Chapter 260: The Superhero Who Came Knocking

The entire conference room was deathly silent. Many people, even those merely observing, began to swallow hard; they had been left with psychological trauma from Eisner's past shouting, as the Emperor's authority within Disney ran too deep. Yet, contrary to everyone's expectations, they did not wait for Eisner's roar.

Eisner simply kept a stiff face, then turned his head to ask a high-ranking executive in charge of human resources: "Michelle, according to company policy, what is the retirement age for Disney employees?"

Michelle replied immediately: "70 years old."

Eisner continued to ask: "Then how old is Luo Yi Disney this year?"

Michelle paused. It wasn't that she didn't know Luo Yi Disney's age; as the only remaining member of the Disney family among the company's executives, Luo Yi Disney was a key subject of attention, so of course she knew. But she knew even better what Eisner was thinking at this moment...

Michelle's gaze couldn't help but glance at Luo Yi Disney, whose face had changed color and who vaguely realized what was about to happen, but Eisner's voice grew louder: "Answer me!"

Under Eisner's interrogation, Michelle immediately spoke up: "72 years old. Luo Yi is already 72 this year!"

"Eisner, you dare..."

Before Luo Yi Disney could finish, he was interrupted by Eisner's even louder voice:

"We at Disney are a big family full of humanistic care for our employees, and we are also a company that upholds the concepts of fairness and equality! For the sake of our employees' physical health, starting today, Luo Yi Disney will retire and no longer hold any position in the company!"

Many were left stunned by Eisner. Luo Yi was the company's largest individual shareholder, a member of the board of directors, and his surname alone represented Disney. To the public, Luo Yi was the face of Disney; he represented the soul of Disney!

Although Disney had a retirement policy and age, in reality, it hadn't been strictly enforced for many years. Those legendary animation elders worked as long as they wanted; one of them had worked until they passed away at 95.

After Luo Yi Disney walked out the front door, Eisner scanned the people in the conference room again: "Does anyone else have an opinion?"

"I won't wait until the shareholders' meeting to gamble. If Eisner is allowed to stay in this position, Disney will head toward ruin! I will mobilize all my strength to drive Eisner out of office!"

Luo Yi Disney had joined Disney in 1954 and had been there for 48 years. He was a member of the Disney family and had dedicated most of his life to Disney. The old man was two years away from welcoming Disney's 50th anniversary, yet now he was forced to be stripped of all his duties and compulsorily retired by Eisner in this manner.

Miles immediately stood up, walked to Luo Yi Disney's side, and whispered to him: "Luo Yi, let's go. Be dignified."

If Luo Yi had retired voluntarily, that would be one thing, but forcing him into compulsory retirement like this would definitely have a significant impact within the company.

Therefore, even if it meant paying a price now, he had to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, letting these people know who the real boss of Disney was. He was still the Eisner who had the final say!

How could Eisner not know that dismissing Luo Yi Disney would cause turmoil? In the past, he had tolerated this old guy for that very reason. But now it was different; his own situation was precarious, and he had to purge all voices opposing him within the company, twisting Disney into a single rope, in order to survive this shareholders' meeting safely.

"This is a disgrace! It's a disgrace to Disney! A member of the Disney family has actually been driven out of Disney!" Luo Yi Disney waved his hand and said angrily.

A high-ranking executive tried to speak up to persuade him: "Mr. Eisner, regarding this matter, should we reconsider..."

Then, a smile appeared on Eisner's face as he said to the people around him: "Let us applaud together and send Luo Yi Disney off to a happy retirement!"

Eisner directed a death glare at him: "Are you questioning the company's decisions and rules? Or do you want Disney to bear the infamy of exploiting the elderly? We at Disney are not cold-blooded capitalists!"

Although many were actually dissatisfied with Eisner's way of handling this and felt a sense of "the rabbit dying and the fox grieving" when looking at Luo Yi Disney, these smart people would not jump out again on the spot.

Applause echoed in the conference room. Luo Yi Disney's face was filled with both terror and anger at this moment. He stood up tremblingly, his whole body shaking with rage, and pointed at Eisner, shouting:

Those who had previously wanted to persuade him were also silenced by Eisner's words. Now Eisner was using company rules and regulations as his justification; forcing Luo Yi to retire was also in accordance with the rules, and he was using the excuse of caring for the elderly's health—who could refute that?

One person beside Luo Yi Disney also stood up, sighed, and said to him: "Luo Yi, let's leave first. I'll accompany you."

After speaking, Eisner took the lead in applauding, and his confidants naturally followed suit immediately, and then everyone else at the table followed, though many looked at Luo Yi Disney with sympathy as they clapped.

Upon hearing this, Eisner stopped his clapping hands, a gloomy look appearing on his face again, but he no longer paid attention to Luo Yi Disney, instead saying to the person beside him: "Miles, why haven't you escorted the retired personnel out of the conference room yet?"

Luo Yi Disney also knew that even if he stayed today, nothing would come of it. Before he left, he glared fiercely at Eisner one last time, determined that even if he had to fight Eisner to the death, he would drive him out of office!

"You dictatorial, autocratic, greedy, and muddle-headed bloodsucker, I will not let you continue to cling to Disney and suck its blood! I will not let you lead Disney into the abyss!"

No one dared to make a sound. Even Luo Yi Disney, the old mascot of the Disney family, had been dismissed just like that—who else dared to have an opinion? They could all see that whoever dared to jump out next would just be waiting to be dismissed by Eisner.

Luo Yi Disney, who had been driven out of the conference room, walked away angrily. His companion beside him said to him:

"Luo Yi, you shouldn't have been so impulsive. The current Eisner is like a male lion defending his status; any voice that threatens him will be eliminated by him. You could have completely waited until the shareholders' meeting to stand up."

On the other side, Wu Yuchen was currently receiving two high-level executives from Warner Bros.

"I'm very sorry, I can only receive you two at my workplace~"

"Wu, it is we who are disturbing you. Your professional spirit truly makes me admire you from the bottom of my heart. In the decadent Hollywood, there are very few people like you who can still devote themselves to work after achieving such great success!"

One of them opened his mouth and complimented Wu Yuchen.

Wu Yuchen laughed and said: "This is an essential quality for every filmmaker. We have an old saying in China: 'If you don't work hard in your youth, you will regret it in your old age.' I still have many goals I want to pursue, and I don't want to leave behind regrets and remorse when I'm old~"

"Wu, you really are a role model that every filmmaker in Hollywood should learn from!"

"Wu, Chinese proverbs are truly full of philosophy, just like this cup of Chinese tea, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth, truly full of charm!"

Wu Yuchen's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile: "Mr. Magee, it seems you know our Chinese tea culture very well~"

"Oh, of course, Chinese culture is very charming. Not just tea culture, whether it's kung fu or the long-standing history, it all fascinates me deeply. I plan to take my whole family to travel to China this year!"

"Oh, then you must contact me in advance when the time comes, so I can play the host!"

Wu Yuchen knew that the other party was definitely catering to his preferences, but he was also very happy to have such an opportunity to promote his country and culture.

After a friendly exchange of pleasantries, the group slowly moved on to the main topic.

"Wu, do you not plan to continue filming big productions this year?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his head: "I am aiming for the Oscars this year. I have already been nominated for Best Director twice, and I hope the third time won't leave me with regrets."

The two from Warner Bros. looked at each other, and one said: "Wu, two nominations have already earned you enough points. We sincerely wish you success this time!"

Wu Yuchen nodded with a smile, and then he heard Magee ask him: "Wu, actually, we came here this time because we also want to extend an invitation to you."

"What is it?"

"I wonder if you are interested in rebooting the 'Superman' and 'Spider-Man' series?"

This topic was within Wu Yuchen's expectations. After all, he had already been visited by Paramount, Universal, MGM, and many other companies; Warner Bros.' purpose was nothing more than this.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: " 'Harry Potter' is very hot right now, shouldn't Warner Bros.' focus be on the magic boy?"

"Of course, 'Harry Potter' is our most important project at Warner Bros. But whether it's 'Superman' or 'Batman', their popularity is no less than Harry Potter's. If you, Wu, are willing to reboot them, our emphasis on them at Warner Bros. will be no less than that on 'Harry Potter'!"

Wu Yuchen had launched the 'Spider-Man' project, and it had achieved huge success, which was undoubtedly a huge attraction for Warner Bros. Whether it was popularity, history, or foundation, 'Superman' and 'Batman' were existences that surpassed 'Spider-Man'.

If 'Spider-Man' could be so popular, if Superman and Batman were in Wu Yuchen's hands, would they achieve even more explosive results?

Once this idea was generated within Warner Bros., they reached a unified opinion: Wu Yuchen was the most suitable person to reboot the 'Superman' and 'Batman' series!

Wu Yuchen did not answer immediately. He picked up his tea and took a sip, recalling the history of the 'Superman' and 'Batman' series in his mind.

'Superman' had appeared on the silver screen as early as 1948, but the producer at the time was Columbia. Later, works such as 'Atom Man vs. Superman', 'Superman and the Mole Men', and 'Superman: Birth of a Day' were born.

However, the 'Superman' series people talk about now starts with 'Superman I', produced by Warner Bros. in 1978. Christopher Reeve's 'Superman I' broke $300 million at the box office, creating the glory of Superman. In the following decade, Warner Bros. filmed many movies around Superman. Aside from the four-part series, there were also works like 'Swamp Thing' and 'Supergirl'.

At the time, Warner Bros. wanted to keep filming the Superman series. While 'Superman IV' was still being filmed, they had already set the name and plot for the fifth installment. Unfortunately, the box office failure of 'Superman IV' in 1987, which only grossed $15 million, brought the 'Superman' series to an end.

After the 'Superman' series was frozen, Warner Bros. turned its attention to another DC superhero as famous as Superman: Batman. Since people were tired of Superman, we would let Batman take the big screen.

In fact, the first feature film of 'Batman' was born as early as 1966, but it didn't cause much of a stir at the time. However, with the experience of producing Superman, Warner Bros. had confidence in 'Batman'.

Facts proved that this decision was correct. Two years after the failure of 'Superman IV', 'Batman' hit the big screen. A $35 million budget brought in $410 million at the box office—a huge success! From then on, for the next nearly ten years, there were 'Batman Returns', 'Batman Forever', and the critically panned 'Batman & Robin'. The 'Batman' series was also frozen.

In other words, the eighties and nineties were equivalent to the 'Superman' and 'Batman' series each dominating for a decade. The two great superheroes had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the American people and had even spread to the whole world. Although Warner Bros. had frozen them, they didn't want to give them up.

Now Wu Yuchen had created the success of 'Spider-Man', giving them hope for rebooting 'Superman' and 'Batman'.

Wu Yuchen fell into deep thought, mainly considering his future planning in terms of movies. In fact, his purpose for coming to America was twofold: one was to win an Oscar, and the second was to make money with big commercial productions. One was for awards and honor, the other for commercial influence; both could improve his status.

Now, in terms of the Oscars, his only remaining goal was Best Director. He was preparing for this this year, and if he couldn't get it done, he would have to continue later.

Commercially, he recalled the development of his past life. In fact, after entering the 21st century, global cinema basically entered the era of big-budget series.

For example, the annual global box office champions: except for Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible 2' in 2000, which took the championship with $546 million, the subsequent years were 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' in 2001 with $974 million, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' in 2002 with $947 million, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' in 2003 with $1.14 billion. The following years were 'Shrek 2', 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest', 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End', and 'The Dark Knight'.

Do you notice? They were all series movies with a huge fan base. It wasn't until 2009, when the "truck driver" brought 'Avatar' to shatter everything, that some dignity was saved for original movies. But after 'Avatar', it entered the rule of series movies again.

It can be said with certainty that unless it's a movie like 'Avatar' that brings revolutionary technology, if you film an original movie, you just can't beat a series movie with a fan base.

This was also a problem Wu Yuchen had been considering recently. If he wanted to continue to expand his commercial influence, it seemed he couldn't avoid filming series movies. ===== CHAPTER 261 =====