America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 12 $1.1 billion

On June 22, the North American weekly box office of "Windtalkers" was released. It was only a pitiful US$24.37 million. Compared with the US$300 million investment, this is a figure that makes MGM feel scared.

And the media's response to the film was terrible, with a lot of negative reviews.

What I’m talking about here is print and TV media. As for Rotten Tomatoes, although it will be a benchmark for judging the quality of a movie 20 years later, it is still far from developed.

In this era, netizens can only complain on websites such as forums, and there is no systematic base.

"The New York Times": "Windtalkers" is obviously a mediocre film. John Woo doesn't seem to know how to shoot war scenes. He wastes Nicolas Cage's acting skills.

"Washington Post": I don't know what kind of authority MGM gave John Woo, but it is definitely the fault of both parties to make such a boring movie. I don't understand why the movie is called Windtalkers. Because the film only has a very small amount of time to focus on the real Windtalkers.

"Los Angeles Times": This is a tiring movie. There are too many war scenes, which is very easy to make people aesthetically tired. Moreover, Yaz is willing to brave the hail of bullets to pass the code to the US military, but we have to silently turn the gun. Him, this is simply ridiculous!

The media's evaluation will affect the public's impression of the film. With the overwhelming negative reviews, "Windtalkers" can be said to have died violently. If it collects at most 10 million US dollars, the North American box office will be almost over.

As for the overseas box office, when China, a large box office, has not yet developed, if a movie fails in the United States, it will almost mean a shipwreck.

For example, although RB and Europe also have good box office performance, they are limited by their population base, so no matter how high they are, they can't get much higher.

Eric hasn't talked to his dad for several days, because his brows are always frowning and he often yells on the phone. It's better not to get close to him at this time.

In the early morning of June 23, the match between South Korea and Spain started. Eric did not watch it and only paid attention to the news on MSN.

Although they told Judy that they didn't have to watch it if they felt uncomfortable, after all, they had spent a lot of money, so the four of them couldn't help but watch it, and then they cursed while watching it.

The game ended with a penalty shootout, and the shameless Korean team won again through the referee.

Although everyone feels sorry for the Spanish team, who can refuse the green knife music?

However, because the last game showed everyone how shameless the Korean team is, even though Spain is obviously stronger than South Korea, the odds of the Korean team have dropped a lot, only 1:5.

In the end, Eric bet $30 million, which turned into $75 million in one game.

Through these five games, his assets have officially entered the $1 billion club, and his goal has been achieved.

Judy: "Eric, MY Sugar Daddy, I never dreamed. A month ago I was still anxious about whether to go to Goldman Sachs or Morgan. A month later I had 5 million US dollars. This is simply unimaginable. I have to think about it carefully." Consider how to spend the money.

Billy and Bordeaux also chattered about their plans.

Warren, who comes from the most modest family, has already made plans: "I really envy you. My capital is too small and I only won less than one million US dollars. I decided to pay off my student loans first and then give my parents a new one." A bigger house, after all, they just gave me a third brother."

Warren's idea was immediately recognized by others. Rather than considering illusory things, this was indeed a more practical choice.

Among the five, only Eric actually has no student loans. The other four are all carrying debts ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands.

It's an exaggeration, but this is the cost of education in the United States.

In the United States, the annual tuition at public universities is about US$30,000, or US$120,000 for four years. The specific cost depends on the course chosen.

For example, at the University of California, Los Angeles, where Eric attends, the annual tuition for his course is $39,000.

This is still the price in 2002. If it were 20 years later, it would have increased by at least another $10,000.

And this is just the tuition fee. If you include the cost of books, room and board, etc., it is almost US$30,000 per year and US$120,000 for four years. The total cost of attending a university is US$200,000 to US$300,000.

Of course, if you save a little, don't participate in various activities, don't participate in social activities, etc., you can indeed spend a lot of money, but not many people will do this because they have student loans to use.

Therefore, the vast majority of college students are burdened with heavy loans after graduation. Obama even had to repay them for 21 years. You can imagine what a heavy burden this is.

In this country, the largest loan is a mortgage, followed by student loans.

Without Eric, it would have taken Warren at least 10 years to pay off the loan and find a good job.

Judy: "So do you want to continue? I've calculated a calculation for you. You have already made 1 billion US dollars. Should you continue or stop?"

"And I have observed that the odds are getting closer and closer. Even the Korean team may not be able to get more than double the odds in the next game."

Judy's problem is also what the other three people are concerned about. Without Eric's guidance, they would not dare to make random bets.

Eric thought for a moment and typed on the keyboard: "South Korea will face Germany in two days. Prepare to win against the German team. This will be the last time."

Billy raised a question: "Shouldn't it be the Korean team? They obviously bribed the referee."

Bordeaux: "Yes, although it is shameless, it is very effective in terms of results."

Judy: "Is it because the Korean team is going to be interfered with? After all, cheating in front of the whole world. This kind of shameless behavior will not be allowed by FIFA."

Eric had to admire Judy's thinking speed: "You're right, the German team is not easy to mess with. They have learned from the mistakes of Spain and Italy. They will not make the same mistakes again. I received news that the football emperor Beckenbauer is going to take action." .”

Four people asked at the same time: "Who is Beckenbauer?"

Eric didn't bother to explain: "Don't care who he is, just know that he is German and has great energy. Once he leaves the field, the Korean team will definitely lose."

"But those gambling companies have been cheated by the Korean team in the first two games, so the odds of the German team in the next game will be much higher than that of the Korean team. What we have to do is to harvest in the opposite direction and make the last vote."

According to the memory of his previous life, Beckenbauer forcefully requested to change the referee 30 minutes before the start of the game. In such a short time, the betting company could no longer react.

In the early hours of two days later, the match between the South Korean team and the German team was about to begin. Players from both sides were preparing to enter the stadium, and FIFA suddenly announced the change of referees.

Outside the stadium, many betting companies were dumbfounded because the Korean team's odds were 1:5, while the German team's odds were 1:4. This would be another night of vomiting blood.

As expected, Germany defeated South Korea 1:0, and Eric once again received $80 million.

The reason why there are not hundreds of millions is because some small gambling companies have declared bankruptcy and have no place to place bets.

Primitive accumulation is completed and we are preparing to acquire MGM, echoing the title of our book.

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