Chapter 497: You Don't Have High Hopes Either

[Chapter 497: You Don't Have High Hopes Either]

As a big-budget movie with a $60 million investment, Mr. & Mrs. Smith exceeded the total cost of all the films John Woo had made in Hong Kong over the span of twenty years. Because of this, Eric's involvement in the final cut of the film did not offend John Woo; if anything, it brought him a sense of relief. After all, with a total investment of $60 million, every time John Woo thought about that figure after taking on the project, it made him feel as though he were walking on eggshells. Fortunately, after Eric approved the rough cut, some of the anxiety that had haunted John Woo for months finally dissipated.

As quitting time approached, Tina Fey parked her car in the lot of Firefly Studios, glanced at her watch, and picked up her satchel filled with documents, hurrying toward the post-production center. Just as she arrived outside the production center, she saw Eric and an Asian man laughing quietly as they came out.

Eric had left Allen in Paris. Although he had his own assistant office at Firefly's headquarters, he didn't choose a temporary first assistant. The little lady, after finishing Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, had claimed there wasn't much work left for her, so she suggested Tina Fey as a temporary aide. Eric didn't object; having a familiar woman around was certainly more convenient than someone new.

Upon spotting Tina Fey, Eric nodded at her and chatted for a few moments more with John Woo before making his way over to the young woman. Noticing that Tina's satchel seemed rather heavy on her shoulder, Eric reached out to take it, but she quickly dodged away.

"Thanks, Eric, I'll manage," Tina Fey shook her head.

Eric didn't mind her occasional display of stubbornness and smiled. "Well, let's head back then -- it's quitting time!"

...

Back at the parking lot, just as Tina was about to unlock her car, Eric grabbed her arm. "Let's leave it here for now; we can take it tomorrow. It'll give us a chance to talk on the way."

This time, Tina did not protest, giving a slight nod as she followed him to his car.

Once the driver started the vehicle, Tina placed her satchel on her lap and pulled out a few folders. "Eric, Mr. Hansen... Oh, younger Hansen from New York sent over some documents this afternoon about Marvel Entertainment. He called earlier to say he wanted to get them to you as soon as possible."

Now it made sense why Tina had rushed over. Eric reached over and took the thick documents from her lap.

Compared to the brief information Eric discussed with Chris back in New York regarding Marvel Comics, this material was much more detailed. It covered Marvel Entertainment's status, business structure, debt ratio, and comic book rights, even including a section detailing the entanglements between Marvel Entertainment and Ron Perelman's investment group.

Eric skimmed through the financially-oriented information but focused on the comic book rights. As he read, he quickly realized that the actual details diverged significantly from what he had in mind. He had originally thought Marvel Comics sold off its popular superhero characters to the major Hollywood studios in the late '90s to resolve a financial crisis.

In truth, starting as early as the '80s, Marvel had been selling the film rights to its comic characters. The documents showed that Marvel's hottest comic character rights had already found buyers -- The Fantastic Four was with Constantin Film in Germany, Spider-Man was with Carolco Pictures, Captain America with 21st Century Films, and the Hulk was with a company he hadn't heard of, New World Pictures. This meant that Hollywood's major studios showed little interest in Marvel's adaptation rights, while most of the valuable characters were now in the hands of second or third-tier film companies. Characters like Iron Man and Black Widow had no takers at all.

Moreover, the licensing agreements Marvel had signed with these film companies resembled the ones he recalled, stipulating that if no product was released within a few years, the rights reverted back to Marvel Comics. However, despite acquiring these rights, these smaller studios didn't seem too inclined to make adaptations. After acquiring The Fantastic Four's rights, Constantin Film simply shelved it until one day, nearing the expiration of their rights, they hurriedly made a scrappy, low-budget B-movie version just to keep their rights.

Other companies that possessed adaptations jumped on the bandwagon after Warner released a blockbuster Batman but failed to create any real buzz.

Tina Fey quietly sat next to Eric, sneaking glances at his serious profile as he read. Since Drew had jokingly mentioned that line a few months earlier, Tina had tried to quell her thoughts but couldn't help the random musings that crept in. As she spent time with Eric again months later, she realized she couldn't be as carefree as she had been before.

When Drew had pushed her close to Eric, she told herself a hundred times to refuse, yet somehow, she had ended up accommodating him. Though reluctant to admit it, deep down, she always hoped for more time with Eric.

"Tina," Eric said suddenly, finishing a document. He turned his head just as their eyes met. Noticing her immediate attempt to look away, he burst out laughing. "Hey, since the last time I saw you, I've felt like you've been acting strange. What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing," Tina quickly denied.

Eric pondered for a moment and tentatively asked, "Did Drew say something to you?"

"Huh?" she opened her mouth but offered no answer.

Shrugging, Eric presumed he guessed right. "Okay, that's not a secret; I'll tell you. I'm going to be a dad next April."

At his words, Tina's eyes widened. "You... you're getting married?"

"Definitely not," Eric looked at her expression. "I guess you didn't know."

Tina felt a strong wave of disappointment wash over her but nodded nonetheless. "Drew, Drew didn't tell me."

This revelation led to a brief silence in the car.

After a moment, Tina cautiously spoke, "So, when the baby arrives, will you get married?"

"Probably not," Eric shook his head. "But I'll work hard to be a good father."

Tina didn't quite know how to continue the topic. Coming from a very conservative American middle-class family, her upbringing made it difficult to accept Eric's approach, but oddly, she found herself somewhat tolerant. The subconscious often tended to be more lenient toward those who held wealth and power.

"Did you finish reading?" she finally asked, pointing at the documents in Eric's hands.

"Not yet, just glanced through some. I'll keep reviewing them later. Oh, I meant to say, could you gather some tapes of these movies for me tomorrow? I'd like to check them out," Eric said, handing the documents back to Tina.

She quickly jotted down the movie titles in her notebook.

This little episode seemed to pass, but soon Eric sensed that the atmosphere between them had shifted from one kind of awkwardness to another.

...

Under Katzenberg's direct guidance, after a month of adjustments, the renamed Disneyland Paris reopened to visitors.

Due to the public fallout from their abrupt closure just ten days after opening and Disney's sincere apologies coupled with substantial reforms, Disneyland Paris's reopening drew in a new wave of visitors. In just one week, attendance surged to a peak of 700,000. Although ticket prices and hotel costs fell, subsequent surveys indicated a visitor satisfaction rate of seventy percent, with eighty-five percent satisfaction among French tourists. Efforts to align the park's offerings with French culture and making French the official language for staff had certainly paid off.

While the average spending per visitor hadn't risen, and in fact, had slightly decreased due to lower prices, management remained optimistic. Similar to a film, if a highly anticipated movie only garnered high box office numbers but received terrible reviews, producing a sequel would become difficult. Conversely, if reviews were stellar, even if box office returns were modest, studios remained eager to make sequels. The reopening Disneyland Paris felt like a film that had won significant acclaim; a good reputation would greatly enhance the likelihood of return visits.

"If we can maintain this momentum, maybe Disneyland Paris's outlook won't be as grim as we initially thought," Eric remarked, reviewing another survey result brought back to Los Angeles by Katzenberg.

"I feel the same way," Katzenberg, having lost a bit of weight in the month apart, replied. "Luckily, the recovery was timely. Although the one-month closure incurred some unwanted expenses, given the current situation, the losses were entirely worth it. At the very least, Disneyland Paris should reach a break-even point this year. While we may have been overly optimistic in our initial projections, one truth remains: the potential tourist base in Europe is undoubtedly larger than that of Japan or the U.S. I believe our main issue was our failure to adapt to local culture like Tokyo Disneyland did. If we manage to do that, profitability shouldn't be too far-fetched."

"Alright, let's stop discussing accountability; we both know this isn't on either of us," Eric said with a smile.

Disneyland Paris had been under Michael Eisner's direct control. Even though Katzenberg was also an executive at Disney during the time, given Eisner's temperament, Katzenberg could never have intervened in that project. Thus, with such a significant blunder occurring, the blame was certain to fall on Eisner's shoulders.

Katzenberg avoided lingering on the topic and said, "I'll continue to keep a close watch on the situation and make adjustments as needed. Also, Giancarlo Parretti lost the case regarding MGM. I received an update while in Paris. The funds Giancarlo defrauded largely came from a French consortium. His MGM stake is set to be auctioned off by a French bank in mid-December to satisfy investor debts. I think this presents a good opportunity for Firefly to expand our library."

Eric shook his head. "But that's going to cost a fortune, Jeffrey. I've considered this too. Even though acquiring MGM would more than double our film library, we lack the means to translate those films into actual profit. We have neither sufficient distribution resources for tape sales nor our own TV station, which are the two most crucial channels for turning older films into real revenue."

Katzenberg realized Eric was speaking the truth and felt a pang of disappointment. If they had capitalized on this chance, they could have completely absorbed MGM. The most valuable asset MGM had left was its extensive library of over 10,000 films and television shows.

Thinking it over, Katzenberg asked, "So, Eric, should we consider building our own television station next?"

Eric set down the documents in his hands, stood up to pour coffee for both him and Katzenberg, and then sat back down, saying, "That's at least a year away. And if we're going to acquire a public broadcasting station, we need to manage our relationship with Fox. We may have to relinquish that ten percent stake in Fox, or else we'll definitely face trouble with the Federal Trade Commission."

"You seem to have a goal in mind?" Katzenberg asked, intrigued by Eric's expression.

Eric smiled and nodded. "But we have to wait until Viacom and QVC finish their competition for Paramount."

Understanding the implication, Katzenberg chuckled. "I guess you don't have much faith in Barry Diller's chances with Paramount."

*****

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