Chapter 394: Threefold Good News

As the CEO of Disney, Luo Bote-Aige has been riding high lately.

To him, the recent turn of events is nothing short of a stunning reversal.

First, the *Pirates of the Caribbean* reboot he insisted on was a massive hit, then it hit again, and then again...

As of today, January 22nd, the film has been in theaters for 28 days, grossing $370 million in North America and $460 million in China; including the box office from countries where it recently premiered, the global total has already exceeded $930 million.

Not to mention Disney, for any Hollywood film studio, this qualifies as an absolute, massive blockbuster.

The success of this film is extraordinary for Luo Bote-Aige; it is not just about a film being a hit, as the symbolic meaning is actually even greater—

Didn't that bastard Michael Eisner, while serving as Disney's CEO, bluntly and nonsensically state at the board meeting that I could only be an "executor"?

Didn't he say that I lacked the courage, couldn't "innovate," and was absolutely unfit to be the CEO of Disney?

Now, I am thriving in the position of Disney CEO!

The *Pirates of the Caribbean* film that you, you bastard, spearheaded during your tenure flopped and was shelved.

After I took office, I rebooted it, it became a massive hit, and it is about to hit $1 billion globally!

Haha, for a film like this, my good brother Director Cao Yang said there are at least three more sequels!

Even if you go to Hollywood or anywhere in the world to count, which of these blockbuster film sequels doesn't sell higher at the box office, bringing exponentially increased benefits in every aspect?

This is a goose that lays golden eggs, and an extremely rare one at that.

Look at those bastards at Warner, holding the *Harry Potter* series, having completely swallowed New Line which owned the *Lord of the Rings* series, and having rebooted the *Batman* series...

I ask you, who in Hollywood isn't dying of envy?

To say nothing else, just by virtue of the *Harry Potter* series, those few high-level executives at Warner Brothers mess around like lunatics, but no matter how they court disaster, their positions at Warner remain rock solid, and the board seems to turn a blind eye to it.

Why?

The *Harry Potter* series makes money; it can wipe away all the bad debts.

Now, Disney will also have a film like that!

The direct and indirect benefits brought by this one film are enough to make that group of insects on the Disney board shut their mouths one by one.

Haha, not only are they shutting their mouths, but they are also smiling at me, and after seeing the box office and projected earnings of this film, they are applauding me enthusiastically and singing my praises!

I ask you all, as I serve as this CEO, who approves? Who opposes?

You insects, why have you gone quiet? Haha...

Luo Bote-Aige now feels that Cao Yang is his own brother.

In the coming years, before Cao Yang finishes filming all the *New Pirates of the Caribbean* sequels, whoever dares to act against Cao Yang is my sworn enemy!

Especially those idiots in the Producers Guild; I must kick them out of the alliance just because those few idiots actually proposed letting Cao Yang take the fall.

Is this framing Cao Yang?

No, this isn't framing Cao Yang; this is framing me, Luo Bote-Aige, because they don't want me to be the CEO of Disney.

Even God couldn't save them; I, the CEO of Disney, Luo Bote-Aige, said so.

Additionally, there is another thing that makes Luo Bote-Aige happy, which is that the negotiations with the Writers Guild have made breakthrough progress.

That bunch of fools in the Writers Guild made such a big scene, and I thought they were hard to deal with; I didn't expect that giving them just a tiny bit of sweetness:

For example, regarding DVD sales, the writers' share increased from the original 4 cents per disc to 5 cents, and they actually negotiated in earnest and even promised to stop boycotting the Oscar ceremony!

I'll be damned...

I thought these bastards wanted to cut flesh from the studios, but I didn't expect they only wanted to lick a little more soup.

As for the share of rights for works on new media platforms like the internet and mobile phones that the Writers Guild demanded, we can talk about it slowly; the studios are still exploring the revenue models generated in this area.

The revenue-sharing model for the internet and other new media platforms is different from the traditional pay-per-view model; most internet video platforms currently adopt a buyout approach, so it is difficult to calculate how to distribute it to the writers.

Since it is difficult to calculate, the studios previously adopted a way that was easy to calculate—don't share it with them!

It seems that won't work anymore, and this is also one of the main demands of the Writers Guild.

Actually, it's not that it's hard to calculate; as long as you discount the buyout fee and see how many pay-per-views this money is equivalent to, it becomes very clear, and you can just distribute it according to a ratio.

Everyone understands this logic.

But what the studios think is that for this new profit model, they should definitely share less or not at all, dragging it out one day at a time; when it can't be dragged out anymore, like the current situation, then we can talk.

This is also an unspoken understanding among most studios.

Some people in the studios even wanted to push out a "fall guy" just to drag it out for a few more days—the revenue generated by new media during this extra time is real money flowing into the studios' pockets.

There is one more thing that makes Luo Bote-Aige happy.

Before *New Pirates of the Caribbean* was released, he could only choose to trust Cao Yang; as for what the film would eventually turn out to be and whether the box office would be a hit, he didn't actually have much confidence.

Therefore, to increase the popularity and subsequent revenue of *New Pirates of the Caribbean*, he had Disney invest some funds to lobby at the Oscars.

Of course, he wasn't very sure about the result, but combined with Cao Yang's reputation and influence, getting one or two nominations was generally not a problem.

Today is January 22nd, not only the 28th day of *New Pirates of the Caribbean* in North American theaters but also the day the 80th Academy Award nominations were announced.

Once again exceeding Luo Bote-Aige's expectations, *New Pirates of the Caribbean* won seven nominations at once: Best Actor, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Score.

Luo Bote-Aige knows very well that one can see the influence of Cao Yang and Depp from these nominations.

Nominations for different Oscar categories are first proposed by members of the corresponding branches.

For example, the acting branch is responsible for nominating lead and supporting actors, and the directors branch is responsible for nominating Best Picture and Best Director.

Then, this branch will vote on the internal list of candidates, and when the number of votes exceeds one-fifth, it will directly become the Oscar nomination list.

The Oscars now have over six thousand members, and each corresponding branch has over a thousand people; it is not an easy thing to get more than one-fifth of the votes.

To be honest, very few members have actually watched these nominated films.

So, outside of lobbying, the name of the film, the director, and the popularity of the lead actors are very decisive.

For example, Cao Yang and Depp; their combination has made a name for itself, and the films they have collaborated on have won awards, including many major Oscars.

When these members who haven't seen the film see the combination of their names, they subconsciously think that even if they haven't seen the new film they collaborated on, the quality is definitely guaranteed, and voting for them at least won't be a mistake.

Coupled with the release date of *New Pirates of the Caribbean*, which happened to be the time when the Oscars started voting for the nomination list, its popularity was even higher under the blockbuster success.

This led to another surprise that exceeded Luo Bote-Aige's expectations.

Four days ago, the domestic media was still reporting extensively on Cao Yang's *Manchester by the Sea* being shortlisted for the main competition section of the Berlin Film Festival; who would have thought that after only four days, Cao Yang gave the media another surprise.

"...After Director Cao Yang's new film *Manchester by the Sea* was shortlisted for the main competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, more good news arrived.

*The Fault in Our Stars*, produced and written by Director Cao Yang, received four nominations for the 80th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

*New Pirates of the Caribbean*, directed by Director Cao Yang, received seven nominations: Best Actor, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Score.

*Pieta*, produced and written by Director Cao Yang and directed by Director Tian Zhuangzhuang, received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film; this is the first time in five years since Zhang Yimou's *Hero* that a domestic film has received an Oscar nomination..."

Li Xiaowan put down the newspaper and asked Yang Mi, who was standing obediently to the side: "You've read the content of the newspaper, right? Do you have any thoughts?"