When the news of the huge loss of $120 million caused by "Cut Throat Island" was revealed, although the loss belonging to Disney was only more than 70 million, the impact was more violent than the loss of $100 million in Disney's many movies last summer. In just three days, Disney's stock price fell by 11%, and its market value quickly shrank from $3.8 billion before the release of "Cut Throat Island" to 3.45 billion.

As a result, there have been a lot of discussions and reflections on the pros and cons of the big production zuò movies in the newspaper media, and a detailed comparative analysis of "Cut Throat Island" and "Terminator 2" has been made.

As the discussion progressed, it gradually came to the films that had invested more than $50 million in the past two years, and of course, the analysis of Eric's "Tornado" and Spielberg's "Captain Hawke", both of whom were Hollywood's most successful commercial directors in recent years, and both films had invested more than $70 million.

When the box office of "Terminator 2" came out on the first weekend, Eric had already completed all the filming of "Tornado", and seeing that the box office of "Cut Throat Island" exceeded 20 million, Eric was very disappointed, and the "miracle" still did not happen.

However, he was not too surprised, the status of the independent company Kallock in the original time and space was far from being compared with Disney, one of the seven, and Kallock was suppressed by the seven alliances, which caused the tragic situation of "Cut Throat Island" with an investment of 90 million and only more than 9 million box office. Eric's regret is that the loss of more than $120 million in this version of "Cut Throat Island" is not all borne by Disney, otherwise, the next acquisition of Disney will be more smooth.

After the closure of "Tornado". Eric continued to spend several days in Oklahoma, disposing of some clutter. I returned to Los Angeles with a few main creators.

When in distant Punk City. Eric had already felt the storm of public opinion in the media because of a few movies in the summer, and when the flight arrived in Los Angeles, Eric and Jeffrey, Joanna and others had just walked out of the airport, and they were blocked at the door of the pick-up hall by dozens of reporters who had been waiting for a long time.

Looking at the frantically flashing camera flashes around him and trying to get past the tape recorder that the bodyguard was reaching for, Eric quickly pressed his hands and made a quiet gesture for fear that the situation would get out of hand.

The group of reporters who had been worried that Eric would leave directly and asked loudly, expecting a response, quickly fell silent. Since Eric had promised to answer their questions, there was no need for that.

"Guys, I can stay and answer some questions, but after a few hours on the plane, my companions are tired, can you let them go first?"

Unexpectedly, Eric suddenly said this, everyone looked at each other, Eric didn't want to get an affirmative answer, made a few gestures to Jeffrey and the others, and then motioned to his bodyguards to push away the crowd. The reporters saw that Eric didn't move, and got out of the way with great interest.

Watch as Jeffrey and Joanna and the others board the car on the side of the road. Eric clapped his hands: "Then ......"

The group of reporters immediately remembered the messy sound again.

"Stop, come one by one," Eric said, gesturing to a bespectacled female reporter in a small black suit, "This lady, you come first." ”

The female reporter was a little excited and wanted to take a step forward, but was stopped by the bodyguards, so she had to say loudly through the human wall: "Mr. Williams, it is rumored that the script of "Cut Throat Island" was the first thing you fancied, do you have any opinion on the dismal box office of this movie with an investment of more than 100 million?"

Eric had already thought about the response to this question before he returned, and he certainly couldn't admit that it was a pit in the first place. So hearing the female reporter's inquiry, Eric showed a heavy look: ""Cut Throat Island" was originally a very good idea, and I also thought about making this movie into a trilogy. It's a pity that Disney went astray in its thinking and ruined this promising story, for which I can only say regret. ”

Before Eric's voice had completely fallen, the female reporter immediately seized the opportunity and asked, "Can you talk about your thinking on how to make it?"

"I'm sorry, it's inconvenient for me to disclose this question, next, this gentleman. ”

The reporter who was named immediately said: "Mr. Williams, since you already have an idea for "Cut Throat Island", is it possible for you to remake this series?"

"The failure of this film has already made the audience have a preconceived notion that not to mention a remake of this film, maybe within ten years, I estimate that within ten years, no one will dare to make a pirate film again. ”

"Don't you dare?"

Eric nodded: "Yes, I don't dare, the failure of "Cut Throat Island" is too complete, and it is too big a blow to island type movies, although I am not afraid of failure, but I don't want to experience failure so soon, the next one, you." ”

A black-haired reporter tiptoed the tape recorder forward and said, "Mr. Williams, it looks like you've already experienced failure, it's said that the "Toy Condor" series was a script that you personally selected, and you also participated in the investment. ”

A smile appeared on the corner of Eric's mouth and explained: "The first script of "Toy Condor" was indeed personally selected by me, and I also participated in part of the investment. But the second part has nothing to do with me, I haven't even seen the script, you can investigate this matter. ”

"Didn't Miss Connelly show you the script?" a thin reporter interjected hurriedly, and everyone's eyes lit up in anticipation of Eric's answer.

Of course, Eric knew that this question was actually a test of his relationship with Connally, and the smile on his face did not change at all, but he did not have any extra words, and replied directly: "No, the next one, you come, this is the last question, I am in a hurry." ”

The reporter was just about to speak, when he heard Eric's words, swallowed back the original question, and thought for a while before asking: "Mr. Williams, "Toy Story" and "Terminator 2" have achieved such outstanding results again, will you make Firefly market?"

"No, Fireflies have a very good cash flow. Therefore, there is no need for IPO financing. And after the listing. In order to maintain the stock price. In order to maintain investor confidence, Firefly may have to make some radical decisions that are contrary to the company's development strategy, which is very detrimental to the company's development, so I still hope that Firefly can develop more freely in an environment that is not interfered with by external investors. ”

After answering this question, Eric nodded to the crowd, and then squeezed through the crowd and walked out under the escort of a group of bodyguards. Eric didn't answer many questions, but they were enough for these reporters to make a good report, so no one was trying to stop them. Eric soon left the Los Angeles airport.

"Trilogy, hehe, you can't miss the chance to block Michael Eisner at this point," said Chris Hansen, who had arrived from New York the next day, as soon as he saw Eric, who had apparently seen the interview with Eric yesterday.

Eric shook Chris's hand, walked side by side with him towards the Sharp Corner Manor Villa, and said, "'Cut Throat Island' got $20 million at the box office, which is a lot more than I expected, of course I want to take the opportunity to vent." ”

"An investment of 140 million. I felt a chill when I saw the final box office of $20 million, and you are too much. ”

Unfortunately, Robert Shea took part of the loss. The two of them said and walked into the villa.

On the glass curtain wall of the sea in Liberty City, Chris sat on the sofa and looked at the small bar not far away Eric making coffee himself, and said, "You are still alone, don't you feel that this villa is space?"

Eric walked over with a coffee pot, poured coffee for the two of them, and said, "It's a different habit, I like this feeling." ”

Chris took the coffee cup, looked at Eric and said, "I don't know if it's my delusion, although I don't spend much time with you, I feel like you and the world around you are always separated by a membrane." You are very good at getting along with people, and your ability to deal with people is far beyond the level of your age, but you are always like a little oil in the water, although you are very close to the water, you are not willing to melt into it. ”

Eric was stunned for a moment, didn't refute, and smiled, "Your intuition is really sharp. ”

Chris was a little surprised to hear Eric admit so lightly, but then said, "Eric, this is not a good sign, and it may even lead to schizophrenia in the long run." ”

"Well, you're studying finance, right?"

"I've taken psychology, and a lot of finance students take psychology so that I can analyze the opponents or customers I encounter more thoroughly. ”

"Forget it, Chris, let's get down to business, don't worry, I'm not going to get any schizophrenia, but I don't know how to explain it to you. ”

Chris was stunned and said, "Okay, but Eric, you know, everyone cares about you." My father, me, and Drew, and ...... Your women, if there's anything you want to talk to, I'm sure any of us are good listeners. ”

How could he confide in others about his secret, even if it was Drew's little girl, Eric couldn't imagine how the girl would react if she learned his secret.

After Chris said this, he went straight to the point: "Okay, let's talk about the acquisition of Disney." ”

As he spoke, Chris took out the materials he brought with him, gave one to Eric, and said, "Disney's latest stock market value today is $3.43 billion, and the debt is $2.07 billion. So far, I have gotten 11 percent of Disney stock for a total of $376 million, while Disney's share of the stock in the circulating market is only about 24 percent, so we can absorb some of it next. The Disney board of directors includes Michael Eisner, a total of 16 people, and Disney elects and changes the board of directors every year, and if the takeover bid is rejected, we can get two board seats through this year's change of office and the subsequent absorption of Disney stock, so that we can get two board seats so that we can get involved in the management of Disney. ”

Eric said: "Let's talk about the main obstacles encountered in this acquisition, except for the problem of money. ”

Chris smiled, "That's what I want to say the most." I was shocked by the information I gathered, that after Disney went through the hostile takeover in 1984 and lost more than $300 million, it didn't have a long memory, not even the most common anti-takeover poison pill agreement. ”

"Poison pills?" said Eric, with a puzzled expression.

Chris thought for a moment, and then explained in as simple a sentence as possible: "The so-called poison pill is a kind of share expansion agreement drafted in advance by the target company to prevent hostile takeovers. Once the company suffers a hostile takeover, the poison pill will be triggered, and when the company's outstanding shares are bought by a large number of opponents, the shareholders of the target company can dilute the share of the competitor's acquired shares by issuing new shares. With this method, the acquisition cost can be raised to a sky-high price, like a poison pill, which discourages acquirers who want to annex the target company. There are at least 2,000 publicly traded companies in North America that have poison pill agreements, and to my surprise, Disney doesn't. ”

Eric listened to Chris's explanation and smiled, "All in all, it's good for us, isn't it?"

"Of course," Chris then let go of another page of information in his hand and said, "However, although Disney's performance in the past two years has been relatively bleak, and "Cut Throat Island" has brought such a big loss, Disney is after all brought out of the quagmire by Michael Eisner, and in the past seven years, Disney's market value in the hands of Michael Eisner has doubled." At least half of the shareholders still have confidence in Michael Eisner. So the biggest problem with our acquisition is still Disney's existing management. ”

Eric certainly knows this, and according to fragmentary memory, the huge disagreement between Disney shareholders and Michael Eisner should be after 1996, when Michael Eisner insisted on annexing ABC TV, resulting in Disney's ultra-high debt ratio and huge losses in the following years. Prior to this, although Michael Eisner was stubborn, even treating the board of directors as his own voice and seeking a lot of personal interests for himself through the compensation committee, Disney had been thriving and growing rapidly, so these problems were tolerated by shareholders.

However, Eric could not wait until 1996, when Disney's market value was estimated to have multiplied several times, and it would be even more difficult to buy it.

Chris didn't know what Eric was going to do, and continued: "Once Disney agrees to a bona fide takeover, a lot of things will be much easier, but I don't think Michael Eisner will agree. So the probability of taking the second path is more than 70%, so the most important thing for us now is to consider the problems that we may encounter on the second path. (To be continued......)