"It's not difficult to buy a professional football team, it's rare to invest in the future. ”

In the reception room of Relativity Entertainment, Tom Cruise took the coffee handed by Connie, said thank you, and looked at Ronan opposite: "I know something about the Premier League, all teams are operating at a loss, it's a total money game." ”

Will Smith, who crossed his legs, answered: "People who can afford to play professional sports clubs are not ordinary rich people. ”

Ronan understood the concerns of these two people and said: "Tom, Will, we jointly fund the acquisition, even if it is the top club in the Premier League, it will be shared among everyone, and the funds will not be very large, and it will be mainly funded by me. As for operations, there are actually some football clubs that can make a profit. ”

Will Smith is a layman in English football and doesn't know much about the situation, but when he hears Ronan's call, he immediately rushes over out of trust in Ronan.

Tom Cruise, who has a connection with David Beckham, heard Ronan's words and immediately asked: "Ronan, listen to you, the acquisition target is ......"

Ronan nodded slowly: "That's right, that's it." ”

"It's not easy. Tom Cruise said seriously: "This is one of the top clubs in the Premier League, we are outsiders, and if we do buy it, the fans will probably be crazy against it. ”

Ronan waved his hand: "The difficulty is not as big as you think, the fame of the two of you is persuasion." ”

Will Smith spread his hands and said helplessly: "What are you talking about, why can't I understand?"

Tom Cruise half-jokingly said, "Because we're on the lookout for you." Will, you're a big mouth, and if you say it, there's no secrecy to keep it a secret. ”

Will Smith discerned, "Am I that unreliable?"

Ronan said with a smile, "Unless you join in." ”

"I don't know about English football, I don't know about the Premier League. Will Smith looked solemn: "But I know you, Ronan, and I believe in you." So, I'm going to have my share of it. ”

Ronan said, "Don't trust me blindly. He still made a simple analysis: "Our target club has the ability to make its own blood, and the annual revenue is enough to cover the expenses, and there is even a surplus, so as long as the acquisition is completed, we do not need to invest money in daily operations." ”

Will Smith nodded slightly, and Tom Cruise thought thoughtfully.

"The fact that the two of you have a huge reputation all over the world can reduce the resistance on the part of the fans. Ronan added: "Currencies are depreciating at a very fast pace today, and the value of Premier League clubs will rise rapidly with the development of commercial football, which is also a way to preserve the value of assets. ”

"Acquisitions require a lot of money, right?" asked Will Smith a key question.

Tom Cruise said: "The main funding is, of course, Ronan going to raise it, and it's good for us to be a minority shareholder. ”

Will Smith nodded and said, "That's good, my cash flow isn't very good." ”

Ronan said: "Financing can be solved in the form of loans, and it doesn't have to tie up your cash flow for the time being. ”

Tom Cruise and Will Smith had no opinion, with the former asking, "When are we going to get moving?"

Ronan replied: "One of Netflix's teams has gone to the UK, and they will do the preliminary work and are also looking for the right operation team. We'll wait until the end of the Premier League season to make the official announcement. ”

"Good. "Will Smith has always had faith in Ronan.

Tom Cruise and Will Smith were also busy people, and they didn't spend much time entertaining in Relativity, and after discussing the matter, they left one after another.

Ronan had just returned to the office when Connie knocked on the door and walked in.

She looked serious and said quickly: "I just received news from Embassy Pictures that Mel Gibson's Aiken Film Company has officially filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles District Court for the distribution of the proceeds of "The Passion of the Christ" on the grounds that the producer was defrauded by the distributor's embassy film contract. ”

"The benefits are moving. Ronan said slowly: "Mel Gibson is blushing at our income. ”

This point is clear at a glance, Connie naturally knows it, and said: "Aiken Pictures' lawyer's letter has been sent to Embassy Pictures, and they ask Embassy Pictures to pay the producer its due box office share and post-offline revenue share in accordance with industry practice. ”

Ronan shook his head, "Industry practice?"

If industry practice can be applied in every case, what else is the law and contract to do?

Connie said at this time: "Mel Gibson's agent has contacted Embassy Pictures privately, hoping that Embassy Pictures will make more concessions to reach a settlement. ”

Ronan said without hesitation: "Inform Attorney Dinah and let her and her team respond to the lawsuit with all their might." I specifically emphasized that the whole process of negotiation and signing of the agreement should be videotaped, let Garcia access the video, make a few more copies of the video, and leave a copy for Netflix, if Mel Gibson is stubborn to the end, it will be publicly ...... on the Internet"

He was a little cold: "Since there is a lawsuit, let the embassy pictures accompany me to the end, and I am not allowed to settle with Mel Gibson out of court." ”

Connie remembered, "I'll just go and inform." ”

Ronan added: "Remember to tell Garcia that if Embassy Pictures takes a step back on The Passion of the Christ, there will be countless studios coming two steps behind. ”

Embassy Pictures bought out the film, lost money and counted it as its own, and when it saw the box office explosion, it wanted to run over and take a bite, how could there be such a good thing in this world?

Originally, Ronan didn't want to make a fuss, after all, the film was a big hit, and the producer also contributed a lot, so he specially prepared a bonus.

But once people's greed appears, it is difficult to satisfy.

Obviously, in the face of the high income of "The Passion of the Christ", even a person like Mel Gibson, who has really seen the world, is inevitably mentally unbalanced.

And Mel Gibson is not the only one with an unbalanced mentality, but also the writer of "The Passion of the Christ".

There are two signed screenwriters for this film, namely Benedict Fitzgerald and Mel Gibson,

The day after Mel Gibson sued Embassy Pictures, Benedict Fitzgerald sued Mel Gibson and Embassy Pictures in Los Angeles District Court.

Benedict Fitzgerald claimed that as early as 2001, when he accepted Mel Gibson's invitation to write the script of "The Passion of the Christ", Mel Gibson promised him that he was the only screenwriter of the film, and that all the screenwriter's income and the corresponding film screenwriter share of the industry union belonged to him personally, and Mel Gibson promised not to take a penny.

With this shot in the arm, Benedict Fitzgerald devoted his entire effort to writing the script for the next few years, and was willing to share "script ownership" with Mel Gibson.

Benedict Fitzgerald decided that Mel Gibson, a big star, had not fulfilled his original promise, not only added his signature to the screenwriting column, but also took more than half of the project's screenwriting payment.

So, Benedict Fitzgerald accused Mel Gibson of breach of contract and fraud, demanded $5 million in damages, and Embassy Pictures was not allowed to pay Mel Gibson a share of the writers' post-production as stipulated by the industry union, but all the share went to him.

The screenwriters' union has a very low share of screenwriters, and it doesn't cost much in other films, but "The Passion of the Christ" is a super box office hit, and the future offline income can be expected, and this part of the share may be as high as millions of dollars.

All super-selling movies will always have a bunch of troubles, and "The Passion of the Christ" is no exception.

In many movies, irrelevant people jump out to share the cake, and this film project jumps out of people who are directly related to the film.

In any case, this is a troublesome matter, and it will inevitably involve a small part of the energy of Embassy Pictures and Relativity Entertainment.

Benedict Fitzgerald is a registered screenwriter in the Writers Guild, and the Hollywood Guild has never been a decoration, and it is also one of the most troublesome existences for the management, and Benedict Fitzgerald is not a malicious lawsuit, and he himself has come up with the agreement that was initialled with Mel Gibson.

With the emergence of this lawsuit, not only Mel Gibson is in trouble, but Embassy Pictures is also involved, because the Writers Guild is directly involved, and Embassy Pictures needs to cooperate with the Writers Guild's investigation and other work.

The union's involvement will complicate what was already relatively simple, and García Logriguez, the head of Embassy Pictures, also has some headaches.

Ronan smelled something else.

"We've been in a lot of trouble lately. ”

In the office, Ronan looked at Garcia and Robert Iger: "First the headhunting incident, then some theater companies rejected "The Passion of the Christ", and now there are two lawsuits caused by interests, are they related? ”

García Logrigues has long been alarmed, saying: "There is always a feeling that some forces are targeting us, there is no evidence to show it, but it feels real. ”

Robert Iger said: "On the surface, these two things have been normal lately, and the super high income of 'The Passion of the Christ' has caused the producers and writers to be blushing, but given our current situation, it is necessary to think about the worst. ”

Ronan tapped his finger lightly: "In the next few years, we will grow rapidly, but the situation will also be more difficult, not everyone wants to see Relativity Entertainment become a first-class company." ”

He made a direct conclusion: "Regardless of whether these two events are accidental or not, and whether there is any other connection behind them, we should not treat them as simple lawsuits." ”

Robert Iger said: "Mel Gibson, how to say it, arrogant, short-tempered, it's hard to say whether he was used as a gun. ”

Garcia Rodriguez continued: "Embassy Pictures has negotiated a buyout of The Passion of the Christ with Mel Gibson, and I'm more familiar with Aiken Pictures and the people around him, so I let people get a look at the situation. ”

Ronan nodded, "Yes." ”

Robert Iger reminded: "Ronan, with the strength of Relativity Entertainment alone, it is impossible to deal with the top forces in Hollywood at the same time, and we also need allies. ”

Ronan said, "I understand. ”