Chapter 211: Pirate King

Wu Yuchen was not some Virgin Mary, what empathy, what understanding, let them all roll aside!

People have already infringed on his interests, what position is he changing!

This time being so close to Best Director, if it weren't for Eisner's willful order, if it weren't for Disney's sudden backstab, the Oscar statuette for Best Director would have been in hand!

This kind of double nomination opportunity was very rare. And a film like *Amour* that could move a group of old men could at most be used this once. Where would the same routine have such an amazing effect if played again?

And the one who won Best Director this time was *Amour*, a Chinese-language film starring Chinese people, not some white story.

Before the large expansion of Oscar judges, Asian films wanted to win Best Picture, which was unthinkable. In his past life, *Parasite* was able to win the Oscar for Best Picture because the Oscars had been pursuing a diversity policy for many years, and the number of judges had almost doubled, and most of the new ones were judges of color. Because of this condition, *Parasite* had the possibility of striving for Best Picture.

Best Director was different. In his past life, *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* helped Li Ang win the Directors Guild Award, and he was infinitely close to the Oscar for Best Director. If he hadn't met Soderbergh, who had a double nomination, he could basically lock the statuette.

Therefore, the Best Director statuette was the highest award Wu Yuchen could strive for with a Chinese-language film in 10 to 15 years. As a result, such a rare opportunity was wasted because of this kind of infighting that looked very ridiculous!

He now had the heart to kill Eisner!

What Emperor of Disney, because of Disney you have this power. Once you leave this position, you are a dog-fart emperor!

Wu Yuchen didn't hide his thoughts and asked directly: "Steven, how to make Eisner step down?"

Spielberg revealed a smile when he heard this:

Just between Wu Yuchen's thoughts flying, he only heard Spielberg ask: "Wu, how about joining DreamWorks? Regarding driving Eisner down, I think you and Katzenberg will have very common topics!"

Since then, few people in Hollywood have been willing to touch the pirate theme in recent years, all saying it is a box office poison theme.

Eisner had many enemies. When the stock price was all the way up, the board of directors naturally supported him. But now the internet bubble has collapsed, and the US stock price will also plummet. Disney's stock price cannot maintain a high position and will continue to go down. At this time, his enemies will also jump out. Although Eisner can support it by virtue of his previous qualifications, the trust of the board of directors will also be consumed over time.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "I don't have much problem, but my new film's production cost is expected to be a bit high."

Eisner is only responsible to the board of directors. The simplest and most direct way is to make Disney's profits suffer and its stock price plummet."

Hearing this, Spielberg couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Pirate theme? It's not like he hasn't shot it.

"At least over 100 million."

In 1995, Carolco, a medium-sized film company in Hollywood, invested in *Cutthroat Island*. The budget of 60 million rose to nearly 100 million, and then it flopped after release, directly bankrupting the company and liquidating it.

In 1991, Spielberg shot the fantasy adventure film *Hook*, so he also knew pirate films very well. It cost 70 million, and the global box office was 300 million. In terms of return, it was already considered very successful, and this was considered the most successful pirate-themed film so far.

However, since he came to win over Wu Yuchen, Spielberg didn't refuse immediately. He thought for a while and asked: "Wu, is it just an idea, or is there already a script?"

"If it were someone else, I would advise him to forget it and forget the unpleasant things that happened. But, Wu, you are constantly creating miracles. I won't think you are talking big or acting on impulse. You have this qualification."

"How much?"

"Of course, the conditions promised to you before will not change."

As a result, Wu Yuchen now said he wanted to shoot a pirate theme, and the production cost had to be over 100 million. How could this not make Spielberg frown?

Hearing this, Wu Yuchen withdrew his thoughts, pondered for a while, and asked: "Steven, is it 20% full copyright?"

Spielberg couldn't help but frown imperceptibly when he heard this. Wu Yuchen's three previous films were classic cases of winning big with small. The production costs of *Frequency* and *Phone Booth* did not exceed 40 million, and the global box office was ten times the cost. Even the highest *The Sixth Sense* was only 60 million, and the final return was also ten times more, which was very generous.

But now, Wu Yuchen said that the next film investment was as high as 100 million US dollars, which made Spielberg cautious. He thought for a while and asked: "Wu, is your new film going to take the big production route? What theme is it?"

Because of his previous investment in US stocks, Wu Yuchen actually knew something about Disney's stock price. In recent years, Disney's operations were actually going downhill compared to the previous few years, but because it caught up with a wave of technology stock trends, it led the US stock market to rise across the board, thereby causing Disney's stock price to rise steadily. Therefore, Eisner's position had always been very stable.

Wu Yuchen nodded: "That's right, the previous three films were actually not complicated. I saw someone once say that I didn't have the ability to control big productions, so I want to try it. As for the theme, pirates, how about it?"

Their DreamWorks strength was not as strong as the Big Seven. The reason why they were willing to give Wu Yuchen 20% full copyright was that they valued his ability to win big with small.

What Wu Yuchen had to do was accelerate this process.

"The script has already been written, Steven, do you want to see it?"

Spielberg adjusted his glasses: "I have time these two days, you can bring the script to find me at any time, let's talk about your project first."

Subsequently, the two wine glasses touched again, and then walked out of the room. Outside was still a clamor, but at this time Wu Yuchen's mood was already completely different.

Returning to the *Amour* crew, Wu Yuchen saw Richard, who didn't know when he appeared.

Richard's expression was very calm. Seeing Wu Yuchen walk back, he said directly: "Sorry, Wu."

Seeing Wu Yuchen leave with Spielberg, he knew that Wu Yuchen would likely learn the truth, and this kind of thing couldn't be hidden if he wanted to check it.

Wu Yuchen sneered: "You are a good employee, I understand you, but I won't accept your apology."

After saying that, Wu Yuchen bypassed him, and when he walked past him, he left a sentence: "Eisner will roll down from the stage."

Wu Yuchen didn't stay long at the *Vanity Fair* party, and even pushed away Jennifer Connelly, who wanted to revel with him. He was serious about dealing with Eisner. Without making a plan, he couldn't fit other things in his head.

Wu Yuchen listed a chart and analyzed Disney's asset sectors.

Disney's largest asset block at present was ABC TV. In 1995, when Disney was at its peak, it acquired ABC TV with a market value of 19 billion US dollars.

Wu Yuchen wrote down ABC, and then drew a cross. On the one hand, he didn't have any targeted good way for ABC TV, and on the other hand, he didn't need him to target it. Because after ABC TV was acquired, its business situation was actually not good, and it even suffered losses in the past two years, making Disney pay for blood transfusion.

Therefore, ABC TV didn't need Wu Yuchen to pay attention.

Then he wrote down the second block, Disney Park. In fact, since the 1990s, the several Disney parks built by Disney were not very successful. The most typical example was Paris Disney, which was carefully built with huge investment, but it was not welcomed by the European people at all, and even had the risk of bankruptcy, requiring the parent company to inject capital every year to maintain operations. This block didn't need Wu Yuchen to target either.

This third block was Disney's animation. This was Disney's foundation and was originally their most advantageous place. Unfortunately, after Eisner forced Katzenberg away, Disney's own animation had been going downhill since *The Lion King*. In recent years, Disney's animation all relied on the partner Pixar Studio to support it. *Toy Story* two films, *A Bug's Life* supported the facade for Disney's animation sector.

Wu Yuchen drew a circle on Pixar. Jobs and Eisner had a very bad relationship and were a cooperative object that could be won over. As for how to win over, he remembered a crisis of Jobs in the second half of the year, and he could operate it at that time.

Then it reached the fourth block, live-action films. In fact, Disney's live-action films had always been ranked behind in the Big Seven. It was only after acquiring Miramax, the company of the Harvey Weinstein brothers, a few years ago that it caught up.

Wu Yuchen didn't need to worry about the first two blocks, ABC TV and Disney Park, or rather, he couldn't manage them even if he wanted to. But these last two blocks, he could operate!

Although he had already registered quite a few scripts before, they were all registered for films he felt suitable for his personal shooting. Now it was different. Wu Yuchen planned to forget to eat and sleep, display the interception method, and intercept all the scripts of Disney films in the future first!

In animation, Disney only had one *Lilo & Stitch* that was successful in the next few years. Copy the script first. As for Pixar, *Finding Nemo 1* was already in production, so he couldn't copy it, so he would copy *Finding Nemo 2* and *The Incredibles* first. Regardless of the relationship with Pixar later, he would control the potential threats in his own hands first.

In live-action films, scripts for profitable projects such as *The Princess Diaries* series, *National Treasure*, *The Rookie*, *Freaky Friday*, *Bridget Jones's Diary*, *Serendipity*, etc., he would intercept all that could be intercepted! Even if he didn't shoot them, he wouldn't let Disney shoot them!

And one of Disney's future pillars, Marvel, take it down with money now. Even if it is sold later, it is impossible to give it to Disney!

Then Wu Yuchen took out a script he had already registered before: *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl*.

Originally, he thought that if the cooperation was pleasant, he could shoot this most successful and profitable live-action film series for Disney in the next two years. Now, don't even think about it!

Wu Yuchen picked up his pen, crossed out a few words on the name, and changed it to *Pirate King: The Curse of the Black Pearl*.

Disney Park had a ride project called "Pirates of the Caribbean". Wu Yuchen didn't want the film to be shot to attract traffic to their project, so the name "Pirates of the Caribbean" was directly removed. What Caribbean? From now on, it will be called the *Pirate King* series!

The next day, at DreamWorks, Spielberg was reading *Pirate King: The Curse of the Black Pearl* carefully. In the next room, Wu Yuchen and Katzenberg were talking happily, and the two reached a friendly consensus on overthrowing Eisner.

Katzenberg was also a bald guy. He handed a newspaper to Wu Yuchen and smiled: "Look, Wu, Disney is still doing publicity for you~"

"Oscar miscarriage of justice! Wu Yuchen's *The Sixth Sense* missed Best Director! The Academy owes him a statuette!"

Wu Yuchen glanced at the headline on the newspaper and couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile: "Then I have to say thank you to them!"

Very obviously, Disney was still using all topics to expand the subsequent profits of *The Sixth Sense* and squeeze out all value as much as possible.

Katzenberg comforted: "Wu, this year's Oscars, just treat it as saving points. You didn't win an award for this year's double nomination and Directors Guild Award, which will make the outside world and the judges remember you."

Hearing this, Wu Yuchen also nodded. He also planned to take advantage of the trend to establish a tragic image of losing, win some sympathy points, and leave a deep impression on this group of

Afterward, Katzenberg smiled at Wu Yuchen and said:

"Wu, if there's a chance, I'll introduce you to Roy Disney. He is a descendant of Disney founder Walt Disney, has considerable influence within Disney, and shares our goals; he has always wanted to drive Eisner out of office."

Wu Yuchen's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "That would be great, I really hope to meet such a highly respected senior!"

At this moment, Spielberg leaned over, waved the script in his hand, and said: "I'm very sorry to interrupt your pleasant conversation, but I think I need to have a talk with Wu~"

Wu Yuchen nodded at Katzenberg and then walked away with Spielberg.

The reason they are called the three giants of DreamWorks is that these three are all peak figures in their respective fields. David Geffen is responsible for music and records, Katzenberg for the animation studio, and Spielberg for film production; everyone has a clear division of labor.

Although doing this has its advantages—professional people handling professional matters—Wu Yuchen felt that it also had major drawbacks. It was very simple: their interests were not aligned. He had just been backstabbed and kept this principle firmly in mind.

Just looking at these three working together now, it seems they are pushing toward the same goal: making DreamWorks an entity that can rival the Big Seven. But as time goes on, the profits their respective fields bring to the company might not be the same. For example, the record industry is currently at the end of its golden age, but with the rise of the internet, physical records will certainly suffer a major blow. A few years from now, will the other two still be satisfied with David Geffen?

Wu Yuchen shook his head; he didn't care what the future of DreamWorks would be, but they could certainly cooperate for the next few short years.

After entering the room, Spielberg pointed to the script in his hand and asked Wu Yuchen:

"Wu, are you sure you want to set the protagonist of the film as that pirate? And a sissy pirate at that?"

Pirate-themed films were already unpopular in the market, and Wu Yuchen's "Pirates of the Caribbean" had created an image very different from traditional pirates, which left Spielberg feeling quite uneasy after finishing the script.

Wu Yuchen smiled and then asked: "Steven, what do you think of this story?"

Spielberg pondered for a moment and then said: "It's interesting, I suppose."

Having read many scripts, Spielberg was actually immune to various tropes. He could only imagine whether he, as an audience member, would find it interesting. He had to admit that the script for "Pirates of the Caribbean" was indeed refreshing.

"So, traditional pirate themes are destined to be outdated. Therefore, I must come up with something different. This Captain Sparrow is like this—he's a bit sissy, a bit cheeky, but he will make the audience find him interesting, and children will love him too."

"Wu, can the investment be compressed a bit more?"

Spielberg still chose to trust Wu Yuchen's ability; after all, three consecutive films had already proven his keen grasp of commercial films and the market.

It was just that the production cost was a bit high. Spielberg felt that if it could be compressed to 80 million, he would grit his teeth and invest.

Wu Yuchen immediately waved his hand:

"Uh, Steven, not only will it not be lower, but in fact, I went back and carefully calculated it, and it's very likely to be quite a bit higher than 100 million. The estimated cost is 140 million."

"What? 140 million!" Spielberg's body shuddered, and his glasses almost fell off.

Take Spielberg himself: having been in the industry for so long, he is definitely a world-renowned director, but the film with his highest production cost to date, "Saving Private Ryan," only cost 70 million, and the cost of "Jurassic Park" was less than 70 million. Now, Wu Yuchen has suddenly doubled that for him!

Even for the Big Seven, investing in a big production with a cost of over 100 million requires hesitation for a long time. DreamWorks, whose strength is not yet equal to the Big Seven, must be even more cautious, let alone 140 million, which far exceeds 100 million!

Spielberg took off his glasses, rubbed his brow, and revealed a bitter smile: "Wu, you have really given me a difficult problem!"

If they invest 140 million, DreamWorks can forget about making other films this year, but that's impossible. Moreover, investing 140 million in a single project carries too much risk for DreamWorks. If something like "Cutthroat Island" happens again, they might not go bankrupt, but it would be a devastating blow!

DreamWorks doesn't have the distribution channels of the Big Seven to slowly recover; they can't afford such a toss-up!

Spielberg sighed and then said to Wu Yuchen: "Wu, DreamWorks can contribute at most 80 million."

Wu Yuchen had actually anticipated this; one only had to use their brain to realize that the thin-boned DreamWorks wouldn't dare to gamble heavily. Spielberg being able to offer 80 million was already a sign of his courage.

"Steven, may I ask, are DreamWorks' current distribution channels reliable?"

Spielberg smiled: "You don't need to worry about that; Universal Pictures, Paramount, and 20th Century Fox all have partnerships with us."

In fact, Universal Pictures and Spielberg have very deep ties. From the age of 12, he had used his father's connections to enter various departments at Universal to gain experience. "Jaws," "E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Back to the Future," and "Jurassic Park" were all collaborations between Spielberg and Universal. The Big Seven both suppress DreamWorks and make money off it at the same time.

Hearing that the distribution channels were not a problem, Wu Yuchen felt relieved and said with a smile:

"Steven, since DreamWorks doesn't have enough money, how about my own Miracle Pictures fills this gap? We each invest 70 million, how about that?"

Spielberg couldn't help but be a bit surprised upon hearing this. You have to know, this is 70 million, not 7 million. Although he knew Wu Yuchen had made a lot of money, very few people were as willing as him to invest such a large sum into their own films, because the risk of film is very high.

"Wu, are you sure?"

Wu Yuchen nodded: "I have confidence in my film!"

Spielberg stared at Wu Yuchen for several seconds, perhaps moved by his confidence: "DreamWorks will contribute 80 million, and Miracle Pictures will invest the remaining 60 million."

Wu Yuchen made an OK gesture. But then Spielberg said:

"Wu, regarding your director's fee, I think we need to renegotiate."

Wu Yuchen frowned: "Wasn't it agreed upon as 20% of the full copyright?"

Spielberg spread his hands: "Wu, if you had compressed the cost to under 70 million, I could have given you 20% of the full copyright. But now it's a big production with a cost of 140 million; no studio would give such high compensation."

Afterward, the two discussed Wu Yuchen's compensation for a long time, finally settling on 12% of the full copyright, plus 8 million dollars in cash.

Of course, Wu Yuchen had additional conditions here: if a sequel were to be filmed, his director's fee would rise to 20% of the full copyright, and at the same time, regarding the investment for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel, Miracle Pictures would enjoy at least 40% of the investment quota and copyright.

Don't think these conditions are excessive; with the first film not even in sight yet, Spielberg wouldn't care. If a sequel were to be filmed, it would certainly mean that DreamWorks had made money relying on this "Pirates of the Caribbean." Therefore, he was eager to be able to launch a sequel!

Wu Yuchen was also satisfied with these conditions. For now, cooperating with DreamWorks was the best condition he could get. Cooperating with a major studio, the other party might not be willing to give him much of a share. Moreover, having just experienced a backstabbing from Disney, he didn't want to cooperate with a major studio for the time being.

Spielberg sighed and then remarked to Wu Yuchen with emotion: "If I didn't have my own film to shoot, I would really want to be the producer for this 'Pirates of the Caribbean' myself. 140 million!"

Wu Yuchen said with a smile: "Steven, don't worry, I'm going to use this film to teach Disney a good lesson next year; how could I let someone slap my own face?"

Spielberg shook his head gently: "I really don't know now whether I should advise you not to act on impulse, or encourage you to forge ahead..."

A big production of 140 million carries too much risk. Spielberg even wanted to let Wu Yuchen put aside his grudge with Disney, but perhaps the desire for revenge can stimulate a young person's work efficiency even more.