America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 757 CEO Changes Hands

The internal dynamics of large companies, especially internal conflicts, are often difficult to conceal. To outsiders, they may seem shrouded in mystery, but to those within the industry, they are crystal clear.

That afternoon, Martin received news that at a Warner Bros. executive meeting, Daniel and Jon Berg had another argument. Daniel accused Berg of causing a series of failures in major investment projects and should be held responsible for the failures of "Ogres and Gods," "Green Lantern," "Dark Lands," and "Jack the Giant Slayer."

The conflict between the two escalated and was put on hold.

According to Hollywood tradition, Jon Berg, the project's initiator and primary producer, should be held responsible for the failure of "Jack the Giant Slayer".

But Jon Berg kept shifting the blame.

Kevin Tsujihara cited the uncertainty of the film's international market as the reason for temporarily shelving the matter.

Two assistant directors from Bryan Singer's team later gave interviews, and like Bryan Singer himself, they pointed the finger at Jon Berg, saying that Jon Berg's almost nonsensical operation was the main reason for the failure of "Jack the Giant Slayer".

On set, they were almost driven crazy by the six producers.

The following morning, Warner Bros. Studios became unusually lively, with more than fifty stars, actors, directors, and screenwriters gathering there to demand the revenue sharing that Warner Bros. owed them.

Representatives from several investors also arrived one after another and joined in.

"We've already sued Warner Bros. and initiated legal proceedings. We're here today to demand an explanation from Warner Bros. executives," Nolan told reporters, directly addressing the core issue: "According to our understanding, the distribution revenue share has already been received, and this money was misappropriated by Jon Berg for the post-production of 'Jack the Giant Slayer.' Warner Bros. has such serious management problems; shouldn't they give us an explanation?"

Martin then stepped forward: "The matter has dragged on for six months without being resolved. Warner Bros. has been stalling in every mediation attempt, and Warner's management has consistently failed to consider our interests. How can we continue to cooperate with Warner under these circumstances?"

Others also expressed their opinions, including many has-been stars who rely on revenue sharing from their past works to make a living. Warner's approach is tantamount to directly lowering their quality of life.

Does a high-quality lifestyle, including drinking and chasing girls, come free?

All the blame was also directed at Jon Berger.

Subsequently, Warner Bros. sent a vice president to the studio entrance to speak with the group.

The matter seems to have subsided for the time being.

However, the following day, several companies and investment funds, including Nolan and his wife's Colt Studios, Louise's Pacific Studios, and Relativity Media and DreamWorks, which are comprised of Wall Street funds, publicly stated that they would carefully consider cooperating with Warner Bros. in the future, given Jon Berg's precedent of misappropriating funds.

Many companies that partner with Warner Bros. follow suit spontaneously. They have long-term partnerships with Warner Bros. With a super genius like Jon Berg sitting in the president's position, who would dare to easily participate in Warner Bros.' mixed projects and investments?

Meanwhile, a group of Warner executives, led by Daniel, were also engaged in fierce clashes with Jon Berger within the group.

Time Warner quickly intervened.

Warner Bros.' overall performance remains excellent, but its main revenue comes from legacy projects from its predecessor, projects driven by Jon Berg. Not to mention performance, the huge losses are alarming.

Jack the Giant Slayer spent his second weekend in North American theaters.

The already sluggish box office suffered a sharp drop, earning only $456 million in the second weekend. Including the earnings from the previous four working days, the film's North American box office barely exceeded $2000 million.

However, this box office trend suggests that the final North American box office will be difficult to exceed $3000 million.

The film's production cost alone was a whopping $2.5 million!

Because Jon Berger repeatedly disrupted the project, this is not the production cost according to accounting rules, but the actual investment in filming and production.

At a critical moment, Kevin Tsujihara chose to cut his losses to save himself.

Soon after, Warner Bros. announced the removal of Jon Berger from his position as president of Warner Bros. Pictures, with Daniel from the distribution company taking over as president of Warner Bros. Pictures.

…………

Warner Bros. Pictures, President's Office.

Daniel's team and Jon Berg's team have completed the handover process.

Jon Berg packed his personal belongings and stood in the center of the office, reluctant to leave.

They came with great ambitions, but ended up disappointed.

Slowly exhaling the pent-up frustration of the past few days, Jon Berg picked up his bag and walked outside.

The door opened, and he saw Daniel waiting in the hallway.

"You win," Jon Berger said.

Daniel shook his head: "I didn't win, you lost."

He certainly didn't have anything nice to say to this jerk who always tried to shift the blame for every failed film project: "You did a terrible job, one of the worst presidents at Warner Bros. The reason I took your place isn't because I'm any better, but because you're so awful."

Jon Berger's face was unusually grim: "This isn't a comfortable spot."

"I know." Daniel had been putting up with him for a long time. "But with you, the worst CEO, as a precedent, it's easy for me to achieve results. After all, results are all about comparison."

"You..." Jon Berg's chest heaved rapidly; he was furious.

Daniel, who had been unfairly blamed so many times, still had a lot to say: "You will go down in Hollywood film history. From now on, everyone who mentions 'Jon Burke's editing' will laugh for a few minutes. They'll realize that making movies can be so fun and hilarious."

He spoke with increasing enthusiasm: "Jon, when you go to your next job, all your colleagues will be wondering, 'How did you come up with such a brilliant idea?'"

"That's enough!" Jon Berger grabbed his bag and left, not giving Daniel a chance to say anything more.

Daniel added, "I'm not seeing you out. You've left me with a mess to clean up."

Jon Berg took the elevator downstairs and entered the lobby, only to find that everyone's eyes were on him.

Perhaps because of what Daniel had just said, Jon Berger could only hear a buzzing of voices in his ears.

He quickened his pace and headed outside the building.

But some comments still reached my ears.

"The worst president Warner Bros. has had in fifty years."

"He's the one who drove away Martin Scorsese, who is currently the most commercially successful actor, and almost drove away Christopher Nolan, who is currently the most commercially successful director."

"Lacking in professional skills, but adept at internal strife."

Jon Berg didn't linger; he picked up his bag and walked out the front door alone.

With his personal driver and company-provided vehicle gone, Jon Berg drove his own car and left Warner Bros. for good.

Upstairs, Daniel didn't plan to continue using Jon Berg's office; instead, he planned to renovate it.

During this period, he will work in a temporary office.

The assistants were busy tidying up the office.

Daniel called his secretary, Becker, and said, "Call Martin Davis, Christopher Nolan, and Steven Spielberg separately and tell them I..."

He suddenly stopped and changed his mind, saying, "Never mind, I'll do it myself."

Daniel went to the quiet window and made the first call to Nolan, telling him that he would push forward the Interstellar project as soon as possible and strongly recommended Martin for the lead role.

Then he called Martin and invited him to play the male lead in Interstellar.

Warner Bros. will not only invest in the film, but will also distribute it.

Interstellar will also be the first major production project he has pushed forward since taking office.

Daniel realized he should thank Jon Berg, that genius, for keeping such a good track record.

…………

Beverly Hills, Davis Estate.

Martin hung up the phone, returned to the living room, and said to Thomas, "The Interstellar studio will probably call you soon to discuss my salary contract."

With the last obstacle from Warner Bros. gone, the project will soon officially begin.

Thomas asked, "It's done so quickly?"

Martin simply stated, "Daniel officially assumed the position of President of Warner Bros. Studios today."

Thomas understood and asked, "The salary is 20+20?"

This is the treatment only superstars receive, which is a base salary of $20 million plus a tiered share of the North American box office, capped at 2000%.

Martin said, "That's the basics, plus DVD revenue sharing."

"I'll try to negotiate 5% to 10% of North American sales." Thomas thought for a moment, "Even Leonardo DiCaprio would have a hard time getting that kind of treatment."

Martin nodded. The highest percentage of the Hollywood DVD revenue belonged to Tom Cruise, the superstar, who received 22% of the DVD revenue for Mission: Impossible III.

22% of sales revenue is not net profit.

Mission: Impossible III had the worst box office performance in the series. It is said that Tom Cruise took more than half of the profits, which angered Paramount Pictures and led to a falling out with him.

The predicament Tom Cruise faced a few years ago was not unrelated to this.

Before the two could finish speaking, Martin received another call from his lawyer, Hamlin.

Warner Bros.' legal department informed him that they would hold another settlement negotiation in three days to resolve the post-production revenue sharing issues involving numerous stars and directors, including Martin and Nolan, as soon as possible.

Martin entrusted the matter entirely to his lawyers and instructed Thomas to follow up on the situation.

Warner Bros. has no shortage of funds, but Jon Berg's actions are truly baffling.

Martin couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it, because it was consistent with the style of Warner executives after 2010, as he remembered it.

The following morning, Martin received another call from Daniel, who wanted to meet with him to discuss a potential collaboration between Warner Bros. and him on film projects.

Martin certainly wouldn't refuse, but he would have to wait until Daniel returned from Boston to meet and discuss the details.

After six months of preparation, the film adaptation of Chuck Hogan's novel "Prince of Thieves," titled "The Town Thieves," has officially entered the filming stage.

The crew, led by director Denis Villeneuve, will travel to Boston for location shooting.

At Martin's request, Villeneuve arranged for the male lead's scenes to be entirely in the beginning.

(End of this chapter)