From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

For Disney, the summer of 2001 was a disaster.

Originally, the summer of 2000 had already been bad enough—

“Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Shanghai Noon,” “The Kid,” “The Replacements,” and other highly anticipated works all underperformed. In the end, only one animated film, “Dinosaur,” grossed over $100 million at the North American box office for Disney during the summer, which was obviously not the report card Disney wanted to see.

Unexpectedly, this year could actually continue to explore the bottom line and be even worse!

“Pearl Harbor,” a major project of the year, not only received the highest treatment from Disney, with overwhelming publicity lasting for more than six months; the entire North American region and Hollywood also paid close attention.

Director Michael Bay, who opened his career with “Bad Boys” and “The Rock,” was in charge of directing, and legendary gold medal producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who later created the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, served as the producer.

Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale defeated a group of strong opponents to form the golden triangle of the cast.

The main creative team showed great confidence in the film's performance. Faced with high production costs, Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer voluntarily gave up box office dividends, and the three main actors also voluntarily reduced their salaries to ensure that every production cost could be used wisely, but the film's production cost was still as high as 140 million US dollars.

This made “Pearl Harbor” the most expensive war movie ever made.

Even aside from the genre, “Pearl Harbor” was the second most expensive movie ever made, second only to “Titanic,” becoming the focus of everyone's discussion.

Everyone expected “Pearl Harbor” to detonate a box office frenzy this summer, but unexpectedly, this nuclear bomb became a dud.

The word-of-mouth reputation completely collapsed. Not only film critics, but also the audience didn't like it.

With a box office of 198 million US dollars in North America and 440 million US dollars worldwide, it doesn't seem that bad at first glance; but considering the production cost of 140 million US dollars and Disney's refusal to disclose publicity costs, this number seems particularly shabby.

After deducting overseas distribution and theater revenue sharing, Disney not only didn't make money, but may also face a loss of more than 20 million US dollars.

If “Pearl Harbor” at least made some splash, with countless discussions surrounding the movie and the actors, and a strong presence outside the circle amidst a chorus of criticism, and future video rentals and sales could still recover some losses for Disney; then another work didn't even make a splash, and truly caused Disney internal injuries:

“Atlantis: The Lost Empire”.

It is worth mentioning that the production of animated films ushered in rapid changes in the 1990s. Studios led by Pixar and DreamWorks were changing the rules of the industry, officially transitioning from the 2D era to the 3D era. Disney, which always insisted on 2D production, gradually couldn't keep up with the pace of the industry.

“Atlantis: The Lost Empire” was Disney's last traditionally 2D-produced work, marking the end of an era.

The film's production cost was as high as 120 million US dollars, and a grand premiere was held at Disney World's headquarters in Orlando, hoping to mark a perfect end to 2D animated films.

However.

The final box office results of 80 million US dollars in North America and 180 million US dollars worldwide were disappointing.

Although Disney did not announce the details, industry insiders estimate that this movie should have brought Disney a loss of more than 80 million US dollars.

Compared to “Pearl Harbor,” it doesn't seem that bad.

The predicament of “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” caused Disney CEO Michael Eisner to endure countless criticisms.

The board of directors believed that everything stemmed from Michael Eisner's misjudgment.

This not only led to Jeffrey Katzenberg, a key contributor to classic animations such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” breaking away from Disney and forming DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen.

At the same time, it led Disney into the wrong direction in the progress of the times. He refused to listen to Jeffrey Katzenberg's opinions, did not keep up with the times to switch to 3D production, and his once proudest field was slowly becoming a burden to the company's continued progress and development.

Michael Eisner was in trouble.

However, these are all things of the past.

As of July, Disney has not been able to reverse the downturn of last summer's box office, but has instead slid further into a bottomless black hole.

It was precisely in this opportunity that Eve Wilson and Edgar Cook seized the opportunity and finally made Disney see "The Princess Diaries."

Originally, "The Princess Diaries" could not even be regarded as a mid-level player.

First, the investment cost was only 26 million.

Second, the theme type, the box office ceiling of romantic love comedies is relatively obvious, and so far there has not been a work with 200 million US dollars.

Among Disney's series of works this summer, it is at most a lightweight player.

However, the situation is different now.

After suffering heavy blows in a row, Disney urgently needs to save some face and stop the downward trend. After rummaging through the trash can, “The Princess Diaries” blessed by Garry Marshall and Julie Andrews easily stood out.

And what Eve and Edgar need to do is to remind them:

If they only rely on traditional methods and focus on Anne and Julie, it will be difficult to open up the situation with such publicity; it is better to consider some different entry points.

For example, Anson.

Last summer, a “GQ” magazine was able to become the focus of industry discussion. Although time has passed and the hot topic has already cooled down, they can reawaken the memory and replicate the same success.

Although Edgar has not yet had the opportunity to watch the finished product of “The Princess Diaries,” he knows that Anson’s performance opportunities are limited, but this does not mean that they have no room for manipulation.

Movie, combined with magazine.

Edgar hopes that people can see Anson's face as much as possible, get familiar with Anson's face as soon as possible, and highlight the impression from a fashion perspective.

So, this is also the reason why Edgar specially brought Anson to select clothes for the premiere.

Originally, the premiere was not that grand, and there was no need to dress formally, and the number of press releases was far less than that of the awards ceremony. In addition, the protagonist of “The Princess Diaries” is Anne Hathaway. From any perspective, Anson’s dress does not need to be too grand—

Thinking from another perspective, this is the best opportunity to show Anson's personal taste.

But now, the situation is different.

Edgar still hopes that Anson can show his personal taste on the red carpet, but this fashion taste must bring impact and make people remember it firmly.

Subsequently, Eve will follow up.

Last year, they completed one at the Emmy Awards.

This time, they will be familiar with it.

Arriving at the destination, just pushing the door open, Anson froze for a moment when he saw the person in front of him, not reacting for a moment.

The other party opened his mouth, "When you see me, shouldn't you start with an apology before the formal greeting?"