Four days passed in a flash. During this time, Eric, besides returning to the set of house of cards to film, was also taking turns with Nicole, Theron, and the Olsen Sisters.
Three times in four days, each lasting several hours. Even a donkey would collapse and foam at the mouth.
To deal with four women, such high-intensity work, even with the support of health wine and green juice, still left him exhausted.
But there was no other way; he had been dealing with Michael's affairs for a while, somewhat neglecting the women.
The fields lacked irrigation, and he, as the farmer, had to plow and loosen the soil properly.
Fortunately, Gadot hadn't returned yet, otherwise it would have been non-stop, without a single day of rest.
get out's second-week North America box office results were out. Although there was a drop, the decline was smaller than expected, around 34%.
Black audiences were still very supportive, and the topic of racial discrimination was highly discussed in society.
As word-of-mouth spread, many white people also went to the cinema to find out more.
The final box office revenue was 34 million US dollars, continuing to lead the period and securing its second weekly box office championship.
In second place was still pirates of the caribbean. The black pearl's resilience had not yet run out, continuing to rake in over 17 million US dollars at the box office.
From this, it can be seen that truly good word-of-mouth blockbusters have both explosive power and staying power at the box office.
However, horror and alternative films like get out, saw, and sharknado generally only have explosive power, lacking in staying power, with their box office potential exhausted within a month or a little over a month.
As for Tobey Maguire's seabiscuit, with less than ten million US dollars at the box office, no one cared about it anymore.
In the MGM Building, Chen Xing led Isaac Perlmutter and Avi Arad into the office.
Eric stood up and shook hands with the two, greeting them.
The two men gave Eric completely different feelings.
Isaac Perlmutter wore a sharp brown suit, shiny black leather shoes, and his hair was meticulously combed.
His appearance gave people a sharp and sinister feeling. Eric could detect cunning in his eyes. In short, he was dressed like a very typical businessman.
Avi Arad, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He had a full beard, with whiskers on his chin long enough to be a finger's length.
He wore a sports t-shirt and casual shoes, with captain america's emblem printed on them. He didn't look like a company executive, but rather more like an old otaku.
"Hello, Mr. Cooper, it's an honor to meet you."
"Hello, Mr. Cooper."
Even their greeting styles gave completely different impressions.
The three sat down, exchanged some pleasantries like "It's a pleasure to meet you," and then got to the point.
Isaac Perlmutter began, "Mr. Cooper, I believe you are aware of our purpose here, which is primarily to seek investment for Marvel."
"Marvel's development momentum is very good right now; our performance has been steadily climbing for the past three years."
"spider-man and blade in recent years have achieved huge success in film and television adaptations, as an industry insider, you know best."
"So Marvel is preparing to restart its film and television department, and we intend to collaborate with major Hollywood companies to bring superheroes to the big screen together."
"Currently, we plan to develop Thor and captain america, two highly recognized comic characters. Any comic enthusiast will be interested in them."
Saying this, Isaac Perlmutter presented a financial report to Eric, which indeed showed three consecutive years of profit.
However, this kind of thing might fool ordinary people, but Eric was not ignorant of the industry and had specifically investigated Marvel's situation in advance.
Why has it been profitable for three consecutive years? Doesn't he have a clue?
That's because it hit rock bottom; what else could it do but rebound?
Any further decline would be the eighteenth level of hell. With a normal, non-mismanaging operator, the company could achieve profitability.
So, this thing has no credibility.
Eric quickly scanned it and tossed it aside, looking at the other party playfully: "Mr. Perlmutter, the value of this document is far less than the S&P 500 index. I don't think it's necessary to look at it."
"Let's talk about your thoughts. What kind of cooperation model does Marvel intend to adopt? What reasons do you plan to use to persuade me to invest?"
Isaac Perlmutter was not embarrassed by Eric's words; he continued to speak with his usual composure.
"The cooperation model we are considering is for Marvel to provide intellectual property and relevant comic knowledge support, and bear 50% of the filming and distribution costs."
"MGM will bear the other 50% of the filming and distribution costs, and film production will be jointly controlled by our two companies."
"The box office revenue will be split equally between our two companies, and the film and television rights will belong to Marvel, but the production of sequels will still be jointly completed by our two companies."
Isaac Perlmutter hadn't finished speaking, but Eric was already sneering internally. Due to his status, he couldn't roll his eyes and retort.
What kind of ridiculous proposal is this? According to this plan, I would become your employee.
If the copyright belonged to MGM, this matter would be open for discussion, but with the copyright still belonging to Marvel, I would simply be a pure clown.
After a few dry laughs, Eric said, "Mr. Perlmutter, conditions should be proposed from one's proper standing."
"On what grounds are you making these demands? Where is your confidence? This is not ten years ago; the environment has changed."
"I think you should face reality. The era of comics has long declined, and Marvel is no longer the market leader it once was."
"So my suggestion is to be more pragmatic, otherwise this meeting can end early."
Avi Arad quickly explained, "Mr. Cooper, although the era of comics has passed, the era of superhero movies has just begun."
"Last summer, spider-man raked in 500 million US dollars globally, blade 1 took 700 million US dollars at the box office, and blade 2 took 500 million US dollars at the box office."
"X-Men 1 took 200 million US dollars at the box office, and this year's X-Men 2 also achieved 400 million US dollars at the box office."
"The prospects of superhero movies have been widely recognized by the market; people still love superheroes."
"Therefore, cooperation is beneficial to both parties. Thor and captain america are no less famous than spider-man, and the movies will definitely bring generous returns to MGM."
"100 million US dollars, 200 million US dollars, or even over 300 million US dollars, you really should seriously consider this matter."
"What about hulk? Is hulk less famous than spider-man?" Eric retorted.
After a moment of hesitation, Avi Arad replied, "Of course not. According to surveys, if aliens attacked Earth, people believe hulk would be the first to jump out and protect everyone."
"So, how do you explain hulk's disastrous failure? It was just this June, during the summer blockbuster season, yet this movie caused Universal to lose tens of millions of US dollars."
"And then there's Spawn, The Punisher, Hellboy, and so on; not a single one made a profit."
"Overall, the market prospects for superhero movies are not clear; most of them lose money, and with investments often exceeding 100 million, the risks are too great."
"Gentlemen, I'd like to ask, which one do you plan to film? And what is the estimated investment?"
Avi Arad was speechless from the counter-question. Isaac Perlmutter answered, "It's best to film Thor and captain america together."
"Thor has a fantasy background, involving the Nine Realms and the World Tree, and will use a lot of special effects, with an estimated investment of 100 million US dollars."
"Although captain america can save a lot of special effects, it is set against the backdrop of World War II and will involve war scenes."
"Props, costumes, extras, sets, etc., will be a huge expense, with an estimated investment of 200 million US dollars."
Seeing Eric staring at him expressionlessly, Isaac Perlmutter suddenly felt a little guilty and changed his tune, saying, "Actually, a smaller investment should also be possible; I think 100 million US dollars could also work."
Noticing Eric's gaze was still sharp, he changed his tune again: "We can make it for 80 million US dollars, we can appropriately simplify some scenes."
Avi Arad immediately became anxious: "80 million is not enough. If the movie doesn't achieve the desired effect, it's better not to make it. We cannot further damage our reputation."
Isaac Perlmutter secretly kicked his leg under the table, signaling Avi Arad to keep quiet.
Get the money first, then we can always add more investment during filming, is it really that hard to find a reason?
How was Cameron's titanic made? It wasn't like he got 200 million in investment on the first try. In the end, didn't it still force Paramount and Fox to pay up?
If you don't want to pay, it won't be finished. Are sunk costs irrelevant? Is the initial investment going to be wasted?
The two were also very helpless. Marvel was truly too poor right now, with a maximum of 50 million US dollars in liquid funds on its books.
With that much money, making a superhero blockbuster was simply a fantasy.
They also didn't want to sell off more copyrights or mortgage them to banks for loans, so they could only go around to various film and television companies, trying to fool some fool into falling for it.
Eric was so young, he must be easier to fool than the old foxes at other companies.
"Mr. Cooper, actually, filming just one movie is also an option. MGM only needs to invest 40 million US dollars, and you will soon receive returns of over 100 million US dollars."
With their daydreaming attitude, Eric no longer intended to continue the discussion.
He directly interrupted the other party: "Mr. Perlmutter, please pause for a moment. Let's end the persuasion here. I have absolutely no interest in your cooperation proposal."
"However, I also have a proposal. Are you willing to listen?"
The two paused, then nodded.
"As businessmen, we are all after money and profit, but Marvel's development has been very sluggish these past few years, so you haven't made any money."
"Now you see that superhero movies are picking up, and you want a piece of the pie but lack funds and cannot bear any risks, so you must find others to cooperate with, right?"
Isaac Perlmutter nodded slightly, while Avi Arad remained still.
"Wanting to make money without taking risks? There's no such good deal in the world. So I have a suggestion for you."
"Sell your shares to me. I can acquire them at a premium. You can cash out and leave, each taking several hundred million dollars and returning to Toy Biz to continue as executives."
"As for Marvel, this hot potato can be thrown to MGM. After all, you haven't been able to manage it for years, which only proves two things."
"One, Marvel has long been unable to adapt to the market environment, and two, you simply lack the ability to manage it well."
"Instead of letting it continue to be too big to fail, it's better to sell it to me sooner. Getting rid of this burden is a good thing, isn't it?"
"As for the risk, MGM will bear it alone. Whether it becomes spider-man or hulk, that's my business."
"Think it over carefully; this is a reasonable suggestion."
After Eric finished speaking, the two looked at each other.
They came to seek investment, but how did it suddenly turn into an acquisition? The script was wrong.
But thinking about it, the proposal was still very tempting, especially since Eric said he was willing to acquire at a premium.
If he was willing to offer a bit more, it wouldn't be out of the question to consider.
After a long silence, Eric was about to see them out when Isaac Perlmutter suddenly spoke: "Mr. Cooper, I have a question. Is MGM planning to go public again?"
"That's for sure. Why?"
"Then I deduce that the relisting will happen after transformers is released, correct?"
Eric didn't deny it. MGM had already submitted the relevant documents, and if one had connections and inquired internally, it could be found out.
"More or less, I have that intention."
"Mr. Cooper, I also have an idea. I hope to exchange my shares in Marvel for your shares in MGM."
Eric's heart skipped a beat. He had just proposed an acquisition, and the other party immediately suggested an exchange. This truly showed his merchant nature; his intuition was incredibly sharp.
"Mr. Perlmutter, you want to exchange for MGM shares, and then cash out when it goes public?"
"Yes, that's one idea. Additionally, I am very optimistic about MGM's future development trend."
"Mr. Cooper, ever since you took over MGM, this lion seems to have regained its vitality. Every movie, every project, is profitable."
"This return rate and accuracy are simply terrifying. I believe that under your leadership, MGM will reclaim the glory of the last century and become the top of the seven major film and television companies."
"So if we proceed with an equity swap, I also intend to hold MGM shares long-term to secure a stable return."
"However, once it relists and major institutions get involved, with my individual strength, I'm afraid I won't even be able to get 1% of the shares."
"So this is also a good opportunity. An acquisition is out of the question; the only method I can accept is an equity swap."
Eric looked at Avi Arad, but the latter very decisively expressed his refusal.
"I will absolutely not sell my Marvel shares. I love comics; these superheroes are like my friends, my children."
"I can accept collaborating on movies, but asking me to sell my children? Absolutely impossible!"
With that, he stood up and left without the slightest hesitation, walking out of the office.
Isaac Perlmutter reached out to stop him, but the other man shook his hand free, completely ignoring his companion.
"I apologize, Mr. Cooper. Avi is just an old otaku; he has the deepest affection for those comics and toys."
"But don't mind him. I don't have such deep feelings for Marvel. Let's continue discussing the equity swap."
Eric took a sip of water, clearing his throat.
"Mr. Perlmutter, you personally only hold 17% of Marvel's shares. Even if we swap, I wouldn't be Marvel's largest shareholder, so it's meaningless."
"So, an exchange isn't out of the question, but the prerequisite is that you need to get your partner on board."
"I want both of your shares. Contact me after you've accomplished this."