Capítulo 78: Chapter 78 - First day at the Box Office
Eric nodded, said goodbye to Jeffrey and others, and walked with Jobs to a nearby cafe.
"It was a country full of devotion. I saw millions of pilgrims and I followed them and shaved my head. But there was no displeasure and resistance in my heart. Instead, I followed the flow of people and walked to the bank of the Ganges. However, at the same time, I saw the backwardness and ignorance of that country."
"Later I felt that perhaps Thomas Edison's contribution to mankind far exceeded those of philosophers or artists. After returning to California, I no longer pursued the illusory philosophy of life but chose the electronics industry as my lifelong goal. A year later, in an abandoned garage, a few friends and I established Apple..."
In the coffee shop, Eric gently stirred the coffee and patiently listened to Steve Jobs's talk. This opportunity was not easy to encounter. Although Eric didn't like Steve's character, he admired Steve's talent.
After more than ten minutes, Eric finally couldn't help but say: "Steve, have you ever reflected on yourself?"
The displeasure on Jobs' face for being interrupted suddenly disappeared, and he asked:
"Reflection, why should I reflect?"
"For example, why were you kicked out by Apple?"
Steve Jobs corrected him immediately, his face serious: "No, Eric, I was not driven out by Apple. I gave up on my own initiative."
Eric shrugged and said, "Look, this is the flaw in your character, you are not willing to compromise. This has also led to the development of both you and Apple to now enter a bottleneck. If you made an appropriate compromise with Apple's board of directors a few years ago, maybe you could have continued staying with Apple. With your strength, it would be a breeze to regain Apple's leadership."
Jobs retorted: "If I made the first compromise, then the gang would force me to make a second, third, and even more compromises."
Eric chuckled and shook his head, knowing that it was simply impossible to persuade a juvenile paranoid. Once he took Pixar, he wondered if Jobs would still have a chance to return to Apple in the future.
The reason why Steve Jobs was able to achieve such dazzling achievements was that luck also accounted for a large part, in addition to his own talent and perseverance.
If he had successfully sold Pixar in his old timeline, Pixar's glory after the release of Toy Story wouldn't have belonged to him. And he was more likely to be the object of people's mocking. In that case, Apple, while desperate, would rather file for bankruptcy, than invite Jobs back.
Eric didn't mean to persuade Steve Jobs. He shifted the topic to the reason the two met today: "Let's talk about Pixar, Steve. Since you found me, you are accepting my offer, right?"
Jobs hesitated for a moment. The reason why he arranged this meeting was to see if he could persuade Eric to increase the price in a face-to-face discussion. Jobs was still quite confident in his eloquence.
It's a pity that after he just said so much, that the young man in front of him both interrupted him and showed an unmoved look. Eventually, he also understood that if he spoke about increasing the price, the other party would just get up and leave as he did on their last phone call.
"Eric, I agree with the $20 million offer, but all payments must be paid in one lump sum."
"No problem at all," Eric put down the coffee cup and snapped his fingers happily.
Jobs watched suspiciously as Eric, who had been calm before, suddenly showed an excited expression. At that moment, he even felt that he might have made a huge mistake unconsciously. But since the decision was made, Jobs would not regret it, he was a person who rarely regretted things. So Jobs immediately asked again: "Eric, are you interested in personal computers?"
Eric raised his eyebrow and quickly understood what Jobs meant: "Do you want me to invest in your NeXT computer company?"
"Yes, the personal computer is an electronic product with great potential for development. Looking at the development data of the IBM personal computer business in the past few years, it will be known only last year..."
"Stop, Steve, I'm not interested in professional data. Let me just ask, if I invest in NeXT, will you accept my advice on company management?"
"This... Eric, you only need to invest five... no, $30 million. With Pixar's $20 million, I would have enough funds to implement a good idea before me. I believe that it will definitely bring you enough profit."
"In other words, I am only entitled to investment and dividends, and I do not have the power to intervene in the management of computer companies?"
Steve Jobs nodded. After the Apple incident, he would never give up the absolute leadership of his company again: "Eric, you are an excellent director, but I think that in terms of electronic technology, I definitely know better than you."
Originally, Eric was still a little emotional, but after Jobs made it clear, Eric could only shake his head and said: "Sorry, I refuse!"
"Uh, Eric, I have a project planning book here, maybe you can take a look first, actually..."
"No," Eric interrupted Steve Jobs's words with a wave: "Steve, I know you are a very thoughtful person, and I also believe in your talents. But I will not invest my money in a project that I have no control at all. Just as you stubbornly believe in your own ideas, I am also a stubborn person. When our ideas are inconsistent, conflicts like in Apple will break out again a few years from now."
Jobs stopped pulling out documents from his purse. He thought that with his eloquence, it should be easy to persuade an 18-year-old young man. Unfortunately, Eric didn't listen to his statement at all, which made the proud Jobs feel a trace of anger.
"Well, it's a shame," Jobs said, holding his anger calmly. "Eric, do you need to visit Pixar first?" I hope our transaction can be concluded as soon as possible."
Eric thought for a while and said, "Tomorrow is not free. Pretty Woman will be released tomorrow. The day after tomorrow I will be flying to New York for my girlfriend's birthday..."
In Jobs 's mind, the movie release could be considered a big deal, but a girlfriend's birthday, how can this kind of thing delay the deal with Pixar: "Eric, maybe, you can just ask someone to give your girlfriend a gift. Anyway, you seem to have more than one girlfriend."
Eric looked at Steve Jobs silently: "Maybe I will..."
Jobs immediately tapped the table and interrupted Eric's words: "Well, the day after tomorrow then, a girlfriend's birthday is still very important!"
When Eric said that he was not free the next day, in fact, he had nothing to do in person. It was just that he was anxious just like any other director before their work is released. He was temporarily in no mood to shift his attention to Pixar.
Fox had arranged everything carefully because the scale of the premiere was much larger than that of the film critics screening. Also, the film review of Pretty Woman that appeared in the newspaper the next day began to develop in a multi-polar manner.
In addition to the newspapers he was subscribed to, Eric bought more than ten newspapers at random in the early morning and read all the movie reviews about Pretty Woman. Of a total of 17 newspapers, nine praised the movie, five both praised and criticized it, and the remaining three were blind criticisms.
Eric calculated according to the formula in his mind, and the ratings should be 7.5. In his previous life's different movie review websites, this score should be considered relatively high.
The movie's word of mouth remained good, and Eric let go of his worries. After breakfast, Eric drove to Fox's headquarters in Century City. Because there were not many movies releasing at this time, Fox easily raised 1,900 screens for Pretty Woman, this number has reached the level of blockbusters in this era.
In his previous two films, Eric only got the box office data one week later. Now, he has reached a level where he can get day-to-day box office data from inside Fox.
Early in the morning, Eric, Jeffrey, and Fox executives waited nervously in the meeting room, and even Fox President, Barry Diller made an exception and came down. Even though the meeting room was large and the windows were open, the cigar smoke was still floating in the room. At the same time, seven or eight staff members were making quick calls to different theaters and recording the box office data.
A while later, the box office data of the day was finally counted. The statistician passed the data to the hands of several executives, and everyone gathered together. Carter Hunt sat at the outermost position and saw the data first: "Wow, $4.36 million! It's another Home Alone."
After seeing the $4.36 million data on the report form, Eric finally let out a sigh of relief. Cheers rang in the meeting room, and everyone's original drowsiness was swept away.
Jeffrey said: "If this trend continues, the box office will be a little higher tomorrow, and may reach 5 million. It may even receive 15 million on the weekend three days. Next Tuesday is Valentine's Day. There will be an outbreak at the box office and the movie may even get a box office of 10 million US dollars."
Carter retorted with a smile: "Jeffrey, you are a bit conservative in this calculation. The box office on Valentine's Day will definitely exceed the weekend. I think that it is not a problem to exceed the box office for the first week."
Eric saw that these overly excited people have set their goals based on Home Alone, but he knew that this was obviously impossible. Perhaps because of the huge publicity earlier, the box office will be very high in the first week, but it cannot last any longer than a week.
Thinking of this, Eric couldn't help but say: "The key is that the box office's decline will be greater next week. After all, it is not a holiday season. So don't compare it with Home Alone, which has exceeded $ 20 million at the box office for six consecutive weeks."
Those present were all professionals, of course, and knew that what Eric said was the truth. Barry Diller said: "Eric, you can concentrate on the next movie. If you need any help, Fox will fully support you."
Eric pretended that he didn't understand the meaning of Fox's intention to intervene in his next movie, and said with a smile: "If you can, let Fox celebrate the celebration."
Barry Diller didn't mind Eric's silly act and laughed: "Haha, Fox will be very happy to pay for the party. Maybe next week, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel."
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
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