Chapter 638 I Don't Want to Owe You Anything

"Mr. Katzenberg has personally started your plan in an affiliated private equity fund under the operating group. Hathaway, State Street Global and Firefly Investment are also following up. If you want to avoid being noticed by Marvel , we also need about a month," Kelly handed over the next document and said: "Also, several newspaper groups have made a second round of bids for our print media assets, and the highest bid is currently. $1.4 billion for Condé Nast."

Eric quickly read the document in his hand and said, "Let Jeffrey start the acquisition negotiation. Both Yahoo Network and AOL need a lot of money. Tell Jeffrey, you don't need to worry too much about the price. As long as the price The $1.5 billion estimate will do, but I want the buyer to pay the cash as soon as possible.”

Kelly nodded, wrote it down on the memo, then raised her head and said, "That's all for serious business..."

Eric glanced at the closed office door and joked, "Don't you want to do something rude here?"

Kelly rolled his eyes at him and handed the last document to Eric, saying: "This is from Miss Murdoch. The New York Post was going to publish it tomorrow, but she stopped it. She said Let you see for yourself, she can stop the New York Post story, but not other newspapers, and there is a copy of the dossier related to this press release."

Eric glanced at the title of the press release, "The Dark Past of a Gifted Girl", and his eyes narrowed.

Seeing Charlize's name in the article, Eric almost guessed the general content. After reading the article roughly, Eric confirmed his judgment.

In the original time and space, Charlize was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for "The Devil". In the subsequent media public relations battle, the news that Charlize's biological father was shot by her mother for drinking and violence when she was fifteen years old was once again hyped by the media. , Charlize, who was originally a simple victim, was even forced by the unscrupulous media to the word 'father murder'. Eric didn't pay much attention to that storm. His own result was that Charlize still successfully won the Oscar for Best Actress.

Right now, maybe it's because Fox's "Dumb & Dumber 2" is about to hit theaters. However, the box office momentum of "Charlie's Angels" has not weakened in the slightest. The "New York Post" did not know where to dig this news, so it had similar ideas to those of the media in previous lives, but. It may be because of the Firefly's side, the article does not deliberately distort the facts as in the original time and space, but the tendentious hints between the lines will still evoke reverie.

"Since this incident was discovered by the media, it must be hidden," Eric thought for a moment. He tore off a piece of sticky note and wrote a line of words, handed it to Kelly, and said, "You communicate with that side in person, and also let the public relations department cooperate as much as possible, and follow this guideline for Yulun guidance, I don't want to see anything. The messy news came out."

Kelly took the note from Eric,

Seeing the words 'Unfortunate family tragedy, strong girl out of the shadows', he nodded and said, "MGM's Frank Makasso doesn't know the phone number here. He called me and wanted to Make an appointment with you to talk about Charlie's Angels, MGM hopes to start two Charlie's Angels sequels at the same time."

"These things let them go to Jeffrey and discuss it..." Eric said halfway, raised his head and asked, "Did something happen?"

Just as Kelly was about to speak, Eric suddenly said, "Oh, it must be Penny and the three of them."

Kelly nodded: "The person in charge of DreamWorks hopes to sign the contract for the next two sequels with Miss Cruz and the three at one time, but Ms. Michelle Simmons over there has not responded."

Eric said: "I will help to ask the three of them what they are thinking, and let MGM do a good job of releasing it with peace of mind."

...

In the following days, with the cooperation of Firefly's public relations department, brokerage company and MGM. The media began to appear news about Charlize's girlhood past, but most of the information put Charlize completely in the victim's perspective to express full sympathy, and at the same time fully promoted Charlize's experience in Hollywood alone. It completely shaped the girl into an image of a self-reliant girl who walked out of the dark shadow smoothly.

The first impression effect of ordinary people is very powerful. Since such a concept was instilled in them for the first time, articles that smear Charlize in the media in the future will only arouse the disgust of most people. At the same time, the popularity of Charlize, who originally had a weak presence in the "Charlie's Angels" trio, has also risen by a blessing in disguise.

In the second week of July, Fox's "Dumb and Dumber 2" was also officially released, but it was affected by the box office decline of "The Lion King" and "Charlie's Angels", which were full of stamina. "Dumb and Dumber 2" only made more than 33 million box office receipts in the first three days of the first weekend, which is 4 million US dollars lower than "Charlie's Angels". It is expected that the box office will stop within 45 million in the first week. However, compared to "Charlie's Angels", which cost more than $80 million to produce, the biggest cost of this vulgar comedy is only Jim Carrey's salary, and the entire production budget is less than $40 million. Therefore, Fox is on this film. Still very profitable.

After returning to Los Angeles from Boston at the end of May, after more than a month of intense and hectic work, Eric checked most of the film projects that he needed to personally take care of, and his schedule gradually relaxed. Wei Entertainment's layout, he also spent more time on the preparations for the Victoria's Secret show.

In the studio of the Victoria's Secret show, Eric just sent away the director of Firefly's music department who had sent a stack of singer tapes, the three girls who had just returned to Los Angeles after a European and East Asian tour, and Penelope's Sister Monica walked into his office together, and Penelope and Kate were each holding a gorgeous set of angel wings.

After greeting Eric, Penelope couldn't wait to draw a set of butterfly wings behind him and said, "Eric, are these the angel costumes to be worn on the Victoria's Secret show? So beautiful. "

Eric smiled and watched the two women put the angel wings on their bodies, and said, "You must have taken them from the shelf next to the door of my office. These are all waste products that need to be disposed of. The angel wings that were really selected were all taken by them. Keep it in the vault."

Kate asked curiously: "These are already so beautiful, those selected must be even more amazing, can we take a look?"

Eric shook his head and said, "I'll give you a few tickets then. No one can see it now."

Kate stuck out her tongue at Eric and said, "It's stingy."

Eric didn't answer. Seeing Charlize, who had been very quiet and obviously worried since he came in, he joked, "Charlie. Are you planning to take Kate's role in the sequel?"

"No, of course not," Charlize shook his head quickly.

Just as Eric was about to say something, Penelope heard Eric mention the film, and couldn't wait to gossip around Kate: "Eric. You don't know, when we went to Tokyo, Japan to promote, there were This guy saw Kate at the scene, and he started crying on the spot, and he was crying and wailing about what he wanted to rush to the stage, which terrified us."

Kate pushed Penelope away in dissatisfaction and said, "Why do you think he's coming at me, maybe he wants to pounce on you."

Penelope smiled and said, "Although I can't understand that guy's Japanese, the pronunciation of 'Selena' can be heard clearly by everyone at the scene."

Eric said: "I have seen in the newspaper that Kate is now the most popular western actress in Japan. How does it feel?"

Kate shook her head and said, "No, people in that country always make people feel weird."

"This is because of cultural differences. Different countries and different ethnic groups will have this feeling when they look at outsiders. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as racial discrimination." Eric explained briefly, and added: "Don't say it. Now, someone asked me to ask, what are your three plans for the sequel?"

The three girls looked at each other a few times, but didn't speak for a while.

Eric pointed to Penelope: "Penny, tell me."

"Eric, we don't mind shooting a sequel. But we don't want to rush the two sequels. If we do one a year, we will definitely be cast by the characters."

Eric recalled that MGM wanted to add two sequels to "Charlie's Angels" to DreamWorks' ten-film plan, which was planned within three years. Hearing Penelope's answer, Eric almost understood.

He tapped the table lightly and thought for a while, seeing the three girls looking at him with more and more uneasy eyes, Eric suddenly smiled and said, "I have no confidence in me, and are you worried that I will sell you?"

Although Eric is very gentle in life, he is often very strong when it comes to movies. The three girls were really worried that Eric forced them to make one movie a year. After hearing Eric say that, Kate, who had the brightest mind, relaxed and laughed, "Who made you so bad."

Eric smiled and said, "It seems that I have to find a time for you to help me recall the bad things I have done."

Kate was stunned for a moment, and her little head quickly recalled, but she didn't recall anything for a while, but she still snorted in disapproval.

Eric didn't care, and explained patiently: "You must be thinking too much. In this case, let's change it to two years. In fact, the production plan of any Hollywood film company is not fixed. Involving tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, the production process cannot be overly cautious, and it is normal for all kinds of changes to occur during the period. Although the original agreement was ten films in three years, if the final agreement is due to various reasons If it is not completed, the remaining projects are either yellowed or delayed, just like Spielberg, who still owes Universal several movie contracts, which are said to be contracts from more than ten years ago.”

Penelope rolled his eyes and asked, "What about our salary?"

"Your remuneration has nothing to do with me," Eric laughed again: "Although Firefly has a 30% interest in DreamWorks, the film production funds come from Europe, so just let Michelle help you negotiate. Now, you can get as high as you can, but don't play too much, be careful that everyone shoots and splits."

Kate asked, "What do you think is a good price for us?"

Eric thought for a while, and said: "The two sequels are contracted to pack 12 million US dollars each, not to mention the split. After all, there are three of you, and the average salary of 18 million US dollars for each film is already sky-high. The producer You will also need to invite other actors, and the total cost of the actors’ remuneration may be 25 million. If you ask for too high a price, the producer can only compress the shooting budget, which will definitely affect the quality of the sequel, which will be harmful to you.”

Eric said it lightly, but even Charlize, who had always been preoccupied, couldn't help but stunned. After all, they were only paid two or three hundred thousand dollars in the first movie, and they had suffered so much, and now their worth has suddenly skyrocketed to the level of ten million. I never thought I could earn so much money before.

After being surprised, Kate quickly thought of something and said, "Is it more than 45 million? I heard that Nicole Kidman can earn almost 30 million with a "Mummy"."

"The Mummy" is very popular at the North American and overseas box office, and it is expected that various incomes will be added together in the next few years. It can bring a net profit of nearly 400 million US dollars to Universal Pictures. It is precisely because of the box office explosion of "The Mummy" that Michael Eisner easily regained control of Universal from Michael Ovitz after heart surgery. right.

However, the biggest personal profit of this film is undoubtedly Nicole. The original 8% omni-channel sharing contract will bring Nicole no less than 30 million US dollars in income, which also makes her the highest paid in Hollywood. Actress, it is estimated that it will be difficult to be surpassed in the next ten years.

"Like Jack Nicholson's super-high salary in "Batman", Nicole got so much this time. It was just an accident. Universal probably regretted it to death. They only needed to spend 10 million US dollars. Those who can hire Nicole have now paid three times the price. Moreover, for Nicole to participate in the next sequel, she must be honest and get a fixed salary. "

Penelope said: "Then we will talk according to the number you gave."

Eric nodded, glanced at the angel wings beside him, and said with a smile: "These are only good-looking if you wear them inside. There is a fitting room next to them. Go and show them to me."

Kate immediately blushed and glared at Eric. Penelope picked up his wings with a smile, and took Kate and walked out: "Kate, let's try it, and we don't have to show it to someone."

The two women had already left the office after speaking. Eric looked at Monica, who blinked his big eyes, and pointed to the door: "You go too, and help your sister change clothes."

"Hmm... um," The little girl who appeared more and more shrewd seemed to realize something, and walked out in a panic with her head down.

When the office door closed, Eric asked Charlize, "Did something happen?"

"No." Charlize shook his head, hesitated, and added, "Michelle told me, and I saw the note you wrote, I... I just want to thank you."

"Oh," Eric nodded and joked: "You know, I'm a capitalist, you made money for me, of course I'll cover you."

Charlize bit her lower lip, struggled for a moment, and said, "I, I don't want to owe you anything."

Eric smiled and said: "Although I really want to say righteously that you don't owe me anything, you know, men are all vain. So what I actually want to say is, if you think you owe me anything, just Just keep owed, and whenever I think of a beautiful woman who feels she owes me a debt, I feel very satisfied."

Charlize finally couldn't hold back, and she laughed for the first time since she came to this office, but the girl quickly restrained her expression, glared at Eric lightly and angrily, and said, "You, privately Is that how you coax girls?"

"Not necessarily, it depends on the person. For example, you have to do the opposite. To use a term in the Eastern Art of War, it's called hard-to-find," Eric pointed to the door with a smile on his face, and continued' And Tan': "For Kate, this kind of proud little girl, you need to be more powerful, and for Penny... there is no need for any method."

"You're an asshole," Charlize couldn't help laughing again, but the girl had moved to the door unknowingly.

Then, under Eric's astonished gaze, Charlize reached out and locked the office door, and then walked towards Eric 'imposingly'. Eric was about to get up in confusion, but was pressed by Charlize. On the large leather chair, the girl's slender body was bullied up, and she reached out and pulled Eric's tie, like a cat that suddenly went mad, but the panic hidden in the girl's expression completely betrayed her.

Just as Eric was about to say something, Charlize put the torn tie in front of Eric's eyes as a blindfold.

Then, the cool thin lips kissed awkwardly.

When those thin lips that were trembling from nervousness left him, and his two small hands were tugging at his shirt, Eric subconsciously joked again: "Charlie, you have to know that in America, some crimes are not Only for men."

However, as soon as these words fell, Eric suddenly felt a bite on his shoulder.

In the voice of the man gasping for breath, the girl with a slightly trembling voice still insisted and said bitterly, "Let you ignore me on purpose."

"My Lady Queen, this is the office, or let's go home and talk about it, don't worry, I will definitely not let you go..."

"Shut up and don't move."

...

＊PS: I watched Casino Royale today, and then there is this chapter...

＊＊＊(To be continued.)