Chapter 477: The Jobs of the Film Industry

Late at night, Gibson and a few friends left the theater and stepped onto the street. If not for the bright streetlamps and surrounding modern buildings, a glance at their outfits might make one think they had crossed into a strange world.

Before leaving the theater, they hadn't just gone on a shopping spree at the merchandise stand—they had also put on many of the items they bought.

Take Gibson, for instance. He wore a pointed gray wizard hat, gripped a rustic wooden staff, and draped a gray robe over his body. At first glance, it looked as if Gandalf had descended upon the North American Continent.

His companions were no better. One carried Legolas's shortbow, another clutched Aragorn's longsword, and most extravagant of all was a girl wearing Arwen's velvet dress...

"What a pity."

The girl, named Rosie, seemed a little dissatisfied. She complained to her companions, "The theater's merchandise stand didn't have the limited-edition The Lord of the Rings jewelry for sale. I saved up a year's worth of allowance just to buy a set, and they sold out completely."

"Rosie, you're a rich woman now!" Gibson joked, then added seriously, "That set costs 3,999 dollars!"

"I want to buy it!" Rosie said nonchalantly. "I'm willing to spend all my allowance on this movie. I don't even care if I max out my credit cards!"

A few of them jeered.

Rosie glared at them. "Don't just talk about me. Since The Lord of the Rings premiered, which one of you has spent less than 3,000 dollars on merchandise?"

Gibson and the others sheepishly scratched their cheeks. Never mind the past—tonight alone, they had each dropped over three hundred dollars.

"Enough about that." Gibson slightly quickened his pace. "Watching Return of the King made me think of the first two movies again. Let's hurry back and watch the DVDs."

"I agree!" Rosie was the first to chime in.

The others quickly agreed. Their pace grew faster and faster until they vanished into the New York streets.

For many moviegoers across the United States and the world, this was an exciting weekend, a blissful weekend.

But no matter how long a weekend felt, it still had to end.

The sun once again illuminated the West Coast. Inside a small conference room at Pixar Studio in Emeryville, Steve Jobs finished a glass of water. Without looking at Ed Catmull, who was preparing documents beside him, Jobs picked up a few newspapers from the table and began flipping through them.

He skimmed the politics and technology sections; there was no news of note. Then he turned to the entertainment section. Just as expected, the entertainment pages were practically flooded with reports on Return of the King.

Following his usual habit, Steve Jobs set aside the front-page headlines and turned to the inner pages to gauge the market's reaction. It was exactly how he treated Apple products—whether a computer, a media player, or an audiovisual product like a movie. He prioritized the user experience above all else.

Although the user feedback printed in newspapers might not be entirely genuine, it always reflected certain underlying truths.

"Because I watched The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I am willing to believe that in this world, at some time, in some place, there truly is a land called Middle-earth. A land where blue-eyed hobbits walk barefoot, where a dust-covered royal descendant rides with sword in hand, where an Elf Prince with flowing silver hair draws his bow, and where a white-robed wizard rides a white horse to cast spells and banish evil. That The Shire, Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor all genuinely existed beneath the sky."

"2001, 2002, 2003. Three years of deep emotional investment, nearly nine hours of shared sorrow and joy. Whenever a scene that looked like the ending appeared, fear would rise in my heart, terrified that it truly was the end! Only when Frodo closed the parchment book did I finally feel that a long-held yearning had been fulfilled. My heart was at peace, yet swelled with a profound sense of melancholy."

"I saw it in the theater: after Return of the King finished, a fan stood up with tears in his eyes and bowed deeply to the silver screen, surrounded by everyone's astonished gazes. That is because this is not just a movie. It makes people believe in everything that happens within it. In an era that no longer believes in dreams, Duke Rosenberg has woven a magnificent dream for us!"

Reading up to this point, Steve Jobs looked up and asked Ed Catmull, "Have you seen Return of the King yet?"

The CEO of Pixar Studio temporarily set aside his work, pushed up his glasses, and said, "I saw it on Friday. It's a masterpiece, fully deserving of the word 'great'! Duke Rosenberg's talent in film is truly unparalleled!"

He turned toward John Lasseter and the others. "John and the rest went to see it twice."

John Lasseter shrugged. "This movie is more than just great. A lot of the practical techniques Duke Rosenberg used gave me quite a bit of inspiration. I think some of the things he employed could be directly applied to our animation production and provide a lot of help."

"After watching The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it's impossible not to admire Duke Rosenberg."

As the director of Pixar Studio's upcoming animated film, Andrew Stanton said with relief, "Disney hasn't lost its mind. The release date for Finding Nemo is far enough away from Return of the King."

"Michael Eisner hasn't been infected by that idiot Michael Ovitz yet," John Lasseter said. He looked at Jobs and asked, "Steve, are the opening weekend box office numbers out?"

"They should be tallied." Jobs flipped the newspaper to the front page of the entertainment section, looked at the exceptionally prominent figures, and said, "It pulled in 42.11 million dollars on Sunday!"

"42.11 million dollars!" John Lasseter hadn't merely watched the movie twice; he was clearly a fan of the series. His lips moved as he immediately started calculating. "Friday was 40.35 million, Saturday was 44.21 million, plus Sunday's 42.11 million. The three-day opening weekend is..."

Jobs cut in directly, "126.67 million dollars! A new North American weekend box office record!"

John Lasseter added right after him, "Counting the advance screenings, Return of the King's North American box office has already surpassed 130 million dollars... Right, it's 133.28 million dollars!"

Ed Catmull and Andrew Stanton glanced at each other, both revealing helpless smiles. Duke Rosenberg was as formidable as ever in the Summer Season!

Setting down the newspaper, Steve Jobs found himself thinking of that young director who always seemed so unflappable. A rare surge of admiration welled up within him. Although their commercial ties meant they were destined never to be friends, he respected anyone with true capability. Without a doubt, the guy named Duke Rosenberg was a titan in his industry.

In fact, Jobs felt that Duke Rosenberg was to the film industry what he himself was to the computer industry—absolutely among the most outstanding of their kind!

With Brad Bird and the others arriving, the top brass of Pixar Studio were finally all present, and the meeting officially began.

"Ed," Jobs prompted directly. "Tell us about your contact with Warner Brothers and Duke Studio."

"I've spoken with Duke Rosenberg's senior assistant, Tina Fey, and the Warner Brothers representatives four times over the past month."

In this dynamic and highly creative company, the atmosphere remained unconstrained even in meetings involving Jobs. Ed Catmull didn't speak too quickly, striving to be as concise as possible. "I can sense Duke and Warner's sincerity. They really want Pixar to join the Warner system, and the terms they've offered are far more generous than those from Disney and Michael Eisner."

"The specific clauses are in the documents in front of you." Ed Catmull sighed softly. "It is indeed very tempting."

"And Disney?" Jobs asked.

"They've made certain concessions." Ed Catmull shook his head. "They agreed to give up another thirty percent of the box office revenue."

"I don't want box office revenue!"

Jobs knew perfectly well where the real profit points of animated films lay. "They're still refusing to budge on merchandise?"

"Yes."

Hearing Ed Catmull's response, Jobs considered it for a moment before saying slowly, "Let the negotiations with both sides drag on. We're in no rush. Pixar has plenty of capital right now, and Pixar can change the entire landscape of Hollywood!"

Pixar Studio and Walt Disney still had a contract for one more animated feature film to fulfill, so there was no need to hurry the negotiations. Jobs was still observing; he wanted the most advantageous outcome for Pixar and for him, Steve Jobs!

This closed-door meeting didn't fully conclude until the afternoon. Afterward, Steve Jobs left Pixar Studio and caught a flight to Los Angeles to attend a reception hosted by Sony Entertainment.

Before walking into the banquet, Jobs received another data report from his secretary. Seeing the even more terrifying numbers on it, the thought flared up in his mind once again: Duke Rosenberg was simply the Steve Jobs of the film industry.

Jobs was somewhat of a disciple of the late Akio Morita, which was the main reason he had accepted the invitation to the reception.

But Sony Entertainment evidently hadn't invited him over for that reason. Their representative soon sought him out.

"Steve, any interest in partnering with Sony Entertainment?"

The man standing before Jobs was none other than Michael Ovitz, the very man who had helped Sony acquire Columbia Pictures. He was clearly acting as a broker once again. "Sony very much wants to collaborate with Pixar Studio."

"Sony Entertainment?"

For someone like Jobs, there was no need for excessive tact. He shook his head bluntly. "Sony Entertainment isn't worthy of Pixar Studio!"

Pixar Studio did indeed need a massive media platform to truly shine, but among the Big Six Hollywood Companies, Sony Entertainment ranked dead last. For a highly sought-after commodity like Pixar Studio, Sony Entertainment really wasn't worthy!

Michael Ovitz understood what kind of person Jobs was to some extent, so he wasn't bothered. He pressed on, "Steve, I guarantee—"

"You guarantee?"

Before Ovitz could finish speaking, Jobs interrupted him. "Is your guarantee trustworthy?"