Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 239 The Red Sofa

Although Wu Yuchen spoke casually, he was actually quite pleased. Forcing Michael Eisner to personally acknowledge the failure of *Pearl Harbor* and remove his close associates was something that had never happened before.

This signifies that Michael Eisner's rule has been shaken. When he was incredibly powerful, many feared him. But as he begins to show signs of decline, those he once offended will slowly reveal their hidden fangs.

This time he can throw out a trusted confidant to appease the shareholders and the board of directors, but how many capable right-hand men does he have left to use like that? Maybe next time it will be his turn to do it himself!
Since they were happy, they naturally had to celebrate. That very night, Wu Yuchen invited two beauties, Jennifer Connelly, the lead actress of "A Beautiful Mind," and Anne Hathaway, the lead actress of "Spider-Man," to come and have fun together!

Jennifer Connelly had anticipated this scenario, as Wu Yuchen had previously mentioned the idea to her. She agreed on the condition that Wu Yuchen would help her win an Oscar.

Anne Hathaway was caught off guard. She knew her relationship with Wu Yuchen was mutually exploitative, and that he definitely had more than just her. But she had always thought she would be Wu Yuchen's most favored one!

Upon arriving at Wu Yuchen's location, Anne Hathaway froze upon seeing Jennifer Connelly already in his arms. She felt a little lost as Wu Yuchen waved to her.

Anne Hathaway has only been in the industry for a short time, and now that she's the female lead in "Spider-Man," she's a little embarrassed.

Seeing this, Jennifer Connelly couldn't help but smile at Wu Yuchen and say, "Honey, it seems you haven't won over your little darling yet~"

Seeing this, Wu Yuchen smiled, then spread his legs, patted his thigh, and said with a smirk, "Annie, good baby, be a good girl~"

Anne Hathaway's mind raced. She had already landed the lead role in Spider-Man, and the movie was already finished filming. Even if she rejected Wu Yuchen now and severed all ties with him, she wouldn't lose what she was entitled to.

However, she quickly dismissed the idea. Look at Jennifer Connelly next to Wu Yuchen; she's been nominated for an Oscar twice, yet she's still by Wu Yuchen's side.

Moreover, with the success of "The Pirate King", Wu Yuchen's prestige and influence in Hollywood have further increased.

Wu Yuchen's previous three films were all low-budget but highly profitable. This time, however, he has demonstrated his ability to direct big-budget productions, completely proving that he is a well-deserved Hollywood director.

More importantly, "The Pirate King" is not a movie based on a novel, but a completely original film by Wu Yuchen! Moreover, Wu Yuchen once said that he has already made plans for a trilogy of "The Pirate King", which means that he has created a super profitable series project. Now he is a hot commodity of major Hollywood studios, and everyone wants to work with him.

Meanwhile, after the huge success of "The Pirate King", Sony's confidence in "Spider-Man" also increased greatly. After all, the "Spider-Man" trilogy was also planned by John Woo!
Anyone with a discerning eye could see what Wu Yuchen meant to Anne Hathaway. She knew countless women wanted to get into his bed, and she had already gained the upper hand. If she left now, not only would she lose her relationship with Wu Yuchen, but she might also offend him. That was definitely not a wise choice!

Anne Hathaway steeled her heart. She had already given herself away, so why worry about such things? A beautiful smile reappeared on her face, and she walked over to Wu Yuchen with cat-like steps, sitting down on his lap.

She kissed Wu Yuchen on the cheek and said sweetly, "Darling, you really surprised me! I was a little caught off guard!"

Wu Yuchen said with a smile, "Really? I thought my little Annie was going to rebel today~"

As he spoke, he patted Anne Hathaway's bottom lightly. Anne Hathaway squirmed in his arms, then looked aggrieved: "How could that be? I'm Anne, who will always listen to you the most! I still want to be the female lead in your movie!"

Wu Yuchen chuckled. He took the first half of the sentence with a grain of salt, but he knew the second half was the other person's true feeling. If you were to ask who the most enviable girl in Hollywood is right now, it would undoubtedly be Keira Knightley, the female lead of "The Pirate King."

Keira Knightley is only 16 years old this year. After her breakout role in "Pirates of the Caribbean," her past experience as Natalie Portman's stunt double in the "Star Wars" prequels naturally resurfaced. But now, her fame is even greater than Natalie Portman's!
Given Keira's experience, which of those Hollywood beauties who are still struggling for opportunities wouldn't be envious and jealous? They all wish that such a thing would happen to them!
Anne Hathaway naturally wanted to play the lead role in Wu Yuchen's movie, which would surely make her future Hollywood career incredibly bright!
Wu Yuchen gently stroked Anne Hathaway's hair and said with a smile, "Anne, if you want to be the leading lady, you'll have to show me your sincerity~"

As he spoke, he pressed Anne Hathaway's head down. Anne Hathaway had played this game with Wu Yuchen many times, so she naturally understood his intentions. However, with Jennifer Connelly watching this time, she hesitated for a moment.

But when she thought of the opportunity to play the female lead that Wu Yuchen had mentioned, Anne Hathaway followed his hand and knelt down on the carpet...

Jennifer Connelly watched Anne Hathaway's actions, then smiled and whispered in Wu Yuchen's ear, "Darling, is this your punishment for her disobedience just now?"

"Hmm...see, Annie Baby is still very obedient." As he spoke, he gently patted Anne Hathaway's head.

Then he added, "And how can this be called a punishment? This is clearly a reward~ Darling, do you want my reward?" Wu Yuchen looked at Jennifer Connelly after he finished speaking.

Jennifer Connelly winked at him, then leaned down to Anne Hathaway's side...

Wu Yuchen looked down and realized that he was sitting on a red sofa. He couldn't help but think to himself, "No wonder it's a Hollywood red sofa!"
Previously, when people mentioned the red sofa in Hollywood, the first person that came to mind was that fat Harvey Weinstein. But now, he himself is casually sitting on the red sofa, which is truly...comfortable!

He wasn't worried about ending up like Harvey Weinstein. Didn't he see what kind of women were those who came forward to denounce Harvey? They were all women who had been forced by Harvey and hadn't gotten anything in return from him.

And those who truly benefited from Harvey, those who reaped his rewards, those actresses who thanked him on the Oscar stage, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Meryl Streep, and Jennifer Lawrence, which one of them actively jumped out to criticize him?
By actively denying Harvey, aren't they denying their own past achievements?

Similarly, those who have received help from Wu Yuchen are unlikely to come forward and speak out about the Red Sofa incident.

Moreover, Director Wu's reputation is impeccable. Those who have invested in him have all received satisfactory returns. Not to mention others, Gretchen, the female lead in "Frequency," still wants to rekindle their romance.

However, Wu Yuchen had found something more interesting and politely declined, leaving Gretchen heartbroken for a long time. After *Frequency*, her career only had a couple of years of glory before starting to decline. But Wu Yuchen felt he had done enough for her; having that one representative work was enough to allow her to do well in Hollywood.

Tonight, it's naturally a night of revelry and celebration. Wu Yuchen fulfilled his wish to personally compare Jennifer Connelly and Anne Hathaway, two generations of Hollywood goddesses, and see who is whiter between these two Aries.

For the next period of time, Wu Yuchen didn't participate in any more promotional activities; it was enough for the main actors, including Depp, to appear on shows. He spent his days busy with post-production work on "A Beautiful Mind" and "Spider-Man," and his evenings taking care of the leading actresses of both films—he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Happy times fly by, and July has arrived in no time.

After a month in theaters, "The Pirate King" has grossed over $300 million at the North American box office. Although its daily box office has dropped below $3 million, with two more months of summer movie season and a healthy decline, the market predicts it will still earn at least another $1 million in North America.

On this day, Spielberg, accompanied by representatives from Universal, visited Wu Yuchen. More accurately, Universal's representatives visited DreamWorks and Miracle Pictures, the producers of "Pirates of the Caribbean," to discuss copyright matters.

It's not about overseas rights, because when Universal was chosen as the distributor, DreamWorks had already agreed with Universal on the revenue sharing of overseas box office revenue, which was not based on profit, but rather 27% of the overseas box office revenue.

This is the kind of deal that DreamWorks, with its Big Three, could negotiate. Other smaller Hollywood studios simply cannot negotiate revenue sharing directly with major distributors, as was the case with Miracle Pictures before.

Actually, the most powerful one is Lucasfilm. For example, their Star Wars series is basically making Fox do the work for Lucasfilm for free. They get 8% of the distribution fee in North America, and Lucasfilm can get 30% or even more than 35% of the overseas box office.

However, Fox's willingness stemmed from their acquisition of some Star Wars merchandise licenses. The immense popularity of Star Wars merchandise is undeniable, and Fox could profit handsomely from it, hence their willingness to agree. This also demonstrates Lucasfilm's strong negotiating power.

"The Pirates of the Caribbean" has already been released overseas, especially in the UK where it's been a huge hit. After all, the film is based on their history and includes the British Royal Navy. Keira Knightley's portrayal of Elizabeth has been particularly popular with British moviegoers. However, the overseas box office revenue will likely only be received next year.

"Spielberg, Wu, congratulations! Pirate King is a great work! And the potential of its related products is actually terrifying. We believe you haven't fully developed it yet. Have you considered licensing it to Universal?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen looked at Spielberg. If he remembered correctly, some of the merchandise had already been licensed, such as the Black Pearl toys and Captain Jack Sparrow costumes. Spielberg, a veteran of Hollywood, knew Universal's intentions perfectly well. He smiled at Wu Yuchen and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you're here for Universal Studios, right? You want the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' project to be featured at Universal Studios?"

When it comes to theme parks, Disneyland is the most famous in the world, but Universal Studios is actually on par with Disneyland, and many adults and men even prefer to visit Universal Studios. However, Disneyland's success is largely due to its appeal to children, and it later attracted a group of women who identified as having a pink-loving, girlish heart, thus becoming the most famous theme park in the world.

Universal Studios, as its name suggests, is a theme park for many movies, such as Jurassic Park, Terminator, The Mummy, and Back to the Future. Now, with the phenomenal success of Pirate King, Universal has naturally set its sights on this project, wanting to acquire the rights to Pirate King and have it featured in Universal Studios.

"Hmm, Steven, you should know best that the arrival of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' at Universal Studios will generate a lot of revenue for you, and it will also create a lot of potential viewers for the film's future installments. Isn't 'Pirates of the Caribbean' a trilogy? This will be a very beneficial form of publicity for you, what do you say?"

Wu Yuchen didn't say anything. He really had no experience in this area, and Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" and "Back to the Future" had both been featured here, so it was better to listen to what he had to say.

Spielberg saw Wu Yuchen smile at him and understood his meaning, so he said to the Universal people, "It's no problem to have 'The Pirate King' in Universal Studios, but we need to see what your conditions are."

“Of course, we were prepared long ago.” With that, the Universal representative handed a document to Spielberg and Wu Yuchen, letting them take their time to read it.

Wu Yuchen and Spielberg got together, and with Spielberg's guidance, he understood that it mainly depended on the amount of licensing fees Universal was willing to offer and the profit sharing generated by the project.

After a long pause, Spielberg closed the file, then frowned and said, "I don't feel any sincerity from Universal. The revenue share you offered is too low!"

The Universal representative said with a sincere expression, "Steven, these are the best terms we can offer 'Pirate King' after our evaluation!"

Spielberg shook his head, then emphasized, "We want the same treatment as Jurassic Park! Pirate King deserves it!"

The Universal representative shook his head: "No, no, no, we don't think Pirate King can be compared to Jurassic Park."

"The box office performance of 'The Pirate King' is in no way inferior to that of 'Jurassic Park'!"

"But box office performance doesn't tell the whole story; Jurassic Park was groundbreaking!"

Spielberg thought for a moment, then said, "Even so, the conditions for 'Pirates of the Caribbean' should be better than those for 'The Mummy' and 'Back to the Future.' You can see the teenagers and kids outside; they're all crazy about 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' It's far more popular than those two film series!"

The Universal representative smiled and said, "Steven, you should know that both 'The Mummy' and 'Back to the Future' are films made for our own Universal studio, so we will naturally offer more favorable terms."

Spielberg's face fell: "I see no sincerity from Universal in this document. In that case, we don't mind negotiating with Disney. I think Disney's terms will definitely be better than Universal's."

The two men from Universal exchanged a glance, then laughed and said, "Come on, Steven, don't try to use Disneyland to pressure us for a lower price. We all know about the situation between Disney and Wu, and we don't believe Wu will allow 'Pirate King' to be shown at Disneyland at all!"

The major studios are all aware of the conflict between Wu Yuchen and Eisner. Didn't Wu Yuchen publicly criticize Eisner not long ago, and was even accused of forcing Eisner to sever ties with a close confidant during the filming of *Pirates of the Caribbean*? No one believes Wu Yuchen will ever work with Disney again.

Spielberg didn't speak at this moment, but turned to look at Wu Yuchen. The two from Universal also turned their attention to Wu Yuchen.

Wu Yuchen naturally understood what the other party meant. "Pirates of the Caribbean" is currently a hot commodity, both for Universal Studios and Disneyland, but because of his personal relationship with Disney, Universal believes that he and Disney are fundamentally incompatible, and therefore they are not afraid of Disney stealing their business. Naturally, the terms they offer might not satisfy Spielberg.

Wu Yuchen cursed the Hollywood businessmen in his heart, then smiled and said, "When I came to America, to Hollywood, I learned one sentence: Business is business. I think I can pass this sentence on to you now."

"Business is business"—many people are familiar with this phrase, which originated from Jewish thought. Jews believe that in business, everything is a commodity, and as such, it has only one attribute: to increase value and generate profit. Except for illegal, taboo, and contract-breaking activities, everything else should serve this ultimate goal, especially avoiding the influx of personal feelings!
And now, Wu Yuchen is using this sentence to show Universal that he will not let personal feelings interfere with this deal.

Spielberg gave Wu Yuchen an approving look, then said to the two from Universal, "Gentlemen, you've probably seen Wu's attitude. If you can't offer us satisfactory terms, we don't mind cooperating with Disneyland."

The two men from Huanqiu gave Wu Yuchen a suspicious look, nodded, and then said goodbye before leaving.

After seeing the Universal Music staff off, Spielberg praised Wu Yuchen, saying, "Wu, you've matured!"

Wu Yuchen smiled at Spielberg and then said, "Steven, you don't actually believe what I said, do you?"

"Huh?" Spielberg's eyes widened.

Wu Yuchen scoffed, "You want me to cooperate with Disney? Unless you make Eisner kneel down and beg me! Otherwise, no way!"

"Uh..." Spielberg couldn't help but take off his glasses and rub his temples. He had really thought Wu Yuchen was serious!
If it were him, he probably could swallow his anger. After all, Eisner is Eisner, and Disney is Disney; he felt they could be kept separate. Attacking Eisner wouldn't prevent them from making money together.

However, Spielberg also knew that he and Wu Yuchen had different ideas, and it was normal for the young man to be unwilling to swallow his pride.

“Wu, although you made such a statement in front of Universal just now, they are not so easy to fool. They will definitely be keeping an eye on us and Disney. If we don’t negotiate with Disney, they won’t raise their demands any further.”

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "Then let's wait and see. They're not offering high terms right now, partly because they think Disney won't cooperate with us, and partly because they still have doubts about the sequel to 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' After all, many sequels are bad movies, and this year's 'The Mummy 2' didn't receive very good reviews."

However, I have confidence in the Pirate King series. We'll see if Universal Studios can still sit still when Pirate King 2 comes out.

Spielberg nodded upon hearing this, then asked with some excitement, "Wu, so you're planning to start production on 'Pirates of the Caribbean 2' very soon?"

"Uh……"

Meeting Spielberg's expectant gaze, Wu Yuchen shook his head shyly.

"Steven, it's impossible this year. My schedule is already full. As for next year or the year after, I need to think about it."

Spielberg immediately said, "Ideally, it would be next year. Filming next year and releasing it the year after would be a perfect fit."

Wu Yuchen thought for a moment and said, "Steven, I don't think filming a sequel is an easy task. Compared to my side, I think we should settle one thing first: Depp's sequel fee. Captain Jack Sparrow is a core character in the 'Pirate King' series. If this issue isn't resolved, filming the sequel won't be so simple."

Spielberg nodded in agreement. In reality, filming this year was impossible because Depp wouldn't agree. Depp wouldn't discuss a sequel contract until the global box office results for *Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales* were available, as he needed to determine his asking price for the next contract based on *The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales*'s global performance.

In other words, the earliest negotiations with Depp's side regarding a sequel contract can be held is next year, and these negotiations are not something that can be completed overnight.

Thinking of this, Spielberg sighed, hoping that Depp wouldn't ask for an exorbitant amount.

(End of this chapter)