Chapter 545: The Incredible Hulk's Opening

Late at night, Charles sat in a chair before his desk, staring blankly at his computer.

"Charles, what are you waiting for? Why aren't you resting yet?" Anne Hathaway, wearing a robe, walked in and saw Charles in his pajamas, pondering something with a lit thin cigar in an ashtray on the table.

"Waiting for The Incredible Hulk's opening results," Charles smiled, taking a puff of his cigar and exhaling the smoke.

"The Incredible Hulk's box office?" Anne Hathaway walked over, Charles pulled her into his lap, and she looked at the computer screen. "Marvel films have been doing well at the box office recently, right? Oh, are you worried because Ang Lee's Hulk failed a few years ago?"

Anne Hathaway hugged Charles and kissed his cheek. "Marvel has found its way to success now. Both Iron Man films did so well. The box office for Thor wasn't bad either!"

Anne Hathaway took a puff from Charles's unfinished cigar. "Capet's doing great now. Even if one or two films fail, it won't affect you much."

Charles smiled, "I can't sleep anyway, so I might as well wait for the results. After all, Marvel is now Capet Entertainment's ace!"

When one talks about Capet's Marvel, it's evidently more potent than Disney's Marvel from the past. Disney pursued the idea of family-friendly movies strictly.

In the past, Marvel Studios had a distribution deal with Paramount. Iron Man was distributed by Paramount, but even though Iron Man 2 and Thor were under Paramount's name, they were practically controlled by Disney.

After Disney acquired Marvel, they negotiated with Paramount to take over the movie distribution. However, the contract still named Paramount as the distributor, with commissions paid to them until their five-year deal expired in 2013.

Only then did Disney start to distribute Marvel movies under its own name.

But the first Iron Man, led by Paramount, had the highest reputation.

Anne Hathaway put the cigar back into Charles's mouth and said, "Papers are saying that Capet is trying to compete with Disney in the movie-themed parks market through Universal Studios. The buyback of shares in Orlando Universal Studios and Osaka Universal Studios is big news!"

"You follow this stuff too?" Charles put the cigar in the ashtray and smiled, "Disney is ahead of us in that area."

The thing about Disney films is that whether the movies make money doesn't really matter. It's about the promotion power and expanding Disney's influence.

It helps Disney parks attract more visitors and boosts their merchandise licensing fees.

Compared to the scale of Disney merchandise, movie profits are negligible. Disney's film library, excluding Miramax, has only around 800 animated and live-action movies.

Disney's hundreds of film rights are so valuable in the era of successful movie-themed parks that even if you combine all other Hollywood studios' libraries, it's not worth as much.

Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, and Disney Princesses - they all print money!

Actually, Universal Animation has always worked with Mattel. Every year two or three Barbie animation films are released to keep the Barbie brand alive.

Currently, Universal has around 30 Barbie animated films released, though they haven't been very successful. Mattel only hopes to maintain Barbie's popularity.

Suddenly, Charles glanced at Anne Hathaway in his arms, and an idea popped into his head. Anne Hathaway was once called a real-life Barbie.

"What's up?" Anne Hathaway asked, touching her face as Charles stared at her.

"What do you think about us making a live-action Barbie Princess?" Charles knew the idea was bold since Barbie wasn't like Transformers.

Although Barbie has her own life and stories, they're not very exciting. Barbie's appeal lies in her looks and figure.

"You want me to play Barbie?" Anne Hathaway was stunned for a moment and then laughed, "There were rumors after the success of the live-action Transformers, you know. The script is tough to adapt. I also received an invitation."

Charles wouldn't care about entertainment industry gossip. The success of Transformers had many toy companies itching to adapt their toys into live-action films, but not many toys are suitable for such adaptations.

Charles nodded, "True. As a female princess, Barbie would definitely bring up issues like feminism. It's not a good fit for now."

Immediately, a somewhat aroused Charles kissed the lady.

"Hmmm, an email's here," Charles heard the notification while kissing the lady, glancing at his computer and seeing an email had indeed arrived.

The Incredible Hulk opened in 4012 theaters in North America, grossing 69 million dollars in its first weekend.

This performance was decent. Charles remembered that Thor's opening was 66 million dollars.

However, Thor's scale was not as grand as this The Incredible Hulk. It was the first major film after the merger of veteran giant Universal and the new giant Capet, with high expectations!

The Incredible Hulk's production cost was 150 million dollars, with an additional 75 million dollars for marketing. Charles's expectations were low; global earnings of 400 million dollars would be enough to develop a sequel.

After all, it's a crucial part of the Avengers storyline.

"How did it open?"

"Less than 70 million dollars," Charles said, pointing at the screen.

"That's a good result, this week's box office champion!"

Seemingly a bit tired, Anne Hathaway yawned.

Charles smiled, rubbing the lady's hips, "Alright, let's go rest. It's past two in the morning!"

*****

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