Although Disney does not have theater chains, it does have cooperative theater chains with which it has a very close relationship, but it is never as convenient as having its own theater chain.
Now Linda actually said that it was because Disney did not have its own theater chain that she came to Disney. Naturally, her words seemed to be short-changing Disney.
At this time, Eisner was already a little unhappy, "Linda, if you are here to ridicule Disney, I think there is no need for us to continue talking!"
Linda smiled slightly, and now the negotiations between the two parties have slowly returned to an equal position.
"I think Eisner, you should know that when "The Last Day Out" was released, our Phantom sold the follow-up rights to our company's "Home Alone" in order to get support from Time Warner!" At this time, Linda
It's time to bait Eisner.
Although she personally does not agree to sell the sequel rights to "Speed", but now that Wu Jianye has decided, she has no choice.
Eisner's eyes lit up. Although many people said that the value of "Home Alone" has been squeezed out by Phantom Entertainment, Eisner knew that the "Home Alone" series was still worth at least tens of millions.
I dug it, this is already a huge amount of income.
Now that Linda has specifically raised this matter, does it mean that Phantom is going to repeat its same trick and choose to sell its own company's film rights?
At this time, Eisner was spinning rapidly in his mind, thinking about which series of movie copyrights Phantom still had that would have the greatest value.
The "Terminator" series and the "Die Hard" series are two series that Phantom has announced to be filming, as well as the "Jurassic Park" series. However, for this series, Eisner does not think Lin
Dahui will put it up for sale. After all, it was because of this series that the Phantom had a conflict with the Jewish people in Hollywood. It can be said that the current situation is also due to this series.
In fact, what Eisner wants more is the sequel rights to the movie "Speed", but the box office of this movie this year has blinded the eyes of all the studio executives. In their view, this is a movie that will
The hen that laid the golden eggs, Linda will never sell the sequel rights to this movie, so there are only two movies left, the "Terminator" series and the "Die Hard" series.
But for these two series, Phantom is already in production. Are there any others?
"What do you mean?" Eisner didn't expect Linda to want to take out the sequel rights to that movie.
Linda sat there, watching herself gradually become more of a customer, smiling in her heart. Maybe even Eisner himself didn't notice that Linda had gradually begun to take the initiative in this negotiation.
Although she was reluctant to part with the copyright to this movie, she was still very happy seeing Eisner like this.
"Is there any other movie this summer that can compare with the box office of "Speed"?" Linda threw out her first bait!
rub!
Even Eisner, who prided himself on being steady, couldn't help but stand up at this time and looked at Linda with some excitement: "Are you serious?"
Linda smiled and said: "Of course, we Phantoms will never joke about this kind of thing!"
Eisner looked condescendingly at Linda's smile, and only then did he realize that his reaction was a bit excessive. This is a taboo in negotiations!
However, he still sighed: "Your company is really generous. You are willing to take out the sequel rights to "Speed". This is something I didn't expect!"
Linda always said with a smile: "We at Phantom are always very sincere in dealing with our partners. Mr. Eisner, do you think we still need to negotiate now?"
Although Eisner didn't want to admit it, he couldn't help but nod his head. It wasn't that Eisner wasn't reserved enough, it was because the revenue from the movie "Speed" was so enviable!
The production cost of "Speed" is US$18 million, the promotion cost is US$18 million, the US box office is US$156 million, and the overseas box office is estimated to be US$250 million!
One movie brought Phantom Entertainment nearly 200 million US dollars in revenue at the box office alone. This is revenue that no one can ignore!
If peripherals and video tapes are added, the income can be increased by at least two-thirds!
"How much is the copyright fee for Phantom?" At this time, Eisner no longer refused, but directly asked about the copyright fee for the sequel to "Speed"!
"Thirty million dollars!" Linda said a number.
"This is impossible!" Eisner immediately retorted: "The copyright of "Home Alone" was not so expensive at the time. If we at Disney were planning to produce a sequel to "Speed", we would not be able to put it into production in the past two years. In the future,
No one knows what the sequel to "Speed" will be like!"
"In other words, even if Disney buys "Speed", it will take two years before we can start this project. If the production costs are added by then, the production cost of this movie will be too high. Will it be recovered by then?
Cost is still an issue!”
Eisner raised his concerns.
This is not because he is deliberately lowering the price, but because Hollywood's sequel productions are not very successful now, and "Back to the Future 3" was defeated in the competition with "The Last Days".
All production companies believe that releasing a sequel movie every two to three years is the best plan for this series.
Linda said: "We can continue to negotiate whether this price is suitable, but Disney also has to listen to our conditions!"
Only then did Eisner remember that he had no initiative. Now, because of the news that Phantom Entertainment has acquired Oceanwide Cinemas, several major studios have regarded Phantom Entertainment as the most threatening film production company.
.
Because of the agreement signed between Time Warner and Oceanwide Cinemas, although Oceanwide Cinemas has no shortage of movies to release, everyone now knows that Time Warner and Phantom Entertainment have played a word-picking game. Except for Phantom Entertainment’s movies, Oceanwide Cinemas
It is almost impossible for theater chains to show A-level productions.
This is the reason why Linda took the initiative to come to Disney today to seek cooperation, and even went as far as to take out the sequel rights to "Speed"!
Thinking of this, Eisner calmed down: "Linda, if we cooperate with your Phantom, it means that we at Disney will betray our own allies. This is a big sacrifice!"
Linda looked at Eisner sitting there, thinking that she had taken the initiative again, and smiled in her heart.
"Eisner, I think you all may have misunderstood one thing. Now Phantom produces between 12 and 15 movies every year. Even if we release our own movies, Oceanwide Cinemas already has no shortage of film sources. Then you
Don’t forget that in Hollywood, in addition to the seven major production companies, there are countless independent production companies. If Oceanwide Cinemas relaxes its release restrictions, do you think Oceanwide Cinemas will lack films to release?"
Eisner's expression changed again, and Linda continued before he could reply.
"I can calculate for you, there are only a few popular schedules in North America, and our Phantom movies can completely fill them. Next year Phantom will release two blockbusters, "Jurassic Park" and "Terminator 2", and also
There are movies by Cheng Long, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. For us at Phantom, it's not that the theaters don't have film sources, but that we have too many big productions!" Linda said.
In fact, at this time, Linda still set a trap for Eisner. Whether it is "Jurassic Park" or "Terminator 2", movies are series movies, and they are definitely not released every year, but now Eisner
Na is not necessarily able to see all this.
Eisner said solemnly: "Although you are right, you and I both know that the opponent of "Jurassic Park" is Spielberg's "Captain Hook". By then, whether this movie will be successful or not, everyone will know."
We still don’t know, but as for “Terminator 2,” the investment in this movie is really too big, and it remains to be seen whether the cost will be recouped by then!”
Although Linda herself had doubted Wu Jianye, she would definitely not say that now.
"When "The Last Days" was released, everyone didn't like it, right? But as a result, "The Last Days" is still the highest-grossing movie in the world!"
Seeing Eisner fell silent, Linda took out the second bait she had prepared.
"If you and I can cooperate, we have already discussed it with Director Wu. Director Wu will be the screenwriter and come up with a script for a cartoon. By then, Phantom and Disney will each have a 50% share of the investment.
!”
If the previous bait had loosened Eisner's heart, then when Linda took out the second bait, Eisner's inner persistence was completely gone.
No matter how unfavorable these people are about Wu Jianye's battle with Spielberg, no one doubts Wu Jianye's ability as a screenwriter at this time.
Wu Jianye's ability as a screenwriter is equivalent to Spielberg's ability as a director!
After "The Ghost Story" came out, many production companies waved their checks, trying to find Wu Jianye in the hope of buying a movie written by him. However, the cooperation between Wu Jianye and Phantom was really too great.
If it gets too close, no one will succeed at all.
Now the Phantom has actually persuaded Wu Jianye to come up with a script, which is jointly invested by Disney and Phantom!
More importantly, what was presented this time was a cartoon script!
One of the important cores of Disney films is their animated films. For other film companies, a successful animated film may only bring in revenue from box office, video tapes and peripheral toys, but for Disney it does not.
Same.
A successful cartoon can also bring more attractions to their Disneyland!
"Is everything you said true?" Eisner looked at Linda and asked seriously.
Linda nodded and said: "As I said just now, Phantom is always very sincere to its partners!"
"When will the script for the animated movie be available?" Eisner asked.
In Linda's opinion, this was actually a sign that Eisner agreed to Disney's cooperation with Phantom, but he was still cautious. He needed to see the script of the animated movie before he could determine whether to cooperate with Phantom.
Disney, like other production companies, has its own script review department. If they get Wu Jianye's script, they will review it immediately...
Linda smiled and said: "You can do it now!"
After saying that, she took out the script of the animated movie that she had already prepared. This was given to her by Wu Jianye before she came to see Eisner!
The script has been registered with the Hollywood union, so she naturally doesn't worry about Eisner plagiarizing it!
The high salary paid by Phantom's legal department every year is no joke!
In North America, a company can lack many departments, but there are two departments that must exist. One is the financial department, and the other is the legal department!
Eisner found Linda's script and looked at the front page, which read "Toy Story"!
What Wu Jianye brought out was the animated film "Toy Story", a collaboration between Pixar and Disney in another time and space!
This is also one of the reasons why Wu Jianye wants to cooperate with Disney. Although the story and box office of this animated film are very objective, the copyrights of many animated characters in the film actually belong to Disney. He wants to make this film
, you must cooperate with Disney!
As the head of Disney, Eisner naturally has the ability to appreciate scripts. At this time, he didn't say much and immediately opened the script and started reading it.
At this time, he became more and more excited as he watched it. From his own perspective, this was a very good animated film script, but there were also many problems in it.
Such as technical issues!
"This movie requires very high computer skills!" Eisner said while watching.
Linda smiled and said: "You don't have to worry about this, our Athena Animation technology is enough to handle the filming of this movie!"
Eisner's hand flipped the script, paused slightly, but then continued to read the script, but a feeling of fear arose in his heart.
Before this, everyone knew that Athena Animation produced the most successful animated film "The Lion King" in North American history, but then they also produced two animated films, which can only be said to be average at the box office, not too great.
A brilliant place.
But now it seems that perhaps they have not produced a film that can compete with "The Lion King" in terms of animated films, but technically, Athena Animation is already at the forefront of Hollywood!
It seems that Disney is stepping up its technological expansion. At this time, he thought of Jobs' Pixar. As a technology geek, Jobs' Pixar has always been the technical leader in Hollywood animated films...
"I need Disney's review team to review this script before I can give you an answer!" Eisner said after reading the script for "Toy Story."