Beverly Hills, Eric lived in the maid’s mansion in Trausdale Manor these two days. He did not stay up all night like many high-rise buildings in Paramount. Although it was Saturday, he still got up on time, washed up, practiced morning, and had breakfast, and sat on the terrace of the mansion overlooking the entire Los Angeles to read the newspapers of the new day.

As if trying to make some counterattack, Paramount couldn't wait to release Friday's single-day box office rankings in the newspaper.

The twins quietly took away the tableware on the round table. The girl sat opposite Eric, reading a copy of the Los Angeles Times spread out on the table and said in surprise: "The first weekend is expected to be 40 million for three days. Wouldn't that week be more than 60 million US dollars, similar to the first one. Wouldn't our ban plan fail?"

Eric smiled and shook his head, saying, "It is correct for your usual algorithm that is equivalent to more than half of the weekdays on the weekend. Animated movies are different, especially 2D animations, because most viewers are children who need their parents to accompany them, and the box office ratio of the weekdays will be lower. The first three-day box office of the Lion King is close to 70% of the first week, and this sequel is definitely the same, so it is unlikely that it will exceed $60 million in the first week, and it should be around $55 million."

"The first week of $55 million, how much will the total box office be?"

Eric read a review of "Prison in the Sky" and thought about it, saying, "This is not certain. The total box office of "The Lion King 2" depends mainly on its box office performance in the first four weeks. After this week, next week it will be "Godzilla", next week it will be "Finding Nemo" and "Mega Time Contact", and next week it will be "Batman and Robin", which are all films that can pose a great threat to "The Lion King 2". If these films perform too well, "The Lion King 2" will definitely be impacted. On the contrary, it is not impossible for "The Lion King 2" to be close to the first one."

In fact, based on the memories of his previous life, Eric had already had some background in his heart.

The upcoming films to be released in the next three weeks, "Godzilla" and "Batman and Robin" are very likely to fail, and only "Find Nemo" is the most direct opponent of "The Lion King 2".

However, the current "Prison in the Sky" seems to have a trend of not meeting expectations. It was $7.7 million on the first day, and it could only earn about $35 million in the first week. Under the bombing of blockbusters in the next few weeks, it is still very unsustainable whether the box office in North America can exceed 100 million. The sluggish performance of "Prison in the Sky" has made Eric less sure of the box office prospects of "Find Nemo". He has watched this 3D animation several times. Although it is not inferior to the original, it is not sure whether it can still show the amazing box office explosive power that was once 6 years ahead of the original release date.

After hearing Eric said this, the girl lowered her head and flipped through the entertainment version, found the summer film schedule, looked at it for a while, and looked up and said, "Then, it seems that the only ones in the global box office in the summer season may be close to $1 billion, are "Godzilla" and our "Casino Royale"."

"You are also very excited by "Titanic". It is so easy to have 1 billion globally. It is lucky that Hollywood can produce a dark horse with a box office of 1 billion globally every year. This year, well," Eric hesitated, and did not say the name of "Find Nemo". He paused and said: "There may be this year, but it certainly won't be "Godzilla" and "Casino Royale".

"Ah, you don't have confidence?"

Eric analyzed: "Look, the global box office of the last "Golden Eye" was $350 million. If inflation is not included, this is the best result of 007. In fact, this also shows the box office potential of 007 in the original form. For this "Casino Royale", I am not sure whether the audience will like the video format. However, based on the 007 brand, my personal box office appeal and the halo of the agent's film universe, the global box office sales of this film are still not a big problem. If it explodes a little, it may reach 700 million, but 1 billion will require a great opportunity."

The girl turned her eyes and said, "Then, will it be possible to reach $1 billion when the final battle between the three major agent organizations and the Ghost Party?"

Eric remembered that after the first Avengers was released in the original time and space, the box office of the two first series "Captain America" ​​and "Thor" almost doubled, and the box office of "Iron Man", which was originally very popular, exceeded 1 billion US dollars. The reason for this situation is largely because of the gathering of multiple superheroes, which has increased the popularity and box office appeal of the original single hero.

The original popularity of the three agent movie series "007", "Mission Impossible" and "Charlie's Angels" is already very high. "Casino Royale" happens to be the first cross-section of the three major series. After this film, fans of the three major agent series will definitely be integrated. Even if "Casino Royale" has not been as powerful as "Avengers", in the next sequel films, as long as this plot consists of this cross-coherence, perhaps before the final battle of the Ghost Party, a global box office of 1 billion may appear.

"Of course it's possible, and you don't even have to wait until the final battle."

Eric nodded, and suddenly thought of something. He put down the newspaper in his hand, created a blank document on the laptop next to him, and typing on the keyboard and said, "However, I suddenly thought that in the next series, you should pay attention to some issues. I will write a memorandum for you."

The girl came over curiously and said, "What?"

Eric continued to typing on the keyboard and explained: "For supporting roles, look, whether it is "007", "Mission Impossible", and "Charlie's Angels", there are more outstanding supporting roles, Mrs. M, Dr. Q, etc. After "Casino Royale", it is not a problem to shoot another 10 films in the Agents Movie Universe series, but in this case, if the protagonists of the three major series make guest appearances, the production cost will become very high. At this time, let the supporting roles in the series achieve this interlude effect, the cost-effectiveness will be very high. Even like "Mission Impossible", Kevin Costner's pay price is getting higher and higher. If the two parties are unable to cooperate in the end, we can even use the original supporting role to continue leading the "Impossible Mission Department" and continue the "Mission Impossible" series."

The girl looked at the memo document that Eric quickly knocked out, and understood a little bit, and nodded with a smile: "Is it like you promised Chris to star in that speed movie as Angela Lind in Casino Royale?"

Eric paused his fingers as he tapped the keyboard, slapped on the round table, and said, "Yes, I almost forgot this movie. It's all because I've been too busy recently. I've taken the time to write the outline these two days. You can find a few suitable screenwriters to fill in the script."

"Haha," the girl smiled and said, "Give it back to us, Liz will definitely be even more angry, maybe Jeffrey will have an objection."

Eric has indeed stuffed too many popular movies into the girl over the years. I won’t talk about the Agent Movie Universe. Films such as "Museum Night", "Resident Evil", and "Forrest Gump" are all popular projects that are extremely enviable. The next Tol Kim Middle-earth epic series is enough to make a film company eat for ten years.

It seems that Drew himself hopes that Eric will not be so obvious in favor of it anymore.

With a smile, he kissed the girl on the face, Eric said: "Forget it this time, you continue to hold it. I hope this racing series can be linked to the Agents Cinema Universe. If placed in other film companies, although the plot can still be crossed, because the themes are different, doing so will seem too deliberate and will lead to many unclear copyright entanglements. Firefly has always been short of projects. Fox, they are now doing "Star Wars Prequel", Miramax's performance in the past two years has also been very eye-catching, and Julia, the box office actress, supports the stage. In addition to missing some big productions, the film business there is not much worse than you. Besides, Fox's foundation is much stronger than MGM."

Fox has been taken over by News Corporation for more than ten years. Although its film business has not been very outstanding in recent years, with the support of News Corporation's strong strength, Fox's operating conditions are still very stable.

In comparison, MGM's current business is still limited to movies. Although its vitality has begun to recover under the stimulation of a series of popular blockbusters, its overall strength is still at the bottom among the seven majors.

Of course, the girl also knew that Eric hoped that MGM would become stronger as soon as possible and play a greater role in Firefly's media transmission system.

Nodded and refused again. The girl said, "By the way, Eric, Amy discussed with me last time. We happened to have the opportunity to acquire a cable TV station recently."

If MGM wants to go further, it must expand into the TV industry. Eric's initial idea was to hope that MGM could acquire Columbia Pictures in BS and Sony's hands. However, due to the rise of the new technology wave, BS is now worth more than $20 billion. Sony also has no idea of ​​leaving the film business. Both ideas will not work for the time being.

Then, expanding to the cable TV industry will become a good choice. In the next twenty years, North American public television networks will be destined to decline, and the cable TV industry will enter its heyday.

Eric sent the memo to MGM eo Amy Pascal's email address and asked the girl: "Which TV station is it?"

“e! Entertainment.”

Eric raised his eyebrows slightly and immediately remembered that it was the original time and space broadcasting and the big... Oh no, the TV station that traveled with the Kardashians.

Nodded, Eric said: "I have heard of this TV station, but I just don't pay much attention."

The girl introduced: "I've seen the information, e! Entertainment mainly plays movies, TV, music and other programs related to fashion, oh, and Hollywood gossip."

Eric asked subconsciously: "Don't there be a reality show?"

The girl tilted her head: "It seems, no, but if we can buy it, we can definitely make our own reality show."

"This kind of TV station is a waste of resources without broadcasting reality shows, but it also needs to be planned well," Eric said, and asked again: "Which company is in the ownership of e! now?"

"This is a bit complicated. e! Entertainment was originally established by five companies including Warner Cable, Comcast, Remote Communications, Mainland TV and Basic Cable. It has been integrated several times over the years. Mainland TV and Basic Cable both withdrew. This time, Time Warner also wants to withdraw and is looking for interested buyers. We can buy up to about 40% of the shares. However, Connerst means that if we take over the shares in Warner Cable, we should be able to get the operating rights of e! Entertainment."

Cable TV in North America only began to rise in the 1980s. At that time, in order to avoid investment risks and make full use of various resources, it was basically a joint stock form, just like the AE TV and ESPN TV stations that Firefly and Hurst Group still hold together.

"Then buy 40% first, and you will eat the entire TV station if you have the chance in the future."

"But I feel it's a bit expensive, e! Entertainment plus a few sub-tables, the current subscription users are less than 50 million, and the revenue last year was only 370 million, and the loss was $13 million. With less than 40% of the shares, Warner Cable quoted 750 million. Amy said the price is still open, but it will not be less than $600 million in the end."

If it is a paid cable station, about 50 million subscribers will definitely make shareholders profit, but e! Entertainment obviously relies on advertising and operator sharing as the basis of the main revenue of cable stations.

In the past two years, just like BS, both public TV networks and cable TV stations have been soaring by the wave of new technology.

If it were a few years ago, based on the current financial situation, the overall value of e! Entertainment would not exceed the $750 million reported by Warner Cable. But now, Warner's quotation of $750 million for e! Entertainment's 40% stake is not too outrageous. Time Warner's financial situation in recent years has not been very good. Warner Cable is probably also thinking of cashing out at a high level while getting rid of his burden.

"Buy as much as possible," Eric said to the girl after thinking about it, "In a few years, even if you want to buy it, I guess others won't buy it."

In recent years, it is the last juncture of North American media industry integration. When everything is settled, the development momentum of cable TV stations is getting better and better. Several major media groups that have formed giants will definitely not easily take off the cable TV stations they hold. It can be said that in recent years, it is almost the last opportunity for MGM to expand into the TV industry.

The girl did not doubt Eric's judgment at all and nodded, "Okay, I'll call Amy now."
Chapter completed!