[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr":3,"chapter-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-389":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Academic Director: Reborn in the Film Industry",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2297389,4493,"Chapter 389: Strength is Face","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-389",389,"\u003Cp>Cao Yang did not expect that Disney CEO Robert Iger would personally drive to Los Angeles International Airport to pick him up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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 roughly twenty kilometers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, driving usually requires taking the highway, which is actually over thirty kilometers and takes about half an hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Driving via the highway actually takes over thirty kilometers as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the straight-line distance from Burbank to Arcadia is only a little over ten kilometers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arcadia is located at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains and has a great environment; although it is a small city, it is known as the Arcadia Villa area, a famous wealthy neighborhood primarily for residential living.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang had assumed that after Robert Iger picked him up, they would go to Burbank to discuss the promotional matters for \"New Pirates of the Caribbean.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He even thought to himself that the other party was being too impatient; he had been on a plane for so long and was exhausted from the journey, so not letting him go rest and recover from jet lag was a bit heartless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unexpectedly, after Robert Iger asked for Cao Yang's address, he had his driver take Cao Yang to Burbank, while he himself used the half-hour car ride to finalize some ideas and thoughts on the film's promotion with Cao Yang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Robert Iger indeed exceeded Cao Yang's expectations, but it also reflected that the Disney CEO was truly feeling anxious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It made sense; there was less than half a month left until the release of \"New Pirates of the Caribbean,\" and the main force for the film's promotion was actually Duan Yihong!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Affected by the major writers' strike, most talk shows and interview programs had ceased broadcasting—it wasn't that the talk show hosts and interview programs wanted to stop, but there was no one to write their scripts; the writers were on a major strike!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since talk shows and interview programs were one of the main ways to promote a film, and with these channels gone and the main actors making excuses to avoid promotion, only online and advertising channels remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also the reason for Robert Iger's anxiety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Pirates of the Caribbean\" had already flopped once; as a reboot, if this film with a 160 million USD investment flopped again, it was likely that this major IP would be shelved for good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, being shelved wasn't the most critical issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The main point was that if this reboot failed again, it would prove that Robert Iger's reboot strategy was a failure, which would be seen as a major blunder in his tenure at Disney, and Disney's stock would certainly plummet as a result.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coupled with the uncertainty of the Oscars caused by the troublesome writers' strike, if ABC, as the broadcaster of the Oscars, had to pay a large sum in compensation because of this, Disney's stock would fall again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Robert Iger had only been Disney's CEO for a little over a year, and he was in no position to cover the sky with one hand within Disney.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the contrary, he had quite a few rivals at Disney.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he caused two major blunders in just over a year, whether he could remain securely in the CEO's chair would become an unknown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang took a shower first and did not rest immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He checked the recent screening schedules in North America and found that the competition for the Christmas season was still very intense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I Am Legend,\" starring Will Smith, would be released on December 14th.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"National Treasure: Book of Secrets,\" starring Nicolas Cage, as the sequel to \"National Treasure,\" would be released today, December 7th.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" was also a Disney production; as a sequel, its producer was still the most famous gold-medal producer in Hollywood, Jerry Bruckheimer, and they had been fighting for a December 21st release.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, this slot was called the Christmas season, and December 21st was a Friday, closest to Christmas; a release on this date would certainly be much better than December 7th.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, unless Disney was crazy, they wouldn't let their own produced \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" and \"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" be released on the same day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jerry Bruckheimer and the crew of \"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" meant for \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" to be released on December 7th, while they would take the December 21st slot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To persuade Disney CEO Robert Iger, Jerry Bruckheimer had specifically made a comparison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" was a sequel, while \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" was a reboot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As everyone knew, sequels came with built-in promotion and were the easiest type of film to succeed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And reboots? Why were they called reboots? Because they had been shelved before, because they had flopped at the box office before; the uncertainty of a reboot was too great.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this point, \"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" had the advantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The investment for \"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" was about 140 million USD, while \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" was 160 million USD; they were similar, both A+ level major productions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This point could be considered a tie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The producer of \"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" was the world-renowned gold-medal producer Jerry Bruckheimer, while the main producer of \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" was Cao Yang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This point could also be considered a tie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lead of \"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" was Nicolas Cage, and the lead of \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" was Depp; both were superstars who had won Oscars and were box-office draws.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This point was still a tie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the way, before 2008, Nicolas Cage was still a superstar who hadn't started taking on a large number of low-budget commercial films due to personal financial issues, and he wasn't yet the \"King of B-Movies\" he would later become.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, Jerry Bruckheimer's meaning was clear: as a sequel, \"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" clearly had more advantages in every comparison, so why give the better slot to \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\"?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Jerry Bruckheimer had listed data that gave him every advantage, Robert Iger told him without any hesitation at the time: because the director of \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" is named Cao Yang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jerry Bruckheimer was silent for a long time, and finally left behind one sentence: \"I don't believe he will succeed every time!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, he slammed the door and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang hadn't paid attention to the box office of \"National Treasure: Book of Secrets\" in his previous life, but as a sequel, the previous one must have been a big hit, otherwise there wouldn't have been a sequel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Plus, Nicolas Cage still had strong box-office appeal, so this film was a very strong competitor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was also \"I Am Legend,\" released a week later; this film could be considered the pinnacle of Will Smith's work, and he was currently the black actor with the most box-office appeal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, the competition for this Christmas season was immense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang thought for a moment and called Depp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Director, you've arrived in Los Angeles?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The phone rang only once before Depp answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just got back to Arcadia. Are you feeling better? Robert said you were sick and undergoing treatment; do you need me to visit you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang teased with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, Cao Yang had long known the situation here; he had a team in the US, and the team leader, Bellman, was a former marketing manager at Sony Classics with extensive connections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Additionally, Duan Yihong was in the US to promote \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" as per his contract, and he would tell Cao Yang everything that happened here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haha, Director, I apologize. You know this isn't directed at you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Depp apologized first before continuing: \"This was my agency's idea. They said the Screen Actors Guild is currently fully supporting the Writers Guild, and they told me not to be too prominent to avoid offending the Screen Actors Guild.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, I think my agency is overthinking it; how can promoting a film you starred in be considered offending the Screen Actors Guild?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Didn't Will Smith spend the last while promoting his new film? And didn't Nicolas Cage eventually come out to promote his? I think the Screen Actors Guild can understand.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hollywood superstars generally weren't afraid of offending production companies, even those at the level of the Big Six, but they usually gave face to big producers and big directors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang suddenly thought of something very interesting; previously, Warner Bros. Pictures president Jeff Robinov had called him to say they wanted to join forces to create a gimmick for the Christmas season, and he had thought it was a joke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't expect Warner to actually do it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Depp, I remember after you finished filming 'New Pirates of the Caribbean,' you went to Tim's set to film his 'Sweeney Todd,' right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Depp gave a bitter smile; he understood what Cao Yang meant and understood Cao Yang's dark sense of humor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, Depp didn't want to take \"Sweeney Todd\"; he had played many roles of this type, too neurotic and too gloomy, and he didn't like it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although his character in \"New Pirates of the Caribbean\" was also a neurotic archetype, it wasn't gloomy. He didn't know why, but he currently really disliked gloomy male leads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Helplessly, Tim Burton had been a benefactor to him; he was essentially made famous by Tim Burton, so even if he didn't like the character design in this kind of film, he still had to take it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also the reason his agency, United Talent Agency (UTA), had him feign illness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even without the writers' strike, with two films released on the same day, how could he promote them? Who should he promote for?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tim Burton was the benefactor who made him famous, and Cao Yang was the benefactor who made him a massive star; neither was easy to offend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, it was clear that Depp had already made his choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1823,"2026-06-20T05:36:33.260Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","ef05c50d600eec945a30986673dbd12167d47d21f7c3dd35e39fe23df0e5d577","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-390","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-388",411,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-cover.jpg"]