Chương 272: Chapter 272: Emperor Entertainment
In a private booth in a West Hollywood bar, Charles and the Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, whom he hadn't seen for months, were lounging on a sofa.
"Woody Allen already approached me. The story of Vicky Cristina Barcelona is pretty good. The Spanish vibe is different from the American one. Wanna experience it?" she asked.
The sexy Penelope Cruz had recently been promoting the movie Volver in North America, hoping to achieve success at the Oscars, especially with the endorsement of Cannes Film Festival awards.
"The Spanish vibe? Haven't I already felt it with you?" Charles said, caressing her. European women are indeed different from American ones.
Penelope Cruz leaned in and whispered in Charles' ear, "It's not the same - over there, it's got more history!"
Charles chuckled, nodding, "We'll talk about this later. Woody Allen's directing skills are quite good. His movies always have significant competition at award shows. Your Volver this year might get you an Oscar Best Actress nomination, but winning? That's tough."
Penelope Cruz laughed, "I know that. Even being nominated is already good. It's not easy to win an acting award at the Oscars."
Moreover, Penelope Cruz, being a Spanish-speaking foreign actress, had an even harder time.
After saying that, Penelope Cruz kissed Charles voluntarily. The blend of alcohol and hormones made everything smooth.
An hour later, the disheveled but still sexy Penelope Cruz stood up. "Should we head back?" she asked while complaining, "You messed up my hair!"
Charles got up and smiled, "Let's go back."
...
Meanwhile, in a private club in Hollywood, Donna Langley, president of Capet Pictures, was discussing a new theater screening agreement with Mike Campbell, chairman of Emperor Entertainment.
"Mike, you've seen how strong Capet Pictures is, right? Our North American box office this year will exceed $1 billion for sure. Even the big six studios can't guarantee such results!"
Emperor Entertainment's Emperor Cinemas is the largest cinema chain in North America. Mike Campbell looked at the confident Donna Langley and said, "We trust Capet Pictures' strength, but our main concern is the number of movies you're producing."
"You know, Capet Pictures is focusing on big-budget films, so we won't spend too many resources on mid-to-low-budget films," Donna Langley revealed her ambition.
Mike Campbell nodded and then asked, "Is Capet Pictures really not worried?"
Worried about what? Naturally, it was about the risk of losses from big-budget films.
"The supply chain, international markets, and film series IPs - Capet Entertainment is confident!" Donna Langley understood what Mike Campbell meant. However, Capet Entertainment intended to challenge the position of the big six.
"The chairman and CEO of Time Warner, Richard Parsons, is being pressured by shareholders led by Carl Icahn, and the successor, Jeffrey Bewkes, is ready to take over. Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer and President Jeff Robinov won't be immune to the impact."
Donna Langley pointed out the power struggle within Time Warner this year.
"New Viacom also replaced its CEO within six months. You know Sumner Redstone well - he's in his eighties but still crazy about power. This year, he's already sued his own son and brother.
As for Sony, their entire focus is on winning the high-definition DVD format war against HD-DVD.
20th Century Fox's X-Men series is reaching its finale this year.
Disney and Universal - one just acquired Pixar and the other was bought by General Electric."
Listening to Donna Langley, Mike Campbell was surprised. It seemed Capet Pictures could indeed compete with the big six studios in the film industry.
However, Capet Pictures still lacked a solid library of rights and overseas distribution channels. Additionally, the big six studios, as part of media conglomerates, had better risk resistance.
Capet Pictures aimed to gain support from major North American theater chains. Even if they couldn't be equal to the big six just yet, they shouldn't fall below the status of DreamWorks.
Mike Campbell looked at Donna Langley and asked, "Is Capet Pictures confident in its subsidiary, Marvel Studios?"
Mike Campbell had to take it seriously because if Marvel Studios succeeded, Capet Pictures would have a massive IP library to leverage.
Donna Langley smiled, took a sip of her coffee, and said, "Charles already had Kevin Feige finalize the creative team for Thor. It will start production next year and release in the summer of 2008."
Mike Campbell nodded, understanding now.
Capet Pictures had both confidence and the capital to develop on their own.
"I think we can sign a new theater screening agreement for next year," Mike Campbell said, standing up and shaking hands with Donna Langley.
"Pleasure doing business!" Donna Langley had secured the Carmike Cinemas deal and now Emperor Cinemas. Only the cinema chain AMC was left.
*****
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