Chapter 397: A Gathering of Blockbusters

Chapter 397: Chapter 397: A Gathering of Blockbusters

"Director Lee, let us go with your selection." Irene said without hesitation, her tone full of trust.

"I have complete confidence in your eye for casting. From the day the project was confirmed, I said that the creative control of Brokeback Mountain is entirely in your hands. Feel free to go bold and do what you need to do; do not have any reservations."

Ang Lee on the other end of the phone clearly breathed a sigh of relief, his tone becoming lighter.

"Thank you, Irene. Honestly, in all my years in film, I have never shot such a ’relaxed’ project. You have given me complete creative freedom—not interfering with casting, not restricting the budget, and even respecting my ideas regarding script revisions. This kind of trust is truly rare."

Listening to him, Irene could not help but chuckle inwardly.

Ang Lee felt "relaxed" now only because he had not entered the formal filming stage yet.

In her previous life, she had seen Ang Lee mention his experience filming Brokeback Mountain in several interviews.

To restore the authentic atmosphere of the West, the crew had to shoot in the deep mountains of Alberta, Canada, where the climate was harsh and conditions were difficult.

Even harder was guiding the actors into their roles, especially when shooting emotional scenes; it required repeatedly polishing details, often causing him to fall into creative bottlenecks and even break down in tears multiple times.

"Lee, it is good that you feel relaxed." Irene did not point it out, just said with a smile, "But I must warn you in advance: when formal filming begins, you might encounter quite a few challenges. Do not go running off when that happens."

Ang Lee was amused by her.

"Rest assured, Irene. Since I have taken on this project, I will definitely give it my all. No matter what difficulties I encounter, I will persist in making it well and will not let down your trust."

"I believe in you." Irene said earnestly. "If there is anything during the filming process that requires my coordination, such as funding, locations, or actor schedules, let me know at any time. Echo Pictures will fully support you."

After hanging up, Irene felt filled with gratification.

Brokeback Mountain was her key project for awards this year.

By handing it to a talented director like Ang Lee, combined with the pairing of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, she was fully confident that this film would shine brightly on the Oscar stage.

The next day, after Irene finished her morning run, Robert called.

"Irene, where are you now? The four-party meeting for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is scheduled for nine o’clock this morning. You remember, right?"

Irene glanced at the time on the wall. "I will get ready and be there in half an hour."

After Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released in 2003, it became the fourth highest-grossing film of the year with a global box office of $712 million, second only to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Finding Nemo, and The Matrix Reloaded.

Except for the powerhouse that was Finding Nemo, the other two were sequels to peak Hollywood blockbusters.

Yet Pirates of the Caribbean, an original fantasy adventure film—and a pirate theme that everyone was pessimistic about—managed to surprise everyone and achieve such great results.

Not only that, the film completely catapulted Johnny Depp to fame and made this IP one of the most commercially valuable film series in Hollywood.

Therefore, the preparation for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest had always received significant attention.

Echo Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, 20th Century Fox, and Disney, as co-investors and producers, had long reached a consensus to capitalize on the momentum and release a sequel to achieve another box office success.

The core agenda of this meeting was to determine the final release schedule for Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

When Irene arrived at the large conference room at Fox, the representatives from the three parties were already waiting there.

Jerry Bruckheimer, wearing his signature plaid shirt, was whispering with Fox’s new distribution director, Mark Schneider.

Amy Pascal, the head of the Marketing Department at Disney, was flipping through the schedule analysis report in her hands.

Seeing Irene enter, she immediately stood up to greet her.

"Irene, you are finally here. We were just waiting for you to discuss this."

"Sorry I am late." Irene apologized with a smile. Without further explanation, she sat in the main seat. "Let us begin."

The meeting officially began, and Mark Schneider spoke first.

"Everyone, the release windows we have preliminarily screened are the summer block from June to August and the Christmas window at the end of the year. However, considering that many films have already been scheduled for the 2004 summer window, we still need to be cautious."

Irene: "I think we should try our best to choose the summer window because there is another sequel coming out next year. Selecting the same window for two consecutive sequels is more beneficial for us to build buzz. The Christmas window is more suitable for family-friendly themes; it is not our optimal choice."

"I agree with this view, but the competition in the summer window is not small." Mark turned on the projector screen, displaying the film schedule for the summer window:

"First, look at the early June window. Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is already scheduled for June 4th. The drawing power of this IP goes without saying; the global box office for the first two films exceeded $900 million, and the fan base is massive. If we choose to release at this time, it is undoubtedly courting disaster."

Jerry Bruckheimer nodded and added: "The audience for the Harry Potter series is primarily teenagers, while the audience for Pirates of the Caribbean is broader, but the overlap between the two is still very high. Rather than going head-to-head with it, it is better to avoid its edge and choose a window with relatively moderate competition."

"Let us put aside mid-June and look at the late-June window." Mark continued,

"Sony’s Spider-Man 2 is scheduled for June 30th. The global box office of the first Spider-Man exceeded $800 million; it is the benchmark for superhero films, and the hype for the sequel is only increasing. Moreover, the production cost of *Spider-Man 2* is as high as $200 million, and the marketing budget is also huge. If we release at this time, our box office will definitely be severely squeezed, and in the end, it is very likely that both sides will suffer."

Amy Pascal agreed: "The action scenes and visual effects of Spider-Man 2 are top-tier, and it has some similarities in genre to Pirates of the Caribbean 2; both are commercial blockbusters that focus on visual impact. Direct competition does us no good, so the late-June window must also be ruled out."

Mark: "Since top blockbusters are being released in both early June and late June, there is no point in squeezing into the mid-June window."

Everyone accepted this fact.

After ruling out the June window, the focus of the meeting shifted to mid-July and early August.