"That's just a gimmick. "Small Island Cry" itself has a very good plot, and the subsequent release process spanned the Thanksgiving file and the Christmas file with no competitors of the same type, so it was able to get such an excellent box office through long-term screenings. .”
Nicole snatched the information in Eric's hand and looked through it, retorting: "There is no competitor of the same type in "Brave"?"
Eric was robbed of the information by Nicole, and he didn't care. He just had his hand free to hug Nicole, and stretched one hand in through the gap in the bath towel, stroking the girl's smooth skin after taking a bath, and said: ""Yi Dan" "The Wind and Cloud" is positioned as a crime drama. This kind of movie does not belong to the mainstream commercial genre, but it is a bit unpopular. Apart from the star power of Dustin Hoffman and Bruce Willis driving the box office, it is the safest way to recover the cost The best way is to hit the Oscars. But Disney chose to release it on a large scale on November 1 instead of using point screenings to accumulate word-of-mouth, which is tantamount to giving up the Oscars. The investment of nearly 50 million US dollars. There will be more shareholders disappointed with the current management... ”
Nicole, who was distracted by Eric's hand on her thigh, felt him stop suddenly, and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Michael Ai≦, Sina must be aware of this too. I'm thinking that Disney will probably postpone "Brave"," Eric finished, staring at Nicole's delicate face for a few seconds, With a smirk: "Nicole, I have a task for you."
"Um?"
"The timing is very sensitive now. If Disney suddenly postpones "Brave", it will definitely become a topic that the media will chase after. You just received an offer for the leading actress. If the reporter asks about it, just say I see it After I got the script, I told you not to accept it."
Nicole immediately understood Eric's intentions for letting herself say that. Once she said those words, even if the schedule of "Brave" was changed, it would have similar negative effects as a box office failure. After all, no one knew that Eric had the foresight brought about by the memory of rebirth, and all his success so far was attributed to his keen eye for movies. Take the recent summer movies as an example. "Condor Condor 2" wanted to get rid of Eric's monopoly on profits, but the whole series was completely ruined. Disney snatched the script of "Cut Throat Island" from Eric. In the end, it also failed miserably. Conversely, "Terminator 2" and Pixar Animation Studios were not very optimistic at the beginning, but after Eric's hands, they shined.
"Well, I will say so when the time comes," Nicole nodded, put the information in her hand on the coffee table in front of her, leaned over and put her arms around Eric's arm: "Eric, you really want to buy Disney?" ah?"
"I've made such a big commotion, do you think I'm joking?"
Nicole smiled and said, "No. I mean, did you earn the money for buying Disney last time from crude oil futures?"
Eric said: "Many people now want to know the source of funds for my acquisition of Disney. Such information can easily sell for more than 100,000 US dollars, are you sure you want to know?"
"Okay, I won't ask any more," Nicole shook her head, as the question seemed a little sensitive. As a smart woman, Nicole quickly understood from Eric's words that it's better not to know about this kind of thing, otherwise, once the relevant information is leaked, she will definitely become a suspect of the leak.
"It's best if you don't know about this kind of thing," Eric added, and continued: "The two schedules of the New Year are also very important to Firefly, so I will go to each studio to see it myself. How is the situation in "Hot Hands"? Why are you free today?"
"These two days of filming Rosie's scene, I just took a break," Nicole explained.
"Where's Paula Wagner?"
"She heard that this was a script conceived by you. Of course she was very concerned about it, and took over the job of producer without thinking about other things. But Paula has also been preparing for Cruise's next movie, a Telling the story of Europeans immigrating to the western United States, Paula also invited me to be the heroine, but then it fell through, and I heard that Cruise disagreed."
Eric thought it should be "Ambition for the Earth" co-starred by Cruise and Nicole in his memory. If history does not change, it must be no problem for the two to co-star.
But now the situation is different, Nicole is already a first-line actress. For the sake of self-interest, first-line actresses rarely appear in Cruise's movies, because investors usually have a corresponding budget for actors. will decrease.
"Don't worry about him, just make "Hot Girl" well. If this movie is successful, you will have the ability to box office monoclonal antibodies, and maybe your film salary will surpass Cruise's in the future."
Some expectations flashed in Nicole's eyes, but she couldn't help shaking her head: "It's unlikely, there are still too few scripts centered on the heroine."
Eric looked Nicole up and down, and asked, "Didn't you practice ballet before, do you still have the foundation?"
Nicole shook her head: "Ballet has to be practiced all year round. I only learned it for a while when I was a child. Why do you ask this?"
"Because I want to see you in an action movie, and I've never seen you in an action movie."
Although Nicole felt that what Eric said was a bit strange, she still said: "I have only made a few movies, I may try it in the future."
In the original time and space, Nicole has a very wide range of dramas. She has basically tried comedies, musicals, horror films, biographical films, epic films, etc., but there are no action films, which has to be said to be a pity.
However, although there are many popular movies with female protagonists in memory, there are not many successful female action movies.
After thinking about it for a while, Eric still decided to wait until the end of the year's "Hot Hands" and "Desperate Flowers" are released to see the situation. Especially "Hot Hands", which has been advanced for many years, if the box office is not bad, it means that movies with female protagonists already have considerable market prospects, and some female-led action movies can be developed in advance.
…
When it was getting dark, the cars of Michael Eisner and Frank Wells drove directly into the courtyard of a mansion in Beverly Hills. The two just got out of the car. Summer Redstone has already greeted him.
We exchanged pleasantries for a while. Summer Leishidong led the two of them into the dining room of the villa. Someone was already busy in the kitchen not far away. After the three of them were seated, sumptuous dishes were quickly served one after another.
The dinner was half eaten, and a lot of probing words were said. Michael Eisner finally took the lead and asked, "Mr. Lei Shidong, did you invite us here today?"
Summer Redstone slowly wiped his mouth with a napkin. Cai said: "I heard that Disney's management has encountered some troubles recently?"
Michael Eisner shrugged and said lightly: "Everyone is very clear about this."
Redstone didn't care about Michael Eisner's somewhat dismissive tone, and continued: "It's actually like this. Viacom also wants to join the ranks of acquiring Disney."
Michael Eisner frowned, another one.
Frank Wells glanced at Michael Eisner who was silent, turned his head and said to Lei Shidong: "Mr. Lei Shidong, Viacom operates a large theater chain. Is it suitable to buy Disney?"
"If we can reach a certain consensus today, I will spin off the theater business in the short term. This will not violate federal laws."
"What about the funds?" Frank Wells asked again.
Summer Leishidong said: "Actually, I have been planning to acquire a film company since a year ago, so I have been making preparations in secret. The first thing I saw was Paramount, but now Disney seems to be a better one. choose."
Michael Eisner interrupted suddenly: "Mr. Lei Shidong, why don't you talk about your conditions?"
Redstone showed a confident smile: "Michael, I know that you have some entanglements with that Eric Williams. If Firefly buys Disney, you will definitely not be able to stay in the position of Disney's CEO. So, I hope we can cooperate, this is a win-win thing, if I buy Disney, I promise you can continue to be the CEO of Disney."
Michael Eisner asked, "Then what am I going to do?"
"You have to convince Disney's board and management to be on my side, and I don't think shareholders will ignore Disney's management."
"Those people only see benefits," Michael Eisner complained, remembering the cold reception he received the previous week.
Lei Shidong waved his hand: "Of course I will give them enough benefits, as long as I give me three months, I can raise 5 billion US dollars in funds, so I hope you can cooperate with me, and you must try to delay this process as much as possible." acquisition, the longer it takes, the more capital I can raise."
"There is another very important question," Frank Wells said at this time: "Now we don't know how many chips Eric Williams has. Firefly's first offer was 4.2 billion US dollars If Firefly sticks to its current wholly-owned acquisition strategy, the price will definitely rise to more than US$5 billion.”
Lei Shidong said: "I have already had people do a corresponding assessment. During the oil crisis that started last year, Eric Williams raised a total of 700 million US dollars in principal. If calculated based on five times leverage, he won The income of Firefly is only about 5 billion US dollars, so our strength should be equal, but my contacts on Wall Street are much stronger than his, so in the end, when it comes to financing, Firefly must not be able to compare with Viacom."
Michael Eisner asked, "Are you sure?"
Redstone nodded confidently: "Of course, I hired Goldman Sachs' top investment team to do simulated investment calculations. Unless Eric Williams can predict the future, five times is the most likely futures leverage he will use, and so is $5 billion. A rather overestimated figure."
Michael Eisner and Frank Wells looked at each other, and Lei Shidong looked at the two, took the coffee in front of him and drank it unhurriedly, and waited patiently for their decision.
To be honest, if he had a choice, Michael Eisner certainly hoped that Disney could keep it as it was.
Because Disney's current shareholding is very scattered, the largest shareholder is only 16% of Disney's shares, and no one has absolute control over Disney. This situation allows him to control the board of directors, and then firmly hold Disney in his own hands.
But now that Disney is facing an acquisition, it has become a fact. Even if Redstone does not make a move, perhaps other companies will make acquisition offers in the future. In this case, it is better to choose a more beneficial acquirer.
Michael Eisner is not ignorant of Redstone. Redstone is also a person with a strong desire to control, but compared to Eric Williams who wants to kick himself out of Disney, Raystone Shi Dong is undoubtedly a good choice.
"Mr. Redstone, if we want to cooperate, I hope to sign an agreement. I want Disney's absolute control."
"This is impossible," Redstone shook his head: "Michael, actually, since the failure of "Cut Throat Island", even without the current acquisition, it is no longer possible for you to obtain absolute control of Disney. You should face This fact. The reason why Disney shareholders let you control the board of directors in the past few years is because you can bring them enough benefits.”
When Michael Eisner heard these words, his expression was a little embarrassed.
Lei Shidong continued: "Of course, if I can acquire Disney, I will still give you enough authority. I can guarantee this."
Michael Eisner snorted slightly in his heart, such a guarantee is almost equivalent to no guarantee at all.
Lei Shidong seemed to see Michael Eisner's concerns, got up and left for a while, and quickly returned with a document, saying: "I know what you think, there is no basis for what you say, this is what I asked to draft. You can take a look at a contract first. If I buy Disney, you can still control Disney's most important strategic planning department, consumer product department, and broadcasting and television department. Viacom will only strengthen supervision of Disney's financial department , while participating in the development of Disney film projects."
Michael Eisner spread out the documents silently, and Frank Wells also joined in.
After more than ten minutes, the two of them read the documents in front of them together. Although the conditions stipulated in the contract did not meet their psychological expectations, this seemed to be the best result. Although he is unwilling to admit it, Michael Eisner understands that what Redstone said is correct. After several consecutive film failures, his absolute control over Disney has begun to shake. Even without this acquisition, Disney shareholders It will also start to meddle in the affairs of the company.
After closing the folder, Michael Eisner raised his head and said, "Then, let's talk about the specific cooperation plan."
…
It rained in Los Angeles, which is very rare.
When he opened his eyes in the morning, Eric saw the fine rain on the glass window.
Nicole, who was huddled in Eric's arms, was disturbed by the man's movements. She was dazed for a while, and then looked out of the window, with a little joy in her tone: "It's raining."
"Yeah," Eric said, and was about to get up, but Nicole clung to him tightly: "Eric, sleep a little longer, it's so early, and it's raining."
Feeling Nicole's fragrant and soft body rubbing against her without any cover, the desire that was already aroused in the morning became even stronger.
After so many days of tiredness, let's relax.
Thinking in his heart, Eric hugged the girl and fell on the big bed again.
Nicole smiled coquettishly, tore off the thin quilt on her body, and wrapped her slender legs tightly around Eric's waist. (To be continued..)