America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 573 Someone Defects

Burbank, Warner Building.

Kevin Tsujihara officially entered the company as CEO.

"President!"

"President!"

People he encountered stopped in their tracks, made way for him, and greeted him warmly.

Kevin Tsujihara smiled and nodded frequently to those around him, exuding a friendly and approachable aura.

The new CEO made a very good impression on his subordinates.

Going upstairs to his office, Kevin Tsujihara was full of ambition, like all newly appointed decision-makers, eager to make his mark.

This Japanese-American had served as a senior executive at Warner Bros. for a long time before being transferred to WarnerMedia, the parent company, as a senior executive after AT&T acquired Time Warner.

Having made a comeback, they naturally need to achieve certain results.

It can't be the Harry Potter, Batman, or Lord of the Rings series. Those are achievements belonging to Barry Mayer and Alan Horn. If he relies on the legacy of his predecessor, it will only make the board of directors and shareholders think that he has no pioneering ability and can't even hold his position.

At this moment, Bessen, whose assistant was also of Japanese descent, brought over coffee and a document.

Kevin Tsujihara asked, "Have Marvel Studios and the Cola Cult settled things?"

Nathan said respectfully, "It's all calmed down. Kevin Feige issued a public apology, Martin had people appease the Coca-Cola cult members, Disney did some work, and there's very little media coverage now."

Kevin Tsujihara nodded: "Robert Iger reacted quickly enough to identify the optimal solution so soon."

Nathan stood silently to the side, without saying a word.

Kevin Tsujihara thought for a moment and then said, "Take your team and think of some more ways. Our superhero universe plan takes time. If they are too successful, it will make us look incompetent. Keep thinking of ways to slow them down."

"Yes!" Nathan answered crisply.

Kevin Tsujihara waved his hand.

Nathan quickly left.

In the office, Kevin Tsujihara opened the documents Nathan had brought; it was Warner Bros. president Alan Horn's resignation letter.

The head office has already approved it.

Kevin Tsujihara looked at it once and signed his name on it.

The disastrous failure of Terminator Salvation made the head office extremely dissatisfied with Alan Horn, who had strongly promoted the project, and it was also the direct reason for his resignation.

This is Warner Bros.' most painful failure since "Alexander".

Even including the estimated offline revenue, its losses exceeded $1 million.

Alan Horn is gone, Barry Mayer is next.

According to the company's plan, Kevin Tsujihara will continue to serve as chairman of Warner Bros. after Barry Mayer completely steps down.

This Japanese-American executive will hold great power.

From Warner Bros. Pictures to DC Films to Warner Entertainment, every helmsman needs to be replaced.

Just like major Hollywood studios, when the captain of the fleet flagship changes, the captains of the other ships naturally have to be changed as well.

As for the resulting turmoil, it is of course a temporary price to pay in forging the next glorious era.

Next, Kevin Tsujihara focused on Warner Bros.' core film business.

Today, Warner Bros. is incredibly powerful. The Harry Potter series has made them a fortune, the Lord of the Rings series has been incredibly profitable, and The Dark Knight has brought DC comic book movies back to their peak.

In other film credits, Kevin Tsujihara found that Martin Davis, who has worked closely with Warner Bros. in recent years, contributed a considerable amount of revenue.

However, Warner Bros. also faces many problems, such as the impending end of Harry Potter, the over-reliance on Nolan in The Dark Knight, and the slow progress of The Hobbit, a sequel to Lord of the Rings.

Before Kevin Tsujihara came from New York, he had already planned that The Hobbit needed to be expedited.

Barry Mayer and Alan Horn offered their partners too generously and their contracts were too lenient, which negatively impacted Warner's profits.

And most importantly, Marvel has already demonstrated its ambition for the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the big screen, and DC cannot fall behind.

Kevin Tsujihara made a phone call.

Not long after, Hamada, the new head of DC Films, entered his office.

When Kevin Tsujihara took office, he naturally wanted to use his own people. He worked hard to persuade the head office to abandon the original candidate and transfer Hamada, who is also of Japanese descent, from New Line Cinema to take charge of the DC comic book movie project.

"Superhero movies have been very popular in recent years. Batman was a huge hit, Iron Man was a smash, and Marvel has already taken the first two steps in its cinematic universe plan." Kevin Tsujihara asked, "How's your planning going?"

Hamada, who had been studying DC Comics closely since Kevin Tsujihara spoke with him two months prior, now has a preliminary plan and says, "I'm confident I can catch up."

He explained in detail: "Marvel has sold off the copyrights to all of its most popular characters, such as Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, leaving it with only a bunch of second- and third-tier superheroes. On the other hand, DC has held the copyrights to all of its characters, from Superman to Batman to Wonder Woman. For the past few decades, they have been more popular in the comic book market than characters like Iron Man and Captain America."

Kevin Tsujihara said, "So, my first step upon taking office was to choose DC and create a superhero cinematic universe for Warner Bros. and DC."

Hamada, newly appointed and brimming with ambition, said, "Nolan is currently filming a realistic version of Batman, whose setting completely contradicts the DC universe. Superman has just experienced a cinematic failure, and Wonder Woman is a female character. None of the three main characters are quite suitable for the time being."

Kevin Tsujihara thought it made sense and nodded slightly.

Hamada added, "I chose Green Lantern because it already has a certain audience base, and it allows DC to advance its worldview to the cosmic level, catching up with Marvel's progress."

Kevin Tsujihara thought for a moment: "You should lead DC Films to come up with a detailed plan first. A project of this scale needs the approval of the review committee."

Hamada replied, "I'll go back and take men to do it immediately."

Kevin Tsujihara urged, "You have to be fast!"

Hamada could feel the pressure on his boss, because he was under just as much pressure. He had just been promoted from a senior executive at New Line Cinema to the head of DC Comics, and his first step was to achieve outstanding results.

…………

The atmosphere in the Warner Bros. building was quite oppressive. Ordinary employees might not have noticed it, but the executives were all on edge after the change of leadership at Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Newly appointed leaders tend to use their own people.

This Japanese-American CEO has made it very clear.

The departure of Alan Horn and the impending resignation of Barry Mayer as chairman have caused considerable concern for Daniel, who is close to both men.

He might be replaced as the vice president of the distribution company and the person in charge of distributing medium and large-scale projects.

There have been rumors about it for the past two days.

Daniel basically only has two options: one is to find a new team like Alan Horn, but that's not easy.

The Hollywood Big Six studios have limited openings, and they're all currently full. Changing industries would be too risky.

For someone like him, who is middle-aged, owns a luxury house, and has several children studying in prestigious private schools, one wrong step could lead to utter ruin, or even bankruptcy.

Another path has already been taken by some of the executives of several subsidiaries.

He defected to Kevin Tsujihara.

The new leadership couldn't possibly replace everyone in key positions, since they were working for Warner Bros., not some executive.

Daniel, however, knew that his position was very important and had been thinking about it for the past few days.

Today, Alan Horn officially resigned, which served as a wake-up call, reminding him that things had reached a critical juncture.

Daniel needed this job and didn't want to risk going to other companies. He picked up a document, made a phone call, and then left the office to go upstairs.

Kevin Tsujihara met Daniel in the meeting room outside his office.

"It's like this, there are some things I need to ask you about." Daniel lowered his tone appropriately: "A while ago, Warner Bros. was organizing its old films, and Martin Davis heard about it and asked me for a detailed list, intending to select suitable projects from it to remake our old films..."

He recounted the events with nine parts truth and one part falsehood.

Kevin Tsujihara didn't understand what he meant and asked with a puzzled look.

Daniel further stated, "Martin Davis has an excellent eye for projects. Since entering Hollywood, except for his debut film 'Zombie Dancer,' all of his other works have been distributed by Warner Bros. and have all been successful. Many of these projects were not well-regarded before production, but they were huge box office and DVD sellers after their release."

He handed the information on several old films that Martin had selected to Kevin Tsujihara: "He has an inexplicable, terrifying intuition about the film market, and the projects he chooses always succeed. Similar situations have occurred in Hollywood in the past."

Kevin Tsujihara picked up the document, quickly glanced through it, and said with a smile, "Not bad."

This statement is less about the three old films and more about Daniel's attitude and stance.

He handed the documents back to Daniel and said, "You know Martin Davis well, go ask him why he's interested in these three movies."

Daniel didn't hesitate at all: "I'll go find him right now."

He believes that his previous association with Barry Mayer was for work purposes, and it is still for work purposes now.

After seeing Daniel off, Kevin Tsujihara returned to his office and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. He was in a particularly good mood today, overlooking most of Burbank, and had the illusion that he had Hollywood under his control.

…………

Warner Bros. Studios, Gone Girl Studio.

Martin, David Fincher, and Charlize Theron are discussing the characters and the script.

Bruce knocked on the door and said, "Daniel's here."

The film is currently in discussions with Warner Bros. regarding distribution, and Daniel is the direct head of the Warner Bros. negotiation team.

David Fincher and Martin went to see Daniel together.

The latter said directly, "David, you've always been slow at filming and production. You must promise me that you can finish filming and producing this movie by November next year."

The agreed-upon North American premiere date is set for the beginning of next year's holiday season.

David Fincher understands the current state of Hollywood and knows that he has no hope of winning this year, but still wants to compete for the Oscar for Best Director. He immediately said, "From now on, I will work at least six days a week to ensure that 'Gone Girl' is completed on time."

Daniel reached out his hand.

David Fincher gave him a high five.

This is only a personal confirmation; the issuance negotiations are still ongoing. Once both parties complete the negotiations, it will definitely be put into a written contract.

(End of this chapter)