In the context of popularity and topicality that has not cooled down at all, there is still an endless stream of viewers who enter the theater to watch a ghost crawl out of the TV. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In the fifth weekend, the North American box office of "Midnight Bell" reached $171 million, and it is expected that the total North American box office of the film will exceed the $200 million mark in the next four working days and next week.

Early Tuesday morning, Michael Eisner sat in a restaurant in Beverly Hills, carefully reading an analysis of "Variety" about why "Midnight Bell" became a box office dark horse, put down the newspaper, and his eyes fell on the script called "Pirates of the Caribbean" on the dinner table.

It's another pirate movie.

Michael Eisner is now able to face his big heels on "Cut Throat Island" very calmly, leaving Disney and making a comeback around the world, and he has also reflected on his original experience at Disney over the years. In the last few years, he has indeed begun to become too blind and self-serving, and he now sees the experience of a few years ago as a metamorphosis in his career.

This summer, the two films released by Universal Pictures, "Zorro's Mask" and "The Scorpion King", have achieved very good box office results, especially "The Scorpion King", a spin-off of the "Mummy" series, which was a great success, indicating that Universal Pictures has also begun to have its own 'cinematic universe', even if it can't be compared with MGM's two consecutive blockbusters with a global box office of 1 billion blockbusters, but this is enough to make several other major studios envious.

As Universal Pictures prospered, Michael Eisner's position in Hollywood and the Seagram Group grew stronger. However, the sudden appearance of "Pirates of the Caribbean" still caused some ripples in Michael Eisner's precipitated state of mind.

Michael Eisner was a little distracted, and Edgar Bronfman, the current CEO of the Seagram Group, hurriedly walked over, said hello casually, sat down opposite Michael Eisner, and couldn't wait to wave the waiter to come over.

Michael Eisner frowned slightly and glanced at Edgar Bronfman's slightly manic actions, but said nothing.

Although the situation at Universal Pictures is very good, during this time, the situation of the parent company Seagram Group can only be described as bad.

Last year, the Seagram Group had just acquired Polygram Records for a huge sum of 10 billion dollars, and the integration with Universal Music had not yet been completed, and the situation of the entire record industry has taken a sharp turn this year.

Affected by the rapid flood of pirated music resources on the Internet, the record sales performance of the world's major record giants in the first half of the year generally plummeted by about 30 percent, and the situation of Universal Music and Polygram Records, which are in the period of business integration, is even worse.

Michael. Eisner had to admire Eric a little again at this time. Williams' forward-looking.

He has been closely following the development of the Firefly Group, and clearly knows that in the past two years, the senior management of the Firefly Group are interested in expanding the company's record business. Williams vetoed it without hesitation.

Although Firefly Group still acquired Viking Records last year, the scale of Firefly Group's record business at this time is still far from being comparable to the volume of several major record companies.

Perhaps it is this posture of the ship turning around, the performance of several major record companies in the first half of the year has plummeted, although there is no public financial report, but from the perspective of many public record sales data, the performance of Firefly Records is definitely growing.

Firefly Records' strategy of focusing on teen pop music also seems to have a lot to offer. In the entertainment industry, young people undoubtedly make the best money.

Picking up the soda water brought by the waiter and taking a few sips, Edgar. Bronfman spoke again with some anger: "Doug. Morrison is such an idiot, Polygram unexpectedly discovered another $600 million in hidden debt, counting the losses in the first half of the year, the record group has to make at least $1 billion in asset write-downs. ”

Michael. Eisner heard Edgar. Bronfman blamed the CEO of Universal Music for its current dire situation, and his lips moved, but he didn't say anything. In fact, in addition to the impact of pirated music on the Internet, the biggest reason for Universal Music's current situation is Edgar. Bronfman was overly eager for a PolyGram takeover.

However, to break these, in addition to making Edgar. Bronfman's annoyance and anger didn't make much of a difference, and Michael. Eisner simply kept silent.

Edgar. Bronfman said what he just said, see Michael. Eisner neither echoed nor refuted, his expression was a little sneering, since he can become the head of the Seagram Group, he naturally cannot be a mediocre and incompetent person, and he still knows where the root of Universal Music's problem lies.

See Michael. Eisner had a script-like manuscript in front of him, Edgar. Bronfman took the initiative to change the subject and said, "Michael, is this our company's new movie script?" ”

Michael. Eisner handed over the script for "Pirates of the Caribbean" and said, "No, this script only spread in Hollywood yesterday. Williams personally fancied, and the Firefly Group has made an offer. ”

Edgar. Bronfman took the script and looked at the cover, and said: "Pirate films, doesn't it mean that pirate films are forbidden areas in Hollywood?" ”

Speaking of which, Edgar. Bronfman also glanced pointedly at Michael. Eisner, some of the ridicule in his heart has also dissipated a lot, Michael. Eisner's original heel on "Cut Throat Island" is absolutely tragic.

Michael. Eisner didn't seem to notice Edgar in the slightest. Bronfman's eyes changed, and he said, "That's why this script is more likely to be Eric. Williams personally fancied the subject matter that others would not touch easily. ”

Edgar. Bronfman could hear Michael. Eisner's tone was moved, and he couldn't help but persuade: "Michael, although I am absolutely relieved to hand over the world to you, but this kind of subject, we can not touch it or not." ”

"I've got the production department to do the budget, and this film, be cautious, should be able to get it done for $80 million," said Michael. Eisner didn't pick up Edgar. Bronfman's words, he said to himself: "Moreover, although the story as a whole is a bit old-fashioned, it is very in line with the idea of a high-concept movie, coupled with the fantasy plot of the cursed pirates, making it into a special effects blockbuster is still very promising at the box office." ”

Edgar. Bronfman vs. Michael. Eisner was a little dissatisfied with his decision to do so, and he doubted that he had helped Michael. Eisner will be Michael. Is it the right decision for Ovitz to kick out the world, the development of the world has indeed been getting better and better in recent years, but Edgar . Bronfman, however, could clearly feel his waning control over the globe.

Because of the bad situation at Universal Records, in order to avoid the whole group falling into turmoil, he now does not dare to give birth to too many children from Michael. The idea of taking back power from Universal Pictures in Eisner's hands.

Michael. Eisner finished talking about his plan and noticed Edgar. Bronfman's expression changed slightly, smiled, and said, "However, my thoughts can only be just to think about it, the world will follow the offer, but we don't know Eric after all. Williams' idea of this script, so he won't offer too outrageous prices, and the likelihood of getting this script is low. ”

……

It's past 10 o'clock in the morning in New York, and Warner Bros. CEO Richard Brown. Parsons and Steve. Case talked for hours about the merger of the two companies and rejected Steve. Case was invited to lunch and drove to East Hampton, where these days Time Warner Corporation's Vice Chairman Gerald Brown. Levine had been spending the summer in East Hampton, and the two agreed to lunch while chatting about Richard. Parsons & Steve. The progress of the negotiations with Case.

Now, the merger negotiations between AOL and Time Warner are almost completely on the surface, and Firefly Investment's sale of 25% of AOL shares in one fell swoop also makes the prospects of this merger more clear, otherwise, even if the two parties reach a merger intention, they will still have to be subject to the intention of Firefly Group and the ensuing antitrust review issues.

Leaving AOL headquarters, as soon as I got in the car, the assistant handed over a copy of the script.

Although a large part of this time was focused on the merger, Richard. Parsons has not let go of his stewardship of Warner Bros. in the slightest.

In a company with serious infighting like Warner, once the power is released, it is even more difficult to take it back.

"This is the script that came out yesterday?" Turning a few pages, Richard. Parsons asked, somewhat uncertain.

The assistant nodded: "The official offer for this script by the Firefly Group yesterday, you know, few people have made pirate films in recent years, and this script is also a typical high-budget special effects blockbuster template. Williams himself, and other decision-making executives are obviously unlikely to be interested in this type of script. ”

"You mean, these are just speculations and no confirmations?"

The assistant nodded and said, "We can only speculate, and it is obviously impossible for the Firefly Group to reveal confirmation news to us." ”

Richard. Parsons hesitated for a moment, Warner's film business has been tepid in the past two years, and it is very much in need of a pillar series that can explode, especially now, if the film business can turn over, Warner can gain a lot of initiative in the negotiation process with AOL.

"So, you rush back to Los Angeles in person, and I'll give you three million dollars to try to snatch the script, if it can be confirmed that it's Eric. Williams himself could have raised the price to five million dollars if he had taken a fancy to the script. ”

……

Just walked into the office early in the morning, Terry. Lucio and Ted. Elliott and the two were notified, and Shirley. Ms. Lansing wanted to talk to them.

Since yesterday afternoon, the two young screenwriters of Paramount Animation Studios have felt the attention they have never received in their lives, and various inquiries and invitations have pestered the two of them all night.

At this time, the two big men both had thick dark circles under their eyes, and there was not the slightest sense of excitement in their hearts about being noticed, because both of them realized that they might have played too big.

If this scripted event is just an oolong, Eric. Williams didn't know the pirate script in their hands at all, so it is conceivable that once the matter was exposed, neither of them would want to mix in Hollywood for the rest of their lives.

Come to Shirley. Outside Lansing's office, the secretary went in to make a report, and stood outside Terry. Lucio finally came to his senses and asked Ted beside him in a low voice. Elliott: "What shall I say later?" ”

Ted. Elliott Bitri. Rucio was a little more sober, and whispered in a hurried tone: "Refuse, refuse first, wait for the reaction of the fireflies." ”

Terry. Rucio nodded, a little more clear in his heart, and only when the Firefly Group gave a further reaction could their guess stand up. If the Firefly Group doesn't make any moves on this script in the future, then this matter is obviously related to Eric. Williams had no connections, and the acquisition of the script for Pirates of the Caribbean was just a common hoarding of copyrights.

When the time comes, Fireflies don't need to deny it publicly, as long as they show their attitude, other big Hollywood studios will realize that they have been deceived. In that case, even if they can get a huge sum of millions of dollars now, there will be no hope in this life.

A few million dollars, minus the broker's commission, pay the tax, and then divide it equally between the two, basically not much, it is impossible to meet their needs to support their families for the rest of their lives.

Although the current job is not too high-paying, it is stable enough, and more importantly, they can always write scripts and look for opportunities. Once labeled as a liar and swept away by Hollywood, the rest of his life is estimated to have no chance with the media industry. Both are literature graduates, and it is unlikely that they will find any other decent jobs other than playing with their pens.

The secretary soon came out and informed the two that they could go in.

Walk into Shirley. In Lansing's office, Paramount, the female head of Hollywood, was wearing a pair of delicate silver-rimmed glasses and looking down at the documents, when she saw the two walk in, let go of the folder in her hand, and politely got up and walked over to shake hands with the two.

After some introductions and pleasantries, Terry. Lucio and Ted. Elliott & Shirley. Lansing sat down on the sofa in the reception area together.

After the secretary took a few cups of coffee and left, Shirley. Lan Xin looked at the two of them with a smile and said, "I have specially read your script suggestions for the animation studio's recent animated films, which are excellent. Speaking of which, you are all Paramount employees, and if you have a good script, you can contact the company's script purchasing department directly. ”

Terry. Of course, the two of them contacted Paramount's script purchasing department, but the other party was immediately uninterested when they saw that it was a pirate type script. However, both of them only respectfully responded to Shirley at this time. Lansing's words did not mean the slightest excuse.