Chapter 483: The Uncertain Situation

[Chapter 483: The Uncertain Situation]

After leaving Fox, Barry Diller received dozens of collaboration invitations in a short span, but he turned them all down. In the end, he chose QVC not only because of his optimism about the future of television shopping, but also because QVC agreed to his terms for equity participation.

When John Malone heard Barry Diller echo his frequent proclamation of "I won't sign another employment contract," he simply shrugged and said, "Alright, Barry, I'll call off the plan to acquire Paramount for now and throw my support behind you. But how do you plan to handle the current situation?"

Barry Diller shot John Malone a glance and replied coolly, "When I know what I want to do, all I need is for Tele-Communications to offer support."

John Malone grunted in response, waiting for Barry Diller to elaborate, but Barry merely tossed that comment out and resumed reviewing the documents in front of him. John soon realized that Barry had lost trust in him. With a sheepish smile, he recognized that sticking around would yield no benefit and stood to say, "If that's the case, I'll await your update."

...

After John Malone left the conference room, Barry Diller patiently finished reading the documents in his hands. He tapped his fingers on the table, thinking for a while before pressing the call button on the phone, "Jack, book me a ticket to Hawaii."

"Sure thing, Mr. Diller," came his assistant's voice promptly through the speaker.

After relaying his request, Barry was about to hang up when he suddenly reconsidered, saying, "Actually, let's make that Los Angeles first."

"Not a problem, Mr. Diller," replied the assistant again. He paused, noticing Barry didn't continue, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"That's it for now," Barry Diller replied, disconnecting the call as he once again fell into contemplation about the current situation.

Though he was reluctant to admit it, a sense of pessimism about acquiring Paramount began to creep into Barry Diller's mind. He had known John Malone since the early '80s and was well aware that John was a man who had no real convictions; he was skilled at going with the flow.

In other words, John would jump at the chance to profit wherever he might find it. If it weren't for the maneuvers by Sumner Redstone and Martin Davis that made Barry see the slim chances of Tele-Communications Inc. acquiring Paramount alone, John Malone surely wouldn't have been in Barry's office today.

With a quiet sigh, Barry Diller flipped open the materials on his desk. These pertained to the evaluations of collaborations between Firefly and Columbia and Universal when the Japanese acquired them.

The project he worked on with Universal, Basic Instinct, did not pose significant hurdles for Panasonic, but it did positively affect the stock price of MCA, Universal's parent company. Not long before this, Sony's acquisition offer for Columbia coincided perfectly with the release of Home Alone and Running Out of Time; during that time, Columbia's market value skyrocketed from $2.2 billion to $5.5 billion. Anyone could see that those films played critical roles.

Thinking of Eric, Barry felt a wave of helplessness wash over him. He had spent over twenty years pursuing the pinnacle of power in Hollywood, and yet he ended up drifting away from that circle. The effort to return with low chances of success felt unmanageable. Meanwhile, that young man had effortlessly attained it all in just four years. Moreover, judging by the array of special effects blockbuster projects Firefly had underway, it was clear that he had no intention of slowing down or giving competitors a chance to catch up.

...

"...Michael Lynn, CEO of Firefly Studios, recently declined to comment on news of a potential collaboration with Paramount, but according to sources, Eric Williams and Martin Davis are already negotiating final details that will soon be made public."

"...Rumors suggest Firefly intends to partner with Paramount on a project from the Star Trek film series, leveraging Firefly's advanced CGI technology to create interstellar legends beyond Star Wars."

"...Sumner Redstone has publicly declared his intent to acquire Paramount imminently, stating that Viacom was determined to succeed."

"...Barry Diller, who had seemingly exited Hollywood, suddenly appeared in Los Angeles dining with Bruce White, one of Paramount's shareholders, revealing the apparent motives behind QVC Media's acquisition attempts."

"..."

Martin Davis set down the hefty stack of newspapers, concern written across his face. He had been on Kauai for over a week. Despite Paramount's stock rising by 5.7% during his Hawaiian trip and some previously restless shareholders swaying toward his side after he disclosed news of collaboration to the media, Martin knew all too well that if the partnership with Firefly fell through, those stock prices would surely plummet again, with the shareholders who leaned his way returning to being untrusting.

As for Eric, though Martin had long forwarded all related project materials to him, the response was frustratingly slow. He could see that Eric wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the collaboration. Unlike the two heads of Columbia. Even if he had to choose to sell in the end, Martin Davis had no intention of making the reckless choice they did, which had nearly cost them dearly.

Many outsiders envied Columbia's five-film deal with Firefly Studios, but Martin knew the sacrifices Columbia had made. Just looking at how Firefly handled the overseas distribution of Terminator 2 and Twister in the same period of 91 nad 92 made that clear.

Last year's overseas distribution of Terminator 2 took Firefly a full six months to complete. Originally a summer release, it was delayed until the end of the year in many European markets. While Terminator 2 was a high-quality film, the lengthy distribution process, the impact of piracy, and a weak position in revenue negotiations severely diminished the profits Firefly should have gained.

Just a year later, though, with the combined overseas distribution resources of Columbia and Disney, Twister launched in North America and quickly reached screens across European countries within a month. Even more remarkably, it managed to secure a summer slot in Japan, a coveted position that the vast majority of Hollywood films would envy.

So far, Twister's overseas gross reached $180 million, a stark contrast to the negligible overseas earnings of Terminator 2 in the same timeframe.

Deep in thought about these matters, Martin Davis's assistant, Danny Cork, rushed into the cafe, saying, "Mr. Davis, we have a situation."

Martin instinctively thought of reprimanding his assistant for the lapse in decorum but stifled that thought, only managing a slight frown.

Noticing Martin's demeanor, Danny quickly calmed himself with a deep breath and composedly said, "There's been a leak from Viacom: Redstone plans to present the company's initial bid."

Martin didn't question Danny's accuracy; instead, he asked, "How much?"

"$6.5 billion," Danny replied.

Martin scoffed, "So Redstone thinks he can just fall from that height and climb back up again?"

Danny stood there momentarily puzzled, unsure of how to respond, and remained silent.

The $6.5 billion figure just so happened to match Firefly's acquisition price for Disney.

Having learned from his failed acquisition attempt with Disney, Redstone revamped Viacom's internal structure, ensuring there would be no internal opposition next time around.

At the same time, Redstone refrained from repaying the initial financing obtained for the failed Disney bid and instead started negotiations for acquiring rental giant Blockbuster. As a video rental company akin to retail, Blockbuster's greatest asset was its abundant cash flow, which would furnish Viacom with ample funds for acquiring Paramount.

While Paramount Pictures alone was certainly not worth $6.5 billion, Viacom was not merely focused on Paramount Pictures, but rather on its parent company, Paramount Communications. Paramount Communications' main assets encompassed not just Paramount Pictures but also a host of assets in television, publishing, and music, cumulatively far exceeding what Disney had once offered.

With no response forthcoming from his assistant, Martin chose not to pursue it further, gesturing for Danny to get the bill before leaving the cafe in the small town of Lihue.

As noon approached, filming for Jurassic Park continued behind closed doors. Although Martin knew he wouldn't be turned away from the set if he showed up, doing so would only highlight his desperation and offer Eric grounds for negotiation.

However, with Eric silent on any intentions for collaboration, Martin understood he could no longer afford to stay in Hawaii indefinitely.

The driver pulled up, and Danny Cork opened the car door for Martin Davis, asking, "Where to now, Mr. Davis?"

"Have someone book me a plane ticket back to Los Angeles as quickly as possible. We're going to the set of Jurassic Park now," Martin instructed.

"Understood, Mr. Davis," Danny acknowledged, closing the door behind Martin and signaling the driver to head to their destination while he hurried off in another vehicle to get the tickets.

...

Eric was reviewing footage with Nicole through the monitor when a staff member rushed over and informed him, "Director, Mr. Davis has arrived."

"I understand, take him to the waiting area. Also, let everyone know to have lunch early," Eric said, as if he had anticipated this, casually instructing before returning to discussions about the shots with Nicole.

Five minutes later, Eric walked into the makeshift break area on set and ducked into a tent.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Davis," Eric stated.

Martin, maintaining a smile, pointedly replied, "It has been a bit long, Eric. I may need to head back soon, which is why I had to come by."

"Mr. Davis, why not enjoy a little more time in Hawaii?"

"Ha! If I stick around any longer, Paramount will be someone else's," Martin replied nonchalantly.

Eric realized that this old guy's patience had run completely thin. He instructed his assistant to fetch two lunches and then sat down with Martin Davis around a table, half-earnestly explaining, "I truly apologize, Mr. Davis. As you know, I've been incredibly busy lately."

"It's fine," Martin shook his head, having no interest in beating around the bush with Eric any longer; he didn't have that luxury of time. "Eric, I just want an accurate response from you."

"Now?" Eric asked.

Martin nodded assuredly: "Now!"

Eric hesitated for a moment, seemingly reluctant to dampen the old man's spirits but finally said, "Mr. Davis, I reviewed the materials Paramount sent me, and to be honest, I didn't find any projects that struck me as particularly promising."

"Sixty-five carefully selected scripts, and not a single one?" Martin's disbelief was evident.

Eric sincerely nodded. Paramount had indeed provided him with 65 reserve projects, but there was nothing among them that he remembered being a box office hit. This was understandable; throughout the '90s, Paramount's box office performance had often been underwhelming.

While some of those projects might be ones Eric didn't recall, there were certainly scripts he found intriguing, yet without any prior references, predicting a film's prospects became impossible. After all, so many films looked incredibly promising only to fail spectacularly, and Eric wasn't too interested in taking that risk.

Seeing Eric's firm expression, Martin Davis felt a twinge of discomfort. He couldn't help but think that it was unlikely for those projects to all be garbage. Rather, it seemed to him that Eric might be giving him the brush-off or had his eye on certain projects, intending to pounce once Paramount gave up. Such occurrences were not unheard of in Hollywood.

*****

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