No one expected Depp to do sothing like that. Michael Eisner was so surprised that he froze on the spot for a mont, despite his experience handling crises.
Depp walked back out, snapping, "I've never considered n as sexual partners."
Depp strode past Matthew and Keira and out of the tent. Keira shot Michael an angry glare and turned to follow Depp. Matthew just shook his head slightly and, without a word, turned to leave as well.
He was certain that Depp had wanted to do more than just slap him, but Michael Eisner was the chairman of The Walt Disney Company, so he had restrained himself.
It took a mont for Michael to recover. He touched his reddening cheek, looked at Jerry Bruckheir, and demanded, "What was all that about?"
Jerry wasn't exactly sympathetic. "Michael, that was your misstep. You should have held your tongue, or at least not been so blunt."
Unlike Matthew, Jerry had the courage to "confront" Michael—or rather, to openly rebuke him. Without him, The Walt Disney Company would lose a great deal.
"Alright, forget it," Michael said, waving his hand dismissively. "What are we going to do about the film?"
"I believe in my film," Jerry continued. "Michael, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' has already started post-production and is unlikely to be changed. What we need to do now is focus on promotion and advertising."
Michael wasn't interested in that particular aspect and asked, "Don't you already have a plan to drum up so buzz?"
"I do," Jerry replied, looking at Michael. "But what just happened gave
another excellent promotional angle."
Michael was no fool and imdiately understood what he ant. "Jerry, are you going to use
and Depp for publicity?"
Jerry nodded. "The Chairman of Disney is dissatisfied with the lead actor's performance and gets into a heated argunt with Depp. The press will certainly publicize your conflict, and the fans will be intrigued. This story alone could add tens of millions of dollars to the film's box office."
"Is that so?" Michael said in his usual business-like manner after a few seconds of thought. "As you wish. For the sake of the film and its box office, I'm willing to participate in such a ridiculous farce."
As the man at the helm of a dia conglorate, how could he not understand the importance of publicity and marketing?
Everyone else dispersed to attend to their own affairs. The three leads had a series of matters to deal with since they had temporarily stepped away in protest, but Jerry didn't leave. He remained standing beside Michael Eisner, making no move to go after the trio of Matthew, Depp, and Keira; he wasn't about to clean up the ss Michael had made.
Besides, he had sothing else to discuss with Michael.
"Michael," Jerry changed the subject, "have soone follow up on my two new projects."
"I've already asked my assistant to handle it." Michael, of course, understood Jerry Bruckheir's importance to the entire Disney company. He assured him, "Disney's resources are available to you on a priority basis. That has never changed."
Jerry frowned slightly and cautioned, "The initial budgets for both projects are extrely insufficient."
Michael, who was also concerned about this, thought for a mont before asking, "Jerry, have you considered the situation from Disney's perspective?"
"Hmm?" Jerry looked at Michael, perplexed.
"Given that the production budget for 'Pirates of the Caribbean' was $140 million, and Disney had to advance a significant portion of the advertising expenses, such a huge sum of money is already impossible to recoup quickly." Michael's tone with Jerry was far less assertive than it was within the company. "Then you have two more major projects with production budgets of $100 million or more. Even Disney would struggle to handle that."
He appealed to Jerry, "If your Bruckheir Films could increase its investnt, the project would surely proceed much more smoothly."
Jerry remained silent. It was a while before he finally spoke. "A significant portion of my company's money is tied up in 'Pirates of the Caribbean'."
His Jerry Bruckheir Films was just a small company. Where would he get enough money to invest in multiple projects at once?
Michael said, "I understand. Jerry, let's not rush things. We can try to close the funding gap with external financing if possible."
"But," Jerry frowned, "that will take too long."
Since 2001, the overall growth of the US economy had slowed, and this had affected Hollywood. Many Hollywood studios were facing cash shortages.
Michael shook his head. "Then there's nothing I can do."
It wasn't that Walt Disney didn't have the money, but the conglorate's liquidity was separate from its subsidiary's accounts. It wasn't possible to just throw around tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars; any large company has rules and regulations that must be followed.
Furthermore, Walt Disney's money was earmarked for a much bigger purpose. He was orchestrating the acquisition of Pixar Studios. How could he impress that old fox Steve Jobs without a massive cash offer?
After talking with Michael Eisner for a while longer, Jerry had made no progress. The preliminary developnt of both projects was going well, but the issue was the lack of sufficient funds. Without them, even he couldn't continue to push the projects forward.
Film, especially comrcial film, is inherently an industry that requires high investnt to achieve high output.
Jerry left the tent, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed a number. After speaking with the person on the other end, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. His agent had just approached several investnt funds, but the negotiations had been unsuccessful.
"Financing," Jerry muttered, looking at the crowds in the distance. "I'm facing a financing problem again."
It wasn't that he hadn't encountered this before. Raising money for ga-projects with budgets over $100 million was the number one problem in Hollywood when it ca to planning.
"Pirates of the Caribbean," because it involved the park attractions at Disneyland, had received strong support from Disney and had no funding issues. But with these two new films, Disney's support was unlikely to be as substantial.
Besides, he'd heard that Michael Eisner was planning to continue on the path of rgers and acquisitions after Disney had digested ABC Television, which ant that funds within the Walt Disney Group would certainly be tight.
Jerry knew perfectly well that he would either have to postpone the projects and wait for the investnt in "Pirates of the Caribbean" to be fully recouped before moving forward with one of the two, but that would be too long a wait. The North Arican box office revenue would be fine, but foreign revenue tended to drag on for a long ti.
He had originally planned for one of the two projects, "King Arthur," to be released next sumr, and the second during the holiday blockbuster season at the end of next year. But if the financing problems dragged on, the release dates would have to be changed.
That was a situation Jerry did not want to see.
As he left Disneyland, his only thought was how to solve the funding problem.
...
Inside the makeup trailer, Matthew, Depp, and Keira had finished removing their makeup. Keira went to her separate dressing room to change, and by the ti she ca out, Matthew and Depp had long since changed back into their regular clothes.
"Why did you guys follow
out?" Depp asked after a mont, looking at Matthew and Keira as if he didn't know what to say.
Matthew shrugged. "Just silent support. It's all I could do in that situation."
Keira walked up to Matthew's side and declared, "I would have given Eisner a piece of my mind if he wasn't such a big shot at the company and I didn't need the role of the leading lady."
Depp, who despite his eccentricities was a decent person, moved between Matthew and Keira, placing one hand on Matthew's shoulder and the other on Keira's. "If you two have any trouble in the future, you can co to . I'll help if I can."
"Depp," Matthew said deliberately, "look at you. You were born to be the caring older brother."
Depp imdiately dropped his hands. "Perhaps."
He turned to grab his bag, and once he had it, he headed for the door.
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