Chapter 24: Jumping into the Pit

[Chapter 24: Jumping into the Pit]

Sitting at the end of the conference table, Amy Pascal felt that this matter was not as simple as it seemed. Although she had only interacted with Eric for a few short hours, she sensed that the boy possessed a level of composure that was hard for others his age to match. A person with such a temperament would not be impulsive enough to propose a wager agreement with such a low probability of success. Hence, this wager agreement was most likely something that Eric Williams had considered deeply.

Ignoring the unanimous support from others for the wager agreement, Amy Pascal pondered for a long time before saying, "Mr. Blount, I think it would be better to proceed with caution; there's no such thing as a free lunch. We could raise the buyout price a bit and negotiate again with Eric Williams. If that doesn't work, we could at least sign a revenue-sharing agreement. With the box office potential of this film, we're bound to make a profit."

"Amy, I think you're being too conservative, even more so than that kid," Lester Reed interjected. "Do you know the potential of this film? If we completely acquire the rights to this movie, apart from box office sharing, in terms of video rights, TV play, and various peripheral licenses, we could easily make tens of millions of dollars more. Plus, we could shoot sequels. If we choose the revenue-sharing agreement, the rights will still be in that boy's hands, and we would have to give him a substantial share again in the following operations."

Amy Pascal replied, "We could bump the buyout price a bit -- maybe $15 million -- I'm sure that boy would agree."

"Based on the potential of similar low-budget comedies, typically speaking, a $50 million gross would already be considered a box office dark horse. Most high-quality films could only pull in about $20 million at the box office. So, with over an 80% chance of getting the entire rights to this film for free, why should we pay over $10 million? That boy proposed such a crazy wager even with less than a 20% success rate; don't tell me we lack the courage to take such a bet?"

"But..." Amy Pascal observed her colleagues' greed and fervor. A woman's unique intuition made her feel that something was off about this whole deal.

"Alright, Amy," Cohen Blount interrupted her. "While Jeffrey Hansen and that Eric Williams might be your friends, you must understand that you are now an employee of Columbia Pictures and should consider the company's interests."

Cohen Blount's comments left Amy Pascal momentarily dumbfounded. While she did consider Jeffrey Hansen a friend, as a professional manager, she had always adhered to professional ethics.

Now, expressing her opinion out of caution led to being suspected of colluding with outsiders for personal gains. The intense humiliation made Amy Pascal's right hand gripping the pen tremble slightly. Finally, she stood up abruptly and coldly said, "Mr. Blount, since my comments led you to this conclusion, I believe I am no longer suited to participate in this project. I will take my leave. Goodbye."

With that, Amy Pascal pursed her lips, hurriedly organized the documents in front of her, and silently turned to leave the office.

A brief silence fell over the entire office.

"Women!"

It was impossible to tell who sighed first. Amy Pascal, as a high-ranking woman in a patriarchal society, surely faced all sorts of discrimination, but it was unclear what emotions lay behind that sigh.

Cohen Blount felt a twinge of regret for his earlier words. Amy Pascal's work ethic and professional integrity were well-known; otherwise, she wouldn't be sitting in that office as a woman. However, while lacking decisiveness in managing the company, Cohen Blount was quite obstinate, thinking that Amy Pascal leaving the conference room was a provocation to his authority, so he naturally attributed all the blame to her.

After about ten seconds of silence, Cohen Blount spoke up again, "Alright, since everyone agrees to this wager agreement, let's wrap it up for today. Lester, starting tomorrow, you'll take full responsibility for the Home Alone project."

Amidst the envious gazes of everyone, Lester Reed excitedly agreed. If he won the wager, the credit would definitely fall to him, and a promotion and raise would be inevitable.

"No problem, Mr. Blount. I will do my best to carry this out."

...

The next day, Eric received notification from Columbia that they had accepted the wager agreement. At the same time, Jeffrey contacted the law firm that Eric needed. After both firms assessed the value of Jurassic Park, they agreed to send a team to assist Eric in drafting and overseeing the implementation of the wager agreement.

On October 31, though very interested, Eric still could not attend his first Halloween parade since being reborn. Instead, he spent time in a dreary conference room at Columbia headquarters with a bunch of dull middle-aged men and women drafting the specifics of the wager agreement.

Building on the conditions Eric proposed, the specifics of the agreement gradually took shape. To ensure that Columbia would maximize its efforts to promote and distribute Home Alone, the agreement even detailed how many promotional articles needed to be published in different newspapers, the required audience turnout, which would necessitate either an increase or decrease in screening time and number of shows in theaters, and so on. Furthermore, should Columbia violate any aspect of the agreement, they laid out varying penalties based on the degree of violation.

The final dozens of pages of the contract left even Eric dumbfounded, and he couldn't help but admire the professionalism of the accounting and legal teams that Jeffrey Hansen brought in.

On Columbia's side, Lester Reed, in charge of the Home Alone project, believed it was essentially already in Columbia's pocket, and thus he didn't pay much heed to the lengthy contract. Instead, he mocked Eric for making a fuss over nothing; the two teams he hired likely racked up fees of several hundred thousand dollars, which seemed like a waste.

Lester Reed thought that no matter how detailed the contract was, the box office potential of Home Alone was evident. Columbia's upper management's most daring expectations for the film's box office didn't even exceed that of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which, being a perfect blend of animation and live action, only earned $150 million at the North American box office.

Originally, Columbia planned to release Home Alone during the Christmas season in December; Eric strongly opposed it. No one understood the fierce competition of high-grossing films in December better than he did; within one month, three of the year's top ten box office films would be screening. Moreover, Home Alone had achieved astonishing box office results in his past life through a lengthy release period starting in November, spanning over two months.

In the end, Columbia compromised and decided to set the release date for November 18, the same day as 17 Again, which was Eric's suggestion. Both movies related to him opened simultaneously, and due to the difference in themes and target audiences, they wouldn't eat into each other's box office; instead, they could help promote each other. To accommodate this, Columbia even postponed the planned release of the drama Fresh Horses, originally slated for November 18, to December, freeing up around 1,000 screens for Home Alone.

The sheer number of screens reflected Columbia's ambivalence. Typically, only films with high box office predictions receive over 1,000 theater screenings, signaling that Columbia was optimistic about Home Alone's prospects. However, also due to the wager agreement, Columbia did not want Home Alone to exceed $50 million, as this would allow them to keep all box office shares and retain all film rights, including sequels, leading to a limitation of screens.

Eric didn't harbor any resentment; the mindset of Columbia's upper management was perfectly normal. Besides, the extensive wager agreement clearly stated that reaching certain box office numbers would necessitate an increase in the number of screens. If Columbia refused to implement this, they could expect a legal battle. Eric believed that a film's revenue wasn't sufficient for a giant like Columbia to risk its commercial reputation.

After signing the wager agreement, since neither party concealed the intentions of the agreement, but rather, preferred it to spread, the content of the agreement quickly circulated throughout Hollywood.

With the efforts of Columbia's publicity department, the next day, the Los Angeles Times' entertainment section headlined an article about the wager.

"Genius Boy Bets Against Columbia: Madness or Foolishness?"

*****

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