Warner Bros. must be acquired, not to mention the numerous copyrights it holds, including those snatched from MGM.
DC Comics alone is a large gold mine waiting to be developed, and the wealth that can be extracted from it will be no less than Marvel's.
Although, based on the situation before I transmigrated, DC was practically thrashed by Marvel, it wasn't because the comics and superheroes lacked influence; it was purely due to human factors.
Didn't a certain saying clearly reveal the problem?
DC's biggest enemy is Warner Bros. If you didn't give out random orders, you wouldn't have perfectly missed the golden age of superhero movie development.
So, if the copyrights fall into Eric's hands, it would be a different story entirely.
With DC in his left hand and Marvel in his right, he could pull off all sorts of tricks.
Therefore, whether from an emotional or economic perspective, Eric always prioritized the acquisition of Warner Bros., with Disney taking a backseat.
Because half of Disney's wealth comes from its theme park physical economy, if we only compare resources in the film and television sector, Warner Bros. actually has the upper hand.
Especially now, in 2005, not 2024, without a large number of subsequent acquisitions, Disney is far from being that powerful.
Inside Room, looking at the astonished expressions of the four, Eric continued, "Howard Stringer and Barry Meyer aren't here, so I'm willing to speak frankly with you."
"I trust you, and of course, if you want to warn Barry Meyer, that's fine too; no one can stop Facebook from going public anyway."
"Similarly, when I launch a takeover bid for Warner Bros., Barry Meyer won't be able to stop it, because a colonel cannot influence a general's decision."
"I will directly launch a takeover bid for Time Warner. What do you think the outcome will be?"
"Will they sell Warner Bros. Pictures, cash out hundreds of billions of dollars, and use it to alleviate their own debt?"
"Or will they watch this money slip away and remain mired in the quagmire of debt?"
Gulp!
The four simultaneously swallowed, as this was indeed a difficult question to judge.
Many people don't realize that, while the seven major Hollywood companies appear to wield immense power, controlling the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of practitioners and having a huge influence on the global film and television industry,
Most of them do not exist independently.
Not to mention how many times they've been bought, sold, and transferred in the century since their establishment at the beginning of the last century.
As things stand now, only MGM and Disney are truly able to determine their own destinies and maintain their independent status.
Sony Columbia, as the company name suggests, naturally belongs to Japan's Sony Corporation.
Universal Pictures belongs to the Comcast Group, whose parent company deals in telephone, cable television, internet, and other services.
Paramount was acquired by the Viacom Group more than ten years ago, and 20th Century Fox belongs to Murdoch's News Corporation.
Similarly, Warner Bros. Pictures is a subsidiary of the Time Warner Group, which is essentially a conglomerate of multiple subsidiaries.
On par with Warner Bros. Pictures are HBO, Time Magazine, CNN, DC Comics, and so on.
Normally, these subsidiaries operate relatively independently, but they all report to the parent company, Time Warner.
If Time Warner insists on selling Warner Bros. Pictures, not only would Barry Meyer's words be useless, but the entire Warner Bros. Pictures board of directors would also have to compromise.
And it just so happens that Time Warner hasn't been doing so well these past few years, the reason for which dates back to the millennium.
In early 2000, the emerging internet company America Online acquired the entire Time Warner Group for $181 billion, effectively merging the two companies to form AOL Time Warner.
This was originally a highly anticipated deal; Time Warner had vast film and entertainment resources, while America Online possessed strong internet resources, making it seem like a strong alliance in every respect.
But human effort cannot contend with the tide of the times. In other words, when you're unlucky, even drinking cold water can choke you. The newly merged company immediately ran headfirst into the internet bubble.
Under the sweeping tide of this bubble, America Online plummeted from a quality company to junk, dragging Time Warner down with it.
That scene was like getting married and suddenly discovering the truth about your wife's family: a gambling father, a hospitalized mother, an unpromising younger brother, and her broken self.
But legal obligations have already been established, so what can you do?
You just have to grit your teeth and bear it together.
By the time Eric transmigrated, which was around May 2002,
The new company announced its first-quarter financial report, showing a staggering loss of over $54 billion.
How much was MGM worth back then? Its assets, including debt, were less than $3 billion. They lost 18 MGMs in just one quarter.
And AOL Time Warner's total loss for 2002 reached a record-breaking $98 billion.
What does that concept mean?
It was equivalent to the combined GDP of Chile and Vietnam at the time.
Later, although the internet bubble gradually subsided and market confidence recovered somewhat, they were still in the red.
In other words, the Time Warner Group is still burdened with astronomical debt.
If Eric remembered correctly, this debt wasn't fully repaid until 2009.
A failed deal nearly dragged the entire Time Warner down with it.
When Facebook goes public, and hundreds of billions of dollars in cash are placed before Time Warner, Eric doesn't believe they won't be tempted.
From the moment he transmigrated, he never thought of using MGM to acquire other film and television companies; he wasn't that foolish.
From beginning to end, he intended to use an internet unicorn for this business.
Relying on a single film and television company? Then you're destined to be acquired by others sooner or later.
"Eric, what do you want us to do?"
When he asked this question, Howard Stringer felt his throat was very dry, yet he had drunk a lot of water.
"Cooperate with me, especially when facing antitrust investigations. Disney certainly won't sit by and watch Warner Bros. be acquired. At that time, I'll need your help."
"Similarly, you can enter the power structure of Lionheart Network. I can promise each of you 7.5% of the shares, to be delivered within three months."
"Think about it, following Howard Stringer and Barry Meyer, your six companies would split 40% of the shares, with Disney and Warner Bros. definitely taking the lion's share."
"Your four companies would most likely only get 20%, meaning 5% each, but now I'm giving you 7.5% each."
"Guys, use your brains and see who the true generous one is, and who is causing you to constantly lose money."
The four looked at each other, none speaking, but each had different thoughts in their minds.
Money, it's all money. Although it was just words from Eric's mouth, these words could soon be converted into gold.
Clap!
A crisp sound of a hand clapping startled them, and the four's attention returned to Eric.
"Besides Lionheart Network shares, you can also invest some money in the stock prices of my companies like MGM, Facebook, etc., guaranteed to make a profit."
"Of course, having enjoyed such great benefits, I also hope you are willing to give something in return."
"Eric, what else do you want?" Brad Grey asked.
"It's not much related to Paramount. As for Universal, I hope to reclaim the copyrights for hulk and Namor."
"Money is not an issue. Anyway, hulk was a flop in your hands, and there's been no news about Namor even now."
"For Fox, I hope the copyrights for X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool can return to Marvel."
"Then there's Sony, the Spider-Man series characters and the related copyrights for Ghost Rider. MGM is willing to offer a price that will satisfy you."
As soon as Eric finished speaking, the three relevant companies immediately shook their heads.
Universal might be going with the flow, but Sony and Fox were genuinely shaking their heads.
"Eric, you must see the value X-Men has created for Fox. It's a gold mine, and we signed a contract with Marvel back then."
"And Spider-Man, Peter Parker is even more valuable than X-Men. Although Spider-Man 2's box office didn't meet expectations, its global box office still exceeded $600 million."
"We've already planned Spider-Man 3, and the project will start soon. How can I explain it to everyone if I sell it to you?"
"Eric, your demands are too outrageous."
Having talked himself hoarse, Eric picked up his water glass and took a sip. The icy cold feeling in winter had a unique refreshing sensation.
"It's outrageous because your thinking hasn't opened up. We can have two Spider-Men."
"Sony develops Sony's, and Marvel develops Marvel's."
"What?"
"You continue with your Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire version of Spider-Man, and I'll do my Marvel version of Spider-Man. We won't interfere with each other."
"How can we not interfere with each other? What will the audience think? Two Spider-Men, who's real? Who's fake?" Howard Stringer stared blankly, he had never heard such a preposterous idea in his life.
"They're both real, neither is fake. It's just that they belong to different universes."
"Sorry, I'm not paralyzed yet, so I don't understand your scientific viewpoint."
"Haven't you read comics? Whether it's DC or Marvel, there are countless universes in the comics, and the same group of people exists in each universe."
"For example, Sony's version of Spider-Man is Earth in Universe 1, and Marvel's story takes place in Universe 10."
"Different universes will naturally have different stories, and even if they are all Spider-Man, their appearance, background, personality, etc., are all different, understand?"
"Similarly, whether it's X-Men or hulk, this theory can be used to explain them all."
"Genius!" After a moment of stunned, Brad Grey suddenly spoke.
Then he said with some emotion, "Eric, you really are a business prodigy, a super genius. This theory can work."
"How do you know it will work?" Howard Stringer retorted.
"Because my son pestered me and told me these stories. You're Sony's head in America, you should at least understand that golden goose you own."
Click!
The door suddenly opened, and Michael Eisner and Barry Meyer re-entered.
Seeing them, Eric stood up and left instead: "I've said all I'm going to say. You all consider it carefully, and contact me once you've made up your minds."
After speaking, he left the villa under their suspicious gazes.
His purpose this time was to win over the four companies to deal with Disney and Warner Bros.
If he could swallow Warner Bros. in one go, then Hollywood would form a de facto "one superpower, many strong powers" situation, similar to Disney's dominant position more than ten years later.
It was worth giving up 30% of Lionheart Network's shares for this; these shares were not enough to affect his control over the company.
Moreover, this 30% of the shares is current; it will certainly be diluted when it goes public, but it will still allow them to make a fortune.
If they don't want to be diluted, they'll have to increase their investment, and increasing investment means being more firmly tied to Eric's interests.
As long as it doesn't affect his decision-making, the more firmly they are tied to him, the more at ease he will be.
At the very least, it could slow down or eliminate the possibility of them creating their own streaming services and competing with Lionheart Network.
Then, if he can swallow Disney, he will; however, if the acquisition of Warner Bros. can pass the antitrust hurdle, the possibility of acquiring Disney afterward is uncertain.
If he can't swallow it, he'll crush it, and simultaneously launch acquisitions for New Line Cinema, Lionsgate, Lucasfilm, and DreamWorks, acquiring as much as possible.
He would use three years to establish a de facto control structure.
By then, Sony, Universal, Paramount, and Fox, though still independent, would inevitably have to bow their heads under the intertwining of interests and power.
If this step could be achieved, although absolute monopoly would not be formed, a relative monopoly would already be established.
According to later development trends, the Paramount Decree would loosen during the pandemic, and the integration of film companies and theater chains was advocated by many congressmen.
He would find an opportunity to try, starting with John Adams, to see if this decree could be unbound early.
Once that's done, then film production, promotion, distribution, and exhibition—all stages—will once again fall into the hands of a single company, just like Hollywood in the last century.
Whatever I film, the audience must watch.
Even if I film a pile of shit, the audience must watch it!
Because there's no choice; the theaters are all under my control, so how can you choose?
What is a monopoly? This is a monopoly!
The Wrangler sped down the road on its way back. Judy pressed hard on the accelerator: "You're too fast. Luckily, I didn't go too far."
"Negotiations aren't gossip. I made an offer, and they'll consider it."
"If they accept, they'll contact me. It's that simple."
"That's still too fast. I thought you'd have lunch together, at least a drink."
"I'm not interested in having lunch or drinks with those old guys."
"Yeah, there are no pretty women among them."
Eric rolled his eyes: "In your eyes, am I just an animal that only knows how to mate?"
"Tsk tsk. Pretty much, but I hope you don't mate as quickly this time."
"Hmph! If I'm fast or not, you can ask Gadot and the others. Each of them can testify for me. Without a few tricks up my sleeve, how could I satisfy several of them at once?"
"No need to ask her, I can verify it myself."
"Hmm?"
Screech!
"Hey! Why are you pulling down my pants?"
"Don't move around! I'm driving!"
"It's okay, I'm driving too."
"Hiss... This scene feels somewhat familiar."