America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Burbank, Warner Building.

Kevin Tsujihara, in his capacity as CEO, officially stepped through the doors.

"President!"

"President!"

Everyone he met paused their steps, moving to the side, and greeted him proactively.

Kevin Tsujihara wore a smile, repeatedly nodding towards everyone around, exuding great affability.

The new CEO made a very good impression on the employees.

He went upstairs, entered his office, and like all newly appointed decision-makers, Kevin Tsujihara was full of ambition, eager to stretch his legs.

This Japanese-American executive had served as a high-level executive at Warner Bros. for a long time. After AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner, he was transferred to Warner Media, the parent company, to serve as an executive.

Now that he was back, he naturally needed to deliver some solid results.

It couldn't be the "Harry Potter," "Batman," or "The Lord of the Rings" series either—those were the achievements of Barry Meyer and Ellen Horn. Relying on his predecessor's legacy would only make the board of directors and shareholders think he lacked the ability to innovate, even putting his own position at risk.

His assistant, also of Japanese descent, Beisen, now brought over some coffee and delivered a document.

Kevin Tsujihara asked, "Has the issue between Marvel Studios and the Cola Cult settled down?"

Nathan replied respectfully, "It has settled, Kevin Feige made a public apology, Martin placated the people of the Cola Cult, and Disney also did some work, so there's been little about it in the media."

Kevin Tsujihara nodded and said, "Robert Iger reacted swiftly, quickly finding the optimal solution."

Nathan stood quietly aside, not chiming in.

After a moment of thought, Kevin Tsujihara continued, "Take the team and brainstorm some more. Our superhero universe plan needs time. If our neighbor is too successful, it will make us look incompetent. Continue finding ways to slow them down."

"Yes!" Nathan replied crisply.

Kevin Tsujihara waved his hand dismissively.

Nathan promptly left.

In the office, Kevin Tsujihara opened the document Nathan had brought: it was the resignation letter of Ellen Horn, president of Warner Bros.

The parent company had already approved it.

Kevin Tsujihara read it once, then signed his name on it.

The disastrous performance of "Terminator 2018" had greatly displeased the parent company with Ellen Horn, who had been strongly pushing for the project, and that was the direct cause of her dismissal.

It was Warner Bros.' most painful defeat since "Alexander the Great," even when including projected revenue from offline sources, the losses exceeded 100 million US dollars.

With Ellen Horn gone, Barry Meyer was next in line.

According to the parent company's plans, once Barry Meyer had completely stepped down, Kevin Tsujihara would also take on the role of chairman of Warner Bros.

This Japanese-American executive was set to hold great power.

From Warner Bros. to DC Films and then to Warner Entertainment, all captains needed to be replaced.

Just like with the big companies in Hollywood, when the captain of the flagship changes, it's natural to change the captains of the other ships in the fleet.

As for the turmoil this produced, it was naturally a brief price to pay in forging the next glorious era.

Next, Kevin Tsujihara focused on inspecting Warner Bros.' core movie business.

The current Warner Bros. could be said to be at its peak; the "Harry Potter" series had filled Warner Bros.' coffers, the profits from The Lord of the Rings series were astounding, and "The Dark Knight" had brought DC comic book movies back to the apex.

In other film aspects, Kevin Tsujihara noticed that Martin Davis, who had been closely collaborating with Warner Bros. in recent years, had contributed huge revenues.

There were plenty of challenges for Warner, though, such as the impending end of the Harry Potter series, The Dark Knight being too dependent on Nolan, and The Hobbit series moving forward too slowly.

Before coming from New York, Kevin Tsujihara had already planned that "The Hobbit" needed to speed up its pace.

Barry Meyer and Ellen Horn gave too generous of treatments to their partners and too lenient contracts, which affected Warner's profit earnings.

And most importantly, their neighbors at Marvel had already demonstrated their ambition for a Marvel Universe on the big screen; DC could not be left behind.

Kevin Tsujihara made a phone call.

Before long, the newly appointed head of DC Films, Hamada, entered his office.

Of course, upon taking his position, Kevin Tsujihara wanted to bring in his own people. He convinced the parent company, opting out of the original choice, to transfer Hamada from New Line Cinema to helm the DC comic adaptation film project.

"Superhero movies have been very popular these years, with Batman thriving and Iron Man being a huge success. Marvel has already taken the first two steps in their movie universe plan," Kevin Tsujihara said, "How's your planning going?"

Hamada had been carefully studying DC Comics since two months prior when Kevin Tsujihara talked to him, and by now, he had an initial plan. He declared, "I'm sure I can catch up. I have confidence in this."

He explained in detail, "Marvel's most popular characters like Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, all of their rights have been sold off. They are only left with a bunch of second and third-tier superheroes. In contrast, at DC, we have everything from Superman to Batman to Wonder Woman. All rights are in our hands.

Over the past decades, they have been more popular in the comic market than characters like Iron Man and Captain America."

Kevin Tsujihara said, "Therefore, the first step I took upon my appointment was to choose DC, to create a superhero movie universe that belongs to both Warner and DC."

Just appointed, Hamada was also full of ambition. He said, "Batman is currently being filmed in a realistic version by Nolan, which is completely at odds with the setting of the DC Universe; Superman has just experienced a flop in the movies, and Wonder Woman is a female character; the trio of DC giants aren't quite suitable for the moment."

Kevin Tsujihara nodded slightly, convinced by the logic.

Hamada added, "I've chosen Green Lantern, which has a certain fan base and can expand DC's universe into the cosmos, catching up with neighboring Marvel."

After considering for a moment, Kevin Tsujihara said, "You first lead DC Films to develop a detailed plan for such a large-scale project, which will need the approval committee's green light."

Hamada responded, "I'll go back and start working on it right away."

Kevin Tsujihara cautioned, "Speed is essential!"

Hamada could feel the pressure from his supervisor, as he faced equally high stakes, having just been promoted from an executive at New Line Cinema to the top spot at DC Films, one that demanded a dazzling first accomplishment.

......

The atmosphere in the Warner Building was notably tense; while ordinary employees might not perceive it clearly, the executives felt vulnerable after the leadership changes at Warner Bros. and DC Films.

Newly-appointed chiefs often prefer to bring in their own people.

This Japanese-American CEO had made that abundantly clear.

With Ellen Horn's departure and Barry Meyer's term nearing its end as chairman, Daniel, who was close to both, was particularly worried.

He might lose his position as vice president of distribution, responsible for the distribution of medium to large projects.

Rumors had been circulating for the past two days.

Daniel essentially faced two options: one was to find his next opportunity like Ellen Horn did, which was not easy.

The six major studios in Hollywood had limited openings, and all were currently filled, posing too great a risk to switch industries.

For a middle-aged man who had just bought a mansion and had several children enrolled in prestigious private schools, one wrong step could mean disaster, even bankruptcy.

The other path, already being taken by some subsidiary executives, was to pledge loyalty to Kevin Tsujihara.

As a new head, he couldn't possibly replace everyone in key positions, because they worked for Warner Bros., not for some executive.

Daniel knew his position was pivotal and had been reflecting on this for the past few days.

Today, as Ellen Horn officially resigned, it served as a wake-up call for him; it was a critical time.

Daniel needed the job and did not want to risk moving to another company. He picked up a document, made a phone call, and then left the office to go upstairs. Stay connected via My Virtual Library Empire

Kevin Tsujihara met with Daniel in the reception area outside his office.

"I have some work that requires your approval," Daniel said, adopting an appropriately humble tone. "After Warner Bros. recently cataloged their old films, Martin Davis heard about it and requested a detailed list from me with the intention of selecting suitable projects for reboots from our old titles..."

He explained what had happened, mixing nine parts truth with one part fiction.

Kevin Tsujihara didn't understand his intentions and looked puzzled.

Daniel elaborated, "Martin Davis has an exceptional eye for picking projects. Since his entry into Hollywood, except for his debut film 'Zombie Stripper,' all his works have been distributed by Warner Bros. and were successful, many of which were not well-received before production but performed exceptionally well in box office and DVD sales after release."

He pushed over the details of the old films Martin had chosen toward Kevin Tsujihara. "He has an almost terrifying instinct for the film market; the projects he selects always succeed. There have been similar instances in Hollywood history."

Kevin Tsujihara quickly skimmed through the documents, laughing as he said, "Not bad."

His comment was directed less at the old movies and more at Daniel's attitude and stance.

He handed back the documents to Daniel, "You know Martin Davis well. Go and ask him why he's taken an interest in these three films."

Daniel didn't hesitate, "I'll go talk to him right now."

He reasoned that being close to Barry Meyer had been a professional necessity, and now was no different.

After Daniel left, Kevin Tsujihara returned to his office and went to the floor-to-ceiling window. With a particularly good mood today, he overlooked most of Burbank, feeling as if he had Hollywood under his control.

......

At the Warner Bros. Studios, in the "Gone Girl" workshop, Martin, David Fincher, and Charlize Theron were discussing characters and the script.

Bruce knocked on the door and said, "Daniel's here."

This film was currently negotiating distribution terms with Warner Bros., and Daniel was the direct person in charge of the negotiation team.

David Fincher and Martin went to see Daniel together.

The latter spoke bluntly, "David, you are known for your slow production pace, but you must assure me that you can complete the filming and production of this movie before November next year."

The two parties had scheduled the North American premiere for the beginning of next year's holiday season.

David Fincher, understanding the current situation in Hollywood and knowing that this year's awards were out of reach while still aiming for an Oscar for Best Director, immediately said, "Starting now, I will work at least six days a week to ensure 'Gone Girl' is completed on time."

Daniel extended his hand.

David Fincher high-fived him.

This was an affirmation on a personal level. The distribution negotiations were still ongoing, and once the talks were concluded, everything would be formalized in a written contract.