Warner Bros. Pictures.
Barry Meyer, who had just transitioned from the position of vice president of Warner Bros. Pictures to the role of CEO, looked at the report in his hand, lost in thought.
"Boss, what's wrong?" Secretary Miss Daisy asked.
"Oh?"
Barry Meyer snapped back to reality and sighed deeply. "I just feel a bit of regret and lamentation. You see, our Warner owns the World-famous comic book company DC Comics and holds the copyrights to thousands of superheroes. Our strong position in the comic and animation fields could once almost keep pace with Disney, but... what about now?"
Miss Daisy was suddenly at a loss for words.
Indeed, how powerful DC Comics once was!
However, with the box office failure of batman & robin, the performance of the entire DC Comics was also significantly reduced. Not only that, but even the animation field had declined to the extreme.
The animation market, especially the theatrical animation market, was currently completely dominated by Jobs's Pixar Animation, followed closely by DreamWorks Animation.
"I didn't expect... that besides Pixar Animation and DreamWorks Animation, even Waterworld Animation under Golden Dawn Entertainment Group has risen strongly. Tell me, what have we been doing these past few years?" Barry Meyer was extremely depressed.
Why are the The Big Six of Hollywood called the six major giant companies?
Not only because of their historical heritage but also because they possess comprehensive global distribution channels.
At the same time, they have always maintained a dominant position in various types of film and television production projects and themes.
Obviously, the emergence of Pixar Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and Waterworld Animation directly seized and carved up the theatrical animation market, leaving even The Big Six of Hollywood feeling very powerless.
Of course, the powerless The Big Six refers to the three film companies: Warner, Columbia, and Universal;
The other three all have their own strong performances in the field of animation.
Pixar Animation is backed by Disney Group;
DreamWorks Animation is backed by Paramount;
Blue Sky Studios,
Is backed by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation and News Corporation;
Additionally, Blue Sky Studios, which would produce Ice Age in the future, has not yet been acquired by News Corporation, but the cooperation between the two parties is extremely close, and the acquisition could become a reality at any time.
"Disney, Paramount, and Fox either have strong theatrical animation within their own companies or have strong partners. But what about our Warner?"
Barry Meyer said with a bit of concern, "If we can't invest heavily in the animation field again, we will soon lose the theatrical animation market!"
Hearing this, Secretary Miss Daisy said in astonishment, "Boss, is it that serious?"
"Yes!" Barry Meyer said firmly.
At this moment, if Kyle were here, he would surely be startled.
Barry Meyer's inference was completely correct!
In the future, up until 2020, Warner's animation department, apart from the old-fashioned DC superhero animations, had not produced or released any well-known theatrical animations.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Scooby-Doo, The Polar Express... very few!
Moreover, the only few animated films Warner produced in the 21st century were all before 2010. That is to say, in the future, they would completely abandon the theatrical animated film market.
Abandon?
No! To be precise, they were driven out of the theatrical animated film market.
Of course, the future Sony Columbia and Universal Pictures would be even more miserable in the field of animated films than Warner... 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.
As the owner, Rupert Murdoch felt a stormy sea of bitterness in his heart!
The Titan A.E. animated film produced by my company was a box office failure in the North America market, and the box office obtained in overseas markets is even more negligible.
"In order to build my own animation company, the funds I paid before and after were no less than those of Pixar Animation and DreamWorks Animation. However... God is so unfair!"
"Even that damn guy Kyle achieved a global box office of over 500 million US dollars with Finding Nemo."
Even though Kyle and Murdoch had a good relationship, at this moment, Murdoch's heart was full of displeasure.
Acquisition!
"Abolish Fox Pictures' animation department and acquire Blue Sky Studios."
That's right, this was Murdoch's thought at this time.
No sooner said than done, without any hesitation.
A few days later... at a new round of group meetings at Fox Pictures, Murdoch proposed this idea.
"Agreed!"
"Approve!"
"Our own animation department is completely useless; it only wastes our money. Might as well tell them all to get lost!"
"I said long ago that Chris Meledandri is just a loudmouth. He can't get anything done. Hurry up and let him go."
Many shareholders and shareholder representatives strongly agreed with Murdoch's decision.
1. Abolish Fox Pictures' animation department;
2. Acquire Blue Sky Studios and turn it into a subsidiary of Fox Pictures;
As soon as the board meeting ended, the order took effect immediately.
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"This can't be real?!"
Chris Meledandri, the head of Fox's animation department who had just received the board's decision order, was completely dumbfounded, and then filled with unwillingness.
He was being kicked out!
No!
The entire Fox animation department, with hundreds of people, was being kicked out.
"I want to see Mr. Murdoch; I will definitely convince him," Chris Meledandri shouted outside the company doors.
However... the fuming Murdoch didn't give him a chance at all.
Not even a chance to meet.
One day;
Two days;
Three days;
For a whole week, Chris Meledandri's legs were almost broken from running, and no one at Fox Pictures was willing to give him or them a chance for a comeback.
Consequently, Chris Meledandri was furious!
"Fine, fine, fine~"
"You're the ones driving me away. One day... I will make you regret it!"
"Disney Animation once drove away Jeffrey Katzenberg, leading to the rise of DreamWorks Animation. Then I will be like Jeffrey Katzenberg and take revenge on Fox Pictures in the future!"
Chris Meledandri made up his mind.
Most people in the World have not heard his name, but when mentioning the company he would found in the future, I believe many people will know it.
——Illumination Entertainment!
The famous Illumination Entertainment specializes in the production of animated films. Its productions like Despicable Me, minions, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing will be extremely well-known in the future.
In the original timeline, Chris Meledandri being kicked out by Fox and his team being disbanded happened after the year 2000, during the release of Blue Sky Studios' Ice Age.
But now, due to Kyle's appearance, Finding Nemo was released ahead of time, making Murdoch determined to go all out with animated films.