Chapter 894 I'm Afraid It's Not that Easy

Kensington Garden Street is considered the most private community in London. Although Elizabeth, who was far away in Los Angeles, excitedly called to gossip about the cause and effect of Eric throwing Princess Diana out of the door that night, this matter was only a matter of fact. It will spread in a very small circle and will not cause any waves. [Phoenix Novel Network update please search f/h/xiao/shuo/c/o/m]

Perhaps calmed down, Diana did not do anything out of the ordinary, but silently flew to Eastern Europe to continue her mine-banning business. The only news that appeared in the media was that the Princess of Wales suddenly lost her love. Although some tabloids inevitably publish some suggestive articles, several of the most influential gossip newspapers are basically vague about the reasons for Diana's breakup, and this incident has no effect on Eric.

Simon Fuller called the next day and agreed to Firefly's acquisition of 19 Entertainment, the company he founded.

Although it has been established for 12 years, 19 Entertainment has no valuable assets. Some singers who have signed contracts one after another have ended in silent failure. Eric has no expectations for this company. It's just Simon Fuller's creativity and experience in the recording industry.

After asking Firefly UK branch to conduct a simple evaluation of 19 Entertainment, Eric offered a price of 3 million US dollars, of which 1 million US dollars was used to acquire the entire equity of 19 Entertainment, and the other 2 million US dollars was used as the start-up capital to build the Spice Girls Group. , At the same time, Eric gave Simon Fuller a five-year cumulative 10% company option in the contract.

Knowing that he had no room for bargaining with Eric, Simon Fuller did not bother with these details, not to mention that the 10% option reward also made him very satisfied.

Although it is nominally affiliated with Firefly Records, a subsidiary of Firefly Group, because Firefly Records does not have much business in the UK or even Europe, 19 Entertainment merged into Firefly Records, which is almost equivalent to the European branch of Firefly Records. As long as it can get the full support of Firefly Group, 19 Entertainment will definitely grow rapidly. At that time, the 10% option will also increase into a very considerable wealth.

Compared with the huge scale of Firefly Group, this $3 million acquisition seems a little worthless.

But when the news of the deal was announced, and it was learned that Eric was behind the push, the entire European record industry turned its attention to 19 Entertainment, which was originally unknown. No one would believe that Firefly was developing a record business in Europe. It will be just a small fight, and some mainstream media have also discussed the purpose of Firefly or Eric's move. Simon Fuller even found that he had suddenly become a celebrity in the industry. Those old record company bosses who had never paid attention to him in the past called in to hear the news in person, and there was an endless stream of people who approached the door to seek cooperation. .

Seriously, the acquisition of 19 Entertainment and the plan to create a Spice Girl group are indeed just a little bit of fun for Eric to take a break, but most people obviously don't think so, especially "Casino Royale" is still there. Under the circumstance that the world is rushing to grab the box office, even not mentioning his huge wealth, he has produced two blockbusters at the global box office of billions of dollars in a row, and now his influence in the entertainment industry has reached an unprecedented height. Not only did Katzenberg personally call to inquire about Eric's detailed plan, but Barry Weiss, the president of Firefly Records, wanted to come to the UK in person, but was stopped by Eric.

After two days of preliminary discussions with Simon Fuller about creating a Spice Girls group, 19 Entertainment soon published the news in The Times that girls between the ages of 18 and 23 were being recruited to form a girl group.

Unlike Firefly's acquisition of 19 Entertainment, which was only in the professional field, the recruitment announcement in The Times immediately excited countless girls who were looking forward to becoming famous. In just three days, 19 Entertainment received more than 1,000 requests. resume,

Some record companies even wanted to put newcomers in their hands directly into this group. For a time, the entire British entertainment circle was boiling.

San Francisco, U.S.

Firefly Electronics' fireflyer player assembly factory in the north of Auckland City was transferred from Nokia by Eric three months ago. Jeff Kleber, the vice president of Firefly Electronics supply chain construction and product production, felt someone patted him. He straightened up suddenly, only to realize that he had fallen asleep on his desk at some point.

Today is July 10th, the day when the planned fireflyer player officially goes on sale.

In order to make sure nothing goes wrong, Jeff Kleibel has been guarding the factory almost every step of the way in recent days. A week ago, he just flew back from Malaysia. In addition to the two product assembly factories in the United States, Firefly Electronics has also started the construction of a larger fireflyer factory in Southeast Asia with a monthly production capacity of 500,000 units, but the factory there is at least It will take three months to start production, and the production capacity also needs a slow ramp-up process.

Rubbing his face in confusion, Jeff Kleibel could see clearly the two people standing in front of him, Victor McNally and Bill Olsen, and Victor McNally smiled and took a share. Breakfast was handed over.

After getting along for a few months, the three of them have become very familiar with each other. Jeff Kleibel was not polite. He tore open the package and took a bite of the sandwich. "It's a quarter past eight."

"Yeah," Victor McNally nodded, pulled up two chairs with Bill Olsen and sat down, "We came here at seven o'clock and didn't wake you up because you were sound asleep. "

"Oh, then you must have been to the assembly workshop," Jeff Kleber took another bite of the sandwich, and said, "Last night was really bad, one of the equipment robots broke down and it was repaired at four in the morning. I must have a good talk with Hamada from Epson about this today, if he can't give me a satisfactory answer, they will not want the order for 100 equipment robots in Malaysia."

Victor McNairy and Bill Olsen were envious when they saw this young man in his early thirties ate a few mouthfuls of sandwiches and then looked up again.

When they first saw Jeff Kleibel three months ago, they both doubted whether this young man, who was energetic but somewhat out of character, could be competent for the job of managing Firefly's electronic supply chain and product production. But they have now no longer had any scruples. Under the management of Jeff Kleber, in just three months, Firefly Electronics' component supply chain and product production line have undergone a reborn transformation.

Bill Olsen listened to Jeff Kleber's complaint and smiled: "Jeff, this is not what we need to focus on today."

"Of course," Jeff Kleber nodded and said, "Amazon's pre-sale is open at ten o'clock, and there are still one hour and forty minutes."

Although it has been decided to open purchases from today, it will definitely take some time before fireflyer's physical channels are available.

In this case, Amazon's online store sales data is undoubtedly a very good way to test the actual market demand for fireflyer after three months of hunger marketing. Therefore, Amazon will open fireflyer pre-sale today at 10 am West Coast time, after users place their orders online, Amazon will arrange shipments within the next 7 to 15 days.

Seeing Jeff Kleber's relaxed look, Victor McNally said, "Aren't you nervous at all?"

"Why are you nervous, and the two of you don't seem too nervous," Jeff Kleber smiled and looked at the two of them, saying, "In the first half of the year, PC sales in North America reached 14.3 million units, and this year The annual sales of PCs are likely to be close to 30 million units, and these consumers who buy PCs are all potential consumers of fireflyer. According to this standard, the potential sales of fireflye can reach at least 30 million units, which is equivalent to 2.5 million units per month .And even if the factory in Malaysia is completed and put into operation, our production capacity has only reached 1 million units per month, which cannot even satisfy the North American market, not to mention the larger overseas market.”

Victor McNally watched Jeff Kleber gobbled up his breakfast, got up and said, "Well, in that case, let's go out for a walk, the air is good outside."

"Of course, I just want to read today's newspaper," Jeff Kleber said: "Speaking of which, today is Friday. Last week's box office data should come out. Guess the box office of our boss movie this week. How much will it be?"

Bill Olsen smiled: "Unfortunately, I have seen it, no need to guess, it is..."

Jeff Kleber immediately raised a finger: "Stop, don't tell me, I'll see for myself."

"Ha ha."

The three of them laughed and left Jeff Kleber's office together and walked out.

Los Angeles, Santa Monica.

In the restaurant, Amy Pascal's husband Bernard Weinraub looked at the "Hollywood Reporter" in his hand and shook his head: "It's incredible, it's incredible, the decline is only 34%, which is more than almost all analysts predicted. According to this trend, the North American box office may even exceed 350 million US dollars.”

Amy Pascal sat on the other side of the dining table, with a newspaper also spread beside her.

In the second week of its release, the box office decline of "Casino Royale" was lower than many people thought. In the end, it was only 34%, and it collected another 77.55 million US dollars, and the cumulative box office has reached 195 million US dollars. Affected by "Casino Royale", "Ice Age", which was originally predicted to reach $60 million at the box office in its first week, unfortunately ended up at $57.23 million in the first week.

Another new film, "Jedi Boys 2", was even more affected, with a box office of only $23.15 million in its first week, a full $12 million less than New Line's initial forecast of $35 million in its first week. The third place in the box office list was not achieved, but it fell behind "Finding Nemo" in its fourth week of release.

As for "Batman & Robin," which came out a week before "Casino Royale," it's now a nightmare for Warner Bros.

Due to poor word of mouth, after "Batman and Robin" received $59.47 million in the first week, the box office fell by 65% ​​in the second week to only $20.81 million. But this is not over yet. Originally, the industry thought that the box office decline of "Batman and Robin" in the third week would begin to narrow, but due to the impact of "Casino Royale", the box office decline of "Batman and Robin" in the third week was still diving. In general, it reached 61%, leaving only a pitiful $8.11 million at the box office in a single week.

Within three weeks of its release, "Batman and Robin" has accumulated a total of 88.39 million US dollars at the box office, but according to the current decline, if the box office is cut in half again next week, there will be less than 4 million US dollars at the box office in a single week, and the final box office It will only stay at about 95 million US dollars. In the end, it is still the same sentence. If Warner wants to exceed 100 million at the box office, it can only pay for it.

The total investment of "Batman and Robin" is 125 million US dollars, plus the budget of 50 million US dollars equivalent to "Casino Royale", even if the global box office exceeds 200 million in the end, Warner Bros. can only recover about 90 million US dollars. Box office split. The film's reputation has completely collapsed, and the later videotape and TV rights income will also be greatly reduced. Taken together, Warner's direct losses on this project may reach $80 million, but that's not the most important thing. The more serious consequence is that the brand of Batman is completely smashed this time, and it will be difficult for Warner to restart this superhero series in ten or eight years.

Looking at the box office statistics in the newspaper and thinking about these things, Amy Pascal responded: "So, what you said last week, the continuous impact of bad movies will actually stimulate the market's hunger for high-scoring commercial movies. Thirsty. You're right, a lot of people feel a little weird now."

Bernard Weinlab nodded and said, "So, the next 007 should start right away?"

Hearing her husband mention this, Amy Pascal paused her hand touching the jam on the bread and smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid it's not that easy."

"Yeah," Bernard Weinraub laughed: "According to Williams' character, he will definitely not continue to shoot the next 007. You want to find a director who can take over the series, but it will cost you a lot of money. It's a lot of work. Williams has set up such a good situation, and it would be a shame if the series was frustrated by the lack of directing of the next sequel."

"The key is not the director," Amy Pascal shook her head and said, "The problem lies with Brosnan."

"About the pay?"

Amy Pascal nodded and said, "This matter is very troublesome now. You should know about "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"?"

"certainly."

Amy Pascal explained: "Pierce was barely a second-tier actor before Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He signed a three-film package with Columbia Pictures for the mainstream blockbuster Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The contract stipulates that the salary increase of each film shall not exceed 50%. In "Mrs. Smith", Pierce's salary is 3 million US dollars. Then, under the promotion of Eric, in order to let Pierce play Bond, the option contract was cancelled. It was transferred to MGM. Since the box office of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" is very good, in "Goldeneye", Pierce's salary was slightly relaxed, but it was only $5 million. Next is "Casino Royale", his The pay is $7 million."

Listening to his wife's narration, Bernard Weinraub also understood. According to the salary standard of Hollywood stars, Pierce Brosnan should be worth $10 million after "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". However, due to contract restrictions, he received low pay for two consecutive films. Now, the global box office of "Casino Royale" is pointing at one billion, pushing the 007 series to an unprecedented glory. Brosnan just completed the original three contracts, although everyone knows that the great success of "Casino Royale" is basically the same Eric's credit, but this does not prevent Brosnan from making a big splash on the salary of the next sequel.

Putting down the newspaper in his hand, Bernard Weinlab asked curiously, "How much does he want this time?"

Amy Pascal said: "$20 million plus 20% worldwide box office bonus."

There are various box office sharing rules signed by Hollywood superstars and studios, and Bernard Weinraub didn't quite understand it, and continued to ask, "What about the specific rules?"

"$20 million is very simple. 20% of the global box office dividend is the 20% of the remaining profit after the company's global box office share minus production and distribution costs. If you follow the "Casino Royale" global standard of $1 billion, We got a box office cut of about $400 million, minus the total cost of $165 million, for a profit of $235 million, and Pierce wanted to take 20% of that profit.”

Bernard Weinlab made a simple calculation, and couldn't help taking a breath: "If the next sequel can reach the level of "Casino Royale", it will be almost 70 million US dollars, tsk tsk, he really dares speak."

Amy Pascal also smiled helplessly, and said: "According to the story line of the secret agent movie universe planned by the company, the lower 007 is still a high point of the whole series, even if the box office does not reach 1 billion in the world, it is not bad. How many."

Bernard Winlaw preached: "What are you going to do then?"

Amy Pascal shrugged and said, "Continue to negotiate, such a high salary is definitely impossible. Eric set the rules at the beginning, if he wants to share, the fixed salary cannot exceed 10 million US dollars. It is said that Cameron The "Spider-Man" contract signed with Firefly did not break through this limit, and MGM will definitely follow it. It depends on whether Pierce chooses to directly take 20 million or 10 million US dollars for an additional share, after all, even if it is a share , we absolutely cannot give him 20%. Moreover, we are not without chips."

"Oh, what is it?"

Amy Pascal said: "Pierce signed a three-part package contract with Columbia Pictures, and also signed a three-part 007 film contract with MGM. Although there is no limit to the final film, it will not be completed. Film contracts, he can't take other films. If there is a stalemate, it will not benefit everyone."

Bernard Weinraub added: "But even so, after the next one, the Agent Cinematic Universe isn't over, right?"

"Yeah," Amy Pascal, recalling Eric's memo from last month, said, "We've been discussing this recently, and there must be a solution." (To be continued.)