Hollywood Director 1992

After the formation of the 'Grim Reaper' group, secret training began in Los Angeles. UTA Agency gathered five top musicians to create new songs and albums based on the group's characteristics and style.

Link hardly interfered in this process.

After two weeks of intensive training, the 'Grim Reaper' group debuted in Los Angeles and was invited to be a guest performer at concerts by 'Aerosmith', black diva Janet Jackson, and 'Take That'.

Due to the group members' popularity and outstanding image, coupled with joint promotion by UTA Agency and Guess Pictures, the 'Grim Reaper' group quickly attracted the attention of the American public after their debut.

The 'Grim Reaper' group's first promotional single, 'I Want It That Way', sold 106,000 copies in its first week, landing on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 72. In its second week, it sold 225,000 copies, ranking 10th on Billboard.

The second promotional single, 'What's Going On', also reached the top 20 on the US Billboard chart in its first week of release.

In early December, the Grim Reaper group released their first album, 'Final Destination', which sold 195,000 copies in its first week, ranking third on the US Billboard 200 album chart, with their popularity approaching that of first-tier groups.

With the music album selling well, the Grim Reaper group began touring North America, and the box office data for 'Final Destination' also steadily rebounded.

"Sh*t! Can movies be promoted like this?"

"They actually formed a band to promote the movie, it's too shameless."

"For the sake of the box office, Link is simply unscrupulous, even ruining the music scene."

At the Viper Room bar, Robert Downey Jr. and the others were furious when they saw the changes in the box office data for 'Final Destination' in the newspaper.

In the sixth week after the release of 'Final Destination', the box office fell below $10 million, and in the seventh week, it fell to $6.74 million.

If this trend continued, in the 10th week, 'Final Destination's' North American box office would fall below $2 million, and by the 15th week, 'Final Destination's' North American box office would be at most $160 million.

However, with the rise of the 'Grim Reaper' group, the box office of 'Final Destination' abruptly stopped its downward trend. In the ninth week, 'Final Destination's' North American box office revenue was $9.02 million, and in the tenth week, it was $15.73 million.

The cumulative North American box office revenue for the first ten weeks reached $171 million.

If this trend continued, 'Final Destination' had a great chance of breaking the $200 million mark before the thirteenth week, and by the fifteenth week, it would leave 'The Firm' far behind.

"What should we do?"

"If Link continues like this, we're doomed to lose."

Robert Downey Jr. said in a panic.

When he initially placed his bet, he didn't have much savings, but in order to join in the fun, he took out a loan of more than four million from the bank. Later, in order to raise funds to promote 'The Firm' and increase the movie's box office, he took out another loan of more than three million from the bank.

After 'Final Destination' was released, he took out a third loan of more than three million in order to suppress the movie.

This gamble had burdened him with debts of over ten million.

If he lost, he would really go bankrupt.

"Richard, Tom, do you have any good ideas? We can't lose this bet."

Kiefer Sutherland looked expectantly at Richard Gere, Tom Cruise, and Dustin Hoffman.

Compared to these three big stars, he and Robert Downey Jr. had much lower net worths. Most of the funds used to participate in the bet and raise funds were borrowed from the bank. His debts amounted to more than six million.

Richard Gere and the other two also frowned. Although the three of them earned relatively more, they were only millionaires. For this bet, they had invested more than ten million in succession.

If they lost, their net worth would shrink a lot, and there was also the possibility that other investments would fail due to insufficient capital turnover, which could lead to greater losses than Robert and Kiefer.

At this time, they also hoped to find a way to bring down the box office of 'Final Destination'.

But after thinking about it, they couldn't come up with a good solution. That cunning bastard Link used a band to promote the movie, using the band's popularity to drive the movie's box office.

To reduce the movie's popularity, they needed to suppress the band first.

But this band was already popular. With the strong support of UTA Agency and Guess Pictures, the four members of the band had become the most popular youth idol group in the current music scene.

It was said that they had tens of millions of fans in North America, and the number of viewers at each concert was no less than 30,000. Wherever they went, there were crowds of people.

It was extremely difficult to suppress such a band.

"Don't you have any ideas either?"

Robert Downey Jr. and Kiefer Sutherland looked at them with despair.

Tom Cruise clenched his fists and said angrily, "That bastard Link is too despicable. He said he wouldn't use the media to market the movie, but now he's created a band to promote the movie. It's too despicable."

Richard Gere also didn't expect Link to pull this trick when he was about to lose. What made him even angrier was that Link's way of promoting the movie not only didn't cost him money, but also allowed him to make a lot of money from the band's albums and performances, which was much better than their fundraising methods.

Link was really a bastard.

"Does Mr. Ovitz have a solution? Have you discussed it with him?"

Robert Downey asked.

Tom Cruise shook his head. At this time, Michael Ovitz also didn't have a good solution. Michael Ovitz said that to suppress the movie's box office, they needed to invest more funds, with a guarantee of more than $30 million, and it might not even be successful.

Michael Ovitz was disheartened and listless when he spoke, as if he had given up struggling.

"Then what should we do? Are we just going to admit defeat and let Link take away our hard-earned money? Let everyone laugh at us?"

Kiefer Sutherland shouted out of control.

Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, and Dustin Hoffman also looked gloomy. They didn't care about losing that money, but they really didn't want to lose to Link, and they didn't want people in the industry to think of them as a group of losers.

But they had no solution. Now they could only pray for a miracle to happen, so that the box office of 'Final Destination' would stop growing.

"Or..."

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Robert Downey Jr.'s eyes, "Or we hire a hitman to kill Link. I heard that CAA also has hitman agents."

Richard Gere was stunned for a moment, his eyes rolled, and he put his arm around Robert's shoulder and said with a smile,

"Robert, don't be angry. Although Link deserves to die, things haven't reached that point yet. There are still five weeks left. We won't necessarily lose. Maybe there will be a miracle."

"Miracle? Will there be?"

Robert Downey Jr. didn't know what miracle would allow them to turn the tables now.

"Look, something's happening over there."

Just as he was talking, the booth area suddenly became lively and noisy. Many people were crowding towards the door, discussing loudly as they walked,

"I heard that the big star River Phoenix is dead."

"No way, I heard he overdosed and went into shock."

"Let's go take a look."

Richard Gere and Tom Cruise stopped talking and curiously stood up and walked outside.

Arriving at the door of the Viper Room bar, they saw River Phoenix lying on the sidewalk, unconscious, foaming at the mouth, not knowing if he was dead or alive.

Several security guards were calling for an ambulance and asking loudly if there were any doctors, but no one stood up.

"River is a heavy drug user, I didn't expect him to be this heavy."

Robert Downey Jr. said, stroking his chin.

"He must have overdosed."

Kiefer Sutherland was frightened. As a fellow traveler, River's tragic state made him more afraid of drugs.

Richard Gere looked around at the scene, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He whispered to Robert and Kiefer,

"This may be our chance."

"What chance?"

"River is Joaquin Phoenix's brother. If River is seriously ill, Joaquin won't be in the mood to continue performing outside, and the box office of 'Final Destination' will be greatly affected."

"That's right!"

"This is a good thing for us."

Robert Downey Jr. clapped his hands excitedly.

Kiefer Sutherland also became excited.

"I just don't know how River is doing. If he's not sick enough, I'm afraid it won't affect Joaquin's performance."

Richard Gere said.

Robert Downey Jr. and Kiefer also frowned.

Tick tock! Tick tock!

Hearing the ambulance siren outside, Robert Downey Jr.'s eyes suddenly lit up. He came up with a very good idea, maybe he could make River sicker.