I am Hollywood

Chapter 425: Chapter 426: It's Time to Make a Move



[Chapter 426: It's Time to Make a Move]

Although Eric wasn't in Los Angeles, Toy Story began a small-scale release during internal test screenings for Cutthroat Island after a lengthy promotional period. The innovative 3D animation form, its heartwarming and humorous storyline, and its fable-like plot quickly generated massive buzz in the media.

"Unlike Disney's traditional fairytales about princes and princesses, this film tells a story about friendship, trust, and the search for belonging from the perspective of toys."

"This is a fable aimed at adults, with elements of both heroism and anti-heroism as its main pillars. The bustling collective family dynamic always elevates so many touching moments. Buzz and Woody's grand aspirations and genuine sincerity reflect our own. A touch of dark humor doesn't diminish the beauty worth believing in."

"The brand new animated film format, Pixar's 3D technology, is undoubtedly set to revolutionize hand-drawn animation as we know it."

In just one week, the small-scale release achieved nearly the total impact of all prior promotions. The overwhelmingly positive media response bolstered the publicity department's confidence, prompting Michael Lynn to discuss with Eric over the phone and increase Toy Story's publicity budget by another $10 million, making its total production and marketing costs soar to $70 million, a blockbuster-level budget.

However, Eric knew that as long as Toy Story could establish the status of 3D animation in Hollywood, the $70 million investment would be worth every penny. Moreover, according to memory, he was confident about recouping Toy Story's total costs just from its North American release, and subsequent distribution channels were bound to generate substantial profit.

Most importantly, prior to all this, Pixar had already registered trademarks for all the toys featured in the animated film. Eric was fully aware that the profits from licensing Toy Story's animated characters would undoubtedly rival the box office revenues.

...

Compared to the grand promotional push for Toy Story, the test screenings for Cutthroat Island seemed quite understated.

After internal screenings, Disney had little confidence in this film but didn't entertain thoughts of it being a box office failure. Although Disney cited the need for further detail modifications as a reason to refrain from broader test screenings, it maintained a relentless commitment to television promos, billboard posters, and other marketing strategies.

Michael Eisner seemed to believe that insufficient quality could be redeemed through increased promotion. He not only refused to cut the promotional budget for Cutthroat Island, but he also suggested raising it. As a major investor, Robert Shea realized that he would likely face substantial losses from Cutthroat Island. Having endured Hollywood for many years, he sensed that if the movie flopped, Disney would surely find ways to shift the blame for their financial losses onto him. Thus, he refused to shell out another dime and even had a heated argument with Michael Eisner.

The push to increase the promotional budget came from Eisner, but he was determined that Disney wouldn't bear the expense alone, leveraging the terms of their contract to compel Robert Shea to contribute financially based on his investment ratio. Shea reluctantly swallowed his pride, knowing that refusing to pay now would give Disney all the more reason to blame him for any box office failures.

According to Disney's projections, considering Cutthroat Island was packaged as a Hollywood blockbuster with over $100 million in investments, even if the plot was... well, let's be honest, a bit scattered, Hollywood had seen untidy plots go on to rake in millions before. So, Disney optimistically anticipated that Cutthroat Island could at least gross $80 million, with overseas revenues expected to meet that figure as well. After two critical revenue sources, even if losses were incurred, they believed that recouping costs within two years from video sales and TV broadcast rights would be an absolute certainty.

Even as Toy Story gained incredible acclaim, Disney sensed its monopolistic status in Hollywood animation might be under threat. However, since Toy Story and Cutthroat Island catered to completely different audiences, they didn't feel particularly pressured.

...

Entering late June, the summer box office of 1991 had already been underway for a month, initially kicked off by Fox's release of the sequel to Hot Shots! at the end of May. The previous year, the first Hot Shots! had garnered nearly $200 million worldwide on a $20 million investment, outperforming last year's Fox hit, Die Hard 2, which made Fox eager to greenlight the sequel.

Yet, after last time Eric had earned a 30% investment by selecting the script, resulting in $8 million netting about $50 million in profit for him, Fox decided to handle the sequel differently. Fox turned a blind eye to the matter, with no mention made of Eric's involvement, and Eric, swamped with work, didn't focus on any specific agreements.

Having previously parodied Top Gun, the sequel maintained its comedic style by spoofing Sylvester Stallone's First Blood. Unfortunately, Fox bungled the follow-up. Even though the sequel's absurdity surpassed the original and the budget ballooned to $40 million, for some reason, audiences just weren't buying it.

From late May to late June, during its three weeks in 2,100 theaters, Hot Shots! sequel only managed to gross $28 million, solidifying its failure. The success of a film is always a reason to celebrate, but the shocking reality was that this sequel had flopped terribly. As a result, numerous shareholders wrote to the Fox board, condemning management for sidelining Eric and mishandling the Hot Shots! sequel, which laid waste to what should have been a promising franchise.

Not just Hot Shots!, throughout the past month of summer, other films from various studios also flopped, normally flashy box office numbers were lacking. Typically, by this time of year, North America's weekly total should have surpassed $100 million, but leading up to Toy Story's debut, weekly earnings hovered just above $80 million. Everyone knew the reasons behind the downturn.

...

On June 21, after weeks of massive promotional efforts and accumulating positive reviews, Toy Story finally premiered in 2,400 North American theaters. Before this, Toy Story had already garnered over $1.5 million in ticket sales from its limited release. Although that figure seemed rather modest, averaging successful per-theater earnings of over $50,000 with under 30 theaters showing it.

With no competition during this summer slate, Toy Story earned $30 million on its opening weekend. A week later, its earnings soared to $47 million, easily surpassing its production costs.

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s the first 3D animated film, Toy Story achieved such astounding making waves in Hollywood and around the world. The previously underappreciated Pixar studio quickly became the focus of Hollywood attention. Many industry magazines estimated that the studio could be valued at over $1 billion if it decided to go public.

Media outlets soon unearthed that Eric had originally purchased Pixar from Steve Jobs for $20 million. At the time, Jobs was still struggling to keep his computer company afloat. When approached by reporters asking for his thoughts, Jobs remained tight-lipped, seemingly

unperturbed by the unfolding events.

However, privately, Jobs quickly picked up the phone to call Eric, offering his congratulations and seizing the opportunity to request a lucrative order from him.

After Toy Story, Pixar would certainly need to expand again. With Jobs's computer company producing professional-grade computers, upon hearing his request, Eric happily agreed without hesitation. He thought of it as a chance to build a connection with Apple moving forward, even if he was doubtful that someone like Jobs would reciprocate this investment. Eric, who had no intentions of letting Apple slip by, decided that intervening wasn't yet the right time, as he lacked the necessary funds or energy for such a venture.

...

A week after Toy Story's release, on June 28, Cutthroat Island also premiered in 2,500 North American theaters with great fanfare following a massive opening night. In contrast to Toy Story's rising popularity from its initial screenings, Cutthroat Island, despite having invested $35 million in promotional materials across multiple channels, only held a few open test screenings invite-only for friendly media and critics.

After gaining benefits from Disney, those invited had no intention of trashing Cutthroat Island, yet they also weren't about to lavish praise on the film, knowing it could backfire later. As a result, reviews in newspapers primarily focused on the film's grand visuals and picturesque scenes, while discussions about the plot were notably sparse, with few willing to engage in that conversation.

While news of Terminator 2's $100 million investment spread first, Cutthroat Island was, in fact, the first Hollywood blockbuster to hit theaters with a budget over $100 million. Thus, on opening day, fans brimming with high expectations filled the cinemas, and Cutthroat Island raked in $9 million on its first day.

However, things took a swift downward turn. Once the film released, Disney could no longer control the narrative surrounding Cutthroat Island. The following day, media coverage turned sharply negative, with many respected critics candidly stating that Cutthroat Island was merely "expensive visual trash" made by pouring $100 million into a chaotic production. Audience members interviewed after watching the film expressed extreme disappointment, labeling it as a disjointed comic strip void of any coherent storyline.

Having evolved over nearly a century, North America's film industry had become highly accessible, with low-priced tickets making movies a popular form of entertainment. With so many options available, it meant that there was little space for bad films in this mature

market.

As a result of all this, Cutthroat Island's earnings on its second day plummeted to just over $5 million, and then fell again on the third day to only $3 million.

During its opening weekend, Cutthroat Island achieved $17 million at the box office, but if one ignored the trends, that number didn't seem too bleak.

But three days later, Cutthroat Island's attendance shrank to the almost mandatory minimum for a cinema to keep showing it. After the first week, Cutthroat Island managed to accumulate a total box office of $20 million, meaning it only brought in a paltry $3 million over four weekdays. In its second week, over 1,000 theaters took the now-empty film off the marquee, and the remaining 1,500 found themselves clinging stubbornly to the end of their contracts with Disney, left to lament their unfortunate situation.

Whether due to Cutthroat Island's poor quality or promotional strategies that inadvertently stirred audience defiance against it, the film's plummeting reputation and earnings contrasted sharply with Toy Story's fortunes. As Toy Story entered its second week, its earnings not only remained stable but increased further, netting over $49 million by the end of the second week. Even if it benefited from a lack of major competition, achieving nearly $100 million in just two weeks sent shockwaves through the industry.

...

Terminator 2 had also been marketing itself with a hype around its over $100 million budget. This time, fans seemed cautious. Therefore, on July 3, Terminator 2's opening day yielded only $8 million, but the meticulously crafted suspenseful plot combined with the allure of the liquid metal robot soon won critical acclaim. After its opening day earnings, the next two days earned $14 million and $11 million respectively, wrapping up the weekend with a total of $33 million, surpassing Toy Story's initial figures.

Conversely, during its second week, Cutthroat Island only managed to scrape up over $5 million before plummeting into obscurity. Over its two-week run, it managed to earn $25 million against a staggering $140 million budget, leading to overwhelmingly negative reviews which dashed any hopes for overseas earnings. Its prospects for home video and television broadcast revenues were also nearly nonexistent. As a result, Disney and Robert Shea found themselves jointly facing a staggering loss of $120 million.

*****

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