When news of "Cutting the Throat Island" causing huge losses of $120 million, although Disney's losses were only more than 70 million, the impact was even more severe than Disney's losses of $100 million through multiple movies last summer. In just three days, Disney's stock price fell 11%, and its market value quickly shrank from $3.8 billion before the release of "Cutting the Throat Island" to 3.45 billion.

There have been many discussions and reflections on the pros and cons of big-time films in newspapers and media, and a detailed comparison and analysis was made between "Cutting the Throat Island" and "Terminator 2". One of the two films failed miserably at the box office and the other was a big success, with a very clear contrast.

As the discussion progressed, the films that have invested more than $50 million in the past two years have gradually been involved. Of course, analysis of Eric's "Tornado" and "Captain Hawk" directed by Spielberg are indispensable, because both are the most successful commercial directors in Hollywood in recent years, and the investments of both films have exceeded $70 million.

When the box office of "Terminator 2" was released on the first weekend, Eric had already completed all the shooting work of "Tornado". Seeing that "Cutting the Throat Island" had a box office of more than 20 million, Eric was very disappointed that the "miracle" had not happened.

However, he was not too surprised. The status of the original independent production company Carloch in space and time is far from comparable to Disney, one of the seven majors. In addition, Carloch was suppressed by the seven majors, which caused the tragic situation where "Cut Throat Island" invested 90 million yuan and only won more than 9 million yuan in box office. What Eric regretted was that the loss of more than 120 million US dollars in this version of "Cut Throat Island" was not entirely borne by Disney, otherwise, the acquisition of Disney would be smoother next.

After "Tornado" was closed, Eric continued to stay in Oklahoma for several days to deal with some debris. He then returned to Los Angeles with several creators.

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

Looking at the camera flashing wildly around him and trying to get over the bodyguard and reaching out to his recorder. Eric was worried that the situation would be out of control, so he quickly pressed his hands and made a quiet gesture.

The group of reporters who were worried that Eric would leave directly and asked loudly, but were looking forward to a response quickly became quiet. Since Eric agreed to answer their questions, there was no need to do so.

"Everyone. I can stay and answer some questions, but after taking the plane for a few hours, my companions were very tired. Can you let them leave first?"

Unexpectedly, Eric suddenly said this, and everyone looked at each other. Eric did not want to get a positive answer, so he made several gestures to Jeffrey and others, and then signaled his bodyguards to push away the crowd. The reporters saw that Eric did not move and made a tactful move.

Seeing Jeffrey, Joanna and others boarding the car on the side of the road, Eric clapped his hands: "Then..."

The reporters immediately remembered the messy sounds again.

"Stop, come one by one," Eric said. He pointed to a female reporter wearing glasses in a black suit: "Miss, come first."

The female reporter was excited to take a step forward, but was blocked by the bodyguard. She had to yell through the wall: "Mr. Williams, it is rumored that the script of "Cutting the Throat Island" was the first to you. Do you have any opinions on the bleak box office of this movie with an investment of over 100 million yuan?"

Before Eric came back, he had already thought about the response to this problem. Of course, he could not admit that it was a pit. Therefore, when he heard the female reporter's inquiry, Eric showed a heavy expression: ""Cutting the Throat Island" was originally a very good idea, and I also thought about making this movie into a trilogy. Unfortunately, Disney went astray in its production ideas and ruined this promising story. I can only say regrets about this."

Eric's voice had not yet fallen completely, and the female reporter immediately seized the opportunity and asked again: "Can you talk about your production ideas?"

"Sorry, I'm not convenient to reveal this question, next one, this gentleman."

The reporter named immediately said: "Mr. Williams, since you have already had some ideas about "Cutting the Throat Island", is it possible for you to remake this series?"

"The failure of this movie has already made the audience have preconceived ideas. Not to mention remake this movie, maybe within ten years, I guess no one will dare to make a pirate film rashly within ten years."

"Don't you even dare?"

Eric nodded: "Yes, I don't dare either. The failure of "Cutting the Throat Island" is too thorough and has a big blow to the island-type movie. Although I am not afraid of failure, I don't want to experience failure so quickly, next one, you."

A black-haired reporter stretched out the recorder on tiptoe and said, "Mr. Williams, it seems that you have experienced failure. It is said that the "Anti-Condor" series is a script you personally selected and participated in the investment."

Eric smiled at the corner of his mouth and explained: "I chose the first script of "Anti-Condor" by myself, and I also participated in some investments. However, the second one has nothing to do with me. I have never seen the script before. You can investigate this matter."

"Didn't Miss Connery show you the script?" A thin reporter interrupted quickly, and everyone's eyes suddenly lit up, looking forward to Eric's answer.

Of course Eric knew that this question was actually testing his relationship with Connery. The smile on his face remained unchanged, but there was no unnecessary words and answered directly: "No, next one, come on, this is the last question, I'm in a hurry."

The reporter was about to speak when he heard Eric's addition and swallowed the original question back. After thinking about it, he asked: "Mr. Williams, "Toy Story" and "Terminator 2" have once again achieved such impressive results. Will you make Fireflies appear on the market?"

"No, Firefly has a very abundant cash flow, so there is no need to go public financing. And after listing, in order to maintain the stock price and to maintain the confidence of investors, Firefly may have to make some radical decisions that are contrary to the company's development strategy, which is very unfavorable for the company's development, so I still hope that Firefly can develop more freely in an environment that is not disturbed by external investors."

After answering this question, Eric nodded to everyone, and then squeezed out the crowd with the protection of a group of bodyguards. Although Eric answered not many questions, it was enough for these reporters to perform a good report, so no one was trying hard to stop him. Eric quickly left the Los Angeles Airport.

"Trilogy, haha. You won't miss the opportunity to make things difficult for Michael Eisner when you reach this point," said Chris Hanson, who came from New York the next day as soon as he saw Erik. He obviously had seen the interview with Erik yesterday.

Eric shook hands with Chris and walked side by side towards the Spike Corner Manor Villa. He said, "The box office of "Cut Throat Island" has won $20 million, which is much more than I thought. Of course, I have to take the opportunity to vent."

"I have an investment of 140 million yuan. I feel a chill when I see the final box office of 20 million US dollars. You are still thinking it's too much."

"It's a pity that Robert Shay took part of the losses," the two said, and had already walked into the villa.

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

Eric walked over with a coffee pot and poured coffee for the two of them. He said, "You have different habits, I like this feeling more."

Chris took the coffee cup and looked at Eric and said, "I don't know if it's my illusion. Although I don't spend much time with you, I feel that you always have a film between you and the world around me. You are very good at getting along with people, and your ability to deal with people is far beyond your age. But you are always like a little oil in the water, and although you have very close contact with water, you are unwilling to incorporate it."

Eric was stunned for a moment, without refuting. He smiled and said, "Your intuition is really keen."

Chris was a little surprised to hear Eric admitting so lightly, but then said: "Eric, this is not a good phenomenon. In the long run, it may even lead to schizophrenia."

"Well, are you studying finance?"

"I have taken psychology, and many students studying finance will take psychology, so that they can more thoroughly analyze opponents or clients they encounter."

"Forget it, Chris, let's talk about the serious matters. Don't worry, I will never get 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 very much. My father, me, Drew, and... your women, if you have anything to talk to, I believe any of us is a very good person to listen to."

How could I tell my secret to others? Even Drew's little girl, Eric couldn't imagine what would happen if the girl learned his secret.

After Chris said this, he turned to the topic: "Okay, let's talk about the acquisition of Disney."

As he said that, Chris took out the information he brought with him and distributed it to Eric, saying: "Disney's latest stock market value today is US$3.43 billion and its liabilities are US$2.07 billion. So far, I have obtained a total of 11% of Disney stocks through several companies and agents, with a total expenditure of US$376 million. Disney's share of stock in the circulation market is only about 24%, so we can absorb some of them next. Disney's board of directors includes Michael Eisner, a total of 16 people. Disney will change board members through elections every year. If the acquisition offer is rejected, through this year's term change and the subsequent absorption of Disney stocks, we can get two board seats, so that we can interfere in Disney's management."

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

Chris smiled: "This is what I want to say the most. Some of the information I collected surprised me. After experiencing the malicious acquisition in 1984 and losing more than $300 million, Disney had no memory at all, and did not even have the most common anti-acquisition poison pill agreement."

"Poison Pill?" Eric showed a puzzled expression.

Chris thought about it and then tried to explain in a simple sentence: "The so-called poison pill is a share expansion agreement drafted by the target company in advance to prevent malicious acquisitions. Once the company encounters malicious acquisitions, the poison pill will be triggered. When the company's circulating shares are acquired by its competitors in large quantities, the shareholders of the target company can dilute the share of the competitor's acquisition of shares by issuing new shares. Through this method, the acquisition cost can be raised to a sky-high price, just like a poison pill, which discourages the acquirers who want to swallow the target company. At least 2,000 listed companies in North America have poison pill agreements, and what surprised me was that Disney did not."

Eric listened to Chris' explanation and smiled, "All it is 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 is relatively bleak and "Cutting the Throat Island" has brought such a huge loss, Disney was brought out from the decline quagmire after all. In the past seven years, Disney's market value in Michael Eisner has doubled. At least half of its shareholders still maintain confidence in Michael Eisner. So the biggest problem with our acquisition is still Disney's existing management."

Of course Eric knew this. According to fragmentary memories, Disney shareholders had huge differences with Michael Eisner. It should be that after 1996, Michael Eisner insisted on annexing ABC TV station, causing Disney's ultra-high debt ratio and huge losses in the following years. Before that, although Michael Eisner was stubborn and even regarded the board of directors as his own manuscript and also gained a lot of self-interest for himself through the compensation committee, Disney has been developing rapidly and has been tolerating these problems by shareholders.

However, Eric could not have waited until 1996, when Disney's market value was estimated to have increased several times, and it would be even more difficult to acquire it.
Chapter completed!