The Stunned Crowd

At the recently concluded 74th Oscars, the film A Beautiful Mind, which had received eight nominations, followed up its 2001 box office miracle by sweeping four major awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The production company, Universal Pictures, certainly stole the spotlight!

Universal Pictures' parent company, the French Vivendi Group, has transformed from a water utility company with nearly 150 years of history into a global media giant. Thanks to this Oscar windfall, the stock prices of many of its listed subsidiaries have surged in response.

Vivendi Group has thus become increasingly popular, highly sought after by many investors.

Of course, to secure these four awards, Vivendi Group paid a hefty price. The public relations expenses alone reached $30 million, setting a record for the highest PR costs in Oscar history.

The Oscars carry immense commercial value, which is precisely why major film studios place such importance on them.

With A Beautiful Mind topping the Oscars, the producers, Universal Pictures and Vivendi Group, were essentially losing money for the sake of prestige, but they didn't care.

In the words of Vivendi Group Chairman Messier: "If a problem can be solved with money, it's not a problem. As it happens, we at Vivendi Group have money!"

Since the Oscars ended in late March, the film A Beautiful Mind, bolstered by its four awards, saw its box office—which had already been in a slump—experience a reversal of growth. The number of theaters showing the film, which had dwindled to just 35, surged to 850.

Universal Pictures stated: "Once the Oscar buzz fades, our latest masterpiece, The Scorpion King, will seamlessly take its place to maximize profits."

However!

Things rarely develop as one might hope.

And so—Wald Pictures' new film, Saw, has jumped into the fray!

It is set to release one