Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 500 Collaborative Development

Cao Yang agreed to collaborate with Columbia Pictures, but it will definitely have to wait until next year when the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean" is completed.

Amy Pascal was very pleased with her meeting with Cao Yang.

She knew very well that since the huge success of "The Dark Knight" last year, followed by the huge success of "Joker", Cao Yang had become the most popular director among all directors.

With Cao Yang's "The Hangover" becoming the biggest winner of the summer blockbuster season this year, Amy Pascal knew she couldn't wait any longer.

So, as soon as Cao Yang arrived in Los Angeles, she couldn't wait to meet with him, even though it was to discuss cooperation for next year, and she even brought up the precious favors she had done for Cao Yang.

Because Amy Pascal knew very well that if it had been any later, Cao Yang's schedule wouldn't have been available for Colombia next year.

Cao Yang did not discuss with Amy Pascal what type of film they would collaborate on this time.

But it's obvious that Columbia doesn't need Oscars for now; what they need are blockbusters, commercial blockbusters, special effects blockbusters, and blockbusters that can sell high box office numbers.

In fact, Cao Yang already had a general idea in mind before meeting Amy Pascal.

Colombia owes us a favor, so cooperation is inevitable.

As for the choice of film, he already has that in mind.

This movie was originally scheduled to be filmed next year, it was definitely going to be filmed. If it were filmed in 10, it would be released at the end of 10 or 11. It definitely couldn't wait until 12, otherwise this movie would become a joke.

And its box office performance will definitely suffer a significant drop.

If it's released in 11, as long as the film's production quality is guaranteed and some effort is put into the promotion, it will generate plenty of buzz and the box office will definitely be a huge hit.

Cao Yang hadn't decided which company to collaborate with on the production of this film before, and Columbia Pictures' involvement was actually a good option.

However, Cao Yang still felt a little regretful that he could have helped Tom Rothman a bit more in his collaboration with Columbia.

After all, when Cao Yang first arrived in Hollywood and tried to make his first big-budget film, this guy really didn't interfere with the movie. Even in casting, he mainly followed Cao Yang's opinions.

Furthermore, Tom Rothman has a good relationship with Sid Garnier, the current president of the Academy Awards.

Sid Garnier served at Columbia University before he ran for president of the Academy and the Academy Awards.

When Cao Yang directed District 9, Tom Rothman was one of the producers, representing Columbia Pictures, while Sid Garnier was the executive producer he sent to District 9.

Therefore, Cao Yang's relationship with Sid Garnier was established at that time.

This is one of the reasons why Cao Yang was able to avoid "discrimination" at the Oscars and win so many awards in the years that followed.

In short, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Tom Rothman provided significant help to Cao Yang.

However, to Cao Yang's dismay, Sid Garnier's term expires this year, and he will no longer be able to serve as president of the Academy and the Academy.

In August, the Academy and the Oscars will announce their new presidents.

According to internal sources obtained by Cao Yang, it seems that this time it's someone from 20th Century Fox who will be the chairman.

It can be said that Hollywood is one of the "Big Six," and at least for now, that title hasn't been broken.

Whether it's the Oscar chairman, the key members and heads of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), or the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) under the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which is responsible for Hollywood's film rating system, these are all people from the Big Six, which reveals the clues.

Cao Yang handed over the negotiations for the collaboration with Columbia to the studio's head, Bellman.

He only told Bellman two things.

First, Columbia Pictures' most anticipated films this summer, "Angels & Demons" and "The Metro," both flopped.

Secondly, Columbia Pictures' flagship project, Spider-Man 4, is likely to be shelved and won't be launched for at least the next year or two.

Bellman answered readily, "I understand."

Despite Bellman's past role as head of Sony Classic Marketing, placing him within the Sony Columbia system, you can always trust the integrity of Americans when it comes to business negotiations—they are very professional when it comes to their own interests.

Bellman is Cao Yang's manager at the American studio and can earn commissions, so there's no need to worry about him not putting in his best effort.

Cao Yang believed that Bellman could negotiate a good deal, at least one that was higher than his current market price.

In the morning, Cao Yang met with Amy Pascal and had lunch with her.

In the afternoon, Disney CEO Robert Iger showed up at Cao Yang's home.

"Welcome back, my friend, oh no, Dr. Cao, ha ha..."

Robert Iger greeted us warmly as soon as we met.

Robert Iger found out as soon as Cao Yang's flight landed in Los Angeles.

He hadn't originally planned to come to Cao Yang's place, since Cao Yang had only just returned yesterday. The fact that he was rushing to find Cao Yang today made it seem like Disney was in a real hurry.

I was thinking of going to Disneyland by myself after Cao Yang had rested enough.

To his surprise, while Robert Iger wanted to take things easy, some people were in a hurry, which forced him to become impatient as well.

Robert Iger was genuinely worried that Cao Yang would be "poached" away.

Although Cao Yang had signed an agreement with Disney for a sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean," he was considering filming his graduation project and writing his thesis at the time, so the agreement stipulated that the sequel would be produced within two years.

If Cao Yang is indeed "stolen" away, what can Robert Iger do? As long as Cao Yang produces a sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean" within two years, it won't be considered a breach of contract.

Besides, even if Cao Yang breached the contract, would Disney really have a falling out with him?
Wouldn't that be exactly what the other five major Hollywood studios want to see?

That's right, the world will keep running even if someone is missing, but Disney will really make less money without Cao Yang, a lot less money.

So what can Robert Iger do?
The only thing to do is to quickly find Cao Yang, finalize the filming of "New Pirates of the Caribbean," and then discuss the "package" plan he had prepared that we had talked about on the phone before.

"Thank you, Robert. What brings you here?"

Cao Yang accepted the "little gift" from Robert Iger, a bottle of red wine, and asked with a smile.

“I recently acquired a few bottles of limited edition Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon. Since you’re back and I was free this afternoon, I decided to bring them over to you.”

Robert Iger said casually.

The more casual the attitude, the more it gives people a sense of warmth and closeness; Robert Iger is very experienced in this.

He liked to use this method when trying to win over allies, and it always worked.

Cao Yang laughed.

Did you come all this way just to bring me wine?

You have nothing to do this afternoon?
You, the CEO of Disney, will be fine?
"Thank you."

Cao Yang expressed his gratitude again, then smiled and looked at Robert Iger, waiting for him to continue.

"My dear director, when are you planning to shoot the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean? Disney has already prepared all the props and locations you need, in accordance with your requirements."

Robert Iger stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, "I remember I told you it was August, right? Depp, Jude Law, and Eva Green's schedules are all cleared up starting in August, they're just waiting to start filming."

Cao Yang looked at Robert Iger with feigned surprise and said.

Robert Iger breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course I remember you said filming would start in August. I was just afraid you'd change your mind.
"Of course I remember, I just wanted to confirm with you."

Robert Iger laughed, paused for a moment, looked at Cao Yang, and said in a somewhat uncertain tone:
"Cao, do you remember the 'package' plan I mentioned? Based on the success of Spider-Man and X-Men, I've thought about it carefully. Marvel has a lot of 'heroes,' do you think it's possible for us to make a big series of comic book movie adaptations and succeed?"

This idea was not Disney's purpose in wanting to acquire Marvel.

As we all know, Marvel has been trying to adapt comics into movies since before 2000, but unfortunately, it has never been successful and even went bankrupt once.

This is also why the film adaptation rights to some of the most popular comic book characters at the time, such as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and X-Men, were sold.

Even now, most people still stubbornly believe that only these most popular "heroes" can have a fan base, attract buyers, and achieve good box office results when adapted into movies.

As for the remaining second-tier "heroes" in Marvel, even if they are adapted into movies, it is very likely that they will not be able to recoup their costs.

This is based on evidence.

Not to mention that Marvel's previous adaptations have all ended in failure, even the currently recognized more successful "Fantastic Four" and "X-Men" are not that profitable.

The first Fantastic Four movie had a lower production cost and only made a small profit of a little over 300 million in box office revenue worldwide, which led to the creation of a sequel.

However, the production cost of the second film, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," was nearly $150 million. After its release in 2007, its global box office did not surpass that of the first film, reaching only $280 million.

With such a high investment, the box office revenue won't be enough to recoup the costs.

This left 20th Century Fox extremely disappointed with the sequel's box office performance, so the filming of the next sequel was shelved.

In other words, Fantastic Four has been temporarily shelved by 20th Century Fox. They may only consider remaking it when the copyright is about to be revoked, in order to protect the copyright.

The X-Men series is actually quite similar.

Twentieth Century Fox was also very disappointed after the release of "X-Men: The Last Stand" in 06.

This film is the third installment in the X-Men series, and its production cost has soared to $2.3 million, but it has only grossed $4.5 million worldwide, failing to recoup its costs.

Therefore, X-Men was shelved by 20th Century Fox at the time, and the series would not be produced again for several years.

However, because market research found that "Wolverine" was very popular, 20th Century Fox took a different approach and made a version of "Wolverine"—making only this one would have been much cheaper.

It's important to understand that for a film with a budget of over $2 million, if the revenue doesn't meet expectations or even recoup the costs, it represents a huge loss.

After all, that's $2 million. You could make four or five medium-sized movies with that kind of investment and still make a lot of money.

So far, among Marvel's superhero comic book adaptations, the only one that has truly made a lot of money is Spider-Man, which sold its rights to Columbia Pictures.

If it weren't for the unexpected huge success of Marvel's Iron Man collaboration with Paramount last year, and if it weren't for the massive success of Batman 6 and Joker, both produced by Cao Yang, Robert Iger would never have thought of a "package deal".

At least until Iron Man 2, Captain America, and Thor all become huge hits, Disney and Robert Iger won't be thinking about making Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.

"You're going to make movies about all of Marvel's 'heroes'?"

Cao Yang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"No, no, no, it's not me who wants to make it, it's you who wants to make it, my dear director. Don't forget, the film rights to many well-known 'heroes' are now in your hands."

Robert Iger shrugged, smiled at Cao Yang, and continued:
"What I, or rather Disney, need to do is give you the strongest support, Cao. Let's join hands to create a huge cinematic universe. If successful, it will cause a sensation and influence the whole world."

Robert Iger spread his arms out, looking quite confident.

Cao Yang certainly knows the scale and impact this cinematic universe will have, but Robert Iger certainly doesn't know, and dares not even think about, it.

"Robert, since you're so confident, how much will Disney invest in this so-called 'package'? You know, these kinds of special effects blockbusters usually have a budget of at least $100 million."

Robert Iger was smiling confidently, hoping to inspire Cao Yang and get him involved.

In addition, he also speculated that Cao Yang's possession of the film adaptation rights to so many Marvel "heroes" might indicate his confidence in comic book movie adaptations.

Otherwise, what's the point of holding so many copyrights?
However, Robert Iger was slightly embarrassed after hearing Cao Yang's words.

The so-called "package" plan was based on Cao Yang's full participation and the success of one film after another. These were just Robert Iger's ideas, not resolutions passed by Disney.

Of course, if Cao Yang can successfully adapt three comic book movies, Robert Iger will definitely be confident in getting this big plan approved by Disney.

"Cao, in my plan, this will be a huge investment involving more than a billion dollars, an unprecedented undertaking. If it succeeds, you and I will be remembered in the history of Hollywood."

Robert Iger said.

"Robert, we're friends, and I'm not new to Hollywood, so is the plan you're talking about yours, or Disney's plan for the future?"

Cao Yang certainly wouldn't be fooled by Robert Iger's few words.

Robert Iger paused for a moment, then said earnestly, "Cao, this is a huge project involving billions of dollars. Even if I were the CEO of Disney, the board wouldn't approve it until they see the expected returns."

However, believe me, if we successfully produce two or three blockbuster comic book adaptations, this plan will definitely be approved, and you, holding numerous copyrights, will be the biggest beneficiary.

"Two or three parts?"

"Yes, I already have a plan, which is Iron Man 2, Captain America, and Thor. You should know that all three movies are in Marvel's production plans."

If you were to personally participate in the production, becoming a producer and screenwriter, Disney could fund the entire production cost of these three films; I could make that decision myself.

This will reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble and will also prevent you from being constrained by funds and subject to numerous regulations.

If you don't participate, Disney will use the traditional Hollywood fundraising model and co-produce it with Paramount to reduce unnecessary risks.

Before Disney and Marvel negotiated the acquisition, Marvel had already signed a contract with Paramount for the release of these three films, and Paramount still had the right to invest in and produce them even if Marvel did not invest.

"Of course, it would be even better if you could direct it yourself. Disney will definitely meet any reasonable request you have."

Robert Iger added with a smile.

After considering it for a moment, Cao Yang realized that with his current fame, he could definitely collaborate with other companies to produce "heroes" for which he held the copyright.

Even if he succeeds in acquiring all the copyrighted "heroes," there will still be a problem: he won't be able to obtain the copyrights to Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, the most important ones in The Avengers.

Therefore, it was impossible to make "The Avengers".

Collaborating with Disney, or rather with Robert Iger, would allow for the creation of an even more perfect "heroic" Avengers series than in the previous one.

Furthermore, because he holds numerous copyrights, Cao Yang can take on more initiative.

“Okay Robert, I think we can discuss how to make your big plan go more smoothly at Disney.”

(End of this chapter)