Chapter 478: They Would Get Used to It

[Chapter 478: They Would Get Used to It]

The Mask opened with over $37 million in its first week, far exceeding its production budget of less than $30 million, and it was virtually certain to gross over $100 million overall.

In contrast, MGM had released only one movie during the summer season, which barely made $10 million at the box office. Clearly, the success of The Mask would attract many eyes and envious glances. After all, even without comparing to the now-defunct state of MGM, The Mask's summer box office performance in 1992 was certainly better than that of Paramount, Universal, and Fox.

Paramount's summer blockbuster was Harrison Ford's action film Patriot Games, but it only managed to gross just over $80 million. Universal and Fox faced similar difficulties, with none of the three major studios having a film that crossed the $100 million mark that summer.

Meanwhile, Sony Pictures, known for its deep pockets, had recruited Tom Cruise for the high-budget Running Out of Time: Prequel. However, for various reasons, that film also stalled at around $80 million, barely covering its production budget. The failures in the North American box office often set off a chain reaction; because of Running Out of Time: Prequel's lack of success, its overseas box office and ancillary rights sales faced significant setbacks, costing Sony an enormous loss.

One week after The Mask hit theaters, Disney's Sister Act conveniently closed the chapter on the summer box office by hitting over 2,100 theaters in North America. The release of this comedy signified the end of the summer blockbuster season; thereafter, the films that followed were mostly those that the studios didn't prioritize but merely aimed to gamble on at the tail end of the summer. The chances of any dark horse emerging from those releases were slim.

Without a doubt, Twister became the biggest winner of the entire summer. With expected total box office earnings around $300 million, combined with the success of The Mask, Firefly Films' summer box office total easily exceeded $400 million. If you factored in several other Disney releases, by tallying the current annual box office total in North America, Firefly Films was on track to eclipse 10% of that total just from the summer season. If Firefly were a publicly traded company, its stock price would have likely skyrocketed by now.

...

While North American entertainment media buzzed with excitement, Eric had already left Los Angeles. After attending the premiere of The Mask, he swiftly flew off to the Hawaiian Islands.

Thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer's impressive pre-production efforts, by the time Eric arrived in Hawaii, sets like Dr. Hammond's research facility, the gates of Jurassic Park, and the electric fencing designed to keep out dinosaurs were all completed. Meanwhile, two other smaller crews were shooting scenes involving amber mining and dinosaur excavations in the Dominican Republic and California's Red Rock Canyon National Park.

"Eric, this is the spot," Jerry Bruckheimer pointed to a deep forest corridor. "Kaua'i doesn't have the kind of terrain you need, but this condition absolutely qualifies. We just need to take a day to transport the necessary equipment for filming."

At this moment, they were discussing the scene of the T-Rex chasing a Jeep. Since Kaua'i lacked convenient geography, Jerry found an appropriate location on neighboring Oahu.

"If we decide to go with this place, we've definitely got to make some modifications to the surrounding environment, or it just won't work. Would the state of Hawaii agree?" Eric asked, eyeing the pristine forest.

"I thought of that already; they said it would be fine," Jerry responded with a confident look.

Eric smiled and didn't press the issue further. They both hopped into a Jeep, and after the driver started the engine, Eric stretched out. Although he had just arrived in Hawaii the day before, today, he had already explored all the filming locations with Jerry, with some preliminary shooting planned for the following day.

Filming a large-scale movie consumed immense manpower and resources. Therefore, Eric couldn't afford to take too much time to rest. With a production team of hundreds, the daily costs added up quickly, pushing Eric to jump into work as soon as possible. While he could easily afford to waste time given his wealth, doing so would disqualify him from being a competent director and producer.

...

Once the Jeep arrived at the harbor on Oahu, the two boarded a small yacht back to Kaua'i. By this time, it was late evening, and after a day's work, they relaxed. Gazing back at the island that appeared extraordinarily beautiful under the sunset, Jerry chuckled, "Eric, maybe you should try buying a small island."

"Do you have a private island?" Eric asked curiously. The trend of purchasing private islands was gaining momentum, but he wasn't particularly interested in it.

Jerry shook his head. "Not yet, though I occasionally consider it."

Having been a renowned producer for over a decade now, Jerry's wealth was comparable to top-tier Hollywood stars, making the financial aspect of acquiring a private island a non-issue for him.

"I honestly think buying an island isn't worth it. If it's too close to the mainland, you can't guarantee your privacy. If it's too far out, living on an isolated island becomes a huge infrastructure issue. Unless you budget for it, you won't have a comfortable life out there."

Upon hearing Eric's words, Jerry seemed to contemplate.

Eric continued, "If it were me, I'd rather buy a mountain instead. Then I could bring friends to the foot of a towering peak and point up to the clouds: 'See, that mountain is mine.'"

Jerry imagined the scene Eric described and couldn't help but laugh.

...

As the yacht drifted further from Oahu, Jerry glanced at a group of assistants on the deck and nodded toward Eric, leading them into the cabin.

"Eric, judging by the current box office trends of a few films, Firefly Films should be able to exceed $500 million at this summer box office, right?"

Eric knew Jerry wouldn't bring this up for no reason. He nodded silently and took a seat next to him by a window.

"I've seen the release schedule for Firefly and Disney films set for year-end. Firefly will still drop Speed, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and the joint production with Sony, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Disney is also launching another animated film, which typically performs well. Therefore, the year-end box office figures shouldn't lag far behind those of the summer blockbuster season. Plus, with the accumulated box office from mid-range productions, Firefly's box office share could easily exceed 30%, surpassing Warner."

Eric had caught on to some hints in Jerry's words and laughed, "So, did someone ask you to relay a message?"

Jerry nodded, "Martin Davis from Paramount. You know I've been working with Paramount for a while."

"What does he want?" Eric asked bluntly.

Jerry chuckled, "If you're agreeable, Mr. Davis will make arrangements to meet you personally. What you two wish to discuss isn't something I need to be concerned about."

"Okay, I'll make time to give Mr. Davis a call," Eric replied with a nod.

Jerry's meaning couldn't have been clearer. Given Firefly's outstanding performance, it would undoubtedly provoke reactions from rival studios. Martin Davis's reaching out through Jerry was clearly a bid for collaboration with Firefly. After all, in situations where a win-win is possible, few would choose hostility.

"Eric, personally, I think you could consider splitting Pixar Animation Studio and Digital Domain from the Firefly system, forming two separate companies."

Eric shook his head with a smile. "Jerry, it took me so long to bring Firefly together as a cohesive entity; how could I just disband it?"

Jerry appeared momentarily taken aback, seeming to understand Eric's point while also feeling something was slightly off.

Eric, however, didn't notice Jerry's expression and turned his gaze to the ocean beyond the window, calmly stating, "Since the 1930s, Hollywood has grown accustomed to the structures of the 'Big Six,' 'Big Seven,' or 'Big Eight,' but that doesn't mean this should be Hollywood's norm. In America, General Motors can dominate, Bell can dominate, Standard Oil can dominate, even Walmart, just thirty years old, can dominate; if that's the case, why can't Hollywood have a single entity at the top?"

Hearing this, Jerry experienced a subtle sense of fracture, having been in Hollywood since the early '70s. Nearly twenty years later, he'd unknowingly become accustomed to the existence of several key players in the industry. Yet Eric's words made Jerry realize this rule didn't have to be unbreakable.

"Eric, why has Hollywood maintained this multistage structure for so long?" Jerry instinctively asked.

After a moment of thought, Eric replied, "It's probably because of ups and downs in fortune. Movies are different from other industries. Take Walmart, for example. They established a distribution system that outpaced competitors, dominating the U.S. market in just thirty years. Others trying to replicate their model - even perfectly - wouldn't achieve Walmart's scale since Walmart already dominates the market. But the film industry is different; the strength of a movie studio is ultimately measured by box office receipts, which are the most volatile. It's possible for a studio to produce a slew of blockbusters in a short period, like Barry Diller during his time at Paramount, but for a variety of reasons, that situation can't last. Meanwhile, other studios also don't rest, occasionally crafting hits, creating a back-and-forth that makes achieving a monopoly nearly impossible."

Having said this, Eric smiled with confidence, "But at Firefly, this situation will continue indefinitely. So, one day, I'll make them get used to it."

Jerry chuckled softly but didn't echo Eric's sentiment. Since other studios faced fluctuations, how could Firefly remain unaffected?

...

Eric didn't put too much stock in the message from Martin Davis relayed through Jerry Bruckheimer. Firefly had reached a level of stability that couldn't be toppled by shady tactics; to defeat a studio, it had to be done with films.

And if it came down to films, Eric was confident no studio in Hollywood could match that strength.

Nevertheless, he didn't ignore Martin Davis's message. That evening, Eric placed a call to Martin Davis in Los Angeles, arranging for them to discuss things when they had free time, and he would gauge Paramount's sincerity about potential collaboration.

Eric knew that with MGM being marginalized, Disney being swallowed up by Firefly, and Universal and Columbia both sold to Japanese conglomerates, the only external option for breaking into Hollywood was through acquiring Paramount.

From his memories of the past and gathered information, after Viacom's Sumner Redstone lost the battle for Disney against Eric, he immediately shifted his attention to Paramount. Barry Diller left Fox, started his own venture, and soon began exploring how to re-enter Hollywood, uniting several companies to test the waters with Paramount's shareholders.

Although Paramount's performance in recent years hadn't been stellar, its status as a major studio still held weight. If they could secure quality film projects, Paramount could potentially rebound at any time; hence Martin Davis had little desire to sell.

Unfortunately for Martin, Paramount was a publicly traded company. While he was the primary shareholder, if other studios resorted to hostile acquisition tactics, amidst subpar performance, other shareholders might willingly accept a high buyout offer in favor of cashing out.

Presumably, this was why Martin Davis would contact Eric. During the Japanese acquisitions of Columbia and Universal, both studios had short-term collaborations with Firefly, which resulted in strong receipts, even if both studios ultimately sold and the Japanese paid far more.

Martin Davis was quite straightforward with his intentions; he simply wanted to boost Paramount's performance to deter other shareholders from selling the company. With Eastern Europe's film market gradually opening up and North America's annual box office totals consistently growing, it was understandable that Martin had no desire to sell Paramount.

*****

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