Chapter 415: Two options
The current ceo in Colombia is Peter Cooper. After Sony bought Columbia, it spent another $200 million to acquire Peter Cooper's production company and invited the other to serve as the helm of Colombia. And the seven new incumbents at the helm of the "meeting ceremony" brought to Sony is a copyright lawsuit with Warner Pictures. The specific content of this lawsuit is not clear to Eric, but the result is that Sony has settled this The lawsuit, once again paid 800 million US dollars in damages.
Eric still remembers the original air, because of the squandering of Peter Cooper, Sony-Colombia has a loss of up to 2.7 billion dollars in the book in just a few years. It is rumored that Sony’s founder and president, Akio Morita, is on the table. This merger, which has caused unprecedented losses, has a lot to do with it.
However, although Peter Cooper can be mediocre, he is very good at drilling and know how to please the top of Sony in Japan to stabilize his position. He knows that after Sony's acquisition of Colombia, what he wants to see most is that Colombia can help Sony to become famous as soon as possible. Therefore, after taking control of Colombia, Peter Cooper can't wait to launch several large-scale movie projects last year. The "Full Memories" starring Schwarzenegger in the summer and "Captain Hawke" that Spielberg is currently working on are all produced by Peter Cooper.
Big productions, big directors, and big stars are the main guidelines for Peter Cooper's filmmaking. As long as it can bring enough influence, whether the investment is rational, and whether it can recover the cost, it is not the problem that the new helm of Colombia is considering.
When Tom Cruise took the initiative to contact Colombia and hoped to restart the "Dark War" project, Colombia immediately showed great enthusiasm, after all. Cruise's last "Thunderstorm" did not succeed, but it did not have much impact on Cruise's status in Hollywood, because for Hollywood first-line stars, there are usually three chances of failure, if three consecutive The movie failed. Will the coffee position be damaged.
When Eric learned about this, Colombia even had several preliminary scripts with Tom Cruise.
Coming to discuss with Eric, the sequel to the "Dark War" is still Amy Pascal, when Amy walked into Eric's office, Eric was already looking at the project documents that Colombia had delivered in advance.
Because this is led by Tom Cruise, coupled with Eric's enthusiasm for the "Dark War" sequel, and Hanks said that without Eric he will not participate in the "Dark War" . Colombia simply got rid of Eric and Hanks and plans to develop the "Black War" prequel with the robber Andy playing the role of Tom Cruise.
The film story in the new script was placed in London, England, where Andrew's father, Peter, died.
At the beginning of the story, Andy had not found out that he was sick, and he was a bad guy who was a father. A kind girl was involved in a smuggling business that Andy participated in. As many stories, Andy was gradually moved by the kindness of the girl, and by accident, he discovered the fact that he was terminally ill and eventually made it right. s Choice. The story is also interspersed with some of Andy's father, Peter, who was concealed by his students and depressed. The plot developed to the end, the good guys got good news, and the bad guys got punished. Andy sprinkled a beautiful lie on the girl, saying that she was going to Los Angeles to settle some things and leave alone in the girl's disappointment.
In Eric's opinion. This story is very good, but strictly speaking, except for Andy, the new story has nothing to do with "The Dark War", and not even many of them can reflect the name "Dark War". Show. Even this sequel is successful. The brand of "Dark War" has completely changed its taste, because the reputation accumulated in the first plot may also be greatly lost. This series may be scrapped.
In Eric's view, even if it is to shoot a sequel. It must be dominated by Shawn, starring Tom Hanks. Like Batman, there is a classic villain in each section, which is the best way to continue the perfection of this series.
After entering Eric's office, Amy Pascal simply greeted Eric and sat quietly on the sofa in the reception area, patiently waiting for Eric to read the documents in his hand.
After Amy Pascal's coffee was finished, Eric also looked at the documents in his hands.
"Eric, what do you think?" Amy and other Eric sat down opposite each other and couldn't wait to ask if Eric could get the lead in the project.
Eric did not answer this question, but tried to test: "Is Sony Pictures already signed a cooperation agreement with Cruise?"
Amy didn't think that Eric would suddenly ask this question. Without any psychological preparation for a while, it would be inevitable to show some flaws on his face.
Eric is not chasing after him. He just expressed dissatisfaction with Colombia’s unauthorized negotiations with Cruise. After all, Firefly has half of the copyright of "Dark War". Colombia can do so, it can be said that it is an offense to fireflies. If Eric is serious about pursuing it, any contract signed by Sony and Cruise about "Dark War" will be void, but he does not intend to do so.
"Amy, according to your proposal, this series has completely separated from the theme of "Dark War" and has become a common action movie, although the first accumulated popularity and the box office appeal of Cruise, this The chances of a film being successful are great, but because of the deviation, it is not so easy to make a sequel."
Amy Pascal saw that Eric did not catch the problem and sighed and said: "Eric, in fact, Colombia still hopes that you and Mr. Hanks can join this film together."
Eric shook his head slightly and smiled. "I have learned a lot about Captain Hawke. This movie Sony is not only responsible for all the investment, but also promised to Spielberg, Dustin. Hoffman and Robin Williams share 40% of the omni-channel profit share. Fireflies have half of the copyright of "The Dark War", you think that in this case, I and Hanks, Cruise three How much should I get to be appropriate?"
Amy said quietly: "Eric, as long as you can join this movie. No conditions can be discussed."
"But that will definitely not reach my psychological expectations," Eric smiled. "And, my work plans for the next few years have all been fixed. Plus, I still need to manage the firefly business. There is no time to take care of a big film."
Amy just showed a faint regret. There is nothing regret in my heart.
In fact, at the internal meeting in Colombia, she raised this question, with Firefly now in Hollywood, Eric as the absolute owner of the firefly, his company's business is still too busy, it is unlikely to go to other movies. The company directs the film. Even the possibility of cooperation is extremely low.
"Eric, in fact, you can just name a producer like Mr. Spielberg. You don't need to do anything, you can get a lot of money. Do you think this is okay?"
Spielberg has an average of four or five films per year, making him one of the top producers in Hollywood, but most of them are just a name. The film didn't participate in the whole process, Spielberg. Gege also laughed at this, but Eric did not intend to do this. Spielberg’s position in Hollywood was extremely high, but the way he used this name producer also brought him a lot of negative influence. A lot of things have nothing to do with him, but because Spielberg's reputation is the biggest, once the movie appears. The black pot was also buckled on his head without any accident.
After thinking for a moment, Eric did not say that he had just started to create a series with Hanks. For a coffee table like Cruise or Hanks, if any movie has more than three sequels, then Some of the profits will fall into the hands of these big coffee, and the film company will be working for the other party. Even if Eric and Hanks have a good relationship, it is impossible to force Hanks's pay. So many movies in Hollywood can only support the trilogy. When restarting again, in order to minimize the cost. Most of them will change the starring, or keep the protagonist and replace all the other supporting characters.
"Well, Amy, fireflies don't participate in this production, but I have two cooperation programs, one is a single authorization, 30 million US dollars. The other one, fireflies will be half of the "black war" copyright 100 million The dollar was sold to Colombia."
After Eric finished, the coffee in front of him was slowly drinking, giving Amy Pascal some time to think.
The temptation of buyouts is great, but the risks are enormous. So far, Hollywood has been able to produce three sequels and a handful of movie series, even if there are, basically, those who can shoot one each year. The low-cost horror film, even if it has the potential to make more than three sequels, the time span often reaches more than ten years. In comparison, it is more cost-effective to buy a single license for 30 million US dollars.
Amy didn't think about it for a long time. If she had the decision, she would not hesitate to choose the former solution proposed by Eric, so as to avoid risks as much as possible, and compared with the "Dark War". A box office score of 30 yuan is also very cost-effective.
But unfortunately, although she has been in the position of vice president of Colombia, involving tens of millions of dollars in investment, Amy does not have any decision.
And Amy Pascal’s faint ambiguity felt that Eric seemed to have taken this into account. She even thought quickly that Eric’s throwing this plan would actually give Colombia a bait to Peter Cooper. The character, Amy can be sure that Peter Cooper will choose the latter buyout plan.
"Eric, most of the sequel projects are very optimistic, with the results of the first part of the "Dark War", even if the continuous integration of more than 50 million US dollars, the box office results shrink by 30%, still can bring considerable Why do you choose this option?"
"I don't have the energy to take care of this project again," Eric said. "And the fireflies are just a little lacking in funds, so they plan to cash out the copyright of "Dark War."
Although Eric received nearly eight billion US dollars from the futures market, in order to achieve the effect of not intending to acquire Disney, Eric did not intend to use the money too much, so the operation of fireflies still needs Rely on the profits generated by your own films.
"Toy Story" has not yet been released, but because of the strong confidence in 3d animation, Eric has already allowed Pixar to start preparations for the next animated film, all of which are costly, plus the recent integration of the company. Expansion, the construction of the company's photography base, the removal of Robert Shea's funds, the announcement of "Toy Story" and "Terminator 2", and the "Tornado" are about to start, the original funds of fireflies are quickly consumed.
Amy Pascal remembered a series of big moves of fireflies in the near future, realizing that the money of the fireflies might be in tension, so that the price may be slightly depressed, but she immediately dismissed the idea, although Eric was young. However, it has become a hard-line faction known to Hollywood. His greatest feature is that he does not like to have long-term negotiations with people. Once Eric takes the lead, he will not even negotiate at all.
As can be seen from a lot of information, fireflies are not lacking in film projects. Eric has even a dispensable attitude towards the best-selling movie copyrights like "Dark War," which means that Eric is unlikely. Compromise on price, and Sony-Colombia is different. Peter Cooper is in urgent need of big production projects to expand the influence of Sony Pictures, consolidate his position, and if he learns the conditions of Eric, he will win. The mood of copyright is definitely very urgent, so don't think about any loosening in price.
"Eric, I don't have permission to make a decision. I need to go back and ask Mr. Cooper."
"No problem, I am waiting for your good news," Eric stood up and sent Amy Pascal out of the office.
Sony-Colombia didn't think too long, just as Eric thought, and planned to negotiate with Fireflies in the second way. Before the Oscars, which were close at hand, the fireflies and Colombia’s negotiations on the copyright of the "Dark War" directly took Oscar's limelight a big chunk. (To be continued)