Chapter 592: Severing a Hand

"Just last weekend, the new summer season in North America kicked off. Directed by the renowned Duke Rosenberg and built with a massive investment from Marvel Pictures and Warner Brothers, the gleaming Iron Armor shined with infinite brilliance over these short three days. While Iron Man received an unprecedented wave of critical acclaim, its box office also erupted like a volcano, blasting out an outstanding $113.35 million!"

"As other superheroes from the Marvel Comics Company leaped onto the big screen one after another, the household veteran hero Iron Man finally welcomed his own 'summer.' First appearing in Marvel Comics in April 1963, this character—following in the footsteps of his siblings Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, who had already flexed their muscles on the big screen, raking in box office receipts and bringing rolling wealth to major film studios—finally suited up for battle to open the 2006 summer season."

"North American fans have naturally been looking forward to this film for a long time. For the generation that grew up with Marvel Comics, who isn't familiar with this superhero who can soar into the sky, dive into the sea, fly at extreme speeds, and punish evil while upholding justice? Modeled after the legendary American entertainment tycoon Howard Hughes, this alternative superhero doesn't possess superpowers, but rather a superhuman mind. He can build sturdy, exquisite armor for himself, becoming invulnerable the moment he wears it—making him absolutely the most fiercely anticipated superhero by audiences this year."

"Therefore, for Iron Man's brand-new debut, Warner Brothers and Marvel Company naturally dared not slack off. Not only did they bring in Duke Rosenberg, Hollywood's most dominant and marketable director, to take the helm, but they also spared no expense, sinking $150 million to craft this hero's luxurious private life and dazzling Iron Armor."

"In terms of promotion, Warner Brothers went to great lengths. A $100 million promotional budget blanketed the world with posters, online ads, and television commercials. Major sponsors like Audi, 7-Eleven, Burger King, and LG aggressively beat the drums for it, and even the renowned cosmetics brand Estee Lauder joined this surging promotional war—after all, Scarlett Johansson isn't just the star of Iron Man; she is also Estee Lauder's spokesperson..."

"In the North American Region, Iron Man debuted in 3,900 theaters and collected an early $12.6 million from Thursday night's 8 PM advance screenings. Then, on its Friday premiere day, its box office soared to $37.41 million! Most exciting of all, Saturday's numbers rose once again, raking in $39.01 million! Finally, despite a slight drop on Sunday, it still pulled in $36.88 million."

"Ultimately, Iron Man effortlessly took the number one spot on the North American box office charts with an opening weekend total of $113.35 million!"

Setting down the newspaper in his hands, Michael Eisner pulled his eyes away from the previous week's box office report. He silently calculated in his head: including the $12.6 million from the advance screenings, Iron Man had taken $125.95 million from North America in its first week alone!

Such first-week box office figures could absolutely be described as a massive success.

Although no one had actually said anything to him, Michael Eisner was very clear on one thing. The troubles Iron Man encountered early on were inextricably linked to Dick Cook.

Of course, Cook had also been acting according to his veiled hints.

However, Michael Eisner felt faintly dissatisfied. It wasn't that he was unhappy with the methods Dick Cook had employed, but rather that despite so much work being done, the results were basically zero. If he hadn't used some of his own connections, it was hard to say whether the fire would have ultimately burned Walt Disney.

Even though they had successfully dodged the fire from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Disney failed to evade the counterattack from Warner and Duke Rosenberg. Even without any evidence, Michael Eisner was certain that Disney's troubles on the other side of the Pacific Ocean and with Customs were definitely connected to them.

Thinking of this, Michael Eisner rubbed the space between his brows. Disney was truly going through a troubled time right now.

Sighing softly, his gaze swept over Premiere's weekly box office report once more, and a thought involuntarily jumped into Michael Eisner's head. The series of events that occurred before Iron Man's release was simply a textbook marketing case study. It was said that this entire string of plans had originally been proposed by Duke Rosenberg.

Their stances were indeed different, but that didn't stop Michael Eisner from acknowledging it as an extremely brilliant marketing strategy, nor did it stop him from planning to have the people in Disney's marketing department study it carefully.

After all, learning from one of Hollywood's most successful directors was nothing to be ashamed of.

Given Michael Eisner's status and well-informed nature, he naturally knew that many companies in Hollywood had now started analyzing Iron Man.

What they were studying, of course, wasn't the film's content and structure, but the promotional plan proposed by Duke Rosenberg.

This was absolutely a publicity stunt comparable to The Blair Witch Project.

The intercom suddenly buzzed.

"Chairman, the meeting is about to begin," his assistant reminded him over the speaker.

"Understood."

Turning off the intercom, Michael Eisner left his office and walked into a conference room on the same floor. This was a routine board meeting for Disney. Those attending were not only the board members but also many senior executives from the conglomerate.

The meeting's topic was somewhat heavy, relating to the troubles Disney had encountered recently, and those with ulterior motives had dumped all these troubles squarely on the heads of Michael Eisner's faction.

Roy Disney, the man who had single-handedly brought Michael Eisner into Walt Disney back in the day, was already very old and his health was failing, yet he still sat in the conference room. His burning gaze remained fixed on Michael Eisner. Today's Walt Disney was indeed no longer the Disney family's Disney, but he would absolutely never let Disney change its surname to Eisner.

To this end, he was willing to support Robert Iger, and willing to cooperate with external forces, using them to thoroughly purge Michael Eisner and his horde of cronies from Disney.

Even though he sat in the conference room without saying a word, no one could ignore this final member of the Disney family within the conglomerate.

With Roy Disney present, Robert Iger's voice rang out even louder when he spoke.

"According to the news from the Far East branch, the Disneyland project could be terminated at any moment..."

Standing by the conference table, Robert Iger didn't even glance toward the chairman's seat as he relayed the latest situation. "The other party has already terminated negotiations with Disney. They could sign a contract with Time Warner and the News Group at any moment."

Quiet murmurs broke out across the conference room. Anyone who wasn't an idiot knew that for Disney, this already spelled failure.

The failure of the Disneyland project would inevitably bring a series of negative impacts on the company's efforts to open up new markets.

Robert Iger swept his eyes over each board member and executive. Slowing his speech, he said, "The Disneyland project held an absolute advantage in its early stages. For it to reach this point today, I believe someone must take responsibility for it."

"Someone should indeed take responsibility for this..."

"The person in charge of this sector should resign..."

Numerous voices of agreement echoed through the conference room, and quite a few pairs of eyes shifted toward Dick Cook, who had recently been promoted to the conglomerate's president.

The senior executive previously responsible for this project at the headquarters was none other than Dick Cook.

"The head of Disney's Far East branch has already submitted his resignation to me."

Although he didn't know the phrase "sacrificing the rook to save the king," the meaning behind Michael Eisner's words was exactly that. After all, Dick Cook was his right-hand man.

Michael Eisner still possessed a great deal of prestige within Disney. As soon as he spoke, the conference room gradually quieted down.

But Robert Iger wouldn't give up so easily. "There is one more thing. Ever since Customs intercepted Disney's products and opened a case, the sales volume for all the company's action figures and dolls has severely plummeted. Currently, Federal Customs and Border Protection has launched a targeted investigation."

His eyes shifted toward Dick Cook. "If I remember correctly, the contract for this batch of imported products was finalized by the president himself while in India last year."

"The contract went through a dual review by the conglomerate's legal department and the overseas development department," Dick Cook retorted. "This is a contract approved by the corporation. If there are problems with the products, that's an issue with the Indians!"

"At the time, India wasn't the only option for outsourcing; there were also China and Malaysia," Robert Iger pressed him step by step. "The reputation and product quality of those two were beyond anything the Indian manufacturers could compare to. Why did you choose the Indians?"

"I..."

Dick Cook was just about to say something, but was interrupted by Robert Iger, who stated, "I suggest the company launch an internal investigation into this incident."

"There is no need," Michael Eisner said casually. "The company's resources shouldn't be wasted on this sort of thing. How to handle fierce external competition and ensure the market share of Disney's various products is what we should be focusing on the most."

"I would like to remind the chairman of something," Robert Iger spoke up again. "Customs and Border Protection is keeping a close eye on Disney, and Disney's stock price is steadily falling under the impact of this incident. Many shareholders have already called to express their severe dissatisfaction, and the board of directors must give the shareholders an explanation."

Michael Eisner's expression as he looked at Dick Cook was somewhat grim. When it came down to it, the shares he held were limited. If over forty percent of Disney's voting shares cast a vote of no confidence against him at the general shareholder meeting, according to Disney's regulations, he would be forced to step down and hand over his power.

This was a situation Michael Eisner had constantly been trying to avoid. Even a tyrant of Disney like him needed to vie for the shareholders' support.

Without a doubt, a chairman who allowed the stock price to continually plummet could not possibly secure the support of the majority of the shareholders.

At that moment, Roy Disney suddenly spoke up. "At this year's general shareholder meeting, I will be submitting a motion regarding the Disneyland failure and the customs incident."

Robert Iger shot Dick Cook one last glance and sat back down in his seat. The words Duke Rosenberg had spoken during their meeting last Saturday made a great deal of sense in hindsight. To topple Michael Eisner and take his position, the first thing he needed to do was sever the hand Eisner used to control Disney.

And that hand was named Dick Cook.