Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 259 The Big Star

Spider-Man grossed $130 million in its opening weekend and over $250 million in 10 days, breaking a series of box office records and remaining firmly in the spotlight of Hollywood.

However, after that, the box office growth of "Spider-Man" slowed down significantly, which is a characteristic of fan-driven films. Fortunately, the quality of "Spider-Man" was still relatively good, and it didn't disappoint, attracting many casual viewers to the cinema.

The phenomenal success of Spider-Man has also driven a surge in sales of Marvel merchandise, with comics, Spider-Man toys, and Spider-Man sets all selling briskly. There are clear regulations regarding the copyright of Spider-Man merchandise: Marvel only receives 30% of the revenue from movie-derived merchandise, while the copyright for comic book-derived merchandise belongs entirely to Marvel.

Although Marvel only received 30% of the revenue this time, it was still a huge profit for them. This means that Marvel Studios has great potential, giving them the confidence and ability to develop more superhero movies!
The popularity of Spider-Man has also sparked heated discussions about two topics at major Hollywood production companies.

The first topic is superhero movies. In the past, Hollywood didn't really focus on so-called superhero movies.

The traditional Hollywood view is that superhero movies only succeed when they feature big-name stars. A film's box office success isn't due to the superhero, but rather to the star power. Otherwise, even films like *Batman* and *Superman* would fail.

However, in the past two years, with the success of "X-Men", especially the amazing box office performance of "Spider-Man", which shocked everyone, Hollywood's major studios have had to put superheroes on the table for discussion.

One person spoke first: "The era of superheroes is coming, and this is a market we've overlooked in the past."

Another person shook his head: "It can't be said that it was ignored. It's not that smart people haven't developed these superheroes before, but the film technology at that time was not enough to support the production of the cool superpower scenes of the superheroes that people imagined. In the end, they basically all ended in failure."

But things are different now. Times have changed, and the development of computer-generated special effects has provided fertile ground for these superheroes to showcase their talents. Spider-Man is enough to fulfill most people's superhero dreams!

"Computer-generated special effects are just the foundation. I think the key lies with the people who make the film. We all know that filmmaking is not that simple. What is the core and concept? How is the tone set? How do you tailor the most suitable story around a high concept? These are all things that need to be considered."

Even though these superheroes have a large fan base, superhero movies made by different people may not necessarily suit the market's taste.

On this point, we must acknowledge that the success of *Spider-Man* is inseparable from the project's initiator, Wu Yuchen!

"That's right. From 'The Pirate King,' which turned a box office poison into a huge hit last year, to 'Spider-Man,' which burst onto the scene this year, Wu has proven his superb and keen market sense and control. If someone else had been in charge, I think the results would have been very different!"

"Yes, and he has planned trilogy plans for both The Pirate King and Spider-Man. Although the sequels to these two series have not yet been made, I am optimistic about the quality of Wu's films given his abilities."

“I agree with that. Not every superhero has the same popularity as Spider-Man. Compared to the still somewhat uncertain superhero movies, Wu’s ability to produce series films is even more impressive.”

For major film studios, a successful film series is far more profitable and worthy of their attention than a regular film. Some studios can even live off a single film series for their entire careers.

This leads to their second topic of discussion—Wu Yuchen.

Tobey Maguire, who is currently adored by movie fans, isn't actually as important as major studios imagine. Everyone knows that Maguire isn't Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Cruise; his current popularity stems from Spider-Man. Without Spider-Man, his appeal in other films might be less than half of what it is today.

The true architect of Spider-Man's brilliance is director Sam Raimi, the project initiator behind it, the scriptwriter, and Wu Yuchen, who set the concept and tone for it!
"Have you found out what Wu Yu-chen's next plan is? We've already missed out on a series like 'The Pirate King,' we can't miss out on Wu's next series. We can't let DreamWorks get away with such a good opportunity!"

"I heard that Wu still wants to compete for an Oscar this year and has no plans for another commercial film."

"What a waste of his talent! Someone with his talent should be using it in commercial films!"

"Regardless of his plans in the near future, we must strengthen our communication with him. If he has any news about his next commercial film, we must try to secure it as soon as possible, even if it means giving up some of the profits!"

In the past, these major film studios could unite and refuse to work for Wu Yuchen for free, but now, with Wu Yuchen creating "The Pirate King" and the huge success of "Spider-Man", the situation has been reversed.

Faced with Wu Yuchen's potential to generate such huge profits, no production company could resist the temptation. A partnership? Forget about a partnership! They've probably already rushed off to privately negotiate with Wu Yuchen!
At this time, Wu Yuchen had finished filming "The Hours" and was working on post-production such as editing. He planned to return to China after finishing the film.

However, he was really not very free during this period. Even though he turned down almost all the invitations under the pretext of working on the post-production of the movie, he couldn't stop people from coming to visit him enthusiastically. Some of them were not easy to refuse, after all, they were all high-level representatives of major Hollywood studios.

"Wu, if you are interested, MGM's doors are always open to you. We all believe you can bring '007' back to life!"

After seeing off the MGM representatives, Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his head. Besides MGM, Paramount, Universal, Fox, and other studios had all contacted him recently. They basically had two purposes: either subtly inquiring about his upcoming commercial productions, or promoting their own studios' classic film series and asking if Wu Yuchen was interested in directing them.

For example, Paramount's *Indiana Jones*. After the release of *The Pirates of the Caribbean*, Paramount clearly believed that Wu Yu-chen was the most suitable director for a reboot of *Indiana Jones*, the pioneer of the adventure and treasure-hunting genre. However, Wu Yu-chen had no intention of accepting the offer to reboot *Indiana Jones*. He felt that *The Pirates of the Caribbean* was enough; what was the point of making *Indiana Jones*?

To be honest, it would have been better to take on "007" than "Indiana Jones". After all, "007" was revitalized after its reboot, and its reputation and box office have gradually improved.

But he didn't want to get involved with MGM anymore; they were so in debt, they might go bankrupt any day now.

If he remembers correctly, Wu Baige's "Windtalkers" will be released next month. This film is said to be the last straw that broke MGM's back, directly causing MGM's stock price to plummet, the president to resign, and the company to be sold three years later.

He was really afraid that if he were to work with MGM, he would be taken advantage of and wouldn't even get his salary back!
……

At Disney, Miles walked into the CEO's office dejectedly. He saw Eisner looking at him and shook his head with a wry smile: "Mr. Eisner, I'm sorry."

"What did he say? Did he propose any conditions?" Eisner asked.

Myles paused for a moment, then avoided Eisner's gaze and replied, "Wu said that as long as you're at Disney, he can't possibly cooperate with Disney..."

"Damn it! Who does he think he is!" Eisner slammed his fist on the table in anger.

Disney's current situation isn't great either; it hasn't had any standout results recently, its stock price hasn't improved, and many shareholders have voiced their dissatisfaction. Now, with the phenomenal success of *Spider-Man*, major studios are treating Wu Yuchen like a VIP, visiting him frequently, and Disney has naturally raised the possibility of collaborating with him again.

To be fair, Eisner isn't stupid; he's aware of his past grievances with Wu Yuchen, and if possible, he wouldn't want to work with Wu Yuchen again. However, given Disney's current situation, he can't really object anymore. Besides, what if Wu Yuchen agrees? Even if he has to give up some profits as compensation, it wouldn't be a big deal; at least it would boost the stock price.

But now, it's clear that there's absolutely no possibility of him cooperating with the other party.

Eisner unleashed a torrent of angry words, venting his rage. When did a director become someone who could target him like this? But now he was helpless against Wu Yuchen, who was no longer a small-time director, but a target that major film studios wanted to win over.

After a fit of impotent rage, Eisner composed himself and headed to the meeting room. Disney's shareholders' meeting was next month. This year's meeting was originally scheduled for April, but he had deliberately postponed it to June, hoping to delay it as much as possible and gain more time to produce results. However, the results were far from ideal…

He now needs to hold an internal meeting in advance to unify thinking and ensure that everyone at Disney is united under his leadership, so that they can better deal with any difficulties that may arise at next month's shareholders' meeting.

"These are the main points of this meeting. Disney is currently facing some minor difficulties, but I hope you all understand that Disney is a company with heritage, history, and culture. A temporary downturn cannot defeat us; it will only make us more resilient. As long as I am here, Disney will soon regain its former glory!"

After Eisner finished his speech, he glanced at everyone present. No one dared to raise any objections. He was very satisfied with his authority at Disney. He was still the Disney Emperor that no one dared to question.

So what if the performance is a little worse? The entire Disney is under his rule. Can Disney leave him who has ruled for 18 years? Even if the major shareholders have opinions about his management in the past two years, they don't dare to replace him easily because the resulting company turmoil and management change costs are too high. They simply don't dare to gamble!

Eisner believed that he could get away with making some promises at this year's shareholders' meeting, and no one would really dare to do anything to him.

But at that moment, a voice rang out in the meeting room: "Minor hardship? Eisner, you call Disney's current situation minor hardship?"

No one needed to turn around; they could tell who it was just by the voice—Roy Disney, the old geezer from the Disney family. The moment he spoke, everyone's attention was drawn to him. He continued:

"Eisner, Disneyland is not as popular as it used to be, ABC television is doing poorly and losing money every year. In just six months, you have laid off 4000 employees from the entire Disney Group!"
Look at what you've done all these years.
Disney's animation industry, on which it relies for survival, has been completely relegated to a supporting role in recent years. We can only rely on begging to renew our contract with Pixar to prop up our animation business. When did Disney's animation industry fall to this level?!

Roy Disney got more and more excited as he spoke:
"And live-action movies? In the past few years, has Disney produced a single live-action film that's truly impressive? The huge failure of Pearl Harbor has led to widespread pessimism about Disney's film business!"
Other companies include Paramount with Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones; Universal with Jurassic Park and the Mummy series; Fox with Star Wars, Lethal Weapon, and Die Hard; Warner Bros. with not only Batman and Superman, but also Harry Potter; MGM with James Bond; and now even Sony Pictures Entertainment with Spider-Man!
The other six major studios all have live-action film series that they could pass down as family heirlooms, but what has Disney had during your tenure? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

The past decade for Disney has been a lost decade! You've led Disney step by step to this point, and you think you can just let a little hardship blow it all away?!

At this moment, all the executives sitting in the conference room were stunned. Although they knew that Roy Disney had always opposed Eisner and had often given him trouble in the past, this time, at this particular occasion and at this particular moment, he had hurled a torrent of abuse at Eisner, and every word of his hit a nerve. Undoubtedly, this would enrage Eisner!
Eisner's face had completely darkened, and his fists clenched involuntarily. He stared at Roy Disney with a death stare. In the past, he had always tolerated the old man because he was a member of the Disney family, letting him be the company's mascot.

But at a time like this, the old man still dares to cause him trouble. Does he really think that just because he's not showing his teeth, he's a sick cat?
(End of this chapter)