The current ceo in Colombia is Peter Cooper. After Sony acquired Colombia, he spent another $200 million to acquire Peter Cooper's production company and invited the other party to serve as the helmsman of Colombia. The "meeting gift" brought to Sony by the seven new helmsman was a copyright lawsuit with Warner Pictures. Eric was not very clear about the specific content of the lawsuit, but the result was that Sony paid $800 million in compensation to settle the lawsuit.

Eric still remembers the original air because of Peter Cooper's squandering, Sony Colombia suffered a loss of up to $2.7 billion on the books in just a few years. The rumor that Sony's founder and president Akio Morita stepped down was closely related to this merger and acquisition case that caused unprecedented huge losses.

However, although Peter Cooper was mediocre, he was very good at leveraging and knew how to please the top leaders of Sony in Japan to stabilize his position. He knew that after Sony acquired Colombia, what he wanted to see most was that Colombia could help Sony become famous as soon as possible. Therefore, after gaining control of Colombia, Peter Cooper couldn't wait to launch several large-scale film projects. Last summer, "Comprehensive Memories" starring Schwarzenegger and "Captain Hawk" that Spielberg is currently producing both were inspired by Peter Cooper.

Big production, big director and big star are Peter Cooper's main policy for making movies. As long as it can bring enough influence, whether the investment is rational, and whether it can recover costs, is not the question that the new Colombian helm considers.

When Tom Cruise took the initiative to contact Columbia and hoped to restart the project "Secret War", Columbia immediately showed great enthusiasm. After all, although Cruise's last "Thunder" was not successful, it did not have much impact on Cruise's status in Hollywood, because for Hollywood first-tier stars, there are usually three chances of failure. If three consecutive movies fail, its status will be damaged.

When Eric learned about this, Columbia had even discussed several preliminary script plans with Tom Cruise.

The one who came to discuss the sequel to "The Dark War" with Eric is still Amy Pascal. When Amy walked into Eric's office, Eric was already looking at the project documents delivered by Columbia in advance.

Because this matter was led by Tom Cruise, and Eric was not very enthusiastic about the sequel to "The Dark War", and Hanks said that without Eric, he would not participate in "The Dark War". Columbia simply got rid of Eric and Hanks and planned to develop the "The Dark War" prequel, which features Andy, the robber played by Tom Cruise.

The movie story in the new script takes place in London, England, where Andy's father Peter died.

At the beginning of the story, Andy had not yet discovered that he was sick, and was a bad guy with a son who inherited his father's business. A kind girl was involved in a smuggling business where Andy participated. Like many stories, Andy was gradually moved by the girl's kindness, and by chance he discovered the fact that he was terminally ill, and finally made the right choice. The story also interspersed with some foreshadowing of Andy's father Peter who was plotted against by his students and ended up in depression. The plot developed to the end, and the good guy was rewarded and the bad guy was punished. Andy told a beautiful lie to the girl, saying that she wanted to go to Los Angeles to finish some things and leave alone in the girl's reluctance.

In Eric's opinion, this story is very good, but strictly speaking, except for Andy, the new story has nothing to do with "Dark War", and not even many that can reflect the name "Dark War" is completely a solo show. Even if this sequel is successful, the brand "Dark War" will completely change its flavor, because the fame accumulated in the first plot may be greatly damaged. This series may be ruined.

In Eric's opinion, even if it is to shoot a sequel, it must be based on Sean, starring Tom Hanks. Just like "Batman", there is a classic villain in each movie. This is the best way to perfectly continue this series.

After Amy Pascal entered Eric's office, he simply greeted Eric, and sat quietly on the sofa in the reception area, waiting patiently for Eric to read the documents in his hand.

After Amy Pascal had a cup of coffee, Eric also browsed the documents in his hand.

"Eric, what do you think?" Amy waited for Eric to sit down opposite him and asked impatiently. If Eric lets go, she will be able to take the lead in the project.

Eric did not answer this question, but tentatively said: "Have Sony Pictures signed a cooperation agreement with Cruise?"

Amy didn't expect Eric to suddenly ask this question. Without any mental preparation for a while, some flaws were inevitably revealed on her face.

Eric did not pursue him. He just expressed his dissatisfaction with Columbia's unauthorized negotiations with Cruise. After all, Firefly owns half of the copyright of "Dark War". Columbia's doing so can be said to be an offense to Firefly's rights. If Eric pursues it seriously, any contract signed by Sony and Cruise about "Dark War" will be invalid, but he does not intend to do so.

"Amy, according to the plan you proposed, this series has completely deviated from the theme of "Dark War" and has become an ordinary action film. Although the popularity accumulated in the first part and the box office appeal of Cruise, the movie is likely to be successful, but due to deviations, it is not so easy to make a sequel."

Amy Pascal was relieved when he saw that Eric did not catch the problem just now and said, "Eric, Colombia actually hopes that you and Mr. Hanks can join this video together."

Eric shook his head slightly and smiled, "I've roughly learned about Captain Hawk. This movie is not only responsible for all the investments, but also promised to give Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams a 40% omnichannel profit sharing. Firefly has half of the copyright of "Dark War". In this case, how much share should Hanks and Cruise, me, should get?"

Amy said calmly: "Eric, as long as you can join this movie, no conditions cannot be negotiated."

"But that certainly didn't meet my psychological expectations," Eric smiled. "Also, my work plans for the next few years have been confirmed, and I still need to manage Firefly's business now, so I don't have time to take care of a big-produced movie."

Amy just showed a faint look of regret. But there was no regret in her heart.

In fact, at an internal meeting in Colombia, she raised this question. With Firefly's current status in Hollywood, Eric, as the absolute master of Firefly, is still too busy with his own company affairs and is unlikely to direct movies for other film companies. Even the possibility of cooperation is extremely low.

"Eric, you can actually just name a producer like Mr. Spielberg. You don't need to do anything and you can get a considerable share. Do you think this is OK?"

Spielberg has to be a name producer in four or five movies every year, which makes him one of the highest cumulative box office producers in Hollywood. However, most of them are just a name producer, and the movie has not participated in it from beginning to end. Spielberg has also ridiculed himself for this, but Eric does not intend to do this. Although Spielberg has a very high status in Hollywood, the way of producing a name has also caused him a lot of negative impact. Many things obviously have nothing to do with him, but because Spielberg is the most famous, once the movie is in trouble, the blame will be placed on him without surprise.

After thinking for a while, Eric did not express his thoughts about creating a series with Hanks. For a position like Cruise or Hanks, once any movie shoots more than three sequels, most of the profits will fall into the hands of these big names, and the film company is equivalent to working for the other party. Even if Eric and Hanks have a good relationship, it is impossible to suppress Hanks' pay. Therefore, many Hollywood movies often can only last until the trilogy. When restarting again, in order to reduce the cost as much as possible, most of them will replace the leading actor, or retain the protagonist and replace all other supporting actors.

"Let's do it, Amy, Firefly won't participate in this production, but I have two cooperation plans, one is a single license, $30 million. The other is, Firefly sells half of the copyright of "Dark War" to Colombia for $100 million."

After Eric finished speaking, he picked up the coffee in front of him and drank it slowly, giving Amy Pascal some time to think.

Although the buyout is very tempting, the risk is also extremely high. So far, there are only a handful of movie series that can produce more than three sequels. Even if there are, they are basically those low-cost horror movies that can make one movie every year. Even if the big-produced movies have the potential to produce more than three sequels, the time span is often more than ten years. In comparison, it is still more cost-effective to buy a single license of $30 million.

Amy didn't think about it for long. If she had the right to decide, she would not hesitate to choose the former plan proposed by Eric, which could maximize the risk avoidance. Moreover, compared with the box office results achieved in the previous film "Secret War", the price of 30 million is also very cost-effective.

But unfortunately, although she is already in the position of vice president of Columbia, involving tens of millions of dollars in investment, Amy has no right to make any decision.

Moreover, Amy Pascal vaguely felt that Eric seemed to have considered these things. She even quickly thought that Eric's proposal was actually equivalent to giving Colombia a bait. With Peter Cooper's personality, Amy was sure that Peter Cooper would choose the latter buyout plan.

"Eric, most people are very optimistic about this sequel project. With the results achieved in the first part of "Dark War", even if the sequel cost exceeds $50 million and the box office performance shrinks by 30%, it can still bring considerable profits. Why choose this solution?"

"I don't have the energy to manage this project anymore," Eric said. "And Firefly is short of funds now, so he plans to cash out the copyright of "Dark War"."

Although Eric received nearly $8 billion from the futures market, in order to achieve the effect of unexpectedly acquiring Disney, Eric did not intend to use the money too much, so Firefly's business still needs to rely on the profits generated by its own videos.

Although "Toy Story" has not been released yet, due to strong confidence in 3D animation, Eric has asked Pixar to prepare for the next animated film, which costs money. In addition, the company's recent integration and expansion, the construction of the company's photography base has driven away Robert Shay's funds, the promotion of "Toy Story" and "Terminator 2", and "Tornado" are about to start filming, and Firefly's original funds are quickly consumed.

Amy Pascal remembered the recent series of big moves by Firefly and realized that Firefly's funds might be in a tight position. In this way, the price may be slightly lowered, but she immediately gave up the idea. Although Eric was young, he had become a well-known hardliner in Hollywood. His biggest feature was that he did not like to negotiate with others for a long time. Once Eric had the advantage, he would not even negotiate at all.

From a lot of information, it can be seen that Fireflies are not short of movie projects. Eric even has an optional attitude towards the copyright of popular movies like "Dark War", which means that Eric is unlikely to compromise on price, while Sony Columbia is different. Peter Cooper is now in urgent need of large-scale production projects to expand Sony Pictures' influence and consolidate its position. If you know the conditions offered by Eric, you will definitely be very urgent to get the copyright, so don't think of any loosening in price.

"Eric, I don't have the authority to make the decision on this matter. I need to go back and ask Mr. Cooper."

"No problem, I'll wait for your good news," Eric stood up and sent Amy Pascal out of the office.
Chapter completed!