Chapter 484: Disappointment

[Chapter 484: Disappointment]

Thinking about this possibility, and considering Paramount Pictures' precarious situation, Martin Davis could no longer suppress his anger. He slammed his utensils on the table and accused, "Eric, I wasted over a week on Kaua'i, and you can't just throw me a half-hearted answer like this."

Eric looked surprised at first, then slowly smiled coldly and replied, "Martin, you seem to be mistaken about something. I'm not your subordinate, so please don't speak to me like that. Moreover, I never promised you anything from the start."

"You..." Martin Davis glared at Eric, about to say something, but suddenly remembered the current situation. "Alright, Eric, what exactly do you want?"

Eric shook his head gently. "It's not about what I want; it's about what you want, Martin. You want to hold on to Paramount, but the fact is that other shareholders are looking to cash out because of the constant decline in the company's performance over the past few years. To dissuade them from selling, Paramount urgently needs good news that boosts people's confidence in the company's future, not just one or two film collaborations."

"Good news?"

"Yes, for example, Firefly Films investing in Paramount," Eric stated openly without hiding his intention.

This left Martin Davis in silence. Given Firefly's outstanding performance in the film industry, he recognized that this proposal would indeed be a significant help for Paramount's current situation. However, on the other hand, he felt a sense of territory being invaded by an outsider.

After a moment of consideration, Martin tentatively said, "Eric, if it's a mutual share exchange forming a partnership between Firefly and Paramount, then I could agree."

"Sorry, Martin, Firefly has no plans to bring in outside shareholders for now. I'm talking about acquiring a portion of Paramount's shares, say 20%, for cash."

Martin nearly cursed, thinking twenty percent wasn't a small amount at all. "Eric, you know I can't agree to this. Plus, you already control Firefly, and acquiring twenty percent of Paramount's shares wouldn't be approved easily by the Federal Trade Commission."

"Martin, why speak so absolutely? Everything is negotiable."

Eric's tone didn't change at all, but Martin no longer felt like continuing the conversation. If it were a share exchange with Firefly, he'd gladly agree even to a twenty percent stake, or even more. After all, Firefly was a coveted investment target with premium assets like Disney, Pixar, and Digital Domain.

But he would never agree to a cash acquisition because selling those shares meant handing over a significant portion of Paramount's power to Firefly, while he wouldn't have any leverage over them. Even if he remained the largest shareholder after selling twenty percent, the gap in shareholding would be quite narrow. If Firefly decided to, they could easily ally with other shareholders to push him out.

"Eric, since you lack sincerity, I feel there's no need for us to continue this discussion," Martin said, standing up straight.

Eric displayed a regretful expression. "Then I can only apologize, Martin. I thought this would be an opportunity for Paramount."

Martin could hardly stand Eric's nonsense. He saw this primarily as an opportunity for Firefly, and this young man had none of the naivety one would expect for his age. Instead, he came off as someone who had seen too much, solely focused on taking advantage of the situation.

...

After Martin left, Eric went back to the tent, and Allen noticed the situation and followed him inside.

"I thought you were going to collaborate with Paramount again," Allen said, recalling Martin's disappointed expression as he left, smiling.

Eric muttered through a mouthful of lunch, "I wanted to collaborate, but the terms I offered weren't accepted."

Allen could guess that Eric had probably made an unappealing offer. Not too interested, he asked, "Eric, is there really not a single film project from Paramount that you find appealing?"

"Nothing of the caliber of Twister. As for the level of Ace Ventura, there's no need to waste my time on that."

Allen looked shocked. Given Twister's box office trajectory, he knew the film's global revenue would be at least around six hundred million. It seemed that Eric's standards were a bit too high. Nonetheless, he quickly realized that if they weren't of that level, Firefly wouldn't need to collaborate with them. Collaborating on a project like Ace Ventura would only lead to competition with films of the same level.

Eric didn't pay attention to Allen's expression and continued, "Paramount's current situation is primarily a result of Martin Davis himself. He knows nothing about films but holds power over Paramount, leading to professionals being mere puppets. Directors and producers who manage quality projects typically despise working with these outsiders."

"Not many bosses are willing to delegate power to professional managers," Allen replied with a smirk, subtly glancing at Eric.

"That's why I greatly admire Murdoch. He skillfully found a balance between delegating and controlling. If he had shackled Barry Diller like Martin Davis did, then there wouldn't have been the Fox Films and Fox Television Network. And when Barry Diller wanted to take control, Murdoch readily parted ways with him. So even though the media often compares Murdoch to Redstone, I believe Murdoch's achievements will ultimately surpass those of Redstone, who shares a similar style to Martin Davis." After saying this, Eric looked at his pensive assistant and smiled. "Allen, you've been with me for four years now, haven't you?"

"It'll be four years in five months. I originally joined as your directorial assistant during the filming of Pretty Woman. Then Mr. Hansen mentioned he hadn't found the right person for a while, so I did well and ended up temporarily as your executive assistant. And now here we are," Allen said, reflecting on how he had initially aimed to become a director when he joined Firefly, a company that had just started gaining attention with Home Alone.

"Have you ever thought about becoming a department head?"

Allen recalled how Eric had recently discussed topics he hadn't previously brought up, along with subtle probing, and finally understood what Eric was hinting at. He was indeed very tempted by Eric's proposal. While the salary was high working closely with Eric, it limited his growth. "Of course I have, Eric. Do you have any suitable candidates for your next executive assistant?"

"Not for now, but..." Eric seemed to think of something and chuckled. "But your successor absolutely has to be a woman, and she needs to be beautiful, charming, and capable."

"That won't be easy to find," Allen laughed along but suddenly thought of someone. "However, I do have a good candidate in mind."

"Let's skip that," Eric immediately understood whom Allen was referring to. "Liz may agree, but she won't last long; her position is pretty clear. Anyway, I'm not going to release you right away. We'll take our time."

Allen nodded, getting ready to leave but asked, "By the way, since Mr. Davis has left, should I continue monitoring Paramount's affairs?"

"Of course. This is a significant matter for Hollywood after all."

...

Martin Davis's empty-handed return wasn't much of a surprise to many. Barry Diller had refrained from heading to Hawaii precisely because he anticipated such a result. He understood Paramount's situation very well and knew Martin Davis couldn't afford the kind of price Columbia was paying, and Eric wasn't someone who would be easy to deal with.

However, because Redstone publicly expressed interest in acquiring Paramount, the stock price, which had potentially risen due to the prospect of a Firefly partnership, didn't fall back; instead, it continued to rise. Although Barry Diller didn't explicitly make his acquisition intentions clear regarding QVC, his series of actions conveyed his objectives decisively.

...

While Eric quietly monitored the situation in Hollywood, the filming of Jurassic Park proceeded smoothly. After returning to Los Angeles, Martin Davis connected with Eric a few more times over the phone, but no agreements were reached.

As July came to an end, the North American summer movie season began wrapping up. Firefly's two summer blockbusters were entering their concluding phases. Meanwhile, over at Disney, the distribution of Sister Act faced some issues. Due to Eric's confidence in the film, Disney ramped up its release efforts. However, despite being on par with The Mask in terms of release scale, Sister Act's opening weekend box office was only half that of The Mask. When Eric heard this news, he almost thought the film had veered off course.

Yet by the second week, Sister Act's box office not only didn't drop significantly as Disney executives feared; it rebounded due to word-of-mouth. Though the increase was merely a negligible two percent, compared to the steep drops some films suffered, this performance delighted many. Even though its genre might not perform well overseas, based on its trajectory in North America, it might even surpass The Mask.

At this point, merely within a summer season, Firefly had already captured ten percent of North America's estimated total box office for the year, with many media outlets beginning to speculate whether Firefly would surpass Warner that year.

*****

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