Along the way, Eric was racking his brains trying to find a way to explain to Barry Diller this matter . In the celebration party of "Pretty Woman" both of them have talked about the production of his next film, by default, the next film was going to be issued by Fox in the summer .Now with him suddenly changing his mind at the last minute, what will Fox reaction be like is difficult to predict . If possible, Eric didn"t want to go against any one of the film giants, he isn"t strong enough now, it is difficult to say that he will not face some pressure . Moreover, Fox also hold the right to distribute three films, which involves hundreds of millions of dollars in profits . Because he was thinking too much, he accidentally ran a red light, but fortunately, nothing happened .
Finally, he arrived at Fox headquarters, reported his ident.i.ty, and was guided by an employee all the way to outside Barry Diller office .
"Mr . Williams, please wait a few minutes . Mr . Diller is having a guest . " the secretary led Eric to a lounge area, and served him a cup of coffee .
He glanced curiously at Barry Diller"s office door, and tried listening to any sounds but unfortunately the sound insulation was very good . When the young beautiful secretary noticed Eric"s curiosity, she hesitated for a moment, then whispered to him, "Fox TV Station Manager"
Eric raised an eyebrow, and pretended that nothing had happened, he give her a grateful look . This girl is a real gem, she said just a simple sentence, and reveled nothing else, this can be regarded as a small favor to Eric . And when the girl bent over, he didn"t know whether it is intentional or unintentional, The badge on her chest appeared in front of Eric, she probably wanted him to remember her name, or maybe she just wanted him to see her big beautiful chest .
After Patiently waiting for seven or eight minutes, a middle-aged man with gla.s.ses opened the door and gloomily walked out of the office . Glimpsing the young man sitting on the sofa, he quickly put away his depressed look, and politely give Eric a nod and left in a hurry .
"Mr . Williams, you may go in now . "
Walking to the office, a faint smell of smoke wafted into the air, from an ashtray full of cigarette b.u.t.ts that was in front of Barry Diller .
"Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long . " After Eric entered, Barry Diller put away his emotions and smiled, but Eric could still see the residual anger on his face .
"No problem, I only waited for a few minutes . " said Eric, and sat on the opposite side of Barry Diller on a sofa .
Barry Diller didn"t explain anything to him, but just by linking the ident.i.ty of that middle-aged man, he could guess the cause of his anger is that Fox TV performance was worse than expected . ABC, NBC and CBS, those three big television stations, have dominated North American wireless TV markets for so many years, that it is almost impossible for a latecomer to easily threaten their position .
From his point of view, Barry Diller was indeed a media wizard, in his previous life, even with the pressure of the three major television stations, Fox television network, was able to become the fourth largest TV station in North America .
After exchanging a few words, Barry Diller asked him why did he come .
Eric did not come up with any way to soften the blow on the way here, so he could only directly say: "Mr . Diller, I"m afraid my next film will not be released by Fox . "
Barry Diller was sure he didn"t hear wrong, his eyebrows immediately wrinkled, Both his eyes narrowed . He has just heard some bad news from the manager of Fox TV . and Unexpectedly, when he haven"t recovered from the blow yet, bad news comes again .
"Eric, do you want to break the contract? Have you ever thought about the consequences of doing so?"
Since the matter was on the table, Eric was no longer indecisive, looking straight at Barry Diller"s eyes, he said: "Mr . Diller, I do not intend to breach of contract, the contract does not prohibit me from working with other film companies, and also there"s no specific schedule for the three movies, so I just need to deliver them by the end of the year . "
Barry was slightly stunned for a moment, a touch of remorse showed on his face .
He signed the contract himself . It was Fawkes"s negligence by not prohibiting him from working with other film companies that led to this . Because when they were drafting the contract, most of their attention was on getting "Home Alone" sequel . And Eric"s only signed the three movies contract, in Hollywood very few directors can guide three films a year, and most directors can only maintain the speed of one movie a year, and some of them take two years . Who would have thought that the young had so much energy? .
But there was no rule in the contract that specify the film schedule, this was done intentionally by Fox . When drafting the contract, at that time Fox wasn"t too optimistic about Eric two films, so, although Eric specifically mentioned the scheduling problem, he wanted to issue all three movies on the popular holiday schedule, which led to him having a little argument with Barry Diller at that time . But Fox finally refused to specify the schedule for a variety of reasons .
Fox also had their own ideas, once they weren"t optimistic about Eric first two movies, Fox could easily put the two films in the spring or fall season, so the films won"t occupy too much of Fox resources, and also successfully fulfill the contract .
Who would have that Eric"s next film "Pretty Woman" would once again create a such great success story, leading everyone to stop doubting the young man ability to make great films . Now many fans are starting to look forward to his next movie .
Now, the atmosphere in the office become somewhat stagnant, when Eric had just said his words, Barry Diller found that, in the past he was proud he rejected Eric schedule requirements, but now his decision has become a big coc.o.o.n, wrapped around him .
"Eric, are you not satisfied with your 35 percent share ? "Pretty Woman" cost you only $7 million, if you subtract the $1 million from Lamborghini advertising sponsorship, the actual cost of the film drop down to $6 million . So far the cost paid by Fox in publicity has been more than 15 million US dollars, that"s 2 . 5 times of the cost of your film, 2 . 5 times! And we only get to take 20 percent of the profits . With this kind of profit division . Is there anything you"re not satisfied with?"
At the end of the speech, Barry Diller spoke almost with a roar, his whole body exudes a threatening feeling . He had just come back from Europe last night, after few days of travelling he was very tired, and haven"t had good night sleep in a long time, after coming back this morning to Fox headquarters he heard that the TV department was being strangled by the joint effort of the three big TV stations, their ratings were miserable .
The manager of Fox TV station had just been scolded and kicked out of the office, but after getting told this bad news again, all the suppressed anger erupted again .
Eric was not scared or by Barry Diller anger, he retorted coolly: "Mr . Diller, although Fox paid $15 million in advertising, but in exchange Fox got $80 millions in profits, so I don"t owe you anything, to tell you the truth, when I came, I was very anxious, I didn"t want to have a fight with you, I just wanted to talk . "
Seeing the young boy opposite him wasn"t scared by his roar, and immediately started contradicting his words, Barry Diller quickly calmed down, and found that his ability to control his emotions wasn"t as good as the young man in front of him . Reflecting on himself, Barry Diller sat back in his big office chair, and took a few deep breaths . With eyes still staring at Eric, he said: "Okay, Eric, you . . . . . . What are the new conditions? Let"s talk about that first?"
Eric realized that Barry Diller didn"t fully understand what he meant, so he started explaining: "Mr . Diller, I did not want to revise the contract . . . . . . Like I said, I do not want to put on airs to get more benefits from Fox . Someone give me some conditions I can"t refuse, to get distribution rights of my next movie?"
Barry Diller has been in Hollywood for many years, and now after he calmed down, he quickly was able to think of a possibility, after a moment of silence, he asked: "Is it Columbia?"
Eric nodded .
Barry Diller bowed his head and silently pulled out a cigarette, lit it and took a deep breath . Since Colombia have been able to convince Eric, then that means that their conditions are really good . All Columbia trying to do now is raise their stock price even at a loose, to get more benefits from the j.a.panese .
At this time, he was sure that Columbia in order to get Eric"s next film, was giving him some crazy conditions .