Director in Hollywood

The poor market performance of Batman & Robin provided a unique opportunity for other films released during the same period.

My Best Friend's Wedding, starring Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, and Robert De Niro, managed to seize the moment and gross $32.472 million in its opening week.

Although it did not secure the number one spot at the weekly box office, the film received favorable reviews, and its box office trajectory looked healthy.

More importantly, the movie was a relatively low-budget production, whereas Batman & Robin was a $125 million blockbuster, ranking among the most expensive films ever made.

The failure of Batman & Robin proved that bigger budgets and star-studded casts do not necessarily guarantee success; the quality of the movie still matters.

Despite featuring major stars like George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the film was a failure.

This became one of the rare box-office flops for Schwarzenegger—and it was a spectacular one at that.

Warner Bros. tried various remedies, but none worked. The film continued down the path of failure, leading to the high-level meeting being held.

This project was personally overseen by Jeff Robinov, CEO of Warner Bros. The disastrous failure of such a significant project meant he could not avoid responsibility. He would need to explain the situation to the parent company and might even face an early end to his tenure.

However, Robinov did not intend to find a scapegoat—he couldn't even if he wanted to.

At this juncture, a firm decision had to be made.

Seeing no one speak, Robinov suggested, "I propose we temporarily shelve the Batman movie franchise and wait for the right time to reboot it."

Another shelving. It seemed like Superman had been shelved for many years already.

Fortunately, DC was already a subsidiary of Warner Bros., so there were no copyright disputes. Otherwise, the flop of a movie might have led the comic company to reclaim the rights.

Shelving the franchise was the only viable option for now. With the reputation of Batman tarnished, continuing the series would almost certainly result in further failures.

The executives unanimously agreed, and the Batman film franchise was shelved. All plans for sequels were canceled.

This project had been a major revenue pillar for Warner Bros. Losing Batman meant Warner lost a critical component of its business.

Warner seemed to be having an unlucky year. Speed 2: Cruise Control had been a massive flop at the box office, and now Batman & Robin had also failed.

With Batman gone, Warner needed to find new revenue sources.

In recent years, one of Warner's other major revenue pillars had been Gilbert's movies.

Fortunately, this summer, Gilbert's films had consistently delivered. The Sixth Sense was heading toward a $300 million box office total in North America, providing some psychological comfort to Warner.

Thanks to the stellar performance of Gilbert's movies, Warner's stock price remained stable despite the catastrophic failure of Batman & Robin.

Now, the question was how Warner could find new sources of profit.

As the head of the distribution department, Doug Walter had overseen the Sixth Sense project this year. If Robinov were held accountable, Walter was the most likely candidate to take over as CEO.

However, at this time, Walter did not hold back. A few days ago, Gilbert's agent, Sheena Boone, had approached him with a children's book.

Walter instructed his assistant to bring the book over.

"Jeff, take a look at this..." Walter handed over Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for Robinov to examine.

"What's this?" Robinov asked, puzzled as he took the book and flipped through it. Then his eyes widened in surprise. "This is… a children's book?"

"That's right. Miss Boone brought it over. She said Gilbert sees commercial potential in it," Walter explained.

Hearing that Gilbert valued the novel, Robinov immediately took it seriously and decided to give it a proper look.

After the meeting ended, the two went to the CEO's office. Robinov skimmed through the book and found it to be an excellent read with a highly engaging story.

The magical world created by the author was incredibly captivating. Robinov also thought the book had significant potential.

After reading it, Robinov asked Walter, "What's Gilbert's intention here?"

"He hopes to collaborate with us to promote the work and, when the time is right, adapt it into a film," Walter replied.

"I suspect Miss Boone hasn't only approached Warner Bros.; she's likely been in contact with Disney as well," Robinov remarked.

If nothing unexpected happened, Warner would end up collaborating with Disney again. Neither side could afford to work with Gilbert without paying a massive price.

Robinov's guess was accurate.

At the same time as the Warner meeting, over at Disney, Robert Iger was pitching Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to Michael Eisner.

"I've read this book carefully, and I believe it has significant potential," Iger said enthusiastically.

However, Eisner didn't seem too interested and instead brought up another issue. "I've heard the board is actively trying to oust me."

"Uh…" Iger hesitated, then quickly reassured, "Mr. Eisner, you don't need to worry. Under your leadership, Disney's performance has been outstanding. The board members are well aware of this."

"Yes, they're aware!" Eisner sighed. "But Disney isn't just my Disney; the Disney family is still involved."

Eisner then instructed, "Robert Iger, I'm leaving this matter to you."

It appeared that the internal power struggles were distracting Eisner from focusing on new projects. He had previously personally overseen and approved every project.

Now, he was delegating responsibilities far more freely, which greatly empowered Iger.

Suppressing his excitement, Iger agreed and went to handle the matter.

With internal conflicts brewing, everyone harbored their own ambitions. Even Iger found his ambitions awakened, contemplating ascending to the CEO position and experiencing the view from the top.

After returning from Europe, Gilbert was updated on the latest developments. Warner was actively engaging, while at Disney, it was Iger who showed the most enthusiasm.

Iger privately visited Gilbert at Melon Studios to discuss internal company matters.

"Gilbert, I can feel it—Eisner is gradually losing his former authority amid these internal struggles," Iger said.

"This is an opportunity, Bob—your opportunity," Gilbert replied with a smile.

"In the past, Eisner would've handled dissenting board members with ease," Iger said worriedly. "If I make a move now, will I become a target and be eliminated by him?"

But Gilbert reassured him. "That was in the past. Now Eisner is older and not in good health. It's time for him to rest. When you become CEO, let him retire honorably."

Iger nodded, seemingly convincing himself. "For Eisner's health, I should take over and manage Disney."

Having made up his mind, Iger decided to vie for the CEO position. Gilbert, of course, supported him.

He had a good personal relationship with Iger, and Iger's ascent to the CEO position would benefit Gilbert.