Chapter 389: Strength Is Face

Cao Yang didn't expect that Disney CEO Robert Iger would personally drive to Los Angeles International Airport to pick him up.

Disney's headquarters is in Burbank, which is about twenty kilometers north of downtown Los Angeles, and the straight-line distance from Los Angeles International Airport is also about twenty kilometers.

However, driving would require bypassing the highway, actually walking more than thirty kilometers, taking about half an hour.

The house Cao Yang bought is in Arcadia, which is about twenty kilometers northeast of Los Angeles, and the straight-line distance from Los Angeles International Airport is also twenty kilometers.

Driving on the highway actually requires walking more than thirty kilometers.

And the straight-line distance from Burbank to Arcadia is only more than ten kilometers.

Arcadia is at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, and the environment is very good. Although it is also a small city, it is called Arcadia Villa and is a famous wealthy area, mainly for living.

Cao Yang thought that after Robert Iger picked him up, he would go to Burbank to discuss the promotion of "New Pirates of the Caribbean."

He was still thinking in his heart that the other party was too anxious, he had been on the plane for so long, and he was exhausted from the journey, not letting him go to rest for jet lag, which was too unreasonable.

What he didn't expect was that after Robert Iger asked for Cao Yang's address, he let the driver drive Cao Yang to Burbank, and he used this half-hour car ride to confirm some promotion ideas and thoughts for the movie with Cao Yang.

Robert Iger indeed exceeded Cao Yang's expectations, but it also reflected that Disney's CEO was really a bit anxious.

Also, there is less than half a month before the release of "New Pirates of the Caribbean," and the main force of the movie's promotion is Duan Duan Yihong!

Affected by the screenwriter strike, most talk shows and interview programs have been suspended—it's not that talk show actors and interview programs want to be suspended, but no one is writing scripts for them, the screenwriters are on a big strike!

And talk shows and interview programs are one of the main ways to promote movies. Without these channels, and the main actors refusing to come to promote, only channels like the Internet and advertising are left.

This is also the reason why Robert Iger is anxious.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" has already failed once. As a reboot movie, if this movie with an investment of 160 million

Actually, the sealing away is not the most critical part.

The main thing is that if this rebooted film fails again, it will prove that Robert Iger's reboot strategy is a failure, which will be considered a major mistake in his management of Disney, and Disney's stock will certainly plummet as a result.

Added to this is the uncertainty of the Oscars caused by the troublesome screenwriters' strike; if ABC, as the broadcaster of the Oscars, has to pay a huge sum in compensation because of this, Disney's stock will fall again.

Robert Iger has only been Disney's CEO for a little over a year; he has no way to cover the sky with one hand within Disney.

On the contrary, he has quite a few opponents at Disney.

If he causes two major mistakes in just over a year, whether he can sit securely in the CEO's chair and continue to hold it will be an unknown.

Cao Yang took a shower first and did not rest immediately.

He checked the recent film scheduling here in North America and found that the competition for the Christmas slot was still very fierce.

"I Am Legend," starring Will Shi Misi, will be released on December 14th.

"National Treasure: Book of Secrets," starring Nicolas Cage, as the sequel to "National Treasure," will be released today, which is December 7th.

"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is also a film produced by Disney. As a sequel, its producer is still the most famous gold-medal producer in Hollywood, Jerry Bruckheimer, and they had been fighting for a December 21st release.

This slot is called the Christmas slot, after all. December 21st is a Friday and is closest to Christmas; releasing on this date is definitely much better than December 7th.

Of course, unless Disney is crazy, they wouldn't let their own company's "New Pirates of the Caribbean" and "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" be released on the same day.

Jerry Bruckheimer and the "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" crew's intention was to have "New Pirates of the Caribbean" released on December 7th, while they take the December 21st slot.

To persuade Disney CEO Robert Iger, Jerry Bruckheimer even specifically made a comparison.

"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is a sequel film, while "New Pirates of the Caribbean" is a reboot film.

As everyone knows, sequel films come with their own publicity and are the easiest type to succeed.

And reboot films? Why are they called reboots? Because they were sealed away before, because they were sealed away after their box office bombed; the uncertainty of reboot films is too great.

On this point, "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" has the advantage.

The investment for "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is about 140 million USD, while "New Pirates of the Caribbean" is 160 million USD; they are not much different, both being A+ level major productions.

This point can be considered a tie.

The producer of "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is the world-renowned gold-medal producer Jerry Bruckheimer, while the main producer of "New Pirates of the Caribbean" is Cao Yang.

This point can also be considered a tie.

The lead actor of "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is Nicolas Cage, and the lead actor of "New Pirates of the Caribbean" is Depp; both are superstars who have won Oscars for Best Actor, and both are superstars who can carry the box office.

This point is still a tie.

By the way, Nicolas Cage before 2008 was still a superstar; he hadn't started taking on a large number of low-budget commercial films due to personal financial problems, and he wasn't yet the "King of B-Movies" he would later become.

In short, Jerry Bruckheimer's meaning was very clear: as a sequel film, "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is clearly more advantageous in every comparison; why give the better slot to "New Pirates of the Caribbean"?

Although Jerry Bruckheimer's listed data was overwhelmingly advantageous, Robert Iger told him without any hesitation at the time: Because the director of "New Pirates of the Caribbean" is named Cao Yang.

Jerry Bruckheimer was silent for a long time, and finally dropped one sentence: "I don't believe he will always succeed!"

Then, he slammed the door and left.

Cao Yang hadn't paid attention to the box office of "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" in his previous life, but as a sequel film, the previous one must have sold well, otherwise there wouldn't be a sequel.

Added to the fact that Nicolas Cage still has strong box office appeal, this film counts as a very strong competitor.

There is also "I Am Legend," released a week later; this film can be considered the pinnacle of Will Shi Misi's work, and he is currently the black actor with the most box office appeal.

In short, the competition for this Christmas slot is extremely high.

Cao Yang thought for a moment and called Depp.

"Director, are you in Los Angeles?"

The phone rang only once before Depp answered.

"Just got back to Arcadia. Are you feeling any better? Robert said you were sick and undergoing treatment; do you need me to come visit you?"

Cao Yang joked with a smile.

Actually, Cao Yang had known about the situation here for a long time; he also has a team in the US, and the team leader, Borman, was formerly a marketing manager at Sony Classics and has very broad connections.

In addition, Duan Duan Yihong came to the US to promote "New Pirates of the Caribbean" according to his contract, and he would tell Cao Yang everything he encountered here.

"Haha, Director, I apologize. You know, this isn't directed at you."

Depp apologized first before continuing: "This was my agency's idea. They said that the Screen Actors Guild is currently fully supporting the Writers Guild, and told me not to be too prominent to avoid offending the Screen Actors Guild.

Actually, I think the agency is overthinking it. How can promoting a film I starred in be called offending the Screen Actors Guild?

Didn't Will Shi Misi spend the last while promoting his new film? Didn't Nicolas Cage come out to promote in the end? I think the Screen Actors Guild can understand."

Cao Yang laughed.

Hollywood superstars are generally not afraid of offending production companies, even those at the level of the Hollywood Big Six, but they usually give face to big producers and big directors.

Cao Yang suddenly thought of a very interesting thing. Previously, Warner Bros. Pictures president Jeff Robinov had called him to say they wanted to create a gimmick together during the Christmas slot; he had thought it was a joke.

He didn't expect Warner to actually do it.

"Depp, I remember that after you finished filming 'New Pirates of the Caribbean,' you went to Tim's crew and filmed his 'Sweeney Todd,' right?"

Depp gave a bitter smile; he understood Cao Yang's meaning and also understood Cao Yang's wicked sense of humor.

After he finished filming "New Pirates of the Caribbean," Tim Burton had a new film called "Sweeney Todd," and all the preparations were complete, just waiting for him to play the lead.

To be honest, Depp didn't want to take "Sweeney Todd." He had played many roles of this type; they were too neurotic and too gloomy, and he didn't like them.

Although the character he played in "New Pirates of the Caribbean" was also a neurotic type, it wasn't gloomy. For some reason, he really dislikes gloomy male leads these days.

Helplessly, Tim Burton had a debt of gratitude to him; he was essentially made famous by Tim Burton, so even if he didn't like films with this kind of character setting, he still had to take it.

Coincidentally, this film was also chosen for a Christmas release, and it was also chosen for December 21st, the same day as "New Pirates of the Caribbean," which made him very distressed.

This was also the reason why his agency and the United Talent Agency made him fake an illness.

Even without the screenwriters' strike, with two films released on the same day, how do you promote them? Who do you promote for?

Tim Burton is the benefactor who made him famous, and Cao Yang is the benefactor who made him a huge hit and a superstar; neither is easy to offend.

But clearly, Depp had already made his choice.

"Director, I heard from Tracy that you seem to have run into some trouble? Are you okay? Is there anything you need me to do?"