Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 290 Panasonic's Pain
Spain, Ibiza, Aaron and the sexy Wang Zhuxian lie on the beach together, enjoying the sunshine;

After all, Aaron has a luxurious vacation home here!

Lying on the beach chair, Aaron looked at Wang Zhuxian beside him and asked, "When are you planning to return to Hong Kong?"

"I'm going back this month. I have a movie to shoot there."

Wang Zhuxian has rested for a long time this year, and it’s time to get back to work.

"By the way, I'm in Canada and I saw that 'Rumble in the Bronx' is doing quite well. Many newspapers have given it high reviews."

"Now the North American box office has exceeded 1700 million US dollars. Is it a success?"

Aaron smiled and said, "Of course it was a success. This kind of Kung Fu film is also popular in the videotape market;"

"Besides, the North American box office forecast for 'Rumble in the Bronx' is expected to exceed $3000 million, and Dawn's total investment in this film is only over $500 million!"

Sugon holds the distribution rights for Rumble in the Bronx in North America, Latin America, and Europe, while Golden Harvest mainly distributes in Asia and Australia.
Jack Cheng's entry into Hollywood was Golden Harvest's greatest achievement.

"Okay, let's go get something to eat and then check out the nearby bars later!"

Aaron said, standing up and stretching.

Ibiza is not only beautiful, with white buildings, blue sea, and bright sunshine;

It is also the birthplace of Chopin and the birthplace of Chivalric music. Ibiza is also famous for its rich nightlife and electronic music.

On the other hand, in New York, the construction of the New York Dawn Building, designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, has officially begun.
This 60-story skyscraper will be a comprehensive multi-purpose building integrating offices, residences, shopping malls, etc., with a budget of over US$4 million!
After the construction of the Dawn Studios headquarters in Burbank, Los Angeles was completed, Dawn has made its own big move in New York...

At the same time, MCA Universal was also facing numerous internal problems. The blockbuster "Waterworld," directed by Kevin Reynolds and produced and starring Kevin Costner, was filming in Hawaii during hurricane season.

The built offshore studios were repeatedly damaged by hurricanes and submerged by waves, causing the film's budget to continue to grow.

The current cost of "Waterworld" has reached a staggering $1.5 million. Not only that, but because of a huge quarrel between director Kevin Reynolds and Kevin Costner over the film, Kevin Reynolds withdrew from the project at a later stage.

Now, the filming of "Waterworld" has not yet been completed, but the director has left the crew and Kevin Costner has taken over the directing duties!

After MCA's two heads, Sidney Sheinberg and Lou Wasserman, failed to persuade Panasonic's new president, Yoichi Morishita, to build Universal Studios Osaka to compete with Tokyo Disneyland;
He also lobbied Panasonic, hoping to join forces with International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) to acquire the CBS wireless broadcasting network, because Universal now has no cable or wireless television distribution business!

Unfortunately, they were rejected again. The two angry people wrote a letter directly to Panasonic's chairman, Masaharu Matsushita.

Afterwards, the two received a resolution from Masaharu Matsushita rejecting the proposal to acquire CBS.

The hot-tempered Sidney Sheinberg directly criticized Panasonic in the New York Times. The Japanese side's performance made the two realize that Panasonic really wanted to sell MCA!
Los Angeles, CAA headquarters, Michael Ovitz and Ronald Mayer sat in the office. Although Michael Ovitz and Disney Chairman Michael Eisner are now unclear, CAA is his job.

"Panasonic wants to sell MCA!" Michael Ovitz said with a sigh. It was he who acted as an advisor and helped Panasonic acquire this company a few years ago.

"Lou and Sidney didn't seem to trust us. They contacted Herbert Allen."

Ronald Meyer reminded us that it was actually Sidney Sheinberg and Lou Wasserman who didn't trust Michael Ovitz!

Michael Ovitz smiled and said, "Herbert Allen has called me and said that if I don't participate in the sale of MCA, he won't participate either;"

"So, it's Panasonic that's anxious now. They hope to sell MCA as a whole as soon as possible and exit the market as soon as possible."

Among the potential buyers of MCA, as far as Michael Ovitz knew, were Seagram of Canada, PolyGram of the United Kingdom, Bertelsmann of Germany, and even News Corporation and Disney;
However, Rupert Murdoch and Michael Eisner hope to acquire Universal's film library on behalf of 20th Century Fox and Disney!

A moment later, Michael Ovitz's assistant delivered a fax.

Michael Ovitz took a look and smiled, "See, it's me again."

Ronald Meyer took the fax and saw that it was from Herbert Allen. He and Michael Ovitz were going to fly to Osaka, Japan to have a detailed discussion with Masaharu Matsushita and Yoichi Morishita!

In fact, Michael Ovitz hoped that Seagram's acquisition of MCA Universal was possible because Edgar Bronfman Jr., the head of Seagram's, had said that he was the most suitable person to manage MCA Universal.

No matter how well CAA performs, it is just an agency. Now Michael Ovitz's ambition is rapidly expanding. He wants to be a real entertainment tycoon.

Look at Dawn Entertainment, the most powerful film group in Hollywood right now. The young Aaron Anderson is now the center of attention.

Dawning's valuation has grown even more rapidly, and now Dawning is no less than the six major film studios!
"When do you plan to go to Japan?"

Ronald Meyer asked, adding that Michael Ovitz is now the CEO of CAA and he is the president.

"As soon as possible, there are many things to discuss, and we still need to take time to calculate the value of MCA Global's assets;"

"This includes Universal's copyright library, film and television projects in the pipeline, MCA Music's business, Universal Studios theme parks and resorts, and more!"

The losses that MCA has brought to Panasonic in recent years have become unbearable for Panasonic, and they now want to end it all quickly and decisively.

Ronald Mayer smiled. "Seagram's advantage is enormous. Edgar Bronfman Jr. is willing to sell DuPont stock, which means he can come up with tens of billions of dollars in cash at once, without the need for a bank."

“Other buyers, maybe?”

Previously, when Seagram wanted to acquire Time Warner, the same statement was made, but it was shelved due to the death of Steve Ross;

Ronald Mayer also knew that Michael Ovitz wanted to leave CAA, and Disney and MCA were his fallback options.

The reason why Michael Ovitz did not agree to let Michael Eisner join Disney was because Edgar Bronfman Jr. promised to let him manage MCA Universal!
(End of this chapter)