Chapter 248 247. Never Back Down

"Boss, Disney, Universal, Sony, Paramount, Fox and Warner have jointly requested us to ban Mel Gibson!"

After Carol finished speaking, Eric's face instantly darkened. Damn these bastards.

"When did it happen?"

"Last night, it was said that people from the six companies held a meeting and negotiated for a long time. They had all left work, and then the official letter was delivered to us at 11 o'clock in the evening."

"Considering you might have rested, I didn't call, I just sent a text message."

"Okay, I get it. Thank you for your hard work."

"Boss, what should we do? They are pushing us really hard this time. Six major companies have joined forces to ban one person. This kind of thing rarely happens in Hollywood history."

After thinking for a moment, Eric said directly: "It's okay, don't pay attention to them. Just delay the reply and say that I am filming abroad. This is not a trivial matter after all. Mel Gibson is not just Mel Gibson, he also owns a company. Anyway, everything will be discussed after I return home."

Realizing that Eric was looking for an excuse to delay, Carol became even more certain that his going abroad on the day the movie was released must have been expected.

Since the boss is not in a hurry, there is no need for you as a secretary to be in a hurry. Just follow the arrangements.

After hanging up the phone, Eric shook his head to make himself more clear-headed. He had been busy fighting last night and didn't pay attention to the text messages.

After washing my face, I walked to the window and looked into the distance. It seemed that the person who came this time was not friendly.

However, Jews make up a large proportion of the senior executives of Disney, Universal and Warner, so it is understandable that they want to ban Mel Gibson.

Fox also has its reasons. After all, "American Idol" is about to compete with "The Voice", and they are eager for MGM to be in trouble.

What's more, the competition between Facebook and Myspace has reached a white-hot stage. Murdoch will definitely support his son. Attacking MGM is equivalent to attacking Facebook.

Not to mention Sony. Because of the Michael Jordan case, MGM has long been at odds with the other party, and the Japanese have been looking for opportunities to take revenge.

The only one with no reason is Paramount. MGM has no conflict with the other party, so it was probably just dragged into it.

Eric walked out of the room and headed for the restaurant, thinking about countermeasures as he walked.

After thinking about it carefully, I realized that there had indeed been friction between me and Paramount.

At the beginning, other people also took a fancy to "Transformers", but the copyright was snatched away by me.

If the movie had failed, Paramount would just laugh and be glad that MGM helped them take a risk and test the market reaction.

But if the movie is a big hit at the box office, the other party will definitely be resentful and have some thoughts.

"Honey, what's wrong with you?"

In the corridor, Theron's voice suddenly sounded behind her. With constant nourishment every day, her complexion was getting better and better, and her face was rosy.

"You look a little absent-minded. What are you thinking about?" asked Theron curiously.

Eric told her everything without hiding anything from her.

After hearing this, Theron sneered: "I think these guys are jealous. They are jealous that MGM is getting better and better. They are worried that one day MGM will regain its position as the overlord of Hollywood like it did in the last century."

"My dear, think about it. Since you took the helm, MGM's movies have never lost money. The film industry is a high-risk, high-investment industry. MGM's performance is really scary."

“Well, there are also people who lose money.”

"What?"

“The Devil Wears Prada has not yet paid for itself.”

"Hate it!" Charlize Theron punched Eric in the chest.

"In less than two years, he has paid off more than $2 billion in debt and led MGM back to the stock market. His market value has already risen to third place among the seven largest companies. If it weren't for the drop in the stock price in the past few days, he would have surpassed Warner and risen to second place."

"It controls a lot of popular IP cash cows, and also holds a large number of shares in Double Star Entertainment and Marvel. It has also created two very promising emerging websites, Facebook and YouTube."

"My boss, they are scared. Anyone would be scared! Especially Disney, it must be the most scared. Maybe Mickey Mouse is the one who started this."

Eric nodded. What Charlize Theron said made sense. You have to know that in the early last century, there were no so-called Big Seven in Hollywood.

At that time there were only five strong film companies: Paramount, Warner, MGM, Fox and RKO.

The five companies have a complete vertically integrated structure, including film studios, theater chains, and international distribution networks.

Even the cinema chains are controlled by the film companies, so you can imagine how terrifying that is.

At that time, film and television companies were the absolute dominant force, and neither stars nor audiences had the right to choose.

You have to shoot whatever I tell you to shoot, and the audience has to watch whatever I want them to watch. There is no room for negotiation on these unfair terms.

In addition to the Big Five, there are also Universal, Columbia and United Artists, but these three are very small, at most equivalent to the current Dimension.

Among the five major companies, Paramount was established the earliest. MGM was established in 1924, 12 years later than Paramount, but it quickly surpassed Paramount.

How powerful was MGM at that time?

It is hailed as the greatest miracle in the history of world cinema and is said to have more stars than the stars in the sky.

The average budget for each film was $500,000, which was $500,000 in the 1930s and 1940s, and the cost was much higher than that of other companies.

MGM has created countless classic screen images, and even the founder of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was MGM.

That’s right, the Oscars were first initiated by MGM.

Due to the huge influence of the film, MGM's military logo once became a symbol of the United States.

This lion king was the undisputed largest, most influential and most profitable super movie giant of that era, integrating production, distribution and screening.

To make an analogy, it is equivalent to the current United States, which is the only super company. The Hollywood landscape at that time was one super company and many strong companies.

Does Eric want to restore MGM to its former glory?

Of course he did. He dreamed about it and was actually doing it.

After I become completely big, my first target will be Warner. After all, you have my ancestral property in your hands and you also own DC comics.

You have already received your death! Eric is a non-Jew, and he might have anti-Semitic tendencies in his heart when he published The Passion of the Christ. I am afraid that the other party is really afraid of him, so it is not surprising that he is targeted.

"Theron, do you have any good suggestions for the current situation?"

Theron frowned, "My dear, I don't know your trump card, but if it were me, I would probably give in when faced with the joint pressure from the six major powers."

"Concession? Are you sure the other party won't go even further after you make the concession?"

"That depends on their true intentions. You must have made a decision in your mind, right?"

Eric snorted and decided that he definitely couldn't retreat.

First of all, it will affect one's own prestige.

It will also affect MGM's integrity. If you sell out your teammates when you are under pressure, people will definitely be cautious about doing business with you in the future.

In addition, small second- and third-tier companies such as DreamWorks, Lionsgate, and New Line are all watching. They all want to see if MGM has the ability to withstand it.

If you can't hold on, these guys may be potential allies today, but potential enemies tomorrow.

The most important thing is that Lionheart will be launched soon anyway.

This is a life-and-death struggle, and it won't end until one side falls and admits defeat. There's no point in retreating, just do it! Having made up his mind, Eric took out his phone and called Robert Mirren.

"Robert, how are the preparations going?"

Robert Mirren was visibly excited when he received the call.

"Boss, it's already been completed. We're just waiting for your order. Seeing how well Facebook and YouTube are developing, we can't wait any longer."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"Very good, let's set the date for next Saturday. I'll give you a few days to prepare, and you'll be online on time at 9 a.m."

"In the next few days, you must immediately contact all major websites, as well as shopping malls, big screens, subways, public toilets, in short, use everything except TV stations, and advertise as much as possible."

"We need to smash it everywhere, until everyone in the United States knows about it."

"In addition, we will connect with Facebook and YouTube, and they will help promote it. I want to launch information bombardment online and offline at the same time. As long as you are a person who is in contact with society, whether actively or passively, you must know the name of Lionheart Network."

"Don't worry, boss. I promise to complete the task. What will be our first wave of works online?"

"House of Cards, Supernatural, The Voice, and then there's Peppa Pig."

In the following days, the controversy caused by "The Passion of the Christ" continued to ferment, and a death incident occurred, which pushed the film to the forefront.

A radio station in Kansas treated its employees to a free movie. When the movie showed the brutal scene of Jesus being crucified, Ms. Scot, the 56-year-old marketing manager of the radio station, suffered a heart attack. Although the cinema immediately suspended the screening and rushed her to the hospital, she eventually died.

The news attributed Ms. Scot's death to the movie, saying that the scenes were too cruel and caused strong discomfort among everyone.

Judaism and some social organizations clamored even more fiercely, demanding that Mel Gibson be held accountable for this.

Under tremendous pressure from public opinion, this veteran in the entertainment industry finally couldn't bear it anymore and chose to accept an interview with NBC.

He repeatedly stressed that he had no anti-Semitic tendencies and just wanted to make a movie.

"I didn't expect things to get to this point. This was not my intention. I am not against Jews or Judaism. In fact, I have many Jewish friends."

"Really, I just want to make a profound movie, which is what every director pursues."

"If the plot of the movie has hurt anyone, I would like to apologize to you."

"I hope everyone will view The Passion of the Christ with a normal mind. Neither I nor the film has any ironic stance. I apologize again to those who were hurt."

Mel Gibson's public apology finally appeased some people and weakened the voices of opposition.

But the Jews are very strong, and the influence of Catholics, Protestants and other sects is also not weak. They openly supported the movie, and the two sides engaged in a war of words.

Finally, the topic was brought to the ultimate question, which is who is responsible for Jesus' death?

Everyone understands that an apology from Mel Gibson alone will not be enough. This is a contest between two camps.

During these few days, Eric received a call from Carol every day.

The six major companies knew that he was playing a procrastinating tactic and wanted to drag it out until the competition between the two camps was over, so they urged him even more urgently.

On the first day, we hoped that he would return home as soon as possible to discuss the ban, but Eric replied that he couldn't leave because he was filming a critical part.

The next day, the six major parties hoped that he would return to China immediately. The matter must be resolved quickly to appease the public anger. Eric's answer was, "I'm considering it and will give you a reply right away."

On the third day, the Big Six demanded that he must ban Mel Gibson and withdraw The Passion of the Christ from theaters ahead of schedule. He didn't even bother pretending.

In response, Eric said, "You guys stop pretending, and I won't pretend either. Your request can be summed up in two words - no way!" On the fourth day, Liu Da hoped that he would think it over again, and seemed to have softened.

Eric thought the other party was a paper tiger and was just bluffing.

Unexpectedly, on the fifth day, the six major parties suddenly issued a joint statement.

"Given the huge controversy caused by The Passion of the Christ, which has had a very bad social impact, Mel Gibson himself has shown strong racist and anti-Semitic tendencies."

"So after our discussion, we have decided not to establish or continue any working relationship with Mel Gibson in the future. We hereby declare this!"

The signatures are the six presidents of Disney, Warner, Fox, Paramount, Sony and Universal.

The announcement of this statement immediately caused a stir in the industry and sparked widespread discussion.

The so-called ban can be achieved in China, a country with an optoelectronics bureau and administrative management.

But in the United States, there is no real ban. The reason why many stars suddenly disappear from the big screen is their own fault.

For example, Ingrid Bergman in the last century. Hollywood was very conservative at that time, and she cheated on her husband and was boycotted by the whole nation. She was banned by the audience, but a few years later, the limelight passed and she continued to act.

There is also Megan Fox, who is very familiar to everyone. She angered Bay and Spielberg, but she just stopped shooting big productions, and still got small-investment movies.

In Hollywood, a society where money is everything, as long as a star has value, it doesn't matter if you anger a few big guys, as it won't really cost you your job.

But this time it is obviously different. The six major companies have joined together to ban one person. This kind of situation has never been heard of or seen before.

Faced with such an exaggerated effort, Mel Gibson's company will definitely be finished, and other small independent companies will not dare to cooperate with him again.

Because these small companies have a fatal weakness, which is distribution capabilities, and they can only rely on large companies in this regard.

But at the same time, many people noticed that something was wrong. One of the big Hollywood companies was missing. Where was MGM?

Just when everyone was wondering what had happened, MGM also issued a statement.

"Mel Gibson is an excellent director and The Passion of the Christ is an excellent film. We are very sure that he is a decent person and the film is not mixed with any personal bias."

"MGM is willing to continue to cooperate with Director Gibson for a long time to bring more excellent works to everyone."

Signed: Eric Cooper!

(End of this chapter)