Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 708 - 513: Six Major Studios Siege

If Lionsgate Films' market share continued to grow, several studio heads among the Big Six could even face the danger of being fired.

Consequently, at the invitation of the Hollywood Reporter, in mid-November, Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Fox, Donna Langley, chairman of Universal, Alan Horn, chairman of Disney, Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount, Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Classics, and Toby Emmerich, president of Warner Bros. Pictures, convened a panel discussion at the Hollywood Reporter headquarters to summarize the current state of Hollywood's industry in 2012 and to analyze the film market for the coming year.

However, once the news leaked, media generally considered it a meeting against Lionsgate Films, whose strong rise had affected the market share of the Big Six and taken a slice of the pie originally belonging to them, suggesting that the Big Six were preparing to unite against Lionsgate.

Entertainment Weekly believed that Lionsgate Films had reached a relatively dangerous phase, predicting that starting from the next year, the competitive pressure would be greater and it might even face suppression from the Big Six. If Lionsgate wanted to maintain its current market share, it needed to produce robust films.

The Big Six denied such news, calling it baseless speculations and claiming that Lionsgate's current market share was primarily due to the release of a relatively successful film, "The Hunger Games," along with the upcoming Summit Entertainment's "Twilight" as well as a few dark horse films like "Buried," "The Vow," "The Conjuring," and "Sinister."

But one issue was that "The Hunger Games" had been a huge success, which couldn't guarantee the sequel's continued success, and "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1" being the last in the series meant that after this year's release, it could no longer rely on this series to make money next year.

Thus, Lionsgate Films' performance in this year's film market was only an exception, and such an occurrence would not be repeated next year.

The Big Six wouldn't regard Lionsgate Films as a threat, nor was there a need to deliberately suppress them.

Although the Big Six explained in various ways, stating they wouldn't take Lionsgate's rise to heart, media still believed that Lionsgate's future development would be more challenging.

Entertainment Weekly suggested that Lionsgate Films should go public again. Given Lionsgate's current operational conditions, its market value could potentially break through four billion or even five billion US dollars after going public, surpassing the original MGM Studios.

After going public, Lionsgate Films would have more funds, and the ability to withstand pressure and resist risks would also be stronger when facing suppression from the Big Six.

"The analysis isn't bad, but now is not the time,"

Link said as he looked at the magazine article.

"When do you plan to take Lionsgate public?"

Ivanka asked.

"In another two or three years, we need to show the Big Six and our peers that Lionsgate's growth to its current scale is not an accident or an exception, but that we are indeed performing well. At that time, everyone's confidence in investing in Lionsgate Films will be much stronger, and the stock price will be higher. It would be even better if it could exceed ten billion US dollars."

Link shrugged.

"That sounds difficult."

Ivanka looked at him and laughed.

"Wife, I have confidence in you."

"I have more confidence in you."

Ivanka smiled slightly, leaned on his shoulder, and wrapped her arms around his.

Link smelled her fragrance and felt her warm touch, couldn't resist laying down the magazine, and embraced her waist, kissing her lips while his hands moved to the most comfortable and soft places.

Ivanka also hung on his shoulder, gently matching his movements.

Ah~ Ah~ Ah~

Before they could become more intimate, a cry came from the small couch nearby.

"Darn, the little one must have peed again."

Link let go of his big baby Ivanka, ran to pick up the little one to check her diapers, and found that she hadn't peed, she was just crying out of boredom.

"Maybe she's hungry, should I feed her some milk?"

Ivanka came over and gently tapped the little one's nose.

"No need, she just had some over two hours ago, it's not mealtime yet."

Link cradled little Margarita, and she looked at him with bright eyes, very well-behaved.

"Do you always remember the time she drinks milk?"

Ivanka asked.

"Haven't you remembered? You're quite lax as a mother,"

Link teased.

Ivanka rolled her eyes at him; she had to deal with work every day and indeed lacked the patience in caring for the child compared to Link, but she didn't see this as an issue. The child was too young to remember even if she held her every day.

"It's better to leave the little one in the care of a nanny. They are more professional and will definitely take better care of her than you."

Eva sat on the sofa, picking up the magazine to continue browsing through.

With a slight smile, Link didn't argue. He shook a little while waiting for the little one to doze off. He then carried little Margarita to the nursery and handed her over to the nannies.

When he returned to the sitting room, Eva was still reading the magazine, her golden hair flowing freely, dressed in a casual cotton long dress. Her voluptuous, curvy figure radiated a warm scent on this winter day. He walked over, took the magazine from her hands and, under her puzzled gaze, pinned her down and launched his most powerful "Straight Punch" attack.

The scenery of the small sitting room suddenly became blurry.

——

In its eighth week, The Vow had grossed $162 million in North America and $82.5 million overseas, totaling $244 million worldwide.

The film's theme song "What are words" also became a global hit, making it one of the best romantic songs of the year.

On the Billboard singles chart, the song was the champion for two consecutive weeks.

Link's fifth album release was announced for December 3, through a joint release by Universal Music Group and link Music.

In its fourth week, The Conjuring had amassed $134 million in North America and $153 million overseas, totaling over $280 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing horror movie of the year.

Having two movies surpass $200 million worldwide made many in the industry envious.

Those individuals started nitpicking through media channels, endlessly posting negative reviews, trying to push down the box office of several Lionsgate Films movies.

To counter, the Lionsgate publicity department worked overtime, engaging in verbal battles with trolls and haters.

The legal team also worked extra hours to scan these reports and reviews for any potentially infringing statements, sending a cease and desist letter immediately upon finding one.

In less than half a month, they sent out 102 notices, with 8 cases being accepted by the court.

The legal department's actions also made the trolls more cautious for fear of going bankrupt.

In its second week, Sinister had reached $38.74 million in North America, more than ten times its production cost, with overseas revenues at $32.5 million.

The film's global box office was roughly between eighty and ninety million, and with other revenues included, Lionsgate's profits from this project were no less than $60 million, more than what he earned from a boxing match.

In the second week of Sinister, Palm Beach Films released a low-budget movie Juicy and Delicious.

The movie, adapted from the one-act play "Juicy and Delicious," tells the story of a six-year-old African-American girl named Little Cornbread and her father living alone in the isolated town of Bathtub.

This film had been completed early in the year and had won four awards at the Cannes Film Festival in May, including the Catholic Humanitarian Award, Golden Camera, Young Vision Award, and a Certain Regard prize; it has also received other accolades at various film festivals.

The movie premiered in just six theaters in North America, grossing $268,000 in three days, with an average revenue of over $10,000 per theater. The film also received highly positive reviews, with a media composite score of 88, almost all favorable.

Thanks to positive media promotion, the screening of Juicy and Delicious expanded to 1124 theaters in its second week, earning $8.37 million in the box office.

And the movie cost just $1.2 million to produce.

Seeing these figures, peers could only sigh in resignation, as another Lionsgate film had proven to be a huge market success.

The media also noted that Palm Beach Films was the producer of the movie.

Originally, after the box office failure of The Master, the myth of Palm Beach Films producing dark horse movies had been shattered. Now, the total box office of Juicy and Delicious was likely to exceed $20 million, a return ratio close to twenty times.

The box office miracle of Palm Beach Films was mentioned once again.

Additionally, the movie's reputation was excellent, and media pundits considered it a hot contender for next year's Oscars. If fortune favored, it might win one or two awards, further boosting its box office performance.

——

All this was good news, but there were also some regrets. Originally hearing from Leonardo about the preparations for The Great Gatsby, Link planned to continue his partnership with Leonardo in co-producing the movie.

However, Warner Bros. Pictures, one of the producers of The Great Gatsby, refused, as did Universal, Fox, and Paramount. This also caused Link to miss opportunities for joint investment in projects like Pacific Rim and Fast & Furious 6.

Because of this, Link had to put extra effort into finding new scripts, discovering promising ones like We're the Millers, Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Birdman.

He also approved new projects submitted by the Lionsgate production department, including John Wick, Annabelle, Insidious: Chapter 2, The Conjuring 2, Warm Bodies, Neighbors, and Escape From Planet Earth.

Lionsgate was not short of movies to shoot, so being targeted by the major studios had little impact.

Furthermore, while checking out movies invested in by the major studios, he also discovered several box office bombs, including the infamous flop Jack the Giant Slayer, which turned Captain Johnny Depp into box office poison with The Lone Ranger, and a setback for Will Smith's career with After Earth, each costing hundreds of millions in production.

Faced with such competitors, Link wasn't worried. Lionsgate still had box office hits like The Hunger Games, The Conjuring, High School Musical, Black Crazy Lady, and Insidious in its portfolio.

Even if besieged by the big six studios' movies next year, Lionsgate had the potential to hold its ground and possibly even topple the big six's dominance in the top three spots.