America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 181 "Happy Death Day" is released, Gadot's heart

Through the window, Eric could see the two arguing as they got into the car and left.

Thinking of it, Avi Arad's impolite attitude and words just now made Isaac Perlmutter very dissatisfied.

It can be seen from one exchange that these two people are not compatible at all.

The former is a standard businessman, and the world is not as big as money. This kind of people are easy to deal with, because everything can be clearly priced in their hearts.

The latter is more difficult to get, trying to get an old otaku to sell his collection of figures and cards.

Unless the sky is falling, no one can even think of stepping forward.

Since it was difficult to handle, Eric didn't plan to handle it himself, and simply left it to Isaac Perlmutter.

For his own benefit, he would do whatever it takes.

As for the equity swap he proposed, it is not unacceptable, it just needs to be grasped well.

MGM's equity is currently divided into five shares, of which he holds 2%, Judy holds 1%, Billy and Bordeaux each hold 3%, and Warren holds 2%.

The four of them followed Eric in betting on the World Cup, and each of them also won some money, with a total investment of US$20 million.

Although the shares are small, when MGM re-lists in a few months, they will be worth millions of dollars.

If Isaac Perlmutter and Avi Arad come to an agreement, Eric's inner price is that the former can exchange no more than 4% of the shares, and the latter can exchange no more than 5%.

And he can acquire 27% of Marvel's equity and become the largest individual shareholder.

Then he would use the name of MGM to acquire 20% of the shares held by Beechcraft Toys. In this case, his direct and indirect holdings would reach 47%.

It does not violate any rules, and it has properly turned Marvel into one of its own, and no one is qualified to challenge its own status.

After sending the two people away, Judy came over to report on her work.

Now she serves as the deputy director of both the script and production departments. Everyone at MGM knows that this is Eric's most valued right-hand person.

"Boss, regarding the invitation to "Inception," Christian Bale has agreed to star. His asking price is US$6.5 million."

"Heath Ledger was also very willing to star, and perhaps because he was worried that the asking price would be too high and he would be screened out, he lowered his salary to only US$2 million, which is lower than the market price."

Hearing this, Eric laughed: "It seems that they are all discerning people who understand the excellence of this movie."

"Yes, Heath Ledger is not feeling well recently. The commercial artistic performance of "The Kelly Party" and "Sin Eater" are not very good."

"He originally hoped to establish himself as the number one new generation actor in Australia with these two films, but unfortunately he failed."

"In short, now he urgently needs a word-of-mouth work to turn around."

Anyone in the entertainment industry knows how much a blow to an actor is caused by consecutive hits on the street. It is easy to be labeled as a box office poison.

"When I was auditioning for the leading actor in Transformers, I said I would work with him, and I have fulfilled my promise this time."

"Accept their salary demands, and I will personally speak to Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron."

"In person? It seems that you have a really good relationship with these two women." Judy suddenly teased.

"Watch your tone ma'am. If you have nothing else to do, just go out."

"Wait a minute, Clint Eastwood agreed to direct and star in "Million Dollar Baby" for a total of $14 million for the two jobs."

"So expensive? Is his market price so high?" Eric was a little surprised.

Judy explained: "Because this old man gave up box office dividends, he probably thought that sports themes have little box office potential."

"Hilary Swank also agreed to play the leading role, and her salary was much cheaper, only $4 million."

At this point, Judy suddenly frowned: "Actually, I have always felt that it is a bit unfair. Christian Bale has not won any significant awards, but he can ask for $6.5 million."

"Hillary Swank is an Oscar-winning actress, but she only dares to ask for $4 million. This phenomenon is really unreasonable. The pay gap between actors and actresses is also too big."

Eric chuckled: "What do you want to say? Sexism?"

Judy waved her hand: "Forget it, we are both women and can't help but complain. In the end, the salary is determined by the market, and the market's choice is the audience's choice."

"The audience naturally includes male viewers as well as female viewers, so half of the reason why actresses' salaries are low is the women themselves."

"We who study finance all understand that it is women who choose to lower themselves."

Eric spread his hands: "Yes, you can't blame others for your choice. In fact, for the vast majority of actors, the pay standards for men and women are the same, and there is no discrimination at all."

"The standard for extra actors is US$100 a day, and newcomers who play supporting roles for the first time will not be paid more than US$20,000. Everyone starts out the same."

"And these actors account for more than 99% of all practitioners, so the remuneration of male and female actors is also very fair."

"As for the less than 1% of big stars, these people are survivor bias and cannot represent the actor group at all."

"And the reason why big stars' salaries are unequal, the audience should pat their chests and ask themselves what the reason is."

"The same goes for the modeling industry. Why do top female models earn much more than male models? Men should ask themselves why."

"Okay, let's not talk about this topic. Anyway, I agreed to the salary. I will contact Clint Eastwood as soon as possible. I hope the project can be launched within five months."

The reason for giving such a long preparation time is mainly to give Hillary Swank time to exercise and learn boxing.

This is a movie that is aiming for an Oscar, and it must be perfect in all aspects to have any hope.

In addition, as long as there are no accidents, the actual shooting time for this type of movie will not exceed two months.

Clint Eastwood's filming efficiency is well-known in the industry, and it is normal to complete it within one and a half months. It will definitely be released next year.

Judy jotted down the request: "Then The Passion of the Christ is finished. Mel Gibson would like to invite you to an internal preview."

"Evangelicals in Colorado Springs and religious leaders in Pennsylvania were also involved to ensure that the film's content did not violate the Bible."

Hearing this, Eric refused without thinking. He had no interest in this kind of relatively pure religious film, and he didn't want to have anything to do with it other than distribution.

Although the main cast includes Monica Bellucci, there is no need to go out of your way to get to know each other.

Ball flowers?

But in Eric's heart, Biselon was still inferior.

"Just send someone who has no faith. It's enough to judge it from the perspective of plot and art. In addition, let's set the release date in February next year."

"Okay, finally here's the thing about Mean Girls, the Olsen sisters don't want to be in it, so what are your thoughts?"

"Should I personally persuade them two, or should I choose another actor?"

After thinking for a moment, Eric said: "Then let's go to the open audition, and the director will choose Andrea."

"Her basic skills are very solid, and her sense of business and art is also in place. Moreover, she has worked on two projects with me, and her ability to provide independent guidance has been greatly improved."

"When "House of Cards" is finished, I think she will like this new job very much. It will be more exciting than making short films."

Judy chuckled strangely: "As long as you are the assistant director of the project, there is no one who can't improve his ability quickly. Who makes you like to be a hands-off boss?"

"Hahahaha... I am cultivating talents in disguise."

Time flies to the end of August. After a month of fighting, "Get Out" has already harvested nearly 3.5 billion U.S. dollars at the box office, which is an absolute bumper harvest.

It is still about half a month away from its potential. It is not a problem for the final box office in North America to exceed 500 million US dollars, and it can also be expected to exceed 600 million US dollars.

However, the overseas box office is far inferior to that in North America.

Eric believes that the country with the highest overseas box office should be France. After all, there are many black guys there.

In another ten years, Paris will be occupied and the old Parisians will be driven out of France.

Unexpectedly, the highest box office was in South Korea. When it was launched in Europe at the same time, it had already won more than 9 million US dollars at the box office.

On the other hand, the UK has the highest box office in Europe, followed by France, which only took in a box office of more than 7 million US dollars.

Is it because of the class oppression in South Korea and the superiority of the US military stationed in South Korea that the stickmen resonate with racial discrimination?

At present, the total overseas box office has exceeded US$45 million, and it is expected to reach US$60 million globally.

While "Get Out" continues to reap box office success, "Happy Death Day" is also about to be released.

As Gadot's first movie starring, although it was a small-budget film, Eric decided to hold a premiere.

The scale is not large, and the media and some famous film critics from Los Angeles and nearby cities are mainly invited to participate.

After all, she is his own woman. If she doesn’t pamper her, who will?

And now that it has been received, it will also have a driving effect on the box office of Transformers two months later, so Eric also attended the premiere for the first time.

You know, since attending the premiere of "Red Dragon" last year, he has never attended such an event again.

The red carpet was not long, and most of the fans were hired with money. The extras created a great atmosphere. On the surface, it was no different from a blockbuster premiere.

After the process is completed, the movie begins.

The original plot of "Happy Death Day" is very bloody. The heroine has the same birthday as her mother, and because her mother died, she began to indulge herself and alienate her father.

She turned herself into a scumbag and started missing her birthdays. Finally, she went through a time loop and reconciled, becoming a good girl.

What bullshit logic!

It’s not like your mother was killed by your father. Is this the reason for you to become evil? She also works as a mistress to hook up with a married man. She is a pure green tea bitch and deserves to be hacked to death.

In other words, there is a layer of time loop skin, otherwise this bloody movie will definitely end in violent death.

With such a crotch-stretching plot, Eric will definitely have to drastically change it.

First, the role of the heroine's father was deleted, and directly changed to the one where the father lost his father at a young age, and then his mother's accidental death was caused by his own mistakes.

That's why she closed her heart, gradually degenerated, and used depravity to numb her pain, which made it more reasonable.

But there must be a limit to depravity. "Happy Death Day" seems to be a horror movie, but it is actually more like a youth comedy movie.

In particular, the various death methods of the heroine are intertwined, creating an effect that is not scary, but a bit funny, and paired with cheerful music, it feels like watching a movie.

So Eric also deleted the plot where the heroine was a mistress, and changed it to one where she chose to seek help after being killed again and again.

The teacher and friends finally decided to help her and were killed again and again by the murderer.

All this made her feel the true love in the world, thereby freeing herself and reaching reconciliation.

After the lion head roared on the big screen, the movie officially started.

Gadot quietly grabbed Eric's hand and whispered: "Honey, I just walked the red carpet and interviewed, and I feel so nervous."

Amused by her cute look, Eric grinned: "You will get used to it in the future, adjust your mood, you will be interviewed later."

"Did you notice my shoes? Are they too flat? I should have worn heels."

"Forget it. You are already taller than Benjamin McKenzie. If you wear high heels, he will not be able to appear on stage."

"Hehehe is right. Come to my place after it's over."

"Are you itchy? Do you want it?" Eric asked teasingly.

Gadot scratched his palm and replied unabashedly: "Well, I think so! I need you to fill my heart and body."

As he spoke, he licked his lips, his eyes almost watering.

After more than an hour, the movie screening ended.

Many viewers and media people spontaneously stood up and applauded. MGM did not spend any money on this part, it was a natural reaction.

After all, it is a new director and new actor. Film critics and reporters will not have too high requirements for them. The quality of the film has exceeded many people's expectations.

Directors and actors such as Gadot, the Russo brothers, and Benjamin McKenzie took to the stage to continue interviews.

During this period, questions about the screenwriter were asked, and the media’s attention was drawn to Eric.

He didn't want to go on stage, but he had to go up and answer a few questions.

After more than half an hour, the Q\u0026A ended and the reception continued, but Eric left early.

He went straight to Gadot's apartment and waited until after 11 o'clock in the evening. Wonder Woman finally finished the entertainment and returned to her room.

After washing and lying on the bed, the two began to fall in love, telling each other about their lovesickness during this period.

The waves of shouting harassed Barrefali next door and he couldn't help it, so he simply walked out of the house.

Her heart was broken.

"It's not over! I tolerated you for an hour, and you did it for another hour."

"I thought it could finally stop, but you are still continuing, are you going to let people live?"

"I'm tired from listening, but not tired from doing it! It's too much!"

"Sex is like a bone-scraping steel knife. Sooner or later, you two bastards will be scraped to death!"