Since 1984, the "Emma Street" series has accumulated a considerable number of regular fans. When Firefly announced that Wes Craven, the creator of the "Emma Street" series, will return to film the finale of the series After that, it immediately attracted the attention of a large number of movie fans.
On November 1, the day of Halloween, "The Death of Freddy" was released in more than 1,200 theaters in North America. It won a box office of 13 million US dollars in the first three days, and it also received considerable praise. Although the final box office of the film will probably stay at around 50 million US dollars, compared to the production cost of less than 15 million, Firefly can still make a small fortune in North America.
In addition to the small start of Firefly's schedule at the end of the year, Disney's production cost of up to 48 million U.S. dollars, "Brave", as Eric imagined, announced that it will be postponed to the summer of the next year. The reason given by Disney is to be optimistic about the film. It is hoped that the film can give full play to its commercial value. But people with a little industry knowledge scoffed at this statement.
Although the film was postponed, the creators either kept silent or talked nonsense when faced with reporters' questioning. But then the "Hollywood Reporter" interviewed Nicole Kidman, the former heroine candidate of "Brave", but it seemed to reveal some inside information to the public. Nicole didn't, she didn't comment on the film, she just said vaguely that a good friend didn't recommend her to take this film.
Nicole is one of Eric's "rumored girlfriends", and most people can easily guess who Nicole's "good friend" who can easily influence her film selection is. As soon as the news came out, the media, big and small, immediately went viral, and directly classified "The Wind and Cloud of Justice" as a bad movie. Disney's discrimination also became useless.
but. The turmoil did not have much impact on Disney's stock price. Since Firefly announced its public acquisition of Disney, Disney's stock has been slowly climbing for several months. In early November, Disney's market value has reached 4.7 billion US dollars, an increase of 34% in three months.
Under the close attention of Wall Street and Hollywood and other parties, on November 4, Viacom Group, which bid for Disney with Firefly, officially made an offer of US$4.9 billion to Disney.
It happened to be Monday, and Firefly had already received some news before that. Eric came to Firefly headquarters early to discuss countermeasures with the acquisition team.
During the three months of Redstone’s fundraising period, in addition to the see-saw negotiations with Disney’s management and Disney shareholders, Firefly has successively acquired 4% of Disney’s shares at high prices, and its current shareholding has reached 15%. Become Disney's second largest shareholder.
If the acquisition remains deadlocked for a long time, Firefly can still ask for re-election of Disney's board of directors at the next general meeting of shareholders, thereby intervening in Disney's management, and even further seizing control of Disney.
And, even if the worst happens. Firefly lost the takeover battle at Disney's current stock price. Firefly cashes out its shares and can earn no less than US$300 million in profits.
After Eric arrived in the meeting room, Bernie Sanders, the head of the Morgan Stanley team, spoke first: "According to the information we have obtained, Summer Redstone has divested its cinema business, Viacom At present, the fund raised by Viacom is about 5 billion US dollars. In addition, Viacom Group also holds a small amount of shares in Blockbuster. Redstone is lobbying Blockbuster in an attempt to obtain financial support from the other side. If successful, Viacom will Comb will have no less than $7 billion in chips."
While listening, Eric opened the information about Blockbuster in front of him.
Blockbuster is the largest video rental company in North America, with more than 2,000 stores. Most importantly, as a video rental company similar to a retailer, Blockbuster has a huge cash flow in its hands. This is what makes Eric The most worrying point.
In my memory, the hostile takeover battle between Redstone and Barry Diller in 1994 was after the acquisition of Blockbuster, and then obtained 10 billion US dollars of funds in the form of asset mortgages, and finally annexed Paramount.
Thinking of this, Eric asked: "Bernie, is there such a possibility that Viacom will first use the funds in its hands to acquire Blockbuster, and then use Blockbuster as collateral to get more funds to join us?" Acquisition."
Bernie Sanders thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Although it is a very effective method at this time, the possibility is extremely low. Since Blockbuster changed ownership in 1987, it has been adding 500 stores every year. The speed of expansion is rapid, and the annual growth rate of market value exceeds 30%. As long as shareholders keep their shares, they can double in less than three years, and it is impossible to sell under such circumstances.”
Eric was a little relieved. Although he still didn't know why Viacom was able to acquire Blockbuster a few years later, Bernie Sanders' analysis was also correct.
"What about Viacom internally? Although Redstone currently controls Viacom, Viacom's shareholders should not let Redstone do whatever they want?"
Bernie Sanders nodded: "Redstone may raise more than 7 billion US dollars, but when the acquisition offer for Disney exceeds 6 billion, Redstone will face more and more internal resistance from Viacom. The bigger it is. Once the quotation exceeds the psychological limit of other shareholders, Viacom may even have internal strife, then we can easily win this acquisition. But how much this limit is, we don’t know.”
There was a murmur of discussion in the conference room, and Eric also quickly thought about whether there was a way to get Redstone to withdraw from the competition. But after a few moments, Eric was disappointed that this seemed impossible. Lei Shidong is a typical dictatorial tyrant with a strong personal will and will not listen to other people's opinions at all, not to mention that the two parties are still competitors now.
When Viacom was hostilely acquired a few years ago, Redstone insisted on suppressing everything he had, and increased the offer for Viacom from 2.25 billion US dollars to 3.4 billion US dollars. After the acquisition was completed, facing resistance from Viacom's management, Redstone did not hesitate to pay high severance pay. All of Viacom's top management has been replaced. This shows his domineering and maverick character.
Once such a person has made a decision. Unless you are at the end of the road, the chance of voluntarily giving in is basically zero.
On the day of Viacom's offer, Firefly immediately increased the price to US$5 billion, a difference of only US$100 million, which made followers of this acquisition speculate that this was just a trial between Firefly and Viacom.
For the next week, nothing seemed to happen on either side. But only those who have been involved in it know that during this period Viacom and Firefly's acquisition teams have more frequent contacts with Disney.
At the same time, many people are aware. The Thanksgiving Christmas file in the next two months will have a decisive effect on this acquisition. This is mainly because Disney’s management has not given up the idea of lobbying shareholders to boycott this acquisition. If Disney’s performance improves in these two months Changes, or major changes in Firefly, Disney management is likely to win the support of considerable shareholders again.
Although the total box office of the year-end schedule is much lower than that of the summer schedule, the intensity of competition is not weak at all.
On November 22, the first week of the year-end holiday, led by Fox's "Home Alone 3", including Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". Five new films including Firefly's "Dumb and Dumber," Paramount's "The Addams Family" and Universal's "American Rat Story 2" were released simultaneously on a large scale.
Although there was an interval of one year, no sequel was developed. However, the momentum of "Home Alone 3" has not diminished at all. It won more than 27 million box office in more than 2,500 theaters in the first three days of the weekend, and won the box office champion in the three days of the weekend without any suspense. This achievement made Eric a little surprised, but he did not regret transferring the development rights of the sequel to Fox. After all, the cost of this sequel is more than 50 million US dollars, and there is not much profit margin for Fox.
Home Alone 3 was followed by Paramount's The Addams Family, a family fantasy comedy that took in $24 million from more than 2,400 theaters.
Firefly's road comedy "Dumb and Dumber" ranked third. Eric arranged 1,900 theaters for this movie, and the box office just reached 20 million in the first weekend.
Although this result is far inferior to the previous two works, "Home Alone" and "The Addams Family" have accumulated a lot of fame through their previous works or TV series, while "Dumb and Dumber" is a completely new work without any popularity accumulation , coupled with the very low cost of the film, the results achieved have attracted more attention.
On the day when the results of the first weekend were released, Hollywood studios have already started researching the film, trying to find the successful elements of this comedy and imitate it. They also quickly found the key, which was the movie's leading actor, Jim Carrey. But when they learned of the content of the contract signed by Jim Carrey and tg, most people lost their minds.
In addition to these three films, although Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" has gained a good reputation, it is limited to less than 1,000 screenings, and the box office only ranks fifth, even behind Universal Pictures' "Beauty and the Beast", which has been released for a week. Cape Fear, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro.
As for Universal's "American Rat Story 2", which was jointly developed with Spielberg's Aberin Pictures, it only received a poor box office of 3.4 million US dollars in 1,700 theaters, becoming the first box office dud in the year-end schedule.
Faced with the open and secret battle with Viacom and the small actions made by the Disney management from time to time, Eric did not rest throughout the Thanksgiving holiday, and even had Thanksgiving dinner with Jeffrey and others.
Eric originally estimated the conservative box office of "Dumb and Dumber" at about 80 million. As long as this result can be achieved, Eric will be satisfied. After all, before this, vulgar comedy has not cultivated enough audience groups in Hollywood. But the potential shown by this movie has the hope of breaking through 100 million, and even Eric is no longer too worried about the box office of the next "Hot Girl".
However, although "Dumb and Dumber" achieved outstanding results, it was attacked by Disney. On the second day after "Dumb and Dumber" was released, Disney accused the film's vulgar style of being incompatible with Disney's business ideas. If the two companies were to merge, such low-brow comedy would undoubtedly damage Disney's healthy and uplifting brand image.
In the face of Disney's nonsense accusations, Eric directly made a strong counterattack. Said that after the completion of the acquisition, Disney will become a brand of Firefly. a subsidiary. It's not that Firefly is dominated by Disney. Therefore, the accusations made by Disney's current management are completely nonsense, and the works developed by different subsidiaries will not affect each other. After all, Disney's Touchstone Films has also produced a considerable number of R-rated movies in recent years.
After a four-week Thanksgiving schedule, the cumulative box office of "Home Alone 3" has reached 80 million US dollars, because the next Christmas file, Fox estimates that the follow-up reaction of the film will still get the same box office amount, because "Home Alone 3" same type of competition. "Beauty and the Beast" has a four-week box office of just over $30 million. Although this movie has a good reputation, it is destined to not do much at the box office. However, the box office of "Dumb and Dumber" reached 65 million, and there is no suspense at all when the box office exceeds 100 million.
Spielberg is destined to be a hurdle that no one in Hollywood can get around. When most people are paying attention to Firefly and Disney's films, "Captain Hawk", which has high hopes from Sony Pictures, is bold. The release date was set on December 6th.
Although the script of this movie has been greatly revised with Eric's participation and the role of the little fairy played by Nicole has been added, it still failed to save the movie's reputation. There was booing. Sony Pictures originally expected the film's first-week box office to exceed $40 million, but it actually did. The film only got 17 million in the first week. Although the weekly box office increased as Christmas approached, it did not break the 30 million US dollar mark in any week. The $70 million production is destined to pay for itself by consuming Spielberg's personal reputation.
"Dances with Wolves", which was released at the same time as "Captain Hawk", is even more inconspicuous. Although the small-scale film has exploded with word-of-mouth, the four-hour length of the film also keeps most of the audience out.
On December 20, the first week of the Christmas season, Firefly's "Hot Hands" and Disney's "The New Father-in-Law" were screened in 1,900 theaters at the same time. "The New Father-in-Law" is a remake, and the publicity focuses on the reputation accumulated by the original version of Elizabeth Taylor. However, although the original version is a classic work, it has been 40 years since the present, and its influence has long been left. There are not many, so the movie only received more than 14.4 million box office in the first week.
Compared with the old-school comedy style of "New Father-in-Law", "Hot Hands", which follows the vulgar comedy line like "Dumb and Dumber", has caught the eyes of a large number of audiences, although the film's reputation among film critics is not very good. But it still took in $21 million at the box office in the three days of the first weekend. The serious but cute female detective played by Nicole and Rosie O'Donnell's rough and fat policewoman partnered with each other, bringing a 100-minute hilarious movie-watching journey to the audience who walked into the cinema. And Nicole's subversive performance in "Hot Hands" even made many people interested in the little fairy played by Nicole in "Captain Hawk", which unknowingly drove the box office of "Captain Hawk", but most Interviewed fans also expressed their preference for Nicole's performance in "Hot Hands".
The last day of 1991 passed quickly. With the arrival of the new year, the total box office statistics of major Hollywood film companies in 1991 have also been released one after another, which also seems to imply a final competition that is about to come.
Although some movies are still being released, according to the accumulated box office and audience reputation of the movies, the final box office of most of the movies that are showing can be roughly calculated. Because of the war, compared to 1990, the total annual box office in North America in 1991 was only $4.8 billion.
Time Warner still firmly sits on the status of Hollywood's big brother, releasing 21 films throughout the year, with a cumulative box office of 750 million US dollars and a market share of 15.6%.
Even if they don't want to admit it, everyone can see that the name of Firefly appeared in the second place very dazzlingly. With "Terminator 2", "Toy Story", "Death of Freddy", " For the five films Dumb and Dumber and Cops, Firefly earned a total box office of 660 million US dollars, occupying a market share of 13.7 in North America.
Because betting most of its resources on "Cut Throat Island", Disney only released 12 films throughout the year. The share slipped to 7%, the lowest in five years.
Not only that, because up to $2 billion in liabilities require interest and principal payments as they come due. Disney posted a $120 million loss. Stimulated by this data. Disney shares fell for the first time in more than five months.
Disney shareholders who originally held a glimmer of hope for Disney management finally gave up completely. Start taking the Firefly and Viacom acquisitions seriously.
"Sorry, Mr. Bass, it's a pity that we couldn't reach an agreement, and I hope to have the opportunity to cooperate next time," Eric said goodbye to the two middle-aged people in front of him again as he stood in the parking lot of the Angle Manor.
The two people who were about to get in the car and leave were named Sid Bass and Roy Disney. Sid Bass is the current helm of the Bass family that owns the most shares in Disney, needless to say Roy Disney. A member of the Disney family, Walt Disney's nephew.
"I hope," Sid Bass took a deep look at Eric once again, and got into his silver car. Roy Disney moved his lips, as if he wanted to say something, but finally followed car.
When the other party's car left the Angle Manor, Chris, who had been standing quietly beside Eric, couldn't help but said: "Eric, I think the terms proposed by the other party are not bad, if you agree. Viacom will then It’s no longer a threat to us.”
Sid Bass and Roy Disney's visit represented a large portion of Disney's shareholders. It is hoped that the shares in his hands will be exchanged for the shares of the merged company between Firefly and Disney, rather than a sum of cash.
As long as Eric agrees, this part of Disney's shareholders will unite to help Firefly complete the acquisition, but Eric still chose to refuse.
Hearing what Chris said, Eric glanced at Bernie Sanders on the other side: "Bonny, what do you think?"
Bonnie Sanders shrugged and said, "I'm just a referrer. In fact, when Sid Bass contacted me, I didn't report any hope. I know you have already made up your mind."
Eric smiled, walked back with the two of them, and said, "You should have heard that Barry Diller will leave Fox in February."
The two nodded at the same time. During this time, they were paying close attention to Hollywood news.
The news of Barry Diller's imminent resignation caused great shock in Hollywood. As an outsider, Murdoch still focused his energy on the newspaper business in Australia and the United Kingdom. If it weren't for Barry Diller's assistance, it would be impossible for Murdoch to enter the mainstream circle of Hollywood, and the development of the Fox TV network would be impossible to talk about. Therefore, the inside story of Barry Diller's sudden resignation from Fox has become the subject of speculation by many people. Eric met Elizabeth at Christmas and asked the question, and the girl didn't hide it from her.
Eric said: "Barry Diller is a very talented person. Barry Diller has taken most of the credit for Fox's rise over the years. Mr. Murdoch also tried to retain him, but it was probably last September , Barry Diller said to Murdoch that he no longer wants to be a worker, he wants to be a master, do you know how Murdoch replied?"
Both Chris and Bernie looked curious.
Eric didn't keep it secret, and said: "Murdoch said that Fox can only have one owner."
Both Chris fell silent.
Eric said again: "The same goes for fireflies, they can only have one owner. Murdoch must be aware that Barry Diller's departure will have a great impact on Fox's development, but he didn't consider the second option at all. , even if that choice doesn't affect his control of Fox in the slightest.
Many investors always instill in the owners of the company the concept that they cannot live alone and can only develop by sharing benefits. In fact, this is just an excuse for them to seize control of the company, and those who sell their shares in exchange for development funds are often Just people who don't have much choice.
If there were sufficient funds, I think neither the owners of Microsoft, Oracle, or Cisco would have chosen to go public for financing. After most people succeed, they also desperately want to increase their holdings of shares in an attempt to achieve the goal of regaining control. Firefly is lucky. Now I just have enough funds to take a path completely different from other entrepreneurs. Although it is a bit more difficult and the price is a bit more, I think it is worth it. I will never choose the relatively easy path that lays many hidden dangers for the future of Firefly. "(to be continued...)
ps: The website server crashed. Hey, it was only a client before, but now even the main website is like this. The upload is late, sorry.