Santa Monica, in a beachfront villa.
A black Wrangler pulled up nearby, and Eric stepped out.
"Are you sure you don't need me to go in with you?"
"Oh come on, what do you think this is? An assassination?"
"What if? This isn't your territory."
"But it's not their territory either. Or are you saying you think I can't beat six old geezers?"
"Alright, I'll wait for you then."
"No need. I'll call you when I'm done."
Knock knock knock!
After sending Judy away, Eric knocked on the door.
Soon, a middle-aged man with a bushy beard and round glasses, none other than top Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, let him in.
Ever since MGM and The Big Six started their conflict, as a Jewish Person, he was naturally more inclined emotionally towards Disney, Warner Bros. and other companies.
But as a company owner, his interests dictated that he was more inclined towards MGM; money was often more reliable than emotion.
So, after Brad Grey proposed a negotiation that day, Spielberg acted as a middleman and arranged a meeting in this villa.
"You're late, Eric. They've been waiting inside for half an hour."
"Hmm, I did it on purpose."
"Heh heh... I knew it. Important characters always make their entrance last, right?"
"What would you like to drink? Coffee, tea, or alcohol?"
"What do you want me to drink?"
"Alcohol, of course."
"Why?"
"Coffee and tea can be drunk anytime, but alcohol is for celebration. To be honest, everyone hopes you two will stop fighting."
"Everyone? Who are you talking about?" Eric asked, feigning ignorance.
"DreamWorks, New Line Cinema, Lionsgate, Summit..."
"Everyone has suffered enough this past year. You might not be having a good time, and neither are we."
"Constantly changing release dates, moving them up, moving them back – the entire year's plan has been disrupted. You can ask a few of them; who doesn't have several, or even more than a dozen, films sitting unreleased?"
"Eric, this can't go on. We're all tired of it, and it's not good for the audience or the development of the entire film market."
"Do Bob and Yellen know about today's meeting as well?"
"No, only I know, but we contact each other privately. Everyone has a belly full of grievances to vent."
"In short, stop this. It's our common wish. We're really tired."
Eric patted him on the shoulder: "As far as I know, DreamWorks made a lot of money this year. You're not qualified to complain."
"And I'm not the one who started the war. You can't just tell me to stop with a few words and expect me to be satisfied, can you? Who will be responsible for the losses MGM has suffered?"
Spielberg shook his head slightly, thinking, if it wasn't for you insisting on streaming, how would things have come to this point today?
After leading Eric to the second floor and closing the door, Spielberg quietly exited.
Inside Room, six old men were puffing away at their cigars. Upon seeing him, the scene instantly fell silent.
Cough, cough... "I hate the smell of smoke!"
Under the gaze of 12 eyes, Eric opened all the windows.
It was still winter, and a cold wind instantly blew in. Those inside were lightly dressed, and a few of the older men involuntarily shivered.
"Hmm, much better now. Do you want to continue smoking? Or keep the windows open?"
Hmph!
With a cold snort, Michael Eisner extinguished the cigar in his hand, and the other five followed suit.
Eric smiled, closed the windows, and sat on the last empty sofa.
Then everyone looked at each other, falling into the same silence as before.
Finally, all eyes fell on Brad Grey.
Feeling a bit numb, seeing Eric Cooper's entrance, he knew this conversation would not be easy.
"Eric, we originally intended to invite your father, but Harry seemed to be unavailable."
Eric nodded: "He and my mom are on vacation in Fiji. They won't be back anytime soon."
"OK! Then let's not waste any more time. Let's get straight to the point."
"After a year of fighting, everyone has suffered significant losses, and the global film and television industry has been affected. It's time to stop."
"Affected? But I think it's great! At least MGM's stock price has been rising. I just heard a report on the way here; it has already exceeded 20 billion US dollars."
Michael Eisner's brows instantly furrowed. The reason he agreed to the peace talks was because Disney had lost its position as the industry leader.
The board was very dissatisfied with his performance during this period and had put immense pressure on him.
Brad Grey quickly smoothed things over: "Let's not talk about stock prices, but everyone's losses are real, so there's really no need to continue."
"We should go back to how things were. We should maintain cooperation. The Big Seven Hollywood companies have always been one, haven't they?"
"We make the rules together, we form the MPAA together, we conquer markets abroad together. We should be brothers and friends, not enemies."
Listening to his high-sounding rhetoric, Eric sneered: "Now we're brothers again? But don't forget it was you good brothers who first moved against me!"
"Especially with the Bar Refaeli incident, you sons of bitches wanted to put me in jail! You not only wanted to financially cripple MGM, but you also wanted to kill me!"
"Now you want me to forget my hatred with a few words? Why don't you ask the Native Americans? Why don't you ask the Black people?"
"They still remember things from over a hundred years ago, and you want me to forget things from a year ago?"
"Fight when you want to fight, make peace when you want to make peace—there's no such good deal in the world."
Michael Eisner said angrily: "But you ended up unharmed and even sent Harvey to jail."
"Now he's not only bankrupt, Dimension Films has even fired him, and he faces exorbitant compensation and decades in prison."
"Miramax is also in chaos and hasn't fully sorted things out yet. Isn't that revenge enough?"
"Not enough!" Eric suddenly roared, interrupting the other man.
"The reason I can still sit here is because I'm strong enough, not because you showed mercy."
"Especially Disney, don't think I don't know that damn Operation Leo was initiated by you."
"If it wasn't for your meddling, MGM, Universal, Fox, Paramount..."
"We could have coexisted peacefully, but you started the war for your own influence, Michael. You have to bear this responsibility, Disney has to bear it!"
"Shit! If it wasn't for you pushing that damn streaming, would we have targeted you? You're challenging the rules of the industry!"
Being scolded by Eric, being pointed at and cursed by a kid in his twenties.
Michael Eisner had never suffered such a great insult. He was instantly furious, and all sorts of expletives spilled out.
"Rules are made by the strong. The development of the internet will only accelerate, and streaming is the general trend."
"If we don't do it now, someone else will in a few years. You're like a zombie about to enter its coffin, your half-dead brain is already rigid, you don't understand anything!"
"Alright, that's enough, stop arguing."
"Everyone is here today to resolve conflicts, not to escalate them."
"Eric, calm down! Michael, please sit down too, okay?"
Seeing the two arguing more and more fiercely, the others quickly tried to calm them down.
Knock knock knock!
At this moment, the door was knocked, and Spielberg asked with some concern: "Gentlemen, you seem to be having some difficulties. Do you need me to do anything?"
"Water, with ice. Someone needs to cool down."
Michael Eisner, however, did not sit down. The anger in his heart made him want to punch Eric every time he saw him.
But at his age, he certainly couldn't beat the other man, so he left Room in a fit of pique.
Seeing him leave, Eric asked: "Who else wants to leave? You don't have to worry about my reaction."
Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer left without a word. Howard Stringer also stood up, but seeing that Universal, Paramount, and Fox hadn't moved, he hesitated for a moment and then sat back down.
Without the arguing, the atmosphere slowly became peaceful.
"Alright, the annoying people are gone. We can talk properly now. Please continue, Grey."
Brad Grey nodded: "Let's talk about cooperation again. We've discussed it and come up with a plan."
"Regarding the streaming platform, Lionheart Network, we can allow you to continue with it, but we The Big Six need to acquire shares."
"The specific shares can be negotiated, but the total proportion cannot be less than 40%. Of course, we will purchase the shares, so you won't be at a disadvantage."
"However, this transaction must be completed within three months. This is one of our few demands."
Upon hearing this, Eric frowned. This was clearly taking advantage of him.
The development speed of Lionheart Network could be described as explosive, but it would take at least another year before it could go public.
In one year, the company's valuation could easily multiply several times.
If they made this request after the IPO, Eric might consider it.
But to demand entry now, not to mention the issue of influence, just the financial loss alone would be at least several billion US dollars.
Fleecing him? Were they crazy?
With a forced smile, Eric said, both amused and annoyed: "Brad, there's one thing you guys don't seem to understand."
"The reason we can sit here and negotiate today is because the offensive and defensive positions have reversed."
"Before, it was The Big Six uniting against MGM. Now, it's MGM simultaneously attacking The Big Six."
"I still have plenty of bullets to fire: 'Dragon Ball', 'twilight', 'transformers 2', 'rampage', 'the hunger games 2', 'bohemian rhapsody', 'saw', 'the conjuring'."
"And the Marvel series that have already been developed. I can guarantee every movie makes money. Can you?"
"Sorry if I sound a bit harsh, but look at yourselves, like a pack of stray dogs."
"Who gave you the courage to make such an absurd demand? Now the initiative for war and peace is in my hands."
"Whether we continue to compete or cooperate again depends on how much you are willing to pay, understand?"
"And DreamWorks, New Line Cinema, them – do you think they're more inclined towards you or me?"
"In short, I can fight you until the ends of the earth, until one side completely falls!"
Eric's blatant threat gave no face to the four men.
They wanted to refute, but after thinking it over, they had to admit that everything he said was true.
Who would have thought that in just one year, the world would suddenly change?
A new emperor ascended, old kings abdicated, and the entire Hollywood landscape was overturned.
Seeing the four men remain silent, Eric did not continue to be aggressive, instead becoming gentler.
"However, on the other hand, after all, it's a decades-long partnership. Fighting to the death is really unnecessary, especially for you four companies."
"I know you didn't want to get involved in this mess, but you had to give face to Michael Eisner and Barry Meyer."
"This is a misunderstanding. I never considered you enemies."
The four men looked at each other, wondering what he was trying to do. They couldn't quite understand.
"Now I'm proposing a form of cooperation. If you want to enter Lionheart Network, I can agree."
"Then what do you want?"
"Good question. I want Warner Bros.!"
"What?"
"I said I want Warner Bros.!"
Seeing Brad Grey still looking as if he hadn't understood, Eric stated it directly: "I mean, I want to acquire Warner Bros.!"
Boom!
His words were like a thunderclap in broad daylight, stunning the four men.
After a moment of stunned, Howard Stringer suddenly burst into laughter: "Eric, Eric Cooper, although there are grievances between us, I admit you are a very formidable young man."
"But acquiring Warner Bros., are you joking? Do you know what Warner Bros.' market value is? Over 15 billion US dollars."
"And your acquisition will definitely involve a premium, right? Even if we calculate it at a relatively low 35%, you'd need to come up with at least 20 billion US dollars to complete this transaction."
"MGM's stock price has only just broken 20 billion US dollars. How can you acquire Warner Bros.? Where will your money come from?"
"This is simply the biggest joke I've ever heard!"
Looking at Howard Stringer's repulsive face, Eric said lightly: "Who said I was going to use MGM to acquire Warner Bros.?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you know I'm also the founder of Facebook?"
"Uh? Are you planning to...?"
"Exactly. I've already made the connections, and Facebook's operations will soon be fully rolled out across all of Europe, as well as Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand."
"Globally, apart from Asia, South America, and Africa, all economically developed regions in the world have been encompassed within Facebook's business scope."
"I will continue to conquer the remaining areas as well."
"Moreover, it has been verified that the GG business is completely viable, now bringing in countless profits every month."
"World number one, no competitors, monopoly position, high profitability."
"In other words, the time for Facebook to go public is ripe. It will happen in the first half of this year."
"Let's play a little game. What do you think Facebook's stock price will reach after it goes public? What will its valuation be?"
"50 billion? 60 billion? 70 billion? Or 100 billion?"
The four men looked at each other. A sense of powerlessness suddenly arose in their hearts. It turned out they were never playing on the same track.