I’m in Hollywood Chapter 577: Then buy it
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Chapter 577
After some communication with Amy Pascal, Eric temporarily let go of Flower Films.
After Halloween, the time entered November 1993. The total Box Office in the range of "Jurassic Park" global is getting closer and closer to 1billion USD, which also caused a heated discussion in the media after breaking the "et" Box Office record.
Eric has lived a busy life traveling between different studios or studios these days. While checking the preparation or production progress of Firefly involved in the production of large-scale films, Eric also has to take into account the progress of the TV Network acquisition. To participate in some party invitations that cannot be refrained from.
Fortunately, the movie announcement department of Firefly is very mature and perfect. Under the control of Michael Lynn, Katzenberg and others, Eric does not need to worry about the release of the film at the end of the year, otherwise he will be more busy.
It's another day's work. Eric watched the progress of shoots in "Men in Black" and talked to Peter Guber and smiled and walked out of Film Studio of Culver City Columbia Film Studio. He just planned to get on the car and left, and the mobile phone he carried rang.
The call came from Michael Lynn. The two briefly said something on the phone. Eric dismissed the idea of returning to Malibu and ordered the driver to go to Firefly Pictures Headquarters of Burbank.
Walking into a conference room at Burbank Firefly Headquarters, Eric found that the main high-level Firefly such as Michael Lynn, Jeffrey Katzenberg, etc. had already appeared here.
However, Eric is very keenly aware that these people have a faint color on their faces, so they let go of their original worries. After simply saying hello, Eric sat down in his seat and asked with a smile: "Is there any good news?"
Michael Lynn sitting next to Eric handed a document to Eric and said with some excitement: "The latest Box Office statistics have been released. The latest Box Office data for" Jurassic Park "is 1 billion, 2.3 million USD. Eric, your original prediction has been Realized. Because today is Wednesday, the Box Office data for this week ’s workday will not be available until Friday. So most people outside the world do n’t know this data yet, but we can publicly announce this news tomorrow. "
Eric opens the file. Seeing the Box Office data of more than fifty countries in the file form, and the striking data results at the end of the form, nodded with satisfaction, put the file aside, and asked Michael Lynn: "I think you called me so hurriedly, no Will it be just this thing? "
"Let Jeffrey speak," Michael Lynn pointed to Katzenberg.
Katzenberg handed over an envelope: "Eric, this is what we just received this afternoon. Warren Buffett's handwritten letter, please read it first."
Eric was not too surprised to hear the name of Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of Buffett is one of the major shareholders of ABC TV Station. It holds more than 25% of the equity of ABC. Firefly wants to acquire ABC. Passed the threshold of Buffett.
Open the envelope, there is only a simple letter paper, and the content is very simple. Buffett hopes to invite Eric to Omaha to talk about ABC.
Envelopes do not have any seals or postmarks. Obviously, this letter was transmitted by someone else, not sent by post.
After reading this SMS, Eric looked up and said, "Have you all read it yet?"
Michael and others nodded at the same time.
Katzenberg is the main person in charge of the ABC acquisition. At this time he said: "From this letter we can see that Buffett should have discovered our intentions."
Eric folded the letter paper and put it back in the envelope, and asked, "Jeffrey, how are you doing recently?"
Katzenberg said: "In order to avoid attracting too much attention, we have absorbed the three major TV Station stocks in the secondary market. At present, we have about 7% of ABC stocks, and the other two are relatively small, both in 5% or less. In addition, the stock price of ABC has also increased from 43USD three months ago to the current 47USD. The total market value is 96.700 million USD. "
After Firefly originally planned to absorb about 10% of ABC's stock, it made public announcement and joined ABC Board of Directors. But now Buffett has been aware of this matter, it is certainly not so easy to implement the original plan again.
Eric took a moment to consider. Said: "As soon as possible to sell all the other two companies' stocks and cash, tomorrow announced" Jurassic Park "Box Office broke 1billion news, in addition, sent a reply to Mr. Buffett, invited him to participate in the" Jurassic Park "global Box Office broke 1billion USD celebration.
"Eric, this may not necessarily be able to take the initiative," Frank Wells said just now: "Although Berkshire Hathaway only has 25% of ABC stock, at this time Chairman Tom Murphy of ABC is also a major shareholder and is Warren Buffett. Good friend, I think if we are interested in acquiring, it is best if you go to Omaha in person. "
Frank Wells finished, although several executives over 50 years old in the conference room did not speak, but Eric can still see the look of approval from the faces of Jeffrey, Michael Lynn, etc., for their generation , Buffett is a wealth legend, Eric can also experience their worship of Buffett.
But Eric has some other considerations. During this time, a large part of Eric's energy was focused on the preparation for the acquisition of TV Network. It is also impossible for Eric to do nothing about Buffett, which directly controls a large number of shares in ABC.
Buffett is definitely a person who moves after making a decision. If there is no decision in his heart, Eric believes that it is absolutely impossible to receive this invitation letter from Buffett today. At the same time, Buffett has absolute rationality in terms of investment, and Eric believes that the other party will not easily change his attitude towards him because of changes at home.
In addition to these, Eric of course also has some ideas to master the initiative. Although Michael Lynn and others are not optimistic, Eric will not fail to try.
"Okay, so decide, everyone prepare." Eric waved gently. Completely settled this matter.
Firefly announced the news of "Jurassic Park" global Box Office breaking 1 billion the next day, but the celebration was arranged a week later. The reason for this is mainly to give sufficient time for the stocks of NBC and CBS.
At the same time. After receiving the reply from Firefly, Buffett accepted the invitation of "Jurassic Park" celebration party as expected by Eric.
As the new year of Thanksgiving approaches, the Thanksgiving-Christmas period also opens. Firefly launched the last film "Ace Ventura2" in cooperation with Jim Carrey on November 19. The first three days of the weekend are not surprising Obtained Box Office nearly 30 million USD. The "Interview with the Vampire" which is mainly responsible for the impact of Oscar and "Pulp Fiction" of Quentin are scheduled for December.
In the same week, Columbia Film Studio released Wu Baige's second part film "Broken Arrow" in Hollywood Director. This film's performance is not as good as last year's "Mr. & Mrs. Smith". However, due to the influence of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" last year, White Pigeon Wu has accumulated a good Box Office foundation in North America. "Broken Arrow" also got the Box Office of 32 million USD in the first three days of the first weekend, because the cost of this film is relatively low, as long as it does not To 50 million USD, so there is no problem to recover the cost.
However, what surprised many people is that the Box Office dark horse at the end of this year is not any of the films such as "Ace Ventura2" and "Broken Arrow". Instead, it is a "20th Century Fox" launched with a cost of more than 20 million USD. Mrs. Doubtfire ". The family comedy where the Robin Williams starred was released in three days. Box Office is close to 20 million USD, and the reputation is good enough. Box Office statistical agency based on the first week Box Office curve of this film and the audience reputation. Given the amazing 200 million USD North America Box Office estimates, several are ten times the cost of film production.
Because of this matter, when Elizabeth saw Eric during this time, he lifted his chin involuntarily. A proud little look did not come down honestly until he was severely cleaned up by Eric.
On the evening of November 22nd, although the celebration of party has not yet begun, Cliff Peak Manor is already overcrowded. Eric is pulling Jeffrey and hiding under a seat on the outdoor ground outside the villa. Jokingly said: "Jeffrey, I think you insist on letting me put the" Jurassic Park "celebration feast on Cliff Peak Manor is the biggest mistake. You must know that Warren Buffett is a very frugal person. He hates the extravagance and waste of the rich. Perhaps he sees These, I don't want to sell us ABC. "
"Charlie Munger, a good friend and partner of Buffett, not only owns his own private jet, but also owns a private island, and has never seen Buffett cut off with each other. As far as I know, Buffett is indeed a frugal person, but he is not Will force others to do the same. Okay, Eric, I know you do n’t like to open party in your manor, today is different after all, is n’t it, even if there is no Warren Buffett, but today is the celebration of "Jurassic Park" global Box Office breaking 1billion USD, even This is something that deserves to be solemnly celebrated. "
The two were chatting. Drew in a beautiful red dress walked with Amy Pascal. small girl embraced Jeffrey affectionately and got close to Eric.
Jeffrey noticed that Amy Pascal seemed to want to talk to Eric, and took the initiative to get up and walk away.
Eric motioned to Amy Pascal to sit down and asked, "Amy, what's the matter?"
Amy Pascal said: "We recently contacted all the companies of" Spider-Man "copyright Carlock Film Industry, but the other party did not agree to transfer copyright to us."
Eric recalled it and asked, "Is Karloc Film Industry or Mario Casal in charge now?"
Amy Pascal nodded and said: "Since the summer seasons" Bei Ling Xiong Feng "and" Last Action Hero "Box Office have failed, Carlock Film Industry has been in a semi-closed state in the past six months. However, when I contacted Mario Casal, he was in I just said my intention and directly rejected our intention to buy "Spider-Man" copyright. "
"Is there only these?" Eric asked.
Amy Pascal said: "Of course not, he said he can cooperate with us to develop" Spider-Man ", but he will never sell" Spider-Man "to us."
"He must have guessed that you are the black hand behind this incident," small girl rubbed on Eric, laughing heartily.
Eric pulled small girl's ear and pushed the girl away, thought for a moment, and said, "What kind of form is copyright for Carlock buying" Spider-Man "?"
"It seems that I bought it for five years, from 1990 to 1995. However, I also found some ancillary terms. Within five years, if Carlock Film Industry developed the" Spider-Man "big movie, then copyright It will automatically continue for five years. In addition, the copyright transfer contracts of "Captain America" and "Fantastic Four" are also similar to "Spider-Man". "
This is a very troublesome thing.
Eric thought for a while, he remembered that the original time and space Carlock Film Industry probably went bankrupt around 1995, and then "Spider-Man" copyright automatically returned to Marvel Comics, and because Marvel Comics was just right in extremely difficult times, he had to sell it again. Sony Film Industry, since then, because of the great success of the big movie developed by Sony, the return of "Spider-Man" has become far away.
Eric soon thought of some other things, and asked: "Where is the main shareholding of Carlock Film Industry now?"
"I do n’t know this, but the controlling stake should be in the hands of some Wall Street funds, Eric. I am worried that if Mario Casal reveals this matter, it will probably attract other Film Studio to compete for" Spider-Man "copyright, Marvel Comics. There may also be trouble. "
Eric did not answer Amy ’s concerns and asked: "If we buy Carlock Film Industry, how much will it cost?"
"Probably, tens of millions of USD. Although Carlock Film Industry has produced and released a lot of movies in recent years, it has not achieved much success, otherwise it will not appear in bankruptcy."
"You collect relevant information, if Mario Casal insists on not letting go, then buy the Carlock Film Industry as a whole, I think those Wall Street people are very happy to cash this mess."
Amy asked the question just now: "But what if they realize that you like" Spider-Man "copyright?"
Eric shook his head and said with a smile: "Relax, it is not the time to develop" Spider-Man "at all, otherwise, do you think the seven major Film Studio will let the Marvel Comics Superhero flow into the hands of the second and third-rate Film Studio, so even if they are not It's not a big trouble to **** the Film Studio, and it will be a big deal to launch another acquisition when the time comes. I still have many years to go. "(To be continued.)