After hanging up the phone, Eric left the balcony and walked back to the office. Nicole, who had been quietly sitting on the sofa and flipping through magazines, looked up curiously.
This is Eric's personal office in Firefly Studios. Because he seldom works here, the layout in the office is also very simple. There is a set of desks and chairs, a set of sofas, and a row of desks opposite the desks. A bookshelf with many documents.
Seeing Eric sitting down, Nico poured a cup of coffee for Eric and put it in front of him, and asked, "I really want to hear TG's name, are they calling?"
"It's Rupert Murdoch," Eric shook his head.
In addition to confirming the sale of TG from Eric, Murdoch also hopes that after Fox completes the acquisition, Fox and Firefly can exchange the original rights and interests of Fox and Firefly in TG, which means that Fox will take back the North American distribution and peripheral development of TG movies. At the same time, the original overseas distribution rights were handed over to Firefly.
Eric also knows what Murdoch's idea is. Although he gave up 15% of TG's interests, he can keep the film company in touch with him. This is undoubtedly the most beneficial plan for Fox. Eric agreed to this condition, and Fox was willing to bid 80 million US dollars to 'redeem' tg's 7, distribution rights in the hands of Firefly, and pay another 120 million US dollars to the other three women for the acquisition of tg.
With Eric completely out of the way, tg's most profitable movie is Jim Carrey's comedy, with a frequency of one a year in the following years, from the accumulation of Jim Carrey through the previous few movies. The box-office appeal shown is in full swing, as long as you don't play literature and art, you don't engage in transformation. It's not a problem for the three films to make a combined $300 million in profits. The total price of 200 million US dollars offered by Fox is also more reasonable. after all. Eric received 80 million US dollars to invest in movies, which can be doubled several times in three years.
When Nicole heard Murdoch's name, she didn't ask any more questions, and took out a thick stack of scripts from her handbag and handed them to Eric: "Pat gave it to me yesterday, I think the other party wants to Shall I let you see it?"
Eric took the script and narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw the title of "The Mummy" on the cover and the logo of Universal Pictures.
"Besides the script. Does Universal have anything else to say?" Eric asked, letting go of the script.
Nicole shook her head: "No, but after Pat received the script yesterday, he investigated some information. This movie is a remake of an old Universal movie made in 1932. Michael Eisner decided on it himself. It seems that he intends to make it into a movie. Similar to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series, Universal previously sold the remake rights to an independent production company, and now they are trying to take it back, as if they are still in contact with Spielberg, hoping that he can be the director, Pat said This is unlikely, but Spielberg should be able to serve as a producer. The producer in charge of this project also said yesterday. If I can sign more than one, they can make concessions on the salary."
Many plot patterns of Hollywood commercial films have long been finalized. Although the script in Eric’s hand is somewhat different from what he remembered, the overall concept of the plot and the role settings are similar. After hastily flipping through the script, Eric raised his head and asked: "Then what do you mean?"
Nicole put down the coffee cup in her hand, and said seriously: "I used to play such noisy characters. I think the role of the knowledgeable librarian in this script is quite interesting."
"In this case, let's take it," Eric put the script on the coffee table, thought for a while, and then walked towards the desk.
Nicole looked at Eric's figure and said, "But, this is a Universal movie, that, Michael Eisner..."
"Hehe, I'm not that stingy, as long as you like it, and if you don't act, Universal will find other actresses," Eric said, and took out a phone book from the drawer of the desk. Almost found a number, picked up the landline on the table and dialed it.
Nicole was a little surprised by Eric's behavior, and didn't bother him again.
Eric picked up the phone and waited for a while, the call was connected, and he said, "This is Eric Williams, please pick up Mr. Eisner."
In an office at the global headquarters in Burbank, Eisner's assistant, who was so surprised when he heard Eric self-report his name, even forgot to report in advance, and directly transferred the call to Michael Eisner's landline. After getting connected, I realized something. I stood up and pushed open the door of Michael Eisner's office without knocking, only to see that Michael Eisner was already talking to the other end of the phone with a smile on his face. The assistant barged in suddenly, abnormally lifeless, and just waved his hand to signal him to go out.
"Eric, I didn't expect you to call. What's the matter?" Michael Eisner drove away the assistant, leaned on the sofa and asked with a smile.
"I just saw the script of "The Mummy", it's a good idea," Eric said in a casual tone, "However, I can see that Universal should plan to develop a series, I don't know if you have the entire series The script and the outline are also fine, I want to read it."
Michael Eisner's finger that was rubbing on the table paused for a moment, and quickly said with a smile: "Of course it's no problem, I'll have someone send you off right now, by the way, where are you now?"
"Playa Vista," Eric replied.
"Oh, Jurassic Park should be almost finished, right? We didn't see the trailer for this movie at the Super Bowl, everyone was very sorry."
Eric replied with the same tone: "You will see it soon, I believe many people will be surprised."
"Then I'll wait and see," Michael Eisner said with a smile, "Don't forget to send me an invitation letter during the preview."
"Okay, I'll find a reporter by the way and take photos of you participating in the test screening. This is a great opportunity to promote "Jurassic Park," Eric joked half-truthfully.
Michael Eisner raised his eyebrows. If such a photo is really released, the relationship between the two will definitely be 'thawed' publicly: "Haha, I will cooperate with you when the time comes. If there is nothing else Are you free to have dinner together?"
"No problem. Then, goodbye." Eric said, and after hearing the other party's response, he hung up the phone.
Hearing the busy tone on the other side of the microphone, Michael Eisner did not put the microphone back, but tapped the table lightly with his hand, frowning slightly thinking about the purpose of Eric's call.
Want to confuse himself with his 'importance' to the script of "The Mummy" and make Universal invest more
Think about it. Michael Eisner felt that it was impossible, and the other party probably wouldn't play such a low-level trick. So what is the purpose of the other party making this call
Although he couldn't think of any clues for a while, Michael Eisner quickly ordered his assistant to send the series outline of "The Mummy" to Eric. He wasn't worried about Eric plagiarizing the "Mummy" script or something. If this happened, Universal would be able to happily fight a lawsuit with Firefly.
While Eric was on the phone, the curious Nicole had already pulled up a chair and sat opposite Eric.
After Eric hung up the phone, Nicole asked curiously: "Hey, what do you want the script of "The Mummy" for?"
"I'm very interested in the special effects of "The Mummy", and I want to let the digital field take over the special effects work for this film," Eric said without hiding. But there is no way to explain it too clearly to Nicole, specifically. He was interested in the special effects of the original "The Mummy" part two. In the script just now, Eric has seen clues about the reincarnation and rebirth of the heroine Evelyn and the information about the undead army of Anubis, the god of death in ancient Egypt.
In the original "Mummy 2", the army of undead summoned by the Scorpion King left a deep impression on Eric. Because of the high labor cost in the West, this era wants to realize it in a real way within the budget of a movie. War scenes with thousands of troops and horses are basically impossible, and the only way is to use computer cg special effects. And if Universal's script outline does not deviate too much from the original version, taking over the production of special effects for the sequel of "The Mummy" will be a very good training opportunity for the development of special effects for large-scale wars in the digital field.
Although Eric has signaled that the digital field has begun to develop related technologies, but there are no real film works for practical application training, no one knows what the specific effect will be, nor does he know which aspect to develop and improve technology.
Large-scale war special effects are a very important part of the development of special effects films in the future. If we grasp the opportunities in this area, the digital field will be able to lead other film companies in technology by a large margin. Even if there is no undead army scene in the "Mummy" series outline sent by Universal, Eric plans to develop a related special effects movie in the next two to three years to let the digital field 'practice'.
Nicole is not very interested in topics such as special effects. She flicked the script a few times with her slender fingers, looked at Eric and said, "If you really have no objections, I will ask Pat to negotiate a contract with Universal. La?"
Eric looked at the thick script under Nicole's arm, and suddenly thought that since Michael Eisner sent the script to him through Nicole's hand, the reason should not just be for Nicole to ask if he would let him She starred in it. Thinking of Joanna's sudden resignation as an insider under Universal's pressure half a year ago, Eric brought the script over again, took out a pencil from the pen holder next to it, tapped the table for a while and thought for a while, and finally wrote a 5 on the cover. %, and handed the script to Nicole.
Nicole tilted her head to look at the numbers above, and asked, "What is this?"
"Your personal salary should now be 10 million US dollars. I owed Michael Eisner a favor last year, and now I just repay him. You can ask Pat to help you negotiate the omni-channel share according to the bottom line of 5%, and give up the fixed salary. Although it will take a lot longer for you to recover your salary, but you will definitely get more than 10 million US dollars, you give up the film salary to get a share, which can be regarded as increasing Universal's confidence in this project in disguise."
"Heh, you take my film contract as a favor, and you don't ask if he is willing, who knows if this movie can make 200 million yuan," Nicole rolled her eyes, her mouth still twitching.
Eric felt the girl's anger, and asked with a considerate smile, "Then would you like it?"
Nicole is not short of money now. It is not a bad choice not only to get more rewards but also to let Eric remember her. She pretended to think for a while, and then said "reluctantly": "Okay , I promise you, but with the matter of Jack Nicholson in mind, do you think Universal will agree easily?"
Jack Nicholson's salary in "Batman" is a topic that many stars in the entertainment circle talk about, and many people dream of having such a chance to make a fortune. Eric said: "If Universal doesn't agree, then you can just receive a salary of 10 million US dollars directly, and there is nothing to lose for you."
Nicole nodded her chin thoughtfully, reached out and snatched the pencil from Eric, and directly added a number one in front of the 5% number on the cover, making it 15%, and said to Eric: : "Then I'll let Pat start to talk about 15%, maybe we can talk about more than 10% in the end. Although this movie is a big investment, even if you count the subsequent distribution fees, the total investment will not exceed 100 million US dollars , if I only get 5% of my 10 million yuan salary, it would be too bad."
Computer special effects movies have just emerged in North America and the global market for a few years, and it is the time when the market demand is strong. The script of "The Mummy" is also very good. As long as the main creators do not mess around and maintain the original level in Eric's memory, the world will gain The box office of more than 300 million US dollars is not a problem. As a rough estimate, with an investment of 60 million yuan and an announcement of 20 million yuan, the cost can be fully recovered by relying on the global box office. The follow-up video tapes and peripherals will be more profitable. In the two-year omni-channel distribution cycle, it is not a problem for the profit to exceed 200 million US dollars. , if Nicole can really increase the omni-channel share to more than 10%, maybe she will become the first female star to step into the 20 million salary club.
Thinking of this, Eric couldn't help but gave Nicole a thumbs up, and said with a smile: "It's cruel enough, it really is the most poisonous woman's heart."
"Bah, don't say that about me." Nicole slapped Eric's hand lightly, put the script into her bag, and asked with crooked eyes: "It's almost noon, let's go to Venice Beach How about having lunch over there, there are several good restaurants there?"
"Won't you be watched?" Eric asked with a smile. Now "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" is still being released sporadically, and some overseas markets are in full swing. Nicole's reputation is in full swing, and now her every move is being closely watched by the paparazzi. Pay close attention, although it is unlikely that the paparazzi will sneak into the studio, as long as the two of them go out, they will definitely be killed by crowds.
"I asked my assistant to drive the car away first to lure some people away. If you find an ordinary car and we go out secretly, it should be fine. Even if we are found out, I don't have a boyfriend, and you don't have a formal girlfriend. They What can you say?" Nicole said, her eyes became resentful: "Or, you don't want to show up with me?"
"Stop, this look is too lethal, I surrender!"
"Hehe..." (to be continued...)