"The establishment of a new production company, the joint ownership and investment in the production of the film, and the signing of a long-term cooperative distribution agreement with MGM, will allow us to take advantage of MGM's distribution channels, but also avoid getting bogged down in MGM's debt, and fully protect the interests of investors," Eric said in front of several representatives of European film companies at the Seydoux family's mansion in the western suburbs of Paris.

This method is similar to the previous cooperation between Carlock Pictures and MGM, but because of the box office failure of the two blockbusters in the summer file, there is definitely no need for the two sides to continue to cooperate.

Most of the people in the reception room listened to Eric's suggestion and neither shook their heads nor nodded, but Marcel Novalet, the representative of Crédit Lyonnais, looked a little disappointed, but Eric had already communicated with him before, and the original plan was not willing to be agreed to at all, and Eric could not forcibly drag these European film forces into MGM.

Nicholas Seydoux, CEO of Gaumont, who was sitting to Eric's left, was the first to ask, "Eric, so Firefly plans to participate in this company in a cooperative way?"

"Fireflies will be involved in the ownership and facilitation of the production of the films," Eric replied, "and I will personally select ten films to be used as the company's production plan for the next three years, and the interest in the company will be negotiated through negotiation." ”

After Eric finished speaking, the seven or eight people sitting in the reception room immediately turned their heads to each other, and Eric did not urge, picked up the coffee next to him and drank it slowly.

After some discussion, Marcel Novalet said, "Eric, can MGM cross-share with this company?"

Eric glanced at the people around him and smiled, "If everyone agrees, I personally don't have a problem." ”

Cross-shareholding would certainly increase the operational risk of the new production company, but Eric was not too worried. As long as the plan is carried out, in the next few years, MGM's business situation will definitely be reversed, and after the exchange of shares with MGM, the new production company can even share a part of MGM's distribution profits, and. This kind of cooperation is also more convenient for the Fireflies to directly or indirectly annex MGM in the next few years. After this period of deliberation, Eric became more and more greedy for MGM's film library.

Everyone was also very aware of the stakes, and when they heard Eric say this, they didn't say anything.

Daniel Eisinger, the representative of Constantine Film in Germany, asked in a somewhat strange English at this time: "Eric, MGM's business philosophy is very backward, and more importantly, the profitability of the film's peripheral development is very weak, how do you plan to solve this?"

Eric glanced at Marcel Novalet. "This part of the business Firefly is very, very happy to represent. ”

Feeling Eric's eyes, Marcel Novare also said: "There is no problem on MGM's side. ”

The ultimate goal of Crédit Lyon is to revitalize MGM and then try to cash out at a more suitable price in the next few years, and there is no long-term plan to operate, so Marcel Novalet easily made this decision on behalf of Crédit Lyonnais.

At this point, the dust has almost settled, and everyone present knows that Eric has made up his mind not to let them directly invest in Firefly Pictures, if they insist. Eric may not refuse, but whether he can get a good cooperation plan is not certain. As fellow film industry veterans, they know that Hollywood has a hundred ways to make them lose money, and of course, after all these years of cooperation, these people can easily avoid most of the traps set by Hollywood. Of course, there are still some people who are unwilling in their hearts. Daniel Eichinger, the representative of the German film industry Constantine, who had just spoken, said again: "Eric, you just said the production plan of ten films in three years, can you talk about the type of these films, or the scale of investment, and also. Do you have the right project in mind right now?"

Eric looked at each other and suddenly remembered that he still had the rights to a novella related to Constantine Pictures, and that was "Resident Evil". In the original time and space, the "Resident Evil" series was invested by Constantine Films, and only a wealthy investor like Germany would make six consecutive films of the "Resident Evil" film series, which was not too profitable, until Eric was reborn.

"I wrote a novella called Resident Evil a few years ago, and if a new company is formed, I can put the rights to the novel into the production company. ”

Jurassic Park, which is still rampant in the global box office market, is a change from Eric's original novel, which has grossed more than $600 million worldwide in less than two months after its release, and the momentum has not weakened at all, not to mention that Japan has not yet been released in a super box office country, and there is almost no suspense that the global box office of "Jurassic Park" will exceed one billion dollars in the next few months. Therefore, when I suddenly heard Eric's words, everyone present was shocked.

But then, everyone remembered the information about "Resident Evil", after the release of "Jurassic Park", many people inquired about Eric's other two novels "The Matrix" and "Resident Evil", but everyone also knew very well that even if they were to be developed, these two novels would definitely be Firefly Pictures' own reserved projects, and outsiders would have no chance of getting involved.

"Resident Evil" is a restrictive zombie novel, the audience of this type of novel is very narrow, even a big director like Eric who has become famous all over the world at this time, it is impossible to change this status quo, and after the zombie novel is adapted into a movie, the R rating is certain, and the audience for the movie will still be very small, although with the blessing of Eric's personal aura, the profitability of the movie adapted from this novel is definitely not a problem, but it is definitely not comparable to "Jurassic Park".

"Eric, I think your other novella, The Matrix, is also good, why don't you take out the adaptation rights of this novel?"

Eric shook his head slightly and smiled: "The current special effects technology is not up to my requirements, so I won't consider changing "The Matrix" for the time being in the next two years." ”

Last year's "Tornado" and this year's "Jurassic Park" special effects can only be described as shocking, and the special effects technology in the digital field is definitely the top in the industry. The problem of production is not too big, it is nothing more than the problem of production cost, and for these European film forces who have money and nowhere to invest, especially the German film fund, money is not a problem at all, and they have invested 150 million US dollars in the two films of Carlock Films' summer file, and the film adapted from Eric's work at this time. Even if they are asked to invest 150 million alone, few people will shake their heads and refuse. Therefore, hearing Eric talk nonsense with his eyes open, most of the people in the reception room couldn't help but roll their eyes.

Eric also knew that these people were human spirits, and if they didn't come up with some tangible benefits, these people wouldn't be easy to follow, so he thought about it and said, "That's it, Firefly is preparing a film inside, which is an adaptation of a TV series from the seventies." I can take it out and put it into the production company. ”

There was no shortage of well-informed people here, and Nicolas Seydoux immediately asked, "Eric, is that the Breaking Bad?"

Eric nodded, because there are several blockbusters released in the summer file next year, forcibly stuffing "Breaking Baby" into the summer file will not get enough publicity resources from Firefly, so Eric was not in a hurry to make "Breaking Baby", and planned to refine it, but if it doesn't work, it will be placed in next year's New Year's file. Although this will correspondingly extend the investment cycle, it can also allow "Breaking Bad" to get sufficient publicity resources to achieve better box office results.

At this time, "Breaking Bad" was taken out and put into the new production company. Then you can use MGM's resources to release this movie in the summer next year. As for Drew, there is no problem, and Xiao Nizi has always been obedient to Eric.

Seeing that everyone in the reception room was satisfied, Marcel Novalet, the representative of Crédit Lyonnais, couldn't wait to say: "In that case, Eric, why don't we discuss the specific equity distribution plan of the new production company?"

Before Eric could reply, Daniel Issinger of Constantine Film immediately interjected, "Eric." What is the total investment of the 10 films you have planned?"

"I can't answer this question for the time being," Eric shook his head with a smile, "However, the budget of "Breaking Bad" is about 60 million US dollars, and if you don't want to make a fuss, the investment in the remaining nine films will probably maintain the corresponding investment scale." ”

"Sixty million is enough. It's better to average 80 million," Daniel Eisinger waved his hand a little arrogantly: "An average of 80 million, even if 10 films are 800 million, our German side can be responsible for a share of 400 million US dollars, accounting for 50% of the shares, how about it?"

After Daniel Eisinger finished speaking, representatives of several other German companies nodded in agreement.

Eric sighed in his heart, the Germans at this time are really the same as the Japanese who buy the whole world, if Germany is given a 50% share, what about France, and there is also a British film company, it is impossible to let others go back shirtless.

Nicolas Seydoux also shrugged his shoulders amusedly, since Eric has promised so many benefits, Firefly Pictures' share in the production company will definitely not be less than 30%, if another 50% is given to the German side, then only 20% will be left for others, not to mention the plan to exchange some shares with MGM: "Daniel, give you 50% It's definitely impossible, if it's just a matter of funding, although we don't have as much money as you have, we can still get 800 million dollars. ”

$800 million, that's equivalent to eating all the new production companies.

"Nicholas, we should have more companies on our side, and we should have more of them," Daniel Issinger said, for a reason that seemed reasonable.

Nicolas Seydoux immediately retorted: "It's not a question of the number of companies, who doesn't know that you Germans usually register several companies when you invest in a Hollywood film." ”

Eric listened quietly as the reception room turned into a vegetable market in a blink of an eye, he was not worried about the distribution of benefits at all, if the fireflies did not participate, this plan would not be implemented at all, so Eric was the one who sat on the Diaoyutai most securely.

Everyone was noisy and shouting for nearly ten minutes before it finally quieted down, and Eric said: "You can sit down and talk about the specific cooperation plan slowly, of course, you can't talk about it for too long, otherwise it won't be good for everyone." As for the Firefly, in addition to the two copyright resources of "Resident Evil" and "Thunderbolt", I will participate in the production of ten films throughout the process, Firefly only needs 30% of the company's equity, and at the same time shares 30% of the gross profit of the film after deducting the cost obtained by the production company. ”

Eric didn't mention any capital injection, but when he heard the 30% gross profit share, everyone in the reception room was very satisfied, after all, Eric was very kind to let them deduct the production cost, which greatly reduced the investment risk of everyone present, and Eric will definitely be very concerned about the production company's affairs, because this share will only come if the film generates profits, and once the film produced by the company loses, Firefly will not get a penny.

Seeing that no one raised any objections, Eric continued: "It's up to you to decide how the remaining 70 percent of the company's shares will be distributed, as well as the cross-ownership of Billy with MGM Pictures. ”

As soon as everyone nodded in agreement, Eric said: "By the way, the negotiation time should be within a month, and I hope that after the negotiation is completed, the production of "Breaking Bad" will start as soon as possible, so that we can also calmly arrange the release of the movie in the summer next year." ”

"Eric, how should the cross-shareholding between the production company and MGM be divided?" said Marcel Novaré at this time, although their main purpose was different, Marcel Novalet knew that Crédit Lyon should not give up the opportunity to participate in the production company.

Eric thought for a moment and said, "According to what I just said, the production company is valued at $800 million, MGM will be calculated according to the market value of $1.2 billion, and after everyone here divides the shares of the new production company, the rest will be attributed to MGM according to Billy." (To be continued......)