When the news that "Cutthroat Island" caused a huge loss of 120 million US dollars was revealed, although the loss belonging to Disney was only more than 70 million, the impact was greater than Disney's loss of 100 million through multiple movies last summer. The dollar is even more violent. In just three days, Disney's stock price fell by 11%, and its market value quickly shrank from $3.8 billion before the release of "Cut Throat Island" to $3.45 billion.
As a result, newspapers and media have produced a lot of discussions and reflections on the pros and cons of big-budget movies. They made a detailed comparative analysis of "Cutthroat Island" and "Terminator 2". Successfully, the contrast is stark.
As the discussion progressed, it gradually involved films with a large investment of more than 50 million US dollars in the past two years. Of course, the "Tornado" that Eric is currently producing and "Captain Hawk" directed by Spielberg Analysis, because both of them are the most successful directors of commercial films in Hollywood in recent years, and the investment of these two films has exceeded 70 million US dollars.
When the box office of "Terminator 2" was released in the first weekend, Eric had already completed all the filming work of "Tornado". Seeing that the box office of "Cutthroat Island" exceeded 20 million, Eric was very disappointed,' Miracles' did not happen in the end.
However, he was not too surprised. The status of the original space-time independent production company Carlock is far from being compared with that of Disney, one of the seven major companies. Throat Island" had an investment of 90 million and only got more than 9 million at the box office. What Eric regrets is that the loss of more than 120 million US dollars in this version of "Cut Throat Island" is not all borne by Disney, otherwise, the next acquisition of Disney will be smoother.
After "Tornado" closed the mirror. Eric continued to spend a few days in Oklahoma clearing up a few clutter. Only then returned to Los Angeles with several main creators.
In faraway punk city. Eric has already felt the public opinion turmoil caused by several summer movies in the media. When the flight arrived in Los Angeles, Eric, Jeffrey, Joanna and others had just walked out of the airport, and they were greeted by dozens of people who had been waiting for a long time. Reporters blocked the entrance of the pick-up hall.
Seeing the crazily flashing camera flashes around him and trying to reach his tape recorder over the bodyguard, Eric was worried that the situation would get out of control, so he pressed his hands and made a quiet gesture.
Originally worried that Eric would leave directly and asked loudly, the group of reporters who were expecting a response quickly quieted down. Since Eric promised to answer their questions, there was no need to.
"Everyone, I can stay and answer some questions, but my companions are very tired after several hours of flying, can you let them leave first?"
Unexpectedly, Eric suddenly mentioned this. Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. Eric didn't want to get an affirmative answer. He made a few gestures towards Jeffrey and others, and then signaled his bodyguards to push away the crowd. Seeing that Eric didn't move, the reporters gave way knowingly.
Watching Jeffrey, Joanna and others board the car on the side of the road. Eric clapped his hands: "Then..."
Immediately, the group of reporters recalled the chaos of voices.
"Stop, come one by one," Eric said, pointing to a female reporter wearing glasses in a small black suit: "Madam, come first."
The female reporter excitedly wanted to take a step forward, but was stopped by the bodyguard, so she could only shout through the human wall: "Mr. Williams, it is rumored that the script of "Cut Throat Island" was the first one you saw. What do you think of the dismal box office of a movie with an investment of over 100 million yuan?"
Before Eric came back, he had already thought about his response to this problem. Of course, he couldn't admit that this was a pit in the first place. So hearing the question from the female reporter, Eric showed a heavy look: ""Cutthroat Island" was originally a very good idea, and I thought about making this movie into a trilogy. Unfortunately, Disney is making I can only say sorry for a misguided line of thought that has ruined a promising story."
Before Eric could finish speaking, the female reporter immediately seized the opportunity and asked, "Can you talk about your production idea?"
"Sorry, it's not convenient for me to disclose this question, next, this gentleman."
The reporter who was named immediately said: "Mr. Williams, since you have already conceived "Cut Throat Island", is it possible for you to remake this series?"
"The failure of this movie has given the audience a preconceived notion. Let alone a remake of this movie, maybe within ten years, I estimate that within ten years, no one will dare to make a pirate movie again."
"Don't even you dare?"
Eric nodded: "Yes, I don't dare either. The failure of "Cut Throat Island" was too complete, and it was a big blow to island-type movies. Although I am not afraid of failure, I don't want to experience failure so soon. Next, you."
A black-haired reporter stretched out the tape recorder on tiptoe, and said: "Mr. Williams, it seems that you have already experienced failure. It is said that the "Fighting Condor" series is a script that you personally selected and participated in the investment. .”
Eric showed a smile at the corner of his mouth, and explained: "The first script of "Fighting Condor" was indeed selected by me personally, and I also participated in part of the investment. But the second one has nothing to do with me, I don't even have the script I see, you can investigate this matter."
"Didn't Miss Connery show you the script?" A thin reporter interrupted hastily, and everyone's eyes lit up, expecting Eric's answer.
Of course Eric knew that this question was actually testing his relationship with Connery, the smile on his face remained unchanged, but he didn't have any extra words, and he replied directly: "No, next one, you come , this is the last question, I'm in a hurry."
The reporter was about to speak, but when he heard Eric's addition, he swallowed the original question back, thought for a while before asking: "Mr. Williams, "Toy Story" and "Terminator 2" once again achieved With such impressive results, will you make Firefly go public?"
"No, Firefly's cash flow is very abundant. So there is no need for listing financing. And after listing. In order to maintain the stock price. In order to maintain investor confidence, Firefly may have to make some radical decisions that are contrary to the company's development strategy. It is very detrimental to the development of the company, so I still hope that Firefly can develop more freely in an environment that is not disturbed by external investors."
After answering this question, Eric nodded to the crowd, then pushed through the crowd and walked out under the protection of a group of bodyguards. Although Eric didn't answer many questions, it was enough for these reporters to make a good report, so no one was trying to stop them. Eric quickly left the Los Angeles airport.
"Trilogy, huh, at this point, you still don't miss the opportunity to block Michael Eisner," said Chris Hansen, who came from New York the next day, when he saw Eric. , he has obviously seen the interview with Eric by the reporters yesterday.
Eric shook hands with Chris, walked side by side with him towards Pointe Manor Villa, and said, ""Cut Throat Island" got 20 million US dollars at the box office, which is much more than I thought, of course I want to take this opportunity to vent one time."
"An investment of 140 million dollars. Seeing the final box office of 20 million dollars, I felt chills all over my body. You still think it's too much."
"Unfortunately, part of the loss was borne by Robert Shea." The two said as they entered the villa.
On the glass curtain wall of Liberty City facing the sea, Chris sat on the sofa and looked at the appearance of Eric making coffee at the small bar not far away, and said, "You are still alone now, don't you feel that this villa is too empty?"
Eric came over with a coffee pot, poured coffee for the two of them, and said, "It's different habits, I like this feeling better."
Chris took the coffee cup, looked at Eric and said, "I don't know if it's my illusion. Although I haven't spent much time with you, I feel that there is always a layer of membrane between you and the world around you. You are very good at The ability to get along with people and deal with people is far beyond your age, but you are always like a little oil in the water, although the contact with the water is very intimate, but you are not willing to melt into it."
Eric was stunned for a moment, without retorting, and said with a smile: "Your intuition is really sharp."
Chris was a little surprised to hear Eric admit so lightly, but then said: "Eric, this is not a good phenomenon, and it may even lead to schizophrenia in the long run."
"Um, you are studying finance, right?"
"I have taken psychology as an elective, and many students who study finance will take psychology as an elective, so that they can analyze the opponents or customers they encounter more thoroughly."
"Forget it, Chris, let's talk about business, don't worry, I will never have any schizophrenia, but I don't know how to explain it to you."
Chris froze for a moment, and said: "Okay, but Eric, you know, everyone cares about you. My father, me, and Drew, and... your women, if you have something in your heart If you want to talk, I believe any of us is a very good listener."
How could he tell his secrets to others, even that little girl Drew, Eric couldn't imagine how the girl would react if she knew his secret.
After Chris finished speaking, he turned directly to the topic: "Okay, let's talk about the acquisition of Disney."
With that said, Chris took out the information he brought with him, gave a copy to Eric, and said: "Disney's latest stock market value today is 3.43 billion U.S. dollars, with debts of 2.07 billion U.S. dollars. So far, I have passed several companies Together with the agent, they got 11% of the Disney stock, with a total expenditure of 376 million US dollars, while Disney’s stock share in the circulation market is only about 24%, so it can absorb some of it. Disney’s board of directors includes Michael Eisner, a total of 16 Personally, Disney replaces board members through elections every year. If the acquisition offer is rejected, through this year’s reelection and the subsequent absorption of Disney shares, we can get two board seats, so that we can never intervene in Disney’s management. "
Eric said: "Let's talk about the main obstacles that will be encountered in this acquisition, except for the problem of money."
Chris smiled: "This is what I want to say the most. Some of the information I collected surprised me. After Disney experienced the hostile takeover in 1984 and lost more than 300 million U.S. dollars, it didn't even have a long memory. None of the most common anti-takeover poison pills.”
"Poison pill?" Eric showed a puzzled expression.
Chris thought for a while, and then tried to explain in simple terms: "The so-called poison pill is a share expansion agreement drafted in advance by the target company to prevent hostile takeovers. Once the company encounters a hostile takeover, the poison pill will be triggered. When a large number of tradable shares of the company are acquired by the opponent, the shareholders of the target company can dilute the share of the competitor's acquired stock by issuing new shares. In this way, the acquisition cost can be raised to a sky-high price, just like a poison pill Similarly, it discourages acquirers who want to swallow the target company. At least 2,000 public companies in North America have poison pill agreements, and it surprises me that Disney does not.”
Eric listened to Chris' explanation and smiled: "In short, this is very beneficial to us, isn't it?"
"Of course," Chris then let go of another page of information in his hand, and said, "However, although Disney's performance in the past two years has been relatively bleak, and "Cutthroat Island" has brought such a big loss, Disney is Michael. Eisner single-handedly brought it out of the mire of decline. In the past seven years, Disney's market value has doubled in the hands of Michael Eisner. At least half of the shareholders still maintain confidence in Michael Eisner. So the biggest problem with our acquisition is still Disney’s existing management.”
Of course Eric knew this too. According to fragmentary memories, the huge disagreement between Disney shareholders and Michael Eisner should have happened after 1996. Michael Eisner insisted on annexing ABC TV, which caused Disney The ultra-high debt ratio and huge losses. Prior to this, although Michael Eisner was self-willed, even regarded the board of directors as his own voice, and made a lot of personal gains for himself through the compensation committee, Disney has been thriving and developing rapidly, so these issues are being discussed by shareholders. They tolerated it.
However, it was impossible for Eric to wait until 1996. At that time, Disney's market value was estimated to have doubled several times, and it would be even more difficult to acquire it.
Chris didn't know what was going on in Eric's mind, and continued: "Once Disney agrees to a friendly acquisition, many things will be much easier, but I think Michael Eisner will definitely not agree. So the possibility of going the second way Sex is more than 70%, so the most important thing for us now is to consider the problems that the second road may encounter.” (To be continued..)