Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 526 - 413 Box Office Fraud and Pregnancy_2

As to why Kavanaugh was not particularly secretive about his technology for investing in movies and was quite willing to disclose it, there were two reasons. First, the method wasn't exactly a secret; many on Wall Street used it. Second, the development of Relativity Media was entirely dependent on financing.

To attract more investment, Kavanaugh needed to constantly promote his technology and assure investors of its utility with somewhat embellished box office data, instilling confidence in them.

The news attributed the success of Palm Beach Films' last two hit movies to the producers under its banner and not to Link.

This provided Kavanaugh with a window of opportunity.

After sharing this technology with Link, he could claim to the public that Link's back-to-back hits with dark horses were due to using his system. Kavanaugh, the "teacher," could boast of a superior investment technique compared to his "student" Link, reassuring investors that Relativity Media was a safe place for their money.

Kavanaugh explained enthusiastically, his voice growing more and more impassioned, resembling someone pitching a multi-level marketing scheme, attracting a lot of attention from the surrounding crowd.

Link smiled helplessly, recognizing that while he wanted to use Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh was also using him.

After bidding farewell to the still excited Kavanaugh, Ivanka came over, looping her arm through his. She wore a stylish LV mermaid dress that matched his casual suit perfectly.

"Do you want to learn from Kavanaugh about investing in movies with big data?"

"I'm considering it. We are newcomers to the film industry, and learning various investment techniques will be useful as references when investing,"

Link shrugged his shoulders.

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Ivanka nodded, looked him over, and chuckled, "You don't seem very enthusiastic, do you?"

"Can you tell?"

Link chuckled lightly and shook his head. He indeed had little desire to attend the party.

The first thing was that he had received a message from Guillaume Canet in the morning; Marion Cotillard was in the delivery room and was expected to have her baby today or tomorrow.

Secondly, the movie "Bridesmaids" was projected to have a global box office of only 200 million, a lot less than the 300 million he recalled, which made him worry about possible inaccuracies in the box office numbers of other movies. If the discrepancies were too great, he would need to be more cautious with future investments.

"During its promotion, it was publicly predicted that this movie would make four to five hundred million US dollars, but now it's only projected to make two hundred million. The gap is too wide,"

Link said.

Ivanka hesitated a moment and then told him something she had been investigating; without a firm conclusion yet, she had not shared it with him.

"What is it?"

"We suspect that Warner Bros. Pictures might have falsified 'Bridesmaids' box office data,"

Ivanka said with a stern face.

"Box office fraud?"

Link was taken aback; such things were not uncommon in the film industry.

Despite the 'Paramount Decree' of 1948, which enforced a separation of movie production companies from cinema chains to prevent monopolistic practices, and was subject to strict regulation and review by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the practice of big movie companies colluding with theaters to embezzle box office revenues still existed.

The 'Big Six' Hollywood studios falsified box office data to maintain their market share and suppress smaller production companies and producers.

Behind the 'Big Six' laid media conglomerates controlling 70% of America's entertainment media and TV stations, and lawyers and politicians also relied on the entertainment industry.

Even if later on someone discovered the fraud, no one dared to challenge the authority of the 'Big Six' for fear of being blacklisted, ultimately having to swallow the bitter pill.

It was rumored that a significant reason for the bankruptcy of Carlock Pictures was due to ticket sales being stolen by the distributors; the movie "Shutter Island" certainly grossed more than just a few million dollars.

Common methods of stealing box office revenue include underreporting the number of movie-goers, recording a film with a 90% occupancy rate as 80%.

The second method is bait-and-switch, attributing the revenue of "Bridesmaids" to another movie playing at the same time, creating a discrepancy between the name of the movie on the ticket and the one shown.

The third method includes counting the money from movie ticket sales as revenue from concessions like popcorn and soda.

In an interview in 2008, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Ted Barr, admitted to fraudulent practices such as box office manipulation by the 'Big Six' distribution companies. He was immediately criticized by the media and soon forced to resign.

"According to data from the box office monitoring company Rentrak, "Bridesmaids" reached an 82% occupancy rate in cinemas in Canada and Mexico during the opening weekend. The box office returns from these locations should be around 19 million, not 9.5 million. Also, the box office performances in the sixteen northern states where Warner is in charge are generally lower than those in the states where Lionsgate is responsible,"

Ivanka said.

The North American movie market mainly includes the United States, Canada, and Mexico. After Link acquired Lionsgate, he took back a portion of the distribution rights for "Bridesmaids" but still left the robust distribution in Canada, Mexico, and the northern sixteen states to Warner Bros. Pictures.

"We are currently gathering evidence for our investigation. If Rentrak's data is accurate, the box office for "Bridesmaids" in North America during the first three weeks should be 114 million US dollars, not just 56 million,"

Ivanka said.

"It's that exaggerated?"

Gobbling up half the box office in one go; that was truly brazen.

"Yes, the legal department is currently collecting evidence. Once we obtain solid proof, we will file a lawsuit with the courts and the MPAA, and do our best to make Warner Bros. Pictures cough up the swallowed box office revenue,"

Ivanka said coldly.

Link frowned as he listened. He originally thought that both sides had a pleasant collaboration on the "Scandal Plan" project and had a solid foundation for cooperation. He didn't expect Warner would resort to box office fraud—clearly, he had underestimated the ugly face of capitalists.