After carefully reading the materials of the two companies, Eric discovered that, perhaps because it was established more than ten years earlier, the current strength of the new line is far stronger than that of Miramax. The simplest evidence is in In terms of distribution capacity, as a second-tier film company, New Line can already spread out nearly 1,500 screens for a film, but Miramax is still in the stage of making small moves, and can only raise funds for the films it distributes at most. Four or five hundred screens. Moreover, when Miramax was established, New Line had already started an independent film production business, and now it still owns the copyright of the very profitable "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, but Miramax is still buying and distributing films all over the world. stage.
Seeing this, Eric couldn't help but patted the desktop lightly, and suddenly remembered that he had missed one thing, which was about Steven Soderbergh's famous work "Sex, Lies, Videotape". With this film, De Berg became the youngest winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival a few months ago.
At the beginning, Eric reminded himself to buy the North American copyright of this movie, but because of the busy shooting of "Dark War" during that time, he unconsciously forgot.
If history does not shift, the film must have been won by the Weinstein brothers. In my memory, Miramax relied on the movie "Sex, Lies, Videotape" to emerge, and after making a small fortune, she had enough capital to enter the field of independent film production, and slowly worked out a set of films that belonged to her. From then on, his own way of survival began to flourish.
It's late July now, and Eric only knows that "Sex, Lies, Videotape" won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May, but he hasn't found news of the film's release in North America in newspapers or magazines.
If the distribution rights of this film are really acquired by Miramax, it is best to reach an agreement before the film is released if it is to acquire Miramax, otherwise, once "Sex, Lies, Videotape" wins Good box office results, even if the Weinstein brothers still agree to be acquired, Eric will definitely have to pay a higher price. The rules in the circle are like this, a movie can greatly increase the market value of a company, just like Pixar in the previous life, an animation film company originally worth 50 million US dollars, because of the success of "Toy Story", the market value doubled in a short time 20 times.
In Eric's vision, it is best to win these two companies at the same time, so that commercial films and art films can develop side by side. With the classic Oscar-winning films that Eric remembered, even Mira Max is on the road of art film distribution again, and he will certainly not earn less than a company that focuses on commercial films.
The estimated market value of New Line in the data is about 150 million US dollars, because the other party is also an old company that has been in business for 20 years. Not only does it have a large film library, but it also has the very valuable copyright of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series. The series of films started in 1984, and one film was made every year. As a low-cost horror film, almost all of them made money. Although the box office was not too high, it was long-lasting.
Although Miramax is still in the third-tier position, the market value of this company is estimated to be around 20 million U.S. dollars in the data, because the Weinstein brothers have traveled all over the world over the years and have accumulated a lot of films in their library. Resources, and Eric also understands that the most valuable thing about Miramax is not the label of the company, not the movies in the library, but the two Weinstein brothers. The Weinstein brothers gave up Miramax in 2005. After Lamax, Miramax soon lost its glory and was sold by Disney at a low price a few years later.
But now, although "Feng Yue" has earned a little over 100 million US dollars, and Eric can also borrow again, it is not a simple matter of money to win two companies at the same time, and it must involve the replacement of equity. He believes that with the shrewdness of Robert Shea and the Weinstein brothers, even if he raises enough funds through loans again and intends to buy out the other party's company, these few people will not agree. There is a benefit in exchange for the equity of a film company with great development potential.
Thinking about these things with a slight frown, Jeffrey knocked on the door and walked in.
"There's news from Venice that "Small Island Cry" has successfully entered the main competition. Also, Jonathan Demme has revised the movie again according to your opinion. Eric, do you want to watch it again? "
"Well, I'm going to the screening room now," Eric nodded, temporarily putting aside the idea of acquiring the two companies, got up and followed Jeffrey out of the office.
"What were you thinking about just now, so preoccupied?" Jeffrey and Eric walked side by side and asked casually.
"You know the information about New Line and Miramax." Eric replied, "I want to buy both companies at the same time, but I don't want to pay too much equity."
Jeffrey is a little silent. Once the company expands, Jeffrey understands that his own talents are definitely not enough to support the operation of the entire company. After all, he was only responsible for a few films produced and invested by Eric before, and even You don't even have to worry about distribution, and after acquiring a new company, Firefly will definitely start to get involved in distribution, and Jeffrey has no ability in this area before, and he will definitely give up the position of CEO at that time.
However, after only a short period of entanglement, Jeffrey soon felt relieved. As long as Firefly is still Firefly, what he thought about before was to run Firefly into a large film company. Now that he has this momentum, he should give up Get the position, nothing. Ever since the original Firefly left by his wife went bankrupt because of his insistence on filming himself, Jeffrey has become very self-aware. Small opinions, but never intervene in the content production of the film, because he knows that he does not have the strength in this area.
After thinking about this, Jeffrey patted Eric on the shoulder: "If you can't, take your time. I have also read the information of these two companies. To be honest, I prefer New Line, even if I exchange some shares. It’s also worth it. And Miramax is too small, and I don’t see what you like about this company.”
Eric smiled: "You will understand in the future."
As the two talked, they walked into the screening room of Firefly together. Jonathan Demme probably stayed up late again, so he had dark circles under his eyes, which shows how much he attaches importance to this movie.