[Chapter 788: Death by Praise]
After the heated auction two years prior, Paramount successfully acquired Disney's hand-drawn animation division for a staggering $2.5 billion, relocating the entire team to a new working space in Culver City, Los Angeles.
At this point, Paramount Pictures' CEO Sherry Lansing exited the office building of the Paramount animation studio, bidding farewell to head Roger Allers before hopping into her car.
As the vehicle started, Sherry leaned back against the leather seat and gently massaged her temples, recalling the discussion she had just had with Roger regarding the release of Pocahontas. The film tells the story of a Native American princess who saves a British explorer and resolves a racial conflict. This project had been in the works since Disney's animation era, with detailed scripts, storyboards, and breakdowns already established. Upon acquiring the hand-drawn animation team, production for Pocahontas was immediately greenlit.
Although the entire animation team's salaries had significantly increased under the new ownership, the resentment from being cast aside by Firefly Group did not dissipate easily. For over a year, the hand-drawn animation team had been eager to create another masterpiece like The Lion King, hoping to make Firefly regret its decision to abandon the hand-drawn division.
Consequently, the usual two-year animation production cycle was reduced to just a year and a half, yet the quality of Pocahontas remained exceptional. During the test screening, even Roger Allers himself praised the animated feature.
To realize Viacom's ambitions for diversification across the entire industry, Allers had provided unwavering support for Paramount's animation department. However, Sherry Lansing was far from as optimistic as Allers and the animation team.
Despite strict cost controls, the skyrocketing salaries for animators resulted in the production cost for Pocahontas reaching $80 million. Including marketing and promotional expenses, the total investment would likely exceed $120 million -- equivalent to twice the production and promotion cost of The Lion King.
The costs for the animated sequel to The Lion King and Mulan were also expected to be high. If Paramount intended to leverage its animation content to build a diversified industry chain exploiting the commercial potential of animated films in collaboration with Viacom's Blockbuster chain and Nickelodeon, it would conservatively take at least five years.
Before that, recouping the investment in these high-cost animated projects heavily relied on box office success. One could only imagine that during this lengthy industrial process, if just one of these expensive animated films flopped, it would severely damage Paramount's cash flow, potentially leading to a situation like Warner Bros., which wouldn't generate profits for its parent company and might need financial assistance from headquarters.
Moreover, Sherry Lansing remained suspicious regarding why Firefly Group had suddenly sold Disney's hand-drawn animation division. After all, this sale occurred at the peak of The Lion King's global box office nearing $1 billion -- no rational business manager would make such an irrational decision.
If the young man acted impulsively, such reasoning would seem even more unfounded. Firefly had experienced a miraculous rise, becoming the largest media group in North America and the world in under ten years. How could an individual who built such a media empire act recklessly? If the sale of the hand-drawn animation division was indeed a well-considered decision, then Paramount could be facing some profoundly hidden risks.
The decision to acquire Disney's hand-drawn animation division lay squarely with Allers. Sherry understood that even if issues arose in the animation division, she wouldn't bear the brunt of the responsibility. However, as CEO of Paramount Pictures, if such a situation arose, her position would still be far from comfortable.
...
Everything had been decided, and after pondering for a moment on the matter, Sherry quickly set it aside. She resolved to focus her efforts on live-action films. While they may not have as much lucrative merchandise as animated films, live-action films were always the mainstream in Hollywood.
"Have we heard from Steven?" Sherry asked as she straightened up, addressing her assistant in the front seat.
It was common knowledge in the industry that Spielberg was forming a new major studio with the support of Microsoft, in conjunction with David Geffen and George Lucas.
While there was an understanding that this studio would gradually build its own distribution network, unless it managed a series of acquisitions like Firefly did with New Line and Disney's distribution channels, Spielberg and his associates would need to depend on the seven major studios for film distribution for at least the next few years.
Due to the strained relationship between the principal investor Bill Gates and Firefly, the three companies within the Firefly system were certainly not options for Spielberg. Sony Pictures was still struggling to recover from financial difficulties, and Warner Bros. already had several affiliated production companies. That left Spielberg with only Paramount and Universal, both of whom were eagerly vying for this collaboration.
"The assistant just got a call from Spielberg's aide, saying that Mr. Spielberg is available tonight at eight o'clock. I've made a reservation at Morton's in Beverly Hills," the assistant informed.
Sherry nodded, satisfied. She glanced at her watch -- less than an hour remained before quitting time. She was about to instruct the driver to head home to prepare for the evening's dinner meeting when the car's fax machine suddenly crackled to life.
Pages printed out one after the other, and only when five or six pages had been faxed did the noise cease.
The assistant quickly skimmed the materials before handing them to Sherry in the back seat. "It's about Primal Fear, and there has been some... well, Ms. Lansing, you should take a look yourself."
Primal Fear was a crime thriller directed by Gregory Hoblit, known for his work on acclaimed television series like L.A. Law and NYPD Blue. The film had a budget of thirty million dollars, classifying it as a mid-range production.
Perhaps due to his background as a television director, Hoblit struggled to control the pacing of the film, initially resulting in a runtime exceeding 160 minutes. After numerous edits, the film was eventually trimmed to 130 minutes. Although this was more manageable, it still felt lengthy, and further alterations might affect the overall story cohesion.
In the early test screenings, aside from the stunning performance by newcomer Edward Norton, everything else fell short of management's expectations. Consequently, the company had not prioritized its marketing efforts.
Recently, however, the film's producer, Gary Lucchesi, proposed an idea to align the promotion of Primal Fear with Firefly's momentum from the recently released Se7en to boost Primal Fear's visibility and ultimately enhance its box office performance.
It was now Wednesday, with both Primal Fear and Se7en scheduled for release this Friday. Based on various feedback, Sherry found herself quite satisfied with Lucchesi's marketing strategy's effectiveness.
Noticing the assistant's somewhat hesistant demeanor after reviewing the fax, Sherry felt intrigued. As the assistant had forgotten to organize the fax pages, Sherry's eyes first landed on media snippets reviewing Primal Fear.
....
"...If Se7en merely gives pure sensory stimulation through some religious-style brutality, Primal Fear's shocking twist ending brings us pure psychological trauma. Numerous theories and facts have proven one point: psychological fear is the true fear. In this genre of crime thrillers, Primal Fear undoubtedly epitomizes that, while Se7en feels more like a cliche bloodbath."
"... Primal Fear is undeniably a high-quality crime thriller, without convoluted plot twists or misleading images directed towards the audience. Instead, it features a shocking twist that rattles the senses at a moment when one thinks everything is settled. If Se7en, which flaunts grand brutality, can score a 7, then Primal Fear surely deserves at least an 8.5. I can't wait to step into theaters and experience this truly captivating film during its official release."
"..."
...
Having glanced briefly at a few segments, Sherry furrowed her brows. The planned advertising strategy aimed to highlight the acting comparison between Edward Norton and Kevin Spacey as antagonists, but now the situation had shifted. Se7en's reputation had long since been established, having won the Sundance Film Festival Jury Award.
Now promoting that Primal Fear had superior quality over Se7en was only setting them up for a letdown after the film's release, wasn't it?
Raising her head to her assistant, she ordered, "Get Gary on the line."
The assistant took the onboard phone and, while dialing, turned back to say, "Ms. Lansing, this was indeed sent over by Mr. Lucchesi."
Sherry nodded, flipping through the fax pages in hand until she found the note on the first page from Gary Lucchesi. It turned out these reviews weren't the result of Paramount's marketing team at all. Quite frankly, aside from Paramount, who would care about both films? It was clear.
Once the phone connected, the assistant handed over the receiver. Sherry discussed the situation with Gary Lucchesi, who was responsible for Primal Fear's marketing. Frustrated, she hung up and reread the pages she had in her hand, several thoughts flashing through her mind, none of which seemed appropriate.
It was almost certain that these media comments stemmed from Firefly Group. Sherry understood that even she, if faced with such a scenario, would likely retaliate somehow. But it was unlikely that anyone could employ a counter-strategy as frustratingly effective as Firefly's.
After all, these reviews appeared to praise Primal Fear, and Paramount couldn't publicly admit that their film was lacking or needed improvement.
Yet, without action, the narrative that Primal Fear was of higher quality than Se7en would spread, leading audiences and critics to discover the deception once the two films premiered. The outcome would be unpredictable.
Clearly, it was a classic case of "death by praise," elevating someone only to see them crash down and shatter into pieces.
Primal Fear's final quality did not meet Paramount's expectations, and thus the marketing push wasn't particularly strong. However, that did not mean Sherry Lansing was indifferent towards the film. Each year, Paramount produced no more than ten films with production costs exceeding $30 million.
After a brief moment of reflection, Sherry concluded, "Let's head back to headquarters. Also, call Gary and the team to discuss a strategy."
"What about the meeting with Mr. Spielberg?"
"As long as we're not late, it'll be fine. Just keep an eye on the time and remind me when it's close."
...
A film's promotional work typically began as soon as the project was initiated. However, the reputation of a film truly solidified in the weeks surrounding its official release. Before that, one could only twist and turn to make sure audiences were aware of the film's existence. It was only after the film started small test screenings and then expanded into wide releases that word-of-mouth would spread.
After winning the Sundance Film Festival Jury Award in January, Se7en had gained significant traction in media and fan circles. Thanks to Paramount's clever cross-promotion strategy, many suddenly began noticing a similarly themed film named Primal Fear as Easter approached.
Ordinary folks wouldn't typically delve deeply into film reviews; they merely sensed the overall trend in public opinion and gradually thought that perhaps Primal Fear was indeed as good as what the newspapers suggested -- better than Se7en.
Days flew by swiftly leading up to Easter. While Easter wasn't a statutory holiday in North America, it coincided with college spring breaks, and many American college students had at least a week off during this period. While some affluent youths might choose to travel, most still lacked that kind of financial means.
However, watching a few films with friends and family over the holiday was a common pastime among Americans.
Se7en and Primal Fear undoubtedly emerged as the top choices for moviegoers this Easter.
On April 5th, a Friday, just two days before Easter, Se7en and Primal Fear were released in 2,500 and 1,900 screens, respectively.
Due to the muted reception of Alien 3, David Fincher wasn't particularly known. However, the two leads of Se7en, Matthew McConaughey and Morgan Freeman, were familiar names to the public, and the debut of Victoria's Secret model Diane Kruger added another layer of appeal, attracting a large audience.
Simultaneously, driven by recent media comments surrounding both films, a significant portion of viewers also opted for Primal Fear.
*****
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