Chapter 659: WALL-E

Ever since being acquired by Time Warner, Warner Brothers had released two animated features for Pixar Studio: Cars and Ratatouille.

The former received average reviews and its box office was nothing spectacular. The latter exploded with critical acclaim and performed significantly better at the box office.

However, everyone in Hollywood knew that an animated film's profitability never truly relied on the box office. Cars was the prime example. Released in the summer of 2006, the film grossed just over 400 million dollars worldwide, yet the revenue from peripheral toys and action figures alone had already surpassed 1 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, the critically acclaimed Ratatouille earned endless praise from the media, but its profitability was strictly average. It couldn't even compare to Pixar Studio's last film distributed by Walt Disney, The Incredibles, let alone Cars.

In the eyes of many purist veteran moviegoers, these animated features couldn't be viewed from such a commercial standpoint.

But Duke and Time Warner hadn't plotted to acquire Pixar Studio for critical acclaim, nor for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. They were only after commercial profit.

There was a time when Duke considered interfering with Pixar Studio's operations just to cancel the Robot WALL-E project.

Without a doubt, Robot WALL-E was Pixar Studio's most classic animated feature. Duke himself agreed, but the film's relatively highbrow themes and content weren't as welcomed by the broader market.

Originally, the film's box office had been decent, but its peripheral merchandise revenue was an absolute mess.

The vast majority of people willing to spend money on animated movie merchandise were minors. Yet the target audience for Robot WALL-E wasn't minors at all. Many adult viewers would happily pay for a movie ticket, but few were willing to open their wallets for the merchandise.

A good movie didn't necessarily guarantee high income.

However, Duke ultimately chose not to interfere with the Robot WALL-E project.

For one, he had initially promised Steve Jobs that he and Warner wouldn't interfere too much with Pixar Studio's operations. For another, the project had already started by the time Time Warner acquired Pixar Studio.

Of course, all of that meant nothing in the face of sufficient commercial interests.

Most importantly, while Robot WALL-E might not bring in the massive profits of Cars, it certainly wouldn't lose money either.

"Steve. Long time no see."

Stepping into the VIP lounge of the premiere theater, Duke found Steve Jobs and shook his hand. "You look a lot better."

Steve Jobs waved it off dismissively. "It's just a minor issue."

"We're close partners now. I don't want to see you run into any problems."

Even though it wasn't entirely appropriate, Duke still offered a reminder. "I think Western medicine is much more scientific."

"Perhaps," Jobs said, clearly not wanting to discuss the subject.

Duke sighed inwardly and dropped the matter. Strictly speaking, this bordered on personal belief. He would only offer a simple reminder; he wasn't foolish enough to try to persuade a man as stubborn as Steve Jobs.

If the man wouldn't even listen to his own family, how could he possibly listen to an outsider's advice?

Besides, even if something really did happen to Steve Jobs, Apple would keep moving forward. Even with countless people predicting its downfall, it would continue to prove its strength with solid performance.

Furthermore, if Jobs were gone, it would be much easier for Duke to intervene in Pixar Studio.

To be exact, whether Jobs was around or not didn't hold any particular significance for Duke anymore.

Given his personality, he naturally wasn't going to do anything thankless.

Even though the current Pixar Studio had been acquired by Time Warner, it was still, to some extent, Steve Jobs's personal kingdom.

Many members of the Time Warner board of directors, including Duke, were actually brewing plans to reform Pixar Studio's personnel, such as promoting Ed Catmull to head all of Warner's animation operations and appointing John Lasseter as the animation creative director for the entire group...

This was indeed a promotion, and both Ed Catmull and John Lasseter would wield even more power, but transferring them away would break up Pixar Studio's relatively independent status.

In truth, ever since Ratatouille and Robot WALL-E, both Time Warner and Duke had shared the same concern: they worried that Pixar Studio was wandering further and further down a highbrow path.

Following an introduction from Steve Jobs, Duke subsequently met Pixar Studio's famous Five Tiger Generals. They were arguably the most renowned directors in the animated film industry, and some of them, like Andrew Stanton and Brad Bird, even intended to branch out into live-action films.

Brad Bird was also one of the candidate directors for Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible 4.

"Hi, Duke."

A somewhat unfamiliar voice greeted him from the side. Duke quickly turned around and shook the extended hand. "Hello, Martin. I didn't expect to see you here."

He genuinely hadn't expected Martin Scorsese to attend a Pixar Studio movie premiere.

However, on second thought, Duke guessed the reason.

After Martin Scorsese parted ways with Michael Ovitz, the film he was using to push for Oscar Best Director this year, The Departed, was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers.

Duke assumed Martin Scorsese wanted to subtly bring up Oscar voting, but unexpectedly, what he brought up was entirely unrelated to the Oscars.

"Duke, regardless of everything, Michael and I are old friends," Martin Scorsese sighed, keeping his voice low. "You two have been entangled for so many years. There's really no need to..."

Duke roughly guessed what Martin Scorsese was going to say and raised a hand to cut him off. "Martin, the ones poaching the Artists Management Company's clients are ICM, CAA, and William Morris. It has nothing to do with me."

Saying this, he pointed to Leonardo DiCaprio, who had just walked in. "Sorry, I have business to discuss with Leo."

Let alone Martin Scorsese, even if Spielberg asked personally, Duke would never pass up the chance to dismantle Michael Ovitz.

And even if he did give up, would those three major talent agencies, having already poached plenty of high-quality clients from the Artists Management Company, give up the profits right at their fingertips?

Michael Ovitz had been riding high in this industry for far too many years. The number of people wanting to trample him completely underfoot was innumerable.

Even a lion eventually grows old. The Artists Management Company ultimately failed to become a second CAA, and after Michael Ovitz's packaged projects fell short of expectations one after another, he and his company inevitably faced a swarming slaughter by the established powers.

People as sentimental as Martin Scorsese were truly rare in this industry.

"How is it going?"

Walking over to Leonardo, Duke asked directly, "Is everything ready?"

"I've basically done all the prep work I can." Leonardo bumped fists with Duke and said, "First we have to ensure I secure a nomination. Right now, Matt Damon's side is building momentum. If he gets a nomination, my chances will shrink."

The odds of a single movie securing two Best Actor nominations were incredibly slim.

Leonardo seemed to lack confidence. "I'm considering whether I should pivot and aim for Best Supporting Actor instead."

"That's not a good idea," Duke said, shaking his head immediately. "You don't have any hope for Best Supporting Actor."

Death was far more powerful than any PR campaign or sympathy vote. Next year's Oscar for Best Supporting Actor could be considered an award with basically no suspense.

Duke lightly patted Leonardo's arm. "I'll fully support you."

"Thanks." Leonardo followed up with a joke. "It's a shame your influence inside the School is limited."

"Let's go. It's almost time for the screening."

The two of them walked toward the theater hall, Duke speaking as they moved. "It's true I can't influence the old men at the core of the School, but I still have a few votes in my hand."

People like Charles Roven, Robin Grande, John Schwartzman, and Anna Printz were now members of the School as well.

However, just as Leonardo had said, Duke and his team didn't place much importance on the Oscars, and their relationship with the School's core circle could only be described as very average.

In reality, Duke knew very well that Leonardo's chances of winning Best Actor were extremely low. Certain biases within the School often caused them to completely ignore the merits of those they discriminated against.

Once seated, Duke tossed the Oscars aside and focused on the upcoming screening of Robot WALL-E.

Although many details of the film had changed, it wasn't far off from what Duke remembered. The movie was truly brilliant, especially WALL-E's scenes on Earth, which were absolutely Oscar-caliber performances for an animated film.

But the film's problems were also glaringly obvious. Pixar Studio's animated features had never leaned much toward young children to begin with, and Robot WALL-E could be said to have completely broken away from the children's demographic. It was fundamentally an animated film made for adults.

No matter how mature the North America film market was, the largest audience demographic for animated films was ultimately minors, especially when it came to peripheral merchandise.

In its three-day opening weekend, this animated feature raked in 64 million dollars at the box office from nearly 4,000 theaters in North America. This result was absolutely dazzling. If one were to only look at the box office, Robot WALL-E was undoubtedly destined to be a massive hit.

However, when it came to the primary source of revenue for animated films, Robot WALL-E's performance was very average. While its peripheral merchandise wasn't completely ignored, sales were far below Warner's expectations.

Moreover, due to the film's highbrow themes, the animated feature's explosive word-of-mouth didn't translate into a stable box office trend. Its second-weekend box office plummeted by nearly fifty percent, bringing in just over 32 million dollars.

Based on the opening weekend box office and the stellar market reception, Robot WALL-E's final North America box office was bound to approach or even break the 300 million dollar mark. But projecting from the second-weekend drop-off, the film's final North America box office would likely sit around 220 million dollars.

With a mediocre response in the peripheral market and a North America box office that opened high but trended low, this animated feature, which carried a production cost of 180 million dollars, would inevitably have to rely on long-term operations to achieve profitability.