Hollywood Director 1992

[Chapter 180: The Mask]

"It's been said that Michael Ovitz and his team spent over twenty million dollars trying to boost the box office of The Firm. They pulled all kinds of strings to block your new movie. You're the only one who can force Ovitz's hand like this in Hollywood."

In a music bar, New Line Cinema's president, Robert Shay, chuckled.

Link shook his head, "They're overestimating my movie. Seeing the success of my earlier films, they assumed that Final Destination would be a massive hit too. Their nerves must have gotten to them, which is why they're dumping money into The Firm's box office and releasing five other potentially big films to compete with mine. In reality, the expected box office for Final Destination is around one hundred million -- hitting one hundred fifty million would be tough. They didn't need to go through all that to win the bet."

Robert Shay remarked, "That just shows how formidable you really are. Even before your film is released, it's making them anxious, and they're doing everything they can to counter you. Other directors just don't have that kind of impact."

Link smirked. In reality, when he had bet with people like Robert Downey Jr., he viewed it as a friendly wager -- a higher box office winning, while the lower one lost. He hadn't anticipated all this fuss after their bets.

Ovitz and his crew had clearly overreacted, thinking too highly of his new film. In that sense, he did hold considerable power.

"When will the deal with Warner Bros. to acquire New Line be finalized?" Link changed the subject.

"The final contract is set. We'll sign next week."

"Congrats on New Line joining the Warner family."

Link raised his glass for a toast with Robert Shay.

...

Last year, Warner Bros., under the banner of Time Warner, had made an acquisition offer to New Line Cinema, who also entertained the thought of joining the major media groups. The two parties hit it off immediately.

After months of negotiations, they reached an agreement in September. Time Warner agreed to invest three hundred fifty million dollars to acquire sixty-five percent of New Line Cinema. New Line would thereafter operate as a subsidiary of Time Warner, enjoying the same status as Warner Bros.

However, even after the acquisition, Robert Shay retained thirteen and a half percent of New Line shares, making him the largest individual shareholder outside of Time Warner. He would continue to serve as president of New Line and maintain operational power.

To keep that power, Robert Shay needed to show results in his position, generating profits that would satisfy the Time Warner board. Otherwise, New Line risked being absorbed by Warner Bros. To that end, Robert Shay focused on building relationships and strengthening partnerships with Guess Pictures.

...

"Link," Robert Shay said, "I've heard that the top media groups are eyeing Guess Pictures for acquisition. Have you considered joining one of them and having a major company as your backing?"

Link replied, "Not at the moment. In the future, I may think about raising funds to enhance the production and distribution capabilities of my company, but that's a couple of years down the road."

Since its establishment, Guess Pictures had produced five films, each achieving great success -- each investment offering a return of over ten times its cost, leading to outstanding business results. This had caught the attention of numerous investment firms, with over ten already sending representatives to negotiate. Some were looking to acquire Guess Pictures, while others intended to buy shares.

These companies valued Guess Pictures at one hundred sixty million dollars. However, the company was not in need of funds, so Link currently had no intention of taking on investment. He planned to wait until Guess Pictures hit a market value of over five hundred million dollars before considering financing or even going public, aiming to establish Guess Pictures as the eighth major player in Hollywood.

"That's a solid plan," Robert Shay agreed.

The conversation then shifted to Link's new film project, Se7en.

...

The project was fine-tuned back in July with a budget set at thirty-three million dollars. Guess Pictures was set to produce, while New Line would handle distribution, placing Guess in the lead role.

Filming was initially scheduled for September, but due to delays from the acquisition negotiations, they had to postpone a few weeks. The casting was now complete, and the crew was preparing the set, with actors getting ready for their roles, aiming to start shooting in early October.

...

After discussing Se7en, Robert Shay brought up the recent breakout film, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Having been in theaters for seven weeks, it grossed eighty-nine million dollars in North America, with projections reaching around one hundred ten million. The international box office had also done well, grossing over twenty-two million in just three weeks. Considering these figures, the global box office total for Ace Ventura was expected to surpass one hundred fifty million.

With a production cost of only twelve million dollars, that was nearly a thirteenfold return.

Robert Shay envied how Guess Pictures could produce such a hit and remained optimistic about this type of film, praising Jim Carrey's performance.

...

Toward the end, Robert Shay pulled out a script from his bag, titled Dumb and Dumber, thinking Jim Carrey would be perfect for the leading role.

After reading the script, Link didn't agree right away but suggested he needed to discuss it with his team first and would get back to him in a couple of days.

---

Once back at the office, Link shared the script with the production department, asking for their investment opinions while making a few tweaks to align it better with the original story, before handing it off to Carrey for his feedback.

As an actor and writer, Carrey had a strong grasp of nonsensical comedy and his insights were crucial. After reviewing the script, he made modifications to the character's dialogue, tailoring it to fit his style, while not raising concerns about other aspects of the script.

...

At the same time, Carrey handed Link another script from a director at Dark Horse Entertainment. This script was titled The Mask, based on a comic book of the same name that contained a compelling blend of dark humor and horror elements, perfect for Carrey to showcase.

Link reviewed the script before reaching out to Carrey and Dark Horse's director, Chuck Russell. Within three days they revamped it into a familiar format. They also locked in the new project, titled The Mask.

...

By October, Guess Pictures had six new film projects confirmed for investment:

- Steven Soderbergh's The Underneath

- Ang Lee's upcoming film Eat Drink Man Woman

- A new partnership with Mark Gordon on Speed

- Jim Carrey's two comedy films, Dumb and Dumber and The Mask

- And Link's personal project, Se7en.

Of these, the biggest budget belonged to Se7en at thirty-three million dollars, followed by Speed at twenty-eight million, with the others below twenty million.

*****

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