Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 104 Now is the honeymoon period
Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios headquarters, co-CEO Terry Semel's office, along with production president Mark Canton and chief operating officer Barry Meyer.

"Batman Returns is complete, with director Tim Burton and lead actor Michael Keaton continuing to participate;"

"The actress who plays the heroine Catwoman has been confirmed to be Michelle Pfeiffer!"

Mark Canton reported, "The budget for the sequel to Batman Returns is $8000 million."

Terry Semel nodded. "Yesterday, Sean Yang was yelling in front of the company in a cheap Catwoman costume. What was the reason?"

Mark Canton shrugged. "She was originally the heroine in the last Batman movie, but she got injured during training."

"So, we replaced her with Kim Basinger, who then became a huge hit, and that got Sean Young really upset, and he went crazy and wanted us to make it up to her by giving her the role of Catwoman!"

"Just don't affect Batman Returns," Terry Semel wouldn't care about that.

Then he looked at Barry Meyer and put down a report in his hand. "Sony's The Silence of the Lambs grossed $1200 million in its second weekend, and a total of $10 million in 3100 days."

"Our "For Justice" only took in $700 million in the second weekend, and a cumulative $10 million in 2100 days;"

"Moreover, last month, the black film 'Boyz N the Hood' released by Sony grossed $4500 million at the box office, while our 'City of Sin' only grossed $3700 million;"

"These two works are both produced by a newly established independent film production company, right?"

"Yes, the boss is a young man. He produced last year's "Phone Booth"!"

Barry Meyer explained, "He's a newcomer who transitioned from a CAA agent, named Aaron Anderson. He has a very sharp vision;"

"In June, he also has a fantasy romance film that will be released by Sony, which will be released at the same time as our Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves."

Terry Semel knocked on the table and looked at Mark Canton. "If there's a chance, we can reach an exclusive cooperation agreement with him. Warner Bros. can fully support his film project!"

"I'll try, but he's in the honeymoon period with Sony right now."

Mark Canton had no choice. After Sony acquired Columbia Samsung, waving a dollar check was too attractive.

On the other hand, after the merger of Time and Warner Communications, the two co-CEOs have been in serious internal strife. Although Steve Ross of Warner is now in charge, NJ Nicholas of Time Inc. is openly opposed to Steve Ross's ideas.

Warner Bros., as a subsidiary, is the backbone of the Warner Group and was inevitably affected. Terry Semel and Bob Daly jointly manage Warner Bros., and the pressure is not small!

Moreover, Steve Ross was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years ago and he certainly wouldn't live long;

When Steve Ross dies, Time Warner will inevitably fall into turmoil.

As it continues its third week, The Silence of the Lambs has collected another $1060 million, while For Justice has only collected $400 million;
The overwhelming reputation has made "The Silence of the Lambs" the most acclaimed horror film!

Throughout the spring season, the best performing titles, aside from New Line's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Age, were the Sony-released Dawn works;

Other works released by Sony during the same period, such as "The Gate" and "Fatal Minds", did not perform as expected.

In the evening, at the Culver Hotel, Columbia hosted a celebration party for "Boyz on the Hood" to celebrate the box office reaching $5000 million.
And even though Boyz n the Hood went over budget, it only cost $550 million!
Director John Singleton, main actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube and others all attended the celebration banquet.

Not only was Sidney Ganis, President of Columbia Pictures, present at the event, but also Peter Guber, one of the co-CEOs of Sony Pictures!
"Aaron, if you keep performing so well, there will be a place for you in Hollywood soon," Peter Guber and Aaron Anderson clinked their glasses.

Peter Guber and Jon Peters jointly manage the entire Sony Pictures Entertainment, but compared to Jon Peters, who is known as the "barber", Peter Guber seems much more professional;
The credit for Batman mainly goes to Peter Guber, who obviously also looked down on Jon Peters.

Aaron smiled and took a sip of his wine, "Maybe soon."

"Yes, summer vacation is coming soon, and I am looking forward to Ghost even more."

The horror film "The Silence of the Lambs" grossed $4500 million in just three weeks, and its positive reviews continue.

Not only is "Ghost" a work that Shuguang values more, but the leading actor is Kevin Costner, so how can we not look forward to it?
After a while, Aaron saw Peter Cooper chatting with John Singleton in the corner lounge area of the banquet hall.

"Aaron, come and have a drink!" Sidney Ganis walked over with a festive look on his face.

Aaron retracted his gaze and said, "Ghost" will be released in more than a month. The competition during the summer vacation is quite fierce, so you need to put in more effort."

"Don't worry, the promotional budget for Ghost is currently $1500 million, and it can be increased when the time comes!"

Sidney Ganis was very generous, and after internal discussion, Sony approved the marketing plan.

Even the publicity and promotion costs of "The Silence of the Lambs" exceeded 1000 million US dollars, let alone the romance film "Ghost"?

Not to mention that Dawn has the confidence, the male lead Kevin Costner is also worthy of the investment!

"That's good." Now on the Dawn side, Aaron asked Brad Grey to keep a close eye on Sony's distribution and marketing expenses;
Aaron will not stop Sony from making the money it deserves, but it certainly cannot continue to mess up its accounting like 20th Century Fox did before.

News Corporation has its own television stations and newspapers, which makes it easier to do accounting. Unlike Sony, the US management has no intention of saving money for Japan.

Sony suffered heavy losses last year. Now Sony Pictures Entertainment’s main external partner is Peter Guber. Jon Peters, who has been involved in scandals and is a laughing stock in Hollywood, probably has his days at Sony countdown!
"By the way, you've collaborated with Samsung on another romantic film, right?" Sidney Ganis smiled.

"Are there any other suitable projects? Columbia's film library and script warehouse, you can pick any project you want;"

"Or, you can come up with your own script. Columbia will give you the green light all the way. Then, Columbia will need to invest proportionally!"

Aaron nodded. That was the rule of the game.

With Suzuki’s performance, it’s normal for Columbia to want to invest in it, but by then, Aaron Anderson’s production costs will be very high.

"As for new projects, let's talk about it after Ghost is released!"

As long as they have the funds, Dawn will not lack publishers now, not to mention that Aaron has been eyeing Heritage Entertainment;
Look at Castle Rock and Carlock, they also don’t have their own distribution channels, but they raise funds for their projects themselves.

(End of this chapter)