章 387: Chapter 387: Uncertainty Remains
As Michael Ovitz and his entourage just stepped out of Los Angeles International Airport, his assistant hurried over to inform him that MCA's chairman, Lew Wasserman, was waiting at Marina del Rey, not far from the airport.
Upon reaching a yacht at Marina del Rey, less than three miles north of Los Angeles International Airport, Ovitz's first reaction upon seeing Wasserman was a slight shake of his head.
It was November 15th.
Matsushita's sudden announcement three days prior, abandoning the acquisition of MCA, had caught everyone off guard.
Unwilling to give up just yet, Michael Ovitz had attempted to negotiate with Matsushita by phone without success, then flew to Japan in person. Following instructions from Lew Wasserman, Ovitz even hinted that MCA would accept an offer slightly lower than that from Daenerys Entertainment, but still couldn't persuade Koji Aoki to restart the acquisition.
Ovitz was also regretting his decision now. When Meg Ryan unexpectedly dropped her planned lawsuit against Daenerys Entertainment last week, he had been on alert, yet he hadn't anticipated that his covert preparations to thwart Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA would be so easily undermined.
Inside the yacht's cabin, Ovitz sat opposite Wasserman and said, "According to the information I've gathered, Westeros proposed another cooperation plan between Daenerys Entertainment and Matsushita, which caused hesitation about whether to raise the bid. Koji Aoki's secret meeting with Westeros last week, combined with internal pressure at Matsushita, ultimately led to the decision to abandon the acquisition."
Wasserman asked, "Is there really no way to salvage this, or perhaps, should I fly to Japan myself if needed?"
Ovitz shook his head again, "I didn't get the details of the cooperation plan between Daenerys Entertainment and Matsushita, but from what they say, Westeros showed great sincerity, and Matsushita's senior management unanimously felt it was better to shift from acquisition to cooperation with Daenerys Entertainment."
Wasserman frowned, then after a moment recalled something and asked, "Then, Mike, didn't you say there were other Japanese companies interested in acquiring Hollywood studios last year—Toshiba, Itochu, or Sanyo?"
"That was last year," Ovitz nodded and then shook his head again. "At that time, Japan's stock market bubble hadn't burst. Now, it's a different scenario. Even Matsushita's withdrawal is influenced by the economic situation. The Bronfman family in Canada is also interested in acquiring Hollywood studios, but for now, they only have enough funds to invest in second-tier companies like Orion. With the overall economic situation in Asia, North America, and Europe not looking good, Lew, it's hard to find another buyer interested in MCA in the short term."
After Ovitz finished speaking, both men looked at each other in silence.
After a pause, Wasserman finally made up his mind, "Mike, if that's the case, hand over those contingency plans you prepared to my people."
Ovitz, somewhat resignedly, nodded, "I can do that."
With Matsushita's withdrawal irrevocable and those maneuvers no longer effective, using them would only provoke that young man again. At that thought, Ovitz was a bit troubled, perhaps the Meg Ryan incident had already caused further rifts between Daenerys Entertainment and CAA.
Thinking this, Ovitz couldn't help but ask Wasserman, "Lew, are you planning to call off the acquisition?"
Wasserman's face showed a bitter smile.
Frankly, Wasserman would prefer to cancel the transaction immediately because he had made several probes towards Daenerys Entertainment and found their stance very firm; following the acquisition, he and Sidney Sheinberg would have to resign. If that happened, they would be completely out of Hollywood's power centers.
Wasserman was definitely not ready to give up so easily.
However, Daenerys Entertainment's offer of $7 billion was almost twice MCA's market value at its recent low.
With the United States shadowed by another looming war and the industry generally pessimistic about the domestic economic outlook, many of MCA's shareholders wanted to cash out and exit, not caring about what happens to the management afterward.
Although Wasserman was MCA's chairman and CEO and had run the company for decades, he only owned about 5% of MCA, and Sheinberg about 2%; together, their shares weren't enough to exert much control.
Previously, they could firmly control the company, but this time, if they openly went against the shareholders' wishes, even if they managed to thwart this acquisition, they could likely be ousted.
Therefore, now they could only use external forces to press Daenerys Entertainment to agree to more of their conditions or to push them to withdraw from
the acquisition.
Now that his health had improved, Wasserman felt he could continue to run MCA for a few more years, until after he turned 80. Moreover, he believed the American economy would recover one day, and MCA's stock price, currently depressed by the sluggish U.S. stock market, was severely undervalued; in the coming years, other buyers would likely appear, willing to pay a higher price.
As Michael Ovitz and Lew Wasserman secretly met, Simon was just returning from the East Coast.
After recent negotiations, Bell Atlantic and Westeros had preliminarily reached an acquisition agreement valued at $7 billion, which was consistent with Simon's expectations and $1 billion lower than his initial budget. With the price agreed upon, other details were quickly advancing and could even be negotiated after the deal closed.
Therefore, Simon could announce the details of this acquisition as early as next week if needed.
The next day was November 16th, Friday.
With Thanksgiving approaching and the weekend move into the finally completed villa at Point Dume, Janet had been busy handling these matters on the West Coast, and Simon, as usual, headed to the Daenerys Entertainment studios in Malibu in the morning.
The box office data from the past week was waiting on his desk when he arrived at his office.
"Dangerous Liaisons" was performing as expected.
Since its release on October 26, it was now the third week since the film's premiere.
After earning $17.16 million in its first week, "Dangerous Liaisons" had a final drop of 35% in the second week, bringing in another $11.15 million. From November 9 to November 15, in its third week, the drop narrowed to 21%, adding $8.81 million.
Three weeks in, "Dangerous Liaisons" had accumulated a total box office of $37.12 million.
However, what Simon was more interested in today was "Dances with Wolves," which had quietly started its limited release.
"Dances with Wolves" had opened on November 2 in several key cities across North America on just 16 screens, with an average box office of $67,000 per screen in its first week, already hinting at the film's potential success. In its second week of limited release, the number of screens showing "Dances with Wolves" increased to 51, and with Daenerys Entertainment's promotion and the film's positive word of mouth, the average increased to $69,000 per screen.
In just two weeks of limited release, "Dances with Wolves" had already amassed $4.63 million at the box office. Moreover, buoyed by overwhelmingly positive media praise, this film, which dealt with the politically correct history between white Americans and Native Americans, quickly rose to become a favorite for next year's Oscars.
However, due to "Dances with Wolves"' theatrical cut reaching three hours in length, its wide release this week was limited to 1,031 screens by Daenerys Entertainment, planning to rely on word of mouth and awards to accumulate a long-term box office.
Meanwhile, with the Thanksgiving holiday season officially starting, aside from the wide release of "Dances with Wolves," two other new films premiered today: Sylvester Stallone's classic action sequel "Rocky V" and Disney's 2D animated film "Rescue Heroes."
After Matsushita announced its withdrawal from the acquisition of MCA this week, the MCA board found various reasons to delay not passing Daenerys Entertainment's offer, but others were getting anxious.
For instance, Paramount.
Before Simon's contact with Matsushita last week, to prevent Paramount from interfering with the acquisition, he had spontaneously promised to collaborate on two new films with them and to maintain the status quo of MCA's stake in USA Network after the acquisition.
Paramount's chairman obviously saw Simon's reservations and naturally held out for a better deal. Not only did he demand that the number of cooperative films be increased to at least three, but he also insisted on a 70-30 investment ratio, with Daenerys Entertainment holding only 30%. He also made more demands regarding USA Network.
However, when Matsushita suddenly announced its withdrawal, reversing the situation, Paramount became eager to finalize the cooperation.
Amy had discovered that Paramount originally planned to use an antitrust lawsuit to obstruct the acquisition. But after Matsushita's withdrawal, probably realizing the inevitable trend, Paramount began to hastily secure the benefits promised by Daenerys Entertainment.
After all, if they initiated a lawsuit, Paramount's chances of successfully preventing Daenerys Entertainment from acquiring MCA were very low. Even if they succeeded, Paramount itself would not gain much, and the relationship between the two parties would further deteriorate.
Simon met with Martin Davis in person that morning, also making some concessions. Paramount gave up its demands regarding USA Network. In terms of movies, they maintained a 50-50 investment ratio, increased the number of cooperative films to three, and
included sequels in the deal.
Through this cooperation, Daenerys Entertainment also successfully obtained the movie rights to Paramount's long-prepared "Mission: Impossible."
Thus, after many challenges, Simon held the rights to two of Hollywood's most famous spy series of the 90s, "Mission: Impossible" and "Bourne," firmly in his hands.
After being non-stop busy for so long, the weekend finally brought some rest.
And, incidentally, a move.
The streamlined shell-shaped structure of the Dumont Point mansion, built in the style of Tony Stark's Iron Man villa from Simon's memories, had become a focal point for many media outlets from the moment its initial construction began.
As the silver building on the cliffs of Dumont Point grew larger than Simon remembered, it increasingly attracted public attention.
Inevitably, it again became evidence for some media criticism of Simon's luxurious lifestyle.
The completed villa, occupying an area of 5,000 square meters, resembled a museum more than the CGI-created Iron Man villa from memory, appearing even more luxurious. The silver building spiraled up in a streamlined style over three floors, and counting the underground garage modeled after Tony Stark's workshop, the total internal space exceeded 12,000 square meters.
Compared to ordinary apartments or villas, this shell-shaped building couldn't simply be described as "big."
If one had to say, it was very big.
The final construction cost of the villa far exceeded expectations, reaching $30 million for the main building alone, not including later interior decorations. Janet naturally spared no expense on the furnishings and decor, and the final budget might even exceed the construction costs.
Thus, the seemingly simple decor of the villa was, in fact, exuding luxury in every detail.
The couple, who had been living in a villa less than 500 meters west of the Dumont Point estate, found that everything in the shell villa was ready; the so-called move was just transferring some daily clothing and books, which took only half a day to mostly complete.
After settling all the details by evening, they finally relaxed.
Beside the massive glass walls overlooking the cliffside sea, Simon leaned back on the sofa, and Janet curled up next to him, gazing at the majestic sunset over the sea, whispering, "It's like a dream."
Simon caressed her fragrant hair and smiled, "Haven't you ever thought about building a house like this?"
Janet rested her head on Simon's shoulder and shook it, "No, even if I could afford it, spending so much money on a house like this would only happen if I sold my stocks. But if I did that, my father would definitely have a fit."
"It's your dowry, isn't it? Of course, you should spend it however you want."
"I never thought I'd find a man to marry, you know. The stocks are my lifetime's allowance. Spending it all at once would make the rest of my days quite bleak."
"Katherine mentioned," Simon still smiling, asked, "Why didn't you want to find a man back then?"
Janet playfully bumped her head against Simon's shoulder, her tone playful, "I was waiting for you."
"Oh, that's quite an honor."
"Hmm," Janet, proudly pouting, pulled one of Simon's hands to her chest, her voice softening, "Actually, a long time ago, I was liked by someone and liked other boys too. But maybe I'm too smart; those guys always disappointed me, so I just decided to stay single forever."
"Being alone forever can be lonely."
"That's why God let me meet you."
"Well, many years from now, when we meet Him, we definitely should thank Him."
"Ha," Janet snuggled closer to Simon, watching the increasingly spectacular sunset outside the window, "Indeed, we should thank Him. Otherwise, you might also end up alone forever."
"I wouldn't have. I'm so likable to girls; if it weren't for meeting you, I'd probably end up as Hollywood's number one playboy."
"Hmm, finally showing your true colors, playboy..." Janet playfully clawed at him, which Simon skillfully dodged, causing her to soften instantly and scold, "You little rascal, you're teasing me again."
"Do you like being teased by me?"
"No."
Simon increased his grip slightly, "Try another answer."
"Um... I like it."
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