Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 686 - 496 The Hunger Games Premieres

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

On its opening day, the box office takings reached 70.25 million US Dollars, surpassing "Twilight: Eclipse" with 68.5 million US Dollars and "The Dark Knight" with 67.17 million, ranking second on the North American highest opening day box office record list, following only "Twilight: New Moon" with 72.7 million US Dollars.

Its weekend total reached 164 million US Dollars, setting records for the highest opening day box office for a non-sequel, highest weekend opening box office for a non-sequel, the highest opening box office in March, as well as the highest opening box office for Lionsgate Films.

"The Hunger Games" swept through North American theaters with great momentum, achieving an impressive opening box office record, and evoking widespread praise from the media.

The film had a production cost of 78 million US Dollars and a marketing budget of 30 million US Dollars. It managed to break even within three days of release, and the film also received great reviews, with a media composite score as high as 88, with over half of the media scoring it above 90.

Without doubt, Lionsgate Films had produced a very good movie.

Link and Lionsgate would earn a lot of money from the film, possibly several hundred million US Dollars.

R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.

When Link purchased Lionsgate Films last year, many people did not look favorably upon this transaction, thinking that Lionsgate would eventually go bankrupt in his hands, and some media even predicted that Lionsgate's bankruptcy would come within three to five years.

Regrettably, things did not turn out as the media had predicted; Lionsgate made a profit in the first year after being acquired by Link.

Now, having released "The Hunger Games," a series with such outstanding box office data, the future growth of Lionsgate Films was bound to be ever more prosperous.

Thus, after the huge box office success of "The Hunger Games," many in the media lamented that Link had picked up a great bargain.

During the ownership transfer of Lionsgate in March and April last year, the film had already been planned; Link didn't do anything yet ended up with a highly successful film series, which was incredibly fortunate.

It seemed that the former shareholders of Lionsgate might have made a losing deal.

In the first week of the movie's release, the North American box office broke through two hundred million, reaching 212 million US Dollars, only behind "The Half-Blood Prince" with 236 million US Dollars, "Spider-Man 3" with 230.5 million, and "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End" with 216 million, becoming one of the fastest movies in North America to break through two hundred million US Dollars.

"The Hunger Games" also took the weekly box office championship with 212 million US Dollars, during a time when there were several other competitive movies.

One of them was "Men in Black 3" distributed by Sony Pictures, released on the 25th with a first-week box office of 83.35 million US Dollars.

Warner Bros. Pictures' "Wrath of the Gods" was released on March 30, with a first-week box office of 43.88 million US Dollars.

And "Tiger & Dragon Rangers," which had been released for two weeks, earned 27.5 million US Dollars this week.

Although the box office performance of these movies was good, none could compare to "The Hunger Games."

Consequently, with such envious box office results for "The Hunger Games," there were inevitably many negative reviews in the media during the second week of its release.

Many reviews didn't discuss the quality of the film; instead, they directly criticized the lead actress Jennifer Lawrence.

They believed Jennifer and Link appeared to be in an ambiguous relationship, heavily relying on Link in her career, and since the female protagonist of "The Hunger Games" represented an independent and strong woman with immense inner strength, on this front, Jennifer did not match up to the character Katniss.

Some film critics ignored the facts, claiming that Link invested in the movie to promote his lover, that the quality of the movie was just average, and it relied solely on advertising hype, insisting that the audience should not have to pay for this.

In response to these unfriendly reviews, Lionsgate Films and Palm Beach Films issued powerful rebuttals, sending legal letters to numerous media outlets and film critics demanding public apologies, while continuing to promote positive news about Jennifer Lawrence.

With strong promotion by Lionsgate, the box office of "The Hunger Games" was hardly impacted, achieving 96.3 million US Dollars in North America in its second week, a drop of 56%, which was a very good number for a blockbuster movie and indicated high quality.

As for the international box office, "The Hunger Games" collected 180 million US Dollars in 31 countries and regions, including Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

Fifteen days after the release, the global total box office broke through five hundred million US Dollars, becoming the first movie of 2012 to surpass five hundred million US Dollars worldwide.

The media estimated that the global box office for the film would be between seven hundred million to eight hundred million US Dollars, performing better than the first part of the "Twilight" series.

That is to say, this movie had the potential to become, following "Harry Potter" and "Twilight," yet another globally successful literary adaptation film.

Based on this trend, Lionsgate Films could be expected to earn over two billion US Dollars from the series.

This time, everyone began to envy Link.

Last year, his use of Twitter shares to exchange for Lionsgate Films seemed a bit impulsive and a disadvantageous deal.

However, Twitter's shares were only highly valued, and the company was not performing well, making very little profit annually. Last year's dividend was also modest, less than three hundred million US Dollars, like a golden goose that couldn't lay eggs.

Last year, Lionsgate Films distributed dividends exceeding one hundred million, 80% of which belonged to Link, and this year's dividends will be even more, possibly surpassing the US Dollar market value of Twitter, like a chicken that lays golden eggs.

With these golden eggs, Link could invest in other projects, earning more money than he would from Twitter shares.

For this, The Wall Street Journal specially published an article praising Link as an 'admirably shrewd and visionary entrepreneur.'

At the same time, the newspaper also commented on the entertainment industry under Link's control, stating that Lionsgate Films + Palm Beach Films + Netflix would grow into giants of the film and television industry, while Link Music Company + SB projects entertainment + Spotify platform also have great potential to become a music industry giant, standing shoulder to shoulder with the big five record companies.

The Wall Street Journal once again marveled at Link's exceptional ability, who, inadvertently, completed his layout in the entertainment industry, 'Link will inevitably become a leading figure influencing the direction of the world's entertainment industry in the future.'

"Dear, are you really that amazing?"

Ivanka flipped through the newspaper, looking at him in surprise.

"What?"

Link was squatting on the carpet, playing with Alexander and Cynthia.

Alexander was quieter, if given a pile of building blocks, he could sit on the floor and play quietly for two or three hours.

Meanwhile, Cynthia was a bit more lively, crawling over to him after playing with her toys for a while, stepping on his legs, trying to climb onto his neck, agile in her movements.

"The news says you're going to be the overlord of the entertainment industry."

Ivanka read The Wall Street Journal's review of him, which was full of praise for his layout in Hollywood and the music scene, saying he had already become a 'little giant' walking on two legs, with the potential to evolve into entertainment giants like Warner, Universal, Sony, and Disney.

"Dear, is this layout something you planned after much consideration?"

Ivanka was referring to the acquisition of shares in Spotify and Netflix; without them, Link's entertainment portfolio would be considered mediocre. But with these two promising entertainment tech companies, his assets underwent a qualitative change, with immense potential.

Link smiled lightly, "Pretty much. I am bullish on the internet industry, internet platforms + music, and internet + film and television are the development trends for these two industries in the future. Hence, after entering the music and film industries, I started looking for internet companies with close ties to these two industries. Spotify and Netflix are among them. Looking at it now, this combination seems quite adequate."

"Yes, very good, dear. You're amazing."

Ivanka smiled at him, her eyes filled with love and admiration.

Although she was also an outstanding entrepreneur, her expertise lay in management and operations; she lacked creativity. Had she been in charge of planning the development of two companies, she wouldn't have invested heavily in Spotify and Netflix and would have been more conservative.

In comparison, Link was bolder in this aspect, and his decisions had more far-reaching foresight.

"Hey, Cynthia, did you climb onto my neck just to nibble on my ear?"

Link was holding the little imp in his arms, wiping his saliva-covered ear, which the little one had been gnawing on after climbing onto his shoulder, showing only six little baby teeth that didn't hurt when she bit.

"Is Cynthia hungry?"

Ivanka asked.

"No, she's just being naughty."

Link picked up the little darling, kissed her chubby pink cheeks, and she blinked her sparkling big eyes, giggling and reaching out her little hands, like tiny seeds, to grab his face.

Ding-a-ling-ling!

The phone rang on time, with the two little ones' mother asking what Alexander and Cynthia were doing.

Link mentioned the ear-biting incident.

Taylor said he deserved it.

Link, holding the two little ones, went to the computer to video chat with Taylor.

Alexander and Cynthia called out 'Mommy' upon seeing Taylor on the computer screen, and Taylor's eyes were full of the two imps, her face unconsciously beaming with a smile.

Link asked how her album sales were going,

Taylor, proud, said they were very good; she signed more than five thousand records in London today.

Link told her to take it easy and not overwork herself.

Taylor rolled her eyes at him, telling him not to worry, and then started showing off a bunch of toys online to amuse the two little ones, asking them which ones they liked.

Alexander and Cynthia grabbed at the screen, babbling non-stop.

Link inquired when Taylor was leaving London, since tomorrow The Hunger Games crew would be in Britain for a roadshow.

Taylor said she had already received the notice and he need not worry.

Link didn't say anything more.

The Hunger Games' theme song "Safe & Sound" and the song "Eyes Open" were composed and performed by Taylor, so occasionally during the promotion of her new album, she also participated in movie promotional events.

Link spent half an hour chatting with Taylor and the kids, then she had to go to work, leaving him to continue playing with the little ones in the living room.

In the afternoon, Selena brought little Anne over for a meal, and the two adults ran around the house pushing the little ones, followed by a few kittens and puppies, almost turning the villa upside down.

Initially, Link could barely manage the two imps on his own, but with the addition of the cheeky little round-faced Anne, he was completely overwhelmed and had to leave the care of the big and little ones to the nannies to ensure safety.