Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 398 Record-Breaking Blockbuster
By mid-February, when Aaron left Northern California and returned to Los Angeles in preparation for his trip to Japan, news broke that 2th Century Fox was seeking investors to co-develop James Cameron's new film, "Titanic."

Burbank, Dawn Global Headquarters, Aaron's office.

Aaron, leaning back in his chair, couldn't help but twitch his lips. "It has to be James Cameron. He's pushed Hollywood's film production costs up to $2 million!"

Dawn Steele, standing nearby, asked somewhat uncertainly, "Are we really going to work with 20th Century Fox?"

After all, Universal had just experienced the failure of "Waterworld".

"A $6500 million investment in exchange for the North American distribution rights to 'Titanic'."

"The film is a joint production of 20th Century Fox and Universal!"

Aaron smiled. "Yes, we should trust James Cameron. Twentieth Century Fox dared to invest $1.35 million."

"Do you think we, Global, wouldn't dare to invest $6500 million?"

Dawn Steele's eyes widened. "But we'll still have to spend at least $3000 million on marketing!"

This means that Dawn will invest approximately $1 million in the Titanic project;

In the future, Titanic needs to reach $2 million in North American box office!
Moreover, given the current progress, it remains uncertain whether "Titanic" will be released during next summer's movie season.
"Don't worry, reply to Peter Chernin, we're going for Dawn this round!"

Seeing Aaron Anderson's confidence, Dawn Steele had no objections. "Alright."

On the other side, at 555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Paramount's headquarters.

Paramount Chairman Shirley Lansing is also considering the possibility of collaborating with 20th Century Fox!
A short while later, Shirley Lansing's assistant arrived at the office. "Ms. Lansing, Universal Pictures President Dawn Steele has issued a statement saying that Universal has agreed to invest $6500 million in the Titanic project."

"We are co-developing Titanic with 20th Century Fox, with each party holding the North American and international distribution rights respectively!"

"Universal agreed?" Shirley Lansing couldn't help but sigh. When did Universal become willing to work with other publishers?
Since Shirley Lansing took the helm, Paramount has frequently collaborated with other distributors to develop films;
Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and Paramount mainly partnered with them to share the risk, and didn't care who the other party was.

"Could it be that Aaron Anderson also has high hopes for this Titanic?"

Shirley Lansing didn't understand, especially since Universal had just experienced the failure of "Waterworld";

How dare they invest in another film set at sea?

“Forget it,” Shirley Lansing said, somewhat annoyed. After Dawn acquired Universal, it withdrew from United International Pictures (UIP), a partnership with Paramount.
After more than half a year, Dawn has also integrated Global's assets.

United International Film Studios in some European countries and regions has been reorganized, and Dawn Global International Film Studios has been established one after another;
Paramount certainly couldn't fall behind; it also needed to establish its own international distribution network! "By the way, any progress on 'Face/Off,' the project Michael Douglas wanted to collaborate on with Universal?"

Shirley Lansing asked again.

The assistant shook his head. "Universal has absolutely no interest in Mr. Douglas's proposal. They don't think it's feasible to put Stallone and Schwarzenegger in the same movie."

"Moreover, according to Universal's approach, they don't really like using these types of action actors; they seem to prefer younger actors!"

"Bad Boys" used two relatively unknown Black actors, while "Rush Hour" used an Asian actor.
While Sean Connery is in "The Rock," Nicolas Cage is also important.

Shirley Lansing leaned back in her chair. "Aaron loves developing special effects blockbusters. The trailers for 'Independence Day' and 'Twister' shown at the Super Bowl halftime show had pretty high budgets."

"He gave up on 'Lifeline' starring Sylvester Stallone. It seems he really doesn't like this type of action actor!"

Action actors like Schwarzenegger and Stallone, who specialize in certain types of roles, have a market, but they are also expensive.
Sylvester Stallone, in particular, has had several films that have flopped. Apart from muscle action movies, he simply doesn't fit into other genres.

Paramount's performance has been poor in recent years. Last year, only one epic film, Braveheart, directed and starring Mel Gibson, performed well, but it was also a collaboration with 20th Century Fox.

Paramount handled the North American distribution of "Braveheart," which only grossed $75 million, while 20th Century Fox, which handled the overseas market, achieved a total of $130 million!

In fact, Paramount didn't have a single film that grossed over $100 million at the North American box office last year. Their highest-grossing film was the African jungle movie "Congo," which only grossed $80 million in North America.
This year, Paramount's main production is Mission: Impossible, starring Tom Cruise.

Shirley Lansing knew that if Paramount's performance didn't improve, Summer Redstone would definitely replace her;
Sumner Redstone's philosophy is that content is king. As one of Hollywood's top studios, Paramount would absolutely not tolerate the inability to provide high-quality content for distribution to Viacom's television networks.

MTV, Showtime, UPN, Nicklodeon, Lifetime, Comedy Central (CC) co-owned with Time Warner, and USA Cable co-owned with Dawn.

Viacom's television distribution system is undeniably powerful!
In particular, Viacom now also holds a controlling stake in Bestway, the world's largest videotape rental chain.

Twentieth Century Fox was unaware of Paramount's difficulties, but it was relieved when Dawn agreed to invest in Universal.

If 20th Century Fox were to produce "Titanic" on its own, the production budget plus subsequent marketing costs would have reached $300 million.

Even 20th Century Fox couldn't handle such a huge investment.

It's worth noting that 20th Century Fox isn't afraid to produce blockbusters. Back in the 1960s, they spent over $40 million on the epic film "Cleopatra" starring Elizabeth Taylor, which almost led to 20th Century Fox's bankruptcy.
Later, 20th Century Fox even supported George Lucas in making Star Wars!
Perhaps due to the shadow cast by previous films like "Waterworld" and "Cutthroat Island," 20th Century Fox lacked complete confidence in James Cameron's "Titanic."

(End of this chapter)