When millions of "justice fighters" from China became famous on American social networks and fought side by side with American netizens, it was not just Tom Cruise himself who was panicked.
Affected by such a negative impact, the entire top management of Warner Bros. has fallen into a huge panic. The power of public opinion has left them with no way to reverse public opinion. Even Warner's parent company, Time Warner, is having an extremely difficult time.
Originally, Time Warner's acquisition of AOL (America Online) was a famous failure case in history. The market value shrunk by hundreds of billions of dollars in one year was a major event that happened after the merger of Time Warner and AOL. In this life, AOL has faced more difficulties than The same period in my previous life was much more miserable, because AOL did not have Makino Technology in its previous life.
AOL was a giant in the U.S. Internet industry in its previous life. However, due to the rise of YY and the follow-up of YY English website, all Internet companies in the United States that provide page services have suffered a huge blow, and AOL is even more difficult to escape.
Time Warner has fallen into a whirlpool of huge losses since 2002. Coupled with the blessing of YY, it is now overwhelmed. Unexpectedly, Warner Brothers has made such a big mistake at this time, which is very important for this group. Said, it is simply adding insult to injury.
Time Warner asked Warner Brothers to immediately find ways to resolve the current public opinion crisis, and Jiro Horita was also putting pressure on Warner Brothers.
Jiro Horita was furious at this extremely passive situation. For him, investing in this movie was to promote Japanese culture and the spirit of Japanese Bushido, and to make money on the way. But what he didn't expect was that not only did it fail to promote Japan The purpose of culture and bushido spirit has made Japan's national quintessence Bushido spirit to be resisted and despised by the whole world. If he is exposed as an investor, won't he become the eternal sinner of Japan as a whole
The angry Jiro Horita scolded Warner Bros. CEO Meyer on the phone, telling him that he must find a way to solve this matter no matter what. If the influence of this incident continues to expand, he will definitely make Warner Bros. pay the price.
Meyer was about to collapse. He said to Jiro Horita: "Mr. Horita, all the media in the United States are now taking sides. Only a few media controlled by Japanese capital have not expressed their stance yet, but you have also seen that these media Now they are being boycotted by netizens, and what’s even more terrible is that YY, which has huge influence around the world, is also adding fuel to the flames. Its information delivery capability is really too powerful, and we have no way to influence its views, so this Judging from the current trend of this matter, this impact can only become bigger and bigger.”
"Damn you bastard!" Jiro Horita suddenly went berserk, his voice suddenly became hysterical, and he yelled angrily: "Meyer, I'm fucking warning you, this movie is my dream, if it is ruined, I will never get around you. ! By then you will never be able to continue working in the film and television industry in your life!"
Meyer's endurance was almost reaching its limit. Seeing Jiro Horita pointing the finger at himself, Meyer lost control of his emotions and shouted: "The current situation has nothing to do with me. You want to make the movie." Yes, the script is confirmed by you, and the director and actors are designated by you. I just help you set up a team and help you distribute and promote the shell! My job is to help you integrate resources and get the project started smoothly. I’ve already finished my work!”
At this point, Meyer burst out with dissatisfaction and said angrily: "The entire filming of the movie has been going very smoothly. It was the leak of the script that caused such a thing, but the leak of the script is not my responsibility. I have to blame I blame Edward's mismanagement for causing such a huge mistake on the set! But Edward is not mine, he is yours! If you really want to be held accountable, then go to him! I've had enough of it. !”
After saying this angrily, Meyer immediately hung up the phone without giving Jiro Horita time to react.
He had really had enough and didn't want to take it anymore.
Not just Meyer, but almost every executive at Warner Bros. has reached the limit of their endurance.
Not only are they being scolded online, but the key is that many protesters are protesting outside Warner's offices, and the scale of the protests is getting bigger and bigger, from dozens of people at the beginning to hundreds of people, and even It is still increasing, so much so that Warner executives no longer dare to go to the company.
Among them, Meyer suffered the most. The last time he went to the company, he was immediately surrounded by a large number of protesters as soon as he drove into the parking lot. When he got out of the car, an old Chinese lady threw two rotten eggs at him. I was so disgraced that I quickly got in my car and fled home. Not only did I fail to attend class, but my photos were captured by the media and posted in newspapers and websites. I was very embarrassed.
Afterwards, Meyer never went to the company again. He and other senior executives hid in their homes and communicated through YY group video to discuss the next step.
Some sensible people among Warner's senior management proposed to use the solution of a strong man to cut off his wrist to quickly solve this problem. They suggested that the company hold a large-scale press conference, self-examination at the press conference, and apologize to the people of the world, especially the United States and China. Then it was announced that filming of "The Last Samurai" would be stopped and the crew would be disbanded.
But Meyer had previously disagreed.
The investment of US$140 million was almost entirely provided by Sumitomo. Horita quietly completed this investment through externally controlled investment companies and funds. It looked like Warner took the lead in investing together with several companies. paid for the film, but all the money actually came from Sumitomo.
This money was given to Warner, and Warner has spent most of it from preparation to production. If it announces the suspension of filming at this time, Warner will suffer heavy losses.
The legal staff calculated that if the filming was stopped, the book loss would be at least more than 200 million US dollars.
The reason why it is as high as 200 million U.S. dollars is because the investment of 140 million U.S. dollars comes with a risk clause. If the film is not completed as planned due to unnatural force majeure, then Warner has to compensate for all investments and an additional 100% compensation. gold.
Originally, the terms provided by Sumitomo were very loose. As long as the film was completed, Warner would not have any risk of violation. Even if it took an extra year, as long as the film was well made, Sumitomo would not hold any responsibility.
But the most embarrassing thing is that this film has probably become the film with the greatest resistance in film history. Therefore, according to the contract, if the filming is stopped, Sumitomo will be compensated 280 million. Since most of the money has been spent, there is still money left on the books. If you invest tens of millions, you will have to bear the rest by yourself, and the loss will be more than 200 million US dollars.
Meyer didn't want to bear such a large loss when he was sitting in the CEO position, more than 200 million US dollars. How many movies would he have to make to make money back
And this is only the direct economic loss, the indirect loss is even greater!
If investors lose confidence in Warner Bros. due to the suspension of filming, then Warner Bros.’s valuation, future project development and even the share ratio when cooperating with other companies may be greatly affected, and as the parent company Time Warner It is bound to be affected as well. The stock price has been falling in the past two days. Many of the reasons are due to the trouble caused by Warner Bros.'s movie. Once the production suspension is announced, the impact will be even greater.
But now, Meyer has finally figured out that he cannot escape the blame, and the later he takes it, the greater the price will be!
This damn Jiro Horita has no regard for the actual situation of the matter, and shamelessly comes to hold him accountable. If his subject matter hadn't been such a big problem, how could it have caused so many successive incidents? ! It’s true that you’ve made him suffer!
I had never wanted to bear the loss of 200 million US dollars before, but now it seems that these losses cannot be avoided. In this case, it is better to bear it myself, and then immediately hold a press conference to apologize to the people of the world and admit my mistakes. , admit the evil of extreme bushido, and then announce the suspension of filming. Although the loss cannot be restored, at least the reputation can be restored! If it drags on any longer, money will be lost and reputation will be completely lost. When the time comes, everything will be lost.
So, the angry Meyer immediately organized a video conference with senior executives hiding at home. After the connection was connected, the first thing he said was: "Get ready, we will hold a press conference tomorrow morning!"
It was already 8:30 pm local time. If not for the lack of preparation time, Meyer would have held a press conference immediately.
Other senior executives immediately asked: "What strategy are we planning to adopt for the press conference?"
Meyer said without hesitation: "Apologise! Stop filming!"
After Meyer made this decision, all senior executives remained silent in front of the cameras.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Meyer said angrily: "Don't worry! It was my decision to stop filming, and I will bear all the responsibilities!"
When Meyer said these words clearly, the executives in front of the camera finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Regarding the hot potato "The Last Samurai", everyone wants to stop filming immediately, apologize immediately and ask for forgiveness from the public. In this way, the pressure exerted on them by society in the past few days can be reduced by half. However, after all, at least two people are involved. With direct losses exceeding US$100 million and immeasurable indirect losses, no one is willing to take the blame.
Meyer was the same before, but now he can't bear it anymore. Now he just wants to get out of this matter as soon as possible.
At this time, one of the executives said: "Let's communicate with Edward and Tom Cruise to see if they are willing to attend this press conference together. If the three of us apologize together, it will be more sincere."
"Absolutely not!" Meyer immediately exploded and shouted: "You must not inform Edward and Tom Cruise about this matter. Not only that, you must keep it highly confidential before tonight, and make preparations in secret tonight. , contact the major media at eight o'clock tomorrow and inform them that we will hold an emergency press conference at ten o'clock, and I want to catch everyone off guard!"
"Why?!" Almost all executives didn't understand why Meyer would leave Edward and Tom Cruise aside at this time.
Meyer said with a gloomy face: "If three sinners plead guilty at the same time, then these three people will bear the condemnation and punishment of the people at the same time. But if one person pleads guilty first, the people will give him most of the condemnation that should have been given to him. Transfer the punishment and punishment to the remaining two people! At this time, all we have to do is make the choice that is best for ourselves!"
(End of chapter)