I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1047: Aftermath]

Although the deal was signed, the various intricate and tedious asset and business turnovers between Firefly Investments and Sony Pictures would still take a couple of months to finalize.

However, through Bill Mechanic, Eric swiftly took control of Columbia Pictures. Within a week, Columbia was basically back to normal operations.

After being tossed around by the Japanese for so many years, Eric did not expect Columbia to show many noticeable changes in the short term. He just hoped that within the next year or two, the studio could restore itself to the production and distribution scale a major film company ought to have.

To be fair, as long as one didn't stir the pot and focused on making quality films, it wouldn't be too hard for a major studio like Columbia to avoid losses in Hollywood.

Sony had long struggled to understand the operational rules of Hollywood, making a series of decisions that could only be described as foolish. This, coupled with the natural resistance from local talent, had contributed to the increasingly dire situation at Sony Pictures.

In reality, if Sony Pictures were given a few more years, they could gradually adapt even without a blockbuster like Spider-Man.

Now, of course, Sony would never have that opportunity again.

With the acquisition of Sony Pictures complete, the Firefly system encompassed more than half of the major film studios in Hollywood. The remaining three studios, although they did not outwardly express any concern, were not calm behind closed doors about the situation.

The first week of October marked the 11th week since the release of The Ring -- a horror film that unexpectedly created a phenomenon at the box office. This week, it grossed another $6.74 million with a barely noticeable drop of 16.9%.

Even more astonishing was that while continuing its miraculous box office trajectory, The Ring's total North American gross had reached $251 million, successfully crossing the $250 million mark, making it the third highest-grossing film of 1998 so far.

In addition to The Ring, Charlie's Angels 3 had become the only other film this year to surpass $300 million at the North American box office, raking in a total of $322 million.

Next in line, The Day After Tomorrow had a North American box office total of $256 million at that moment.

However, compared to The Ring's consistently impressive weekly revenue, both Charlie's Angels 3 and The Day After Tomorrow were in the dwindling phase, with weekly earnings falling to just a few hundred thousand dollars, and their North American total box office figures were unlikely to see significant changes.

It wasn't hard to imagine that within the next week, The Ring's North American total could surpass that of The Day After Tomorrow. Before the heavyweight releases of Star Wars: Episode I and Mission: Impossible 3 at the end of the year, this horror film would hold onto second place in the box office charts for quite some time.

On the other hand, with a production budget of only $30 million, the return on investment for The Ring was astonishing.

...

On a typical sunny California weekend, Michael Eisner, Edgar Bronfman, Summer Redstone, and Gerald Levin found themselves gathered on a yacht off the coast of Los Angeles. They casually sat around a round table on the deck playing bridge. After some time, Gerald suddenly spoke up, "I heard Firefly is throwing a second celebration for The Ring tonight."

Redstone, counting his cards, replied nonchalantly, "Well, they should. If Paramount could put out a movie like this, I'd throw ten celebrations."

Even though AOL and Time Warner had officially started acquisition talks, Gerald naturally still viewed Warner Bros. as his own turf. After pausing, he added, "I just want to say, we can't continue like this."

Edgar set down his cards and turned seriously to the group, suggesting, "Maybe we can form an alliance, like those four companies."

Redstone glanced at Edgar and replied, "What advantage would that bring us? What benefits would we gain from an alliance?"

The strength of the Firefly system stemmed from Eric's personal keen eye for films and his strong control over several companies as if they were extensions of his own arm.

Even if there were talents in the three remaining companies that could rival Eric, they would never be able to put power into one person's hands. Therefore, forming an alliance didn't hold much significance.

Gerald shook his head, laughing self-deprecatingly, "None of us can match Eric Williams."

Edgar nodded, perhaps intentionally or unintentionally murmuring, "If only they didn't have Eric Williams over there."

The table fell silent.

After a moment of awkwardness, the oldest among them, Summer Redstone, shot Edgar a stern look and warned, "Edgar, out of respect for my relationship with your father, let me give you some advice as an elder: this is a world with rules. Never let such thoughts cross your mind again. If we could potentially do without Eric Williams, we could also do without you, and without me. Anyone could simply vanish, and the world would descend into chaos."

Edgar wasn't a naive youth; he regretted his earlier comment and replied seriously, "Thank you, Summer. I'll remember that."

Redstone nodded in satisfaction and turned to the quiet Michael Eisner, saying, "Michael, how about you share your thoughts?"

Michael replied, "Acquiring Sony Pictures has pushed Firefly's expansion to its limits. None of the three of us could possibly be absorbed by them now. The federal government wouldn't easily allow Eric to do that anymore. Therefore, we need to focus on how each of us can maintain our market positions in Hollywood amidst the upcoming competition."

Redstone realized that Michael had formulated his own thoughts on the matter and probed, "Elaborate on that."

Michael smiled, "Honestly, it's not that difficult. Because the template for Firefly's system is already laid out. Since Eric Williams has proven his vision over the past decade, we can simply follow whatever Firefly does. For instance, I've already scouted several scripts for films similar to The Ring and its Japanese horror theme."

Gerald noted, "But if we simply follow behind Firefly... we've all kind of been doing that for years."

"Exactly. We need to be more proactive. Once Firefly starts a project, we shouldn't wait for results but follow up as quickly as possible to avoid being left behind," Michael continued. "Additionally, we must increase our investment in high-effects films. Although an alliance between us three may not offer any advantages, if we combine our resources to create a special effects company similar to Industrial Light & Magic, we could offset our shortcomings in visual effects technology. This has been a weakness for us and has limited our scale in producing special effects films. As everyone should notice, only Firefly still has several special effects projects yet to be released, like the massive Lord of the Rings trilogy, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Sleepy Hollow, alongside medium-budget projects like Ted, Underworld, and Resident Evil sequels. All combined, they exceed the total of our special effects films."

Redstone agreed with a nod after hearing Michael speak, "Perhaps we could enhance support for Industrial Light & Magic."

Michael immediately shook his head, "We can't prop up Industrial Light & Magic. They've fallen too far behind the Digital Domain, and Lucas has lost his ambition in filmmaking. In fact, for the recent Star Wars: Episode I, many of the CGI effects were commissioned to Digital Domain. Looking at Digital Domain, they have branches in North America, California, and New Zealand, and I've heard they might establish another branch in Canada within the next couple of years. So we'd better act quickly to consolidate the visual effects resources from our three companies."

Stimulated by Digital Domain, although on a smaller scale, several major Hollywood studios had established their own visual effects departments in recent years.

While it may be impossible to centralize power from the three major studios under one individual, reaching an agreement on a visual effects department would be much easier for everyone involved.

After a brief discussion, the group settled on an idea, and Gerald added, "What about Firefly's '4200' initiative? What are your thoughts? Do we need to follow up on that?"

After a moment of silence, Redstone was the first to speak up again, "The investment is too high, and the risk is too great."

Michael said, "I attended a demonstration of the RealD system at Firefly Studios last time, and it was truly impressive. However, not to mention the initial investment, just the cost of prints for each 3D film will double, and the IMAX format will be even higher, about ten times the cost of standard prints. Based on a rollout of 2,000 screens, a film that originally required a $4 million print cost, if released in 3D and 3D-IMAX formats, would see its print costs soar to $12 million for 2,000 3D screens and 100 3D-IMAX screens."

The others gasped; during the film era, one of the main factors limiting independent filmmakers' distribution was the cost of prints.

The production costs of films are highly variable. Independent studios could often produce a film for a few hundred thousand or even tens of thousands. However, even to exhibit in 100 theaters, with an average print cost of $2,000, they would need $200,000. In reality, a distribution scale of 100 screens would yield little profitability for a movie.

Even for majors, film print costs were still a considerable expense.

A film costing $12 million simply for prints meant that all medium and low-budget films would be excluded. Even for big-budget films, if the print cost exceeded 10% of the production budget, studios would need to carefully weigh the film's box office prospects before opting for these costly distribution methods.

"Perhaps that's also the reason Eric Williams was determined to acquire Sony Pictures. After all, finding suitable films worthy of 3D and IMAX distribution is a major problem," Edgar mused, remembering Michael's previous suggestion. He turned to Michael and asked, "So, Michael, do you think we should follow up on that?"

"If Firefly allows us to join this plan, I believe we must follow up. The key is that since Eric has already invested so much upfront, he wouldn't likely allow us to jump in and share the profits immediately."

"I think for the 2,100 3D and IMAX screens in North America, it's most reasonable to have an average of one new source every month, but it shouldn't be lower than one every two months. Firefly, even with its four major studios, cannot issue all movies in this way. We definitely still hold sources that Firefly would need."

"Let's put that issue aside for now," Redstone suddenly said. "Michael, when you return, you can discuss with Sherri, and also Richard over at Warner, about integrating the visual effects departments we each have. As for Firefly's '4200' initiative, if they succeed next year, theater chains will naturally increase the number of 3D screens, and if they fail, we won't have to worry about it anymore."

Once Redstone said this, everyone remembered that the Redstone family had made their fortune through running theater chains, and no one in the room was more experienced with exhibition business than him.

After reflecting for a moment, they all understood that if Firefly's '4200' initiative succeeded, the demand in the market would lead to a rapid increase in the number of 3D screens.

At that point, even if Firefly managed to monopolize most of the 3D screen resources, there would undoubtedly still be surplus 3D screens available for films from the other three studios. Conversely, if Firefly's promotional efforts fell flat, major theater chains would likely avoid Firefly's 3D screening systems, meaning there would be less necessity for them to focus on this issue.

The only hassle was the IMAX theaters, as Firefly had acquired the Canadian IMAX company entirely and planned to build their theater chain.

However, this hardly posed a significant problem; after all, with over 30,000 screens in North America, 100 IMAX screens seemed inconsequential.

...

At the same time, at the Firefly Studios.

Inside the Gravity filming studio, even though it was Saturday, Eric had arrived early to address some technical issues, collaborating with Robert Byer and others to explore solutions.

As October rolled around, filming for Gravity was finally nearing its end. Based on the current pace, in about ten days, after October 20, the crew would head to Arizona to film the few outdoor scenes left, allowing everyone to relax after that.

During morning busyness, Eric received a phone call from ICM. Before long, the agency's top female agent, Michelle Simmons, arrived with Charlize Theron. They were there to discuss the film Girl, Interrupted.

As they stepped into what was reportedly the most advanced studio in Hollywood, Michelle and Charlize curiously surveyed their surroundings. When they spotted Eric waving them over, they hurried to him.

"Hey, Eric, long time no see," Michelle exclaimed, warmly hugging Eric, with Charlize following suit.

After greetings, Michelle complimented, "Eric, maybe only you could think of such incredible ideas in all of Hollywood."

Eric sent a staff member to get coffee for the two women, smilingly nodding, "Thanks, Michelle. And Charlize, come sit down."

He gestured for them to take a seat next to a large workbench, while he sat down as well, getting straight to the point. "So, have you read the script for Girl, Interrupted?"

Due to Eric's previous reprimanding of Kate, Charlize couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive in his presence.

Noticing Charlize's hesitance, Michelle had to step in and answer, "Yes, it's a great script. Charlize and I both think it's awesome."

*****

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