Chapter 301 — Disney's Dilemma
As October arrived, Dawnlight Pictures' Pulp Fiction officially crossed $50 million at the North American box office.
Quentin Tarantino's explosive crime film had become a full-fledged cultural phenomenon. Its success reignited John Travolta's career while also pushing Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson to new levels of fame.
---
Burbank — Disney Headquarters
Fresh back from New York, Michael Eisner sat inside Disney headquarters speaking with major Disney shareholder Sid Bass.
"I already spoke with Jack Welch," Eisner said.
"General Electric is open to the idea of selling NBC."
"At the moment, NBC just isn't that important to GE's overall business anymore."
GE was currently the largest publicly traded corporation in the United States, and NBC represented only a small portion of its total profits.
"Oh?" Sid Bass glanced at him.
"So GE is actually willing to let NBC go?"
Eisner nodded.
"As one of Hollywood's major studios, Disney is obviously far better suited to operate NBC."
"However, Jack Welch's proposal is to sell only half of NBC to Disney while transferring content production responsibilities to us."
"At present, NBC is being managed by GE Vice Chairman Bob Wright, and he would continue overseeing network operations."
Eisner personally agreed with the arrangement.
Acquiring only half the company would significantly reduce Disney's financial burden, and having a corporate powerhouse like GE remain involved would greatly reduce the risks.
Meanwhile, Disney would handle content production, while NBC's national broadcast distribution system could massively strengthen Disney's reach.
"Only half?" Sid Bass frowned.
Cutting the risk in half also meant cutting the profits in half.
Under GE's ownership, NBC had never truly realized its potential. In the world of entertainment content, Hollywood studios were the real kings.
"We should call a board meeting," Bass said at last.
"Let everyone discuss it."
---
Meanwhile, after spending several days in Palm Springs with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron brought her to Las Vegas.
Inside a luxury suite at the newly opened MGM Grand Las Vegas, Aaron rolled off Catherine and exhaled deeply.
"Compared to pure decadence and excess," he said with a grin, "Las Vegas really is number one."
Catherine, her body glistening with sweat, leaned against his chest and smiled faintly.
"So tell me," she teased, "is MGM still a movie studio… or just a casino empire now?"
Back in the day, Kirk Kerkorian had purchased Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and then built the MGM casino hotels around its iconic branding.
Now the roaring lion logo and the MGM name had become legendary throughout Las Vegas.
At one point, Sony had wanted to acquire MGM, but the deal collapsed because Kerkorian refused to surrender the MGM brand and lion trademark.
Aaron shook his head.
"In a way, it's both."
"But honestly, the only things truly valuable about MGM now are the brand itself and that lion logo."
"Oh, and United Artists' film library too," he added casually.
"That includes the rights to the James Bond film series franchise."
Aaron remembered clearly that before long, Kirk Kerkorian would make his third attempt to acquire Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The man also had an obsession with film libraries, later scooping up the catalogs of companies like Carolco, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and Orion Pictures.
Unfortunately for MGM, that opportunity was already gone.
The film libraries of Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films already belonged to Dawn. Nearly 2,500 feature films were now part of Dawn's growing vault of assets.
With her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders, Catherine leaned forward and kissed Aaron lightly on the cheek, her glamorous charm impossible to ignore.
"Right now, Dawn has completely surpassed MGM/UA," she said softly.
"Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction are practically unavoidable this year."
"And then there's Jim Carrey with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask both becoming huge hits."
"Dawn's performance this year is even stronger than before."
"Alright," Aaron said, grinning as his hands slid teasingly across her body.
"Let's get something to eat first, then we'll hit the casino for a while."
Since they were already in Las Vegas, it would be a waste not to enjoy it.
Catherine smiled.
"Okay. I'll take a shower first…"
---
At the same time, while Disney's board was still preparing discussions over whether to purchase half of NBC, an explosive internal story suddenly broke.
The New Yorker published a detailed article chronicling the entire process of how Jeffrey Katzenberg had been forced out of Disney by Michael Eisner.
In the article, Katzenberg was portrayed as an exceptionally capable executive who had been wronged, while Eisner came across as jealous, volatile, and controlling.
Newspapers across the country quickly reprinted the story, and Disney's media image began deteriorating almost overnight.
The backlash left Eisner furious.
Major Disney shareholder Sid Bass also remained dissatisfied with GE's proposal regarding NBC.
He wanted Disney to acquire the network outright—not merely the 49% stake and content production rights that General Electric was willing to offer.
As a result, Eisner was forced to continue negotiations with GE chairman Jack Welch.
The overwhelming success of The Lion King had elevated Katzenberg's reputation to an entirely new level.
And now, after leaving Disney, he had joined forces with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen to establish DreamWorks SKG.
The nonstop media coverage only intensified Eisner's sense of danger.
Katzenberg's new alliance was no joke. As one of the people who understood Disney better than almost anyone else, he posed a genuine threat.
DreamWorks SKG was almost certain to become one of Disney's fiercest future rivals.
And as if things weren't bad enough already, Disney's troubles continued piling up.
At the same time Katzenberg launched DreamWorks and the NBC negotiations stalled, Disney was also forced to abandon plans for a new theme park project in northern Virginia.
Disney had originally intended to build another Disney resort there, but the proposal faced massive resistance from local elites and wealthy landowners in the surrounding area.
These opponents united and used their political influence in Washington to argue that the theme park would damage historic landmarks and destroy the region's environment.
They loudly accused Disney of desecrating an American historical treasure.
Even The Washington Post joined the criticism, publishing headlines declaring:
"Michael Eisner Is Destroying American History."
---
Inside a luxurious mansion in Beverly Hills, Jeffrey Katzenberg sat on a sofa flipping through the newspaper.
A faint smile slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The New Yorker article, of course, had been orchestrated by Katzenberg himself.
Moments later, he picked up his phone and dialed another number.
"Good evening, Mr. Katzenberg."
"Mhm," Katzenberg replied calmly.
"By the way, Michael Eisner underwent heart surgery not long ago."
"I think Disney's shareholders might be very interested in the issue of succession."
The line fell silent for a moment.
"…Understood."
After hanging up, Katzenberg's expression remained completely unchanged.
Now that he and Disney had openly torn each other apart, there was no longer any reason to hold back.