496-500

Chapter 496 The Hunger Games is Released

  After convincing Meryl, Link didn't care about it anymore, mainly because he didn't have time.

The last time he left Meryl's house, he received a call from Chris Liu that Jennifer Shu was about to give birth.

For this reason, he flew to Hong Kong Island and stayed with Jennifer Shu for two days in a private hospital in Repulse Bay. He once again harvested a son, a very beautiful mixed-race baby, weighing 8.6 pounds at birth.

In order to reward Jennifer Shu, he transferred two properties under his name to her name, and will give her and her children half a million pocket money every month in the future. Other than that, he can't do anything else.

After Jennifer gave birth, he lived on Hong Kong Island for three days and returned to the United States to accompany Ivanka and the two children.

At this time, Taylor was busy with the new album signing party outside. If he left the children at home, Taylor probably wouldn't let him take the children in the future.

Taylor's fourth album "Begin Again" was released in mid-March, with 1.027 million copies sold in the United States in the first week.

Although it sold more than 500,000 copies less than the first week of the third album "last kiss", the first week sales exceeded one million, which is still a very good result for Taylor, a singer who suffered a huge setback last year.

In addition, six songs from this album entered the Billboard top 10, and all 12 songs entered the top 100 and won the singles chart.

The results are very good.

What surprised Link even more was that there were five songs in "Begin Again" that he had never heard before, and they were also very nice.

Due to the good sales in the first week, Taylor put down the big stone in his heart, and the whole person was much more relaxed.

By the end of March, "The Hunger Games" was released in 4,137 theaters in North America.

The box office on the first day of the opening earned a total of US770.25 million, surpassing the US668.5 million of "Twilight: Eclipse" and the US667.17 million of "The Dark Knight". It ranks second in the list of the highest first-day box office records in North America, second only to the US772.7 million of "Twilight: New Moon".

The cumulative three-day weekend reached 164 million US dollars, setting the highest box office on the first day of the opening of a non-sequel film in the history of the film, the highest box office on the first weekend of the opening of a non-sequel film in the history of the film, the highest box office in the history of the film in March, and the highest box office of Lionsgate. A number of box office records.

"The Hunger Games" swept the major theaters in North America with a strong posture, and won a stunning premiere box office record, which also amazed the media.

The cost of this film production is 78 million US dollars, and the announced budget is 30 million US dollars. It will be paid back within three days of release. The reputation of the film is also very good. The comprehensive media reviews are as high as 88 points, and more than half of the media ratings exceed 90 points.

There is no doubt that Lionsgate has produced a very good movie.

Link and Lionsgate will also make a lot of money from the film, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars.

When Link acquired Lionsgate last year, many people were not optimistic about the deal, thinking that Lionsgate would eventually go bankrupt in his hands, and the media predicted that the time for Lionsgate to go bankrupt would be about three to five years.

It's a pity that things are not as predicted by the media. Lionsgate made a profit in the first year after being won by Link.

Now that "The Hunger Games" is a series of movies with extremely eye-catching box office data, Lionsgate's development in the next few years is bound to get better and better.

Therefore, after "The Hunger Games" sold well at the box office, many media lamented that Link picked up a big bargain.

When Lionsgate changed owners in March and April last year, the film had already been set up. Link did nothing, so he picked up a big-selling series of movies. He was very lucky.

And the original shareholders of Lionsgate seem to have done a loss-making business.

In the first week of the film's release, the North American box office exceeded 200 million, reaching 212 million US dollars, second only to "The Betrayal of the Half-Blood Prince" 236 million US dollars, "Spider-Man 3" 230.5 million, "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: The End of the World" 216 million, becoming one of the fastest films in North America to exceed 200 million US dollars.

"The Hunger Games" also won the weekly box office with 212 million, and there were also several more competitive movies during the same period.

They are "The Man in Black 3" released by Sony Pictures, which was released on the 25th and grossed US883.35 million in its first week.

"Wrath of the Gods", released by Warner Pictures, was released on March 30 and grossed US443.88 million in its first week.

And "Dragon Tiger Junior Team", which was released for two weeks, grossed 27.5 million U.S. dollars this week.

Although the box office results of these movies are good, they are a lot worse than "The Hunger Games".

Also because the box office performance of "The Hunger Games" was too eye-catching, in the second week of the movie's release, many negative comments inevitably appeared in the media.

Many reviews do not comment on the quality of the film, but point the criticism at the heroine Jennifer Lawrence.

It is believed that Jennifer and Link have an ambiguous relationship and rely on Link a lot in their careers. The heroine of The Hunger Games is an independent and self-reliant woman with a very strong inner strength. At this point, Jennifer is not as good as the heroine Katniss.

Some film critics ignore the facts and say that Link's purpose in investing in this film is to win lovers. The quality of the film is average and depends on publicity and hype. The audience should not pay for it.

In response to these unfriendly comments, Lionsgate and the Palm Bay brokerage company also responded forcefully, sending lawyer letters to a number of media and film critics, asking them to publicly apologize, while continuing to promote positive news about Jennifer Lawrence.

Under the vigorous promotion of Lionsgate, the box office of "The Hunger Games" was not affected much. In the second week, it received 96.3 million US dollars in North America, a decrease of 56%. For a big fire movie, this figure is very good, which also shows that the quality of the film is very high.

In terms of overseas box office, "The Hunger Games" has grossed a total of 180 million US dollars in 31 countries and regions such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

The film was released for 15 days, and the total global box office exceeded 500 million U.S. dollars. It also became the first film in the world to box office more than 500 million U.S. dollars in 2012.

The media expects the film's global box office to be between 700 million and 800 million, which is better than the first part of the "Twilight" series.

In other words, this movie has the hope of becoming another world-selling best-selling novel adaptation after "Harry Potter" and "Twilight".

According to this forecast, Lionsgate is expected to make more than two billion U.S. dollars from the series.

This time everyone began to envy Link.

Last year, his exchange of Twitter shares for Lionsgate seemed impulsive, and it was an uneconomical transaction.

However, Twitter shares only have a high market capitalization, poor operating conditions, and very little annual profit. Last year, the share dividend was also very small, less than 300 million US dollars, like a golden rooster that can't lay eggs.

Lionsgate paid out more than 100 million dividends last year, 80% of which belonged to Link. This year, the dividends will be more, even more than Twitter, which has a market value of 10 billion, like a chicken that can lay golden eggs.

With these golden eggs, Link can be used to invest in other projects and make more money than Twitter shares.

For this reason, The Wall Street Journal published a special article praising Link as an ‘amazingly shrewd and visionary entrepreneur’.

At the same time, the newspaper also commented on Link's current entertainment industry, saying that Lionsgate + Palm Beach Pictures + Netflix Netflix will grow into a giant in the film and television industry in the future, and Link Music company + SB projects Entertainment + Spotify platform, there is also great hope to become a giant in the music industry, side by side with the five major record companies.

"The Wall Street Journal" once again lamented that Link is amazing. After inadvertently completing his layout in the entertainment industry, "In the future, Link will inevitably become a leader in influencing the direction of the world entertainment industry."

“Honey, are you so good?”

Ivanka flipped through the newspaper and looked at him in surprise.

“what?”

Link was squatting on the carpet to play with Alexander and Cynthia.

Alexander is relatively quiet, give him a pile of building blocks, he can sit on the ground and play quietly for two or three hours.

And Cynthia was a little more lively. After playing with the toy for a while, she climbed on him, stepped on his lap, and wanted to climb on his neck. Her hands and feet were very flexible.

“The news says that you will be the overlord of the entertainment industry.”

Ivanka read the Wall Street Journal's review of him. The newspaper praised his layout in Hollywood and the music arena, saying that he has become a little giant walking on two legs and has the opportunity to evolve into entertainment giants like Warner, Universal, Sony, and Disney.

“Honey, are these the layout you made after you thought about it?”

Ivanka asked about the acquisition of shares in Spotify and Netflix. If there are only Link Music and Lionsgate, Link's entertainment industry can only be considered general. Coupled with these two promising entertainment technology companies, the industry under his name has undergone qualitative changes and has great potential.

Link smiled softly, “Almost, I am optimistic about the Internet industry, Internet platform +music, Internet + film and television, are the future development trends of these two industries, so after entering the music industry and the film industry, I began to look for Internet companies that are more closely integrated with these two industries. Spotify and Netflix are two of them. From now on, this combination is quite good.”

“Yes, very good, my dear, you are great.”

Ivanka looked at him with a smile, her eyes full of admiration and admiration.

Although she is also an excellent entrepreneur, her specialty is management and management, and she lacks creativity. If she is asked to plan the development of the two companies, she will not invest heavily in Spotify and Netflix, and she will be more conservative in her approach.

In contrast, Link is bolder in this regard and has a longer-term vision for decision-making.

“Hey, Cynthia, you climbed on my neck just to chew on my ears?”

Link hugged the elf in his arms and wiped the little guy's mouth-covered ears. Just now, the little guy climbed onto his shoulder and gnawed at his ears. Only then did the little guy grow six deciduous teeth, and it didn't hurt to bite.

“Is Cynthia hungry?”

Ivanka asked.

“No, she's just naughty.”

Link picked up the pink little cutie and kissed her pink face. The little guy blinked his big shiny eyes, giggled, and stretched out his little jade-seed fingers to scratch his face.

Jingle bell!

The mothers of the two little guys called on time and asked what Alexander and Cynthia were doing.

Link said about being bitten by Cynthia.

Taylor said he deserved it.

Link hugged the two little guys and walked to the computer to video with Taylor.

Alexander and Cynthia looked at Taylor on the computer and called Mommy. Taylor's eyes were full of two little guys, with smiles on their faces unconsciously.

Link asked her how the album was selling?

Taylor proudly said that it was very good, and he signed more than 5,000 records in London today.

Link asked her to take it easy and not to be too tired.

Taylor glanced at him blankly, asked him to leave it alone, and then took out a bunch of toys to tease the two little guys online, and asked them which one they liked?

Alexander and Cynthia grabbed the frequency screen and yelled non-stop.

Link asked Taylor when he would leave London and the crew of "The Hunger Games" would go to the UK for a roadshow tomorrow.

Taylor said that he had received the notice, so he didn't need to worry about it.

Link didn't say much more.

The theme song "Safe & Sound" and the episode "Eyes Open" of "The Hunger Games" were written and sung by Taylor, so she occasionally participates in movie promotions when promoting her new album.

Link accompanied the two little ones to chat with Taylor for half an hour on video, and then Taylor was going to work, and he took the two little ones to continue playing in the living room.

In the afternoon, Selena brought little Annie over for dinner. The two eldest pushed the two little ones around the house, followed by a few kittens and puppies. The villa almost didn't fall out.

Originally, Link was barely able to handle it with two little guys alone, plus the little round face that hadn't grown up and the naughty little Annie, he couldn't control it at all, so he could only leave the big ones to the nannies to watch. Don't do anything dangerous.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 497 The Crew is Filming

  In the third week of the release of "The Hunger Games", "Buried Alive" starring Link ended its screenings in major theaters one after another.

The reason for the shortening of the screening period is that the box office performance in the later period is not ideal, from more than 20 million per week in the initial period to tens of thousands per week now, and the summer season is coming, blockbusters are gathered, and it is not cost-effective to continue screening "Buried Alive".

The film was released in North America for more than a month, with a cumulative box office of 68.55 million US dollars and an overseas box office of 43.7 million US dollars, totaling 113 million US dollars.

Compared with the production cost of two million, the box office revenue ratio is as high as 50 times, and it was also named the first dark horse of the year by The Hollywood Reporter.

In April, in addition to "The Hunger Games", Lionsgate has two more movies released, "Cabin in the Forest" and "Complete Guidance during Pregnancy."

In addition, movies such as "Invasion of Evil Spirits", "Temporary Security", "The Witness Protection Plan of the Black Crazy Woman" and "Lawlessness" will also be released during the summer, with an average of one to two movies per month.

During this time, in addition to taking children, Link was still studying the scenes of "Rust and Bone".

This movie is about the boxer Ali. After breaking his hand bone, in order to support his family, he had to let go of his self-esteem and fight black boxing. He was still working part-time in a bar because of an accident. Stephanie, a whale trainer at the aquarium, had both legs amputated because of an accident.

Two marginalized people in society gradually fell in love in contact.

In the movie, Ali is a big boy with strong limbs but immature and irresponsible, while Stephanie is a woman with crippled limbs but a strong heart. Stephanie needs Ali after her disability, and Ali also needs a mature woman.

The meaning of rust and bone is the transformation of two people with defects. This defect is like ‘iron rust’. After falling in love, the two sides wash away the rusty shortcomings and become bones that support each other.

Rust can also be understood as the taste of blood. Ali and Stephanie suffered the blow of life, tasted the taste of blood, and finally redeemed each other and became strong and unyielding bones.

It is a very delicate and profound movie.

Link liked the role of Stephanie and felt that he was very similar to Ali, so he chose to buy the adaptation rights of this movie.

By early April, Link took the opportunity to fly to Nice, a small town in southern France, to shoot "Rust and Bone". Nice is on the verge of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes Province and the second largest city on the Mediterranean coast of southern France after Marseille. Cannes is on the southwest side of Nice, about 33 kilometers away.

It is also a famous tourist and holiday destination in France, and the beaches and sunshine on the Mediterranean coast are very good.

There are also many historical monuments, museums, art galleries, and playgrounds in the city, such as the Cathedral of St. Repalat, the ruins of the ancient Roman Amphitheater, and the Matisse Museum. It is a scenic place.

It is also one of the more famous photography bases in France, and Woody Allen's "Magic Moonlight" was also filmed here.

When he arrived in Nice, Marion Cotillard arrived first, with little Kassel with him.

The little guy is ten months old, with dark golden hair, shiny eyes, and a small nose. He is also a very cute little guy, and he must be a handsome guy when he grows up.

“Sure enough, it's more like me.”

Link hugged the little guy and smiled.

"Guillaume often says the same.”

Marion Cotillard leaned against him and smiled.

“He is delusional.”

Link kissed Marion's hair.

Guillaume's pupils are light green and his hair is brown and black, which is obviously not the same as Kassel.

In addition, he used Kassel's hair for DNA testing, and the genetic similarity was 99.99%.

In addition to Kassel, there is also Chris from Amy Adams' family. After testing, he is also his own child. Counting the one in Eva Card's belly, he now has six children.

In addition, Sasaki Nozomi sent a message yesterday saying that her aunt did not come, and she seemed to be pregnant. If it is confirmed, there will be seven.

Not too much.

In the future, the global fertility rate will decline, and having more children can also promote human reproduction and alleviate the population crisis.

It is also a good thing.

With little Kassel, Link and Marion didn't stay in a hotel either. They rented a holiday villa by the sea and filmed six or seven hours of scenes with the crew every day. At other times, they stayed at home with their children and lived a three-person world.

Several times Guillaume Canet wanted to come over, but Link stopped him and asked him to make a movie in the crew with peace of mind and not to come over and make trouble.

The two films that Link invested in through the Paris Rose Film Company last year were also released at the end of last year and at the beginning of the year.

Among them, Guillaume Canet's "The New Button War" received 18.2 million euros at the box office in Europe, basically preserving its capital.

The other "Untouchable" was released in December last year, with a total of 19.44 million viewers in France, and it has been the box office champion for 10 consecutive weeks. So far, it has received 150 million US dollars at the box office, and it is also the French annual box office champion.

The film's box office performance in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Australia and other regions is also more than 10 million. North America has been boycotted by black organizations due to racial issues and has not yet been released.

At present, the global cumulative amount has reached 380 million US dollars, compared with the production cost of 12 million US dollars, it is undoubtedly a big-selling movie.

And Paris Rose Pictures also earned a share of nearly 180 million U.S. dollars from this film, making a lot of money.

After making money, Guillaume Canet said that he wanted to make a movie, and he also sent a script called "Blood Relationship" to Link. Link saw that the investment was not much, only three million euros, so he agreed without asking much.

Now that Guillaume Canine is filming in Paris, he doesn't have time to bother him to get along with Marianne and Kassel. He can talk and act with Marianne as much as he likes here.

“Action！”

Then, on the beach by the sea, Link sat on a bench and chatted with Marion.

“When I was a trainer before, I enjoyed the way others looked at me, and I enjoyed the feeling of exciting the audience.”

Marion Cotillard was sitting in a wheelchair, with her hair scattered and no makeup on her face, looking a little pale.

“What about now?”

Link asked.

“There is nothing left.”

said Marion.

Link looked dull, as if he couldn't understand the other party's feelings. He stood up and looked at the blue sea, regardless of whether the other party was a disabled person with both legs amputated, and asked.：

“Do you want to swim?”

Marion looked at him in surprise, was stunned for a while, and nodded in agreement.

“Cut！”

“One more time, Link, you need to act more outgoing, mainly in tone, you can be more casual.”

Director Jacques Odia pointed to the side.

Link nodded, discussed with Marianne, and performed again.

The crew of "Rust and Bone" concentrated on filming for 22 days in Nice, France, and three days in Bernier, Switzerland. The filming was not completed until early May, and Link immediately returned to the United States.

One month after the release of "The Hunger Games", it has grossed US4415 million in North America and US3320 million overseas. There are still many countries that continue to screen it. There is great hope that the global box office will exceed US八800 million.

Jennifer Lawrence also soared to the sky with this movie, becoming a popular Hollywood actor and youth idol. She is even better in fame than the four little flower girls selected by Vanity Fair, and has become a special existence in the entertainment industry.

Due to the good box office of "The Hunger Games 1", the company began to prepare for the second sequel, which is expected to be released next year.

In this play, Jennifer Lawrence's salary is 12 million U.S. dollars, and she is also one of the highest-paid actresses in the current circle.

More than a month after the release of Taylor's new album "Begin Again", sales in the United States have reached a total of 2.85 million copies, and it is expected to exceed three million copies next week, with global sales of about 13.5 million copies.

Because Taylor was busy, Link still took Alexander and Cynthia with him when he returned to the United States, accompanied by Ivanka, and prepared for a boxing match by the way.

There are expected to be four boxing matches this year, namely the WBA, WBC, and IBF title defense.

In terms of WBO light heavyweight, former boxing champion Nathan Cleverly was injured in training not long ago and was unable to participate in the boxing championship, so he announced that he would give up the organization's world boxing title.

Link needs to participate in one more WBO title fight in order to achieve the light heavyweight championship Grand Slam.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 498 The Avengers

Bang bang bang!

In the muscle beach training ground, Link was wearing a palm bandage, and his fists alternately hit the sandbags on the ground, making a dull noise, as if every punch could explode the sandbags.

From 2008 to 2012, during these four years, Link insisted on training every day, and his strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, and other physical qualities were greatly improved.

Some have doubled from the original basis, some three or four times, and in addition, the ability to recover after physical exhaustion or injury is also getting stronger and stronger.

Continuing to train, Link felt that he might become a little superman.

“Hey, Link, why did you come to the club to train today.”

Hoya walked in wearing a T-shirt and big pants, with a white towel around his neck.

“I have time today.”

Link put away his fist and said.

“Really?No need to bring children today?Hehe, I watched the news, you have been a dad at home recently.”

Hoya joked.

While talking, Bernard Hopkins also walked in, staring at Link with a black face.

Although nearly half a year has passed since that game, Hopkins has long recovered from the injury he suffered in the game, but every time he sees Link, his face will appear atavistic and become darker. It seems that the psychological trauma caused by Link is still there.

“Hey, Bernard, I heard that you participated in the WBC Boxing Champion qualifying competition. I hope you can win the title of Boxing champion challenger.”

Link greeted.

“Huh, Link, don't be proud. In the next game, I will definitely beat you and get back what belongs to me from you.”

Hopkins said, holding his fists tightly.

Link nodded, thinking that this guy had a good mental quality. He was beaten so badly last time, and he dared to shout like this. He was a hard bone.

With a greeting, Link continued to train.

Hopkins glared at him, preparing to train in the training area next to him.

Hoya looked at him and asked curiously: “Bernard, next time you meet that pervert, are you confident to defeat him?"”

“No!”

Hopkins said unhappily, that bastard Link is too good, and all boxing qualities are higher than him. Even in his heyday, I'm afraid he can't hold on to six rounds in his hands.

“Then you dare to grin at him, are you not afraid that you will be beaten up by him next time you meet him?"”

Hoya asked.

The corner of Hopkins' eyes twitched and he touched the re-grown bridge of his nose. Although the injury was healed, the pain was still fresh in his memory. He couldn't help but glared at Link not far away again, and said with a strong hold.：

“I'm not afraid, next time I meet him, I will crooked his nose.”

“Not bad, Bernard, now the boxers in the light heavyweight field are afraid of Link except for you. I hope you can work miracles and defeat him fiercely.”

Hoya encouraged.

Defeat Link?

Hopkins didn't have much interest, but facing the boss of Hoya, he didn't refute it either. After wrapping his hand bandage, he also crackled in front of the sandbag.

After practicing for half an hour, he was going to rest, but found that Link was still practicing, and he hadn't stopped from beginning to end. He curled his mouth uncomfortably, took a deep breath, and continued to crackle. Boxing.

He couldn't beat Link in the ring, and he didn't believe that he would lose to Link in training.

Twenty minutes later, Hopkins was sweating profusely, his mouth open and panting for breath, his arms muscles trembling constantly, and his physical strength was exhausted.

He glanced at Link next door and found that the guy was still banging on the sandbags, and he hadn't stopped from start to finish. The boxing was very powerful, his footsteps were still very flexible, and there was not much sweat on his body, let alone a lot of gasping.

Hopkins was very angry, is this bastard a pervert?

He didn't want to be compared to Link, so he gritted his teeth and continued to hit the sandbags. After more than 20 minutes, he felt that the blood vessels and muscles in his arms were about to burst, but Link over there still didn't mean to stop.

Hopkins roared angrily and punched the sandbag. Then a sharp pain came from his wrist. With a sizzle, he hurriedly supported his right wrist. The joint of his right wrist suddenly swelled, became red and swollen, and the muscles of his lower arm also suffered severe pain.

Fak!Hopkins yelled and hurriedly ran to the medical center with his right arm on his back.

“Hey, Bernard, how did you do this?”

Hoya was instructing the boxer in training next to him and asked in surprise when he saw Hopkins' wrist.

Hopkins was sweating profusely in pain, and had no intention of paying attention to him. He shouted ‘Doctor’ and got into the infirmary.

Hoya was taken aback for a moment, turned his head and looked at the place where Hopkins was training, and Link, who was still training next to him, shook his head helplessly. This pervert is indeed a scourge.

“Link, why don't you go to your exclusive training ground to train?”

“Practicing boxing here, the atmosphere is better.”

Link stopped and said.

“But your training here is very dangerous and it is easy for others to get hurt.”

Hoya said unhappily.

Because of Link's existence, several of his boxers were reimbursed in advance before they took the stage to compete, and several old boxers were injured because of training with him and had to end their careers early.

Link is a dangerous person, and he can reimburse a group of boxers under him if he doesn't make a move.

This guy is the enemy of Golden Boy promotion.

Link shrugged his shoulders and returned to the exclusive training ground with a water cup and towel to continue training.

Compared with the public training ground, the atmosphere here is worse. There is no sound of fists hitting sandbags, and there is no shouting and drinking one after another. It feels similar to training in the mid-levels villa training ground.

After practicing for a while, Emma Roberts wore a vest and hot pants and came over to train with a sports backpack.

She has practiced with Link more than ten times in the training ground. Now she also has a certain level of boxing. She has also made two action movies, playing a girl who can fight in it, and beating her ex-boyfriend.

It's just that her figure is still petite and exquisite, less than 160 cm, with chopstick legs, a small waist, and pink cheeks, like a little Lolita who can punch.

Link pointed her out a few times as usual, taught her some beating skills, and then continued to train.

At the end of the afternoon training, he walked into the locker room to change clothes. Emma Roberts walked over with a blushing face, holding a bottle of essential oil, and asked him if he wanted a massage. His expression was very shy, and his bright face and eyes were full of expectation.

Link did not refuse her kindness.

After venting on Emma, Link felt that all the fatigue caused by the previous training had disappeared. Afterwards, he kindly sent Emma home, who was inconvenient to drive.

I originally thought that after this incident, Emma would be as afraid of him as Scarlett Johansson, but she didn't.

After a few days of rest, Emma returned to the training ground to accompany him in training, massaging his muscles and relaxing his body. This also gave him an interesting show every time after the training.

In May, "The Avengers" will be released soon. In addition to taking children, training, and asking about several companies, Link will also participate in some movie promotional activities every day.

"The Avengers" was released in 4,349 theaters in North America on May 4, with a box office of 80.81 million US dollars on the first day, setting a new box office record for the first day. It took 207 million US dollars in North America in three days over the weekend, and it also became the fastest movie to exceed 200 million US dollars.

In 42 countries and regions that were released simultaneously overseas, the three-day box office totaled US3317 million.

The production cost of "The Avengers" was 220 million U.S. dollars, and it was paid back in three days. This achievement shocked the industry.

In the past few years, in addition to the "Iron Man" series of Marvel movies, "Captain America" is considered a big seller, and several other movies have relatively average box office results, such as "The Invincible Hulk" and "Thor" can only be regarded as a blockbuster.

And this film directly broke a number of box office records in the North American film market, which surprised countless people and envied the film distributor Walt Disney.

"The Avengers" is very suitable for making a series of movies. As long as Disney Pictures produces it carefully, it can make a lot of money from this series, just like Lionsgate's "The Hunger Games."

In the summer, there are still more than 400 theaters left for "The Hunger Games" to continue screening, earning millions of dollars at the box office every week, ranking in the top 20 in the same period.

At present, the North American box office of "The Hunger Games" has reached a total of 462 million US dollars, while the overseas box office has reached a total of 346 million US dollars, and the global box office has just exceeded 800 million.

In terms of revenue ratio, "The Hunger Games" is more profitable than "The Avengers", and it is also more enviable to its peers.

In April and May, Lionsgate will release two more movies, "Cabin in the Woods" and "Complete Guidance during Pregnancy."

The first is one of Lionsgate's flagship thriller movies this year, which was released in mid-April.

At present, the cumulative box office in North America has reached 40.81 million US dollars, and the overseas box office is 35.57 million. The production cost of the film is 35 million. It is expected to make a profit of about 20 million at the box office, and the revenue from videotape, NETFLIX channels, cable TV, etc. is not less than 20 million.

The second "Complete Guidance during Pregnancy", starring Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Amy Adams and other older actresses, is about the differences between five families on issues such as pregnancy and children.

The film was initially shot because of the high investment, but later Ivanka became pregnant and felt that the script was very interesting, so she restarted the project.

The production cost was 40 million U.S. dollars, and it received 36.4 million U.S. dollars in the North American film market within two weeks of its release, and the overseas box office was also more than 30 million. It is expected to save capital at the box office, and there will be tens of millions of revenue in other aspects.

Counting these two movies, as well as movies such as "Happiness Line" and "Help" released at the end of last year, Lionsgate's total box office revenue in North America this year reached 660 million U.S. dollars, which is higher than 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. .

In the first quarter, it ranked fifth among Hollywood studios.

This achievement also made the media praise Lionsgate. The ‘Big Six Pictures’ are all veteran film companies that have been established for hundreds of years, and Lionsgate was established in 1997. For 15 years, it has been only a teenager compared to the Big Six.

However, in the movie box office, Lionsgate can surpass the two major studios and enter the top five. This kind of thing has never happened before.

The "Los Angeles Times" and other media said Lionsgate had created a "box office miracle", and they were also amazed by Link and Eva Kraft's methods of running the company.

And those who were hostile to Link had to gritted their teeth and cursed Link for lack of luck, hoping that he would be unlucky sooner.

In this regard, when Link held a meeting in the company, he asked everyone not to be proud. A momentary victory is nothing. If you can stabilize the top five for a long time, it is a real victory. Everyone should continue to work hard to achieve this goal.

At the same time, in order to motivate the company's employees, he also proposed a series of incentive measures, with about 10 million dividends, to make the company's internal working atmosphere more prosperous.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 499 The Expendables Shooting

“My dear, I heard an interesting rumor in the company today.”

When he got home, Link hugged Ivanka, who was walking in the garden, and said.

“What rumors?”

“Do you know why Jon chose to come back to work after selling his Lions Gate shares?”

Jon Feller was originally the largest shareholder and chairman of Lionsgate. After selling his shares in April last year, he returned to Lionsgate. Link arranged for him to work in the production department.

“Because you love movies?”

Ivanka saw that he was in a good mood and responded with a smile.

“No, I heard that he didn't worry about putting the company in my hands, so he came back and watched. He wanted to wait for me to make a mess of Lionsgate before buying it back at a lower price. He can make a lot of money in the middle. Now his plan is going to fail.”

Link smiled.

“I'm afraid it's not just him, many people's hopes will fail, but because of this, we have to be more cautious and invest carefully so as not to be laughed at by those opponents.”

Ivanka blinked her long eyelashes and said.

“You are right.”

This year, after consecutive big sales of movies such as "The Hunger Games" and "Buried Alive", Lionsgate's market capitalization was also increased to 1.2 billion US dollars by moodys, a Wall Street investment institution. It is only the market capitalization of Lionsgate, not Netflix's shares.

This number is almost twice as high as after Link took over last year.

Also because of the good box office results of several movies, some investment institutions have proposed financing plans to take a stake in Lionsgate.

Link has no plans to raise funds for the time being. He plans to increase the market value of Lionsgate to more than 2 billion by next year, and then raise funds, sell a portion of the shares, and get more funds for investment.

On the one hand, it can also share the risks to prevent the film market from being depressed in the next few years. Lionsgate's box office is not good, and it can't be sold if it wants to sell. After all, he knows that the number of good movies is limited, and he is not sure that the company will be profitable every year.

“How are you feeling today?”

Link stroked her round belly and asked.

“Very good, the little guy kicked me a few more times just now, and he felt like he was in a hurry to come out.”

Ivanka looked at her abdomen and smiled slightly.

“Yes, anyone who stays in one place and can't move will lose their temper.”

Link chuckled.

“Ah~Link, come here quickly, Cynthia grabbed my lipstick to eat, and cried if she didn't give it to her.”

Selena shouted not far away.

“Who told you to take out the lipstick? Cosmetics are not safe. Do you understand how to stay away from the little guy?”

Link shook his head, walked back with Ivanka in his arms, and handed the little ones to Selena to take care of. There would be trouble in less than three minutes.

By the time he and Ivanka rushed over, Cynthia had already been wiped into a flower-faced cat by Selena, and even Alexander hadn't escaped.

Cynthia didn't know what was going on, and she grinned at him with a small mouth, holding out her little hand for a hug.

Link knocked on Selena, took out his camera and took a few photos as a souvenir.

——

On the eighth day of the release of "The Avengers", the North American box office was 299 million, and it also became the fastest film in North America to exceed 300 million box office. Several starring Link and Robert Downey Jr. also used this movie to explode the world.

Link was originally the most famous singer and boxer in the world, and now he is also the most famous movie star in the world. The combination of the fame brought by the three occupations has made him a mess on a global scale.

Last week, his number of followers on the Twitter platform officially exceeded 100 million, and he was also the first celebrity on the entire Internet social platform to exceed 100 million followers.

The number of fans on Facebook and Weibo platforms also exceeded 50 million.

This also led to the continued growth of sales of his four albums.

The first album "the fighter" has sold more than 5 million copies in the United States and more than 25 million copies worldwide. The second album "Going Forward" has sold 8.5 million copies in the United States and more than 30 million copies worldwide.

The third album, "the woman i love", sold more than 10 million copies in the United States last week. It is also his first album to achieve a ‘Diamond Record’ in the United States. Due to the strict control of piracy in the United States, album sales data are strictly monitored by the RIAA (website of the Recording Industry Association of America) and the Federal Revenue Service. IRS, It is difficult to sell 10 million copies.

So far, only more than a dozen singers have done it, including Elvis Presley, MJ, Shania Dunn, Lionel Richie, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, the Beatles and so on.

Link is also the fastest male singer to achieve a diamond record.

The third edition sold about 42 million copies worldwide.

The fourth album currently sells 9.05 million copies in the United States. It is expected to reach a second diamond record by August, and global sales will exceed 50 million copies. There is hope that it will exceed 100 million in ten years.

Relying on the sharing of royalties from these albums, Link does nothing every year and earns more than 100 million U.S. dollars.

By mid-May, the promotion of "The Avengers" came to an end, and Link joined the crew of "The Expendables 2" as the male number two, a handsome, fighting, and some fancy mercenary second generation.

In this movie, his role gradually became mature.

After the boss Barney played by Stallone was injured, he took over the command of the death squad and went deep behind enemy lines. He not only avenged his companions, but also successfully destroyed the enemy's conspiracy to steal weapon raw materials, and once again defended justice in the way of the death squad.

The film was co-produced by Lionsgate, Stallone's Millennium Pictures, and Wanda Pictures. The production cost was 120 million U.S. dollars, of which Link's salary was 25 million U.S. dollars.

Part of the plot of the movie was filmed on Hong Kong Island, so a female death squad member, Alice Lee, was added.

Coupled with Jet Li, there are two Chinese faces in the main actors.

And his official CP in the film is his widowed sister Scarlett Johansson. In this play, she plays Schwarzenegger's daughter, a female mercenary with a beautiful appearance and extremely high fighting skills. There is only a two-minute plot. The main reason is that the salary is too high.

Originally planned to use Jennifer Lawrence to play this role, but considering that the relationship between him and Jennifer in reality is more complicated, and then ran to the movie to show love, fans may not necessarily buy it, so they replaced it with the widowed sister Scarlett.

If "The Expendables 2" does well, fans will be interested in the CP of the two. In "The Expendables 3", the two are expected to take the lead and become the stars of the series.

During the filming on Hong Kong Island, he also had time to go to the villa in Repulse Bay to accompany Shu Sing and the little guy who had just been born. Shu Sing's father named the little guy Shu Nan, and the English name was Schubert.

During her stay on Hong Kong Island, Chris Liu also came over for vacation. She made three movies and two TV series in a row last year. The whole person revolved in a row. It was not until several recent movies were released that she had time to rest.

Chris Liu said that there are only two plays this year, and he is going to rest in the second half of the year, so he wants to take advantage of this time to have a child.

Link also satisfied her that Chris Liu earned a higher income than Shu Sang, and she didn't have to worry about it when she had children.

In addition to being busy filming and having children, he also transferred more than 400 million U.S. dollars from several companies in the United States, France and South Korea, plus dividends and profits from several companies in China last year, plus 200 million U.S. dollars in loans to buy stocks such as Maotai, Jingdong, BYD, and Ali Investment.

At present, Jinbei Investment owns 11.6% of Wanda Pictures shares, 4.2% of BYD Motor shares, 3.4% of Jingdong shares, 0.35% of Maotai shares, 0.22% of Ali Investment shares, as well as shares of several film and television companies and real estate management companies. The market value is expected to reach US220 billion in ten years.

After the filming on Hong Kong Island, the crew moved to Bulgaria in Europe to shoot.

Due to the local rainy season, the filming situation did not go smoothly. In the middle of the filming, an explosion occurred on the set due to an error by the prop artist, resulting in the death of a stunt artist and two injuries.

Link was less than a hundred meters away from the explosion site and was almost affected.

Because of this incident, the crew had to stop filming for a week, and Link's original scenes of more than ten days were delayed until nearly a month before filming was completed.

Also because of this accident, Ivanka did not allow him to pick up more intense action movies, and Taylor also called and sarcastically asked him for money, especially vulgar, and asked Alexander and Cynthia not to learn from him when they grow up. .

Chris Liu and Sasaki Xi, Taeyeon, and Daddario also persuaded him to stop taking action scenes. With his current worth and fame, he didn't need to fight like that at all.

In order to take care of the mood of Ivanka and Taylor, he had to agree, promising to shoot less action scenes in the future, even if there are action scenes, he will use a stand-in to cherish life and stay away from danger.

After filming "The Expendables 2", his filming mission for this year's movie was basically completed, and it would not take a few days for a few cameo roles to be left.

But he can't rest for the time being. One is that the WBA Boxing Championship challenge is coming soon, and the Eva card is about to be produced, and the Summer Olympics are less than two months away.

He needs to focus on training his swimming skills and strive to win a few more gold medals at this Olympic Games.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 500 The Little Princess is Born

In June, Ivanka's due date was approaching, and Link took time to Las Vegas to participate in a boxing match against WBA champion challenger Jean Pascal.

Jean Pascal is an old opponent, and he once competed with him for the WBA North American boxing title in 2009.

Compared with two years ago, Pascal's strength has improved somewhat, but it is still much worse than Link. The two sides played against each other for two rounds, and Link successfully KO his opponent in the 22nd second of the second round to win.

The professional competition record is 27 battles, 27 wins and 27 LOSSES.

Due to the obvious strength gap between the two sides, this game received less attention, and PPV sales were less than the previous game. 1.84 million copies were sold in North America, and the revenue from other aspects was slightly inferior to the previous game.

Link's prize money in this game is 64 million US dollars, more than 10 million less than the previous game.

“Link, have you paid attention to the NBA Clippers?Recently, Clippers owner Sterling is preparing to sell his shares, which are about 58.8%, at a price of 550 million U.S. dollars. We plan to win the Clippers. What do you think?”

After the game, Frank Dewar chatted about work in the car.

In order to solve the problem of Dynasty Sports' single income, Frank and the management have done some work in the past two years.

This includes professional athletes who have signed contracts for other sports, the purchase of a small number of shares in ESPN TV, the United States cable TV Showtime, and the establishment of long-term cooperative relations with sports brands such as Nike and Under Armour.

The development in the past two years has not been bad.

At present, Dynasty Sports Company has a total market capitalization of more than 600 million US dollars, which is second only to the top promotion and the promotion of major events in the boxing field, and it is even stronger than the promotion of Golden Boy.

The main reason why it has developed so quickly is still in Link.

With a top boxer like him who steadily and continuously generates profits for the company, there is no shortage of funds for the company's development, which has also led many people to want to invest in Dynasty Sports Company.

After two rounds of financing, the company has grown from tens of millions in 2008 to more than 600 million now.

Also because Link is essential to the development of the company and is the company's most important source of profit, he still holds 30% of the shares and has never been diluted. After two rounds of financing, Frank's shares are now only 26.4%.

Instead, Link became the largest shareholder of Dynasty Sports.

Hearing Frank's words, Link asked curiously: “The company has more than 500 million U.S. dollars?”

“No, we are going to conduct the third round of financing and borrow a portion of it. It's almost enough. If everything goes well, we plan to let Dynasty promote its listing on Nasdaq in two or three years. Yes, this is the development plan designed by the company.”

Frank spread his hands and smiled.

Link thought for a while, that's not bad.

The current market capitalization of the Clippers is about 1.2 billion, ranking in the top ten in the NBA in market capitalization and in the top three in commercial value. The future market capitalization will exceed 2 billion US dollars. If it is properly managed, it is also a good investment project.

In fact, Frank didn't say that Link also has plans to buy teams, not only NBA teams, but also NFL football teams, as well as European football clubs.

The purpose of acquiring a team is not only to make money, just like Lionsgate, a good team can create a lot of profits for shareholders every year, like a golden rooster laying eggs.

In addition, having a team in your hand can also increase your influence in the sports field, as well as in the socio-political field.

There are many benefits.

In addition to the team, Link also wants to acquire a TV station similar to HBO. On the one hand, he can promote his own boxing matches, and on the other hand, he can cooperate with Lionsgate's television department to produce more TV series every year.

Good TV series such as "Mad Men" produced by Lionsgate make a profit of about three million US dollars per episode in the fifth season, including subscription fees and advertising revenue, broadcast sharing, videotape sharing and other income, while the top hit drama "Game of Thrones" makes a profit of more than 20 million or 30 million per episode.

If there are one or two TV stations in hand, Lionsgate will have a greater influence in the film and television industry, and it will be closer to the Big Six.

It's just that there are no good acquisition targets at the moment, so we can only wait and see for the time being. After the shares in our hands are more valuable in the future, it's not too late to start.

Jingle bell!

While chatting, his mobile phone suddenly rang. It was Selena who called, saying that Ivanka was about to give birth and asked him to come back soon.

When Link heard the joy, he didn't dare to delay, and drove to a private nursing home near the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center.

With one week to go before the due date, Link and Ivanka moved here. The nursing home has the most advanced equipment, a fertility and guidance team, and the most professional nursing staff, so he was not worried when he heard Selena say that Ivanka was about to give birth.

When he arrived at the nursing home, Catherine, Ms. Mandy, Tiffany and others arrived first, all waiting outside the delivery room.

“Link, why did you come here? Evaka is going to give birth and you are still running around.”

Selena complained with a small mouth.

“What do you mean, running around?Don't you know that I am playing in Las Vegas today?”

Link didn't bicker with her either. He put on a sterile surgical gown and entered the delivery room to accompany Ivanka. Because Ivanka was in good physical condition, he was in a good mood during this time. Properly maintained, the entire production process went smoothly. It took less than two hours from launch to production.

She is a beautiful little princess who weighed 8.5 pounds at birth and was 48 cm tall. She is very healthy and cries loudly.

“My dear, thank you for your hard work.”

Link hugged the little guy who hadn't opened his eyes and kissed Ivanka's sweaty hair.

Ivanka smiled slightly, stretched out her hand and touched the little guy's face, with a gentle smile on her face.

According to the previous discussions between the two, the little guy's name is Margarita, which also means princess in Spanish.

The day after the little guy was born, his old father-in-law flew over from New York with his whole family. Taylor, Paris Hilton, and Jennifer Lawrence also came to the hospital to visit Ivanka and the little guy one after another.

The American media also reported on the news of Eva Ka's birth, and Link also received congratulations from many people over the phone.

“That's Daddario?”

In the hospital, Taylor looked at a car leaving and asked.

“Yes, she came to see Eva, and they have a good relationship.”

Link shrugged.

Taylor snorted softly, hugged his arms and said, “Now that you have children, do you want to continue fooling around with those women?"Are you going to be a scumbag for the rest of your life?”

“Don't make it so unpleasant. We are in a normal relationship, like good friends. Besides, we have children a long time ago, don't we?”

"Huh!Alexander and Cynthia became wild children after being taken care of by their parents for two months.”

Taylor glanced at him blankly.

In the past, she would be very careful when she took her children, she would not let them run around, she was not allowed to stay outdoors for too long, and her diet was completely in accordance with the dietitian's plan.

When Link was taking care of the two young children, he used them as toys, taught the little ones over one year old to swim, and let them run around. Eating also followed the hobbies of the two little ones. The two little ones were crooked by him.

After she took the little guy back, she corrected it for a long time and didn't change it. What made her even more unhappy was that Alexander and Cynthia were also called Mother Ivanka, and she was almost mad.

“It's better for the little guys to be lively. When will you start your world tour?”

Link asked.

“What are you doing?”

“Next time you start a tour, I will take care of them again, plus Margarita, the three little guys together, haha, it will be very interesting.”

Link smiled.

“It's impossible, I will keep the children away from you in the future, so as not to be broken by you.”

Taylor waved his hand and walked away with a ponytail. In a simple T-shirt and close-fitting jeans, his back was still as youthful and beautiful as before.

"Hey!beauty.”

Link shouted.

“What's the matter?”

Taylor stopped and looked back at him, still with an expression of displeasure with him.

“When will there be time, how about we have a few more little guys?”

“Get out!”

Taylor glared at him shyly, and after saying something without thinking about it, he walked away with long legs.

Link smiled softly, returned to the inpatient department, and continued to greet the others.

When the old father-in-law saw him coming back, he talked to him about politics, said he wanted to run for office, and asked him how was it?

Link agreed. If money is needed, he will try his best to support it. After all, everyone is a family.

The old father-in-law was very satisfied with his attitude, and he brought up golfing again, saying that Ivanka now has children, and the two of them can go back to Manhattan to live. The environment there is better than Los Angeles, the climate is more suitable for children, and it is more convenient to play golf.

Link nodded. Manhattan is indeed better than Los Angeles. The temperature is suitable and the air is wetter. He said that after the Olympics are over, he will go back to New York to live.

The old father-in-law heard him mention the Olympic Games and said that he would go to London to support him when the time came, hoping that he would win a few more gold medals.

Link said definitely.

Sending away the old father-in-law and the young mother-in-law, Link returned to the room to accompany Ivanka and helped her drive the noisy Selena and Tiffany out of the ward.

Three days after Margarita was born, she was in good condition, and Ivanka recovered well. Link drove them back to the mid-levels villa. Since then, there has been a little person worth remembering in the family.

——

In June, "The Avengers" was released for more than a month, and the large-scale screenings ended, and the number of theaters was reduced to less than 1,000.

The North American box office has reached a total of 650 million US dollars, and the global box office is currently 805 million US dollars, with a total box office of more than 1.4 billion US dollars, making it the highest-grossing movie in film history after "Avatar" and "Titanic".

(End of this chapter)