[Chapter 585: A Ticket is Hard to Come By]
War is not supported by the people, regardless of whether it's justified. At least, that's the general sentiment among Americans.
You can see the issue from NBC's ratings. When the war started, the ratings in the U.S. shot up, but in other regions, while they did increase, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
After three days, the excitement in the U.S. has already cooled off. If there's no ground war, it'll likely stay that way. The footage of Patriot missiles intercepting Scuds is just a few clips, I really don't get it -- are your filming techniques really that poor?
...
"William, you can't push it too far. If you wait much longer, Jurassic Park is going to be released," George warned.
"George, this isn't just your copyright. Terminator is the same; this is all my little money," William replied.
"No way, you've got to give me at least a third of the blockbusters," George insisted.
Dealing with Lucas, who was starting to play hardball, William White was starting to feel the strain. Ultimately, if he didn't want to promote this IMAX venture, he wouldn't care.
For a businessman, friends are friends, and business is business. This principle must never waver.
"Alright, alright, but you need to put some money into promotion," William conceded.
"Come on, you can't even buy tickets right now. Many people are already going early to see it. Is it worth it to advertise?" George pointed out.
"George, when 3D films first came out, they were all the rage. What happened? Right now, we need to give the audience a concept; many excellent films will be re-released," William countered.
"Sure, you're planning to tell the other big shots too, right? By the way, you really intend to sell those theaters?" George asked.
"Of course, except for White Plaza, I'll sell the rest," William assured him.
"Ha, antitrust concerns really have driven you a little crazy," George chuckled.
"I'm only helping you this once; they're almost done discussing. By summer, you might need to talk to someone else," William warned.
Lucas was taking the reworking of Star Wars seriously. He not only re-edited but also shot new footage.
William White was well aware that Terminator simply couldn't compete with Star Wars in terms of fandom.
The news that the IMAX chain would be going up for sale had been out for a while. Initially, some theater moguls didn't take it seriously. Come on, that chain is under your wife's name. If it's not a monopoly, it's pretty much the same thing. If you throw out an exorbitant price, who would be dumb enough to manage it?
Of course, there were plenty who believed in William White. Why would the richest man need to fool the few theater owners? Their combined assets might not even be worth his attention.
For William White, there were simply too many profitable projects. Investing in a cinema chain wasn't particularly wise. What was worse was that these assets took up a large portion of his bank loans.
You can't escape loans in business. During one of his more reckless endeavors, his loan ratio even breached the warning line.
At this point, increasing loans wasn't necessary. William White had already made more than enough money. At his level, worrying about how much more he could make was beneath him.
For example, consider the families controlling the Federal Reserve. The money on hand isn't greater than what he has, but can you even rank them based on it?
It's a joke; while you cannot just print as much as you want, it's pretty close. The inflation each year corresponds to how much these guys pull in.
Though it might not be that exaggerated, it's close. The U.S. government is a bottomless pit that can never be filled. These families operate similarly; after a while without money, they'll always find a way to stir up trouble.
Asian financial crisis, subprime mortgage crisis, European debt crisis. Every crisis has its puppeteers, without exception -- the vampires behind the curtain.
You think you have more money than these guys?
You'd tire yourself out for nothing. The power to price oil, gold, iron ore -- everything closely tied to financial markets is controlled by them. Frankly speaking, how much your assets are worth is out of your say.
The capital market didn't quite understand William White's motives; they thought this IMAX chain could easily go public. Once the shares diluted enough, your wife could bow out, but rushing to sell wouldn't net a reasonable price.
Of course, they had no clue that the last thing William White wanted was hype. He hoped this early promotion of IMAX could be steady. If it was handed over to the capital market, it would definitely be a disaster.
With Star Wars joining the lineup, IMAX would undoubtedly gain more hype. It had promise -- at least it would secure a spot. On this point, both Hollywood and Wall Street had a clear understanding. They knew well that as long as there were high-quality films, the audience wouldn't mind paying a little extra.
Things were fairly decent in the U.S., with dozens of theaters available. For the U.K. and Europe's IMAX chains, the buzz could only be described as explosive. Forget about twenty bucks -- they'd pay a hundred if they had to.
...
"Sir, what about opening more theaters in international markets?" Filson asked.
"Ugh, that really is tricky. Let's add two more in the U.K.; the rest stays the same. We have Jurassic Park and The Lion King this year, which shouldn't be a problem, but what about next year? The major Hollywood players are still waiting and watching," William replied.
"What are they waiting for, anyway?"
"It's simple; if most of the theaters are in my hands, they won't feel secure. That's also one reason I'm stepping back," William explained.
"So that's it! There are all kinds of opinions out there," Filson said.
"Hahaha, I'm sure the loudest are the naysayers. After thriving for so long, it's my turn to be unlucky, huh? Am I right?" William laughed.
"That's pretty much the gist of it. Your investments in oil and mining are similarly undervalued by the market."
"Undervalued is fine. By the way, keep an eye on the White Plaza project; we have a substantial investment in that," William mentioned.
"The two Asian projects are in the fundraising phase, and market response is pretty good. Leasing for the shopping mall and hotel is going smoothly. By the way, that department store in the U.K. seems to be very ambitious," Filson noted.
"Hah, it's quite strange. Are there really investment groups willing to support that?" William asked.
"They're expanding rapidly; their bulk purchasing method is genuinely lowering costs. Particularly in clothing: our think tank estimates about 40% gross margin," he responded.
"That high? Usually it doesn't exceed 30%," William remarked.
"Right, it doesn't. They buy outright. Many brands are willing to accept that as brand suppliers," he clarified.
"Hmm, that's good for the short term, if those buyers are diligent. But for the long term, the U.K. is still a relationship-driven society; a few rounds of golf or nights out can create significant risks. If it were electronics, I could reluctantly accept that," William said.
"So what's your point, sir?"
"Collaboration is fine, but it can't exceed one-quarter. The U.K. is too aggressive; if they take one wrong step, it could cause issues for us," William concluded.
"Got it, sir. I understand your point."
William White didn't remember why this retail giant went bankrupt in his past life. In any case, rapid growth isn't frightening; losing control is.
Don't just take their word for it; William's own business had just been cleaned up. Once a company reaches a certain height, the common pitfalls of large enterprises are hard to avoid.
*****
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