Chapter 326: Celebration Banquet

At this moment, Wu Yuchen was attending a grand celebration banquet, naturally not for *Step Up*, but for *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*.

Just three days ago, the global box office of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* officially broke the 1 billion US dollar mark; the producers naturally had to hold a big celebration banquet for this!

In fact, everyone had been waiting for this day to come for a long time; everyone knew *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* could break 1 billion US dollars, but when it truly broke through, it still made all the relevant personnel extremely happy!

After all, this was 1 billion US dollars, the third film in history to break the 1 billion US dollar mark!

The first place, *Titanic*, naturally didn't need to be said; it set an astonishing record of 1.8 billion US dollars back then.

The second one to break 1 billion was *The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*, which was currently still being shown in cinemas; its box office had now reached 1.14 billion, and it had almost exhausted all its potential; it was basically unlikely to grow any further.

*Pirates of the Caribbean 2* was this third one, and judging by the current box office trend of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, there was a high possibility it would surpass *The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King* and ascend to the second place in box office history.

In fact, before 2010, the film box office breaking the 1 billion US dollar mark was truly a very difficult challenge; several films had been very close.

For example, 1993's *Jurassic Park* took 978 million in box office, but in the end, it was just one breath away. In fact, being able to take this box office result in that era was already super amazing; it could even be said to be more fierce than *The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King* and *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*. But not breaking it meant not breaking it. Later, it was re-released in 3D in 2013, which allowed *Jurassic Park* to break 1 billion.

Then there was 1999's *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace*, with 924 million in box office, which also relied on a re-release more than ten years later to board the 1 billion club.

Then there was 2001's *Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone*; when the magic boy first appeared, he swept the world, creating 975 million; although the gap was also very small, in the end, it didn't break the 1 billion US dollar mark either.

And this year, having two films, *The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King* and *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, both break 1 billion at once also made Hollywood shout one after another that the film market was becoming increasingly prosperous.

Of course, everyone noticed one point: both of these films were series films. This also proved that such successful series films were becoming increasingly attractive to the audience, so various big factories also began to adjust their plans, putting more attention on series films.

From this perspective, Warner Bros. using 20 million plus 25% of the global box office share to invite Wu Yuchen first could be considered a step ahead; otherwise, it was hard to say whether other big factories would join the competition.

After all, there were only a few directors who could prove they could shoot successful series films, and Wu Yuchen going to shoot for Warner Bros. was equivalent to being bound for several years in the future; even if other companies wanted to invite him, there was no way.

On stage, Wu Yuchen, Depp, Hugh Jackman, Keira Knightley, and other relevant personnel of the crew broke the big and long 1,000,000,000 number ice sculpture placed on the table together, then revealed bright smiles; the whole venue was also cheering and jumping, and publicity personnel were clicking away taking photos of this scene.

Besides the crew, quite a few other people from Hollywood also came to this celebration banquet, and people were constantly expressing congratulations to Wu Yuchen: "Wu, congratulations! You have created a great series film!"

"Wu, do you know? In my eyes, you are even greater than Cameron! Whether it's in creative ability or box office ability, you have already surpassed Cameron!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and thanked them. However, for these flattering words, he just took them as polite, reminding himself not to get lost in these flowery sedan chairs.

Cameron didn't just have *Titanic*; he also had the *Terminator* series; both could be called epoch-making works.

Half a moment later, Spielberg was also holding a wine glass and chatting with Wu Yuchen:

"Wu, do you really have no intention of developing *Pirates of the Caribbean 4* again?"

Wu Yuchen shook his head: "Steven, the *Pirates of the Caribbean* trilogy is a complete story; for me, *Pirates of the Caribbean* has already ended; I won't linger or indulge in a story that has already ended."

Spielberg sighed inwardly upon hearing this; the post-production of *Pirates of the Caribbean 3* had already been completed, and he had already seen the finished film; the quality still maintained a high standard, and he believed that when it was released next year, it would at least achieve a good result of 800 million US dollars in box office.

Therefore, such a super profitable series, Spielberg really didn't want it to end just like that; the current DreamWorks was counting on *Pirates of the Caribbean*!

Spielberg wasn't reconciled to just letting it go like this; he thought for a moment and continued to ask: "Wu, even if you don't want to serve as director anymore, what about as producer? Do you have any other ideas about it? As long as it's a story related to the *Pirates of the Caribbean* world created by you, I believe all audiences are willing to pay for it! We can continue to operate this IP!"

Wu Yuchen shook his head again: "Oh, Steve, let me rest, and let Captain Jack rest!

You should know that my energy next will be put into the *Batman* trilogy; I can't worry about *Pirates of the Caribbean* anymore.

Moreover, after the third *Pirates of the Caribbean* is released, the audience also needs a buffer period; otherwise, they will also feel a certain aesthetic fatigue toward *Pirates of the Caribbean*; you should understand this better than me."

Spielberg naturally understood; he was also a person who had produced multiple series films and knew deeply that the further back it went, the lower the audience's freshness would be; the best choice at this time was to stop for a few years first.

Only to hear Wu Yuchen say again: "Moreover, Steve, Depp's salary is also a problem; are you willing to give him a global share of over 20%, or are you willing to give him a salary of 100 million US dollars? As of now, these aren't good choices."

Spielberg felt a toothache upon hearing Depp's salary; he had slightly probed Depp's side during this period, and they simply didn't give them a chance to bargain.

For the previous second and third installments, Wu Yuchen paid Depp's salary entirely in cash; at the time, Spielberg still felt it was too risky, but now he truly felt it was too wise.

In fact, the reason he agreed not to give Depp a share at the time was also because Wu Yuchen, this director, had already occupied a portion of the box office share, and it was a global box office share; if he gave Depp a share again, the remaining profit for the producers would be too little; it would truly be working for these two people.

Spielberg sighed after thinking for a moment: "Perhaps you are right; it is time to let *Pirates of the Caribbean* rest for a few years."

But the next moment he turned and said: "But it can't be too long; you don't really intend to seal this series permanently, do you?"

Wu Yuchen thought for a moment and said: "Perhaps four or five years later; by then, it should be a better time."

If he started *Pirates of the Caribbean 4*, it would definitely be able to make money. But Wu Yuchen wanted to wait until after 2010; by then, the whole world would have undergone cinema renovation because of *Avatar*, and 3D and IMAX cinemas would begin to be promoted and popularized, and ticket prices would also usher in a wave of increases. This was also why it would be much simpler for the box office to break 1 billion US dollars after 2010.

By that time, even if they gave Depp a salary of 100 million US dollars again, the producers wouldn't feel so pained. It was actually just inflation; the actual value of Depp's 100 million salary would shrink.

If he wanted to shoot *Pirates of the Caribbean 4*, Depp, this core, was indispensable; after the first three installments, he had already become the guarantee for attracting audiences into the cinema. Even if Wu Yuchen served as director, he wouldn't be able to suppress him anymore.

In his past life, *Pirates of the Caribbean 4* cost 410 million US dollars, with a box office of 1.046 billion US dollars; overall, it was still profitable. Although the box office profit was already relatively low, it could still earn quite a bit through various peripherals and copyrights; there was no reason not to do it.

Therefore, Wu Yuchen also intended to do *Pirates of the Caribbean 4* when the time came, but he wouldn't personally take the field again, so as not to ruin his own reputation. He would only let Miracle Pictures invest; after all, the plot was much worse than the first three installments, just relying on Depp to hang on.

Wu Yuchen's wine glass touched Spielberg's lightly, and then he sipped the wine in the glass and suddenly asked: "Steve, I heard DreamWorks has started a new project, Michael Bay?"

Spielberg smiled and nodded upon hearing this: "Yes, a sci-fi film, *The Island*. Michael Bay is very good at big scenes; it should be guaranteed in terms of box office. At the same time, he also wants to make a breakthrough and better integrate commerce and art; I think this is a good project."

As soon as Wu Yuchen heard *The Island*, he knew his guess wasn't wrong; it seemed DreamWorks had fallen into this big pit! Investment of 130 million, global box office of 1.6 billion; it lost miserably, directly leading to Spielberg selling DreamWorks Pictures in his past life.

In fact, it wasn't that one film made DreamWorks what it was; this was just like John Woo's *Windtalkers* to MGM, both were the last straw that broke the camel's back.

It was just that it was different now; DreamWorks had the *Pirates of the Caribbean* series as its treasure, so it was estimated that it would at most hurt the muscles, and talking about hurting the bones was out of the question.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Steven, are you trying to reproduce *The Matrix*?"

*The Matrix* was also a mix of sci-fi, ethics, and commerce, and was a successful model.

Spielberg smiled and said: "Just an attempt~"

"Then I wish you success~" Wu Yuchen didn't intend to express his inner thoughts.

In fact, there hadn't been any particularly good clone-themed films so far; Schwarzenegger's *The 6th Day* was already considered a good result.

Moreover, this topic of cloning was only relatively popular in the ten years from 1995-2005; after a few more years, the heat would fade. By the time it was more than ten years later, look and see how many people would still be talking about cloning?

Let DreamWorks lose a bit more money; that way, it would better highlight his own importance, and maybe he could intervene in some projects he was interested in later.

At this time, he remembered the female lead of *The Island*, Scarlett Johansson; the bloody loss of this film also buried Scarlett Johansson's commercial film career, and she could only return to art films to spin around; later, she had no choice but to take on Black Widow, and the Widow was thus born.

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but have a smile appear on the corner of his mouth; losing money is good! Only after losing money could he better go to comfort the frustrated heart of the young girl!

Wu Yuchen went to the restroom to relieve himself and washed his face. After walking out and just wanting to return, he was stopped by a voice behind him: "Hey, Wu!"

Wu Yuchen turned his head and couldn't help but smile: "Keira, how was the play today? Happy?"

At this time, Keira's cheeks were a bit crimson; clearly, she had drunk some wine, but looking at her state, she was still quite sober.

"Of course happy, the female lead of a 1 billion box office film, I am the third one in the world!" Keira laughed wantonly.

Wu Yuchen smiled when he saw her appearance. To be honest, Keira could be considered world-famous because of *Pirates of the Caribbean*; she wasn't a vase in this series; her screen time wasn't a bit less than Hugh Jackman's, second only to Johnny Depp.

Subsequently, she walked to Wu Yuchen's side and pulled his arm: "Wu, come with me; I have something I want to talk to you about~"

"Hmm?" Wu Yuchen felt a bit puzzled inwardly.

This Keira wouldn't be wanting to ask him for a project or a female lead, would she? Or had she probed some opportunity and wanted him to help recommend? If it were truly a matter of him opening his mouth, he wouldn't mind helping.

However, Wu Yuchen didn't ask directly; he still let Keira lead him to a room. He and Keira could be considered to have known each other for several years, and their relationship was relatively familiar, so he didn't worry that she would harm him.

After entering the room, just as Wu Yuchen wanted to turn on the light, he felt a delicate body throw itself into his arms; his neck was hugged by a pair of arms, and a pair of soft lips were pressed onto his.

For this sudden attack, Wu Yuchen really didn't react; it was really because he didn't expect Keira would do this to him. After all, the two had cooperated on the *Pirates of the Caribbean* trilogy, and during the shooting period for so long, if anything was going to happen, it should have happened long ago, but it never did, so he didn't think in this direction at all.

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but use both hands to grab Keira's shoulders and push her away from himself: "Hey, Keira, what are you doing?"

Keira's breathing was already heavy, her chest heaving, and she directly said loudly: "Fuck you!"

The next moment, she took the initiative to offer a passionate kiss, and with a kick of her feet, her legs were wrapped around Wu Yuchen's waist.

Wu Yuchen thought to himself, "Holy shit," I didn't take the initiative to get you before, and you're acting arrogant now?

He had to teach this girl a lesson today, let her know why he, Director Wu, is Big, Director!

He held Keira and pushed her against the door. Soon, violent fighting sounds came from the room, and the door was also shaking violently, while Keira was also singing loudly without any regard.

Regarding this, even if someone passed by the door and heard it, they wouldn't care; after all, at Hollywood parties and celebration banquets, this kind of thing was simply too normal! ===== CHAPTER 327 =====