Chapter 170

Walk the Line opened in North America, earning $22 million in its opening weekend and receiving praise from most newspapers and critics. Despite some shortcomings, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon's excellent performance in this musical biographical film captured the love and spirit of Johnny Cash and his wife.

However, the most noticeable movie of November, also opening at the same time, was Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with a North American box office of more than one hundred million in its opening weekend.

In December, there were still Disney's big production The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Universal Pictures' monster flick King Kong!

Director J.J. Abrams, who had just finished filming Mission: Impossible III, also joined the live-action Transformers movie crew.

The female lead, decided by Charles, was Megan Fox; there was nothing to say about that. The male lead, however, was chosen with more care. In the end, Charles picked Hollywood's rising star Zac Efron, a 19-year-old actor who had just starred in Disney's TV movie High School Musical!

Handsome men and beautiful women along with the Autobots. In the Transformers series, the Autobots were the main protagonists, with the actors serving as a backdrop to highlight the robots.

"You have a lot of faith in J.J. Abrams? He's a newcomer, even though he's previously produced excellent series like Lost," Donna Langley had some doubts about J.J. Abrams being able to handle it.

Charles shook his head and smiled, "Don't worry, he can handle big scenes, and he's also very capable when it comes to storyline. I plan for Transformers to be a series IP, so we need a good storyline to support the subsequent films."

Donna Langley laughed, "I'm just a bit concerned because we've launched two big production movies at once, and the investment is substantial."

"It's okay, both Iron Man and Transformers can have significant product placements, and coupled with the development of the toy market, if the box office succeeds, our profits will be substantial," Charles wasn't worried at all, as they had already started issuing corporate bonds.

Walking to the window, Charles looked at the land not far away where old buildings were being demolished and smiled. By the summer of 2007 at the latest, Capet Entertainment's headquarters would be complete.

Adjacent to Highway 5 and Riverside Drive, with Griffith Park on the opposite hill, and further away was Universal Studios and the Hollywood sign.

"IMAX and Dolby are both leaders in future film technology. After raising funds through bonds, we need to increase investments," IMAX was still relatively small as the cost of upgrading to IMAX theaters was high and the number of IMAX films was limited.

Dolby, on the other hand, was different, with a market value of over $1 billion, leading in audio compression, encoding, and noise reduction technology.

"IMAX is currently lobbying film companies to develop IMAX 3D movies, striving to improve technology to lower the cost of IMAX theaters. However, Dolby based in San Francisco is indeed worth investing in," Donna Langley also supported investing in film and cinema technology companies.

Not only reasonable, but also profitable!

"Alright, let's go to the screening of 300 this afternoon. I've seen the rough cut, and it looks promising," Charles smiled.

Donna Langley nodded. It was an unconventional new epic war film.

As the first self-developed Marvel adaptation by Marvel Studios, Iron Man received attention on par with Transformers.

When Stan Lee and others created the prototype for Tony Stark, they based him on Howard Hughes.

Howard Hughes, once a Hollywood mogul, stayed in Los Angeles for a long time. Iron Man was also set to be filmed on the West Coast, unlike most heroes filmed on the East Coast.

Los Angeles, the town of Calabasas west of the San Fernando Valley, is located north of the Santa Monica Mountains and is a small town with many Hollywood celebrities' mansions.

Scarlett Johansson bought a large mansion in Calabasas this year and invited Charles to celebrate after she moved in.

In the bedroom, Charles rolled off the sexy Scarlett Johansson with satisfaction. "Have you finished filming that movie in London?"

Charles was asking about Woody Allen's new film Scoop. Scarlett Johansson, still a bit sweaty, responded, "Yes, it's done. Now I'm filming The Black Dahlia here in Los Angeles."

Charles hugged the woman's back and smiled, "You look so much like Monroe in this movie. No wonder everyone says you're the second Monroe!"

Blonde hair, a sexy and voluptuous body, coupled with a beautiful face and styling, The Black Dahlia clearly aimed to make some fuss about the women in it.

"You men all love to say I'm the second Marilyn Monroe," Scarlett Johansson lay her head on Charles's chest. "But she won the Best Actress at the Golden Globes!"

"Oh, come on, you're only 21. Maybe you'll win an award in the future. Weren't you already nominated?"

"Forget it, actresses like me aren't really loved by the critics. But doing a Charlize Theron-style deglam performance? I can't do that either!"

For Hollywood's sexy actresses, winning awards was indeed tough. The same applied to male stars--those who were too handsome also had a hard time getting Oscar's approval.

"So, do you have any new ideas about commercial films and art films now?" Charles changed the topic.

"Of course, I hope to participate in commercial films. They get so much more attention, and though art films are easier to shoot, the pay in commercial films is much higher," Scarlett Johansson's two commercial releases this year, Wedding Crashers and The Island, were one a dark horse and the other a flop.

"Don't worry, don't lose confidence because of The Island's failure. I'm saving the role of Black Widow in the Marvel Universe for you. When the time comes, men all over the world will fall for you," Charles said, kissing the woman's chest.

"Yeah, but The Island's production cost was more than $125 million, and it only made $35 million at the North American box office. Overseas, it made $100 million, but with such high costs, it only earned $150 million worldwide," Scarlett Johansson had high hopes for The Island, but reality hit hard.

"DreamWorks totally screwed up with The Island."

Hearing Charles mention Marvel Universe's Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson looked up at him and smiled, "Haven't you been keeping up with Capet Pictures' entertainment news lately?"

"What news? Right now, Transformers is in tight preparation, and Iron Man is already building its set. It'll start shooting next month. What news could my company have?" Charles was confused.

Scarlett Johansson sat up with great interest, not minding her body being exposed in front of Charles.

"Well, many newspapers are saying that Marvel Studios' $100 million budget for Iron Man could lead to another bankruptcy if it fails," Scarlett Johansson said while gesturing.

"Charles Capet spending over $2 billion to acquire Marvel was the biggest mistake!"

Charles was momentarily stunned, then laughed, "Looks like they really don't believe in Iron Man, huh?"

"Following the flop of Universal's Hulk, it's hard not to," Scarlett Johansson shrugged.

"That's interesting. What about Warner Brothers' reboot of Superman Returns? It went through several directors and scripts, and the final cost exceeded $200 million. Why aren't they skeptical of Warner Brothers' Superman Returns?" Charles was a bit unhappy. Why the skepticism towards Iron Man?

Scarlett Johansson leaned closer, whispering comfortingly, "DC's Superman is world-famous. Marvel's Iron Man? He's a B-list character in the Marvel lineup. But I trust you. I believe this Iron Man movie will definitely bring a fresh and enjoyable experience for everyone!"

"Thank you," Charles smiled. Honestly, the only Marvel heroes who could compete with DC's Superman and Batman would be Spider-Man with his influence.

Marvel Comics' promotion couldn't compare to DC Comics at the time. If it weren't for the Spider-Man series developed by Sony and the X-Men series by 20th Century Fox, Marvel's popularity wouldn't have grown so much.

Just based on DC's Superman and Batman, either character could overshadow all of Marvel. Spider-Man could only be third behind Superman and Batman.

"This can't be helped. Marvel Comics used to be formidable too, but after Warner Bros bought DC, their promotion significantly strengthened. Marvel went through bankruptcy and reorganization before selling many of their characters, so of course they can't compare to Warner-backed DC!"

Charles was frustrated. The ace hero Spider-Man was in Sony's hands, and the next biggest, the X-Men, were with 20th Century Fox.

"Just wait. When Iron Man is released the year after next, they'll see what a bright future I've set for Marvel," Charles said, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling.

"These guys are just waiting to see me bankrupt. But even if Marvel Studios' Iron Man fails, Capet Pictures can still recoup the losses with other films. From the first My Big Fat Greek Wedding in '02, haven't they noticed I haven't had a single failure since? If they can't see this kind of achievement, it's no wonder they only gossip about entertainment news!"

"Haha," Scarlett Johansson laughed softly, "Alright, I know you're awesome."

With that, Scarlett Johansson straddled Charles again.

*****

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