Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 689 Movie Locomotive

Then, Aaron met producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Scott Rudin, as well as directors Ridley Scott and Michael Bay, among others, at the villa;
It seems that Disney's failures in live-action films in recent years have made them increasingly value top Hollywood producers and directors.

Jerry Bruckheimer, in particular, signed a film development agreement with Disney for several years. This year's Disney touchstone films, such as "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "The Wolf Club," were all spearheaded by Jerry Bruckheimer!
"By the way, Aaron, is Universal interested in developing 'Bad Boys 2'?"

Jerry Bruckheimer asked with a smile, "Back then, 'Bad Boys' was made on a budget of over $2000 million and grossed $1.4 million worldwide."

Michael Bay's directorial debut, and Will Smith's first blockbuster film!
“Oh, Bad Boys 2?” Aaron looked at Jerry Bruckheimer. Bad Boys was indeed developed by them, in collaboration with Dawn.

"Will they bring back the original director Michael Bay, as well as the original leads Will Smith and Martin Lawrence?"

Jerry Bruckheimer nodded. "That will attract more viewers."

Aaron chuckled. "Given Michael Bay and Will Smith's current level of fame, developing 'Bad Boys 2' won't be easy!"

Jerry Bruckheimer also sighed. It was indeed not easy. Michael Bay could be handled, but Will Smith, one of the male leads, was another story.
Will Smith has already starred in two sequels, Rush Hour 2 and Men in Black 2, and has developed a strong aversion to sequels. To persuade him to continue in a sequel, his salary would be astronomical, not to mention a host of additional conditions.

Jerry Bruckheimer also knew that Dawn would not be willing to spend a huge sum of money to develop a sequel to Bad Boys if it didn't generate enough profit for them.

Other film companies are fine, since they don't have many intellectual property rights, but Dawn is different. Dawn has a large number of projects in preparation and filming, so the appeal of just one film, "Bad Boys 2", is obviously not enough.

After chatting with Jerry Bruckheimer for a while, Aaron ran into British director Ridley Scott.

The collaboration between the two parties, Gladiator, was a box office and critical success, grossing $1.8 million in North America and $4.6 million worldwide!
"Is 'Black Hawk Down' being filmed now?"

Aaron clinked glasses with the other person and asked.

“Yes, it’s just started filming. There’s a lot to prepare for shooting a war film like this,” Ridley Scott said. He and Dawn had worked together on other projects before, so they were already quite familiar with each other, and their conversation was even more natural.

For Aaron, Ridley Scott's drama film "G.I. Joe," starring Demi Moore, which he directed a few years ago, left a deep impression.

In "G.I.E.", Demi Moore deliberately shaved her head, but won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress, and the film's $5000 million investment only brought in $4800 million at the box office.

Moreover, Demi Moore, who was originally a top Hollywood actress, suffered a series of failures in her starring roles in films such as "The Scarlet Letter," "Striptease," and "G.I. Joe."

This also caused the Hollywood actress's acting career to plummet. Also this year, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, this enviable Hollywood celebrity couple, ended their 13-year marriage! Afterwards, Aaron and the host of the night, Michael Eisner, went to the study and talked about DreamWorks. Afterwards, Aaron inquired about the Hong Kong Disneyland project.

"Hong Kong Disneyland?" Michael Eisner chuckled. "What, worried that Universal Studios Japan in Osaka will have fewer and fewer visitors?"

Universal Studios Japan in Osaka was already struggling to compete with Tokyo Disneyland, and now, not only is Tokyo DisneySea under construction, but they've also launched plans for Hong Kong.

Aaron waved his hand casually, "Japan has over 1 million people, that's enough. Hong Kong only has a few million, what can you expect from that market?"

"I just want to know how high the expectations are for Hong Kong Disneyland!"

Michael Eisner shook his head. "It's designed based on Disneyland Anaheim, but the specific start date depends on the execution plans in Hong Kong."

"As for future expectations, we certainly hope to attract tourists from surrounding areas such as Taipei, Macau, and Southeast Asia;"

"Actually, you and I both know that the more than 13 billion people in mainland China are the key target, but unfortunately, the market in mainland China is too small to support such a large-scale film and television theme park!"

The Chinese government has been trying to bring Disneyland to China for many years, and even went to Disney headquarters in 1992 to lobby them.

Unfortunately, Disney rejected the idea after just one glance, simply because it was too poor. Of course, several other coastal cities also vied for the opportunity to locate Disney in Hong Kong, but unfortunately, the residents' income was still too far from that of Hong Kong.

Aaron, however, didn't seem to care. "Anyway, China is developing quite rapidly now. As time goes on, once material security is sufficient, it will definitely move towards developing its spiritual civilization."

"Given China's enormous market, it's bound to have large-scale film and television theme park resorts. Now that Disney has settled in Hong Kong, Universal Studios will have an advantage in the future!"

Michael Eisner smiled. "It seems you have a lot of confidence in the Chinese mainland market, Aaron. But I wonder how many years we'll have to wait?"

Michael Eisner was naturally worried about Dawn's current momentum, but he was helpless.
Universal Studios rakes in box office revenue worldwide thanks to its blockbuster movies, and new attractions appear at Universal Studios almost every year, with visitor numbers increasing year by year.

As major media conglomerates in Hollywood, Dawn and Disney use movies as the engine of their media businesses, which can drive a series of upstream and downstream industry chain businesses such as television, videotapes, DVDs, and derivatives.
Watching Dawn Global's consumer goods market expand rapidly, Michael Eisner had no way to deal with it.
In particular, in the past two years, Warren Buffett has sold off all his Disney stock and bought a large amount of Dawn stock.
This further widened the gap between the two sides. After acquiring CBS Broadcasting Network, Dawn's final piece of the puzzle was now complete!

In contrast, Disney's film industry is sluggish, and its animation industry is also facing direct attacks from Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, leaving it teetering on the brink of collapse.

(End of this chapter)