[Chapter 330: New Movie Begins Filming, Competition Heats Up for the Summer Box Office]
After the release of The Butterfly Effect, Link and his crew hit the road for a series of film promotional events and TV interviews to generate buzz for the movie.
By the second week, he handed over the promotional duties to Jon Gordon and others, while he and the crew flew to San Francisco to dive into production for their new film, The Net.
The Net had been in preparation since February. After months of meticulous planning, the primary filming locations were almost ready. When Link arrived at the San Francisco set, the crew was busy adjusting equipment and setting up scenes. The atmosphere on set was tense yet orderly, with everyone making final preparations for the impending shoot.
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The film told the story of Angela Bennett, a female programmer who faced a life-or-death crisis and had to save herself. Angela was a computer whiz, living her life almost entirely through technology. One day, she unexpectedly received a disk from a colleague, only to find that the very same colleague met a mysterious death shortly after. While vacationing in Mexico, Angela encountered a charming man, quickly realizing that he had ulterior motives -- he was a hitman tasked with killing her and retrieving that disk.
During her escape, Angela experienced a mishap that resulted in her identification being switched, leading to another round of relentless pursuit. Ultimately, she managed to outsmart her enemies using her ingenuity and technical skills to evade danger and unveil the truth.
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Set against the backdrop of the 1990s, when the internet was just beginning to emerge, the screenwriter faced significant limitations in presenting the story. It was hard to imagine how a person could rely solely on computers for survival. Not fully grasping how much secrecy a disk could hold, the writer also lacked an understanding of the internet's implications, the concept of hackers, and the dangers they posed. Therefore, the original script felt restricted and failed to fully capture the story's excitement.
Upon deciding to direct this film, Link overhauled the script. He transformed the disk's contents into evidence of a senator accepting bribes. Learning about the leak, the senator immediately sought to eliminate the whistleblower and reclaim the evidence. The hitman was reimagined as CIA agent Jack, who received orders to pursue a female spy attempting to escape from Mexico with nuclear weapon information. However, as Jack pursued her, he gradually uncovered the truth that Angela was not a spy, and there was more to the story.
Reporting his findings to his superiors, Jack expected to resolve the issue, only to discover that his higher-ups had colluded with the senator and insisted he take action against Angela. Refusing the order, Jack found himself on the run from both law enforcement and criminals. In their flight, Jack and Angela teamed up, using their combined skills to thwart the conspiracy, return the evidence to Washington, publicly reveal the truth, and successfully convict the senator and a crooked detective.
The revamped script offered unexpected twists and a tighter pace, amplifying the conflicts and creating an intense atmosphere. It also incorporated new terminology from the internet age, including hackers, the dark web, computer viruses, cyberattacks, social networking sites, online stores, and blog archives. While these terms were beginning to appear, they were rarely used and had limited influence. Link detailed these concepts in the script more thoroughly, ensuring the film was not only entertaining but also forward-thinking.
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After reading the revised script, stars like Sandra Bullock and Matt Damon felt that it resembled a cool science fiction movie.
"This script is awesome; the film is sure to be a hit," Sandra declared, her eyes gleaming with admiration for Link. If it hadn't been for Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg nearby, she might have jumped into Link's arms and kissed him passionately.
"My character is way cooler now, like a Bond-type agent," Matt remarked with a grin. The rest of the crew echoed their excitement.
"You all better not get too excited just yet. The new script has added a lot of action scenes that increase the difficulty, and with our tight shooting schedule, you'll have to fit in training as well. This is going to be hard work," Link warned.
"No problem! We're all young; a little hard work is no big deal," Matt shrugged with a smile. Sandra and other actors like Mark Wahlberg and Bob Gunton shared his sentiment. Working with a top Hollywood director like Link was an honor, and they were all ready for the challenge.
"Alright then!" After preparing the team mentally, Link led the crew into sealed filming locations across San Francisco and Washington.
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With such a busy schedule, Link rarely followed the box office numbers during the summer release; he only learned from Monica and Jennifer's visit that The Butterfly Effect was performing decently, with Big Seven not capitalizing much on it.
After over two weeks of filming in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they completed over fifty scenes, the The Net crew moved to the beaches of Cancun and downtown Tijuana in Mexico. While the beaches of Cancun, located in Baja California, were not as famous as Hawaii, they were spacious, featuring pristine coral reefs and azure waters meeting golden sands, making it a popular tourist destination for mid-to-low-income Americans.
Angela, the lead character, faced her pursuers while vacationing there. Filming in the chaotic downtown Tijuana, with its narrow streets and bustling crowds, added a sense of real tension to the horror film.
"Scene 87, take one, action!" After the crew called for a take, Link stood behind the camera, furrowing his brow as he scrutinized every detail on set. Just as the film reached its climax, the competition in the North American box office tightened.
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In its third week, The Butterfly Effect grossed $24.46 million across 2,373 theaters, bringing its cumulative total to $83.77 million, landing third for the week. The top spot went to Bruce Willis's film Die Hard with a Vengeance, which earned $33.92 million in its opening week across 2,525 theaters.
Given its production budget of $90 million, those box office figures were solid, but not impressive, particularly compared to the opening numbers of the first two films in the franchise. Apollo 13 snagged second place with $24.51 million, just $50,000 more than The Butterfly Effect, and its overall earnings reached $101.041 million, making it the second film this year to surpass the $100 million mark.
Braveheart, meanwhile, earned $12.09 million to take fourth place, while Guess Pictures' film, To Die For, opened with a modest $9.39 million from 1,274 theaters, took fifth place, a rather average performance.
The sixth spot belonged to Crimson Tide, grossing $4.36 million for a total of $62.78 million, but its growth fell below expectations. Coming in seventh was While You Were Sleeping, pulling in $2.31 million this week and crossing the $80 million mark for a total of $82.12 million.
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After the box office figures were released, the heads of Big Seven frowned, taken aback by To Die For's performance. This project, snatched from Castle Rock Productions, starred Nicole Kidman along with rising stars Joaquin Phoenix and Ryan Phillippe. Its production budget was $22 million, which was significantly more than The Butterfly Effect, made for $12 million.
In addition, prior to To Die For's release, Guess Pictures had heavily promoted it as a key project, creating a lot of buzz. The expectation was that with Guess Pictures' serious backing, it would be another box office hit. However, it only managed to open with $9.39 million, lacking any signs of major success. The previous hype felt more like a distraction to mislead the Big Seven into investing more.
Guess Pictures' strategy worked. To counter To Die For, Big Seven had to advance the release of Die Hard with a Vengeance, pouring resources into its promotion. Yet, upon release, the film not only failed to have the desired effect but instead directly competed with Apollo 13, Braveheart, and Crimson Tide, siphoning box office revenue from all three.
This situation led to frustrations between the three companies. Initially, they banded together to counter Guess Pictures, but once the target was gone, it was inevitable that they would turn on one another. To secure greater box office returns, starting in the second week, the four film companies -- Universal Pictures, which distributed Apollo 13; Paramount, which released Braveheart; Disney, for Crimson Tide; and 20th Century Fox for Die Hard with a Vengeance -- intensified their promotional efforts.
They competed not only against Guess Pictures' titles, The Butterfly Effect and To Die For, but also against each other, disregarding any previous alliances.
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In this increasingly fierce battle for summer box office sales, Michael Ovitz recognized the escalating situation and quickly called the heads of Big Seven, urging them not to turn against each other and to continue focusing on undermining Guess Pictures' films rather than letting them benefit.
The presidents of Big Seven all declined his suggestion. With The Butterfly Effect guaranteed to cross the $100 million mark in its fourth week, its ceiling was not particularly high, making it unnecessary to keep up the pressure. Meanwhile, To Die For seemed to have mediocre potential and posed no major threat, making excessive pressure a drain on resources.
In this environment, the box office became a battleground, with Big Seven registering significant competition. Disney's Michael Eisner expressed dissatisfaction over the phone, stating that to counter The Butterfly Effect, they had rushed Crimson Tide's release, only for the box office to underperform, costing the company tens of millions.
If they didn't act quickly to recover some box office revenue, the board would surely demand Eisner's resignation. The other six companies also felt they sacrificed too much in their attempts to counter The Butterfly Effect, leading to disappointing earnings for several films. With the pressure off, they needed to focus on their own movies.
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After rounds of persuasion, Michael Ovitz found no takers. "Damn it! This must be Link's scheme," he said angrily after hanging up the phone. "He deliberately released a film with little box office potential to create a vacuum in the market, pushing all Big Seven studios into conflict and allowing Guess Pictures' films to soar. That guy is too clever."
"The production cost for To Die For was over twenty million. Are they using that film as cannon fodder?" vice president Ron Bernstein said in disbelief.
"That's Link's cunning; To Die For's low production cost kept it off Big Seven studios' radar. Just over twenty million was just right, and it turned out, he tricked everyone," Michael retorted.
"Now that Big Seven are out of the way, what do we do?" Ron asked.
Michael Ovitz felt cornered. The Big Seven had always been rivals. They only temporarily allied to tackle Guess Pictures, and their union was too fragile; once disrupted, reformation was unlikely. Link clearly understood this dynamic and leveraged To Die For to break the Big Seven's plan.
"That's truly clever," he muttered. "Is he still filming on set?"
"Yes, there were media reports indicating Link hired over twenty armed ex-military personnel as bodyguards while filming in downtown Tijuana, patrolling outside the set daily. One has to say, he's quite cautious," Ron joked.
Michael didn't respond, instead pacing the office, seeking a solution.
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Rring! Rring!
The desk phone rang, and Ovitz, irritated, picked it up, asking who was on the line. Harvey's raspy, toad-like chuckle echoed through, suggesting he had a great idea to deal with Link. Even if it couldn't undermine his box office, it would certainly embarrass him.
"What's the plan?" Ovitz asked, eager for details. Upon hearing Harvey's explanation, Ovitz's eyes lit up with intrigue, and he decided to give it a try.
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