song in two hours and shoot a music video with over one billion views. You can definitely help me in two hours. Write a song."

Selena said pretending to wipe her eyes.

Link rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, then nodded, "You said you were also writing songs. When will you let me listen to it? Find some inspiration."

"I write?"

Selena scratched her face in confusion and reluctantly agreed.

Selena ran away after eating, which made Link have to suspect that the purpose of her coming here was to write songs for him, rather than just thinking about the three little guys and coming to play with them.

When it comes to buying a plane, after discussion with Iwaka, Link chose the Gulfstream G650 business jet, which is the most popular among the many private jet brands.

Gulfstream is currently the largest manufacturer of luxury business jets. Since the 1970s, it has sold more than 3,000 business jets, half of which are luxury models. The fastest speed is Mach 0.925, nearly 1 times the speed of sound, and the flight altitude is about 13,000 meters. , this model is equipped with the most advanced safety devices, with fewer accidents and the highest safety factor.

The aircraft is 38 meters long and equipped with bedrooms, kitchens, bars, entertainment rooms, etc. It accepts customized interior decoration and can accommodate 32 passengers, including crew members.

Priced at $85 million.

My father-in-law also bought a plane in 2010, a Boeing 757, which cost US$100 million and could seat 150 people.

Although Link can also borrow it, he and Iwaka are both short of money now, so it is more convenient to buy one.

After confirming the aircraft model, he arranged for someone to contact Gulfstream Aerospace to discuss purchasing the aircraft and see if there were any ready-made aircraft. If so, he could take delivery of the aircraft directly. If not, he would wait for a new one.

With a private jet, it will be more convenient to visit Chris Liu, Nozomi Sasaki, and Taeyeon abroad in the future.

At the same time, in order to ensure his own safety, he decided to sign up to learn airplane driving skills and also practice skydiving.

——

By mid-March, "The Expendables 2" starring Link and Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Alice Lee and others was released worldwide.

Prior to the release of this film, several action movies starring veteran action actors generally performed poorly at the box office.

First of all, in October last year, the action movie "Red Alone" starring Stallone had a box office of less than 10 million in North America and only 21.94 million US dollars in the global box office. The producer lost more than 50 million.

"The Last Stand", which was released in January, currently only has a global box office of 45 million, with a loss of more than 30 million.

There was another action movie in January, "Broken City" starring Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg. The global box office was only 34.73 million, and it is expected to lose more than 30 million.

Against the background that these action movies have suffered box office losses, the media is not optimistic about the box office performance of "The Expendables 2". Some media even hyped that the movie would lose money before it was released. Lionsgate Pictures will be in this big box office Take a tumble on the project.

"Loss, must be loss."

Link's opponents looked at the newspapers and prayed silently.

With much attention, "The Expendables 2" was released.

It grossed US$57.35 million at the box office in 3,887 theaters in North America during its first three days, ranking first at the box office for the week.

This result is not too explosive, but it is not too bad either.

Relatively speaking, the overseas box office performance was good, with US$96.8 million in the first week in 45 overseas countries and regions.

The global box office is expected to be around US$400 million.

The film's production cost + publicity cost was US$115 million.

As one of the distributors and producers, Lionsgate Pictures is expected to earn around US$100 million.

In terms of word of mouth, there are both praise and criticism.

The comprehensive media review score is 73 points, the Rotten Tomatoes freshness score is 64%, 46 people support it, 23 people oppose it, and the Yahoo audience B+.

Fans continue to praise and support Link's performance. They think Link's fighting moves are very cool and his performance has improved a lot compared to the previous film. It is a rare highlight of the film.

For Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis, movie fans think that they are too old, their performances are too greasy, and they often like to tell greasy lines and outdated and long-winded jokes, which are very boring.

The audience also rearranged the order of the movie's starring roles, believing that Link should be the leading actor, Jason Statham as the second male lead, and Stallone and Schwarzenegger as supporting roles.

Audiences are more interested in the easter eggs released at the end of the movie.

At the end of the movie, "Trench" played by Schwarzenegger was injured and expressed his intention to quit the Suicide Squad, and introduced a new member to Link, who was Trench's daughter.

The new team member is Jessica, played by Scarlett Johansson. When she appears, she has blond hair, wears leather clothes and leather pants, looks beautiful and has a hot figure.

Seeing the beautiful Jessica, Link, playing the role of a playboy, couldn't help but whistle, looking like he wanted to hook up.

The beautiful Jessica stepped forward with a flying kick and pinned him to the ground while lying on the crossbar.

Acting very strong and cold.

The audience loved this set and clapped and cheered when they saw this clip.

When promoting the movie, the crew said Scarlett Johansson would be the next leading lady.

After receiving the news, fans expressed their support and wanted to see what kind of sparks Link and Scarlett could create in the next movie.

Twelve days after the film was released, the North American box office exceeded 100 million, making it the first Lionsgate film in 13 years to achieve a box office of over 100 million in North America.

Overseas box office sales reached a total of 185 million US dollars in 12 days, and the box office in China alone reached 32 million US dollars.

The distribution work in China is handled by Wanda Pictures.

Wanda Pictures is also the producer of this movie and worked very hard during the announcement. In addition, Jet Li and Alice Lee also have relatively high box office appeal in China.

This also forces Lionsgate to consider retaining one or two Chinese actors when conceiving the sequel.

In mid-March, when Link went to China for promotion, he accompanied Chris Liu at the Hong Kong Island Hospital to give birth to a daughter, a little guy who looked very beautiful just after birth.

Chris Liu wanted to name the little ones Liu Ruonan or Liu Tienan, but Liu's mother slapped her in the face and asked them to think of another nice name.

Link and Chris Liu spent a long time in the ward looking through the Xinhua Dictionary and named her Liu Jiani. Jiani is a good girl, and Adjani is a French beauty. The little girl will definitely be more beautiful than Adjani when she grows up.

After hearing this, Mother Liu looked at the two of them with an illiterate look, and decided to use this as a nickname. The nickname should be given by an educated person, and it can't be worse than 'Yifei'.

After spending three days with Chris Liu and Xiao Jiani on Hong Kong Island, Link continued to promote the movie with the team.

——

By the end of March, he returned to the United States to participate in the WBO light heavyweight title challenge against his old acquaintance Andre Berto.

In the 2008 National Golden Gloves Amateur Championship Finals, Link and Andre played on behalf of the East and West regions.

Andre entered the professional boxing world in 2010 and has participated in 16 professional matches. His current professional record is 15 wins and 1 loss. Last year, he challenged IBF light heavyweight Chad Dawson and was defeated.

This year in the WBO light heavyweight title challenge qualifying tournament, he defeated four opponents and qualified to challenge Link.

Since the two are old rivals, this match has also attracted the attention of many boxing fans through media promotion.

The match between Link and Andre Berto was held at the Gila River Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, which is also a venue that often holds boxing matches and has a large number of boxing fans in Arizona.

On the day of the competition, 38,000 spectators came to the scene, filling the auditorium. Most of them were fans of Link, as well as many acquaintances from amateur competitions, including Anderszej Fonfara, Jones Fullers, Mario... Morales et al.

Everyone wants to see if there will be any surprises when the two meet again after five years, such as Andre Berto counter-killing Link and becoming the new light heavyweight overlord.

This is of course impossible.

The match between Link and Andre lasts two rounds.

In two rounds, Link knocked down Andre four times, showing a huge difference in strength. Link also successfully won the title defense.

"Link is getting more and more powerful. I really don't know who can defeat him."

‘Mantis Hand’ Andrzej looked at Link on the ring and sighed.

"time!"

Morales said, crossing his arms.

"What?"

"Time can defeat Link. In twenty or thirty years, Link will be old. I will let my son defeat him."

Morales chuckled.

"Haha, this is a good idea."

"According to what you said, Link will dominate the boxing world for more than 20 years. God, what will the boxing world be like in more than 20 years? I think Link will make enough money in a few years and will consider retiring."

Small-headed black man Jones Foles said.

"Impossible, this guy is now worth tens of billions, the most valuable professional boxer in the history of boxing. If he wanted to retire, he would have retired long ago."

Morales said.

"Tsk tsk, 10 billion dollars, it's really an exaggerated number. If I had this money, I would never stay in the boxing ring and get beaten."

Andezjie sighed and smacked his lips.

"That's because you are not strong enough, you will get beaten on the stage. Link is too strong. He is the only one who beats others on the stage. There is no better career than making money while beating people."

Morales said enviously.

On the ring, after the referee finished counting down, Link pulled up Andre Berto and said with a smile, "How do you feel, man?"

"I'm fine."

Andre Berto wiped the sweat off his face with his arm and leaned against the ropes and said, "Link, you've improved a lot. In 2008, you still needed tactics to beat me. Now, whether it's strength or speed, you have the strength to crush me. I'm no match for you."

"You're not bad either. You've improved a little compared to 2008. After I give up all the gold belts in the light heavyweight class, you'll also have the strength to compete for the world champion."

"Well, I hope I can do it."

Andre Berto said helplessly.

In the super middleweight class, if Link didn't give up the gold belt, no one else could touch it. The same is true in the light heavyweight class. With him, all boxers will be suppressed.

There's nothing that can be done about it.

Even when Link said this, no one would think it was arrogant, but it was an ironclad fact.

"Let's go. Ander Zejie and the others are here. Let's go for a drink."

Link invited.

"Sounds good."

After the match, Link and Andre and others spent half a day in Phoenix before they separated.

After winning this match, Link's professional record reached 31 wins and 31 KO wins in 31 matches.

He earned 68 million US dollars in this match, which was slightly lower than last year's matches. The main reason was that the gap in strength between the two sides was large, and the result of the match was not difficult to guess. In addition, Link's matches were relatively short, which would also affect PPV income.

But now he is a superstar with many fans. He can make some money from ticket and advertising sponsorship and peripheral product sales for each match.

This match also set several new records, such as the most expensive professional boxer and professional match in boxing history, and the most consecutive KO wins in history.

After returning to Los Angeles, Link continued to train and prepare for the next heavyweight match.