America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 12 $12.11 Million

On June 22, the North American box office results for "Windtalkers" were released, showing a paltry $2437 million. Compared to its $130 million investment, this was a chilling figure for MGM.

Moreover, the film received terrible reviews from the media, with a large number of negative comments.

This refers to print and television media. As for Rotten Tomatoes, although it will be a barometer for judging the quality of a movie 20 years from now, it is far from being developed yet.

In this era, netizens can only vent their frustrations on websites like forums, without a systematic platform to support them.

The New York Times: Windtalkers is clearly a mediocre film. John Woo seems to have no idea how to film a war movie, and he wasted Nicolas Cage's acting skills.

The Washington Post: I don’t know what kind of authority MGM gave John Woo, but the fact that he made such a dull and boring movie is definitely a result of both sides. I don’t understand why the movie is called Windtalkers, because the movie only focuses on the real Windtalkers for a very small amount of time.

The Los Angeles Times: This is a tiring movie. There are too many war scenes, which can easily lead to aesthetic fatigue. Moreover, it's absurd that Yaz is willing to risk gunfire to pass codes to the US military, while we have to silently turn our guns on him!

Media reviews influence public perception of a film. With a flood of negative reviews, "Windtalkers" is essentially a box office flop. At most, it might rake in another ten million dollars, and its North American box office will likely be nearing its end.

As for overseas box office, with China, a major box office market, not yet fully developed, a film that fails in the US market is almost guaranteed to sink.

While countries like Japan and Europe have also seen decent box office performances, their limited population size means they can't reach exceptionally high numbers.

Eric hadn't spoken to his dad for days because his brow was always furrowed and he often yelled on the phone, so it was best not to go near him at this time.

In the early hours of June 23, the match between South Korea and Spain began. Eric didn't watch it, but only paid attention to MSN news.

Although Judy and the others were told they didn't have to watch if they felt uncomfortable, they couldn't resist watching since they had invested a lot of money in the project, and then they started cursing as they watched.

The match ended in a penalty shootout, and the shameless South Korean team once again won through the referee's intervention.

Although everyone felt sorry for the Spanish team, who could resist the lush green of the D'Arcy?

However, because the previous match showed everyone how shameless the South Korean team was, even though Spain is clearly stronger than South Korea, the odds for South Korea have dropped significantly to 1:2.5.

Ultimately, Eric bet $3000 million, turning one game into $7500 million.

Through these five matches, his assets officially entered the $10 billion club, achieving his goal.

Judy: "Eric, my Sugar Daddy, I never dreamed that just a month ago I was anxious about whether to go to Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, and now I have $500 million. It's unbelievable. I need to think carefully about how to spend this money."

Billy and Bordeaux were also chattering away about their plans.

Warren, whose family background was the most ordinary, already had a plan: "I really envy you guys. I didn't have enough capital and only won less than a million dollars. I've decided to pay off my student loans first and then buy my parents a bigger house, since they just gave birth to my third brother."

Warren's idea was immediately recognized by the others; rather than considering unrealistic possibilities, it was indeed a more practical choice.

Of the five, only Eric didn't have student loans; the other four were burdened with debts ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It's outrageous, but that's the cost of education in the United States.

In the United States, tuition at a public university is approximately $3 per year, totaling $12 for four years, with the exact cost depending on the chosen course.

For example, at UCLA, where Eric studies, the annual tuition is $39000, depending on his course.

This was the price in 2002; if it were 20 years later, it would have increased by at least another $10,000.

And this is just tuition. If you include the cost of books, room and board, it will be about $30000 a year, $12 for four years, and $20 to $30 to attend university.

Of course, if you are frugal and don't participate in various activities or social activities, you can indeed save a lot of money, but not many people will do that because there are student loans available.

Therefore, the vast majority of college students are burdened with heavy loans upon graduation. Even Obama took 21 years to repay them, which shows how heavy a burden that is.

In this country, the largest type of loan is mortgage, followed by student loans.

Without Eric, it would have taken Warren at least 10 years to pay off his loan and find a good job.

Judy: "So, are you going to continue? I've done the math for you; you've already made $10 billion. Are you going to keep going or stop?"

"Furthermore, I've observed that the odds are getting closer and closer, and even for the South Korean team, they probably won't get odds of more than double for the next match."

Judy's question was also the same one that the other three were concerned about; without Eric's guidance, they wouldn't dare to place bets recklessly.

Eric thought for a moment and typed: "South Korea vs. Germany in two days. Bet on Germany to win. This will be the last time."

Billy questioned, "Shouldn't it be the South Korean team? They clearly bribed the referee."

Bordeaux: "Yes, it was shameless, but it was very effective in terms of results."

Judy: "Is it because the South Korean team is going to be interfered with? After all, cheating in front of the whole world is such a shameless act that FIFA will not allow it."

Eric had to admire Judy's quick thinking: "That's right, the German team is not to be trifled with. With the lessons learned from Spain and Italy, they won't repeat the same mistakes. I've received word that the football emperor Beckenbauer is about to make a move."

All four simultaneously asked, "Who is Beckenbauer?"

Eric didn't bother to explain: "Never mind who he is, just know he's German and has a lot of energy. Once he leaves the field, the South Korean team is doomed to lose."

"But those betting companies have already been badly burned by the South Korean team in the first two games, so the odds for the German team will be much higher than those for the South Korean team in the next game. What we need to do is to harvest the profits in reverse and make one last big score."

According to his memories from his previous life, Beckenbauer strongly demanded a referee change 30 minutes before the start of the match. In such a short time, the betting companies had no time to react.

Two days later, in the early morning, the match between South Korea and Germany was about to begin, and both teams were preparing to enter the field when FIFA suddenly announced a change of referee.

Off the field, numerous betting companies were stunned, as the odds for South Korea were 1:1.5, while the odds for Germany were 1:4, indicating that this was going to be another night of financial ruin.

As expected, Germany easily defeated South Korea 1-0, and Eric earned another $8000 million.

The reason it wasn't over 100 million is because some small gambling companies have already declared bankruptcy, leaving no place to place bets.

With initial capital accumulated, we're ready to acquire MGM, echoing the title of our book.

(End of this chapter)