I’m in Hollywood

Eric nodded, said goodbye to Jeffrey and others, and walked to a nearby coffee shop with Jobs.

It was a country full of piety. I saw millions of pilgrims, so much so that I was pulled to shave my head, but without any displeasure or resistance, I followed the flow of people and walked all the way 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 was far greater than 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 struggle. A year later, in an abandoned garage, I started Apple with a few friends…”

In the coffee shop, Eric stirred the coffee gently and patiently listened to Jobs's eloquent talk. This kind of opportunity is not easy to come across. Although Eric did not like Jobs' character, he admired Jobs' talent very much. .

After more than ten minutes, Eric finally couldn't help but interject: Steve, have you ever reflected on yourself?

The displeasure on the face of Steve Jobs, who was suddenly interrupted, disappeared in a flash, and he asked: Reflection, why should I reflect?

For example, why were you kicked out by Apple?

Jobs corrected his face solemnly: No, Eric, I was not kicked out by Apple, but I voluntarily gave up Apple.

Eric shrugged and said, Look, this is the flaw in your character, and you are unwilling to compromise, which has also led to a bottleneck in the development of both you and Apple. If you made a decision to Apple's board of directors a few years ago, With the right compromise, maybe you can stay at Apple, and with your strength, it's a breeze to take back the leadership of Apple again.

Jobs retorted: I made the first compromise, and those guys pushed me to make a second, third, or even more compromise.

Eric chuckled and shook his head, realizing that it was impossible to convince a teenage paranoid. And he has now taken Pixar, and I don't know if Jobs will have a chance to return to Apple in the future.

In addition to his own talent and perseverance, luck also accounted for a large part of the reason why Steve Jobs achieved such dazzling achievements in his previous life.

If he had successfully sold Pixar before, there would be no more Pixar glory after the release of Toy Story. And he himself is more likely to be the object of ridicule. In that case, perhaps the desperate Apple would rather file for bankruptcy than make a desperate attempt to bring Jobs back.

Eric didn't want to convince Jobs either, and shifted the topic to the topic of the two people's meeting today: Talk about Pixar, Steve, since you found me, it means you accepted my offer, right?

Jobs hesitated for a while. The reason why he arranged this meeting was to see if he could persuade Eric to increase the price in a face-to-face situation. Jobs was quite confident in his eloquence.

Unfortunately, after talking so much, the young man in front of him either interrupted himself or appeared unmoved. In the end, he also understood that if he said the word increase, the other party would just slap his butt and leave as he did on the last phone call.

Eric, I agree to the $20 million offer, but all payments must be paid in full.

No problem at all, Eric put down his coffee cup and snapped his fingers happily.

Jobs looked suspiciously at Eric, who had been calm before, and suddenly showed an excited expression,

At that moment, he even felt that maybe he had made a huge mistake unknowingly.

But now that the decision has been made, Jobs will not go back on it, he is a person who rarely regrets it. So Jobs asked, Eric, are you interested in personal computers?

Eric raised his eyebrows and quickly understood what Jobs meant: You want me to invest in your NeXT computer company?

Yes, the personal computer is an electronic product with great potential for development. Just look at the development data of IBM's personal computer business in the past few years. It was only last year...

Stop, Steven, I'm not interested in those professional data. I just ask, if I took a stake in NeXT, would you accept my advice on the business?

This... Eric, you only need to invest five... no, thirty million, plus twenty million from Pixar, and I have enough money to implement one of my previous great ideas. I'm sure that's for sure It will bring you enough profit.

In other words, I'm only responsible for investment and dividends, and I don't have the power to intervene in the management of computer companies?

Jobs nodded. After the Apple incident, he would not give up the absolute leadership of his company again: Eric, you are an excellent director, but I think I must know better than you in terms of electronic technology. Much more.

Originally, Eric was still a little excited, but after Jobs made it clear, Eric could only shake his head and say, Then, I refuse!

Uh, Eric, I have a project plan here, maybe you can take a look first, actually...

No need. Eric interrupted Jobs with a wave of his hand: Steve, I know you are a very thoughtful person, and I also believe in your talent. But I will not put my money into a project that I am completely In projects beyond your control. Just as you stubbornly believe in your own ideas, I am a stubborn person, and when our philosophies don’t agree, conflicts like those at Apple a few years ago can flare up again.”

Jobs stopped pulling documents from his purse. He thought that it should be easy to persuade an eighteen-year-old young man with his eloquence. Unfortunately, Eric did not listen to his explanation at all, which made the proud Jobs feel a trace of anger.

Well, that's a pity, Jobs said calmly, holding back his anger. Eric, do you need to visit Pixar first? I hope our deal can be concluded as soon as possible.

Eric thought for a while and said, I don't have time tomorrow, Pretty Woman will be released tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow I will fly to New York, my girlfriend's birthday...

In Jobs' mind, the release of the movie could also be a major event, his girlfriend's birthday, how could this kind of thing delay the deal with Pixar: Eric, maybe, you can just ask someone to give your girlfriend a gift. Well, you don't seem to have more than one girlfriend anyway.

Eric looked at Jobs speechlessly: Maybe I will also...

Jobs immediately patted the table lightly and interrupted Eric's words: Okay, the day after tomorrow, girlfriend's birthday is still very important!

He said that he was not free the next day. In fact, Eric had nothing to do in person. It was just that every director had the anxiety of the release that plagued him, and Eric was not in the mood to turn his attention to Pixar for the time being. .

Fox has already arranged everything, because the scale of the premiere is much larger than the film critic's test, so the Pretty Woman film review that appeared in the newspapers the next day also began to develop into a multi-polarization.

In addition to the newspapers he subscribed to, Eric bought more than ten newspapers at random early in the morning, and read all the film reviews about Fengyue. Among the seventeen newspapers in total, nine were praised, and both were praised. There are five criticisms, and the remaining three are unceremonious criticisms.

Eric calculated according to the formula in his mind, and the praise rating should be 7.5. In previous life movie review sites, this score should be considered relatively high.

The word of mouth remained good, so Eric put down his worries, and after breakfast, Eric drove to Fox's headquarters in Century City. Because it is not the prime time of the movie, Fox easily raised 1,900 screens for Pretty Woman, which has reached the blockbuster level of this era.

For the previous two films, Eric didn't get box office data until a week later. And now, he has reached a level where he can get one-day box office data from within Fox.

In the early morning, Eric, Jeffrey, and several Fox executives waited nervously in the conference room together, and even Fox President Barry Diller made an exception to stay. Even though the conference room was large and the windows were open, there was still a thick layer of cigar smoke wafting through the room. At the same time, seven or eight staff members were making quick calls outside and recording box office data.

In an hour, the box office of the day was finally counted. The statistician handed the data to several executives, and everyone gathered around them.

Karta Hunter sat outside and saw the data first: Wow, $4.36 million, it's another Home Alone.

After Eric saw the data of 4.36millions in the report, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt relieved.

There were cheers in the conference room, and everyone's original sleepiness was swept away.

Jeffrey said: In this way, the box office will be higher tomorrow, it may reach 5 million, and it can collect 15 million box office in three days on weekends. Next Tuesday is Valentine's Day, and the box office will explode. Maybe $10 million at the box office.

Karta retorted with a smile: Jeffrey, your calculation is a bit conservative. Valentine's Day's box office will definitely exceed the weekend. I don't think it's a problem for the first week box office to exceed Home Alone.

Eric saw that these over-excited people were targeting Home Alone, but he knew that this was obviously impossible. Perhaps because of the previous huge publicity effect, the box office in the first week would be very high, but the next It can't last a week.

Thinking of this, Eric couldn't help but said: The key is that the box office drop next week will definitely be bigger, after all, it's not a holiday schedule. So don't compare it with Home Alone, Home Alone lasts six consecutive weeks Over $20 million at the box office.

All the professionals present, of course, know that Eric is telling the truth.

Barry Diller said: Eric, focus on preparing for the next movie. If you need any help, Fox will fully support you.

Eric pretended not to understand Fox's intention to intervene in his next movie, and said with a smile, If possible, leave the celebration dinner to Fox.

Barry Diller didn't mind Eric's pretending to be confused, and said with a smile: Haha, Fox is still happy to pay for this money. Just put it in the Beverly Hilton Hotel next week.