America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 763 756: Passing the Buck, Continuing to Pass the Buck

On Monday morning, as the director and producer of the crew, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas invited Spielberg from DreamWorks and Bob from Paramount Pictures to a meeting at Warner Bros. Studios for the "Interstellar" project.

The Nolans had informed them in advance and also invited Martin to come.

Bob and Spielberg understood that Nolan was set on Martin, and that no one but Martin could be the male lead.

They all knew each other, Martin was just not very familiar with Bob.

"I watched 'Jack the Giant Slayer' with Martin last week, an extremely bad film—from the plot to the style to the characters, completely disjointed!"

In the conference room, Nolan glanced at Martin and said to Bob and Spielberg, "I think the root cause of the failure of this movie lies in Jon Berg's so-called genius, that near-insane so-called new production model."

Because of Jon Berg, Spielberg had also watched the movie and said, "Such a production model is too crazy, failure was inevitable."

Bob shook his head, "I don't understand what Jon Berg was thinking."

Nolan said, "What if Jon Berg interferes in our project in a similar manner?"

The expressions on Bob's and Spielberg's faces turned serious.

Martin had not yet officially joined the crew and remained silent, not saying much.

Nolan continued, "Since taking office, Jon Berg has botched a series of big-budget projects. For Warner Bros., movies that cost over 60 million US dollars over the past two years that succeeded were all sequels of blockbusters left over from his predecessor Ellen Horn, none of the big projects led by Jon Berg were successful."

Bob said, "But we have an investment agreement with Warner Bros., and they are not willing to give up."

Nolan's gaze fleetingly passed over Martin and he said, "We should take advantage of the failure of 'Jack the Giant Slayer' to push Jon Berg out!"

He went on to say, "We all have collaborations with Warner, and taking advantage of this opportunity, we can unite with other investors to pressure Warner Bros. to dismiss Jon Berg. I believe there is already turmoil within Warner."

Tired of being tormented by Jon Berg and his project being delayed because of personal grievances, Spielberg said, "We could try that."

Bob said, "Then let's try it."

"Jack the Giant Slayer," like most of Hollywood's big-budget films, was a typical mishmash project. Now that the project had failed miserably, the investors' anger needed an outlet.

After discussing for a while, Spielberg suddenly remembered something and asked Martin, "I heard from Warner an internal scoop that 'Jack the Giant Slayer' originated from you?"

"I did consider a fairy tale live-action movie project, and the studio even signed an agreement with Disney Studios to invest in a live-action 'Beauty and The Beast.'" Martin paved the way with the truth first, then half-truthfully replied, "Almost before Warner launched 'Jack the Giant Slayer,' I had researched these two fairy tales. I even had someone create a rough script. Later, when Warner Bros. started the project, I gave it up."

He shrugged, "I am unclear how the information got leaked, but with Warner Bros. investing heavily, it would have been troublesome for Davis Studio to do the same."

To Spielberg and Bob, however, this carried a different implication.

Warner Bros. somehow got wind of the project Martin wanted to initiate and then took action before him, resulting in today's disastrous failure.

As well as the previous "Gods of Egypt" and "Dark Places," rumored to have been taken away from Martin by Warner Bros.

Exchanging glances, Spielberg and Bob shared a similar thought: Projects favored by Martin Davis might be problematic.

What's real and what's not—who can tell?

They had kept tabs on Martin, but in the future... maybe they'd rather not.

Both Warner Bros. and Anna Purna Pictures served as a cautionary tale.

Martin stopped at the right moment. The two tycoons were savvy and would surely get the hint. This news would slowly spread, saving him a lot of trouble.

After all, he couldn't just keep stuffing flopped scripts into the office safe or fill his desk with books that had become box-office bombs, could he?

Martin convinced himself that the past events were coincidental, not intentional, definitely not intentional.

This brief meeting thus concluded, and Bob and Spielberg left one after the other.

Martin chatted with Nolan for a while longer before leaving as well.

At the entrance of Warner Bros. Studios, as he switched cars, he casually bought a few newspapers and turned to the entertainment section where the front page was covered with news about the box office failure of "Jack the Giant Slayer."

On the latest "People" magazine, there was no mercy in mocking Jon Berg.

"Under the leadership of Ellen Horn, Warner Bros. had achieved brilliant success in the first decade of this century but had to step down gloomily due to the failure of 'Terminator 4.' Her successor, Jon Berg, ambitiously aimed to take Warner Bros. to new heights."

"However, since Jon Berg's appointment, every big-budget production he championed—'Gods of Egypt,' 'Dark Places,' and 'Jack the Giant Slayer'—failed without exception. With 'Jack the Giant Slayer' he created a novel but laughable editing style that led to an unprecedented failure for Warner Bros."

......

In a small meeting room in the Warner Building,

Kevin Shiyuan sighed as he looked at his brother-in-law, Jon Berg, and Daniel, who was in charge of distribution, and asked yet again, "What's going on with this project?"

Jon Berg replied, "The distribution company had bad publicity, with negative reviews spreading all over the Internet, severely affecting the film's reputation, dragging down the box office!"

As expected, Jon Berg shifted the blame once more, "The promotional methods were too outdated. When the film encountered a public relations crisis, the distribution company did nothing, leading to the film's…"

"The negative reviews are because the movie quality is too poor!" Daniel couldn't possibly let the other party pin the blame on him, especially with a possible loss of up to 300 million US Dollars. The pot is too heavy; who can bear it?

He retorted, "'Jack the Giant Slayer' doesn't even have the most basic quality. Can promotional efforts reverse a downward trend? Word of mouth from viewers is built on the foundation of the film's quality!"

Jon Berg knew this blame was enough to completely crush a person and said, "There were serious mistakes at the distribution company; they didn't arrange a screening for 'Jack the Giant Slayer,' causing the production company to miss the final opportunity to seek opinions for revisions!"

Daniel snapped back, "It's clearly because you refused to let the film be screened, believing with full confidence that the release would be a surefire success."

He didn't just defend; he was also on the offensive, "If it weren't for your so-called modern editing technique, the film wouldn't be like this!"

Jon Berg said, "My editing method's concept is not flawed. Any new production method, from its emergence to maturity, requires a process, but your distribution…"

Kevin Tsujihara couldn't stand it anymore, "Enough, stop bickering."

Daniel and Jon Berg both shut their mouths.

Kevin Tsujihara continued, "You two go and get ready; the conglomerate meeting will discuss this matter in the afternoon."

Daniel rose and left the conference room.

But he took special care to have someone quietly observe for a while.

Sure enough, Jon Berg went into Kevin Tsujihara's office shortly after.

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Daniel felt a heaviness on his head, as though a dark, sticky substance had fastened onto it.

Jon Berg was Kevin Tsujihara's brother-in-law.

Daniel was very clear about this point.

Not long after returning to his office, Daniel started pondering his next move. 'Jack the Giant Slayer' had only released in North America for its opening weekend, but the loss was entirely predictable, and the deficit was tremendous; someone had to be held accountable.

Under normal circumstances, the primary responsible party would definitely be from the production company.

But now, the situation was abnormal.

The phone rang at that moment, and Daniel picked it up—it was a call from his old friend, Louise Mel, asking him to go out and chat.

Daniel only considered for a few seconds before agreeing.

Half an hour later, the two met in the tea area of Smoky House Restaurant.

Louise sipped a cup of tea and asked, "What's the matter, you seem troubled?"

Daniel said, "The latest big production release has been a bust."

Louise nodded slightly, "Do Kevin Tsujihara and Jon Berg want to pin the blame on you?"

Daniel gave her a look, "You're well-informed."

"I've been working with Warner for nearly twenty years," Louise said in an unhurried manner. "We've known each other for over a decade, yes?"

Daniel recalled, "It's been over a decade since I joined Warner."

Louise pushed up her black-rimmed glasses, "So, you don't want to leave Warner Bros."

Daniel sighed, "Some things are not a matter of what I want."

Louise said, "From what I've heard, Kevin Tsujihara and Jon Berg plan to pass the blame onto you, having you take the primary responsibility for the failure of 'Jack the Giant Slayer.'"

Daniel was not surprised by her words, so he chose to trust them, "The responsibility is not mine."

Louise spoke bluntly, "If you don't take action, the responsibility will be yours."

Daniel looked at Louise and asked, "Why the meeting today, do you have something to discuss?"

Louise said, "Right now in Hollywood, all the major companies are undergoing reforms. Many conglomerates are optimizing their industrial structures. Like Disney Studios, merging the distribution labels with production companies, with one person directly in charge."

She asked, "Daniel, don't you want control over both key businesses of distribution and production, like our old friend Ellen Horn?"

Daniel understood her implication, "You represent more than just Pacific Pictures, don't you?"

"Of course," Louise roughly explained, "Apart from my Pacific Pictures, there's also Martin Davis Studio, The Nolans' Syncopy Films, DreamWorks, Paramount, Castle Rock, and more. Over ten companies and investment funds that are currently cooperating or have cooperated with Warner and are victims of Jon Berg."

Daniel quickly caught on to the crucial point, "Seems like Warner Bros.' delay in payout has offended too many people."

Louise said, "Jon Berg diverted the payouts to 'Jack the Giant Slayer,' hoping that once this film released and became a hit, the box office returns would then be used to make the payments. Now, that plan has gone bankrupt."

Daniel said, "I'd be lucky if I can save myself."

Louise chuckled and shook her head, "We've known each other for over a decade; you have supporters at Time Warner's highest level."