The annual Thanksgiving holiday season has arrived as scheduled!
Pixar Animation, having just finalized numerous cooperation agreements with Waterworld Animation, has once again made a powerful impact. "Toy Story 2" is a painstaking effort, several years in the making, following the first installment of the series.
The production cost increased from $30 million for the first film to $90 million for the second.
At the same time, Pixar Animation's increasingly mature technical standards have polished it to be even more exquisite and realistic.
Additionally, the elements of warmth, emotion, adventure, and childlike innocence that Pixar Animation upholds were fully unleashed in this installment.
Breathtaking!
"Toy Story 2," released during the November Thanksgiving holiday, became an instant sensation across America!
Its box office performance soared, breaking records all the way!
In its opening three-day weekend, it raked in a whopping $75.2 million at the North American box office.
It ranked number one!
Meanwhile, the second-place film on this weekend's box office chart only took in $31 million, a significant difference compared to "Toy Story 2."
"A stunning animated sequel." - The New York Times.
"'Toy Story 2' completely surpassed the first film, not only in terms of box office but also in critical acclaim, breaking the curse of a strong debut followed by a weak sequel." - The Chicago Review.
The media gave high praise, and movie fans also raved about it.
Similarly, numerous analysis firms used data simulations to make various predictions about "Toy Story 2's" box office trajectory and final gross.
"A North American box office of $200 million is definitely not the end for 'Toy Story 2'~"
This prediction, derived from data analysis and simulation, is one that most people believe.
Page Pictures.
"Boss, it seems Pixar Animation has succeeded again this time," Alexander sighed.
Kyle laughed, "So what if Pixar Animation succeeded again? Don't forget, Jobs signed a series of agreements with Disney back then that could be called 'humiliating.'"
Whether it's box office revenue, offline merchandise licensing revenue, or revenue from DVDs, videotapes, and TV platform broadcasts, over 70% of that revenue was taken by Disney.
Pixar Animation's earnings are quite pitiful!
"It's also a good thing Jobs was clever enough to list Pixar Animation on the US stock market at the same time 'Toy Story' was released; otherwise, Pixar Animation would have become a subsidiary of Disney by now," Kyle said with a smirk.
Speaking of cleverness, Kyle truly admired Jobs.
To reclaim the revenue that rightfully belonged to Pixar Animation from Disney, Jobs not only resolutely agreed to cooperate with Kyle's company; furthermore, even though they had the capacity to develop multiple animated works simultaneously, they deliberately dragged out the time, waiting for their cooperation agreement with Disney to expire.
"Toy Story 2," given Pixar Animation's production capabilities, could certainly have been completed within two years, but what did they do?
They deliberately took four years to complete "Toy Story 2."
It shows just how cunning Jobs was.
Knock knock knock~
Just then, a knock sounded.
Bill McNick, president of Page Pictures, walked in.
"Mr.Bill, you've finally finished. Well, since you're done, let's go to Industrial Light & Magic now," Kyle said with relief.
Today, Kyle had an appointment with Lucas, the owner of Industrial Light & Magic, to check on the special effects production progress for "Spider-Man" and "Harry Potter."
"Kyle, there's no rush to go to Industrial Light & Magic. Let me tell you something first."
At this moment, Mr.Bill's face was filled with solemnity.
"What happened?" Kyle raised an eyebrow, sensing that something bad had occurred.
Alexander, standing nearby, also frowned deeply.
Mr.Bill's expression was grave, and he said in a deep voice, "Just now, 12 screenwriters from the company's script department—Vinny, Decoco, Monahti, Shirley, Jonathan, and others—almost simultaneously submitted leave requests to me. Do you know what this means?"
Holy cow!
At this moment, even Kyle was quite shocked!
Page Pictures' script department has over 30 active screenwriters. Now, more than 12 of them have almost simultaneously submitted leave requests, which definitely indicates something major!
"Mr. McNick, could this be another major screenwriters' strike?!" Alexander blurted out.
"Is that so?" Kyle looked at Mr.Bill with a grim expression.
"Yes, this is definitely another industry-wide screenwriters' strike. Kyle, 12 screenwriters have already submitted requests, and we have over 20 registered screenwriters in the Writers Guild within our company. If they all submit requests, our script department will be completely paralyzed!" Mr.Bill gritted his teeth.
In short, Page Pictures' script department was about to be deserted!
This would definitely cause huge losses for the growing Page Pictures.
A screenwriters' strike wouldn't just affect Page Pictures; once it happened, it would surely spread throughout Hollywood.
Why do screenwriters strike?
The reason is simple: they think they're not paid enough!
They believe their efforts should be rewarded with more rights and higher earnings. However... the reality is that their position in the Hollywood industry chain is very low.
The minimum selling price for a script is $27,000.
In the entire industry, over 90% of screenwriters sell their scripts for no more than $30,000!
And the vast majority of full-time screenwriters earn less in a year than a supermarket cashier, with many screenwriters surviving on government welfare.
In 1999, over 48% of screenwriters on the American West Coast, totaling 8,000 writers, were unemployed.
In the entire Hollywood industry chain, directors, actors, and producers undoubtedly account for the majority of the profits in the production process;
While the behind-the-scenes crew—lighting, makeup, art, props, etc.—may not seem to earn much, experienced professionals can still receive substantial compensation;
Only screenwriters have very little income and even less say.
Let's not even talk about the screenwriters who are so poor they're practically eating dirt.
Even those screenwriters with annual incomes of up to a million dollars have very little say in a film crew.
"A screenwriters' strike, to put it bluntly, is about demanding more money!" A hint of coldness appeared in Kyle's eyes.
"Hmph!"
Mr.Bill snorted and said, "These guys in our company's script department are truly insatiable. Kyle, tell me, have we ever shortchanged them in terms of salary, benefits, or welfare?"
He was indeed very angry.
Those freelance screenwriters, not employed by film and television companies, have low incomes, so a strike from them is understandable.
After all, they're so poor they're practically eating dirt.
But... the screenwriters employed by film and television companies are different!
Their income isn't just from selling scripts; they also receive weekly, monthly, and annual salaries from the film and television companies, and this income is definitely not low.
Alexander said in a deep voice, "Boss, we must take this seriously!"
"I know," Kyle nodded heavily.
In 1988, the American Hollywood screenwriters' strike lasted a full 78 days, causing production shutdowns, industry stagnation, and economic losses totaling $2.5 billion.
The entire industry felt the pain deeply.