Chapter 391: The Wisest Decision

As the CEO of Disney, Robert Iger has many things to deal with every day.

He joined the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) shortly after graduation and spent over twenty years climbing the corporate ladder, finally reaching the position of Disney CEO.

To be honest, it was beyond most people's expectations that a "local" like him could become the CEO of Disney.

For a large company like Disney, when choosing a CEO, they usually hire a very famous professional manager in the industry rather than promoting from within.

Robert Iger's predecessor, Michael Eisner, was the president of Paramount before serving as Disney's CEO.

Simply put, without Michael Eisner's "support," Robert Iger would not have been able to become the CEO of Disney.

Michael Eisner was a very capable person; before Disney poached him from Paramount, the company was facing a major crisis, and it was his arrival that brought Disney back from the dead and helped it grow and thrive.

It was also he who promoted Robert Iger, allowing Robert Iger to slowly become the number two person at Disney.

However, Michael Eisner was also a very overbearing person; he forced out Disney's original number two, Jeffrey Katzenberg, who then turned around and founded DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen.

And the DreamWorks animation studio became Disney's biggest competitor in the field of animated films.

Next, he forced out the Disney president hired by the board, Michael Ovitz, and also drove Disney's own nephew, Roy Disney, away from the board.

He promoted Robert Iger, who had followed him for over a decade, to be the president of Disney.

Logically speaking, Robert Iger should have been grateful to him.

However, Michael Eisner told the board that Robert Iger was a good "executor" who could perform well as an implementer, but lacked the vision and absolutely could not become the CEO of Disney.

Shortly thereafter, Michael Eisner was driven out of Disney by the board, and Robert Iger, the person he did not think highly of, "picked up the scraps" and gained the support of some board members to become the new Disney CEO.

The first thing Robert Iger did after becoming Disney CEO was to create a special honorary director seat for Roy Disney, the nephew who had been driven off the board by Michael Eisner.

He also arranged an office for him and promised that he would be allowed to attend board meetings for every major decision at Disney...

From this, it can be seen that Robert Iger likely teamed up with the Disney family.

It was full of palace intrigue.

Although Michael Eisner was driven out of Disney, he had served as Disney CEO for over twenty years, and many board members were his people.

It is estimated that if the Disney family hadn't been working behind the scenes, he wouldn't have been driven out, and Robert Iger wouldn't have become the new CEO.

Therefore, for Robert Iger, a new CEO who had been in office for only a year, there were many people on the board who opposed him, especially the directors who supported Michael Eisner; they hated Robert Iger, the "traitor," even more.

The decision to reboot *Pirates of the Caribbean* was made by Robert Iger; if this rebooted film flopped, combined with the uncertainty of ABC's broadcast of the Oscars caused by the writers' strike, his position as CEO would truly be in jeopardy.

This is also why, when the gold-medal producer Jerry Bruckheimer said those things in his office, he assumed that as long as Robert Iger wasn't stupid, he would shift the resources of *Pirates of the Caribbean* to *National Treasure: Book of Secrets*.

But Jerry Bruckheimer didn't know Robert Iger's situation at Disney.

If there hadn't been a writers' strike or the uncertainty of the Oscar broadcast, for Robert Iger, the success of *Pirates of the Caribbean* would certainly have been cause for celebration, but even if it failed, it wouldn't have threatened his position as CEO.

But under the current circumstances, the success or failure of *Pirates of the Caribbean* was already tied to whether Robert Iger could secure his position as Disney CEO.

This is also why, with *National Treasure: Book of Secrets* performing very well and another competitor, *I Am Legend*, exploding, he added 10 million in promotional expenses to *Pirates of the Caribbean*.

Robert Iger wanted *Pirates of the Caribbean* to succeed more than anyone, even more than Cao Yang.

As long as *Pirates of the Caribbean* didn't lose money at the box office, it was a success, and it was profitable.

By then, even if the Oscars couldn't be held and ABC lost a large sum of money due to broadcast issues, Robert Iger would be able to handle it more calmly.

The 34.6 million dollars in North American opening day box office for *Pirates of the Caribbean* was, for Robert Iger, not just a matter of the success of the film he had decided to reboot.

Based on this opening day performance, as long as the film's word-of-mouth didn't collapse, it could at least reach 300 million dollars at the North American box office, and it should be able to hit a floor of 600 million globally; perhaps it could even reach 700 million, and even the 800 million that Cao Yang mentioned was not impossible.

For a rebooted film to achieve such box office, making money was secondary; the most important thing was that it would reflect on the stock market, and with a sequel plan in place, it would absolutely see a big surge.

And what about the reflection on Robert Iger, this Disney CEO?

It was secure!

His position as CEO was definitely secure for the next few years.

And with these few years, if he still couldn't completely secure his position as CEO, it could only be said that he, Robert Iger, truly lacked ability, and it would serve him right to be ousted.

Robert Iger sat in his office, beaming as he looked at the stack of newspapers his secretary had brought; he didn't look at the news and reviews about *Pirates of the Caribbean* online, always feeling that it was a bit hollow.

But these newspapers, the black-and-white newspapers, the newspapers exuding the scent of ink, were more tangible and allowed him to truly feel the impact of *Pirates of the Caribbean*.

As a major entertainment industry newspaper in Hollywood, *The Hollywood Reporter* not only provided detailed reviews of films but also covered information such as the film's production, release, and box office performance.

Its film critics usually had rich industry experience, and their evaluations were relatively objective and in-depth.

Robert Iger first flipped through this newspaper.

There were several pieces of information and reviews about *Pirates of the Caribbean* inside, and Robert Iger found an article written by a very famous film critic, Royce.

"...Those who know Depp should be clear that his works before meeting Director Cao Yang were mostly gothic, dark, and manic characters; gloomy, grotesque, and neurotic seemed to have become his labels.

But his most successful performances and works came after he met Director Cao Yang and collaborated with him on a series of works.

The sinister, perverted politician in *Milk*, the ordinary, sleazy little man in *District 9*, the shrewd, high-IQ dream master in *Inception*.

And this time, Director Cao Yang once again unexpectedly molded Depp into a pirate who is full of lies, humorous, witty, and both righteous and evil.

He is always full of resilience; put him in a desperate situation, and he will surely escape alive and kicking, turning all dangers into humorous jokes, and displaying his neurotic image exceptionally brilliantly!

Director Cao Yang has always been known for his ability to shape characters; in this rebooted film, we once again see his skill, and he has proven this point once again.

A successful character will make a film more full and will leave a lasting impression on the audience.

And the main characters in *Pirates of the Caribbean* all have their own characteristics.

The honest, brave, and highly skilled little blacksmith, the governor's daughter who shows independence, wit, and courage, the pirate captain who is determined to get rid of a curse...

I think this is also the key point for why *Pirates of the Caribbean* was able to stand out and succeed in the highly competitive Christmas season."

This article talked about the film's characters without using professional jargon to speak in generalities; this was also the characteristic of film critic Royce, whose reviews were almost entirely about the shaping of film characters.

Robert Iger smiled; he knew that film critic Royce would definitely praise Cao Yang and the film's characters, after all, the characters in this film were all very brilliant.

In fact, those who know Royce know that this guy belongs to the "die-hard" acerbic type; don't look at how he praised *Pirates of the Caribbean*, most of his reviews were sharp satires of films where the director was shit and the actors were acting like a pile of dung...