[Chapter 292: Dominating]
After that, he called his assistant again.
"Boss, you finally called! Are you alright? Where are you? When are you coming back?" As soon as the call connected, the assistant, hearing Linton's voice, burst out with excitement and rapidly fired off three questions.
"I'm fine. Is everything okay at home?"
"Boss, things aren't good at home. You need to come back soon. If you don't, we're all going crazy."
"Be specific. What's wrong?" Linton's heart sank, sensing something was up.
"Mainly because you're gone and haven't been in touch for so long. We can't even reach you by phone. Everyone is extremely worried. Those women keep taking their frustrations out on Danny and me, blaming us for not fulfilling our duties as assistant and bodyguard."
"Anything else besides worry?"
"Other than worry, things are okay. But with you gone, the house just doesn't feel right every day. Danny and I feel like we're about to lose our minds."
"How's the company?"
"The company is fine. Shooting and post-production for The Fault in Our Stars are completed, with a planned release for August. Get Out has also wrapped up filming and is in post-production.
Our Pulp Fiction crew attended the Cannes Film Festival in mid-May and won the highest award, the Palme d'Or.
Thanks to the Palme d'Or, the marketing team successfully sold overseas rights to over 80 countries at Cannes, totaling $63 million in overseas rights sales." she added.
"Not bad, very good."
It seemed Quentin really knew his stuff. Although they had changed production companies and two actresses, the film's quality remained guaranteed, and it launched him to stardom.
Also, the Palme d'Or held significant prestige, and Cannes was a great place to strike deals. The overseas rights sales for Pulp Fiction far exceeded those for Step Up 2.
"But the marketing team said Pulp Fiction will aim for next year's Oscars, with the North American release planned for October."
"That's good. That was the plan from the start. How's The Rock doing?"
"The Rock was released on June 10, opening in 3,100 theaters with 6,300 screens. It made $51.57 million in its opening weekend, far surpassing Interview with the Vampire, which made $28.26 million and placed second."
"So Warner Brothers is competing directly with us?" Linton was surprised. What were Warner Bros thinking, letting CAA run wild like that?
"Yes. I heard CAA gave a lot of concessions to Warner Bros, and they agreed to have Interview with the Vampire release the same day as us for a showdown."
"And we crushed them; I bet Warner Bros regrets that now. How about the following box office numbers?"
"After a full week, we've grossed $82.83 million, while Interview with the Vampire only made $41.73 million. Yesterday was Friday, and we took in $11.73 million but were second to Disney's newly released The Lion King, taking second place. Interview with the Vampire only earned $5.42 million yesterday, less than half of us."
"Not bad. Looks like everyone is doing a great job."
"Boss, when are you coming back?"
"I guess in about two more months."
"Then Danny and I will come over to take care of you, okay?"
"No need. I can take care of myself. Later, please call Madonna and the others to tell them I'm fine and they don't need to worry."
"Boss, you might want to call them yourself. If I do, they'll probably chew me out."
"Alright, I'll do it." That made sense; it wasn't appropriate for the assistant to make those calls.
...
After hanging up and thinking it over, Linton decided to call every woman himself.
He started with Madonna, then Jennifer Connelly, Sophie Marceau, Cristiana Reali, Monica Bellucci, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Winona Ryder, Naomi Watts, Shania Twain, Cameron Diaz, Heidi Klum, and also Izumi Sakai and Noriko Sakai, calling each one in turn.
The conversations were naturally a mix of crying, laughter, and joy. Upon hearing that Linton was safe, everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief, then each insisted on coming to see him.
Linton spent quite some time calming them down and promised he'd be back in Los Angeles in two months. He pledged that upon return, they would all throw a week-long party together.
...
Then he called Robert to get detailed updates on The Rock and the confrontation with CAA.
"Boss, you're back?" Robert's first thought was that Linton's vacation was over.
"Not yet. I'll be back in two months."
"Sorry. Enjoy your time."
"The Rock is doing well and decisively suppressed Interview with the Vampire. Tell me exactly what happened in the battle."
"Boss, everything went as you expected, and we executed your strategy step by step."
"Enough flattery. Give me the details."
"At first, Warner Brothers and CAA played dirty with the movie's rating. They joined forces with Paramount, aiming to get The Rock rated R. Luckily, thanks to your warning, Universal acted early and gained support from other studios. The film was finally rated PG-13.
Then, in early April, Sean Connery deliberately claimed on a phone-in talk show that he was originally interested in playing the agent role in The Rock but was rejected by the production team. Along with the host, he hyped the controversy over not casting the best agent actor but an unknown one, garnering massive media attention."
"How did you respond?"
"Following the previous plan, we capitalized on the topic, starting a debate about the greatest 007 agent. We listed the box office totals from Roger Moore's and Sean Connery's 007 films, concluding Moore's 007 was superior. We released material showing that Roger Moore had actually served in British intelligence during WWII, proving he was a real-life spy, and that he portrayed the best 007, while Sean was just a decent 007 actor.
With Universal's promotional machine powering the campaign, the topic exploded into a hot topic in early April.
Some media even went to the British intelligence offices for confirmation. After verification, the buzz intensified.
Roger Moore made a big comeback in public view and became an idol for many young people. The Rock became even more anticipated by movie fans, as having an actor with actual 007 experience was definitely a big draw."
*****
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