Chapter 214: Furious Eisner

Michael Eisner, Disney's chairman and CEO, usually keeps his eye on the big picture—group-wide strategies and major moves.

After wrapping up the acquisition of AB Group, Disney snagged a public TV network with nearly 30% market share.

Next up, Eisner's focus stayed on TV, this time zeroing in on cable networks. Disney's internal consensus was set: over the next two years, they'd expand the Family Channel and Kids Channel into a full-blown Disney Cable Network.

Then came this summer. Disney's films—Gone in 60 Seconds, Scary Movie, and Coyote Ugly—got steamrolled one after another by a Hollywood upstart, Dunn Films, with just one movie: Spider-Man. That's when Michael Eisner shifted his attention from TV to movies.

For a company with a market cap topping $50 billion, losing a few tens of millions wasn't a big deal.

But movies? That's different. They're the crown jewel of entertainment, the backbone of Disney's brand value! (Market cap's not the same as brand worth, after all.)

Over the past few years, Disney's brand value had been climbing steadily. Last year, it even cracked the $30 billion mark for the first time, hitting an all-time high of $32.275 billion!

That came from the global impact of films like The Sixth Sense, Toy Story 2, Tarzan, Inspector Gadget, and Bicentennial Man.

But this summer, Disney's three big releases got crushed by a single superhero flick, landing blows at different points across the season.

The financial hit? Small potatoes. The damage to their image? Massive.

Michael Eisner hauled in all the movie division heads, demanding to know what the hell happened this summer. How did Disney's films end up under the boot of a company barely three years old?

The execs, naturally, piled on the drama, pointing fingers at Dunn. With everyone chiming in, they painted him as some unforgivable jerk.

Eisner wasn't fooled by their antics. Standing up like a king, he waved an arm and growled, "What's next for our movies?"

"We've got eight films lined up!" Joe Roth darted a cautious glance at Eisner, jumping in first. "August 25th, The Crew; September 15th, Duets; September 29th, Remember the Titans; October 27th, The Nightmare Before Christmas; November 15th, Unbreakable; November 22nd, 102 Dalmatians; December 15th, The Emperor's New Groove; December 22nd, *O Brother, Where Art Thou?*"

Rattling off exact dates showed Joe had done his homework.

But Eisner's expression didn't soften. "This Crew thing late this month—it can at least take down Spider-Man, right?" he asked coldly.

Joe froze, stammering for a second.

Three weeks from now, Spider-Man's hype and box office would naturally dip further.

But… The Crew had no big stars—just four old guys—and clocked in at a measly 88 minutes. Could it really outshine Spider-Man, which had owned the whole summer?

Doubtful!

Plus, Dunn Walker never played by the rules. If he pulled some wild card, who knows what'd happen?

Eisner could read Joe's hesitation like a book. With a grunt, he pressed, "What about Duets?"

Joe's face stiffened like it was carved from ice.

Duets was an R-rated sex comedy starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Oscar winner or not, her box office pull was weak, and the film's quality… worrisome.

After Gone in 60 Seconds tanked, Joe had barely scraped by. He wasn't about to bet his career on shaky ground like The Crew or Duets.

"Sir, I can promise you this: Unbreakable in November will blow everyone away—just like The Sixth Sense last year!"

Joe deftly dodged, eyeing Eisner nervously.

Eisner felt a fire raging in his chest, scorching him from the inside. "Useless! Spider-Man ran wild this summer, stomping all over Disney. And we're just letting it slide?" he roared.

Richard Cook, another production chair, jumped in fast. "Dunn Films has movies mid-August and mid-September—an artsy one and some dull cult flick…"

"Get out! All of you, get the hell out!"

Eisner cut him off, waving them away and kicking them out.

As they left, he snarled, "Bunch of idiots!"

He knew what Richard meant—can't touch Spider-Man? Fine, take it out on Dunn's smaller releases.

But Eisner wanted Spider-Man.

The movie that humiliated Disney all summer long!

Once they were gone, he sat in his office, brooding for a while. Then he called up AA bigwig Brian Lord, got Dunn's private number, and dialed with an icy glare.

"This is Dunn. Who's this?"

"Michael Eisner!"

"Who?"

"Michael Eisner!"

"Sorry, sir, who are you exactly?" Dunn's voice stayed calm, like he genuinely had no clue who was on the line.

"I'll say it again—Michael Eisner!"

"You messing with me? If you're a fan, just say so. I'm busy working here!" Dunn's tone sharpened, irritation creeping in.

Eisner was stunned. In all of Hollywood, who didn't know his name?

Dunn was screwing with him, wasn't he?

Eisner was so mad he could've coughed up blood!

It got worse. Dunn's voice turned frigid. "I don't know where you got my private number, but if you keep harassing me like this, I've got no problem getting the cops involved!"

With that, the line went dead—straight to a dial tone.

Michael Eisner's personal call to Dunn had just been… hung up on!

…

At Dunn Films' chairman's office, laughter erupted like a volcano.

West Cotton's jaw dropped before he let loose a booming laugh he couldn't hold back. Reese Witherspoon doubled over, squatting on the floor, cackling without a shred of dignity. Isla Fisher's files spilled everywhere as she collapsed on the couch, tears streaming from laughing so hard…

Across all of Hollywood, only one guy would dare mess with Disney's big boss Michael Eisner like that—Dunn Walker!

Laughter's contagious.

Dunn hung up, sitting in his boss chair, aiming to play it cool and flex some serious authority.

But watching his three subordinates lose it, he couldn't hold out either—soon he was cracking up too.

Satisfying as hell!

Screw Disney, screw Eisner—get lost!

Think you can throw your weight around just 'cause you're big? Others might cower, but not me, Dunn!

Since the gloves were already off, Dunn went all in, not even giving him a chance to speak.

Eisner's call was obviously about settling the beef between Dunn Films and Disney. With his bulldozer style, he'd probably chew Dunn out or throw some threats over the line.

Dunn wasn't here to take crap or be a punching bag. Why sit there and get yelled at for fun?

Might as well have a blast screwing with him—keep the joy for himself and toss a gallon of gas on Eisner's fire to send back to Disney.

The laughter stretched a full five minutes before the office finally quieted down.

The two secretaries, faces flushed from giggling, looked like Dunn had just pampered them. They murmured softly, bending over to pick up scattered files.

West Cotton, Dunn's business assistant, had come to update him on the Good Machine acquisition. After that little detour, he asked with a worried frown, "Boss, he's… he's Michael Eisner, though!"

"Even if I played nice, you think a grudge-holder like him would let Dunn Films off the hook?" Dunn snorted, smirking. "Why bother with fake pleasantries? Let's just go at it for real! I wanna see what this guy—who's ruled Hollywood for twenty years—has really got!"

West Cotton mulled it over, then said slowly, "Fox is already warming up to us. Tom Rothman sent me a congrats card for the gig. One less enemy, and the team's morale against Disney will be stronger."

Dunn shrugged. "Disney's got size, sure, but thinking they can take me on in movies? That's a pipe dream!"

West nodded. "With you leading the film side, we're not scared of anyone. But… we bought TARZ TV and invested in two shows. In TV, we're still pretty thin."

Dunn grinned. "West, you know Disney's biggest weakness? Their brand value! Political correctness is their unbreakable rule. Violence, gore, mature stuff—that's all off-limits for their wholesome image. That's our opening."

West's eyes lit up like he'd just cracked the code.

Dunn Films couldn't match Disney head-on yet, but they could hit hard where it hurt!

Shows like Band of Brothers or Six Feet Under—gritty, boundary-pushing stuff—were things Disney wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. Dunn Films had no such limits.

Disney couldn't compete there, could they?

Still, West didn't fully get Dunn yet.

Series like Band of Brothers and Six Feet Under? Disney couldn't just waltz in and fight for that. Across North America, only HBO could even step into that ring!