Chapter 728: Strategic Error

[Chapter 728: Strategic Error]

"Twenty million in salary and a 15% share of the North American box office? Ha, Firefly can't offer that," Eric laughed and shook his head as he spoke to Roland Emmerich, who sat across from him.

It was July 7, and the two were having breakfast at a diner in Beverly Hills. Roland had fully disclosed to Eric the conditions Sony had offered him to direct Godzilla. Howard Stringer was also a smart guy; rather than directly approaching Firefly, he proposed an irresistible offer to Roland to lure him away from Sony Pictures. After that, getting Firefly's understanding became Roland's responsibility.

If Godzilla's future box office could match the $300 million level of Independence Day, Roland would be looking at a whopping $65 million from this project. Even if the film flopped, Roland's earnings would still exceed $20 million, ensuring a safety net. Firefly surely would not come close to offering such terms.

Of course, Firefly was not being stingy, either. Independence Day had a massive box office success, and in addition to the original $8 million fixed salary, Roland could rake in over $20 million from the film's subsequent earnings due to the applicable profit-sharing agreement. So, ultimately, Independence Day could bring him in $30 million. Directors who could earn $30 million from a single film were few and far between in Hollywood.

This was the collaborative approach Eric had always promoted: keeping fixed salaries low and tying creative profits to box office revenue to share risks together. Sony's approach, offering such an exorbitant sum with high box office share even before the film was underway, seemed almost reckless, driven solely by financial might.

Seeing that Eric did not appear angry upon learning of his plans with Sony, Roland felt a bit more at ease. Although he had never seen Eric genuinely angry, he wasn't naive enough to believe that Eric was without temper. Their collaborations on Deep Impact and Independence Day had been very enjoyable, and Roland knew those films had propelled him to his current position. He wasn't one to forget his roots; usually, even without a contractual obligation, he would be eager to continue working with Firefly. However, this offer from Sony was indeed hard to pass up.

"Anyway, I'm really sorry, Eric. I don't think I can direct The Day After Tomorrow," Roland said, though he felt lighter inside. He still wore a regretful expression. Even though Firefly was on a hot streak, Eric's influence in Hollywood was only growing. Roland definitely didn't want to anger Eric unless absolutely necessary. After some thought, he added, "Eric, everyone is looking forward to your new work. Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to direct The Day After Tomorrow yourself."

"Let's see how things go," Eric replied, smiling noncommittally.

Sony was ambitious in wanting to turn Godzilla into at least a trilogy. Theoretically, Roland wouldn't be available to return to Firefly's films for several years.

Eric felt a bit uneasy about the situation. Roland's decision to step away from directing The Day After Tomorrow would necessitate adjustments to Firefly's filming schedule.

When he had first invited Roland to direct Deep Impact, they had only signed a two-film contract. After completing Independence Day, their contractual obligations had been fulfilled. Although Firefly had the right of first refusal for a renewal, it was unlikely they could offer anything close to Sony's sky-high salaries. Blocking someone's financial path is tantamount to committing a crime against their family; in that light, it would be tough for Firefly to insist on keeping Roland.

Despite this, Eric felt relaxed about letting Roland depart, primarily due to plans he was laying groundwork for years down the line.

At the moment, representatives from Credit Lyonnais had arrived in Los Angeles and were in acquisition talks with Amy Pascal of Flower Films. If they secured MGM as a distribution platform, Flower Films could rapidly expand.

On the other side, while Sony had substantial financial backing, amid massive losses due to Peter Guber's management, they couldn't continue to prop up Sony-Columbia indefinitely. If Sony's ambitious Godzilla series faced failure, it would deal a devastating blow to their confidence in maintaining the film business. At that point, Flower Films could seize Columbia and further Eric's plans to expand his Hollywood empire.

Roland was unaware of Eric's thoughts and felt a bit guilty seeing how easily Eric let him go.

The atmosphere during breakfast inevitably grew awkward. They exchanged dull pleasantries while quickly finishing their meal. Roland offered to pay the bill and then excused himself from the diner.

Although Howard Stringer had hoped Roland could discuss the special effects responsibilities for Godzilla with Eric, Roland felt increasingly guilty. This was something he found hard to bring up, firmly deciding to leave the headache for Sony to handle.

...

Once Roland left, Eric didn't hurry back to the office. He instructed the waiter to clear the plates, ordered a cup of coffee, and leisurely read the day's newspapers.

In the entertainment section of the Los Angeles Times, the weekly box office report highlighted Independence Day's staggering $85 million, followed by Universal's new release, the much-anticipated Apollo 13. Despite the absence of Tom Hanks, the film's exceptional quality and reputation still brought in over $43 million during its opening week, placing it second.

Considering the tumultuous acquisition earlier in the year, Universal had nevertheless maintained impressive box office results during the summer. The modestly budgeted films like May's Casper and this Apollo 13 showed far better performance than one would expect. Michael Eisner's volatile nature wasn't appealing, but after taking over Universal, he seemed to regain the sharpness he had during the '80s with Disney. Eric recalled that Universal would be facing tumultuous changes over the next decade, but it was uncertain just how much upheaval Eisner could withstand.

Following Apollo 13 was the second week of Batman Forever, raking in $42 million, placing third. The ever-reliable Forrest Gump was still holding strong with over $28 million, slightly down 20% from the previous week, putting it in fourth, with a total of $150 million over four weeks. Toy Story 2 earned just over $28 million, ranking fifth, with a total of $130 million, beginning its long run, though it certainly wouldn't have the same staying power as Forrest Gump, and was expected to finish around $200 million.

Additionally, Jurassic Park 2 had reached a total of $280 million after four weeks but brought in only just over $14 million in its fifth week. It was projected to surpass $300 million the following week. However, box office receipts were also expected to fall below the $1 million mark as it entered its winding down phase.

In just a month, weekly box office receipts dropped from $140 million to just $14 million. Newspaper articles couldn't help but echo criticisms of Firefly's distribution strategy, suggesting they had overextended Jurassic Park 2's box office potential by releasing it on 3,500 screens during its opening week. If Firefly had employed a more conservative release strategy, the box office curve would undoubtedly have been more attractive.

Eric simply smiled at these comments. Any perceptive individual could see that Firefly had effectively dominated the June release period over recent years, leading other studios to preemptively shift their major releases to July. Beginning from June 30, Universal's Apollo 13 and Independence Day resulted in an almost weekly run of two major new releases throughout July. For example, on July 7, Fox's The Cable Guy starring Jim Carrey and Warner's Waterworld debuts. On July 14, there was Night at the Museum and Eraser. The following week saw GoldenEye and Heat. Under this deluge of new releases, if Firefly did not extract as much box office as possible from Jurassic Park 2 in June, they would quickly find their space encroached by an overwhelming flood of new films.

Eric quickly skimmed through several major newspapers for the day, noting that Kevin Costner's Waterworld would be released today. He picked up the phone and dialed Amy Pascal, reminding her to monitor developments with Waterworld and to choose a suitable time to initiate salary negotiations for Mission: Impossible 2 with Kevin Costner.

Although the final product had not yet been revealed, Warner's $175 million aquatic dystopia was destined to tank. After the dismal performance of last summer's Western film, Wyatt Earp, this marked Kevin Costner's second major filmmaking failure. With that, Flower Films would wield considerable leverage in negotiating salaries for Mission: Impossible given the circumstances.

Even with Eric's strong support, Flower Films would still have to manage some financing along the way in the process of acquiring MGM. The first Mission: Impossible had shattered the global box office, surpassing $500 million -- a remarkable feat. Securing a deal for the sequel would undoubtably provide Flower Films with substantial additional financing leverage.

*****

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