The next day.
Upon hearing the news, Jerry Bruckheimer rushed to Page Pictures immediately to discuss the cooperation with Mr.Bill.
"Thank you very much, old friend."
As a famous Hollywood producer, Jerry Bruckheimer was naturally an old hand who had been in Hollywood for decades, and the two had worked together before.
"Old friend, you don't know. At the end of 1998, when I went to register the copyright for pirates of the caribbean, I was told that there was a similar, identical copyright. Oh, you don't know how shocked and surprised I was at that time."
"I have to say, Kyle is a genius!"
"After the failure of Spielberg's Hook, almost no one in Hollywood dared to touch pirate-themed movies, but he, Kyle, dared to!"
"Hard work pays off; I haven't been seeking this cooperation for just a day or two."
It was evident that Jerry Bruckheimer was extremely happy at this moment.
Mr.Bill smiled slightly.
After some casual chat, the two mentioned that the pirates of the caribbean film series would be jointly produced and distributed by Page Pictures and Disney Group.
"Jerry, you will personally serve as the producer for this film, no problem, right?" Mr.Bill asked with a smile.
"Of course, no problem!"
Jerry Bruckheimer patted his chest in assurance, paused, and then added: "However, as for the specific cooperation and the form of collaboration, you will have to discuss that with Disney. It is not appropriate for me to intervene."
Mr.Bill nodded: "That is natural."
Regarding the cooperation on pirates of the caribbean, Jerry Bruckheimer was personally in full support.
In recent years, Page Pictures had produced a constant stream of excellent films, establishing a brand with a high reputation among global fans, and its influence was growing day by day.
Collaborating with such a growing Page Pictures, Bruckheimer could not refuse such a temptation, not to mention that this was the result he had been seeking for a long time.
...
Disney Group.
"Cooperation?"
"Naturally, that is possible!"
Robert Iger, the future CEO of Disney Group, was so happy upon hearing the news that he almost jumped up.
He said: "In 1997, 1998, and 1999, I called Kyle Page himself many times to seek cooperation, but... they were all rejected. Now that my wish has been fulfilled, I have no reason to refuse. I am one hundred percent in favor."
Robert Iger was very much in favor of the cooperation.
As the words fell.
The Disney executives present also showed smiles on their faces.
As industry insiders, they naturally saw the development of Page Pictures in recent years and knew many inside stories that outsiders did not know.
"I am glad you approve; it shows that my hard work was not in vain."
As the person leading and connecting this project, Jerry Bruckheimer was naturally very happy after hearing Robert Iger's words.
"Then how exactly should we cooperate? And which side will hold the leading position on this pirates of the caribbean project?" an executive asked.
Who would hold the leading position was a question many people cared about.
"Hahaha~"
Hearing this, Robert Iger laughed and waved his hand: "Does it really matter who holds the leading position?"
Does it not matter?
Everyone raised their eyebrows.
Robert Iger said loudly: "Page Pictures' production capabilities, Kyle Page's screenwriting ability, plus Jerry personally serving as the producer—the probability of this project's success is higher than 85%. In other words, Page Pictures is handing us a project that is highly likely to succeed, will not fail, and will make money. How can we refuse?"
"As for who holds the leading position, it is not important at all."
"Even if we are Disney, Page Pictures is developing quite well too. The pirates of the caribbean project is just the first step in our cooperation. Who knows, we might become good strategic partners in the future and have even more cooperation."
"This is definitely a win-win!"
After a pause, Robert Iger added: "Even if we don't make money on this project, we must cooperate with Page Pictures. This aligns with our major strategic guidelines."
Cooperate even if it doesn't make money?
The people present nodded one after another.
Why?
As one of The Big Six of Hollywood, Disney was naturally powerful, but... these past few years, Disney had not been doing well!
As the once World-famous princess animation, it marked the decline of Disney's traditional hand-drawn animation with the advent of 3D computer animation; The Lion King was the last glory.
Disney's animation was currently very sluggish and had lost the favor of the market.
Live-action films were even worse!
Losing money on 7 out of 10 films had almost become the norm for Disney in recent years.
Most importantly, the conflict between the Disney family members and Chairman Michael Eisner was almost out in the open, and the two sides were fighting tooth and nail, almost to the point of drawing weapons.
With such severe internal strife, Disney desperately needed partners.
"Page Pictures cooperating with us at this time is completely helping us out. I must facilitate this cooperation!"
Robert Iger said firmly.
However...
Things went wrong with Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, which was unexpected.
Michael Eisner: "Cooperation? Of course! But for the pirates of the caribbean project, Disney must hold the leading position, and furthermore, Page Pictures must transfer the copyright to us, Disney."
Upon hearing the news, Kyle was almost furious on the spot!
For the pirates of the caribbean project to be led by Disney, Kyle could concede on this point. After all, Disney's production capability was not bad; to be precise, it was at least stronger than Page Pictures.
Therefore, Kyle could concede on project leadership.
But... the film copyright? Sorry, as a transmigrator, Kyle was very clear about the influence and profitability of pirates of the caribbean.
Copyright—not an inch to be conceded.
If he conceded, Kyle would be a big fool.
Once conceded, even if the first film was a successful collaboration, for the subsequent sequels, according to the typical behavior of big companies, they would definitely kick Kyle out at the first opportunity. How could he endure that?
Consequently, Kyle endured his temper and engaged in subsequent negotiations with Disney.
January 16th, 2nd negotiation;
January 18th, 3rd negotiation;
...
January 23rd, 6th negotiation;
The final result, all ended in failure.
"Michael Eisner, does he take me for a sucker?"
Kyle said angrily: "I've seen people without sincerity, but I've never seen anyone bully people like this. Still want to cooperate? Cooperate my ass!"
"Calm down, Boss!" Mr.Bill advised.
The cooperation with Disney was proposed by Mr.Bill. He believed that after this cooperation started, it would remove external pressure for Page Pictures and Golden Dawn Entertainment Group and provide a few years of stable growth.
"I think there is no need for cooperation anymore."
The person who said this was none other than the vice president of Page Pictures, Kevin Feige.
Kyle immediately agreed strongly.
The other party was so aggressive that they had completely lost the stance for cooperation.
Mr.Bill was very distressed.
Kevin Feige added: "I haven't been idle lately. As far as I know, Chairman Michael Eisner hasn't had an easy time lately; he desperately needs achievements. At this time, we delivered ourselves to his doorstep. Logically, he should have agreed without hesitation, but... you have seen the result."
"He refused!"
"This shows that he considers a mere cooperation to be dispensable. He is very greedy and wants to take everything from pirates of the caribbean; only then can his appetite be slightly satisfied."
Hiss~
For a moment, both Kyle and Mr.Bill were shocked.
Mr.Bill said in astonishment: "I underestimated Eisner's greed. There is no need to cooperate now."
Kyle let out a hearty laugh, "If we don't cooperate, we don't cooperate. At worst, we'll do it ourselves."
The current Page Pictures and Golden Dawn Entertainment Group were far from Disney's tens of billions of dollars in scale, but Kyle had confidence—confidence to surpass Disney.
"The upcoming Dot-com Bubble, if everything goes smoothly, in a few years, I will be able to completely not fear Disney, and not even be afraid of any of The Big Six!" Kyle thought to himself.