Chapter 798: Chapter 799: Whatever You Do Is Wrong
[Chapter 799: Whatever You Do Is Wrong]
By July, Charlie's Angels 2 hit theaters on July 5, drawing immense anticipation. As one of the most popular female-led action films in recent years, it raked in over $71 million in its first week. At the same time, movies like Pocahontas and The Mummy 2 continued to dominate the North American box office, while sequels such as Men in Black and Jumanji were gearing up for their upcoming releases.
Many believed that, aside from The Mummy franchise, iconic female-led films like Pocahontas from Paramount and Charlie's Angels from MGM, or even films distributed by Sony like Men in Black and Jumanji, should have belonged to Firefly Group. Yet, these movies were currently being claimed by other major studios, while Firefly's own The Matrix and The Rock were nearing completion.
Consequently, these factors led the media to mock Firefly's strategic missteps, particularly targeting Paramount Animation.
While Firefly had sold its hand-drawn animation studio for a whopping $2.5 billion, the commercial potential demonstrated by Pocahontas suggested that, if Paramount Animation maintained such production quality in its upcoming films, Viacom would recover all its investment costs in the next few years. Moreover, Viacom's collaborations with other subsidiaries, like Nickelodeon and Blockbuster, could create a formidable 2D animation industry chain that could rival Firefly's 3D animated films. This was the most damaging impact on Firefly.
Previously, Hollywood's animation industry had been predominantly monopolized by Firefly's Disney, largely due to the lengthy investment and difficulties in nurturing animation talent. Firefly had essentially carved out a significant piece of a high-profit sector that it had previously dominated for Viacom.
Very few people knew the details behind the sale of Disney's hand-drawn animation studio, and Firefly had no rebuttal.
Initially, while the criticisms aimed at Firefly were frustrating, they did not pose any real harm; the PR team expected that once the summer blockbuster season passed and public interest waned, the controversies would naturally fade.
However, following The Matrix's North American box office surpassing $200 million, the Wachowski brothers appeared on ABC's Late Night with David Letterman to promote the film during its post-release phase. Although they had become celebrities, they preferred to maintain a low profile. It was Frank Wells who personally called them to arrange the appearance.
In the interview, the brothers inadvertently discussed how the script for the sequels had been rejected by the studio and was being rewritten. Firefly did not react particularly sensitively to that topic.
But, perhaps due to the incessant media buzz surrounding Firefly, many journalists had their eyes firmly set on anything related to the company, and this bit of information was quickly picked up.
...
Shortly after their interview, while the brothers returned to their long-time residence in Chicago, a persistent paparazzi who had been following them for some time managed to corner them. After days of pestering, the paparazzo convinced Andy Wachowski, who was slightly tipsy after leaving a bar, to return for an "exclusive interview."
Although they had based the trilogy's scripts on Eric Williams' original novel concepts, the brothers considered the trilogy their labor of love. Since Eric had completely rejected their scripts, they had been feeling quite down. A somewhat inebriated Andy poured out his frustrations to the eager paparazzi.
The next day, the Chicago Sun-Times published an article related to their interview.
"...The Matrix is undoubtedly one of the best sci-fi films in recent years. Although adapted from Eric Williams' original work, the director-screenwriter duo of the Wachowskis infused the film with many philosophical elements. This enriched the film's themes on top of Williams' pure sci-fi foundation and greatly increased its entertainment value and cultural depth.
...However, based on an exclusive interview conducted by our special correspondent Bob Johns with The Matrix's director Andy Wachowski, we received a deeply regrettable piece of news. The Wachowski brothers initially envisioned a complete trilogy while adapting Eric Williams' work, but after the success of the first film, the scripts for the sequels were entirely rejected by Firefly's higher-ups. Andy Wachowski revealed that Firefly executives deemed the sequel scripts too profound, meaning they failed to meet commercial movie standards. Therefore, not only did Firefly reject the brothers' requests to co-produce the sequels, but they also demanded that the brothers completely rewrite the scripts, removing any deep philosophical content and returning to the pop-corn movie essence.
...It is well known that although this year Firefly has faced its first box office flops since its inception, we must acknowledge that the recent years have seen the Firefly Group achieve commercial successes that other companies could only dream of. However, we also see that Firefly has made little to no progress in the art film sector beyond commercial films. We have always believed that while a movie pursues commercial profit, it also bears the task of conveying certain meaningful content. Therefore, Firefly's excessive pursuit of commercialism at the expense of substance is undoubtedly very regrettable.
...Just looking at The Matrix, within just a little over a month since its release, the film has garnered a massive fanbase thanks to its perfect blend of sci-fi and philosophy. It is easy to imagine that if the sequel discards the distinctive personal style of the Wachowskis and reverts to Firefly's popcorn blockbuster essence, then after several years of waiting with great expectation, we will undoubtedly be met with immense disappointment."
It was clear that the article had significantly misinterpreted Andy Wachowski's words. Eric's initial request had only been for the brothers to rewrite a coherent story and did not involve abandoning their personal style.
On the same day the Chicago Sun-Times published the article, the Wachowski brothers' agent publicly clarified the media's claims, stating that Firefly had no intention of forcing the brothers to turn The Matrix into a pure popcorn flick. This interview was merely the result of Bob Johns coaxing a drunken Andy Wachowski into speaking.
However, the media and fans clearly did not believe the brothers' agent's clarification. Many who fancied themselves knowledgeable about the industry's inner workings dismissed the statement as a forced response to Firefly's overwhelming pressure.
Thus, this article was quickly shared and gained traction.
...
In less than a week, nearly everyone remotely interested in entertainment news in the United States was aware of the situation.
Meanwhile, true fans of The Matrix were deeply angered. By the second week, large groups of fans began gathering outside Firefly's Burbank headquarters and Playa Vista studios, holding signs proclaiming, "We don't want popcorn movies; we want The Matrix!" They demanded that Firefly's leadership allow the Wachowski brothers to stick to the original script.
While Firefly could disregard mocking media critiques, they could not afford to ignore the actions of fans.
After all, America's well-established film culture meant that the fan community wielded far more power than in other countries with a nascent film industry. A slight misstep could damage Firefly's brand.
While daily efforts were made to maintain order among fans and prevent worse incidents, Firefly executives began discussing possible countermeasures.
Clearly, shooting according to the Wachowskis' original script was off the table, as Firefly had been cornered. If the original script's convoluted narrative were filmed, the resulting quality would not meet fan expectations, and fans would likely blame Firefly for any disappointments stemming from today's issues. Furthermore, Firefly couldn't risk making the Wachowskis' original script public, as doing so would violate industry norms. Fans often held a biased view, assuming their beloved creators could do no wrong and would likely not provide a professional critique of the script.
Conversely, if they went ahead with the original plan to have the Wachowskis rewrite the script, they risked angering a massive fanbase that would undoubtedly hold the sequels to ruthless scrutiny. Even if the sequel earned a good score, it could plummet to abysmal ratings due to picky fans.
In short, this unexpected media situation meant that for The Matrix project, regardless of Firefly's actions, as long as the sequel didn't achieve outstanding quality, the outcome would almost certainly be viewed as a mistake.
Perhaps other competitors recognized Firefly's predicament and aimed to muddy the waters further, engaging in minor schemes to create a ruckus.
As time passed, discussions about The Matrix's sequel showed no signs of cooling down; if anything, the noise intensified.
An online petition emerged, echoing the rallying cry "We don't want popcorn movies; we want The Matrix," and within just a week, it attracted over 100,000 signatures.
After multiple PR efforts, Katzenberg even made an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America to explain Firefly's intentions to the fans, but nothing proved effective.
Though other approaches existed, ultimately, executives like Katzenberg and Frank Wells had no choice but to forward the issue to Eric in the Bahamas for his personal decision.
...
Following two weeks of night shoots, the narrative filming went smoothly.
By July 16, just a couple of days prior, the filming of Casino Royale in the Bahamas had wrapped up, but the crew was utterly exhausted after working tirelessly for a month and a half, erratically switching between day and night shoots.
Thus, Eric decided against rushing the crew to the next filming location and instead gave them three days off to enjoy the sunshine and beaches of the Bahamas.
While filming progressed, Eric maintained his focus on the events unfolding in Los Angeles. He had expected that Katzenberg and the others would handle everything adeptly, but when his assistant Kelly Haynes personally arrived in the Bahamas with a thick stack of documents, Eric realized the situation had spiraled out of control.
In his living room, as Kelly handed him document after document, she explained, "The current situation is that we can hardly provide fans with a satisfactory explanation. If we film according to the original script, once the film fails to meet expectations, we'll be blamed, but if we let the Wachowskis rewrite the script, the film might not even come out before it faces fan backlash. Either way, the blame will fall on us."
After going over a mountain of clippings and risk assessments, Eric rubbed his temples and sighed, "It's never a dull moment, is it? Now we can't even afford to not shoot the film."
Kelly chuckled wryly, "Exactly. If we put the project on hold, we'll still enrage the fans, which might be the worst way to offend them, as they'll feel neglected and overlooked."
"Alright, let me think this through," Eric said, massaging his temples before looking at Peter Rich who was sitting nearby. "Go find a place where we can hold a video conference. The Ocean Club Center should have the equipment, right? Make sure Katzenberg and the team are online at the scheduled time for us to discuss."
Peter nodded but hesitated, "Eric, organizing a video conference might be difficult. This place probably lacks the necessary facilities; a phone conference would be easier to set up."
Eric realized that technology hadn't progressed to the point of easy video conferencing, especially not in the Bahamas. He waved his hand and said, "Then let's go with a phone conference."
Once Peter left, Kelly subtly shifted her position and, seeing Eric still rubbing his temples, walked over to stand behind him. She gently placed her hands on his shoulders to offer a soothing massage.
*****
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