I'm in Hollywood Chapter 267: Extreme Measures

Chapter 267: Extreme Measures

Excluding this possibility, the level of the script would be reduced.
Then, Eric left the group, Bruce followed him and told him the outline of the script. After listening, Eric just left a business card and asked Bruce to talk about it in detail at the company the next day.
So it can be determined that Eric was interested in the script, but there were too many scripts that Eric was interested in. Although Donald Trump's little girl had been buying copyrights everywhere in silence, everyone who should know knew it, but the script was actually the least valuable thing. Hollywood produces thousands of scripts every year, and only a few hundred can be made into movies.
Therefore, what Michael Eisner wanted to confirm was whether Eric would come to direct the script himself.
So far, the three films Erik has directed have all surpassed two hundred million dollars in North American box office. With the first week's box office of 46 million for Home Alone 2, it's only a matter of time before it surpasses two hundred million.
Under such circumstances, Erik decided that the next film he would direct would definitely not be less than one hundred million dollars, and may even reach two hundred million.
Michael Eisner personally read the script for Harlem Night Club and it definitely does not fit the art film route to attack the Oscars.
"Bruce, can you be sure that Erik intended to direct the script himself during the negotiation process?"
Bruce, somewhat disgruntled by Michael Eisner's long pondering, nodded, "Yes. William has always expressed that he wants to direct the script himself."
Of course, Bruce left out Eric's emphasis of him directing it versus someone else doing it.
This would interfere with Bruce's negotiations with other movie studios. In fact, Bruce already had another plan in mind; as long as the other movie factories could give him a satisfactory price, he did not necessarily have to sell the script to Eric, as long as it was stipulated in the contract that the other party must let Eric be the director, it would be fine, and how the big companies would invite Eric was not something he should worry about.
After a moment of contemplation, Michael Eisner finally made his decision: "One million dollars plus 3% of North American profits. Mr. Robin, this is Disney's final offer, no room for negotiation, and I don't believe any other movie company will offer a higher price. So, if you agree, we can draw up the contract right away, if you don't agree, you can leave now."
Bruce Joel Rubin's lips twitched as he quickly calculated in his mind. The price had already met his psychological expectation. After all, a few weeks ago, he was just trying to find ways to sell the script, and now one million dollars plus 3% of the profits had far exceeded his initial psychological expectations. As for the 300 million and box office split conditions that were originally proposed in Eric's office, it was just for negotiation. Moreover, Michael Eisner sitting opposite him seemed to be even tougher than he thought, he knew that the other party was not joking and he wouldn't get much result from negotiating.
After some consideration, Bruce quickly made a decision: "Mr. Eisner, I can sell the script to Disney for the price you mentioned, but I have one condition."
"Go ahead," Michael Eisner said with a nod.
"I want Eric Williams to direct the movie himself," Bruce Joel Rubin said.
Michael Eisner was briefly taken aback, knowing that a movie made by different people would yield a vastly different result. Thus, he had already been thinking of buying the script and making the movie with Eric, otherwise he wouldn't have offered such a high price to Bruce.
"I can agree to that condition," Michael Eisner pretended to ponder for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"No, I'm not finished yet, said Bruce with a sly smile, I will sell the script to Disney at the price you just said, Disney must first pay me 1 million dollars, and there will be a three-month deadline. If Disney can't determine Eric Williams to be the director of the film within three months, the contract will be invalid. As for the 1 million dollar deposit, I can only refund Disney 50% at most."
Michael Eisner frowned: "Don't you think this is too outrageous?"
Bruce shook his head: "Of course not, I am taking a big risk here. If you can't invite Eric Williams to be the director of the movie, outsiders will definitely be able to guess our conditions after the contract is invalid. I can't get much benefit if I want Eric Williams to be the director of this movie."
"How can I make sure you won't secretly tell Eric Williams about this?" Michael Eisner asked.
Bruce was surprised and said, "That's impossible, Mr. Eisner. Even if the news leaked, it's more likely to have been leaked by Disney itself because if I leaked it, I would at least lose a million dollars, which is nothing to Disney but a lot of money to me."
Michael thought about what he should do next and then said, "Three months is too short, at least a year."
"Six months at most, a year is too long,"
"It's not too long at all. As a Hollywood screenwriter, you should know that there are plenty of scripts that take ten or eight years to make into a movie, so a year. After a year, even if Disney doesn't succeed, the value of your script won't depreciate, so only a year."
Bruce lowered his head and said, "Alright, just one year."
"Then I'll have someone draw up the contract," Michael Eisner said, picking up the internal phone on his desk and saying a few words.
A few hours later, the script contract was signed, and Bruce Joel Rubin was sent away. Michael Eisner drove to the villa that had been arranged in Maribor. It was already afternoon. If you were very familiar with Hollywood, you would recognize that several people had already arrived in the villa, they were all the bigwigs of the seven major companies.
"Hi, Barry, long time no see," Michael Eisner said as he walked up to Barry Diller first, greeting him warmly.
"Yeah, everyone's been busy. I can't remember when I last saw you," Barry Diller said with a smile.
Michael Eisner exchanged greetings with Steve Ross and Universal's Sid Sheinberg, then took a seat next to Barry Diller.
Soon after, Peter Guber, recently acquired by Sony, also arrived at the villa.
Next was Paramount's Frank Mancuso, and with that, six of the seven major studios had arrived.
The heads of the major studios all knew each other, and most had worked together before, so even though there was competition between them, they had a friendly conversation. After a while, an assistant of Michael Eisner rushed in and said something in his ear.
After the assistant left, Barry Diller asked: "Did the MGM guy not come?"
Michael Eisner nodded.
Frank Muncuso, head of Paramount, said with a sigh, "It doesn't matter if we come or not, he can't make any decisions anyway, it all depends on Coke. That rascal Coke is taking the lead, but it doesn't matter if we come or not." A few months ago, Coke wanted to invite him to host a screening for MGM, but now whoever took it over is in for trouble.
As the heads of several major film companies, everyone in the room had some feelings for movies, and when they heard Frank Muncuso's words, they sighed and recalled the glory of MGM.
"Then let's get started," said Michael Eisner. This gathering was his idea.
Hearing Michael Eisner's words, the other five people stood up and walked to the conference room that had already been prepared.
Sitting at the conference table, an assistant came in to distribute the pre-prepared materials to the few people present and then quietly closed the door of the conference room and left.
"Let's take a look, we can't let Firefly continue like this," Michael Eisner said, presenting the data he had asked to be compiled, which was actually available to the other studios, but Michael Eisner wasn't about to let them "bring their own food".
The room was silent for a long time, with Steve Ross of Warner Bros. closing the material in his hand first, and the others finishing their materials.
Then they all looked at each other.
They all knew that the Firefly had become a huge threat to the Seven Greats, and all of them had the relevant information in their hands, but they had not yet organized it.
Now, the results of Firefly's work this year were presented to these people all at once, and the impact on the few leaders could be imagined.
"I never expected Firefly's profits this year to be more than half of the total profits of the Seven Greats," Steve Ross sighed.
Frank Manucso shrugged, glanced meaningfully at his old boss Barry Diller, and said in a bachelor tone, "Martin Davis wants to intervene in everything, but he doesn't even understand the business. Paramount's profits this year are negligible, and maybe they will be in the red next year."
Universal's Sid Sheinberg was flipping through the folder with a plastic cover and glanced at Michael Eisner: "If we combine Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Steel Magnolias, we can probably get more than 200 million at the box office. Disney will also be a beneficiary. Michael, what do you plan to do?"
Michael Eisner could hear the sarcasm in Sid Sheinberg's words and said, "Disney didn't make much money. Williams only gave us the right to distribute the movie, and the VHS and TV broadcasting rights are not in Disney's hands."
"Then you should at least make forty or fifty million," Steve Ross chimed in.
"Don't argue, don't forget what we are here to discuss today," Barry Diller interrupted the conversation.
Then, the five people turned their eyes to Barry Diller, whom everyone knew was the closest partner to Firefly. He was not only in charge of the distribution rights of three films directed by Eric personally but also had control over peripheral products such as videotapes. In addition, Fox Television got "Friends".
Barry Diller certainly could feel the meaning in their eyes and said with a deep voice, "If you think I'm not suitable here, then I can leave. But if so, today's gathering will have no meaning."
After that, Barry Diller coldly swept the room, and no one said anything, so he continued, "I won't talk about the past. You must have seen the box office data this week. From November 17th to November 23rd, the total box office in North America was around 130 million, but the three films related to Firefly accounted for more than 70 million, which was more than half of the total. If we continue to allow Firefly to expand like this, you should be able to imagine what the Seven will face."
Universal's Sid Sheinberg said, "I had already reached out to you before Firefly acquired New Line, hoping that the acquisition wouldn't go through. But it did, without any resistance from you all. Now that New Line is in their hands, Firefly has a distribution channel, even if their overseas presence is still very weak. As long as they keep making huge profits domestically, expanding their overseas distribution is just a matter of time. So, what do you think we can do now?"
Everyone fell into a brief silence, then Barry Diller looked over at Michael Eisner, who had organized the meeting: "Michael, since you initiated this gathering, you must have some ideas in mind, right?"
Michael Eisner nodded his head: "Now, it's not likely that we can stop the development of Firefly, so we can only try to get a stake in it. Since we can't destroy it, we'll have to try to control it as best we can."
"Well, if it was that easy, I think several of us here have already discussed what ifs with Firefly?" Peter Guber, who had been relatively quiet, said.
"Of course, so normal means won't do. In that case, we can only use some extraordinary means." Michael Eisner said softly: "This will require us to join forces together in order to succeed."
"What about MGM?" Frank Mancuso asked worriedly.
"Kirk Kerkorian isn't an idiot, after we join forces, MGM will surely follow suit."