Chapter 321: Authorization

The heat of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* has sparked many topics.

There are already entertainment program hosts shouting:

"The annual box office champion has been born, it must be *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, no one can stop it!!"

In fact, when *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* achieved 169 million in its first weekend, someone had already brought it up. But at that time, it was only three days, and quite a few people still had doubts.

But when the second week passed, *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* had a global box office of 558 million in 10 days, everything changed. Everyone believed this point. After all, the general trend has been formed, and no one questioned it in this situation.

As for whether another movie with a more explosive box office will come out in the second half of the year? Forget it, it was already far beyond Hollywood's expectations to have sequels with such high box office like *Spider-Man 2* and *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* in a row this year.

The second half of the year is just a *Harry Potter 3* that is a bit challenging, but *Harry Potter 3* had a director change incident, and many people are not very optimistic about it. It would be good to maintain the box office of the first two parts. Wanting to break 1 billion is almost impossible.

At the same time, besides all kinds of praise for Johnny Depp, this excellent Captain Jack, at the beginning, now more and more media are focusing their eyes and topics on Wu Yuchen.

"This summer belongs to Wu! The total box office of all other big productions combined is not as high as Wu's *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* and *Spider-Man 2*!"

When a person achieves great success, people tend to believe in him more, and subconsciously stick more achievements on him. Wu Yuchen is like this now.

In fact, in the previous two months, although Wu Yuchen served as the producer of *Spider-Man 2*, he didn't show up much during the entire promotion process of *Spider-Man 2*. Most of the time he was behind the scenes, and he even had to admit that he didn't do much in the behind-the-scenes work. This time *Spider-Man 2*, except for providing the script and fighting for a certain amount of time for reshoots and guarantees, he didn't do anything.

In the previous two months, the media and people indeed focused more eyes on director Sam Raimi, discussing the contributions he made to *Spider-Man 2*.

But now, when the momentum shown by *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* comprehensively surpassed *Spider-Man 2*, various media began to praise Wu Yuchen's greatness, more so-called insiders jumped out to tell about Wu Yuchen's importance to *Spider-Man 2*, and more people were willing to believe that *Spider-Man 2* was Wu Yuchen's work...

When this situation happened, no matter how Wu Yuchen explained it, people only wanted to believe that he was being humble!

Therefore, now people have attributed *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* and *Spider-Man 2* to Wu Yuchen's works, and the summer of 2004 in Hollywood has become the "Wu Yuchen Summer," the summer season ruled by Wu Yuchen!

"Oh! Honey, you are really too great! Everyone is saying that you ruled this summer!"

At this time, Anne Hathaway hugged Wu Yuchen tightly, wishing she could stick to him, and then rely on Wu Yuchen to climb to the top of Hollywood.

In fact, she is already on the right path. *The Princess Diaries*, which she starred in, has been released for 1 month, and the North American box office has reached 96.58 million, just one step away from breaking 100 million.

Now the summer season in North America is only half over, and it won't start school until September. Therefore, it is a certainty that *The Princess Diaries* will break 100 million at the North American box office.

As a 21-year-old girl, Anne Hathaway, besides the *Spider-Man* series, can now be a heroine who carries the box office alone, making a movie with a cost of 28 million break 100 million at the North American box office, which has fully proven her box office appeal.

It can be said that she is the most popular young generation actress in Hollywood now!

Only one girl can be mentioned in the same breath as her now, and that is Keira Knightley, the heroine of the *Pirates of the Caribbean* series created by Wu Yuchen himself!

To be honest, Anne Hathaway was very envious of Keira Knightley before. Compared to her vase role in the *Spider-Man* series, which can only act as a small spider's emotional regulator, Keira in the *Pirates of the Caribbean* series has much more scenes and is very important, fully influencing the direction of the story plot.

But it's different now!

She has already walked out of the shackles of this series of films *Spider-Man* by relying on *The Princess Diaries* and gained more possibilities. And Keira still needs to work hard to take this step.

The point she envies Keira for is that Keira's luck is too good! When Wu Yuchen wanted to quickly start the *Pirates of the Caribbean* project, she was just selected.

There were rumors in the outside world that Keira had only obtained this role after being subjected to various "unspoken rules" by Wu Yuchen, but Anne Hathaway, who understood Wu Yuchen's tastes, knew clearly that he had no interest in girls who were "flat-chested."

She, Jennifer Connelly, and Jessica Alba all have sexy good figures. Even Nicole Kidman, who she played with for a while before, also has a B-cup.

And she asked Wu Yuchen, he didn't touch that flat-chested princess at all. So this made Anne Hathaway feel that Keira was even luckier, getting this role without paying anything, simply a girl chosen by heaven!

However, no matter how good the luck is, there is a time when it ends.

Anne Hathaway knows that without Wu Yuchen's help, Keira will become ordinary and then fade into the crowd, while she, Princess Anne, will rely on Wu Yuchen to become the most popular actress in Hollywood!

Thinking of this, Anne Hathaway bursts out with enthusiasm for Wu Yuchen all the time and is willing to do anything to please him!

And on the other side of Wu Yuchen, the chocolate beauty Jessica Alba also entangled him foolishly: "Great Director Wu, can you attend my premiere ceremony in two weeks?"

Back then, she and Anne Hathaway each obtained a project from Wu Yuchen. Now Anne Hathaway's *The Princess Diaries* has achieved success, which makes Jessica Alba also have more expectations for *Step Up*. Now Jessica Alba is somewhat impatient to shine in Hollywood.

Wu Yuchen's big hand stroked the chocolate beauty's thigh: "Jessie, I plan to return to China next month~"

Upon hearing this, Jessica Alba's big eyes immediately appeared with misty fog, revealing a crying expression, and begged Wu Yuchen: "Daddy, please! I can't live without you~"

Wu Yuchen smiled and patted her perky buttocks: "Haha, little cute Jessie, I will leave after your premiere ceremony!"

Jessica Alba immediately revealed a look of surprise upon hearing this and offered a fragrant kiss to Wu Yuchen.

Wu Yuchen smiled. He naturally wouldn't treat these two big beauties differently. He had been to the premiere of *The Princess Diaries* before, so this time he must also go to *Step Up*.

After this *Step Up* succeeds, then film a *Step Up 2*, and then build a *Fantastic Four* for Jessica Alba, a big production of over 100 million, enough to take care of her. Anne Hathaway on this side is the same, one step at a time, no need to rush.

"Honey, the people around me are guessing how much the total box office of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* will be?" Anne Hathaway looked at Wu Yuchen and asked, wanting to get an authoritative answer from him.

Wu Yuchen shook his head with a smile: "Baby, I can't give you a very accurate data. I can only say that 1 billion US dollars globally should be no problem."

After all, *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* is now influenced by him, and the performance is better than the original version in the previous life. He really can't say for sure how much the final result will be. However, he estimates that it is unlikely to exceed 1.5 billion, and it may be between 1.2 and 1.3 billion.

Jessica Alba said another question: "Daddy, my friends are discussing, the box office record of 169 million in the first weekend of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, how many years will it take to be broken?"

This question really made Wu Yuchen fall into thought.

If it follows the development of the previous life, to break this box office record, it will have to wait until the finale of *Harry Potter*, which is *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2* released in 2011. The first-weekend box office of the film is exactly 169 million, just a few million higher than *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*.

Maybe everyone will ask, *Avatar*'s box office is as high as 2.74 billion US dollars, why is the first-weekend box office low?

However, the fact is, the first-weekend box office of *Avatar* in 3 days is only 77.02 million. But the truck driver has the ability to make the long-term income of the movie extremely beautiful, and the global appeal is unmatched.

To talk about the first-weekend box office, it is actually the most powerful ones that are those fan movies, such as *Twilight*. However, *Twilight* can be said to be slightly niche to some extent. The most terrifying one is the super fan movie *The Avengers*!

Since the birth of *The Avengers* series, it is simply treating the first-weekend box office record as a game to brush.

The first part of *The Avengers* in 2012 took over 200 million US dollars in the first three days of release in North America, refreshing the Hollywood weekend premiere box office record.

The second part of *The Avengers* in 2015 was a bit sluggish, only 191 million, not breaking the record of the first part, but waiting until the third part of *The Avengers* in 2018, it set a new record of 257 million. The fourth part released the following year was even more exaggerated, with 357 million US dollars in the first weekend, a number that makes people feel desperate when looking at it!

But now Wu Yuchen is also a bit uncertain, the biggest variable is actually himself. Because he doesn't know whether he will set a new number when *Pirates of the Caribbean 3* is released.

If *Pirates of the Caribbean 3* is powerful, then the record can be broken next year. If it can't be broken, then it may really have to wait seven or eight years.

If you think about it this way, no matter what, this record should be ruled by his Director Wu for the next 7 years, which is not short!

As for whether to film *Pirates of the Caribbean 4*, he didn't intend to film it at all. The *Pirates of the Caribbean* trilogy is already a complete story. He won't be involved in the future. It's thankless, and maybe it will ruin his reputation.

As for whether to invest or not, it depends on the market at that time. And Johnny Depp's salary will also become a big problem. He doesn't think he can bluff the other party again. If he wants the other party to film *Pirates of the Caribbean 4*, he must pay a very painful big price.

For the time being, Wu Yuchen doesn't want to be painful. Maybe after ten years, when the global film market is more prosperous and ticket prices are higher, he will consider investing in *Pirates of the Caribbean 4*.

With the general trend of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* already formed, Wu Yuchen can now lie flat completely, and doesn't need to run around for promotion, but there are still some things to deal with. For example, the authorization of *Pirates of the Caribbean*.

"Oh, Wu, we are planning a celebration banquet for *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, but you don't seem to be active at all~"

"Steven, I just want to rest now~"

Wu Yuchen welcomed Spielberg in with a smile. With the success of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* and the completion of the post-production of *Pirates of the Caribbean 3*, he just wants to rest at home now.

After chatting for a few words, they began to enter the topic.

"Steven, what is the situation now?" Wu Yuchen asked.

"Universal Studios found me here, continuing to seek the authorization of *Pirates of the Caribbean*, and they have improved a lot in price."

Wu Yuchen smiled upon hearing this. As early as 3 years ago, Universal Studios hoped to get the authorization of *Pirates of the Caribbean*, but the price they gave at that time was too low, and Wu Yuchen directly let DreamWorks refuse.

In the past two years, Universal Studios has also appropriately increased the offer, but Wu Yuchen didn't agree. He knows how big the market for *Pirates of the Caribbean* is.

And now, with the explosion of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, Universal Studios can't sit still, and has significantly increased the offer, wanting to buy the authorization.

Wu Yuchen looked at Spielberg: "Steven, what do you think?"

Spielberg spread his hands: "If it were before, I would definitely agree to this price, but now, Universal's sincerity is indeed lacking, especially against the backdrop of the opponent."

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Let me guess, is it Luo Bote Iger?"

Spielberg nodded with a smile: "Luo Bote Iger came to me personally and proposed a price that made people very moved. From now on, Disney's pirate project will also be named after *Pirates of the Caribbean*, and we will have a share of the related income."

Looking at Spielberg's attitude, it was already obvious who he wanted to cooperate with.

This also made Wu Yuchen sigh. Back then, he used *Pirates of the Caribbean* to crush Disney's big production *Pearl Harbor*, and now *Pirates of the Caribbean* is going to cooperate with Disney!

It's really time to change!

However, Wu Yuchen also revealed a smile to Spielberg: "I have no opinion. Iger is indeed a very bold guy. To tell you the truth, I have a premonition that Disney will become more prosperous under his leadership."

Wu Yuchen naturally chooses the one who gives more money. Do you still want to sell it to Universal Studios at a low price for the sake of the past? Moreover, Disney's traffic is indeed greater than Universal Studios.

Spielberg also nodded: "The smiling Mickey Mouse is really more powerful than the roaring Eisner!" ===== CHAPTER 322 =====