Heads Up Hollywood

Ever since "Spider-Man" swept the box office in the summer, Tom Rothman, the head of 20th Century Fox, has become more honest, and has shown a lot of affection to Twain.

As for shopping malls, there are only permanent interests and no permanent enemies.

Before taking off to leave Los Angeles, Dunn met Tom Rothman in a cafe near the Fox headquarters.

Mainly talked about three aspects: platter investment, reality show, "X-Men".

The first two topics are still far away. Especially for reality shows, the Fox TV network is at a clear disadvantage compared with NBC, ABC, and CBS, the three major public TV networks in the United States.

Tang En would choose to hand over "American Idol" to the Fox Network unless he could offer special favorable conditions.

Tang En mainly talked about the release and promotion of "X-Men".

In the previous life, "X-Men" was released in July. But in this life, because Twain was going to shoot "Spider-Man", the Fox production department sent a special person to observe and study the "Spider-Man" crew for half a year before starting to shoot "X-Men".

This led to the release schedule of "X-Men", which changed from a summer file to a Christmas file.

This is good news for Tang En.

Regardless, the X-Men are Marvel's children, avoiding confrontation with Spider-Man. If this movie can also become popular, then the enthusiasm for Marvel superheroes will once again be ignited in the market.

This will play a very good role in promoting the next project of Marvel Pictures.

Of course, there is a more important point.

Twain wanted to make this Christmas film competition more exciting!

"Saw" is indeed a classic B-grade movie, and it is not too much to say that it is the king of horror movies, but this small budget can really compete with "Undead"?

not necessarily!

The reason Tang En dared to let "Chain Saw" and "Undead" head-to-head was because he was competing fiercely for this Christmas schedule!

However, "Chain Saw", which has a unique niche, distinctive taste, and distinctiveness, has a special viewing group, and the impact of fierce competition from mainstream commercial films has little impact.

On November 17, Universal's "The Grinch", Sony's "The Sixth Day", and Paramount's new film "Into Barry" were released; on November 22, Disney's new film "Undead", Fox's "X-Men" "released;

On December 8th, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" released by Sony Classics was released; on December 15th, Paramount's new film "Eavesdropping on Women's Hearts" and Disney's animation "The Transformation of the King" were released; A Deserted Island" and Warner's new film "Secret Agent Belle" are released at the same time...

Perhaps in order to avoid the "Spider-Man" in the summer, a large number of excellent movies, even movies that do not belong to the family carnival type, have been arranged by the distributor in this Christmas schedule.

In the cutthroat competition of so many mainstream movies, can "Undead", starring the scandal-ridden Bruce Willis, stand out?

This is just wishful thinking by Disney.

In the previous life, "Undead" did achieve good results when the Bruce Willis scandal did not break out and there was no competition from "X-Men". The North American box office exceeded 90 million US dollars.

But with Tang En's appearance in this life, everything changed!

In particular, "Saw", produced by Violent Pictures and distributed by Focus Features, shares the selling points of thriller, suspense, and horror with "Undead".

The same type of movie, "Undead" will be the opponent of "Chain Saw"?

This is where Tang En's confidence lies!

Tang En's purpose in chatting with Tom Rothman was very simple. One was to talk about the possibility of cooperation between the two parties, and the other... was to hope that Fox could put more effort into the promotion of "X-Men".

"X-Men" and "Undead" are released on the same day!

With such a schedule, an insider can understand at a glance that Tom Rothman is taking revenge on Disney for the summer.

Tang En, I am happy to see it succeed.

Before parting, Tom Rothman pointed out in secret: "Twain, there are some things, enough is enough."

Tang En smiled, "Thank you, I understand."

...

At Disney's CEO meeting, Michael Eisner laid out his strategic plan for the expansion of the Disney industry.

Now Disney, the core strategic development is the business expansion of cable TV.

Michael Eisner has already set his goal to acquire "Fox Family Entertainment Channel"!

Twentieth Century Fox and Tom Rothman had no say in this level of acquisition, and Disney negotiated directly with News Corporation headquarters.

The initial negotiation conditions were not good, and Murdoch directly bid $8 billion!

It's just a fantasy.

However, Michael Eisner also has a brilliant idea. The current headquarters of News Corporation is registered in Australia, and Murdoch has long changed his nationality to the United States, hoping to transfer News Corporation to the United States and restructure and list.

However, in this process, because it involves the two sensitive areas of the newspaper industry and television, the government's monitoring and jurisdiction will be very strict, and it happens that Disney has a relationship in this regard.

George Mitchell, a director of Disney and an old friend of Michael Eisner, is a politician. He is now serving in the Clinton administration, serving as a presidential adviser and a diplomatic ambassador for Northern Ireland.

"Continue to negotiate. If News Corporation agrees to trade in stocks, the transaction price can be relaxed to 6 billion US dollars. If he insists on cash, it can be up to 5 billion US dollars! Bob, you have to seize this matter yourself!"

The method of cash payment is much lower than the transaction cost of mortgage through debt, stock, etc.

In one sentence, Michael Eisner set a conclusion for this important topic, flipped through the documents in his hand, and said unhurriedly: "I heard that there was an accident regarding the new California paradise?"

As early as 1955, Disney established the first Disneyland in history in Los Angeles. But that park is too old, the facilities are aging, and it belongs to the ornamental park, so this year Disney launched a new project and built a new adventure park in Los Angeles.

Rob Condon, vice president in charge of Disney Resorts, said: "Yesterday, during the construction process, the wall collapsed and killed three workers."

Michael Eisner frowned, "What about the insurance company?"

"It's being calculated. If there is no accident, it should belong to the scope of claims." Rob Condon said carefully.

"Block the news, communicate with the family members of the deceased, and sign a non-disclosure agreement." Michael Eisner stared at Rob Condon dissatisfied. "Strengthen construction supervision and public opinion control. I don't want to see any negative news!"

"Does the government need...communication?"

"What do you say?"

Michael Eisner stared coldly.

Rob Condon smiled sheepishly, "I see."

Michael Eisner looked around and said in a deep voice: "Adventure Park is the second park in California Resort, and it is also the most attractive selling point for tourists. But you must pay attention, adventure and excitement are fine, but you must pay attention to safety!"

All the high-level people nodded their heads again and again.

Michael Eisner sighed and nodded slightly.

Although during this period of time, because of Tang En's relationship, his prestige in the company has been greatly impacted. However, he was quite satisfied with the current situation.

Although on the board of directors, he has been questioned a lot. But in the CEO meeting, he is still the king of Disney who promises everything!

At this time, Joe Ruth, the chairman of the production department, said: "If there are no accidents, Adventure Park will be able to open next year. Tang En Pictures is planning to shoot a movie about pirates."

Michael Eisner frowned, staring at him.

Joe Ruth rubbed his nose, a little flustered, "I mean...the pirate adventure section can be strengthened, just taking advantage of the spring breeze of the pirate movie from Tang En Pictures."

Michael Eisner gritted his teeth: "Does Disney still need to play this little trick?"

Joe Ruth blushed and was speechless in embarrassment.

Michael Eisner really hated that iron could not be made into steel. It was this Joe Ruth. If he hadn't been domineering, how could he have messed with the unlucky guy Twain?

If it weren't for his influence on the board of directors being shaken now, he would definitely fire Joe Ruth directly.

It's not enough to succeed, but more than to fail!

It's just that such a result will shake Michael Eisner's influence even more. As we all know, Joe Ruth is his confidant.

"Twain Films is going to release a new movie, do you know?" Michael Eisner said very bluntly, without any intention of saving him face.

Joe Ruth immediately said: "I know, it's "Chain Saw", a B-grade movie released by Focus Pictures, with a limited audience. It will be screened on October 30, and it will be officially released on November 1. It is estimated that... The number of theaters will not exceed 50."

"oh?"

Michael Eisner's eyes lit up.

That's good news.

With 50 movie theaters opening, it is impossible to compete with "Undead", right?

President Robert Iger said hesitantly: "The screening starts...if word-of-mouth of this movie ferments and becomes effective, it may really have an impact on our "Undead".

Joe Ruth immediately patted his chest and assured, "Bob, don't worry about that, I will guarantee "Undead Tribulation", nothing will go wrong!"

Michael Eisner took a deep look at him, nodded heavily, and said, "Okay!"