After all, the theatrical market was a business driven by profit, and there was no room for sentiment. It was through opportunities like this that Kevin could establish connections with theatrical distributors.
As for international distribution, Kevin didn't have many options. The only way would be to acquire MGM and utilize their resources to develop Dawn Studios' international distribution. However, relying solely on Pirates of the Caribbean wouldn't be enough.
Suddenly, Kevin looked up and asked, "Do you know about Jack Chan from Hong Kong?"
"You mean Jackie Chan?" Dawson asked in return.
Kevin nodded. He had just realized that Jackie Chan's stage name was even more famous than his American name. But at this time, did Uncle Dragon (referring to Jackie Chan) have such a significant influence? Forgive Kevin for calling him Uncle Dragon, but childhood memories of Jackie Chan Adventures had a tremendous impact on him, and the name Uncle Dragon rolled off his tongue more naturally than Jackie Chan.
"I know him, the martial arts superstar," Dawson said, imitating drunken boxing movements as he spoke, indicating that he had indeed watched his movies.
Kevin spoke, "I want you to go to Hong Kong and secure the North American rights to Jackie Chan's new movie, Rumble in the Bronx. Offer the highest price, $8 million, and at the same time, establish a solid film acquisition channel with the film company there."
"I will regularly acquire movies from them to help us establish theatrical and DVD distribution channels, compensating for our lack of self-produced films."
Dawson nodded. Although he didn't understand why Kevin valued this particular film so much, he followed his usual principle: execute Kevin's orders.
...
Time continued to pass.
Kevin sat at the helm of the company, navigating between Marvel and Dawn Studios.
The cast and crew for the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean began to gather, and production was about to start.
The time had now reached July.
The Dark Knight, Batman's second installment, had come to a close.
Its North American box office gross reached a staggering $220 million.
Compared to other films released during the same period, it outshone them all.
After all, there were no major releases this year, so the competition was not intense. The Dark Knight stood out brilliantly.
Inspired by this box office success, Warner Bros. held a grand celebration party.
….
Kevin was invited to a hotel designated by Warner Bros. to attend the celebration party.
...
Hollywood's celebration parties can be divided into two types. One is a simple gathering of investors and crew members to rejoice in the box office success. The other type is a grand celebration that invites numerous industry stars and investors to showcase the company's power. Clearly, Warner Bros. had the latter in mind.
Thanks to Kevin's efforts, Pirates of the Caribbean became the highest-grossing film in North America last year. And this year, The Dark Knight had the potential to retain that title. Warner Bros. was enjoying great success in the industry.
At a time like this, it was unthinkable for them not to host a celebration party to show off. The birth of this celebration party was driven by this idea.
Robinov, with an obnoxious expression, was boasting while engaged in discussions with the presidents of various film companies.
"The annual box office champion for this year seems to have already been secured by Warner Bros., my apologies, gentlemen."
"Sigh, retaining the title of annual box office champion consecutively demonstrates our capabilities at Warner Bros. We will continue to strive in next year's summer season..."
Robinov wore an irritating face as he flaunted his success.
The other Hollywood moguls' presidents glanced around, seemingly completely disregarding Robinov's bragging.
The main reason they attended this party was to personally speak with Steve Kevin. Their previous invitations to him for films had all been rejected. However, seeing Steve Kevin's films about to achieve consecutive North American box office champion titles made them uneasy.
Usually, film companies hold a significant advantage over any director in terms of status. As investors, they have the confidence to select directors. But Steve Kevin was an exception.
Throughout Hollywood, there was only one director who consistently made profitable films at such a fast pace, and that was Kevin. He could finish a film in as little as one or two months, while others were envious of his efficiency.
Since the invitations were unsuccessful, they had to resort to face-to-face meetings. They had to find a way to bring Steve Kevin over. If they couldn't convince him to cooperate...
These presidents all had their own ulterior motives. If Steve Kevin refused to work with them, they would have to plan how to undermine his new film, shatter his myth.
There was simply not enough room in the market. In the past, the major film companies took turns in enjoying box office success, and everyone accepted that.
But with the arrival of Steve Kevin, he came in and took the biggest slice of the cake right away, leaving them with leftovers.
Nobody could tolerate that.
..
As soon as Kevin entered the party, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.
The presidents of several major film companies approached Kevin one after another to extend their invitations. After Kevin directly rejected them, each of them left his side with an unpleasant expression.
However, because Kevin mentioned his plan to self-fund a film, these company presidents actually felt relieved. They had no intention of adopting an overly aggressive attitude, just a cold demeanor.
Seeing this situation, Kevin wasn't afraid at all. It was a normal occurrence, and he had been prepared for it.
Currently, since he hadn't completely severed ties with major companies, he didn't have to face this kind of difficulty himself. But with the release of Marvel's latest film no later than next year, Kevin knew he would definitely encounter direct conflicts with other film companies.
It was a necessary experience for his film company to ascend to the level of a major player.
After these people left one after another, a seemingly thin middle-aged white man with a gentle smile approached Kevin.
"Hello, I'm Alan Bergman, the president of Buena Vista Motion Pictures, and I would like to extend an invitation to you on behalf of Buena Vista and Walt Disney for a film collaboration. Would Buena Vista have the honor of working with you?"
"I'm sorry, I have my own film company, and I plan to fully invest in a film myself. I might not have the time to accept external film offers. Please forgive me for not being able to accept your invitation."
Even in the face of one of Hollywood's giants, Kevin politely declined.
Alan Bergman, upon hearing this, actually breathed a sigh of relief. In his decades of experience in Hollywood, he had encountered filmmakers like Steve Kevin who, after achieving great success, were extremely confident and used their entire fortune to fund their own films. However, without exception, their ultimate fate was losing all their wealth and learning the lesson never to invest their own money in films.
If Kevin had still been maintaining a long-term partnership with Warner Bros., other film companies would have definitely sought to suppress him. But now that Kevin was self-funding, without the resources and manpower of a major company, not only he, but also people from other film companies, didn't have high expectations for him.
Of course, due to the lack of expectations, the resistance Kevin encountered would be relatively smaller.
…
However, Alan Bergman has a high regard for Steve Kevin's directing abilities.
"Buena Vista Motion Pictures is always welcoming your arrival."
After delivering these kind words, Alan Bergman gracefully left.
Kevin's announcement that he would fully self-fund his next film has eased the concerns of many people.
Based on Hollywood's long-standing experience, people have low expectations for his success.
Their intention to trip him up has diminished significantly.