I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1068: The Year-End Release Schedule]

In the North American market, three new films premiered on November 13: Ted, Star Trek: Insurrection, and The Faculty.

Ted enjoyed significant attention thanks to its cuddly teddy bear character and a script penned by Eric himself. Star Trek: Insurrection was a staple franchise for Paramount Pictures, while the script for The Faculty came from Kevin Williamson, who created the Scream series. All three films boasted strong potential at the box office.

However, with Ted's explosive success, Star Trek: Insurrection and The Faculty saw a noticeable impact on their opening weekend earnings. Over the first three days, Ted grossed a staggering $55.41 million, while Star Trek: Insurrection, which landed in second place, only brought in $22.05 million -- not even half of Ted's earnings. This sci-fi movie had the highest production budget of the three at $58 million.

Due to the stark differences in public reception and audience preferences, the film The Horse Whisperer, which was already into its second week, remained relatively unaffected by the new releases. Its second-weekend drop was a respectable 32%, garnering another $21.86 million. After ten days in theaters, the adaptation of the bestselling novel reached a cumulative total of $68.25 million. As long as it could withstand the pressure from Mission: Impossible 3 the following week, the film had a solid chance of crossing the $100 million mark in North America.

Kevin Williamson's latest script, The Faculty, did not replicate the acclaim and box office success of Scream, only managing a meager $11.63 million after its opening weekend, landing it in fourth place.

From every possible analysis, this horror film only had a North American box office potential of about $40 million. Considering its $30 million production budget and a $10 million marketing budget, Columbia could only hope to recover its costs through overseas distribution.

...

Culver City.

In a screening room at Columbia Pictures, staff prepared for a film's showing while Eric chatted with Columbia Pictures' CEO, Bill Mechanic, about The Faculty.

"You know, there's always been substantial market potential for teen horror films. The key is finding the right script and a reliable production team -- also, controlling costs. Unfortunately, The Faculty was a mess from the get-go. People don't enjoy seeing a bunch of delinquents saving the world for no good reason. They want to see those delinquents get picked off one by one by a psychotic killer -- the more brutal, the better.

Kevin Williamson had signed a deal for five films with MGM, but last time, MGM opted for the summer release of Scream and passed on The Faculty for that reason. Scream crossed $70 million in the North American box office and hit $125 million worldwide, keeping its production costs under $17 million. It was a huge win. But now, The Faculty only has about $40 million potential in North America, and with production and marketing costs to match, it's a disaster. Bill, I won't hold the past against you, but I hope this never happens again."

As Eric spoke, the screening room door swung open, and the fresh-faced Anne Hathaway entered, balancing several cups of coffee in her hands, her big eyes gleaming as she looked at the two men seated in the front row.

Seeing her, Eric halted his conversation, waved at her, and Anne Hathaway sweetly walked in, handing a cup of coffee to Eric and Bill Mechanic before sitting quietly next to Eric with her own cup.

During this time, Anne Hathaway often felt like she was dreaming. Hearing Eric's no-nonsense reprimands to Bill Mechanic reminded her of her man's power in Hollywood. Naturally, a swell of pride rose within her.

However, she kept these thoughts to herself.

Eric wasn't concerned about her inner musings. After sipping his coffee and noting the film wasn't ready yet, he returned to his conversation with Bill Mechanic. "By the way, the director for The Faculty is quite good; I remember he's a good friend of Quentin, right?"

Bill Mechanic didn't take offense at Eric's previous remarks. In fact, Howard Stringer and the executives at Sony Japan had been far less courteous to him than Eric. He understood that Eric's comments were merely business-related and not personal.

Upon hearing Eric's question, Bill Mechanic replied, "Yes, before The Faculty began filming, I watched his debut film, which he made for just $7,000, called El Mariachi. He's a very talented young director."

"Then Columbia should definitely continue exploring a collaboration with him," Eric suggested, recalling Robert Rodriguez's uniquely stylized works from his own timeline. "And by the way, don't let my earlier comments make you overly fixated on cost control; when good projects come along, it's still important to spend money. I just don't want to see needless waste. You can gauge the balance there, and for Columbia, I trust you to exercise autonomy, but I hope to see corresponding returns."

Bill Mechanic nodded. "Eric, actually, I'm talking to Robert about a project right now. It's a children's sci-fi movie about a pair of retired spies' kids bravely fighting back against a villain seeking revenge. The script is still being written, and I'll send it to you as soon as it's ready."

Eric immediately thought of Rodriguez's more unconventional series, Spy Kids, inspired by Bill Mechanic's description. Although he was unsure of the series' box office performance, it had successfully produced three installments and must have been commercially viable.

Furthermore, Eric felt that the series would be better suited for Disney to handle. However, this thought passed quickly; Columbia needed quality projects to regain its footing. Now was not the time to divert the film Bill Mechanic was personally scouting to Disney.

Even if he didn't participate in production or distribution, if the series succeeded, the surrounding merchandising could still be managed by Disney's experienced team for maximum profitability.

"Get the screenplay to me as soon as it's done," Eric said, nodding. He noticed the staff finally announcing that the movie was ready to screen. He waved his hand casually and continued, "Speaking of which, the film we're about to see had a production cost that was $1,000 less than Robert's El Mariachi. The entire process only cost PS3,500, about $6,000. It's said the director worked on it for a year, filming on Saturdays when he had time off. In September, it won Best First Feature at the San Francisco Film Festival."

As Eric spoke, the lights dimmed in the screening room.

...

On the big screen, the film began without a title sequence, opening with a pair of hands putting on gloves. After a few disjointed shots, the screen finally displayed the film's title: Following.

Christopher Nolan, Following.

Many things in the world appeared quite strange. For instance, when Eric had someone in the UK collect scripts, he initially sought Guy Ritchie's Snatch but stumbled upon another once-famous script, Memento, written by brothers Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan.

The British division's notes indicated Christopher Nolan's debut, Following, was currently screening. The data showed not only the strong reception it received at the San Francisco Film Festival but also at many other independent film festivals.

In his original timeline, Eric had seen almost all of Nolan's works, with the most distinctive being the Dark Knight trilogy.

As for his initial films like Memento, Insomnia, and The Prestige, even though Eric, once a director, could feel the meticulous effort Nolan poured into those works, he struggled to enjoy them as deeply as the dedicated fans did.

Nevertheless, since he had the opportunity to see Nolan's work, Eric wasn't going to pass it up. Furthermore, over the past few days, Eric had developed a comprehensive plan revolving around Batman.

In his original timeline, Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy was breathtaking in both box office performance and quality.

At the same time, the success of Nolan's trilogy profoundly impacted Warner Bros.' DC movie universe. While the Marvel cinematic universe was on the rise, DC struggled to break free from the shadow of Nolan's trilogy. As they attempted to counter Marvel with a series of films, they veered into a dark direction, often delivering a cold and obscure tonal quality.

Although films like Man of Steel weren't strict failures commercially, it was evident that DC lost its way post-Nolan's trilogy.

After last year's box office debacle, Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. would undoubtedly experience a lull in DC adaptations. However, if any studio had the potential to compete with Marvel in the comic adaptation realm, it was undeniably Warner Bros. and its DC universe.

As Marvel's upcoming films, such as Iron Man and Spider-Man, gained momentum, it was predictable that Warner Bros. would quickly follow suit.

If this time there weren't the constraints of Nolan's trilogy, even though internal execution issues would prolong the DC adaptations' progress, as long as Warner's higher-ups recognized the need for intervention and increased control over comic adaptation films, the DC cinematic universe could still become a significant threat to Marvel.

Historically, as Marvel and DC engaged in fierce competition, Hollywood's comic adaptations reached a point of oversaturation. Audiences grew weary, resulting in a decline in the comic adaptation market.

Now that Marvel's cinematic universe was already in motion, Eric decided that in light of any potential development in the future, he would urge Nolan to produce the DC Batman series.

As long as DC ensured its cinematic universe bore Nolan's signature, given the ongoing disputes within Warner Bros., Eric believed that it would take a good ten years for DC to find its way back to the right path.

Of course, Eric also had no intention of doing this for free.

Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy grossed nearly $2.5 billion worldwide, and while DC, backed by Warner Bros., would not easily relinquish the Batman rights, the disaster of Batman & Robin left room for Firefly to participate in investment without seeking copyright claims.

Surely, anyone at Warner Bros.' upper echelons would not consider Eric's strategy of sharing investment risks without entangling rights, while also pulling the Batman franchise from the brink as digging a deeper hole for the studio.

How could anyone be that malicious?

...

As Eric pondered these matters, the 70-minute film Following wrapped up quickly.

When the lights came on, it was nearly noon.

Eric, accompanied by Anne and Bill Mechanic, headed to Columbia's internal dining area. After ordering lunch, Eric turned to Bill Mechanic and asked, "So, Bill, what did you think of that film?"

"A very interesting non-linear narrative," Bill Mechanic replied. "However, it seemed somewhat overemphasized on technique; upon closer analysis, there wasn't much about the plot worth reflecting on."

Eric nodded in agreement, chuckling, "But that's a form of talent. Not just anyone can produce a film with decent quality on such a low budget. For novice directors, lacking the resources to invite stars or create grand scenes forces them to invest more effort in storytelling techniques. Isn't that what Quentin did with Pulp Fiction?"

Bill Mechanic chuckled, "So, Eric, what's your plan after making me watch this film?"

"I have another screenplay titled Memento, which has a narrative style similar to Following but is more refined and complete," Eric said directly. "I didn't bring it with me since I'll be flying to New York shortly. However, I had my assistant send the script to your email. My request is to locate this director, sign an exclusive long-term deal with him, and tie him firmly to Columbia Pictures. As for his film style, achieving commercial success may not be easy, but with the right marketing strategy, a director with a strong personal style can easily gain a loyal fanbase."

After saying this, Eric added with an ambiguous smile, "As for the future, we can address that later."

*****

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