America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 861 Enjoy Life While You're Young

At Disney Studios, producer David Barron rushed to the president's office.

Alan Horn accompanied him into the waiting room and said, "I'm preparing to launch more Disney live-action fairy tale films."

David Barron was suddenly startled: "President, isn't this too fast? 'Beauty and the Beast' is still in production. Should we wait?"

Allen leaned back on the sofa and said, "Did the failure of 'Into the Woods' make you lose faith in this genre? Back then, you and David Heyman were in charge of 'Harry Potter,' which was a very successful live-action fairy tale film series."

David Barron was a long-time collaborator of Alan Horn. As one of the producers, he was involved in the entire production of the Harry Potter film series. He also jumped ship to Disney Studios when Kevin Tsujihara had just become CEO of Warner Bros., paving the way for Alan Horn.

The connection between these two is extremely deep.

However, David Barron's luck wasn't great after joining Disney Studios; his first major project, "Into the Woods," was a commercial failure.

This made him skeptical of live-action fairy tale movies.

David Barron sincerely advised, "To be on the safe side, I think we should wait until Beauty and the Beast is released..."

Allen's idea was completely different: "Someone suggested that I work on more similar live-action film projects in parallel."

David Barron thought for a moment and asked, "Is it Martin Davis?"

He remembers clearly that Martin Davis played a key role in the launch of Beauty and the Beast.

"That's right, it's Martin." Alan Horn had extraordinary confidence in Martin: "John Wick 3 grossed over $2 million in North America in just four days, and the production cost was less than $1 million!"

He recalled the events surrounding Terminator Salvation and said, "If even Martin Davis's judgment can't be trusted, what projects in Hollywood can be trusted?"

David Barron, from Warner Bros., had heard some rumors about Martin and Warner Bros. and was worried that Allen would fall into a trap. He asked, "President, is Martin Davis involved in investing in these projects?"

Upon hearing this, Allen understood his concerns, but in business matters, it's always good to be cautious. He immediately said, "Martin will be here soon. Let's hear his suggestions on which projects to push forward. If his Davis Studio doesn't invest, we'll hold off on the projects for now."

These words reassured David Barron considerably. Live-action fairy tale films are too expensive to produce. Any of the six major studios would raise the budget through financing for similar large-scale projects. Davis Studios was undoubtedly a suitable choice.

The two chatted for a while before Martin arrived.

David Barron was already an acquaintance, so Allen didn't need to introduce him to Martin.

The three of us met today to discuss the next steps for Disney's live-action fairy tale films.

Allen laughed and said, "Right now, everyone in the world who cares about movies is talking about 'John Wick 3,' and many people say we live in a world that belongs to Martin Davis. Even I think you are the protagonist of this world."

Martin shook his head: "The protagonist of the world now is America, the president in Washington, and the owners of major corporations. How much money do I make each year? I'm just a playboy who likes to enjoy life."

"It's good to enjoy life, and you should enjoy it as much as you can when you're young, but enjoyment requires financial support." Following up on Martin's words, Allen asked, "Do you have a clear target for your next money-making project?"

Instead of answering directly, Martin asked, "I presume Disney has similar plans?"

Allen said, "There are some, which are simply turning classic Disney animated films into live-action movies, such as Snow White, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, and Tarzan."

Martin had prepared beforehand, saying, "Disney's classic fairy tale animated films have a wide audience around the world and have created a strong brand effect. I personally believe that the primary goal of live-action fairy tale films is to establish a brand effect similar to that of animated films."

Allen considered this point: "The success of the first few films is very important. If they fail commercially and critically, it will have a huge negative impact on subsequent films."

Martin agreed: "We need to ensure the success of the first few films."

David Barron added, "That would require careful selection from a range of animated films."

Allen's gaze fell on Martin; the eye of a successful person was always reassuring. He asked, "Which ones do you think are promising?"

Martin took out a document, handed it to Allen, and said, "Classics never go out of style. I think the best next step is to choose 'Cinderella,' and don't make any major changes or do anything like Cinderella deliberately dropping her shoe to seduce the prince. Try to film it according to the most well-known version."

Modern live-action fairy tale movies often deviate significantly from the original stories, especially Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, who are all portrayed as scheming villains.

Even Snow White isn't as pretty as the Queen, and the Magic Mirror is lying through its teeth.

David Barron thought of "Into the Woods," which he produced, a live-action fairy tale film with a particularly large adaptation. It combined four Grimm fairy tales—Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk—and put them on a satirical veil to create a dark live-action fairy tale film.

As a result, they lost miserably.

Allen asked, "Is drastic rewrites very popular now?"

Martin thought for a moment and said, "The biggest audience for fairy tale movies is families. Parents with children choose these kinds of movies because they want a family-friendly experience. Adapting them into a dark and satirical genre is like driving the biggest audience out of the theaters."

He thought of Disney's questionable practices and offered a heads-up: "Don't add too much stuff outside the movie; go back to what classic fairy tale movies should be like."

David Barron nodded: "That's how classic fairy tales should be, with princes and princesses."

Cinderella wasn't actually Cinderella; according to traditional European terminology, she was a princess.

Cinderella's father was an earl, not a minor nobleman.

Ordinary people couldn't attend the king's ball.

When it comes to movies, Allen trusts Martin's judgment: "Once the script is finished, you have to review it. If you don't agree, Disney won't give it the green light."

He then asked, "Disney has many classic animated films, besides Cinderella?"

Martin stated directly, "In 1976, you made an animated film called 'The Jungle Book,' about the survival of a human boy named Mowgli in the jungle. I think this one is very suitable for adaptation, and motion capture technology is very advanced now."

Alan Horn quickly wrote it down.

Martin continued, "And then there's The Lion King, which is Disney's most successful animated film ever, with an extremely wide audience."

David Barron frowned slightly: "There are too many animals inside..."

Martin said, "This project can wait a few years, until CG technology is more mature, and then be produced entirely in CG."

Allen had a sudden thought. He had had many exchanges with top figures in the industry's production level, and had even reached a tacit understanding on some aspects. With the development of computer digital technology, live actors would no longer be a necessary option for television or movies in the future.

The six major Hollywood studios both compete and cooperate, and their interests align in this regard.

The three then focused on discussing the specific operations of the three projects: Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and The Lion King.

The projects will be launched in the order Martin planned, with The Lion King being the last one.

Adding "Beauty and the Beast," it would take at least five years to complete the production and release of all four live-action fairy tale films.

By then, Robert Iger's term will be over, and the Disney CEO's compensation will be astronomical, so Disney's shareholders will definitely replace him as CEO.

The era of Disney's unbridled chaos is about to begin.

Even Alan Horn couldn't stop him; he might leave Disney Studios.

Davis Studios' distribution contract with Disney Studios runs until 2019.

After finishing their discussion, Martin left the Disney building and went to the studio area behind it.

Post-production on The Shallows has begun and is currently divided into two main parts.

The editing team is currently doing a rough cut, aiming to reduce the more than 2500 minutes of footage to about 200 minutes.

The special effects team used computer-generated imagery (CG) technology to replace the backgrounds of all the studio shots with views of the bay.

Martin met with Louise and asked about the crew's progress. The initial cut wouldn't be completed until at least August.

In the producer's office, Louise said to Martin, "Don't worry, everything's going smoothly. You just focus on your work."

Martin had a feeling he might have had, so he simply said it: "It seems like my involvement in post-production isn't really important."

Louise couldn't help but laugh: "Although I don't want to say it, that's the truth. I know what kind of movie you want, and with a good enough editing team, producing a decent thriller is not difficult for me."

Martin sighed: "You've been in the industry for over twenty years and are a renowned, top-notch producer. I have to admit, post-production is just as important as it is with me."

Louise gave Martin a subtle jab, emphasizing her own importance while reassuring him, "Alright, alright, the final cut is yours. That's what we agreed on before. The final cut is up to you."

Martin nodded slightly: "I'll come back to participate in post-production after I finish the promotional work for 'John Wick 3' and 'Interstellar'."

Interstellar was released in July, and various promotional activities have already begun. Martin Scorsese also participated in two promotional events.

However, the current focus is still on the post-screening promotion of "John Wick 3".

Based on the current trend of this action film, it is highly likely that it will break $5 million in North America, and it may also reach $5 million in overseas box office.

In the first week of June, Martin joined the main cast and crew and began their overseas promotional trip.

Our first stop was South Korea, the backyard of Hollywood.

In the promotional materials for Seoul, besides Martin firmly occupying the center position, Clara was pushed into the position of the female lead.

The South Korean media were greatly encouraged and spontaneously began to praise the film without any prompting.

In their mouths, Clara has already become an international superstar!

John Wick 3 is extremely popular in South Korea.

Although the South Korean media did not fabricate the story that Martin Davis was Korean, they did take photos of Clara and Martin together intimately, immediately placing Clara in the position of Martin's official girlfriend.

Some media outlets even confidently asserted that Martin and Clara were already engaged and would soon get married.

In addition to promoting the movie, Martin, as a spokesperson for Samsung phones, also participated in several events held by Samsung.

This is also the last year of Martin's endorsement contract with Samsung.

Samsung threw another party with a large group of actresses, and Martin attended with his crew, but just like last time, they didn't go on any wild parties.

Of course, if anyone wants to move to Los Angeles, they can go and find him.

After their trip to South Korea, the film crew headed south to Hong Kong.

Because of the nature of the films and their R rating, the John Wick trilogy has never been shown in the world's second-largest film market.

The film crew naturally wouldn't go there to promote the film.

Starting from the port city, Martin and the crew traveled south and west, changing cities almost every two days.

John Wick 3 also launched in overseas markets on the first weekend of June.

The success of the previous two films, the globally influential internet meme "Give me back my dog's life," and Martin Scorsese's strong market appeal all contributed to the film's popularity overseas.

After its opening week overseas, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" grossed $1.45 million in more than 50 countries and regions.

The film will subsequently be shown in theaters in more overseas markets.

In recent years, Disney's film distribution capabilities have made great strides. Before the release of "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum", it had signed distribution contracts with more than 100 countries and regions, covering markets across six continents.

Meanwhile, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" entered its second weekend of release in North America. Thanks to the film's positive word-of-mouth and the market effect brought by various hot topics, its North American box office performance was quite stable, earning another $7381 million in its second weekend.

In just ten days, the film grossed over $3 million at the North American box office.

Although its initial screening momentum has slowed down, it has not experienced a precipitous decline. According to estimates from Disney Studios and Davis Studios, the final North American box office will definitely exceed $5 million.

Disney certainly wouldn't let this hype go to waste. Not only did they release a second version of the untold story of Thanos and Jonathan, but they also had Guardians of the Galaxy, which will be released in the second half of the year, featured as a pre-roll ad in the opening sequence of John Wick 3.

Marvel superhero movies can't get Martin Scorsese, nor do they want to pay him astronomical sums, but they are using their relationship with Disney to frantically ride on his popularity.

Not only that, Marvel Comics approached Davis Studios, wanting to acquire the comic book rights to the John Wick series.

Dark Horse Comics subsequently joined the competition.

Several other game companies also want to acquire the game licenses for the series to develop mobile and PC games.

These represent huge offline revenue, which Martin certainly wouldn't refuse; he'd let Jessica negotiate with them slowly.

(End of this chapter)