Columbia's current CEO is Peter Guber. After Sony acquired Columbia, it spent an additional 200 million US dollars to acquire Peter Guber's production company and invited him to be the helm of Columbia. The "meeting ceremony" brought to Sony by the new helm of the seven major companies is a copyright lawsuit with Warner Pictures. Eric is not very clear about the specific content of this lawsuit, but it turned out that Sony The lawsuit paid another $800 million in damages.
Eric still remembers the original sky. Because of Peter Cooper's profligacy, Sony-Columbia suffered a loss of 2.7 billion US dollars on the books in just a few years. It is rumored that Sony's founder and president Akio Morita stepped down because of This merger case that caused unprecedented huge losses has a lot to do with it.
However, although Peter Guber is mediocre, he is very good at making money, and he knows how to please the high-level executives of Sony in Japan to stabilize his position. He knew that after Sony acquired Columbia, what he wanted to see the most was that Columbia could help Sony to become famous as soon as possible. Therefore, after obtaining the control of Columbia, Peter Guber couldn't wait to launch several large-scale movie projects. Last year The summer film "Total Recall" starring Schwarzenegger and Spielberg's "Captain Hawk" currently in production are all prompted by Peter Guber.
∵, Big productions, big directors, and big stars are the main principles of Peter Guber's film production. As long as it can bring enough influence, whether the investment is rational or whether the cost can be recovered is not considered by the new helm of Columbia. question.
When Tom Cruise approached Columbia, hoping to restart the "Dark War" project, Columbia immediately showed great enthusiasm. after all. Cruise's previous "Thunderbolt" was not a success. But it doesn't have much impact on Cruise's status in Hollywood, because for Hollywood first-line stars, there are usually three chances of failure. If three consecutive films fail, their coffee status will be damaged.
When Eric learned of this, Columbia had even discussed with Tom Cruise some preliminary script proposals.
It was still Amy Pascal who came to discuss the sequel of "Dark War" with Eric. When Amy walked into Eric's office, Eric was already looking at the project documents delivered by Columbia in advance.
Because this matter is led by Tom Cruise. In addition, Eric is not very enthusiastic about the sequel of "Dark War", and Hanks has stated that he will not participate in "Dark War" without Eric. Columbia simply got rid of Eric and Hanks , intends to develop a prequel to "Dark Wars" starring Tom Cruise's robber Andy.
In the new script, the film story takes place in London, England, where Andy's father Peter died.
At the beginning of the story, Andy hadn't found out about his illness, and he was a villain who 'inherited his father's business'. A kind girl was involved in a smuggling business that Andy participated in. Like many stories, Andy was gradually moved by the girl's kindness. He discovered the fact that he was terminally ill by accident, and finally made the right choice. The story is also interspersed with some foreshadowings of Andy's father Peter being assassinated by his own students and dying in depression. The plot develops to the end, the good guys get good rewards, and the bad guys get punished. Andy told a beautiful lie to the girl, saying that he was going to Los Angeles to settle some things, and left alone in the girl's reluctance.
In Eric's opinion, this story is very good, but strictly speaking, except for Andy, the new story has nothing to do with "Dark War", and there are not many that can reflect the name "Dark War". It's completely Cruise's personal show. Even if this sequel is successful, the brand of "Dark War" will completely change its taste, because the reputation accumulated in the first plot may also suffer a lot, and this series may be scrapped.
In Eric's view, even if a sequel is to be filmed, it must be Sean starring Tom Hanks. Like "Batman", a classic villain appears in each film. The best way for this series to continue perfectly.
After Amy Pascal entered Eric's office, he briefly greeted Eric, and then sat quietly on the sofa in the reception area, waiting patiently for Eric to read the documents in his hand.
After Amy Pascal finished his cup of coffee, Eric also browsed through the documents in his hand.
"Eric, what do you think?" Amy waited for Eric to sit down opposite her, and asked impatiently. If Eric let go, she would be able to take the lead in this project.
Eric did not answer this question, but tentatively asked: "Has Sony Pictures signed a cooperation agreement with Cruise?"
Amy didn't expect Eric to ask this question suddenly, and without any mental preparation for a while, some flaws inevitably appeared on her face.
Eric didn't chase after him. He just expressed his dissatisfaction with Colombia's unauthorized negotiations with Cruise. After all, Firefly owns half of the copyright of "Dark War". Columbia's doing so can be said to be an offense to Firefly's rights. , If Eric pursues it seriously, any contract signed by Sony and Cruise on "Dark War" will be voided, but he does not intend to do so.
"Amy, according to the plan you proposed, this series has completely broken away from the theme of "Dark War" and has become an ordinary action movie. The movie has a good chance of success, but because of the deviation, it is not so easy to make a sequel."
Amy Pascal was relieved to see that Eric didn't grasp the problem just now, and said, "Eric, in fact, Columbia still hopes that you and Mr. Hanks can join this film together."
Eric shook his head slightly, and said with a smile: "I have a general understanding of "Captain Hawke". Not only is Sony responsible for all the investment in this film, but it also promised to Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams share 40% of omni-channel profits. Firefly owns half of the copyright of "Dark Wars". In this case, Hanks and Cruise and I How much share should I get?"
Amy said calmly: "Eric. As long as you can join this movie. Any conditions are not unnegotiable."
"But that will definitely not meet my psychological expectations." Eric smiled: "Besides, my work plan for the next few years has been fully determined, plus I still need to take care of the firefly business now. There’s no time to juggle another big-budget movie.”
Amy just showed a faint look of regret, but she didn't have any regrets in her heart.
In fact, at Columbia's internal meeting, she raised this issue. With Firefly's current status in Hollywood, Eric is the absolute master of Firefly. My own company is still busy with things, it is unlikely to direct films for other film companies, and even the possibility of cooperation is extremely low.
"Eric, in fact, you can just name one producer like Mr. Spielberg. You don't need to do anything, and you can get a lot of money. Do you think this is okay?"
On average, Spielberg is named producer in four or five films a year, which also makes him one of the highest-grossing producers in Hollywood, but most of them are just a name. The movie wasn't involved throughout, and Spielberg poked fun at himself for it. But Eric didn't intend to do this. Although Spielberg has a very high status in Hollywood, he has also attracted a lot of negative influence because of this way of acting as a producer. Many things have nothing to do with him, but because Spielberg Pielberg is the most famous, and once something goes wrong in the movie, the blame will be pinned on him without any surprise.
After thinking for a while, Eric didn't say what he just said about starting a series with Hanks as the main focus. For a celebrity like Cruise or Hanks, once any movie has more than three sequels, it's a big deal. Part of the profits will fall into the hands of these big names, and the film company is equivalent to working for the other party. Even if Eric and Hanks have a good relationship, it is impossible to force Hanks' salary because of this. Therefore, many Hollywood movies can only last until the trilogy. When restarting again, in order to reduce costs as much as possible, most of them will replace the leading role, or keep the leading role, and replace all other supporting roles.
"Well, Amy, Firefly will not participate in this production, but I have two cooperation plans, one is a single authorization, 30 million US dollars. The other is that Firefly will take half of the copyright of "Dark War" for 100 million Dollars sold out to Colombia.”
After Eric finished speaking, he picked up the coffee in front of him and drank slowly, giving Amy Pascal some time to think.
Although the temptation to buy out is great, the risk is also great. So far, there are only a handful of movie series in Hollywood that can produce more than three sequels. Even if a big-budget movie has the potential to produce more than three sequels, the time span often reaches more than ten years. In comparison, it is more cost-effective to buy a single license for US$30 million.
Amy didn't think about it for long. If she had the decision-making power, she would choose the former plan proposed by Eric without hesitation at this time, which can avoid risks to the greatest extent. The price of 30 million is also very cost-effective for a film that has achieved box office results.
Unfortunately, although she is already in the position of vice president of Columbia, Amy does not have any decision-making power when it involves tens of millions of dollars in investment.
And Amy Pascal felt vaguely in her heart that Eric seemed to have considered this, and she even quickly thought that Eric's throwing out such a plan was actually tantamount to giving Columbia a bait to take Peter Cooper Amy can be sure that Peter Guber will choose the latter buyout option.
"Eric, most people are very optimistic about this sequel project. With the achievements of the first part of "Dark War", even if the cost of the sequel exceeds 50 million US dollars and the box office performance has shrunk by 30%, it can still bring considerable income. profit, why choose this option?"
"I don't have the energy to take care of this project anymore," Eric said: "And Firefly just happens to be a little short of funds now, so I plan to cash out the copyright of "Dark War"."
Although Eric received nearly 8 billion US dollars from the futures market, in order to achieve the unexpected effect of acquiring Disney, Eric does not intend to spend too much of the money if it is not necessary, so the operation of Firefly still needs Rely on the profits generated by its own films.
Although "Toy Story" has not yet been released, but because of his strong confidence in 3D animation, Eric has asked Pixar to start preparations for the next animation film, which will cost money, plus the recent integration of the company Expansion, the construction of the company's photography base, the removal of Robert Shea's funds, the announcement of "Toy Story" and "Terminator 2", and the upcoming shooting of "Tornado", Firefly's original funds were quickly consumed.
Amy Pascal remembered Firefly's recent big moves, and realized that Firefly's funds might be in a tight spot. In this case, the price might be lowered a little bit, but she immediately dismissed the idea. Although Eric was young , but he has become a hardliner known to everyone in Hollywood. His biggest characteristic is that he doesn't like protracted negotiations with people. Once Eric has the upper hand, he won't even negotiate at all.
From a lot of information, it can be seen that Firefly is not short of film projects, and Eric even has a dispensable attitude towards the copyright of popular movies like "Dark War", which means that Eric is unlikely to Make a compromise on the price, but Sony-Columbia is different. Peter Guber is in urgent need of a big production project to expand the influence of Sony Pictures and consolidate his position. If he knows the conditions offered by Eric, he will win The mood for copyright must be very urgent, so don't think about any loosening in terms of price.
"Eric, I don't have the authority to make a decision on this matter, I need to go back and ask Mr. Cooper for instructions."
"No problem, I'll wait for your good news," Eric stood up and sent Amy Pascal out of the office.
Sony-Columbia didn't think about it for too long, just as Eric thought, and planned to negotiate with Firefly with the second plan. Before the Oscars, which were close at hand, the negotiations between Firefly and Columbia on the copyright of "Dark War" directly took a large part of Oscar's limelight. (To be continued..)