Ever since Spider-Man dominated the summer box office, Tom Rothman, the big boss at Twentieth Century Fox, had been a lot quieter. He'd even started cozying up to Dunn a bit.
Business is business—there are no permanent enemies, just permanent interests.
Before jetting out of Los Angeles, Dunn met up with Tom Rothman at a coffee shop near Fox's headquarters. They covered three main topics: portfolio investments, reality TV, and X-Men.
The first two were still a ways off. Reality TV, in particular, was a tough sell—Fox's TV network was clearly outmatched by the big three: NBC, ABC, and CBS. Unless they could offer some killer terms, Dunn wasn't about to hand American Idol over to them.
The real focus was on X-Men—its release and promotion.
In his past life, X-Men hit theaters in July. But in this timeline, Dunn's Spider-Man shoot delayed things. Fox sent a team to study the Spider-Man set for six months before even starting X-Men. That pushed its release from summer to the Christmas season.
For Dunn, that was good news.
No matter what, X-Men was a Marvel baby, and it dodged a head-on clash with Spider-Man. If it took off, it'd reignite the Marvel superhero craze in the market—a huge boost for Marvel Studios' upcoming projects.
Plus, there was an even bigger perk.
Dunn wanted this Christmas season to be a total bloodbath at the box office!
Saw was a classic B-movie—some might even call it the king of horror—but could a low-budget flick like that really stand up to Unbreakable?
Not necessarily!
Dunn's confidence in pitting Saw against Unbreakable came from how stacked this Christmas lineup was. With so many heavy hitters, Saw—with its niche appeal, bold flavor, and dedicated fanbase—could slip through the cracks of mainstream competition unscathed.
Here's the lineup: November 17th—Universal's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Sony's The 6th Day, and Paramount's Rugrats in Paris; November 22nd—Disney's Unbreakable and Fox's X-Men; December 8th—Sony Classics' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; December 15th—Paramount's What Women Want and Disney's animated The Emperor's New Groove; December 22nd—Fox's Cast Away and Warner's Miss Congeniality…
Maybe to dodge Spider-Man's summer reign, a slew of great films—some not even family-friendly—got crammed into this Christmas window.
In that brutal mainstream showdown, could Unbreakable, starring a scandal-plagued Bruce Willis, really break out?
That was just Disney's wishful thinking.
In the original timeline, with no Willis scandal and no X-Men to compete, Unbreakable did decently—over $90 million in North America. But with Dunn shaking things up in this life, everything had changed!
Especially with Saw—produced by Madhouse Films and distributed by Focus Features—going toe-to-toe with Unbreakable in the thriller-suspense-horror lane.
Same genre—could Unbreakable hold its own against Saw?
That was Dunn's ace in the hole!
His chat with Tom Rothman had two goals: explore potential partnerships and nudge Fox to pump up X-Men's marketing. It was dropping the same day as Unbreakable, after all!
Insiders could see it plain as day—Tom Rothman was using this scheduling to stick it to Disney for their summer betrayal. Dunn was all for it.
Before they parted, Tom offered a cryptic bit of advice: "Dunn, some things are best left alone."
Dunn just smiled. "Thanks, I get it."
…
At Disney's executive meeting, Michael Eisner was laying out his grand plan to expand the company's empire.
Right now, Disney's core strategy was growing its cable TV business. Eisner had his sights set on acquiring the Fox Family Channel.
A deal that big? Twentieth Century Fox and Tom Rothman didn't even get a say—Disney was negotiating straight with News Corp's headquarters.
Early talks weren't promising. Murdoch threw out an $8 billion price tag—pure fantasy.
But Eisner had a trick up his sleeve. News Corp was still registered in Australia, though Murdoch had long since become a U.S. citizen, itching to relocate the company stateside and restructure it for a U.S. listing. That process, tangled up in sensitive sectors like newspapers and TV, would face heavy government scrutiny—exactly where Disney had connections.
One of Disney's board members, George Mitchell—Eisner's old pal—was a political heavyweight. He was serving in the Clinton administration as a presidential advisor and doubling as a diplomatic envoy to Northern Ireland.
"Keep negotiating," Eisner ordered. "If News Corp agrees to a stock swap, we can stretch to $60 billion. If they insist on cash, $50 billion tops! Bob, you're on this personally!"
Cash deals cost way less than ones padded with debt or stock. With that, Eisner set the tone for the big agenda item, flipping through his papers at a leisurely pace. "I heard there was an accident at the new California park?"
Back in 1955, Disney opened the world's first Disneyland in Los Angeles. But that park was ancient now—outdated rides, more of a sightseeing spot. So this year, they'd broken ground on a new adventure park in L.A.
Rob Kanton, VP of Disney's resort division, spoke up. "Yesterday, during construction, a wall collapsed. Three workers were killed."
Eisner's brow furrowed. "What about insurance?"
"They're assessing it now. Should be covered, barring any surprises," Rob said cautiously.
"Lock it down—talk to the families, get NDAs signed," Eisner snapped, glaring at Rob. "Tighten up construction oversight and media control. I don't want a whiff of bad press!"
"Should we… smooth things over with the government?" Rob asked.
"What do you think?" Eisner shot him a icy look.
Rob gave an awkward laugh. "Got it."
Eisner scanned the room, his voice firm. "The adventure park is California's second resort and our biggest draw for tourists. It can be thrilling, it can be wild—just make damn sure it's safe!"
The execs nodded like bobbleheads.
Eisner exhaled, giving a slight nod. Sure, Dunn had dented his authority lately, but he was still pretty pleased with how things looked here.
The board might question him, but in this room? He was still Disney's undisputed king.
Then Joe Roth, head of the film division, piped up. "Barring any hiccups, the adventure park opens next year. And Dunn Films is gearing up for a pirate movie."
Eisner frowned, staring him down.
Joe rubbed his nose, flustered. "I just mean… we could lean into the pirate adventure angle, ride the wave of Dunn's movie."
Eisner gritted his teeth. "Does Disney need to stoop to cheap tricks like that?"
Joe's face went red, stammering into silence.
Eisner was furious. Joe Roth—his own guy—had botched things so badly they'd ended up with Dunn as a thorn in their side. If his board clout wasn't shaky right now, he'd fire Joe on the spot.
Useless—couldn't get anything right, just made messes!
Firing him now, though, would only weaken Eisner further. Everyone knew Joe was his right-hand man.
"You know Dunn Films has a new movie coming out, right?" Eisner's tone was sharp, no mercy.
Joe jumped in. "Yeah, Saw. A B-movie from Focus Features—niche audience. Previews start October 30th, full release November 1st. Probably won't open in more than 50 theaters."
"Oh?" Eisner's eyes lit up.
That was promising. Fifty theaters couldn't possibly challenge Unbreakable, right?
President Robert Iger hesitated. "Once previews hit, if word of mouth takes off, it could actually hurt Unbreakable."
Joe thumped his chest. "Bob, don't worry. I've got Unbreakable locked down—foolproof!"
Eisner gave him a long, hard look, then nodded firmly. "Good!"