Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 720 - 524: Movie Investment Arrangements

In addition, Forbes Magazine also published the list of the highest-earning singers in the United States over the past year.

Link ranked first with a total income of 220 million.

24-year-old country music starlet Taylor Swift ranked second with an annual income of 69.7 million US dollars.

Her income, aside from two albums' royalties, also includes her global tour 'Red Tour', which brought her about 40 million US dollars in six months, including revenue from the sale of concert memorabilia and numerous brand endorsements.

Ranked third is the veteran country music singer Kenny Chesney, with an annual income of 32.96 million US dollars.

Beyonce ranked fifth with an annual income of 28 million US dollars.

Lana Del Rey ranked eighth with 22.5 million US dollars, including album profits, concert revenues, and Link music dividends.

Justin Bieber ranked eleventh with 18.8 million US dollars.

Bruno Mars ranked twelfth with 16.8 million US dollars.

Wiz Khalifa ranked twenty-second with 9.5 million US dollars.

Little Round Face ranked twenty-fifth with an annual income of 8 million US dollars.

Last year, the income situation for artists under Link Music was quite good.

Also, under Palm Bay Talent Agency, Jennifer Lawrence ranked second among actresses with a total income of 34.5 million US dollars, including income from "The Hunger Games 2," "X-Men," "American Hustle," "August: Osage County," and from endorsing Dior perfumes.

First is Sandra Bullock with an annual income of 51 million US dollars, third is Jennifer Aniston with 31 million US dollars.

Emma Stone ranked fourth with an annual income of 26.5 million US dollars.

Amy Adams ranked eighth with 13 million US dollars.

Christine Stewart ranked tenth with 12 million US dollars.

Dadalio last year starred in Lionsgate Films' "The Cabin in the Woods," "The Conjuring," and "Texas Chainsaw 3D," becoming a nearly top-tier Hollywood star, with an income of 8.5 million US dollars, ranking him thirteenth.

"Not bad, everyone made good money last year."

Link said while looking at the magazine.

"You didn't make as much, over a billion in net earnings for a year, now everyone calls you the Fortune God."

Selena, lounging on the couch with little Margarita, Alexander, and Cynthia, two kittens lying beside her.

Link shrugged his shoulders, the situation was quite special last year, twelve gold medals from the Olympics brought him a lot of exposure and endorsements, just from ad revenue alone, he had over 600 million US dollars, nobody could compare with that.

"Old buddy, you're nearly worth tens of billions now, how does it feel?"

"Doesn't feel like much, to me, money is just a string of numbers, the amount doesn't matter."

Link laughed.

"Humph, then share some with me, I don't need much, one billion would be enough, how about that?"

"What do you need that much money for?"

"To spend, buy big mansions, big yachts, big planes, to fill my closet with all the beautiful clothes, bags, high heels, and also perfumes, various cosmetics, a billion wouldn't even be enough for me to spend,"

Selena said, waving her hand.

"Sounds pretty good, I've also been planning to buy a private jet, just haven't picked the model yet, and as for luxury goods, Louis Vuitton Group and Hermès Group have been doing well these past two years, they have investment value, I might consider acquiring some shares if I get a chance."

Link said, stroking his chin.

"Buying a private jet is a great idea, but why buy shares in LV and Hermès Group, can you wear shares?"

Selena rolled her eyes at him.

"Being a shareholder of the two companies, you can wear any limited edition bags and fashion as you like, and if you're interested, you could even personally get involved in fashion design, wouldn't that be cool?"

"That does sound pretty great."

Selena said, her eyes sparkling.

Link smiled softly; Selena would also be a little boss in the future, her Rare Beauty cosmetics brand estimated to reach a market value of over a billion US dollars, becoming a successful entry-level luxury brand.

If she plans to start more businesses in the future, Link wouldn't mind giving her a hand.

By then, people around him including Ivanka, Taylor, Selena, Catherine, Lady Mandy, Lady Cathy Wood, Jennifer Lawrence, and others would all be billionaires, which would be quite nice.

"Ah! Margarita, let go, my hair is falling out."

Future billionaire Selena suddenly cried out in pain.

Margarita climbed onto her shoulder, grasping her black hair with her little hands, saliva dripping from the corners of her mouth.

"Does it really hurt that much? The little one is not even a year old, how strong can she be?"

"Hmph, why don't you give it a try?"

Selena glared at him.

Link chuckled softly, went over and picked up the little one, who was almost one year old, holding onto bits of hair, her big eyes and little mouth sparkling, very cute and adorable.

"Alexander, Cynthia, it's time for your piano lesson."

"Oh! Daddy!"

Alexander and Cynthia clambered off the sofa.

Carrying little Margarita, Link took the kids to the piano room to play the piano for them; the children also have small electronic keyboards, Taylor said this can cultivate their interest in music and they could even become musicians when they grow up.

Link did not object, as objecting was futile.

"I'm coming too."

Selena dragged her shoes and followed with a pitter-patter sound.

—

In the afternoon, Ivanka came back from the company and told Link about an issue related to Summit Entertainment's investment in "Ender's Game," a movie that was set up last year with a production budget of 100 million US Dollars, one of the two movies this year from Lionsgate Films with a budget over a hundred million.

Initially, this movie was developed by Summit Entertainment, with six production companies involved including Warner Bros. Pictures, Zero Head Entertainment, and Digital Domain special effects studio, etc.

Now Warner Bros. Pictures suddenly withdrew from the investment, resulting in a 25 million US Dollars funding gap for the project.

Summit Entertainment submitted a proposal to the Lionsgate Production Department, hoping for support.

However, after review, the Lionsgate Production Department considered the project too risky, difficult to recoup the investment, and their film production plan for the year is already full, with no extra money to support this film.

Summit Entertainment's president, Robert Friedman, called Ivanka to discuss this matter, hoping to convince her.

Ivanka chose to support the opinion of the Lionsgate Production Department, asking Summit Entertainment to either find more investors, reduce production costs, or pause the project.

"You did the right thing, I support you."

Link said as he sipped his mushroom and ham cream soup.

"Ender's Game" is adapted from the 1985 bestselling novel by science fiction author Orson Scott Card, telling the story of a group of people selected to a space station's combat school to train and ultimately join forces to fight the Bugger race after Earth is attacked.

The main leads are teenagers, a beautiful young boy and girl, who train at a space school, similar to the setup in "Harry Potter."

This film was also a key project launched by Summit Entertainment after the Twilight series, hoping to continue the glorious achievements of "Twilight."

However, Link remembered that the box office result of the movie was quite moderate, with only one installment filmed and no follow-ups.

But considering that this was a project already set by Summit Entertainment before being acquired by Lionsgate Films, and Summit Entertainment had already invested in it, after reviewing the project, he did not interfere.

Now with Warner pulling out funding, the project came to a halt.

Link, not wanting to intervene, suggested, "You could advise Robert that the first adaptation's investment should not be too high, treat it as testing the waters, like the first 'Twilight' and 'The Hunger Games,' both had budgets of only seventy to eighty million, even if the adaptation fails, it wouldn't affect the company's operations."

"I was thinking the same."

Ivanka nodded.

Discussing sci-fi movies, Link thought about several future releases with good box office and critical reception, like "Interstellar," "The Martian," "Ready Player One," and already planned projects like "Edge of Tomorrow" and "Gravity."

Additionally, Huaxia's "The Wandering Earth" series was great too. During the Spring Festival, he inquired about "The Wandering Earth" and "The Three-Body Problem," with "The Wandering Earth" rights already sold but not yet scheduled, and "The Three-Body Problem" movie currently planned but progressing slowly.

If the opportunity arises, cooperating with mainland film companies might be worthwhile, as Hollywood film companies are slightly ahead in special effects.

Joining forces, the resulting movies might be better.

At the dining table, Link and Ivanka also discussed the recently released movies, with Lionsgate Films launching five movies in January and February, "Texas Chainsaw 3D," "Warm Bodies," "The Informer," and distributing movies for other companies like "Stand Up Guys" and "A Fighting Chance."

In terms of box office, "Warm Bodies" performed best, having been released for over two months, currently with a North American gross of 66.38 million US Dollars, and international gross of 50.60 million US Dollars, with a production + promotion cost of 35 million, the company could net twenty to thirty million from this movie.

Dadalio starring "Texas Chainsaw 3D" released in mid-January, currently has a North American gross of 36.41 million US Dollars, and overseas gross of 14.99 million US Dollars, with a production cost of 22 million, expected to make a few million profits.

Additionally, Dwayne Johnson's "The Informer," released in late February, grossed 26.75 million US Dollars in North America in two weeks, with a production cost of 21 million, it has already broken even.

The other two films had an average performance, "Stand Up Guys," starring three veteran actors Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin, had good reviews, but the box office is only a few million so far.

"A Fighting Chance," Arnold Schwarzenegger's second action film after stepping down, opened over a month with a global box office of less than 40 million, confirming it won't break even.

Besides Arnold Schwarzenegger, action movies starring other action giants like Bruce Willis and Harry Fortson generally underperformed, causing Lionsgate Films to be cautious when releasing "The Expendables 2," worried about not recouping the investment.