Chapter 316 Disintegration

Last year, Jobs was diagnosed with a "pancreatic tumor." Fortunately, this tumor is a "pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor" and can be cured with prompt surgery. This is the standard treatment for the disease, and surgery can greatly increase a patient's survival.

However, no one expected that such a person who is famous for high technology and whose thinking is higher than the upper class of modern civilization would actually think that surgery is not the best solution because Jobs is a devout Buddhist believer!

As early as the summer of 1974, Jobs made a pilgrimage to India barefoot and fully clothed. He has been a vegetarian for many years. It is precisely because of this that Jobs refused the most timely surgery on the grounds that "I am not allowed to abandon any part of my body, and I really don't want them to cut open my body. I think it is a serious violation of me." Instead, they tried to treat it with diet therapy, strict vegetarianism, and various Eastern mystical powers, such as Indian cow dung capsules, psychics, and Chinese acupuncture and herbal medicine.

After nine months of this process, Jobs checked again and discovered that not only was the cancer not cured, but the tumors in his body had actually grown larger and had begun to metastasize.

Now, Jobs has finally accepted the reality and plans to have surgery to remove it. However, instead of only removing the pancreas nine months ago, he will also need to remove parts of the gallbladder, stomach and small intestine. Undoubtedly, there are risks in this operation.

Jobs said to Wu Yuchen: "Wu, I'm about to have surgery, and the risk will be very high this time. I'm thinking, I should sell Pixar at a good price. If anything happens, I think my family will too." Guaranteed.

Moreover, for Pixar, Disney is already the best choice. No company is better at promoting and operating animation than Disney. "

After hearing what Jobs said, Wu Yuchen also understood his mood.

Although he knew that if things went according to the previous life, Jobs should have successfully overcome the difficulties this time, he still showed a somewhat sad expression: "Steve, I didn't expect your condition to deteriorate so quickly. I sincerely Hope you can regain your health!"

Then Wu Yuchen said: "In this case, I can understand your mood of wanting to sell Pixar. But if you ask me to speak from a purely objective perspective and a professional perspective, I suggest you continue etc."

"Huh?" Jobs waited for Wu Yuchen's explanation.

"Steve, you should know that the market for animated movies has always been huge. In my eyes, Pixar is the best animation studio in Hollywood and even the world, even if it has made the hit "Monster History" "Lake" DreamWorks is also better than Pixson.

So from this perspective, you really don’t have to worry. Pixar can be sold at a price. Disney should be anxious. "

Jobs was thoughtful after hearing this.

Later, Wu Yuchen asked Jobs: "Steve, I heard that Pixar is producing a new animation about Superman, right?"

Jobs nodded and said, "Yes, "The Incredibles" is almost completed and will be released by the end of the year."

"I think you should probably wait until 'The Incredibles' comes out before making your choice."

Wu Yuchen changed his tone and asked again: "Can I ask the time of your operation?"

Jobs replied, "In two weeks."

Wu Yuchen continued: "If you don't want to wait until the end of the year, then wait until "Shrek 2" is released in a week. It only takes a week. This should give you a reference."

When Jobs heard this, a smile appeared on his face: "I think you are right, it's only a week, I will pay attention to "Shrek 2". Thank you for your suggestion, Wu!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "It's okay, Steve, I believe your operation will be successful."

Jobs smiled, and then asked curiously: "Wu, would you consider selling Miracle Pictures?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his head when he heard this, and asked Jobs: "Steve, do you think Apple will fail under your leadership?"

"Of course not!" Jobs replied with certainty.

Wu Yuchen spread his hands and said with a smile: "Look, just as you are so confident in your field, I am the same in my field. Miracle Pictures will only become more and more valuable in my hands!"

Jobs laughed loudly when he heard this: "Wu, you are right, we are the same guy!"

…

At the beginning of May, "Spider-Man 2" hit, and it grossed US$138 million at the box office in its first weekend, even more than the first film. The media also gave a lot of praise, especially for the design of the villain Doctor Octopus. Of course, the protagonist is still Peter Parker, and the little spider has once again taken the world by storm.

A few days later, "Shrek 2", which attracted Steve Jobs' attention, was released. The animation chose to premiere on Wednesday. With a box office of 20 million on Wednesday and Thursday, word-of-mouth was fermented, and the box office exceeded 100 million in the first and last three days of the week. It achieved good results of 130 million US dollars in five days of release. You must know that the lifespan of animated movies is longer than that of live-action movies. The industry predicts that this "Shrek" sequel will achieve a box office of at least 700 million.

After seeing the box office performance of "Shrek 2", Jobs decided to follow Wu Yuchen's suggestion and suspend negotiations with Disney. After the success of "The Incredibles" at the end of the year, he would gain more initiative and restart negotiations.

As for whether his operation will be successful, he believes that Buddha will bless devout believers!

Wu Yuchen was also paying attention to Jobs' surgery. After all, this was a worker who was going to help him make a lot of money. Whether Apple could become a giant with a market value of more than 3 trillion US dollars would depend on Jobs in the next few years.

Fortunately, there was no accident. On the second day of the surgery, Wu Yuchen received the news that Jobs' surgery was successful on the phone, which also made him feel relieved.

Just when Jobs was undergoing surgery, Spielberg's "The Terminal" was also released. Even with his reputation as a great director, even with the blessing of Big Tom, even with the British rose Zeta Jones, and even though many media sang praises for the movie, it still could not change the fact that it only achieved a low box office of 19.05 million in the first three days of the weekend.

Spielberg sighed: "I think my era may really be outdated."

Wu Yuchen comforted him: "Steven, The Terminal is a literary film, and it will achieve good results if it is distributed in the long term."

Wu Yuchen remembered that this film, which cost 60 million to produce, finally relied on the reputation of the great director Tom. Although the North American box office stopped at 70 million, the overseas regions were very respectful and eventually raised the global box office to 200 million US dollars.

Spielberg shook his head: "Wu, you don't need to comfort me. Tom and I only have this first weekend box office. The numbers speak for themselves. In the future, I will transfer more energy to the producer."

Spielberg sighed in his heart that he really couldn't keep up with the trend of the times. After all, he will be 60 years old in two years. Once people get older, their sensitivity to some emerging things and the market will inevitably decline, and their creative passion will no longer be as strong as when they were young.

Spielberg looked at Wu Yuchen, who was not yet 30 years old, and his heart was filled with strong sighs again. It was great to be young! He had a hunch that with Wu Yuchen's age, the world cinema would be his era in the next 20 years!

Wu Yuchen did not persuade Spielberg much about his remarks that he wanted to retire behind the scenes and become a producer. Anyway, it was none of his business, so he was just being polite symbolically.

Then Spielberg calmly said something uncalm to Wu Yuchen: "Wu, maybe DreamWorks is going to break up."

Wu Yuchen's head was full of question marks when he heard this: "What? What do you mean DreamWorks is going to break up?"

Spielberg crossed his hands and said tiredly: "David Geffen is not playing anymore. He has reached an agreement with Universal to sell DreamWorks Records to Universal."

"Wait, can David decide on this kind of thing himself?" Wu Yuchen asked.

"He can. In fact, when the three of us came together, I was in charge of movies, Katzenberg was in charge of animation, and David Geffen was in charge of music and records. We were independent and had decision-making power in our respective fields. But now the record industry is on the decline, and the impact of the Internet on records is too great. Katzenberg no longer intends to continue to spend energy on it, and he chose to quit and enjoy life."

Hearing this, Wu Yuchen also sighed. At the beginning, the three top figures in their respective fields came together to form DreamWorks, which shocked the entire Hollywood, and several major studios even united to suppress it secretly.

And now, David Geffen has sold DreamWorks records and chosen to quit, which means that DreamWorks has begun to disintegrate. This is what the big companies want to see most. David Geffen's departure is bound to hit the morale of the other two. Will they continue to persevere?

If they can't persevere, then they can only choose to sell assets. This is a good time for big companies to start annexing and harvesting.

Wu Yuchen immediately asked Spielberg: "Steve, what about you? What are your plans?"

After hearing Spielberg's frustrated sigh just now, Wu Yuchen now has a bad feeling. He is worried that Spielberg will also sell DreamWorks Movies.

Spielberg smiled and said to Wu Yuchen: "Wu, to be honest, if it weren't for you and the "Pirate King" series, I might have considered quitting."

Wu Yuchen was relieved when he heard this. Spielberg said that he had no intention of selling the company.

In the previous life, DreamWorks Movies was sold to Paramount for $1.6 billion next year, that is, in 2005. Now because of the "Pirate King" series, Spielberg is reluctant to let go. After all, a series of movies alone can make back all the money lost in other projects and have more. This is a cash cow!

Then Wu Yuchen asked again: "What about Katzenberg? What's his reaction?"

Spielberg smiled and said: "Shrek 2 has achieved such good results, he is now full of fighting spirit! DreamWorks Animation will be listed independently this year, and Katzenberg also wants to talk to you."

Wu Yuchen looked puzzled: "Talk to me?"

"Yes, he wants to talk to you about a new project of DreamWorks Animation."

...

"Hey, Wu! What do you want? Coffee? Tea? Or juice?" Katzenberg's big bald head is shiny, and the flashing light can make Wu Yuchen feel that he is in a good mood.

"A cup of tea, thank you~ Jeffrey, I heard Steven said you were looking for me?" Wu Yuchen also got straight to the point.

Kasenberg brought Wu Yuchen a cup of black tea, and then smiled and said: "Yes, I want to talk to you about our new project, because it is a project full of Chinese elements, with Chinese mountains and rivers, scenery, and most importantly, pandas!"

Wu Yuchen immediately knew what he was talking about, it was the "Kung Fu Panda" that was popular all over the world!

The "Kung Fu Panda" trilogy has harvested nearly 2 billion US dollars in box office worldwide, accumulated a large number of fans, and is a very successful animation series!

"Jeffrey, do you want to make an animated film with pandas as the protagonists?" Wu Yuchen asked immediately.

"Bingo! Wu, I knew you would guess it as soon as I mentioned it. You are the best director in China, I believe in your vision, can you give us some suggestions on the location of this animation?"

In recent years, Chinese elements have been very popular, and pandas, the national treasure of China, are even more popular abroad. It really melted a bunch of foreigners and is a must-see for children when they go to the zoo.

Therefore, DreamWorks Animation's choice to produce an animated film with pandas as the main characters and full of Chinese elements is really a good market choice.

However, animation cannot be purely based on imagination, but also needs to refer to real objects as much as possible to create, such as scenery, so Katzenberg came to Wu Yuchen for advice.

Wu Yuchen immediately smiled and said: "Of course! There are really many beautiful scenery in China, I can introduce many to you, no matter what style you want, you can find it in China!"

"Kung Fu Panda" has a positive and active role in promoting Chinese elements and culture, so Wu Yuchen is naturally happy to promote it.

"Jeffrey, I am happy to invite you to visit China. I will find a guide to take you to visit one by one. You must go to the giant panda base in Chengdu. It is the home of pandas! You will definitely choose a protagonist that satisfies you!"

Then Wu Yuchen said: "Jeffrey, do you need me to write a script for you?"

Katzenberg showed a surprised expression: "Wow! Of course I would love it! But Wu, can you also write an animation script?"

"Hehe, don't worry, I know the tastes of children very well~"

At this time, Wu Yuchen smiled brightly. He decided to organize some potential animators in China and let them join the "Kung Fu Panda" project as consultants to learn from them!