Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 288 Hollywood Only Believes in Success

Despite holding a major IP like "Harry Potter," Warner Bros. Entertainment, one of the seven major Hollywood film studios, is actually not having an easy time.

The problem wasn't that the film company wasn't making money; Warner Bros. was operating well and had a healthy finance. The issue lay with its parent company, Time Warner.

In 2002, following the failed merger between Time Warner and AOL, Time Warner suffered a massive net loss of $990 billion.

In recent years, Warner Bros. has not only failed to receive financial support from its parent company, but it is already a great blessing that it has not been bleed dry by its parent company.

Therefore, apart from the big investment in "Harry Potter", Warner Bros. has hardly made any big-budget films in recent years.

However, this situation began to change the year before last.

Although Harry Potter doesn't make money on paper, that's just on paper. The parent company, Time Warner, certainly knows exactly how much profit the company makes.

To avoid being drained of its profits by its parent company, Warner Bros. must change its strategy and spend its earnings.

Two years ago, Warner Bros. used its profits to reboot "The Batman" series, investing $1.4 million.

Although Warner Bros. is a subsidiary of Time Warner, it still has normal operational autonomy. Unless a major mistake occurs, the parent company, Time Warner, cannot interfere with the company's operations.

Don't assume Warner Bros. is bad just because it's a subsidiary of Time Warner.

Warner Bros., one of the seven major Hollywood studios, is a giant in the industry.

Warner Bros. Entertainment also has its own subsidiaries, and more than one.

Its subsidiaries include Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Animation Group, Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Games, DC Entertainment, and The CW Television.

There are also subsidiaries like WarnerIndependent, which produce and distribute independent and art films.

The box office performance of "Juno" in its second week prompted Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Barry Mayer to convene a special high-level meeting.

"I think everyone knows what Ian means: he wants to adapt a short story from Cao Yang's Fantastic Journey into a book called Gravity."

After Barry Mayer finished speaking, he glanced at Jeff Robinoff, president of Warner Bros. Pictures, and said, "Jeff's opinion is different from Ian's. He thinks it's safer to make another Batman movie. Everyone can speak freely."

Warner Bros. is definitely going to invest in blockbuster movies, that's a done deal. The current disagreement among the company's top executives is whether to adapt "Gravity" or reboot the "Batman" series.

Those present were all top executives at Warner Bros., and this meeting was to decide which blockbuster to produce.

The advantage of "Gravity" is that the "Cao Yang's Fantastic Journey" novel series has a fan base, and the success of "Juno," with an investment of only a few million, is a major boon for the film adaptation.

However, the shortcomings are also obvious. The success of Juno does not mean that Gravity will be successful. Inception, which serves as a reference, has not yet been released, so we can only say that Gravity has the foundation for success.

Furthermore, Gravity has another drawback: the film's budget was rather small!
Yes, it's a bit small.

The film's budget was roughly between $1 million and $1.3 million, which didn't quite meet Warner Bros.' expectations.

Their years of silence made them feel they had to invest in a top-tier production to showcase Warner Bros.' status.

Of course, that's the surface reason. The real reason is that the movie cost too little money, and Warner Bros. wanted to spend more money and get the company's money out of the market.

The advantage of "Batman" is that this DC comic has a broad base, high popularity, and a greater chance of success, or rather, a smaller chance of losing money.

The downside is that, seven years later, the box office performance of "Batman Begins," which was released last year after the reboot, was somewhat disappointing.

The budget for "Batman Begins" was $1.4 million. It barely grossed $2 million in North America and $3.7 million worldwide. It was impossible to recoup its costs based on box office revenue alone.

Of course, Batman Begins is unlikely to lose money. Because of its large fan base, the subsequent sale and rental of DVDs and VHS tapes, as well as other merchandise, will definitely recoup the costs and make a profit. This will just take time.

“Ian, what I want to know is, who are you planning to direct ‘Gravity’? As far as I know, Cao Yang doesn’t allow anyone to adapt his novels haphazardly. He will personally adapt them into a screenplay and will also send an executive producer to supervise.”

"I asked Gray Silverman, Chairman of Creative Development and Global Products at Warner Bros.

Since Warner Bros. Vice President and Warner Bros. Studios President Ian Howard wanted to invest in "Gravity," Gray Silverman certainly needed to know more.

“I think Cao Yang is the person who knows his own novel best, so it would be better if he adapted and directed it,” Ian Howard said.

Warner Bros. Pictures president Jeff Robinoff immediately chimed in:

“Cao Yang’s price is not cheap. As far as I know, he owns 20% of the global box office and subsequent revenue share for Juno, and 13% of the global box office and subsequent revenue share for Inception. If he were to direct and participate in Gravity, his price would only be higher now because of the huge success of Juno.”

Ian Howard paused for a moment. Jeff Robinoff was right. Cao Yang was indeed very expensive. Nowadays, there are no more than five directors in Hollywood who can get more than 10% of the global box office and subsequent revenue sharing.

"I know Cao Yang is expensive, but I want to emphasize one point: Cao Yang has never failed!"

Ian Howard's words carried weight, leaving Jeff Robinoff speechless.

Don't think that only Chinese people are sometimes superstitious; in fact, foreigners can be even more extreme at times.

For example, in Hollywood, there's a "rule" circulating privately: never doubt a person's success until they've failed before.

Anyway, that's roughly the meaning when translated.

Seeing Jeff Robinoff remain silent, Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Barry Mayer asked:
"Jeff, what do you mean? If you were to make a Batman movie, who would you choose to direct? Christopher Nolan again?"

Jeff Robinoff pondered for a moment before saying, "Christopher Nolan is very good, and The Batman Begins has a high rating. He will definitely be the first choice until a suitable candidate is found."

He looked around at everyone in the conference room before continuing, "However, this movie didn't make money, at least not at the box office. So, I think there's a more suitable candidate now, and that's Director Cao Yang."

After saying that, he looked at Ian Howard and said, "Just like Ian said, Cao Yang has never failed before. In addition, this is not his project, so we don't need to pay too much of the share. That's why I want to choose him."

Ian Howard immediately backed down, calling Jeff Robinoff a son of a bitch and an utter scoundrel, asking why he had to follow his example.
He tapped the table and objected:

“Jeff, I think this is wrong. Cao Yang is Chinese, not American. He has no background in comics and doesn’t know anything about Batman. Your choice is too hasty and will only mess things up.”

Of course, Ian Howard wasn't against Cao Yang; he was only "opposing" Cao Yang in order to oppose Jeff Robinoff.

"No, Ian, I don't agree with your point of view. It is precisely because Cao Yang may not know much about Batman that he is able to break free from conventional thinking and create a different Batman."

Jeff Robinoff defended himself.

"No, Jeff, Batman is different. Comic book movies are different. They have to please the existing fans. I don't think Cao Yang can make a good Batman movie. On the contrary, if it were Gravity, he would almost never fail."

Ian Howard said.

Barry Mayer was also a little troubled as the two were about to start arguing.

He tapped the table and said, "Alright, whether it's 'Gravity' or 'Batman,' there's a prerequisite: Cao Yang has to be willing."

That concludes today's meeting. Since you two hold differing opinions and both wish to have Cao Yang direct, then go ahead and take action. First, probe Cao Yang's attitude and thoughts before considering further actions.

After the box office results of "Juno" came out, not only Warner Bros. but also Disney Studios set their sights on Cao Yang.

“Jerry, what do you think about rebooting Pirates of the Caribbean?” Robert Iger asked.

In September of last year, Robert Iger succeeded Michael Eisner as Disney's new CEO. After careful consideration, he wanted to reboot "Pirates of the Caribbean" and put more effort into live-action films.

Of course, this is also what made him realize that since comic book movies can be successful, why can't Disney, which has so many classic "characters" and attractions, adapt them into live-action movies?

The reason for saying that "Pirates of the Caribbean" is to reboot it is because the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie was a failure. It did not do well at the box office and with the audience. After its release in 03, it was shelved.

Without Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean" is soulless, and its failure was to be expected.

Jerry Bruckheimer is a top Hollywood producer who has created many classic films, such as "Days of Thunder," "The Rock," "Armageddon," and "Pearl Harbor."

He is also the producer and project initiator of "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Jerry Bruckheimer thought for a moment and asked, "Robert, what are your thoughts?"

"I want to invite Cao Yang to direct the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean. Disney doesn't have many high-quality projects suitable for adaptation into live-action films, and I don't want them to be shelved and wasted."

"Cao Yang?"

Jerry Bruckheimer fell silent. Given Cao Yang's status and influence, even though he was a top producer, he certainly couldn't control the entire project like he could with other directors.

The key question is, since Disney CEO Robert Iger has proposed to restart the project and specifically appointed Cao Yang as the director, what else can he do?
Was he kicked out of the project after resisting?
(End of this chapter)