The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1020 Iceberg Crisis
The atmosphere is a little tense.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the smell of gunpowder in the air was ignited, and without stopping, the situation entered a tense and close combat state.

Ian, "Everyone here knows exactly what happened with the delay at the beginning of the year. Anson took on another production when there was no progress in the negotiations. I don't think he can be blamed."

Michael didn't buy it either. "He was also responsible for the delay in the salary negotiations. Why can't we blame him?"

Ian, "Negotiations are supposed to be a back-and-forth process, with mutual evaluation and pushback. If you don't like it, you can just refuse to renew the contract. Renewing the contract means both parties have reached a consensus. It's really not gentlemanly to bring up the past because of an unexpected situation."

Michael leaned forward slightly, ready to respond, but was interrupted by another voice beside him, "I agree. I don't think Anson did anything wrong."

It was Amy Pascal, the other CEO of Sony Columbia Pictures, who spoke up.

Her shoulder-length, slightly curly golden hair made her look gentle and kind, but there was no smile on her thin, oval face. Instead, she looked fully alert, like a lioness guarding her cubs, with a hint of seriousness between her furrowed brows.

"Also, I believe Anson is the only one for Peter Parker, and I believe we completed an excellent negotiation to allow Anson to stay."

Amy is defending Anson.

Michael looked over, "The only one? No, in Hollywood, no one is the only one."

"We can replace Peter Parker at any time because the copyright is in our hands. Audiences go to the cinema because of Spider-Man, not because of Anson Wood. Even if we replace Peter Parker with an unknown person, the movie will still be successful."

"It's not us who need to thank Anson Wood, it's Anson Wood who needs to thank us for the opportunity we gave him."

Ha ha.

Michael chuckled and seemed at ease.

Amy's expression remained grim. "Warner Bros. thought so too. Look at the ending of 'Batman'."

Before Marvel Comics embarked on the road of film adaptation, DC Comics had a long history of film adaptation, and the iron triangle of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman also achieved many successes on the big screen.

In 1989, Tim Burton was the director and Michael Keaton played Batman. They worked together to complete the production of "Batman", and the film achieved unparalleled success. The two sides then collaborated on "Batman Returns". Although the box office figures were not as good as the previous work, it was still a beautiful success.

At that time, Tim Burton's dark and gloomy Gothic style was heavily criticized. Warner Bros. believed that this style was not suitable for the development of the family and children's market and would not help toy sales. After creative differences with Tim Burton, Warner Bros. kicked the director out.

After learning about this, Michael Keaton read the new script and the creative direction of Warner Bros. He chose to stand on the director's side and also left the crew. Warner Bros. began to reshuffle the entire project.

In 1995, "Batman Forever" was once again released, directed by Joel Schumacher and played by Val Kilmer as Batman. The box office of the movie was still a surprise, lower than "Batman" but higher than "Batman Returns". Most importantly, it won wide acclaim through word of mouth and was considered by professionals to be the best in the series.

During the preparation stage for the sequel, Joel Schumacher and Val Kilmer had a tense relationship. The director was dissatisfied with the actor's attitude, while the actor thought he was irreplaceable after his huge success. In the end, the conflict between the two sides was irreconcilable, so Warner Bros. chose the director, kicked out the actor, and re-selected Batman again.

Then, along comes George Clooney, the actor who won countless hearts for his role as the sexy doctor in the TV series "ER," who plays a major film role for the first time, donning the Batman cape and making a stunning appearance in the new film "Batman & Robin."

The result was a disastrous failure. The box office and word of mouth were completely thwarted, and Warner Bros. suffered heavy losses, and the reputation of the series was completely destroyed. Warner Bros. simply shelved the copyright of DC Comics and ignored it. Only then did Marvel come on the scene - "X-Men", "Spider-Man", "Hulk" and so on.

At the moment, Michael Lynton's idea coincides with that of Warner Bros., and Amy points this out to remind the other party of the fate of Warner Bros.

Michael disagreed, "No, Batman has been successful before, and Val Kilmer's version is the best, proving once again that no actor is irreplaceable."

Amy, “Yes, we succeeded and then failed, and then we kept messing around and completely destroyed the brand, so there was no point in continuing to manage it.”

Michael, "That's my point. We shouldn't put all our bets on Spider-Man. We should and need to open up the situation."

Amy, "But we have this opportunity right in front of us. Why should we ignore it and overturn the table?"

Michael, "Because Anson is the one who will cause us to fail. He is the one who hates the dinner table."

Amy, "You know that the accident was not Anson's fault. He was a victim. Before the accident, the crew's filming efficiency was excellent, far exceeding the expected filming schedule."

Michael shrugged slightly. "It's a shame that he can't continue, right? We have to face the consequences. You see, now we are stuck here."

"On the one hand, if we continue to delay, the cost will increase every day. We have already written a check of 180 million US dollars for the crew. Should we continue to increase it now? Amy, we are not pursuing 200 million US dollars to make a movie, right? Like 'Titanic'?"

Amy was about to fight back, but Michael didn't give her the chance.

"On the other hand, OK, we keep waiting, we give Anson a chance, but at what cost? Six weeks?"

Ian corrected, "Three to six weeks."

Michael shrugged lightly. "We have to prepare for the worst case scenario. That is, we may not be able to wait for a healthy Anson in six weeks. So, maybe eight weeks? That is two months."

"We have been delayed for five months - I don't care why or what the circumstances were," Michael noticed Ian's hesitation and stopped him this time, "The result is that the crew that was originally scheduled to start shooting in January dragged it to June, and now it has been delayed for another two months because of such a story, which is August."

"So, what situation do we face? You are all professionals here, so I don't need to explain it in detail, right? We hope that the film can catch up with the summer season next year, but the cost of these two months may make us miss the release date. In the worst case, it will be postponed to the summer season of 2005."

"Hey, this price may be another expense, and the cost of $200 million will not be enough by then."

"I know, I know. The first film was a huge success, but the second film must also reach that level to justify the $200 million cost. Otherwise, we might be dragged down by the Anson iceberg like the Titanic in real life."

"Anson was an accident, and so was Iceberg."

"I don't mean to condemn accidents, but the point is, we see the iceberg now, so are we prepared to avoid it?"

(End of this chapter)