Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 706 - 511: The Seventh Giant of Hollywood_2

After being acquired by the Big Six film studios, these companies gradually came under the control of the Big Six and lost the independence of an independent film company.

Representative of this is New Line Cinema, which was established in 1967 and initially made a name for itself by distributing low-budget horror films. In the '90s, it successfully released "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and became a top independent production company in Hollywood.

This caught the attention of Time Warner, and in '93, it was acquired by Warner. Later, it relied on the distribution and production of "The Lord of the Rings" series, which was a huge success.

However, by '07, due to the failure of "The Golden Compass," Time Warner became dissatisfied, and New Line Cinema was merged into Warner Bros., ending its 40-year history. From then on, New Line stopped distributing films and only produced movies according to the demands of Warner Bros. Pictures, and its logo no longer appeared at the beginning of films.

Miramax also faced conflicts with its parent company Walt Disney and was eventually sold off, as were DreamWorks, Focus, and others.

If Brad Pitt were to sell Summit Entertainment to the Big Six, Summit Entertainment might also disappear in a few years.

Additionally, at this stage, each of the Big Six film studios controls three to four independent production companies and isn't much interested in acquiring new small production companies, so their offers won't be too high.

This is also one of the reasons Summit Entertainment would prefer to merge with Lionsgate, the seventh largest in Hollywood.

"Hey, Link, congratulations! Lionsgate has now truly become the seventh biggest in the film industry. That's amazing."

At the signing reception, siblings David and Megan Ellison came over with champagne glasses and said with a smile.

"Sounds good, but the bigger the company, the greater the pressure. Remember to come to me for collaboration if you have any good film projects in the future," Link said.

"No problem, Lionsgate Films is now the leading independent production company, so of course, we'll come to you when we have projects that need collaboration," Megan Ellison said with a laugh.

"Welcome!"

Link responded with a light smile and talked with Megan about the upcoming release of "Zero Dark Thirty," a film co-produced by Lionsgate Films and Annapurna Pictures, with distribution handled by Lionsgate Films and seen as a key contender for the Oscars the following year.

"Hey Link, congratulations on the nice deal you made with Summit Entertainment," said Leon Cavano of Relativity Media as he came over to offer his congratulations, once again with a new companion by his side.

"Haha, Leon, I hope you're right," Link answered.

Lionsgate had planned to discuss the acquisition of Summit Entertainment or other companies after two or three years, but because Lionsgate Films had grown rapidly from 800 million US dollars last year in July or August to nearly two billion, acquiring Summit Entertainment was not too much of a pressure, so the acquisition was moved up.

"Link, are you still using the big data model to gauge the value of movie investments?" Leon Cavano asked jovially.

"Yes, sometimes I do," Link said.

"Can you talk about the specific methods you use to evaluate films? I'd like to exchange ideas with you so we can both make progress," Leon Cavano said with a smile.

Link understood what Cavano was thinking.

Now that Lionsgate Films was doing well with low-cost movie investments, Cavano had come to learn from him. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

He didn't hide anything and shared his understanding and practice of big data investment in movies but also openly told Cavano that he was too busy to involve himself in these specific film investments and that most film projects were decided by the production department.

Cavano, not hearing the 'secrets' he had hoped for, couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed.

Actually, after the big hits released by Palm Beach Films and Lionsgate Films, he and his analysts went into detail to parse out smash hit movies like "Bridesmaids," "Scandal Plan," "The Help," "The Pursuit of Happyness," and "Buried."

Unfortunately, they were unable to find any pattern.

This made him even more curious about Link's investment methods.

What was Link or Palm Beach Films' method of investing in movies?

If he could learn the core techniques and produce several dark horse films in a row, combined with his bragging and hype abilities, he would definitely be able to increase the market value of Relativity Media to over 1 billion, possibly even surpassing Lionsgate.

Sadly, though.

Kavanaugh bit his lip enviously as he looked at Link and his wife being surrounded by a crowd.

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Originally, Lionsgate Films was considered the seventh major film company in Hollywood, and Summit Entertainment, with its "Twilight" series in recent years sometimes surpassing Lionsgate Films in annual box office revenue, was deemed the eighth major.

Now the seventh and the eighth major companies had merged into one.

This news, once reported by the "Los Angeles Times," drew high attention in the film industry and triggered extensive media coverage and commentary, with heated discussions.

One topic was the impact of the merger of the two companies.

After the acquisition of Summit Entertainment by Lionsgate Films, production and distribution capabilities would significantly improve. Originally producing about 20 movies a year, they could now make an additional four or five movies annually, matching the "Big Six" studios and becoming a true seventh major in Hollywood.

The downside was that as the seventh major and a leader in the independent film industry, Lionsgate Films would face even greater competitive pressures from the Big Six.

If they were mismanaged and suffered losses on a major project, Lionsgate Films could potentially go into a debt crisis like MGM Studios and end up being carved up by the Big Six.

But if Lionsgate Films could withstand the siege from the Big Six and continue to develop, they could potentially become a major film company on par with the Big Six in the future.

The second point of discussion was that Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company had successively made offers to buy Summit Entertainment, but in the end, it was Lionsgate Films that successfully clinched the deal.

It is said that because of this, Harvey Weinstein was furious, publicly shouting that he wanted to kill Link, which might indicate how angry Harvey was at the time.

Some media speculated that the relationship between Harvey and Link would worsen and their competition would become fiercer.

But there were also those who disagreed with this view, insisting that Link and Harvey's public disputes were merely a promotional stunt and that they actually had a cooperative relationship behind the scenes.

Link made no explanations about these arguments.

However, when asked about this during a CBS interview, he publicly declared that he entered the film industry out of a passion for movies. His purpose in acquiring Lionsgate Films and Summit Entertainment was to produce more appealing and unique independent films, not to promote anyone or to have disputes, which he thought was childish.

He showed some appreciation for Harvey, considering him perhaps not a good partner, but a capable filmmaker.

"Hmph, do I need your praise? Link Baker, don't get cocky, this isn't over," Harvey said angrily, glaring at Link on the television.

Bob shook his head and also sighed in relief.

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While Lionsgate Films successfully acquired Summit Entertainment, a major piece of news also broke in the sports industry.

Dynasty Sports financed 540 million US Dollars to take 58.8% from Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, becoming the new majority owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Link became one of the team's owners.