Chapter 318: Press Conference

How much certainty does Cao Yang have for re-shooting *Pirates of the Caribbean*?

If there hadn't been that failed work produced by Bruckheimer, he would of course have very great certainty of being able to succeed.

The captain played by Depp, who was weird, once attracted so many people into the cinema.

But the stereotype of the first version—who knows if letting a former supporting role jump to become the male lead will be criticized by the audience who have seen it before?

Not to mention that this protagonist is also cheap and abnormal.

Cao Yang had considered that if he took over, he would start shooting from the second one, but in this way, the sense of fragmentation would be even more serious.

Since it's a re-shoot, then tear it down and start over, change the plot of the first one slightly, and still shoot from the first one.

In this way, the first one can use double male leads, trying to reduce the audience's "hostility" toward a weird male lead.

Furthermore, another favorable point is that the first version of *Pirates of the Caribbean* was released in 2003. If Cao Yang re-shoots it, it will be the summer slot of next year at the earliest, and even the summer slot might not necessarily be released.

During this period, there will be four years.

Four years, for an unsuccessful film, is almost enough to be forgotten.

This can reduce a lot of stereotypes.

Plus, if Depp is still allowed to play Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp's fame is much greater now. Two-time Oscar Best Actor isn't a joke. This is a favorable point.

So after comprehensive consideration, Cao Yang gave the answer.

"I have about 70% certainty."

Cao Yang answered. This is a film he thinks has less certainty.

"What? How much?"

Robert Iger thought he had auditory hallucinations, or that Cao Yang was joking.

70% certainty?

Are you kidding me?

An original film goes through various market research, and if it finally has 60% certainty, that's definitely rolling up sleeves and starting to work.

Not to mention that this is a reboot film that is a bit more difficult than an original film.

70% certainty? If you really have 70% certainty, I, Robert Iger, current CEO of Disney, have made you this friend!

Are you serious?

Robert Iger wanted to ask this sentence, but looking at Cao Yang's appearance, it didn't look like he was joking, so he suppressed this thought and didn't ask it.

"Do you have any intended male actors?"

Robert Iger asked.

Cao Yang nodded and said: "I plan to use double leads. One lead is still the little blacksmith, and the other lead is Captain Jack Sparrow. Among them, Captain Jack Sparrow's scenes will be even heavier."

"Double leads?"

Robert Iger thought about it and didn't raise any objections. For the *Pirates of the Caribbean* project, letting a pirate be the lead doesn't matter; it's just a bit of a challenge to the audience's seriousness.

"I plan to let Depp play Captain Jack."

Cao Yang continued.

"Depp?"

Robert Iger nodded. This person is currently the top in Hollywood in terms of fame and influence, but his personality is a bit weird, and many people can't handle him, calling him "Weird Depp" behind his back.

However, he believed Cao Yang could definitely handle him. After all, Depp is considered Cao Yang's imperial actor, and he was also promoted by Cao Yang. It is said that Depp listens to Cao Yang more.

Then there's no problem.

Although Depp is expensive and might want a box office share, for a reboot film, what is wanted is success. As long as it can succeed, the future benefits are not comparable to a little share.

Undoubtedly, Depp can definitely increase the success rate of the film.

Cao Yang plus Depp is an even more successful golden combination.

Huh, there really might be 70% certainty!

Robert Iger was in a great mood immediately. As long as *Pirates of the Caribbean* can be successfully rebooted, Disney will have a successful live-action adaptation film, which is very beneficial to Disney's development.

Before Cao Yang met Robert Iger, Bellman had already talked almost enough with Disney, otherwise there wouldn't have been this meeting.

Another week passed, and Cao Yang had already talked about the specific cooperation details with Disney, and even mentioned sequels.

This is something Cao Yang insisted on talking about.

Robert Iger didn't care. He had thoughts about sequels, but he was thinking more about shooting the reboot well.

Therefore, he didn't care much about the various priorities Cao Yang proposed for sequels.

He only added one condition: the premise of the sequels, which is the various priorities Cao Yang added, must be that the global box office of the new *Pirates of the Caribbean* cannot be less than 400 million USD.

In Robert Iger's view, 400 million USD is already "lion's mouth" for a reboot of a failed film. 400 million USD undoubtedly marks that the film's reboot is very successful.

In this film, Cao Yang gets a tiered box office share.

His base box office share is 6% of the global total box office share, which is a bit low for his current status.

But it doesn't matter. As long as the global box office reaches 200 million USD, the tiered share treaty is automatically activated.

Global box office reaches 200 million USD, Cao Yang can get an 8% total box office share.

Global box office reaches 300 million USD, Cao Yang can get a 10% total box office share.

Global box office reaches 400 million USD, Cao Yang can get a 13% total box office share, tying his box office share in *Inception*.

Global box office reaches 600 million USD, Cao Yang can get a 15% total box office share.

Global box office reaches over 800 million USD, Cao Yang can get an 18% total box office share. As a reboot of a failed film, wanting to reach this box office is very difficult.

What if the box office is even higher? For example, over 1 billion.

Heh, that's impossible.

Cao Yang himself doesn't believe there can be a global box office of over 1 billion.

Don't say Cao Yang doesn't believe it; Robert Iger didn't think there could be too much box office. His goal is very practical: 400 million USD. This is his biggest expectation for this film.

So he raised Cao Yang's share to 13% at the 400 million USD threshold, the same share as *Inception*.

However, as Cao Yang's negotiation representative and team leader, Bellman still insisted on adding a box office share treaty for a global total box office exceeding 1 billion USD, and even gave an astronomical figure, directly raising it to 25%.

Robert Iger laughed heartily for a while and didn't refute this clause, but said very seriously to Cao Yang:

"Cao, if *New Pirates of the Caribbean* can have a global box office of 1 billion USD, I am willing to pay a 25% box office share.

To tell the truth, I am very much looking forward to the arrival of that day."

October 7th is the last day of the domestic National Day holiday.

On this day, Disney CEO Robert Iger and Cao Yang held a press conference together.

At the press conference, Robert Iger announced that Disney will invest 160 million USD to re-shoot the live-action film adapted from the *Pirates of the Caribbean* amusement adventure project.

And, hire Cao Yang to serve as producer, screenwriter, and director, joining hands to create *New Pirates of the Caribbean*.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 319 =====