Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Chapter 386: Friends with Benefits (5/10)

After entering the cinema, the premiere ceremony began. Link, Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci, Lisa Kudrow, and other supporting actors, along with director Will Guler, took the stage to speak and answer questions from the media.

They chatted about some behind-the-scenes anecdotes from filming.

In the end, Link and Emma Stone sang "We Go Together," one of the movie’s songs, and won a round of applause.

"I’m so nervous!"

After returning to her seat, Emma Stone looked at the big screen that was about to start playing, her fingers tightly clutching the hem of her skirt.

"Nervous about what?"

"This is my first film as a lead actress."

"This is also the first film I’ve invested in, and I’m not nervous at all."

Link leaned back in his seat very relaxed, swinging his crossed leg.

Link smiled lightly. It wasn’t for that reason.

He had seen an internal screening of "Scandal Plan" before the release, which was almost identical to the one he had watched before, and his own celebrity involvement added more buzz to the film.

He remembered that the original film had an investment of 8 million dollars and grossed nearly 80 million dollars worldwide. It was the breakthrough role for Emma Stone, propelling her into Hollywood’s leading lady status.

Now, with an investment of 10 million dollars, and greater scale in both promotion and release, the box office results should be no less impressive.

"Don’t worry. Even if this film loses everything and doesn’t make a single cent, I’ll continue to support you. Remember, our goal is four Oscars for Best Actress, not just to be a film star,"

Link encouraged her.

Turning to look at him, Emma Stone blinked her large green eyes, "Really?"

"Of course!"

Link said, extending his fist.

Emma Stone bit her lower lip and touched her small fist to his.

The movie began to play.

Before the film started, the Palm Beach Films logo appeared onscreen—a simple sketch of a sailboat run aground on a beach, from which a reel of film unrolled. The beach then became colorful and was eventually shrunk into a singe frame of film.

The seven-second animation was designed and produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and it told the story of how movies change the world.

After the opening credits, the film moved into its main theme.

The main character, Oliver, to get out of a tedious house party of a close friend, fabricates the lie that she has a date with a boy over the weekend.

To make her friend believe her, she concocted lots of details, including kissing and going to bed, resulting in her friend mistaking her for a ’non-virgin.’

Their conversation was overheard by the female president of the school’s religious club, a conservative who advocated that girls should not have sexual relations with boys before marriage and believed such girls were sluts and Mean Girls.

After hearing Oliver’s words, the club president Marian spread the word that the protagonist was a slut and an unclean woman, using her as a negative example to encourage others to isolate her.

Oliver tried to explain, but no one believed her. During this process, she realized she had unintentionally become the talk of the school, a queen of discussion, almost like a celebrity.

She began to enjoy this feeling, started doing her makeup, wearing sexy revealing clothes, admitted she was a slut, and even sewed a red ’A’ on her clothes.

After she became the school’s star, the boys all wanted the honor of dating her, vying for her attention and showering her with benefits, including gay guys, insecure guys, unpopular fat boys, and other marginalized groups.

To help these face-saving boys, she agreed to fake-date them, and at one party, she pretended to have slept with a boy on purpose.

This only made her more famous at school.

That is until a boy contracted an STD after messing around with a teacher, and to cover up their relationship, he falsely accused the protagonist of having transmitted it to him.

Things started to go downhill.

The female protagonist wanted to restore her reputation but found that those she had helped had all disappeared.

In the end, the female protagonist found the cheating teacher’s husband, exposed the truth, and released a clarifying video online, restoring her reputation, and ended up with Todd, the school hunk played by Link.

The movie is also called "Modern Scarlet Letter," which tells the story of a girl’s clarification and redemption after being slandered.

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Unlike the original tragic "Scarlet Letter," "Scandal Plan" is a campus comedy with an interesting plot design and many humorous points.

During the movie’s screening, bursts of laughter could be heard from the audience at times.

"It looks pretty good, Link, how come you even understand investing in movies?"

Next to him, De La Hoya, who had been invited to support the event, asked.

"Is that difficult?"

"Not difficult?"

"Not at all, only need to find a good script, then contact a few good producers, directors, actors, and be diligent during shooting. The box office won’t be bad."

"You must be joking. Hollywood screenwriters produce thousands of scripts each year, and only a handful make money. And the selection of directors and actors, you think you can just find the right people? I’ve also invested in movies before and lost millions."

De La Hoya shook his head and said.

"That’s because you don’t have the eye for it. If you’re interested in movie investments, you might consider joining Palm Beach Films. I’ll show you the ropes, and you won’t lose money,"

Link said.

Hoyle is also a billionaire with industries including Golden Boy Promotions, a publishing company, a clothing company, and a Spanish language TV channel; he is one of the most successful boxers in the business field.

"Sounds good, but I want to see how this movie does at the box office first. I hope your film doesn’t lose money."

De La Hoya said.

"Of course it won’t!"

Clap clap clap! The movie screening ended, and the venue erupted into enthusiastic applause; people were shouting "cool," "fantastic."

Link also stood up to applaud and congratulate Emma Stone; as the movie’s lead actress, she contributed the most to its success.

And Link was only a heartthrob + eye-candy in the movie, for his looks and fame.

"Boss, I think we shouldn’t celebrate too early. Sometimes when you celebrate too soon, accidents happen later. We should wait for the first week’s box office results before celebrating,"

Emma Stone said excitedly yet nervously.

"You’re too anxious. Why don’t you take a vacation while ’The Help’ hasn’t started filming yet? The company will cover all expenses,"

"No! Boss, you’re so outstanding and hardworking, I should learn from you and take on more movies each year,"

Emma Stone said.

Link nodded in satisfaction; if Palm Beach Films had a few more actors like Emma, he was confident that just with the shares from the talent agency alone, he could amass a fortune in the hundreds of millions.

After the premiere, Palm Beach Films hosted a party at the Hilton Garden Hotel, entertaining the supporting friends, the crew, and hundreds of media and film critics.

At the party, the director Will Guler approached him with a new project, asking if he was interested in continuing to invest.

The new script was called "Friends with Benefits," about two attractive young people living in the big city who, because they got along so well, decided to rent a place together, and the story of how from nonbelievers in love they transformed into a couple. It belonged to the romantic comedy genre.

Link remembered having seen this movie; the male lead was the "pop star legend" Justin Timberlake, who, although average in performance, seemed to have a box office gross that also exceeded one hundred million US dollars.

Link asked how much the budget for the movie was?

Director Will Guler said the leads weren’t final yet, he planned to use popular stars, and estimated the cost would be between thirty to fifty million dollars. He also asked if Link was interested in playing the male lead?

After thinking for a moment, Link decided to invest, but whether he’d take the role of the male lead would depend on the "Captain America" audition results. If he had time, the role could be good too.