Chapter 414: Daena is back, Toy Story is released
After he left London, Ms. Spencer called to apologize, saying that her previous actions were inconsiderate and had caused him and the crew a lot of trouble, and that it was her responsibility.
She said that next time he came to London, she would apologize in person and explain the reasons to him.
Link didn't know why Dianna did this or what her reasons were, but no matter what the reason was, it had nothing to do with him. He was very busy and didn't want to waste too much time and energy on this matter.
After the crew moved into the Irish set, he focused on the movie and no longer paid attention to anything other than the movie.
By the end of November, data on movies released in the previous few weeks came out.
In November, a new movie was released under Guess What Pictures, which was "Toy Story" produced by Pixar Animation Studios.
This is an animation created entirely by computer.
The protagonists are two toy cowboy sheriff 'Woody' and space ranger 'Buzz Lightyear', and the story of their adventures in the human world.
The idea of this movie comes from the animated short film "Tin Toy" designed by Pixar Animation Studios in 1992, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1991.
Starting in 1994, Pixar Animation Studios began to expand "Tin Toy" into a feature-length animated film, which took two years and encountered problems such as shortage of funds and insufficient technology.
But under the leadership of Jobs and director John Lasseter, the animation crew overcame numerous difficulties and finally completed the production of the animated film "Toy Story" in early 1996.
In the second week of November, "Toy Story" was released in 2,471 theaters in North America, earning $41.83 million in its first week, ranking first at the weekly box office.
The second place is the thriller crime film "Ransom" released at the same time, starring Mel Gibson, Rene Russo and others, and directed by the famous Hollywood director Ron Howard.
The producer is Touchstone Pictures, a subsidiary of Disney, and distributed by Disney, with a production cost of 65 million.
Before the movie was released, all media believed that this movie would win the weekly box office championship, and at the same time, it would also give a boost to the animated film released by Guess What? Pictures.
But no one expected that "Toy Story", which was released at the same time, would be so enthusiastically sought after by the audience after its release. The box office increased day by day, and the word of mouth continued to rise. In just one week, it took in more than 40 million in the North American box office.
"Ransom" only took in $24.62 million, which is not too bad for the November movie schedule, but "Toy Story" performed better at the same time.
In comparison, this box office data seems mediocre.
After the box office figures were released this week, all the bosses of Hollywood film companies were in shock and it took a long time for them to recover.
No one understands how this movie became such a hit?
When Guess What Pictures acquired Pixar Animation last year, no one was optimistic about the acquisition.
On the one hand, the current mainstream cartoons are all hand-drawn animations produced by Disney Pictures, and the audiences also like this kind of animations. In the past two years, some film companies have also tried to produce computer animations, but the box office results are very average and most of them are at a loss.
No one thought that Toy Story, released by Guess What Pictures, would be a success.
On the other hand, Guess What Pictures started out mainly by producing and distributing live-action films. It is unfamiliar with the field of animation and does not understand the audience's preferences. If it rashly releases this animated film, the probability of incurring losses is extremely high.
But no one expected that the movie would gross 41.83 million U.S. dollars in its first week.
"Toy Story only cost $30 million to make, and grossed over $40 million in its first week. The North American box office is expected to be no less than $200 million, and the global box office is expected to be $300 to $400 million. Guess what, the studio got a great bargain this time."
In the office of the president of Warner Bros. Pictures, Mig Goss expressed this sentiment three times after seeing the box office data of "Toy Story".
The first time I read it, I was shocked and felt incredible about the data. The second time I read it, I was envious and jealous, envious that another movie under Guess What Pictures was a big hit.
The third time was a regret. Warner Bros. Pictures had considered acquiring Pixar Animation Studios to enhance the company's animation film production capabilities and level, but Jobs' offer was too high and the group company did not agree.
Later, Guess What Pictures invested $300 million and 10% of the company's shares to acquire Pixar Animation.
Many people think that this is an unreasonable acquisition. Guess what, the film industry will suffer a huge loss from this project.
The top executives of the seven major film studios were waiting to see the joke.
But now that "Toy Story" is selling well, I guess the studio can make at least $200 million just from the box office share and peripheral income of the movie.
If it can release one or two more hit animated films in the future, Guess Pictures will be able to pick up an animation production company with great potential for free.
Miguel Goss regretted very much that the group did not acquire Pixar, so much so that after "Toy Story" became a big hit, he could only sigh at the newspaper.
"I think the most helpless people at this time should be Michael Eisner and Ovitz. Animation films are Disney's territory. Now that Pixar's computer animation has achieved great success, Disney's hand-drawn animation may be eliminated by the market. If they can't find a breakthrough, the market share of Disney's animated films may be slowly swallowed up by Guess What Pictures."
Richard Fox said.
Miguel Goss nodded. What Richard said was true. Disney relied on animated films to gain a place in the world film market, and no other film company could compete with it in this area.
Now the computer animations produced by Pixar are recognized by the audience and are a big hit at the box office.
As one thing grows, the other loses. Disney's box office revenue in the field of animated films is bound to drop significantly.
Disney's development is facing serious challenges.
Whether Disney can defeat Guess What Pictures in the animation field in the next few years and continue to maintain its competitive advantage in the animation field remains an unknown.
Even if it can be maintained, I am afraid it will suffer heavy losses.
Michael Eisner and Ovitz would indeed have a headache at this time, but Miggoth would not be happy either, because Guess Pictures was already very strong in live-action movies, and now it is making great strides in the field of animated movies.
Who can stop Guess What Pictures from dominating the North American film market?
"If I had known that Pixar's animated films would be so popular, I would have overwhelmed those shareholders who voted against it and let Guess Pictures acquire Pixar first."
Disney, Michael Eisner said grimly.
Ovitz on the opposite side frowned and looked unhappy.
In fact, the first company to consider acquiring Pixar Animation Studios was Disney.
There are two purposes for acquiring Pixar. The first is to expand the company's advantage in the animation field, and the second is to eliminate competitors in advance.
It’s just that Pixar Animation Studios’ offer was relatively high, and the acquisition of Pixar would inevitably weaken the equity held by some shareholders again. Many shareholders do not approve of the deal.
In addition, in the past two years, Disney's revenue has dropped significantly due to competition from Guess What?, and the acquisition of Pixar will increase the company's financial burden.
Finally, at the board meeting, two-thirds of shareholders voted against the proposal.
Disney's plan to acquire Pixar was also forced to abort.
Now that Pixar Animation's first computer-animated film has sold well, it has seriously eroded Disney's foundation. In the next few years, Disney will become more passive when facing competition from Guess What? Pictures.
"Link is such a lucky bastard. He knows nothing about animated films, but he entered this field blindly and yet he was able to achieve success easily. Damn it, God must be blessing him."
Ovitz cursed angrily.
Eisner shook his head, sighed and said, "It's useless to talk about this now. What we should consider is how to deal with the current situation."
As Pixar's animated films became a huge hit, people discovered that using computer technology to make animated films requires little investment but yields extremely high returns.
Due to the profit-seeking nature of capital, more film companies will enter this field in the future, and there will be more animated films in the film market. Disney's traditional animated films will inevitably face great challenges.
At this time, they must come up with a plan to overcome the current difficulties, otherwise Disney's presence in the film industry will become weaker and weaker, and their power and annual income will also drop significantly.
"Maybe we should talk to Link and buy Pixar back at a high price. Guess what? Although Pixar has capital, good ideas, and distribution channels for animated films, it does a mediocre job in the industries surrounding animated films and cannot bring out the true economic value of animated films. Only by making Pixar a subsidiary of Disney can it make more money in the market."
Ovitz said.
"Buying back Pixar Animation is also an option, but Toy Story has just become a big hit, and I guess the studio won't sell it easily. Even if they do, they'll offer a very high price, and we may not be able to afford it."
Eisner took a puff of his cigarette and said slowly, "Mike, next you contact Link in person and ask him if he has any plans to sell Pixar Studios. If so, any price under $1 billion is acceptable. If Link has no intention of selling, we will change our strategy from acquisition to cooperation.
The content of the cooperation includes co-distributing movies, manufacturing and selling peripheral products of the movies, building theme parks, etc. We are the world's number one in the animation industry at Disney, and we can help Link make more money. He should accept our good intentions."
Ovitz nodded. "But if this happens, I guess the film industry will make a lot of money again this year."
Eisner didn't say anything, just frowned and smoked.
In its second week, "Toy Story" earned $36.25 million in 2,676 theaters in North America, retaining the box office championship, and the cumulative North American box office reached $78.08 million.
Total Film magazine predicts that the film will not exceed $200 million, making it the fifth film from Guess What Film to gross over $100 million in North America this year.
In addition, the horror movie "Scream" released in October has been released for six weeks and its current North American box office has accumulated 94.64 million US dollars. It is expected to exceed 100 million in the eighth week, and the North American box office is expected to be no less than 120 million.
"Complete Cinema" magazine marveled that the rapid development momentum of Guess the Movie is unstoppable, and the next seven major film studios should be prepared to be eliminated.
"Boss, many media outlets have come out to spread the Guess What Films threat theory, saying that our company has pushed the Big Seven and other film companies into a dead end."
Lewinsky reported her work with a smile on her face, her eyes full of admiration and love.
Link looked through the box office data and nodded, "Not bad, but the media publicity is generally exaggerated. Let's guess. Although the film industry is developing rapidly and making some money, it is still more than ten years away from the old-school film companies such as Disney, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures. For example, in terms of film inventory, peripheral development, film IP copyright, etc., we still need to work hard and can't be too satisfied with the status quo."
“Do you want the PR department to refute this statement?”
"No need to worry about that. The movies released by our company have been selling well one after another. The performance is too strong, so even PR won't have much effect. So don't worry about it. Just focus on promoting the movies and getting more box office. Let others talk about the rest."
"good!"
Lewinsky finished her work report and prepared to leave.
At this time, the phone in her pocket rang. She picked it up and listened to a few words. After hanging up, she said hesitantly, "Boss, Daena is here and asked when you are free. She wants to invite you for coffee."
"Daina? What is she doing here?"
Link was helpless.
The scandal has not yet been completely resolved, and the media has been speculating on the relationship between the two.
At this time, Daina came to visit the set again. Could it be that she was conquered by her own charm?
"Daina said she came alone, without anyone and not being followed by paparazzi. She hopes to meet you and explain things to you in person."
Lewinsky asked.
Link shook his head. He was too busy with work to deal with these things, but out of courtesy, he asked Lewinsky to meet with Diana and persuade the woman to return to London and stop making trouble.
He doesn't want to be targeted by 007 or Agent Bean.
(End of this chapter)
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