Chapter 412: Breaking Records One After Another

Chapter 412: Chapter 412: Breaking Records One After Another

By now, Irene Coppola was no longer some unknown junior in Hollywood; she held Oscar honors, multiple box office hits, and the controlling rights to two top-tier IPs, with the rising Echo Pictures standing behind her.

Her connections, capabilities, and future potential all firmly placed her at the top tier of the industry.

Even if she could not yet stand on equal footing with Michael Eisner, who had helmed Disney for years, she was absolutely worth him setting aside his airs to treat with equal importance; she was by no means a junior who could be casually dismissed or perfunctorily treated.

Facing his condescending contempt and perfunctory attitude, Irene’s face remained without a ripple, her eyes still holding a faint smile, and she nodded in a composed and appropriate manner to respond.

"Thank you for your recognition and support, Mr. Eisner."

She remained calm and composed throughout, without a shred of anger, and certainly did not lose her composure or trade barbs in public.

Others did not know the outcome for Michael Eisner, but she, possessing memories of her past life, knew it clearly.

This Disney head, who was currently high-spirited and riding high, was already deeply mired in a board of directors trust crisis; his arbitrary style and frequent decision-making errors had long since caused deep-seated resentment.

At most, by next year, he would be collectively removed by the Disney board of directors, completely stepping down from his position as the head, sadly exiting the core of power at Disney, and bidding farewell to the top capital stage of Hollywood.

Since the other party was already at the end of his rope, a big shot of an old era about to fade away, Irene had no need to contend with him or harbor grudges at this moment.

Pointless disputes would only add unnecessary trouble and waste her own connections and reputation.

It was better to calmly accept this perfunctory recognition, maintain her dignity, stabilize her position, and quietly wait for the changing of the guard and the emergence of new players.

Michael Eisner, seeing Irene’s humble, polite, and neither servile nor overbearing attitude, and how she completely submitted to his superior posture, showed a look of satisfaction on his face.

He nodded slightly as a response, without another word of extra pleasantries or small talk, and without even greeting the other creators and partners present, he turned and left directly with his accompanying assistant.

This arrogant, hasty, and completely inconsiderate departure caused the originally lively and harmonious atmosphere of the premiere’s conclusion to instantly freeze.

The Hollywood executives, producers, and star actors present all took in this scene.

Everyone exchanged glances, with undercurrents surging as their eyes met, silently communicating their respective thoughts.

Everyone understood the contemptuous meaning behind Michael Eisner’s actions.

The dignified founder of Echo Pictures and Oscar Best Picture winner had poured her heart and soul into the project, only to be treated so lightly by the Disney head in the end, not even receiving the most basic professional courtesy.

The atmosphere in the venue was subtle, and a sense of awkwardness quietly spread.

Many people secretly speculated whether Irene would harbor resentment and whether cracks would appear in their future cooperation.

Just at this tense and slightly awkward moment, Robert Iger, who had been silently observing, stepped forward in time, calmly standing out to cleverly smooth things over, gently resolving the subtle atmosphere at the scene.

With a proper smile on his face, he gently explained to everyone present.

"Everyone, do not worry. Mr. Eisner has urgent official business to handle this evening and is very busy, so he had to leave early. All subsequent coordination work for the Pirates of the Caribbean series will be handled and followed up by me in full."

These words both gave Michael Eisner plenty of room to save face, preserving the dignity of the Disney head, and proactively took over the project’s leadership, pacifying all the partners present, and especially firmly protecting Irene’s dignity.

Robert Iger was meticulous and broad-minded.

He knew Irene’s potential and value well, and he was also clear that Michael Eisner’s arrogance had long since lost all sense of proportion, but he did not want to ruin the long-term, deep cooperation between Disney, Irene, and Echo Pictures because of a momentary issue of posturing.

Irene naturally understood his goodwill and his act of easing the situation.

She had always been clear about gratitude and grudges, knowing how to assess the situation and go with the flow.

Since Robert had taken the initiative to ease the situation and extend goodwill, she would not hold onto Michael Eisner’s rudeness, especially since she had originally intended to endure for a moment to keep things calm.

She smiled and nodded accordingly, cooperating by accepting the olive branch, completely letting this small incident at the premiere pass, and the tense atmosphere in the venue relaxed completely along with it.

After a night of grandeur and noise, the brilliant lights of Hollywood gradually returned to calm, and various hot news items about the premiere began to flood the entire internet overnight.

Having spent days juggling the filming of Transformers and polishing two scripts, plus the social obligations of the entire premiere night, Irene had already accumulated quite a bit of exhaustion.

Therefore, she specifically applied for a four-day long leave from the Transformers crew in advance, temporarily escaping the high-pressure rhythm of the set.

This four-day vacation was, firstly, to allow herself to fully rest and recuperate, and secondly, it was an arrangement she had carefully considered, specifically setting aside a gap to wait for the first-week box office data of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest to be released.

She knew very well that after the film’s premiere became a hit, a burst of online popularity was inevitable.

The congratulatory and inquiry calls from major partners, media, and production associates would be endless.

If she stayed on set, she would inevitably have her filming rhythm interrupted by countless phone calls, affecting the state of the set and work progress.

Rather than being frequently disturbed by trivial matters, it was better to withdraw completely and quietly wait for the box office results to settle.

Stripping away all the busyness and social obligations, Irene enjoyed a few rare days of leisure, sleeping until she woke up naturally every day, relaxing and adjusting her state of mind and body.

Sure enough, just as she finished washing up in the morning and had just gotten herself ready, her work phone rang right on time.

It was a congratulatory call from Fox producer Adelaide Griffin, her tone full of irrepressible excitement and ecstasy.

"Irene! It is a hit! It is a total hit!" Adelaide’s voice carried unprecedented excitement. "The midnight box office for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest hit $6.8 million directly! It broke the North American film history record for midnight box office in one fell swoop, setting the best opening for a summer blockbuster sequel in years, far exceeding all industry predictions!"

Hearing this news, a genuine smile rippled in Irene’s eyes, her heart filled with certainty and gratification.

From the early script rewriting to the full supervision of filming and controlling the texture of special effects, all the effort and polishing had ultimately transformed into solid results.

And this was just the beginning.

Over the next few days, good news followed one after another, continuously refreshing industry perceptions and completely detonating the entire North American film scene.

The film’s first-day box office directly broke through $63.5 million, once again refreshing the record for the highest single-day box office in North American film history, crushing all films released in the same period by a wide margin, and powerfully topping the summer blockbuster list.

The momentum of the explosive single-day box office showed no signs of slowing down.

Relying on the solid quality of the finished film, excellent audience word-of-mouth, and the buzz flooding the internet, the film’s box office performance soared, eventually settling at $157 million for the first week, taking the 2004 North American annual first-week box office championship without any suspense.

All data analysts in the industry unanimously predicted that, according to this terrifying box office trend, audience stickiness, and the speed at which word-of-mouth was fermenting, this year’s North American annual box office champion had already been locked in by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, and no competing product would be able to contend with it from here on out.