Chapter 594: The 20 Million Dollar Threshold

Charles watched his mother leave the hotel and then headed to the lobby, where he bumped into Viacom Chairman Philippe Dauman.

"Good afternoon, Philippe," Charles said warmly as he shook hands with Philippe Dauman.

"Charles, congratulations! Capet Illumination Studio is really a success," Philippe replied, though he was secretly jealous. It was impressive enough that Capet had the edge in live-action films, but now Capet Universal even had a 3D animation studio.

"Is it really the next Blue Sky Studios?" Philippe wondered internally.

"Not bad, the goal of our Illumination Studio is precisely to target Blue Sky," Charles smiled.

"Oh, by the way, how's Mr. Sumner Redstone's health?" he asked.

Philippe nodded. "Mr. Redstone is doing well; he can now walk around!"

"Well, that's good to hear. Please send my regards to him when you have the time," Charles said, patting Philippe on the shoulder. "I heard Paramount is facing quite a few challenges. Congratulations on your collaboration with Relativity Media!"

After losing Steven Spielberg, Paramount's struggles in live-action films intensified, with sustained operations mainly reliant on DreamWorks Animation's distribution commissions.

After some investment funds pulled out, they had to rely on David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, but David only invested in a few commercial blockbusters.

Paramount's fantasy blockbuster based on comics, The Last Airbender, had a production cost of 150 million, but it only grossed a 130 million in North America and only 320 million worldwide!

With Universal cutting several collaborative projects, Paramount had opportunities to partner with Relativity Media, usually collaborating with Sony and Universal.

Philippe Dauman had nothing more to say in response to Charles' teasing. Everyone in Hollywood knew about the feud between Charles Capet and Sumner Redstone.

However, the current situation was that Sumner Redstone was no longer a match for Charles Capet - one side was thriving while the other side was antiquated and decaying.

"Charles, whether it's CBS or Viacom, Ms. Shari Redstone's position is still significant," Philippe explained.

Charles smiled. "Shari Redstone? As long as she doesn't become a roadblock for me in the future, that's fine!"

Watching Charles leave, Philippe sighed inwardly. Would Hollywood really be led by this young man who wasn't even 30 yet?

...

Later, Charles returned to his coastal villa in Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, with Scarlett Johansson, who had just returned from Atlanta.

Scarlett Johansson was as sexy as ever, especially after her role as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, which had significantly boosted her fame.

On the couch, Charles held Scarlett Johansson tightly in his arms, the post-workout pheromones thick in the air.

"Sweetie, you're definitely going to be a global sensation after The Avengers releases," Charles said while playing with her 32D curves.

Scarlett, straddling Charles, her clothes slipping off, still flushed, with lingering warmth on her face, lightly bit Charles' shoulder and said, "Black Widow's stunts were no joke. I trained for a long time to nail those moves."

"With your great figure and moves, The Avengers will surely smash box office records and become one of Marvel's top-grossing movies!"

"No doubt about that. With two Iron Man movies and two Thor movies, plus Captain America: The First Avenger releasing at the end of the year, next year's The Avengers is bound to cause a sensation," Charles said as he ran his hand through her red hair. "You look pretty with red hair too!"

Scarlett had dyed her hair red specifically for her role as Black Widow.

The woman, however, seemed a bit exhausted and said, "Next time, you should call others in; I feel like I can't satisfy you on my own!"

Charles smiled, rubbing her delicate shoulders. "Eva Green seems to be in Los Angeles; we can call her over then."

"The Avengers will probably finish filming in September, and the post-production effects might take until April next year to complete," Scarlett said, looking at Charles. "We'll both have to cooperate with the post-production and promotional work. Isn't Marvel's contract too strict?"

Charles shook his head. "Not really. Just look at Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Mark Ruffalo; aren't they all super famous because of Marvel movies?

Robert Downey Jr. is getting over $15 million for The Avengers; do you think he's happy?

Chris Hemsworth, just a small-time actor from Australia, is now making over $8 million. Do you think he's willing?"

Scarlett nodded. "You've got a point. My pay has also increased. Though it's not as high as the Marvel movies, it has definitely added a lot of commercial success motivation!"

"That's why you see that the commercial films like Mamma Mia!, Iron Man 2, and The Avengers you've been in are doing much better than the series of art films you did before, right?" Charles said, patting her as Scarlett Johansson got up and sat next to him.

Lighting a cigarette, Charles leaned back on the couch. "The pursuit of commercial value is certainly better than art's."

"Sony's action spy movie Salt, which is a blockbuster with a production cost of $110 million, earned Angelina Jolie the highest fee of $20 million for a female star!"

Angelina Jolie's salary was $10 million for Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and then she got $15 million for Wanted and Changeling. The success of Wanted directly led to the action film Salt being offered the highest fee of $20 million. Even her role in this year's upcoming drama film The Tourist with Johnny Depp fetched $15 million.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, Hollywood had been cutting down on star fees due to reduced external funding and DVD revenue, so Hollywood needed to cut costs too.

A $20 million upfront fee was now the ceiling for top stars, unless they were indispensable leads in a series with profit sharing, or they were heavyweight stars participating as producers to surpass the $20 million threshold.

"You'll also be making $20 million someday," Charles said as Scarlett took the cigarette from his hand and took a puff.

"For sure!" Scarlett replied confidently.

*****

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