NEMO' BRINGS PIXAR'S PICTURE INTO FOCUS
By JOHN CRUDELE
May 1, 2003 -- LET the bidding for Pixar's services begin.
Unless something went terribly wrong in Pixar's mail room, the animation studio should have delivered the finished version of the movie "Finding Nemo" to Disney by yesterday. The movie is set to open - in a theater near you, as they say - by the end of May.
The arrival of "Nemo" at Disney sets off a potentially interesting competition. Pixar is now free to talk with other studios about collaborating on projects - even though the Steve Jobs-founded animation outfit still owes Disney three more films.
Pixar isn't saying anything about what happens next, except that other companies have approached it. But Pixar is a master at generating lots of publicity by doing just that - saying nothing.
It gets that skill from Jobs, who also founded Apple Computer and managed to put the music industry in an uproar recently by saying nothing about that company's alleged plans in the tune biz.
Apple has suddenly become the biggest news in music since Neil Diamond, since Mariah Whatshername.
But this column isn't about music - it's about "Nemo."
When I first wrote last October about Pixar's enslavement to Disney in a multi-picture movie deal, Pixar's stock was selling at under $50 a share. Yesterday it closed at $58.29, after having peaked at $61.42 last Dec. 16.
The stock will probably get even more oomph now that speculators can start speculating about a Pixar/Disney divorce. And it'll get goosed even more if "Nemo" does better than the $300 million to $350 million worldwide box office that is projected by Wall Street.
But the real action will come once Jobs and the boys get the tongues going about a better deal with Disney - or about the possibility that Pixar will start cartooning for Sony, Fox or Warner.
And, of course, I'll let you know what I think about "Nemo" after I get invited to a screening. Anyone got a kid I can borrow?
By JOHN CRUDELE
May 1, 2003 -- LET the bidding for Pixar's services begin.
Unless something went terribly wrong in Pixar's mail room, the animation studio should have delivered the finished version of the movie "Finding Nemo" to Disney by yesterday. The movie is set to open - in a theater near you, as they say - by the end of May.
The arrival of "Nemo" at Disney sets off a potentially interesting competition. Pixar is now free to talk with other studios about collaborating on projects - even though the Steve Jobs-founded animation outfit still owes Disney three more films.
Pixar isn't saying anything about what happens next, except that other companies have approached it. But Pixar is a master at generating lots of publicity by doing just that - saying nothing.
It gets that skill from Jobs, who also founded Apple Computer and managed to put the music industry in an uproar recently by saying nothing about that company's alleged plans in the tune biz.
Apple has suddenly become the biggest news in music since Neil Diamond, since Mariah Whatshername.
But this column isn't about music - it's about "Nemo."
When I first wrote last October about Pixar's enslavement to Disney in a multi-picture movie deal, Pixar's stock was selling at under $50 a share. Yesterday it closed at $58.29, after having peaked at $61.42 last Dec. 16.
The stock will probably get even more oomph now that speculators can start speculating about a Pixar/Disney divorce. And it'll get goosed even more if "Nemo" does better than the $300 million to $350 million worldwide box office that is projected by Wall Street.
But the real action will come once Jobs and the boys get the tongues going about a better deal with Disney - or about the possibility that Pixar will start cartooning for Sony, Fox or Warner.
And, of course, I'll let you know what I think about "Nemo" after I get invited to a screening. Anyone got a kid I can borrow?