Chapter 517: The Children's Market

At the villa in Santa Monica Palisades, after Charles Capet left the Hilton Universal City Hotel with Megan Fox, they returned directly to this place.

"Charles, I bought another villa in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the beginning of the year. When shall we go?" asked Megan.

"Fort Lauderdale, huh, not bad," Charles said, leaning back on the sofa. He wrapped his arm around Megan's waist and kissed her cheek. "Maybe later. The NFL season is about to start, and the Miami Dolphins' stadium has just been renovated. I'll be heading there soon!"

The newly named Bank of America Stadium for the Miami Dolphins cost $80 million and took 8 months to complete the renovations.

Situated in Miami Gardens, the stadium was halfway between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and Charles had an estate even further north on Jupiter Island in West Palm Beach.

"But the weather isn't great in Miami right now; it's hurricane season, and there's lots of rain," Megan said, a bit disappointed, knowing that the best season in Miami was from December to April.

"That's true. Aren't you going to be busy filming Jonah Hex anyway? Not much time for vacations," Charles said, pulling Megan into his arms and touching her chest.

"Maybe at the end of the year, we can vacation in Bonds Island in the Caribbean. I have a private island we can use!" Charles added.

"Yeah, that sounds good. We can go during Christmas when we get a break from filming Jonah Hex," Megan remembered Charles had bought a private island last year.

"Mm," Charles said as he kissed her...

...

In September, when the fall season began, it was usually a quieter period. September saw many romance films released, aimed at attracting female audiences. October had horror films for Halloween, but by November, the big blockbusters started hitting the screens, taking advantage of Thanksgiving and the pre-award season buzz to compete for box office success.

Capet Matrix Pictures released a refreshing horror film, Piranha 3D, in August. In just two weeks, it had grossed $25 million in North America and was starting to release overseas.

Additionally, Matrix Pictures planned to release Saw 3D in October for Halloween and another horror film, Paranormal Activity, in September.

The re-edited and post-produced Paranormal Activity was set to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.

The declining reputation of the Saw series indicated it was time to end it, as they could no longer come up with better plots and killing methods.

The emergence of Paranormal Activity conveniently filled the gap left by the Saw series for Matrix Pictures.

...

In Burbank, at the Capet headquarters, Charles was sitting in his office.

"Boss, the news says Disney is planning to sell Miramax, including its label, film library, and stored scripts," Phyllis Jones handed Charles a newspaper.

"No surprise there," Charles skimmed through the news. "After the Weinstein brothers left Miramax, they not only took Dimension Films and a group of people but were also hunted by other companies, which significantly downsized Miramax."

"Now Daniel Battsek resigned due to Disney further downsizing Miramax. The signal is clear," Charles said.

"Ha, Miramax's employees are down to less than 100. Disney fired more than 80 people from their East and West Coast offices pretty quickly!" Phyllis nodded.

"Boss, Miramax still holds the rights to about 700 films in its library, many of which have won Oscars," Phyllis added. "A lot of private equity funds are interested in Miramax. Hollywood's film investment firms, like Village Roadshow and Summit Entertainment, are also on the list."

"Disney won't sell it cheap. Those film rights are top-notch assets," Charles sighed.

Disney made a profitable deal back when they acquired Miramax.

"When is Disney's A Christmas Carol releasing in November?"

"November 6. The Intouchables is also releasing in the U.S. on that same day, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon will release half a month later," Phyllis quickly responded.

Charles leaned back. Disney's live-action films were mainly adaptations of their animated classics.

Next year's release of the live-action Alice in Wonderland would be a worthy opponent!

"Make sure the promotional work for Illumination's first animated feature is top-notch. Capet hasn't made much headway in the children's market in recent years. Despicable Me will be our stepping stone into the animation market," Charles emphasized, knowing that Universal Studios' success would heavily depend on the children's market.

"The film is set for a summer release next year, with a marketing budget approved at $50 million. We believe it will perform well," Phyllis was clear on this. Capet was a dominant player in the teenage market.

This made Capet very appealing to theater chains, as teenagers were a lucrative demographic. Capet's films easily secured screen time in theaters.

But in the children's market, DreamWorks Animation, Pixar, and Blue Sky Studios maintained a three-way dominance for years.

With fewer original works, Charles had fewer cards to play, and Universal's future film library would have to come into play.

"Also, have the production department discuss future live-action fairy tale adaptations. Once Disney's Alice in Wonderland succeeds, there will be a flood of similar live-action fairy tale adaptations," Charles knew various studios would follow with adaptations of Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella in the next few years.

Unfortunately, Disney would still be the most successful with these live-action adaptations since they had their original animated features to base their films on. Disney's natural advantage was their solid fan base from their animated movies.

"Understood," Phyllis replied and left the office.

The children's market was a significant market never to be overlooked.

*****

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