The Film's Release

After James and Charlize's problem was resolved, Zucker and Victor began discussing Teletubbies.

"Boss, the person who contacted me was Smith, the Minister of the BBC's Content Department. They made their position very clear: they want us to get to London as soon as possible to discuss developing the rights."

Victor's mind was full of questions.

His boss was incredible!

Wald Pictures' first film, Run Lola Run, hadn't even been released, and yet he'd already managed to get involved with a giant like the BBC. It was unbelievable.

"Hold on. Don't get too excited. You said they're in a hurry?" Zucker suddenly interrupted.

"Uh..."

Victor paused, then said, "Yes. Although Smith spoke calmly, the fact that the Minister of the BBC's Content Department called personally says a lot. And..."

Victor abruptly lowered his voice, looking mysterious.

"And what? Hurry up and tell me. Don't keep me in suspense," Zucker said with a laugh.

"Boss, here's the thing. I have a good friend who works for the BBC, maintaining their information equipment. After I hung up the call from England, I casually asked him about it. As it happens, he knew a little. He told me the BBC is working with the European Ragdoll production company to make an educational series for young children. By coincidence, its content is astonishingly similar to Teletubbies, whose rights we've already registered worldwide. They've even tentatively given the series the same name: Teletubbies."

It really was quite a coincidence.

Well, that was how it seemed to Victor.

For Zucker, however, what he felt wasn't surprise but relief!

Why?

Because in the original timeline, Teletubbies had indeed been made in partnership between the Ragdoll production company and the BBC.

Holy shit! Thank goodness I registered the worldwide rights first, or I'd have lost this gold mine. I bet the people at the BBC and Ragdoll are completely dumbfounded right now, Zucker thought smugly.

And that was exactly what had happened.

The Ragdoll production company and the BBC had already finished a fifth of Teletubbies and were preparing to set a broadcast date and register the rights. But when they submitted their application to the Copyright Office, they were told it couldn't be approved: someone had registered similar rights more than forty days earlier.

They were dumbfounded!

BBC: "..."

Ragdoll: "..."

Faced with Zucker's shamelessness—no, with his copyright—the two companies had no choice but to grit their teeth and contact him. They'd already invested a considerable number of pounds in the Teletubbies project and had high hopes for it. There was no way they were going to give it up now.

"Victor, arrange for someone to get in touch with them first and feel out their bottom line. In a little while, you and I will make the trip to London ourselves," Zucker instructed.

"Right away, boss." Victor immediately set someone to work.

With a juicy opportunity landing right in his lap, Zucker was sure to make them pay dearly.

Well, you might say that Zucker had stolen someone else's work and was now demanding a hefty licensing fee—that was shameless.

You'd be right.

Zucker had never considered himself a good person. Every man for himself. And he wasn't ashamed of taking the British people's copyright; on the contrary, he considered it an immense honor. Mom, Dad, I've brought glory to our country!

The Teletubbies matter was put aside for the time being, but Run Lola Run's release ran into trouble.

"Victor, are you saying that the theaters are giving us a hard time over Run Lola Run's scheduled April 12 release—and that MGM is the one pressuring the major chains?"

Zucker frowned.

"That's right, boss. At first, through Wald Pictures and some of my previous contacts, I'd tentatively arranged for 315 screens on opening day, with the number to be adjusted later based on box-office results. But today I got a call saying that many theaters had pulled out of the deal. Now we're down to just 120 screens, and I expect that number to fall further."

The whole affair had Victor seething with anger.

It was infuriating!

They weren't keeping their word!

We were practically at the point of signing the theater distribution agreement, and they'd gone back on it!

As Wald Pictures' CEO, this was the first theatrical release he'd handled. He'd wanted to show his boss what he could do, but who could've expected this mess? It was enough to drive him crazy. If one theater manager he knew well hadn't told him MGM was behind it, Victor wouldn't even have known what was going on.

Damn MGM!

Knock, knock, knock!

Zucker fought down his anger and repeatedly tapped his fingers on the desk as he considered the matter. "Victor, try contacting the theater chains again and see if we can get more screens. I'll call John Lasseter and ask whether he can help."

"Right away, boss."

Victor immediately got up to leave, intending to speak with the theater chains in person.

Zucker contacted Lasseter at once.

John Lasseter was also a newcomer in Hollywood, but he was the leader of the Pixar Five Tigers and the director of Toy Story, the highest-grossing film of 1995. He had far more pull with the theater chains than Wald Pictures did.

"Zucker, you're saying MGM is behind this?"

"You need my help?"

"Of course I'll help."

"My dear friend, don't worry. What's yours is mine. I'll think of something."

Sure enough, Lasseter was a loyal friend. He agreed to help as soon as he got Zucker's call, without any hesitation or false promises.

He was willing to help for two reasons. First, Zucker had deliberately cultivated their friendship, and the two got along quite well.

Second, when Pixar went public and offered shares, Zucker had urged him to buy his full allocation, which had greatly increased his wealth.

Before long, Old Billy, all the way out in Utah, got a call from Zucker too.

His name was Billy Jarde, and he owned a chain of movie-merchandise stores in Utah. His chain wasn't the biggest in the state—not even in the top five—and had only nine locations. But he'd been in business there for decades and knew the people in charge at all the major theaters. He was a seasoned local operator.

Zucker had gotten along well with him when licensing Toy Story merchandise, and they'd spoken a few more times since. They'd built up a bit of a friendship.

"Zucker, you've come to the right person about MGM's dirty tricks."

"You're better off not knowing. I'm not going to tell you, but you only need to understand one thing: I have a grudge against MGM. They screwed me over!"

"Don't worry. I can't speak for other places, but I can help you here in Utah."

A day later.

Thanks to Victor's renewed efforts, as well as help from Lasseter and Old Billy, Run Lola Run managed to secure some additional screens.

355.

That was right—forty more than the original target of 315. Of course, the film wouldn't open throughout North America, but only in places like California and Utah.

And Run Lola Run's opening date was moved from the scheduled April 12 to April 5.

That meant Zucker's first film as a director would be released in less than two days.