Hollywood Director 1992

"What to do? Should we continue with the negative publicity to suppress the box office of 'Final Destination'?"

Lang Meyer asked, smoking a cigarette in the office.

Michael Ovitz frowned, looking at the data in his hand, three vertical lines creasing his brow.

"Final Destination" had a production cost of only $13.5 million, and it grossed $69.59 million in its first two weeks, performing no less impressively than "The Firm."

At the current rate, "Final Destination" would easily break $100 million at the North American box office in two weeks.

So, could "Final Destination" reach $190 million in 15 weeks?

It didn't seem impossible.

What to do?

Continue trying to suppress the box office of "Final Destination"?

Over the past two weeks, he had used a lot of funds and network resources to suppress the film's box office, but to little avail.

Continuing to suppress it would require even more funds, effort, and time.

Not suppressing the film could mean losing the bet.

Now, many people in Hollywood knew about this bet. If he lost to Link, he would not only lose a lot of money but also affect his power and status in Hollywood.

He would lose both substance and face.

Michael Ovitz touched his bald forehead and began to regret participating in the bet.

Since July, in order to win the bet, he had wasted too much time, energy, and network resources on this matter, to the point that even the work of CAA had been delayed a lot, and the board of directors had been quite critical of him.

Having invested so much, losing this bet would truly mean a complete defeat.

He, Michael Ovitz, the number one on Hollywood's power list, must not lose, especially not to a 22-year-old Chinese kid.

Bang!

Michael Ovitz slammed his fist on the desk, his expression becoming fierce and determined.

"Continue the suppression! We cannot lose this bet."

"Continuing the suppression requires more funding. Since the release of 'Final Destination,' the word-of-mouth has been very positive, with over 80% being positive reviews. If we hadn't done negative publicity, the positive reviews would have exceeded 90%. This also makes it more difficult to continue with negative publicity, unless we have tens of millions of dollars, it won't affect the overall reputation of 'Final Destination' at all."

Vice President Jay Moloney said.

"Tens of millions of dollars?"

Richard Gere's lips twitched when he heard the number. Robert Downey Jr. and the others had borrowed millions to participate in the bet, and then borrowed millions again to help boost the box office of "The Firm."

If they were to raise funds again to suppress the reputation of "Final Destination," many people would probably go bankrupt on the spot.

"Continuing to suppress 'Final Destination' with public opinion is probably not feasible, it costs too much. We've invested a lot already, and if we continue to invest and lose, the problem will be significant,"

Lang Meyer said.

Richard Gere nodded slightly.

"Besides suppressing the box office of 'Final Destination,' what else can we do?"

Michael Ovitz asked, spreading his hands.

Tom Cruise said, "Maybe we don't need to be too nervous. 'Final Destination' only saw a surge in box office due to Halloween. Now that Halloween is over, the box office will definitely drop this week. It's almost impossible for 'Final Destination' to reach $202 million."

Michael Ovitz and the others also hoped he was right, but their opponent was Link. Link is very clever and very good at marketing movies. His movies often have surprising performances at the box office.

If, a few weeks after the release of 'Final Destination,' Link suddenly broke his promise and used the media to hype the movie, like he hyped 'Paranormal Activity' and 'The Blair Witch Project,' causing the box office to skyrocket.

What could they do then? Besides criticizing Link a few times in the media and scolding him for not keeping his word, they couldn't do anything else but watch Link's new movie's box office soar.

But compared to winning the bet and earning tens of millions of dollars, enduring a few more scoldings was nothing.

"How about we contact the airlines and ask them to participate and ban the screening of 'Final Destination'?"

Richard Gere pointed to a news article on the newspaper, which said that after the release of "Final Destination," many people were frightened, leading to a 13% year-on-year decrease in the occupancy rate of American airlines, and it might continue to decline in the coming weeks.

13% doesn't sound like much, but converted into money, it's millions or tens of millions of dollars.

This is also a significant loss for an airline.

To avoid losses, United Airlines might participate.

Hearing his words, Michael Ovitz and Lang Meyer shook their heads repeatedly, this was impossible.

If disaster movies that depict plane crashes lead to a decrease in airline occupancy rates, should disaster movies be banned? Then, should gunfight movies be banned because of the increase in shootings in the United States in recent years? Should erotic movies be banned because of the increase in rape cases? Should tragedies be banned because of the increase in suicide rates?

Hollywood is a free market economy. If things are banned like this, the American film industry will decline in a few years.

Not to mention that the American government would not support this kind of thing, the entire film industry would stand up and oppose it.

So, it's better not to mention it.

"How about we hype up Link's scandals? I heard that his private life is very chaotic, and he maintains close relationships with many women. Link's dirt will also affect his movie's box office."

Tom Cruise said.

Jay Moloney said, "The effect won't be great. First, we have no evidence to prove that he maintains close relationships with many women. Second, he is only 22 years old and unmarried. The few women he has rumored relationships with are also unmarried. This kind of gossip will have minimal impact on him."

"This won't work, that won't work, what should we do? Should we pray to God for 'Final Destination' to fail at the box office?"

Richard Gere shook his head and looked at the number one on Hollywood's power list, "Michael, what should we do?"

Michael Ovitz's eyes twitched, and he wanted to throw these people out of the office. If he knew what to do, he wouldn't be worrying here.

But at this time, as the leading big brother, he couldn't say that he had no solution.

Michael Ovitz thought for a moment and said, continue to use public opinion to suppress 'Final Destination,' reduce positive reviews, increase the proportion of negative reviews, and at the same time contact United Airlines, asking them to confirm that there are many loopholes in the movie and the plot is very brainless. At the same time, break the news about Link's private life in the media, throw dirty water on him, and do everything possible to make him a negative figure.

"Doing this will cost a lot of money."

Jay Moloney reminded.

Michael Ovitz looked at Richard Gere and Tom Cruise, "Let everyone raise another ten million."

"Another ten million?"

This time, even Richard Gere and Tom Cruise felt a little heartache.

They were actors with high salaries, but the money in their accounts was earned from hard work filming and promoting. Continuously investing tens of millions in this kind of bet was really reluctant.

But if they didn't continue to invest, the capital invested before might not be recovered.

This was really a dilemma.