[Chapter 656: Aspirations Should Be Bigger]
In 1994, the membership of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in the United States had already surpassed 120,000. Among these members, over 99% earned annual incomes comparable to the working class. Only the top 1% at the very pinnacle could enjoy the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle, reaping substantial rewards while also holding a significant portion of the power in Hollywood.
When the major film studios publicly announced that they would cut the salaries of top stars, these elite actors quickly formed an alliance through the SAG and several prominent agencies. Almost on the same day that the studios issued their statement, a group of top stars including Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, and Bruce Willis -- who each commanded over ten million in salaries -- immediately severed ties with all film projects being negotiated with the studios. Some representatives of these stars even threatened to withdraw from promotional duties for films that had already been completed.
...
The news sent shockwaves throughout Hollywood once again.
In recent years, CG effects films with less dependence on superstars had begun to rise, but films still accounted for more than half of Hollywood's box office revenues, which relied heavily on these A-list stars. The unified decision of these front-line stars to walk away was comparable in its impact to the effects of a strike.
The first studio to feel the effects of the stars' strike was undoubtedly Warner Bros., which had maintained a star-driven strategy since the era of Steve Ross.
Having just endured a dismal summer box office, CEO Terry Semel was navigating his days with extreme caution. However, with Warner in talks with Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others for projects like Heat, Waterworld, and Eraser now put on hold, Semel faced renewed criticism from shareholders and competitors.
Universal, Paramount, and Fox also saw many of their projects hit hard by this event.
The situation for production companies was drastically different from that of the stars. Even if top stars didn't film for a year or two, their previous salary earnings still allowed them to live comfortably. However, studios could not simply pause for a year or two; without a steady stream of hit films, they would quickly face severe issues like drastic revenue declines and cash flow problems.
When some executives from the studios, caught in a dilemma, turned their attention to Firefly Group, they found that Firefly's film companies had mostly remained unaffected.
Firefly Group's two films set to release by year-end, Face/Off and Runaway Bride, were already nearly complete. Runaway Bride, starring Julia Roberts, was a no-brainer, and though Face/Off featured Nicolas Cage, who ranked among the top stars, the production was finished. Even if Cage completely disregarded his relationship with Eric Williams, the film's release would not be significantly affected.
Moreover, the upcoming major releases, Jurassic Park 2 and Independence Day, were both effects-heavy blockbusters. Even Will Smith in Independence Day was just a newcomer to Hollywood when he signed the contract. The other 3D animated film Toy Story 2 does not require anyone to act. So there is no saying that it was affected.
Additionally, projects like The Matrix and Titanic that Firefly was in the preparation stage for were still heavily based on CG effects. While Firefly had worked with some A-list stars, given the caliber of previous casts, they seemed unconcerned about film quality and box office performance even without star involvement.
Upon realizing this, the executives at other major studios envied Firefly's strategy of not being tied down by superstar constraints. A thought crossed their minds: could they have been led astray by Eric Williams?
After all, why would he stir up trouble while remaining entirely unaffected himself?
Conspiracy theories were often easily embraced, and as thoughts circulated about Eric digging a pit for them, the urge to continue resisting faded.
...
Within a week of the standoff, Warner's Terry Semel, under mounting pressure, made the first concession. At a press conference, he publicly stated that Warner had always maintained a cooperative relationship with Hollywood stars and would continue to uphold mutually beneficial collaboration.
Although Semel did not directly announce that Warner would not cut star salaries, no one was naive enough to misunderstand the implications of his statement.
The stars understood the strategy of "giving a stick and then a sweet date." Following Warner's initial concession, negotiations for projects like Heat, Waterworld, and Eraser were promptly restarted, with confirmations of major film deals announced almost the very next day.
With Warner's concession, other studios including Universal, Paramount, and even Fox and Columbia quietly followed suit in making compromises. Only Firefly Group remained silent.
...
At the Liberty City estate, newly bathed Nicole, draped in a light pink silk robe, stepped into the bedroom, her delicate bare feet gliding across the cool floor as she jumped onto the bed.
"I really don't understand why you don't like having carpets in the bedroom; it's so comfortable to step on," Nicole chirped, pecking Eric affectionately on the cheek as he leaned back against the bed, reading documents.
Without looking up, Eric replied, "Carpets cost money."
Nicole rolled her eyes and suddenly laughed. "Are you still upset that your plan didn't work out?"
"You're overthinking it. I never had high hopes, so there's no question of feeling disappointed."
Nicole studied Eric's face for a few seconds, then declared confidently, "You can't say you're not disappointed; I can see it."
Eric chuckled and handed Nicole a document he had just read. "Here, take a look."
Out of curiosity, she accepted it and saw the dense data charts, promptly losing interest. She tossed it back to Eric, saying, "Just tell me what it is; I can't understand this."
"This is internal statistical data from Yahoo. Due to the industry's intense curiosity regarding Yahoo's operational status, if you took this document out and offered it for $100,000, there would be people fighting over it."
Nicole feigned surprise, covering her mouth. "Wow, that's impressive."
Eric glanced at Nicole's alluring sight as her robe slipped from her shoulder and said, "At your height, pretending to be a little girl isn't cute at all."
Nicole pouted playfully at Eric and pulled her robe up, chiding him, "You really lack romance; have you lost interest in me after spending so much time with those beautiful models?"
"Wait, I'll definitely make it up to you," Eric grinned mischievously. "But since you came here to pry into my thoughts, I should satisfy your curiosity first, right?"
Nicole felt her cheeks flush and confessed, "I'm not interested in these things, really. But, Tom Hanks and the others wanted to know exactly what you were thinking, so they asked me to inquire."
"My thoughts have mostly been shared on Yahoo News. Ultimately, it's just this: to bring Hollywood star salaries back to a reasonable level, that's all."
Curious, Nicole tilted her head and asked, "So what do you think a reasonable salary level would be?"
Eric pondered for a moment and said, "Star salaries shouldn't exceed 20% of a film's profits; that seems reasonable. When I say 'bringing back to reason,' I don't mean just cutting salaries; I want stars to share risks with production companies. Just like when I advised you to take a stake in The Mummy instead of just receiving a salary; although you could earn over $30 million now, it's still reasonable because Universal will profit $400 million from the project, and you're only taking 8%. In contrast, last summer, Schwarzenegger and Stallone received $17 million each for their action films, but those films lost tens of millions, which is completely unreasonable."
"Your idea seems hard to achieve; there are so many risks in film investment. Before a film releases, no one knows if it will succeed or fail, and very few A-list stars are willing to take the risk for a share in case the movie fails," Nicole said.
"That's why," Eric shrugged, "I never had high expectations. I just need to control Firefly's budget."
Nicole countered, "But you've offended all the A-list stars in Hollywood now. Even Tom Hanks and Nicolas Cage, who are close to Firefly, probably have some issues with you. Since you knew it wouldn't work, why do it?"
Eric held up the document he had just given to Nicole and said, "Because of this incident, Yahoo's daily average visits have approached 10 million in the last week. Although they'll decrease later, I believe that after the operations surrounding the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at year-end, Yahoo's daily hits will stay above 10 million next year. Do you know what that means?"
Nicole widened her eyes, her mouth slightly agape as she playfully shook her head. "No, I don't."
"Let's say we could simply compare Yahoo as a newspaper. Recently, Firefly sold the newspaper and magazine assets it acquired from ABC Group for $1.52 billion. The total circulation of these papers and magazines is less than 2 million. So, you can calculate how much Yahoo, with 10 million 'subscribers,' would be worth."
Nicole's math didn't seem great, and after blinking in disbelief a few times, she stammered, "7.6 billion? That can't be right!"
In the original timeline, Yahoo, which was just a simple directory site, reached a market value of $500 million on its first day of trading. Now, Yahoo boasted a suite of popular online products like the Yahoo browser, chat service, portal site, and email, with traffic immensely exceeded even the best of the original timeline. Coupled with the promising prospects of the Yahoo Technology Alliance and Yahoo Advertising Alliance, by next year's IPO, its valuation might not hit $7.6 billion, but it wouldn't be far behind.
"That's not impossible; you'll see next year."
Nicole still seemed stunned. "So you're saying you're going to have billions more in assets next year?"
Eric replied, "At one point, the Rockefeller family reached an asset peak equal to one-sixtieth of the American GDP; I think, someday, I should surpass that too."
Nicole instinctively asked, "What's one-sixtieth?"
Eric recalled and said, "The current GDP is $7.3 trillion; one-sixtieth would be $120 billion."
"$120 billion, $120 billion..." Nicole murmured, as if suddenly feeling drained, and she slumped back onto the bed.
Eric set aside his folder and moved closer, gently brushing a strand of her golden hair off her face. "Feeling breathless? Do you want me to give you mouth-to-mouth?"
Nicole pushed Eric's head away. "I was so proud about earning $30 million from The Mummy, and now after what you said, I don't feel good at all."
Eric laughed, "Isn't it often said that women conquer the world by conquering men? I think your aspirations should be a bit greater."
Nicole sighed, "I can never figure out what you're thinking, but I know you have no intention of getting married, and you already have two kids. I really don't know what we could become. Sometimes, thinking about it makes me feel like I should keep my distance from you."
Eric leaned down and kissed Nicole softly, reaching for the silver necklace around her neck, opening the heart-shaped locket inside which lay a rose-colored ring.
Nicole gazed softly at Eric lifting her left hand and slipping the ring onto her ring finger, a hint of expectation shining through. "Are you asking me to marry you?"
Eric shook his head, and before Nicole could display disappointment, he added, "No, an engagement ring should go on the middle finger. Wearing it on the ring finger means you're already my wife."
Nicole raised her arm and looked under the light at the rose gold ring adorned with a ruby. "No engagement, no wedding; what's worse, this ring isn't unique. You think you can possess me like this? Hmph! Think again."
Eric replied, "If you're not afraid of public opinion, I can give you a wedding anytime."
Nicole's eyes lit up for a moment, but she quickly asked, "What about them?"
"They will surely ask for the same," he responded.
Nicole scrunched up her nose in dissatisfaction. "Do you want polygamy?"
"The laws of the world only restrain those who can be restrained. Under my will, I can have many wives."
Nicole's eyes sparkled momentarily, and she said, "I think maybe you could join a cult; it would make it seem more legitimate."
Eric cupped Nicole's face and kissed her passionately. "I just said, under my will, I can have many wives. I don't need societal validation, whether from the federal law or from God in heaven. So, I wouldn't join any cult for such mundane approval; that would just be self-deceiving."
*****
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