Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

These were like drugs to men, possessing a fatal attraction.

The first few times he negotiated with her, he had to concentrate and avoid staring at her so that he could appear somewhat normal during their conversations.

Once he focused on her appearance and manner of speaking, he would be deeply drawn in, unknowingly falling into her trap.

She really was a dangerous and beautiful woman.

Luckily, she wasn't here today.

Pam Abdi thought to himself.

"President Abudi, I suggest adding a time limit to this compensation agreement. After signing the contract, Warner Bros. Pictures needs to pay the first batch of box office dividends within 15 days after the end of 'Bridesmaids' screening period and settle the rest of the dividends within six months. Additionally, the two million investigative fees need to be paid immediately upon signing the contract. Do you agree?"

Catherine put down the contract and said.

Pam Abdi sighed inwardly and replied with a stern face.

He wasn't ashamed of this 'box office fraud incident'—he just felt helpless.

It was common practice for big film companies to secretly shift part of the box office revenue when distributing films from independent production companies, but this time, a lot of problems had arisen.

The first was that 'Bridesmaids' exceeded box office expectations.

At the test screening, the distribution side had assessed that the film's box office potential was an A-, with North American box office expected to break one hundred million.

When they told Palm Beach Films, they only said seventy to eighty million. The rest was their margin for manipulation.

Due to 'Bridesmaids' far exceeding expectations in North America, the theaters went too far in their actions.

They swallowed nearly half of the box office revenue in the first three weeks—their move was too big, the traces too obvious, making it easy to detect.

The second issue was that there were coordination problems between Warner Bros. Pictures' distribution and marketing departments.

Initially, when releasing 'Bridesmaids,' Warner Bros. Pictures had the full distribution rights for North America. Later, the distribution department transferred the rights for more than twenty states to Lionsgate Films without informing the marketing department.

During distribution, Lionsgate Films had high box office revenues in their regions, while Warner Bros. Pictures' regions were generally low, which instantly created a discrepancy.

If the distribution and marketing departments had acted in sync from the beginning, they wouldn't have been caught so easily.

The third issue was that Warner Bros. Pictures had encountered a very tough opponent this time.

Link lacked neither money nor connections, and together with Ivanka, they weren't afraid of losing a lawsuit. Moreover, their high profile in the United States meant that even small issues involving them would become major once reported by the media.

After comprehensive consideration, the higher-ups at Warner Bros. Pictures decided to compromise and deescalate the issue.

Reflecting on the whole matter, Pam Abdi just felt unlucky. If only they had been more cautious or chosen a different film company, everything could have been different.

"President Abudi, do you have any questions?"

Catherine, having signed the contract, looked at the complex expression on Pam Abdi's face and asked.

"President Baker, after the contract is signed, we hope that Palm Beach Films will destroy all documentation to prevent any information leak incidents,"

Pam Abdi said seriously.

"No problem. Palm Beach Films is a company that values integrity. All terms printed on the contract will be strictly enforced,"

Catherine said calmly.

Pam Abdi's mouth twitched slightly, understanding Catherine's implication; she was being sarcastic about Warner Bros. Pictures' failure to honor contractual agreements.

If Warner had been trustworthy, they would have strictly followed the contract when signing the film distribution agreement, and all film profits would have been distributed according to the stipulated ratio without any occurrence of box office fraud.

He didn't want to argue about this matter; after quickly signing the contract, he left Lionsgate Films with his people.

Catherine also instructed the public relations department to notify all media outlets that the press conference scheduled for three o'clock in the afternoon would be postponed, and the specific time would be announced later.

Upon receiving the news, the journalists also left the Palm Beach Films office building disappointed.

The 'box office theft incident' had the potential to become a hot topic for some time.

Now that there was a sudden change, the media speculated that Warner Bros. Pictures must have reached some compensation agreement with Palm Beach Films for the latter to cease exposing the matter.

From this aspect, Warner Bros. Pictures indeed committed box office fraud during the distribution of 'Bridesmaids,' and was caught red-handed by Palm Beach.

Many journalists saw the potential for this news to explode and prepared to delve deeper, but under the intervention of the Warner Media Group, the matter eventually fizzled out.

People within the film industry, however, continued to pay attention to the matter. Their focus was not on Warner Bros. Pictures' box office theft but on 'Bridesmaids' and its production company, Palm Beach Films.

'Bridesmaids' had accumulated a global box office of 228 million US dollars a month after its release.

That was the figure after some of the box office receipts had been stolen.

Rumors suggested the real box office tally was over 300 million US dollars.

The film, with a production budget of only 32.5 million, earned two to three hundred million US dollars at the global box office within a month, entering the top 15 in the annual box office rankings.

Without a doubt, this was another dark horse at the box office, and the second majorly successful film produced and invested in by Palm Beach Films.

At this point, it wasn't just the Weinstein Company thinking about collaborating with Palm Beach Films; other film companies were also keen on Palm Beach's upcoming film projects, hoping to strike it rich together.

Suddenly, Palm Beach Films became the darling of Hollywood.