At Los Angeles International Airport, Disney CEO Sandy Litwack and President Bill Mechanic waited in a VIP lounge.
After hanging up a call, Litwack looked at Mechanic, who asked, "So, Simon turned down the invitation, didn't he?"
"With everything that's happened lately, there's no way Simon would attend a reception for the French execs," Litwack replied casually, setting down his phone and taking a sip of coffee. "Regardless, we just need to go through the motions, like when Peter Guber hosted Akio Morita with all those Hollywood stars and made the Japanese feel warmly welcomed."
Mechanic leaned back with a smirk, a mix of disappointment and self-mockery. "Too bad we're not getting the same star treatment as Guber and Peters did."
"Well, the industry isn't going to fall into the same trap twice. We just didn't get lucky timing," Litwack shrugged, glancing out the VIP lounge window at the runway. "Have you spoken to Michael lately?"
He was referring to their former boss, Michael Eisner.
Mechanic didn't hesitate to respond, "We had breakfast the other day. Michael's LinkedIn venture seems to be going well; he even hinted at me joining the team."
Hearing that Eisner hadn't contacted him, Litwack felt a slight pang of disappointment.
But he quickly brushed it off.
Litwack's background was in law, having once headed Disney's legal department. Though he'd managed his responsibilities effectively, he hadn't made any particularly notable strides and didn't have much familiarity with the burgeoning internet sector. He was also aware that Eisner had recruited former Disney president Frank Wells as a board director and legal advisor for LinkedIn. Wells, also a lawyer, had been Litwack's superior, and with him on board, it wasn't surprising Eisner hadn't thought of him.
Mechanic, on the other hand, was a different story.
As former head of Disney's home entertainment division, Mechanic had successfully marketed Disney's classic animated films on VHS throughout the 1980s. Not only did this create unprecedented sales records, but it also provided Disney with much-needed capital, boosting the company's stock price.
In short, Mechanic was a highly skilled and practical executive with strengths in business development and marketing. Joining LinkedIn, he could potentially help Eisner develop a sustainable revenue model—a necessity for many internet companies today.
Curious, Litwack asked, "So, what did you tell Michael?"
"I turned him down," Mechanic replied.
Litwack was surprised. "Why? It seems like a good opportunity."
"The internet industry's too volatile; I don't really understand it," Mechanic admitted. "Plus, I think this bubble will burst within a year. If I joined LinkedIn, I might be dealing with a downturn before even getting settled. Hollywood feels more stable in comparison."
Litwack joked, "With that mindset, you might be missing out on millions."
Mechanic shook his head. "Everyone in Hollywood and Wall Street is rushing to Silicon Valley, but how many will really make it big? Once the bubble bursts, do they really think they can just waltz back to their original industries? Besides, in my opinion, the monopoly in the internet sector is already established, with the Westeros system claiming most of the rewards. Without another big disruption, it'll be harder and harder for people to strike gold there."
Litwack thought over Mechanic's words and had to agree, though he couldn't resist adding, "I heard LinkedIn is preparing for an IPO?"
"Yes, probably early next year. Michael mentioned it might be valued around $500 million. Considering the site's initial investment, that's a respectable figure, but it's nothing compared to tech giants like Egret. That's part of why I'm staying out. If I'd joined from the beginning, I could cash out on stock with this IPO. Jumping in now, I'd mostly get options that, if the bubble bursts, would be worthless."
Litwack, who had been toying with the idea of investing in Silicon Valley, felt disheartened by Mechanic's perspective, and some of his own ambitions began to wane.
After all, they were both middle-aged now.
They didn't have the luxury of taking big risks.
Though constrained under Vivendi's strict control, heading Disney still meant they were among Hollywood's top executives. While the French were strict, Vivendi had initially offered them generous compensation to keep them on board.
After a ten-minute wait, an assistant informed them that their guests had arrived. They stood and, accompanied by a few aides, headed to a private tarmac area where Vivendi's new CEO, Jean-Marie Messier, had just arrived from France.
Messier had recently taken over Vivendi from longtime CEO Guy Dejouany, assuming command of the century-old conglomerate, valued at over $30 billion.
Vivendi's core interests had traditionally been in water, transportation, and energy. However, under Messier's presidency, the company began moving into media. The acquisition of Disney was one of Messier's signature moves, which helped him secure his position as Vivendi's new leader.
Having only completed the leadership transition last week, Messier wasted no time arranging this North American visit.
Despite Disney's somewhat lukewarm performance thus far, the deal had not yet been deemed a failure. With the global media and entertainment industry growing rapidly, acquiring Disney was only the beginning for the ambitious Messier, who aimed to transform Vivendi into an entertainment powerhouse.
After disembarking, Messier, surrounded by a retinue of subordinates, headed straight to Disney's headquarters in Burbank instead of resting at a hotel.
In a large meeting room at Disney's headquarters, Litwack and other executives sat across from Vivendi's Fourth French TV Network executives, Gaumont Film Company's team, and Luc Besson, a well-known French director, feeling a bit out of place.
Were the French trying to conquer Hollywood?
Messier exuded a no-nonsense energy, and after brief introductions, he dove right into his agenda. He stated that he would personally oversee Disney's development of several blockbusters to compete with other Hollywood studios. To mitigate risks, Disney would also strengthen collaborations with major French media companies.
He asked Litwack for an update on the Terminator licensing negotiations, expressed his approval of the progress, and then announced a new joint venture with Gaumont Films to co-produce Luc Besson's long-gestating sci-fi project, The Fifth Element.
Messier explained that The Fifth Element was a fully developed science fiction world Besson had been crafting since his youth. They had plans for a trilogy, with the potential to expand into a cinematic universe, akin to the DC franchise.
The Disney executives were somewhat taken aback by the surprise announcement but kept their reactions restrained, though they couldn't help but think to themselves:
Another cinematic universe? Don't these projects cost money?
Furthermore, bringing in a wave of French filmmakers to collaborate with Disney didn't inspire confidence. They doubted that French filmmaking styles would translate well to Hollywood.
Take Besson, for example. While his film The Big Blue had been a box-office sensation in France, he hadn't yet demonstrated an ability to produce a Hollywood-style blockbuster. His film Léon: The Professional had been critically acclaimed in the U.S. two years earlier but had only modest box office success.
After a whirlwind of meetings over the next two days, Messier locked down a few projects and signed the Terminator 3 contract. On his third day in Los Angeles, he hosted a grand press conference at Disney's headquarters in Burbank to announce Disney's upcoming slate, led by Terminator 3 and The Fifth Element.
This was Friday, June 21.
The North American box-office numbers for the previous week had just been released. Spectre had been dominating headlines, but Disney's big announcement drew some attention.
Nevertheless, Disney's move couldn't overshadow Spectre's incredible success.
From June 14 to June 20, Spectre brought in $89.17 million from 3,346 screens in its opening week in North America—a record-breaking opening for the 007 series, even when adjusted for inflation.
With a combined production and marketing budget of $125 million, Spectre was already proving profitable for MGM through North American box-office sales alone. Overseas markets and subsequent releases would yield even greater returns.
The previous highest-grossing 007 film, when adjusted for inflation, was 1965's Thunderball, which had earned $140 million worldwide, equivalent to $720 million in 1996. Based on Spectre's initial results, it was poised to potentially surpass this mark and become the highest-grossing entry in the franchise's history.
Spectre's strong debut created a significant ripple effect, driving down the box office for other films.
Mission: Impossible 2, in its third week, took a steep 51% drop, earning $27.98 million. Still, with a cumulative total of $161.24 million, this action-packed spy film remained a top contender.
Dragonheart, which had premiered in second place, dropped 53% in its second week, earning just $7.93 million, with a cumulative gross of $24.76 million.
Even Romeo and Juliet, which had previously performed strongly, experienced a 36% drop, its steepest yet. In its sixth week, it earned $6.76 million, putting it in fourth place.
This marked the beginning of Romeo and Juliet's box-office decline.
Still, the film had exceeded expectations, crossing the $100 million mark with a cumulative total of $106
.43 million, making it an impressive achievement for a low-budget $15 million romance film.
The Mummy ranked fifth, with a 46% decline, earning $6.38 million. Five weeks in, this fantasy-adventure co-produced by Fox and Danierlys Entertainment had accumulated $143.35 million.
Outside the top five, other films struggled, with none reaching $5 million.
With a new week starting on June 21, the summer box office followed a familiar pattern, with three moderately significant releases.
First was Danierlys Entertainment's Cop Land, directed and written by James Mangold and starring Sylvester Stallone, who had accepted a reduced fee. The crime drama, initially intended for last year's winter release, had a modest budget of $10 million and opened on 1,697 screens.
Next was Disney's 2D animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, an adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, opening on 1,297 screens.
With 3D animation on the rise, 2D animated films had struggled to capture audiences' attention. Despite the classic source material, The Hunchback of Notre Dame's more mature themes made it less appealing to family audiences and particularly the children who made up a large portion of the animation market.
At Disney's press conference on Friday, there was talk of reviving traditional animation. However, due to various factors, few believed Disney could achieve this.
Lastly, there was Amistad, based on true events and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film tells the story of a slave revolt on a Spanish ship before the American Civil War. Produced by DreamWorks and distributed by Paramount, it had a $40 million budget.
Compared to Spielberg's Jurassic Park, E.T. and Schindler's List, Amistad was relatively unknown. Few people would remember the film, even years later.
Spielberg had been planning Amistad since the 1980s, and it wasn't until DreamWorks was established that it finally went into production. Its greenlight was largely due to the success of Schindler's List.
As a Paramount-DreamWorks collaboration, Amistad was only funded after Schindler's List proved that heavy subject matter could still perform at the box office. But it appeared Paramount was already having second thoughts.
Opening on just 1,019 screens, Amistad managed to reach over a thousand screens only out of respect for Spielberg.
In contrast to the cautious approach to Schindler's List, Amistad debuted to a lukewarm 7.7 score on review aggregators, far from enough to propel it to box-office success.
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