Chapter 408: Steven Spielberg

Los Angeles, Hollywood, Universal City.

Steven Spielberg sat in his luxurious office, frowning. DreamWorks had left Paramount with the support of Reliance Entertainment, but the new distribution contract was still under negotiation.

DreamWorks President Stacey Snider walked into the luxurious office, "Steven, Universal thinks our demands are too high!"

"Sigh," Steven Spielberg took off his glasses and wiped them, "It seems my value in their eyes isn't that high."

Stacey Snider sat on the sofa. This luxurious office was specially renovated by Universal with a huge investment during the period when Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures had a seamless cooperation.

Even after founding DreamWorks, Steven Spielberg continued to work here instead of moving to the DreamWorks headquarters.

As a result, DreamWorks had to bear the high rent of Steven Spielberg's office every year.

"Stacey, what do you think?"

As the former president of Universal Pictures who joined Paramount with DreamWorks and now left Paramount with DreamWorks, Steven Spielberg held Stacey Snider in high regard.

"Disney has the best conditions. You know that Jerry Bruckheimer alone can't support a major film group. Disney's live-action films, apart from the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and the two National Treasure movies, don't have good IPs.

Now that these two series have temporarily ended, their expensive development of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian didn't meet expectations either in terms of reputation or box office."

Stacey Snider pointed out that Disney's current situation was indeed not good, "As for 20th Century Fox, they don't have high expectations from us."

Stacey Snider's point was clear: the two companies that could potentially reach an agreement now were Universal and Disney.

Universal Pictures was Steven Spielberg's old employer, definitely willing to host DreamWorks, but now it was being run by General Electric, so they wouldn't hurt their interests because of old friendships.

Disney's live-action films were in decline, urgently needing key figures to inject new blood.

"I'll think about it," Spielberg hoped to cooperate with Universal Pictures from any perspective.

Publicly, his relationship with Universal Pictures was unbreakable. Privately, everyone knew of his old friend Jeffrey Katzenberg's poor past with Disney.

Stacey Snider sighed, pulling out a newspaper and handing it to Steven Spielberg, explaining, "This is Charles Capet's recent evaluation of DreamWorks during an interview!"

Steven Spielberg picked up the newspaper and his face grew increasingly grim as he read.

Charles Capet's evaluation was essentially a sign of his lack of confidence in them, similar to what Viacom's chairman Philip Dauman had said.

It was clear that DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg were now looked down upon by the two big movie groups, not to mention the lack of interest from Warner Bros and Sony Columbia.

DreamWorks didn't have many options left, "Let them say whatever they want. Since that's the case, let's directly contact Disney."

Universal was so confident they wouldn't improve their terms, and if Disney wasn't interested, the conditions would be worse.

The current DreamWorks was not what it used to be. After buying back their freedom from Paramount, aside from retaining most of the staff, the new DreamWorks had no assets left.

Their former rights library had long been mortgaged, and Paramount still held the distribution rights.

The films discussed during their years with Paramount were still led by Paramount, and the new DreamWorks only had participation rights.

"If we had obtained the rights to the Transformers remake back then, we wouldn't be in this mess now. We gave up everything when we left Paramount," Spielberg had no cards to play, aside from letting Paramount select the film and TV projects he led.

Stacey Snider comforted, "Capital seeks profit. The return rate on Capet Pictures' movies is now the highest in all of Hollywood. Charles Capet is almost the idol of all Hollywood now. His evaluation has a huge impact on investors!"

This was Stacey Snider's concern. Steven Spielberg was truly excellent.

But the result? Hollywood's three main moguls - friends, resources, and credentials - created DreamWorks that ultimately fell apart, like a stray dog.

Meanwhile, Capet Pictures, which had nothing, became one of Hollywood's seven major film groups worth over a 13 billion dollars in just seven years.

"Is Charles Capet really that great?" Spielberg put down the newspaper.

Stacey Snider nodded, "He initially collaborated with Universal. When developing The Departed, he completely rejected Martin Scorsese's plan. The director was replaced by Ridley Scott. One of the male leads was replaced by Brad Pitt instead of Leonardo DiCaprio, and the other one was switched from Matt Damon to Christian Bale. And you saw the results. Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Batman Begins boosted the profiles of both male leads enormously."

"The Departed achieved both critical and box office success. Ridley Scott was flexible, unlike Martin Scorsese. The movie budget dropped from a hundred million dollars to 80 million dollars."

Spielberg was surprised, "You didn't object at the time?"

Stacey Snider gave a wry smile, "Of course I objected, but he was very persistent. If we didn't develop it his way, he wouldn't produce it. Back then, Donna Langley saw great potential in him and convinced me. The Departed project was finally handed over to Charles Capet."

The result was obvious. The Departed shone brightly at the Oscars.

The movies Universal produced with Capet Pictures back then were all successful, but the ones she led were disastrous.

As the president, Stacey Snider was fired directly by General Electric. Originally, she hoped Donna Langley would succeed her, but Charles Capet poached Langley to helm Capet Pictures.

"Charles Capet is extremely controlling. He doesn't allow anyone to challenge his authority. He hasn't failed in any projects so far. Right now, his influence in Hollywood is bigger than even he might believe!"

Spielberg could tell Stacey Snider had high regard for Charles Capet, "But he is still very young, isn't he? Every young person has a reckless side. No one can always succeed!"

"Maybe," Stacey Snider sighed.

*****

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