Chapter 12: $1.211 billion

On June 22, the North American box office revenue for "Windtalkers" was released, which was only a pitiful 24.37 million US dollars. Compared with the 130 million US dollars investment, this is a number that makes MGM shudder.

Moreover, the media's reviews of the movie were also very bad, with a lot of negative reviews.

Here we are talking about print and television media. As for Rotten Tomatoes, although it will be a barometer for judging the quality of a movie 20 years later, it is still far from developed now.

In this era, netizens can only complain on websites such as forums, and there is no systematic base.

The New York Times: "Windtalkers" is clearly a mediocre film. John Woo doesn't seem to know how to shoot a war scene, and he wasted Nicolas Cage's acting skills.

The Washington Post: I don't know what kind of authority MGM gave John Woo, but it's definitely both sides' fault for making such a boring movie. I don't understand why the movie is called Windtalkers, because the movie only focuses on the real windtalkers for a very short period of time.

Los Angeles Times: This is a tiring movie. There are too many war scenes, which can easily make people tired. Moreover, it is ridiculous that Yaz is willing to pass codes to the US military in the midst of gunfire, but we have to turn our guns silently towards him! The evaluation of the media will affect the public's impression of the film. With so many bad reviews, Windtalkers can be said to have died. At most, it can earn another 10 million US dollars, and the North American box office will be almost over.

As for overseas box office, since China, a major box office country, has not yet developed, if a movie fails in the United States, it almost means the end of the world.

Although Japan and Europe also have good box office performance, they are limited by the population base and cannot be much higher.

Eric hasn't talked to his father for several days because his brows are always furrowed and he often yells on the phone, so it's better not to get close to him at this time.

In the early morning of June 23, the match between South Korea and Spain started. Eric did not watch it, but only paid attention to the news on MSN.

Although they told Judy that they didn't have to watch it if they felt uncomfortable, they had invested a lot of money after all, so the four of them couldn't help but watch it, and then they cursed while watching.

The game was decided by a penalty shootout, and the shameless South Korean team won again by taking advantage of the referee.

Although everyone feels sorry for the Spanish team, who can resist the green music?

However, because the previous game showed everyone how shameless the South Korean team is, even though Spain is obviously stronger than South Korea, the odds for the South Korean team have been reduced a lot, to only 1:2.5.

In the end, Eric bet $30 million, which turned into $75 million on one game.

Through these five games, his assets officially entered the $1 billion club, and his goal was achieved.

Judy: "Eric, MY Sugar Daddy, I never dreamed that a month ago I was still anxious about whether to go to Goldman Sachs or Morgan, and a month later I have 5 million US dollars. This is unimaginable. I have to think carefully about how to spend this money."

Billy and Bordeaux also muttered about their plans.

Warren, who comes from an ordinary family, already had a plan: "I really envy you. My capital is too small. I won less than one million dollars. I decided to pay off my student loan first, and then buy a bigger house for my parents. After all, they just gave birth to my third brother."

Warren's idea was immediately recognized by others. Instead of considering something unrealistic, this was indeed a more practical option.

Among the five, Eric is the only one who has no student loans. The other four have debts ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

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

In the United States, the annual tuition for public universities is about $30,000, which is $120,000 for four years. The specific cost depends on the courses chosen.

For example, at UCLA, where Eric is studying, the annual tuition is $39,000, depending on his course.

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

And this is just the tuition. If you add in the cost of books, room and board, etc., it will be almost $30,000 a year, $120,000 for four years, and the total cost of studying in a university is $200,000 to $300,000.

Of course, if you save money, don't participate in various activities, don't get involved in social activities, etc., you can indeed spend less money, but not many people will do this because there are student loans to use.

Therefore, most college students are saddled with heavy loans when they graduate. Obama paid off the loans for 21 years. You can imagine how heavy a burden this is.

In this country, the largest loan is mortgage, and the second largest loan is student loan.

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

Judy: "So you want to continue? I've calculated for you, you've already made $1 billion, do you want to continue or stop?"

"And I've noticed that the odds are getting closer and closer. Even for the South Korean team, I'm afraid they won't get more than double the odds in the next game."

Judy's problem is also what the other three are concerned about. Without Eric's guidance, they dare not make any rash bets.

Eric thought for a moment and typed: "In two days, South Korea will play against Germany. Be prepared to bet on Germany to win. This will be the last time."

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

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Bordeaux: “Yes, it’s shameless, but it’s effective.”

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

Eric had to admire Judy's speed of thinking: "That's right, the German team is not easy to mess with. With the lessons learned from Spain and Italy, they will not repeat the same mistakes. I received news that the football emperor Beckenbauer is going to take action."

Four people asked at the same time: "Who is Beckenbauer?"

Eric was too lazy to explain: "Don't worry about who he is. Just know that he is German and has great power. Once he leaves the court, the Korean team will lose."

"But those bookmakers have been badly cheated by the Korean team in the first two games, so the odds of the German team in the next game will be much higher than that of the Korean team. What we have to do is to harvest the reverse and make the last bet."

According to his memory from his previous life, Beckenbauer strongly demanded a change of referee 30 minutes before the start of the game. In such a short time, the betting companies were unable to react.

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

Outside the stadium, many bookmakers were dumbfounded because the odds for the South Korean team were 1:1.5, while the odds for the German team were 1:4. This would be another night of bleeding.

As expected, Germany beat South Korea 1:0 and Eric once again earned $80 million.

The reason why there are not hundreds of millions is that some small gambling companies have declared bankruptcy and there is no place to place bets.

The primitive accumulation was completed and we were preparing to acquire MGM, which echoes the title of our book.

(End of this chapter)