[Chapter 617: Boss]
When Eric heard Drew say that, he raised his arm and playfully tapped her on the forehead. With so much going on lately, he had no time to deal with women, especially not two identical ones.
It was already past eight in the evening. Upon returning to the villa, he sent the twins to prepare dinner, then checked the fax machine. He pulled out the press release that Firefly had prepared to announce the next day, along with several other documents.
Even though he appeared confident in the conference room, Eric couldn't shake his worries. Paramount and Universal were both opting for heavyweight films to be released before Saving Private Ryan, aiming to deal a blow to Firefly this summer. If Saving Private Ryan failed, then, with some people steering the narrative, the impact on its two follow-up films would undoubtedly be significant.
Eric set the press release aside and began reviewing the box office data for the first two movies in Paramount's Beverly Hills Cop series. The first Beverly Hills Cop, released in 1984, had cost $15 million and pulled in $230 million at the North American box office, making it the top-grossing film of the year. Its sequel, Beverly Hills Cop II, also garnered a solid $150 million domestically. The latest installment, Beverly Hills Cop III, was considered a product of Viacom's ambition after acquiring Paramount.
Even though it was a black comedy without special effects or grand scenes, Paramount still spent $50 million on production -- over double that of similar films. Based on the box office trends from the second sequel and the recent ticket sales growth in Hollywood, Firefly's internal data analysis department projected that Beverly Hills Cop III would exceed $50 million in its opening weekend when combined with the two-day preview on Wednesday and Thursday.
At the same time, Universal's The Mummy was generating even more buzz than Beverly Hills Cop III. Though it had a total investment of only $60 million, that was largely because Nicole Kidman agreed to take her salary as a share in the project and filming took place in Morocco, greatly saving on expenses. Without those cost-saving strategies, the production budget for The Mummy would not have been less than $80 million. Considering Universal's marketing strategies, trailers, and the buzz from sneak previews, the projection department estimated an opening weekend of about $50 million.
While both studios adopted a saturation distribution strategy, which typically led to steep declines in following weeks, calculations based on a 40% drop for both Beverly Hills Cop III and The Mummy suggested that if nothing changed significantly, Saving Private Ryan could expect an opening weekend figure of merely around $35 million, with the first week likely just hitting $50 million.
Moreover, with True Lies set to release on June 10, four major films would be competing, along with some lower-tier releases sharing the box office pie. Although weekend earnings would likely set new highs, True Lies' opening figures could also be capped at $50 million.
In the following weeks, there would be Paramount's Star Trek VII, Warner's Wyatt Earp, and Firefly's own The Lion King.
Star Trek VII and Wyatt Earp both posed significant variables. Eric had a vague recollection of Star Trek VII, and since he didn't have any standout memories, it seemed less of a threat.
Stimulated by the box office and award success of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, Warner was defying the trend of underperforming Westerns by releasing two major entries this summer: besides Wyatt Earp, there was also the opening film, Maverick, featuring big names like Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster.
However, after Maverick's release on May 20, it only garnered $13 million in its opening weekend, falling far short of Warner's expectations, and thus dropped out of the summer box office race.
Wyatt Earp was also a Western that Kevin Costner shot last year, and with the buzz he built from Dances with Wolves, nobody could predict how Wyatt Earp would fare.
Eric had no memory of this film, which left him with two possibilities: either it had bombed without a trace in its original timeline or it was a new film influenced by the butterfly effect. He genuinely hoped for the former, but seeing Wyatt Earp's budget of $63 million and Warner's selection of its prime June 24 release date, he sensed the latter possibility was likely.
After all, movie companies had accumulated enough experience to assess a film's quality and box office potential before its release. While they often misjudged, this kind of evaluation was akin to a weather forecast -- its accuracy was uncertain, but significant deviations in the overall direction rarely occurred. If Wyatt Earp's box office results matched its production budget and scheduling, then The Lion King's potential would also be unpredictably affected.
Over the years, with the platform Eric provided, Drew had become quite savvy; even if she hadn't developed nine lives, she'd definitely secured seven or eight. However, the little girl had also been showing less of her shrewd side around Eric lately. She understood the current situation all too well, and seeing Eric frown in thought, she gently nuzzled against him and said, "Eric, how about I return the distribution rights for Mission: Impossible and Night at the Museum, along with all the other copyrights, back to Firefly?"
Drew's voice broke Eric's concentration. Glancing at the data analysis in his hand, he chuckled self-deprecatingly while realizing he had so many "good cards" in hand. Even if he did lose this round, it wouldn't matter much -- he could always bounce back. He pulled the little girl closer and planted a kiss on her rosy cheek, saying, "Of course not! Those are all part of our treasure trove; we can't let anyone take them. By the way, how's the preparation for Forrest Gump coming along?"
Snuggling in Eric's embrace, she replied, "We've finalized Tom Hanks' salary at $8 million, but he wants us to provide adequate Oscar publicity resources in the future. Also, godfather really likes the script; last week, Amy and I visited him, and he even arranged for Robert Zemeckis to join us. Robert has already agreed to take on this project."
Tom Hanks signed on for Saving Private Ryan with a salary of $10 million. Eric knew that his reason for accepting a lower fee likely had to do with views of Forrest Gump as an Oscar contender. Hanks was about to turn forty, heightening his urgency to capture the Oscar for Best Actor. If it weren't for Saving Private Ryan, Hanks would probably end up including Philadelphia in his lineup just like in the original timeline. Although history had diverged, based on his stellar performance in Saving Private Ryan and the upcoming Forrest Gump, repeating the feat of winning consecutive Oscars wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
Curious about the director Robert Zemeckis being connected with Spielberg, Eric asked, "What's Steven working on lately?"
"Nothing much; godfather is just producing a few films. I heard he's planning on starting a new production company with David Geffen, similar to how Chaplin led United Artists -- focusing solely on production without distribution," Drew said, shaking her head as she continued, "But I honestly think that plan is doomed; without their own distribution, they'll still be subject to the big seven's influence."
Eric initially believed that this timeline had Jurassic Park safely in his hands, and that Katzenberg was contentedly at Disney, so Spielberg wouldn't want to go independent. Listening to Drew, he realized that the ambitious David Geffen must be leading this initiative. With his own record and production company, worth over $2 billion, and having recently separated from Time Warner, Geffen likely thought of founding a large production company after Eric had turned down his offer to join Firefly.
Recalling the last few words from the little girl, Eric immediately asked, "You didn't say this in front of Steven, did you?"
Drew giggled and shook her head, "Of course not! Godfather was all excited about starting something big; I wouldn't want to rain on his parade."
Eric chuckled. While the little girl's relationship with Spielberg had warmed considerably over the years, it certainly hadn't reached a point where such comments would be appropriate.
Despite taking a quick nap in the car, Eric had a dinner prepared by the twins, and soon enough, he settled down for a good night's rest.
...
The next day, before dawn broke, Eric was jolted awake by a flurry of phone calls. Groggy, he fumbled for the receiver and immediately heard Katzenberg's excited voice, "Eric! We just got the news from the company. Can you imagine? $1.72 million! Just $1.72 million! Ha ha!"
Eric glanced at his watch; it was still not even four o'clock. He sighed inwardly at Katzenberg's craziness. Did this workaholic really not need any sleep?
Quietly, he slipped out of bed, covering the little girl with a light blanket, and walked out of the room with a cordless phone in hand. Although he'd begun to piece things together, he still asked one more time, "What's this $1.72 million?"
"Of course, it's the opening day box office for Beverly Hills Cop III -- only $1.72 million! Just 30% of the projected $6 million for its opening day. Paramount originally hoped this sequel would push towards $200 million, but it seems it won't even cross $50 million in total. As long as The Mummy doesn't follow the box office curve of Jurassic Park, our Saving Private Ryan maintains its potential," Katzenberg explained.
Upon hearing this confirmation, Eric suddenly felt wide awake and understood why Katzenberg was so energized. Listening carefully to some indistinct voices in the background, he asked, "Jeffrey, you're not at the office right now, are you?"
"Of course not! Michael is on his way. I'm just letting you know that you have other work today, so you don't need to come. I'll call you as soon as anything comes up," Katzenberg continued. "Paramount initially wanted to cover up this news; the data manager spent over two hours just to get the accurate figures. We're now trying to contact the media to amplify this news's impact; even though the morning papers are a bit late, ABC's morning news will focus on this story, and the major city evening papers will feature dedicated film reviews. Even if Beverly Hills Cop III failed temporarily, we'll make sure it has no chance to recover."
Hanging up, Eric immediately felt relieved. Just as Katzenberg had said, even if Beverly Hills Cop III faced a temporary box office setback, the subsequent wave of bad reviews would leave it with no chance for redemption. Though there were subtle indications of a collaboration between Universal and Paramount against Firefly, Eric believed Universal was likely up to the same old tricks. With dawn breaking, the media would fill with stories about Beverly Hills Cop III's dismal performance, and the film's horrid opening day of $1.72 million gave Paramount no ground to refute.
Once a film fails domestically, particularly a poorly received black comedy, there's no hope for its overseas revenue. While box office earnings accounted for only 30% of Hollywood's overall revenue and 70% came from ancillary markets in a situation where the film was of decent quality, a dismal reception like that of Beverly Hills Cop III would lead to a domino effect, making it unnoticed in the video rental and TV broadcast markets. With an estimated $50 million domestic projection, this comedy's production and distribution costs nearing $100 million could ultimately yield over $50 million loss for Paramount. For the ambitious Redstone, this loss would surely sting for quite a while.
Now only The Mummy remained. Even if it turned out to be a minor success, it wouldn't suppress Saving Private Ryan. As long as Saving Private Ryan reached its normal box office levels, under Firefly's direction, it could compete positively with the upcoming True Lies. The failure of Beverly Hills Cop III felt like the opponent losing a significant piece in a chess game, allowing Firefly to regain the initiative.
Excited, Eric had no thought of going back to sleep. He dressed quickly and headed downstairs, going to his basement study to handle some accumulated emails from the previous day. Once daylight broke, he exited the study, ready for a workout.
As the automatic door to the study opened, Eric spotted the twins descending the stairs side by side. The two were wearing identical black tanks and shorts, further highlighting their slender waists and long legs, a signature look of Slavic girls. Their blonde hair was pulled into ponytails, their oval faces delicately rounded, with big blue eyes that looked stunning even without makeup. Their small noses and mouths framed by slim brows and lips carried an innocence that couldn't be overlooked.
Seeing Eric appear as the automatic door opened, the twins halted in unison and called out, "Boss."
*****
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