Chapter 78: First-Day Box Office
Chapter 78: First-Day Box Office
Eric nodded, said goodbye to Jeffrey and the others, and walked with Jobs to a nearby café.
“That was a country filled with devotion. I saw millions of pilgrims, so many that I was dragged off to have my head shaved, yet I felt no displeasure or resistance. Instead, I followed the crowd and walked all the way to the banks of the Ganges. But at the same time, I also saw that country’s backwardness and ignorance.”
“Later, I felt that perhaps Thomas Edison’s contribution to mankind far surpassed that of those philosophers or artists. After returning to California, I stopped pursuing vague philosophies of life and chose the electronics industry as the goal I would strive for all my life. One year later, in an abandoned garage, a few friends and I founded Apple…”
Inside the café, Eric gently stirred his coffee and patiently listened to Jobs speak at length. Such an opportunity was not easy to come by. Although Eric did not like Jobs’s personality, he greatly admired his talent.
After more than ten minutes, Eric finally could not help interrupting. “Steve, have you ever reflected on yourself?”
A flash of displeasure crossed Jobs’s face at being interrupted. He asked in return, “Reflect? Why should I reflect?”
“For example, why were you driven out of Apple?”
Jobs corrected him with a serious expression. “No, Eric. I was not driven out of Apple. I voluntarily gave up Apple.”
Eric shrugged. “See, this is the flaw in your personality. You’re unwilling to compromise, and that has caused both you and Apple to reach bottlenecks in development. If you had made appropriate compromises with Apple’s board a few years ago, perhaps you could have stayed at Apple. With your ability, taking back leadership of Apple would have been very easy.”
Jobs retorted, “If I made the first compromise, those people would force me into a second, third, and even more compromises.”
Eric chuckled and shook his head, understanding that it was impossible to persuade a paranoid man who had succeeded at a young age. Now that he was taking Pixar away, he did not know whether Jobs would still have the chance to return to Apple in the future.
In Eric’s previous life, the reason Jobs achieved such dazzling success was not only his own talent and perseverance. Luck also played a large part.
If he had successfully sold Pixar earlier, there would have been no Pixar glory after Toy Story was released. Jobs himself would more likely have become an object of ridicule. In that case, perhaps Apple, trapped in a desperate situation, would rather apply for bankruptcy than stake everything on inviting Jobs back.
Eric did not intend to persuade Jobs. He shifted the topic to the real subject of their meeting. “Let’s talk about Pixar, Steve. Since you came to me, that means you accept my offer, correct?”
Jobs hesitated for a moment. The reason he had arranged this meeting was to see whether he could persuade Eric to raise the price face-to-face. Jobs was quite confident in his eloquence.
Unfortunately, after saying so much, the young man before him either interrupted him or showed no sign of being moved at all. In the end, he also understood that if he mentioned raising the price, the other party would simply leave, just as he had hung up the phone last time.
“Eric, I agree to the twenty-million-dollar offer, but the full amount must be paid in one lump sum.”
“No problem at all.” Eric put down his coffee cup and happily snapped his fingers.
Jobs looked suspiciously at Eric, who had previously seemed composed but now suddenly revealed an excited expression. In that instant, he even felt that perhaps he had unknowingly made a huge mistake.
But since he had made a decision, Jobs would not go back on it. He was someone who rarely regretted things. So Jobs immediately asked, “Eric, are you interested in personal computers?”
Eric raised an eyebrow and quickly understood what Jobs meant. “You want me to invest in your NeXT computer company?”
“Yes. Personal computers are electronic products with great development potential. Just look at IBM’s personal computer business data over the past few years. Last year alone…”
“Stop, Steven. I’m not interested in those professional figures. I only have one question. If I take a stake in NeXT, will you accept my suggestions regarding the company’s operations?”
“Well… Eric, you only need to invest fifty… no, thirty million. Combined with the twenty million from Pixar, I’ll have enough capital to carry out a very good idea I had before. I believe it will definitely bring you sufficient profits.”
“In other words, I would only be responsible for investing and receiving dividends, but would have no power to interfere in the computer company’s operations and management?”
Jobs nodded. After what happened with Apple, he would not give up absolute leadership of his own company again. “Eric, you are an excellent director, but I believe that in electronic technology, I certainly understand far more than you do.”
Eric had originally felt somewhat tempted, but after Jobs made this clear, Eric could only shake his head. “Then I refuse.”
“Eric, I have a project proposal here. Perhaps you can look at it first. Actually…”
“No need.” Eric waved and interrupted Jobs. “Steve, I know you’re a man with many ideas, and I also believe in your talent. But I won’t put my money into a project I have absolutely no control over. Just as you stubbornly believe in your own ideas, I’m also a stubborn person. When our philosophies clash, the same kind of conflict that happened at Apple a few years ago will break out again.”
Jobs stopped taking documents out of his briefcase. He had thought that with his eloquence, persuading an eighteen-year-old young man should be easy. Unfortunately, Eric did not listen to his explanation at all, which made the proud Jobs feel a trace of anger.
“All right. That really is a pity,” Jobs said calmly, suppressing his anger. “Eric, do you need to visit Pixar first? I hope our transaction can be completed as soon as possible.”
Eric thought for a moment. “I’m not free tomorrow. Pretty Woman opens tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, I have to fly to New York. It’s my girlfriend’s birthday…”
In Jobs’s mind, a movie opening could still be considered a major event, but a girlfriend’s birthday? How could such a thing delay the Pixar transaction? “Eric, perhaps you can just have someone send your girlfriend a gift. Anyway, it seems you have more than one girlfriend.”
Eric looked at Jobs speechlessly. “Maybe the day after that, I also…”
Jobs immediately slapped the table lightly and interrupted Eric. “Fine, the day after that, then. A girlfriend’s birthday is still very important!”
Although Eric said he was not free the next day, there was actually nothing he needed to personally do. He was simply troubled by the release anxiety every director had, and for the time being, he was in no mood to shift his attention to Pixar.
Fox had already arranged everything. Because the premiere was much larger in scale than the critics’ screening, the reviews of Pretty Woman that appeared in the newspapers the next day also began developing in multiple directions.
Aside from the newspapers he subscribed to, Eric casually bought more than a dozen papers early in the morning and read through all the reviews about Pretty Woman. Among a total of seventeen newspapers, nine praised it, five offered both praise and criticism, and the remaining three criticized it bluntly.
Eric calculated it according to the formula in his mind. The approval rating should be around 7.5. On the film review websites of his previous life, this score would count as relatively high.
With word of mouth remaining good, Eric set down one worry. After breakfast, he drove to Fox’s headquarters in Century City. Since this was not a golden film season, Fox easily gathered 1,900 screens for Pretty Woman. This screen count had already reached blockbuster level for the era.
For his previous two films, Eric only received box office data after a week. But now, he had already reached the level where he could obtain daily box office data from inside Fox.
Starting late at night, Eric, Jeffrey, and several Fox executives waited tensely together in the conference room. Even Fox president Barry Diller exceptionally stayed behind. Although the conference room was large and the windows were open, the room still reeked of cigar smoke. Meanwhile, seven or eight staff members outside were rapidly answering and making calls while recording box office data.
An hour later, the day’s box office figures were finally compiled. The statistician handed the data to several executives, and everyone gathered around.
Carta Hunt sat on the outermost side and was the first to see the number. “Wow, 4.36 million dollars. Another Home Alone.”
After Eric saw the data for Pretty Woman on the report, he finally relaxed completely.
Cheers rang out in the conference room, and everyone’s sleepiness vanished.
Jeffrey said, “Calculated this way, tomorrow’s box office will be even higher. It may reach five million. The three-day weekend can earn fifteen million. Next Tuesday is Valentine’s Day, so the box office will explode. Even weekdays may bring in ten million dollars.”
Carta smiled as he retorted, “Jeffrey, that calculation is a bit conservative. The Valentine’s Day single-day box office will definitely exceed the weekend. I think there’s no problem with the first-week box office surpassing Home Alone.”
Eric saw that these overly excited people were all setting their target on Home Alone, but he knew that was clearly impossible. Perhaps because of the massive earlier publicity, the first-week box office would be very high, but it would not be able to continue the following week.
Thinking this, Eric could not help pouring cold water on them. “The key is that next week’s box office drop will definitely be fairly large. After all, this isn’t the holiday season. So don’t compare it with Home Alone. Home Alone exceeded twenty million dollars for six consecutive weeks.”
Everyone present was a professional, so of course they knew Eric was telling the truth.
Barry Diller said, “Eric, focus on preparing your next film. If you need any help, Fox will fully support you.”
Eric pretended not to understand that Fox wanted to get involved in his next film and smiled. “If possible, let Fox handle the celebration party.”
Barry Diller did not mind Eric playing dumb and laughed. “Haha, Fox is still very willing to pay for that much. Let’s hold it next week at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.”