readease Chapter 72 Quotation
Chapter 72 Quotation
Chapter 72 Quotation
"Because I love Fox and have been deeply fascinated by the company's work since childhood, I sincerely do not want to see Fox go bankrupt again."
Ernst spoke sincerely, but the air in the conference room seemed to freeze instantly after he said that.
Harrison's fingers, which were resting on the conference table, tightened suddenly, her knuckles turning white. The faces of the 20th Century Fox team members around her were as black as if they had been splashed with ink.
In the long history of Hollywood, no one understands the meaning of bankruptcy better than Fox. They have demonstrated it to the fullest extent and can be called the American bankruptcy expert.
Basically, every twenty years or so, Fox comes to the brink of bankruptcy, as if it were under some kind of strange curse.
The first crisis occurred in 1930, when it wasn't called 20th Century Fox, but simply Fox.
At that time, William, the boss, saw that Fox was doing very well in those years, making money and winning awards. He became arrogant and actually wanted to acquire MGM, which was at its peak at the time, in a vain attempt to become the number one film and television giant in Hollywood.
MGM responded that they were dreaming and, without further ado, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Fox.
Before the lawsuit was even over, Fox News started having a string of bad luck. First, the boss got into a car accident and almost went to meet Washington.
Then, the Great Depression of 1929 swept in like a tsunami, dealing a fatal blow to Fox, which was already in dire straits.
Forget about acquiring MGM, Fox itself became a target of capital and suffered a hostile takeover attempt.
After struggling for several years, Fox not only declared bankruptcy in 1936, but its owner, William, was also sentenced to six months in prison for allegedly bribing a judge.
After William's death, 20th Century Studios acquired Fox, which led to the familiar 20th Century Fox we know today.
Under the leadership of its new CEO, Daryl Zanuk, 20th Century Fox experienced a new dawn, discovering top stars such as Shirley Temple and Marilyn Monroe, and rising to prominence once again.
Then another turning point came. After Zha Daye retired, his successor lost money on several films in a row, so he decided to make a big-budget production.
Thus, Cleopatra, which was dubbed the biggest money-loser in film history, was born. Originally budgeted at two million dollars, it dragged on for five years and ended up costing 4400 million dollars.
Compared to Cleopatra, the cost overrun of Titanic is nothing.
That's $44 million in the 1950s! At that time, every American citizen would have to contribute a movie ticket for the film to break even.
Fox was once again on the verge of bankruptcy, and had no choice but to take a desperate gamble and scrape together a sum of money from the bank to bring back the retired Mr. Zack.
Upon returning, Uncle Zha looked at the funds in Fox's accounts and was on the verge of tears. He decided to first invest in a low-budget film to accumulate funds before seeking further development.
Little did anyone know that this low-budget film called "The Sound of Music" would break North American box office records.
Ironically, after Zach Lamar revived Fox and retired, Fox executives thought musicals were the next hot sector.
After nearly a decade of struggling in the musical theater industry and losing countless sums of money, Fox faced bankruptcy once again in the 1970s.
If it weren't for the re-release of "The Sound of Music" and the lucky discovery of Star Wars, Fox wouldn't be back in the Big Seven.
It was precisely because of these ups and downs that Fox earned the nickname "Master of All-in" in Hollywood, which, while seemingly playful, was actually full of ridicule from his peers.
Even throughout the American business world, Fox has become a unique metaphor.
Whenever a company decides to take a desperate gamble, someone always brings up Fox and criticizes it, saying, "We're not Fox; we don't have that kind of luck."
These words sound like envy, but upon closer examination, they clearly imply that Fox doesn't understand business at all and that its current status is entirely due to luck.
This incident has become almost taboo in the industry and is the biggest insult to Fox.
"Mr. Garfield, I hope you mean it literally," Harris said, his face frosty, his eyes fixed sharply on Ernst.
"Of course," Ernst said sincerely. "If my words have made you overthink things, then I take them back."
This little incident disrupted the other party's rhythm, and Harrison had clearly lost patience to continue exploring whether the Titanic project had any potential value.
"We have come to MGM with the utmost sincerity. We have agreed that MGM will cover all the funding needed for the remainder of Titanic and are willing to contribute 20% of the project's equity, allowing MGM to lead the project."
Is it a decision made by Fox in a meeting? Ernst wondered. Was it still a test, or a decision made at Fox's meeting?
If this project were still in Paramount's hands and they refused to invest any more money, 20th Century Fox would have to grit their teeth and go all in.
But now that MGM holds a portion of the rights to the project, and given the reports of their strong commitment and optimism about it, Ernst felt that Fox simply didn't have the courage to go all in.
Regardless, Ernst has no need to continue negotiating with the other party now; the power is on his side.
"Sorry, MGM does not have a habit of sharing projects with others."
Ernst's meaning was simple: either you withdraw, or you go all in and pay to take care of everything else.
"What?" Harrison thought he had misheard, his eyes widening in disbelief.
In Hollywood, unless they are developing a sequel that guarantees a profit, major film studios always hope to have as many participants as possible when launching a project.
This is called risk diversification, which avoids the company's cash flow being plunged into difficulties because of a single movie.
Therefore, film and television companies often have far more joint venture projects than independently produced projects.
What's rare is collaboration between major giants; usually, it's one giant leading a group of independent film companies.
Whether these independent film companies genuinely love movies is another matter entirely.
Now Ernst is actually saying that MGM doesn't have the habit of cooperating with others, which is blatant lying. Isn't that ridiculous?
"Mr. Garfield, 20th Century Fox is very sincere."
With a dark expression and a hint of anger in her voice, Harrison felt that the other person was blatantly toying with her.
It is intolerable that a struggling MGM would dare to play such a trick on Fox, which has been gradually becoming the number one company in Hollywood in the past two years.
Ernst was now even more certain that Fox was going to abandon the large ship project.
He wasn't making a powerful enemy of MGM; he was just frantically testing the waters with words.
Harrison's decision not to storm off already speaks volumes.
"I'm sorry," Ernst said with just the right amount of apology. "Perhaps I misunderstood what I meant."
"My MGM really doesn't have the habit of cooperating with others."
Seeing that the other party's expression had softened considerably, Ernst stopped beating around the bush.
"MGM took over the Titanic project from Fox for $1.1 million, which I think is a reasonable price."
Harrison, who had just calmed down a bit, instantly turned cold again. "Are you kidding me? Fox invested $1.3 million in the Titanic project alone in the early stages."
Ernst, however, remained unperturbed and calmly replied, "Since so much has been invested, why doesn't Fox continue to inject more funds to keep the project going?"
This is a movie that wasn't expected to be successful. If Fox didn't think it was going to be a money-loser, why would they keep delaying it?
"You yourself said that Fox's total investment was only $1.3 million, so the actual financial expenditures are probably less than that, right?"
Unlike Paramount's mid-term entry, which was purely a financial investment, Fox was involved from start to finish.
Fox handled everything from prop making and costume design to other aspects.
These projects accounted for the largest expenditure on the entire ship, exceeding $1.5 million. How much of that $1.5 million did Fox take a cut of? It was definitely at least 10%.
Therefore, Ernst did not push the price down too much at Paramount, fearing that the fish would run away.
But Fox is different. Even if they sold the project for $1.1 million, Ernst didn't think Fox would lose money.
Even if there are losses, they are only in terms of labor costs and manipulation of the entire supply chain.
"Fox will never agree to this price; it will make Fox a laughingstock in Hollywood," Harrison's voice suddenly rose, clearly enraged by the offer.
"MGM will probably be the one to become a laughing stock," Robert Iger, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, his tone fiery, directly retorting.
"If Fox doesn't accept it, then leave now."
The red-faced guy sang well. Robert Iger looks exactly like someone who wants to ruin the deal and is hoping it will fall apart as soon as possible.
"Robert, I think you should act like a gentleman."
Ernst also became a sensation.
"I still stand by my point of view, Ernst. I hope you will think it over carefully and not ruin MGM's current great situation."
Ernst suppressed his anger and said, "I'm in charge of this."
Robert Iger stood up abruptly, his expression a mixture of anger, disappointment, and helplessness, before finally glaring at the people from Fox's side.
"I reserve my opinion."
Seeing Robert Iger leave like that, MGM staged a drama of high-level discord right in front of them, and Fox was also stunned, not knowing whether it was true or not.
Ernst, going along with the flow, said in an unfriendly tone, "Ms. Harrison, MGM will only offer $1.1 million."
"If you agree, we'll continue the discussion."
"I disagree. MGM will not make another offer, nor will it contribute another cent to this project."
"Three days. I hope Fox can give me a definite answer in three days."
Ernst left as well, and the scene became awkward.
They're not even going to see the guests off? Both Fox and Sarah, who stayed behind, were somewhat at a loss.