Chapter 213: Dominating the Summer Box Office!  

August 4th, Friday—another weekend kicked off. 

Theaters buzzed with life. Crowds surged in, restless and eager, forming long lines to snag tickets and file inside. 

Dunn brought Natalie along, flanked by two plainclothes bodyguards. Sporting sunglasses and a baseball cap, they slipped into a theater unnoticed to check out Clint Eastwood's latest flick, Space Cowboys. 

Sure, Dunn had said in interviews he'd buy tickets for both Hollow Man and Space Cowboys, but truth be told, he couldn't care less about Hollow Man. 

Dutch director Paul Verhoeven hit Hollywood in the '80s and churned out some solid hits—RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct—all box office gold. 

But Basic Instinct stirred up a storm of controversy alongside its success. Verhoeven got caught in the media crossfire, and it seemed like his spark fizzled out. His films started sliding downhill. 

Hollow Man had a cool concept and slick effects, but it lacked fleshed-out characters or a decent story. It felt like they blew $95 million on a glorified B-movie—rushed, hollow, and forgettable. 

By comparison, every Clint Eastwood film was worth watching again and again. 

That said… the fans clearly didn't agree. 

The whole "invisibility potion" and "invisible man" gimmick in Hollow Man was just too darn irresistible! 

After the weekend wrapped, the North American box office numbers rolled in. 

Despite getting roasted by heavyweights like Entertainment Weekly, New York Post, Time, and Los Angeles Times, the sci-fi thriller Hollow Man topped the charts with a whopping $26.41 million! 

In second place was Universal's Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, which hit theaters at the end of July. It pulled in $18.16 million over the three days. 

Third spot went to the widely praised Space Cowboys, raking in $18.09 million—just a hair behind second place. 

So, what about Disney's Coyote Ugly, released the same day as Hollow Man and Space Cowboys? Was it next? 

Nope! 

Fourth place went to DreamWorks' What Lies Beneath, already in its third week, with $13.8 million. 

And still no Coyote Ugly! 

Spider-Man, the summer's unstoppable juggernaut, held fifth place after 44 days in theaters, earning $7.85 million. 

Finally, at sixth, came Jerry Bruckheimer's first musical, Coyote Ugly. It scraped by with just $6.55 million over its opening three days. 

Seventh was Disney subsidiary Miramax's Scary Movie, pulling in $4.21 million… 

Another loss piled on! 

Back at the end of June, Spider-Man crushed Disney's action flick Gone in 60 Seconds with untouchable swagger. 

Now, Gone in 60 Seconds was limping along with a measly $490,000 in North America and zilch overseas. Sure, it'd eventually crawl past $100 million globally, but with a $90 million budget and $60 million in marketing, that "win" tasted pretty bitter. 

In July, Miramax's Scary Movie burst onto the scene as a dark horse, causing a stir and giving Disney a rare moment to shine. 

But let's not kid ourselves—no matter how much praise it got, Scary Movie never once outdid Spider-Man on the weekly charts. 

Spider-Man was just too huge, too hot. People shrugged off Scary Movie trailing behind as no big deal. 

That didn't change the fact that Spider-Man steamrolled it at the box office! 

By August, Spider-Man had hit $450 million in North America, nearing market saturation. Disney rolled out their next contender, Coyote Ugly. 

This was their big shot to outgross Spider-Man this summer and reclaim some pride! 

But Dunn didn't play by the rules. He pulled a dirty, self-sacrificing move—easing off Spider-Man's promotion and throwing his weight behind Hollow Man and Space Cowboys. 

Disney's marketing team and Jerry Bruckheimer racked their brains but never saw this lose-lose tactic coming. 

Hurt the enemy a thousand, take eight hundred in friendly fire! 

By hyping Warner and Columbia's new releases, Dunn tanked everything else—including Spider-Man and Coyote Ugly! 

And yeah, it worked again. 

Sure, Spider-Man's weekend haul dropped about $1.5 million below projections. But with its current earnings, who cared about a measly $1.5 million? 

Reputation mattered more! 

In the 2000 summer season, Dunn Films used Spider-Man to choke out three Disney movies—Gone in 60 Seconds, Scary Movie, and Coyote Ugly. 

One company, wiping out the competition! 

This summer, Dunn owned the box office, and Spider-Man was the nightmare dangling over Disney's head! 

DreamWorks wasn't doing hot—business was shaky. Lucky for them, their big shareholder was Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and a top-five Forbes billionaire. He didn't sweat the small stuff like money. 

The one really feeling the pinch was Steven Spielberg. 

To boost performance, Spielberg was personally churning out three films a year—directing some, producing others. It was a brutal workload. But even with all his talent, saving the sinking DreamWorks ship solo was a tall order. 

Jeffrey Katzenberg was still burning cash on animation, while David Geffen was off doing something even wilder—pouring money into a music division that hadn't paid off at all. 

Geffen, the second-biggest shareholder, could waste cash all he wanted, and no one could stop him. But Katzenberg? Spielberg wasn't thrilled with his spending spree. 

Spielberg swung by Katzenberg's office again, grinning. "Congrats, man!" 

Katzenberg blinked, pointing at himself. "You talking to me?" 

Spielberg chuckled. "Haven't seen the news? Disney's having a rough go—losing face and cash left and right!" 

Katzenberg smirked, dripping sarcasm. "Oh, tell me about it. I've said it before—a company's got a soul, and it reflects its leader. Michael Eisner's all arrogance and iron fists. Running into Dunn, who's even cockier and tougher? No surprise he's eating dirt!" 

Spielberg, who'd dealt with Dunn plenty, shook his head. "Jeffrey, you've got it wrong. Dunn… he's not like Eisner. He's mature beyond his years—doesn't even feel like a kid." 

Katzenberg wasn't buying it. "Mature? Come on. If he were mature, would he flip the table on Disney like this?" 

Spielberg paused, then said slowly, "I think… this might be a brilliant move on his part." 

"Oh? How so?" 

"You forget? A while back, Dunn Films floated an offer to buy our animation division." 

Katzenberg's face soured at the mention of that. 

The DreamWorks animation department was his baby—he'd poured his heart and soul into it. Unless push came to shove, no way he'd sell it off. 

"So yeah, Dunn Walker's a whiz at making movies, but his personality? Still got that young-guy swagger and pride." 

Spielberg's expression turned serious. "Jeffrey, you think Dunn Films isn't up to snagging the animation division?" 

Katzenberg knew Spielberg had been itching to ditch the money-losing animation arm and focus on live-action. He shot back, "You think they are? Here at DreamWorks, we've got Allen's deep pockets and me running the show, and it's still a struggle. Hand it to Dunn Films, and he's gonna turn it into gold overnight?" 

Spielberg nodded, a slight smile creeping in. "That's the key right there!" 

Katzenberg raised an eyebrow, staring at him. 

"I don't know if you've heard, but… Dunn once pitched an offer to buy Universal Pictures!" Spielberg lowered his voice—this was industry hush-hush. 

DreamWorks and Universal were tight. Universal handled distribution for all of DreamWorks' mainstream releases, so the higher-ups swapped plenty of inside scoop. 

Katzenberg scoffed. "That's a joke—you're taking it seriously?" 

Even at its lowest, Universal wouldn't fall to being bought out by Dunn Films. Look at the past few years—who'd owned Universal? 

Panasonic! 

Seagram! 

Vivendi! 

Dunn Films was on a roll, sure, but taking over Universal? They weren't there yet. 

Then it clicked—Katzenberg caught Spielberg's drift. 

"Wait a sec…" 

His eyes lit up with a flicker of shock. Even with all his experience, he couldn't help but feel rattled. "You're saying… he's making this big stand against Disney because… because…" 

Spielberg made a calming gesture. "Just a hunch. But from the few times I've dealt with Dunn, the guy's got a method to his madness. He's polite, grounded—not at all like the cocky front he puts on for the press." 

Katzenberg took a sharp breath, mulling it over before nodding silently. "If this is all some calculated act by Dunn, that kid… he's something else." 

"Yeah, he's full of surprises," Spielberg said with a long sigh. "He's already got three movies past a billion bucks at the box office. Me? Not a single one…" 

"Steven!" Katzenberg cut in. "To me, you're still the best director in Hollywood!"