[Chapter 833: An Idea]
Cameron painted a picture of imagination, his tone filled with longing, but the girl sitting next to Eric laughed, pouring cold water on him. "But that's definitely going to be very expensive."
"Oh, Drew," Cameron shook his head, pointing at Eric. "Your concerns are definitely not a problem for this guy."
"The money issue isn't a problem, but the distribution channels are," Eric smiled at Cameron. "If you plan to make Spider-Man in 3D-IMAX format, you'll find that you won't be able to find any theaters playing it."
Eric's words hit like a bucket of ice water, and Cameron quickly awoke to the reality. He recalled what Stan Winston had said: the 3D-IMAX screen meant for testing at Firefly Studios was, if not the first of its kind in the world, certainly one of the very few globally.
However, thinking about that 3D-IMAX screen, Cameron suddenly understood, looking at Eric. "You tricked me for a moment. Since the 3D-IMAX screen is here, you must have a plan ready, right?"
"Of course," Eric didn't keep it secret and said, "In fact, Firefly Software has already started secretly developing professional software tools for converting 2D to 3D. As soon as the timing is right, a dedicated 3D conversion subsidiary will be established in Digital Domain to bring Hollywood's classic films suitable for conversion back onto the big screen."
Strictly speaking, 2D to 3D technology had already emerged. If it weren't for having all his resources tied up with Titanic, according to the original timeline, Cameron should have already produced a 3D version of Terminator 2 by this time. However, the current 2D to 3D technology could only be described as crude and was nowhere near scalable commercialization.
Eric had witnessed firsthand how the proliferation of pseudo-3D technologies had ruined the bright prospects of this emerging cinematic technology in the original timeline. Now that he had enough influence and power in Hollywood, he obviously hoped that the related technology could develop more maturely to facilitate the healthy growth of the industry.
Cameron pressed, "Hey, Eric, don't be so vague. How long do you think it will take? Is three years enough? The production cycle for Spider-Man is exactly three years."
"Jim, you need to understand that to widely promote 3D films, and even further, 3D-IMAX, we face a massive upgrade across the entire industry chain. From the basic research and development of 3D cameras to the upgrade of final theater equipment, any one of these stages cannot be achieved overnight. I think, at least five years will be needed before we see any real results. So, it's best to wait for your next film to consider this."
In fact, forcibly accelerating this process wasn't impossible, but it didn't align with Eric's expansion plans for Firefly.
Eric had once received a theory from Buffett: to build strength during good economic times and seek expansion in adverse environments. In recent years, North America's economic conditions had been the best time. Not to mention the rapidly developing IT industry, even Hollywood was experiencing robust growth due to the thriving global film market, with home video/DVD and cable television expanding further. Hollywood's average annual growth rate exceeded 10%.
Eric knew that the current favorable environment in Hollywood would enter a period of stagnation around the year 2000 as the internet bubble burst. That would be the best time for Firefly to further expand.
Eric's investment plan in Nasdaq IT stocks through Clover Holdings was also a way to accumulate funds for Firefly Group's expansion post-2000. With Firefly Group's current scale, hundreds of millions of dollars in small mergers could hardly be called an expansion. If he could use the timing of the internet bubble to accumulate two to three billion dollars in cash reserves, Firefly Group could then pay less in equity shares or even not use the stock exchange model at all when entering new industries or seeking merger targets.
Cameron obviously couldn't envision such grand industrial development plans; he just felt it was a bit of a pity. Under other circumstances, Cameron might have postponed the production plan for Spider-Man for a few years, and he could wait. However, this project was something he had promised Eric long ago. Although he faced enormous pressure from Titanic, Cameron also knew that Eric was under just as much, if not more, pressure. Eric had been so supportive, sometimes blindly so; if Titanic failed at the box office, the management at Firefly might lose faith in Eric. Since Eric had given him such great support, as someone true to his nature, he wouldn't let Eric down.
They chatted some more about 3D-IMAX. Eric felt a bit dry mouthed and took a few sips of his coffee before casually asking, "Jim, what have you been busy with lately?"
The Spider-Man project wasn't set to kick off until the second half of the year, and Cameron didn't need to worry about the Oscar campaigning for Titanic. Whether or not to go to Europe or Japan for the next phase of promotion was entirely up to him; he should be having a pretty carefree time.
Cameron said, "Not much. I'm not as much of a workaholic as you. Oh, by the way, I just thought of another good idea. Once it matures, I might present it, maybe Firefly would want to make a movie out of it."
Eric perked up, "Share it; maybe we can brainstorm together."
Cameron didn't hold back and replied, "It's a sci-fi screenplay about a girl escaping from a cyborg base after the world suffers a global disaster. Right now, I have just some basic background setups, I'm still figuring out what this global disaster should be."
"Of course, it's nuclear war," Drew joked from the side.
Eric immediately recalled what Cameron's 'idea' was, chuckling, then added to the girl's words, "If it's nuclear war, there wouldn't be many survivors left on Earth. A large-scale nuclear war would leave strong radiation that could prevent life from continuing on the planet for decades."
"That's correct," Stan Winston added from across the table. "Moreover, following a nuclear war, there would likely be a nuclear winter where radiation clouds block out the sun, and the Earth's surface temperature could drop below freezing. Even if humanity survives the war and has some means to shield from radiation, the ensuing nuclear winter would lead to the death of vast amounts of flora and fauna, ultimately causing humanity to starve."
"I think the same," Cameron said. "So, nuclear war is simply unsuitable. That'd be a full-on post-apocalyptic era. What I want is just a chaotic period after a large-scale global disaster. Humanity might face mass fatalities, cities could be desolate, but the living environment on Earth wouldn't become too harsh."
"You're a fan of anime, right?" Eric interjected, pretending to be casual as he listened to Cameron. "If that's the case, you should know there are various special global attacks in many Japanese sci-fi comics that can cause massive malfunctions in electronic devices worldwide."
Cameron immediately got it: "You mean electromagnetic wave attacks?"
Eric nodded, "Electromagnetic weaponry is still in the experimental stage, but by your conception, I can guess you're choosing a point in the future where these weapons would be fully developed, and humanity's dependence on electronic devices would be even stronger. So when these devices are attacked, it would undoubtedly lead to worldwide social chaos. Just think about it: if there were a global blackout today, the consequences would be catastrophic."
"Exactly," Cameron clapped his hands, suddenly seeing things clearly. "We could even establish a more comprehensive worldview for this story. In a turbulent era, under martial law, where ordinary citizens struggle to survive. Hmm, and also a much larger conspiracy brewing after this disaster."
"So, the female protagonist in the story should be the link connecting all of this," Eric continued. "However, with this setup, I feel this idea should be more suitable for a TV series rather than a movie."
"That's fine, too," Cameron agreed, not insisting. "The girl in the story should be very kind but also strong, and her character should have multiple complex facets, like an angel fallen to the bottom. Hmm, let's call her Dark Angel -- what do you think?"
"Sounds good," Eric nodded with a smile.
"I'll flesh out the concept during this time. Eric, if Firefly's interested, get a writing team ready for me."
Eric nodded. Although in the history of television, this classic sci-fi series had only run two seasons before being canceled, it wasn't any flaw of the show itself. Years later, sci-fi fans continued to reminisce about the series' unresolved stories.
"Jim, I can help you get a writing team, but I do have one condition."
"What is it?" Cameron asked, sounding curious.
Eric grinned, "The lead actress -- I'll pick her. I really don't trust your taste."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Cameron shrugged, "Fine by me, but I was very satisfied with the lead actress in Titanic, so that means our tastes should be pretty close."
"Oh, and one more thing," Eric suddenly remembered. "This TV series fits the tastes of younger audiences and isn't suited for ABC. Coincidentally, this year Fox's The X-Files has concluded; if you're willing, it might be good to have this series take over The X-Files' time slot."
"That's your job," Cameron said. "I won't fuss over distribution. I wouldn't mind if you directly had Fox produce it."
Eric nodded and laughed, "Then I'll have the writing team from The X-Files contact you. They have extensive experience in crafting sci-fi scripts."
...
Dark Angel was purely serendipitous. Cameron's focus would still remain on Spider-Man, not taking on the producer's role as he would have in the original timeline, and Eric swiftly let Fox take the lead on this project. With The X-Files wrapping up, Fox needed a new sci-fi series to fill the slot. Thanks to the powerful impact of Titanic, Fox placed great importance on Dark Angel, and the project quickly entered the preparation phase.
...
In the meantime, Eric continued working on the post-production of Casino Royale. Meanwhile, beyond Hollywood, after months of preparation, international capital led by Soros' Quantum Fund began its first wave of probing attacks on Southeast Asian countries.
This first wave wasn't particularly large. Additionally, because Soros had been openly predicting the downfall of the Southeast Asian economy since last year, there was a degree of wariness amongst those nations. In just two weeks of this initial attack, international capital not only failed to gain an upper hand but also lost hundreds of millions in the Thai baht trading war.
While this loss didn't cause any tangible impact on the massive international capital, it solidified the confidence of Southeast Asian countries, which believed they had enough power to resist external currency speculators attacking their currency.
As Southeast Asian nations celebrated stories of international capital 'returning empty-handed,' they remained blissfully unaware that their vulnerabilities had already been inadvertently grasped by their opponents.
What came next would be the real storm.
...
From the very start, Eric had no intention of passing up this opportunity. Since the beginning of the year, Chris had secretly begun assembling a trading team in New York.
After the first probe from international capital, Chris flew to Los Angeles to personally discuss future plans with Eric.
By mid-March, in Malibu at the Liberty City Estate, after having just finished lunch, Chris and Eric sat together by the villa's glass wall, discussing the matter.
Eric put down his coffee cup and said, "We just finished compiling the annual financial data; our net profits for the year were approximately $1.76 billion. After dividends, we can take home around $1.3 billion, but Yahoo needs to set aside $500 million. That's the biggest expenditure. Firefly Electronics will also need $200 million. As for Amazon, I've reviewed Bezos's investment report -- another $100 million. Other companies, just to be safe, need to set aside $200 million, so you'll only have about $300 million to work with."
*****
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