Rebirth of Hong Kong's tycoons, shorting Eagle Sauce

In fact, 20th Century Fox has been on the verge of bankruptcy since its establishment.

It took several years and 44 million US dollars to shoot Cleopatra, but only 22 million box office revenue was recovered.

It was almost bankrupt and could only sell 263 acres of location.

You should know that these 263 acres of land are the place where Fox made its fortune. Looking at it now, it is almost the same as a prodigal son selling his ancestral land to make a living.

After several changes of ownership, it finally made a comeback through "Star Wars".

But decades later, they got a familiar script again, and Cameron filmed "Titanic".

Halfway through the filming, it had already spent 140 million US dollars and almost went bankrupt.

But this time, Fox learned its lesson.

In order to stop the loss in time, Fox Company found Paramount to share the pressure.

Paramount regretted it as soon as it got on board. It never looked back and invested tens of millions of dollars in it, which allowed the filming of "Titanic" to be completed.

Therefore, Wang Lei felt that although history had changed a little, it was still Cameron who filmed Titanic.

Fox and Cameron were bound to face the same choice. At that time, he would let Ahpburn enlighten each other a little, and he and Paramount would be more proactive.

The cash cow of "Titanic" might fall into his hands.

"Ahpburn, if one day Cameron's will is not firm enough, you must persuade him to stop the loss in time."

Ahpburn's eyes were full of confusion, but Wang Lei's faint smile made her feel that this matter was not simple.

...

In fact, Cameron regretted getting on board during the preparation of Titanic.

Because Cameron spent six million US dollars before the filming started.

The purpose was just to shoot the wreckage of the Titanic and all kinds of real materials.

Six million, it means that Cameron worked hard and made enough preparations for the foreplay.

Of course it is understandable.

But what he couldn't understand was that Cameron spent 20 million US dollars immediately after shooting the wreckage!

He built a large studio.

"Tell me, he can rent a large studio, why did he build one himself?"

Facing the shareholders' questioning, the president of Fox explained:

"Cameron explained that there is no water studio of this scale in the market at present. Without the conditions, he can only create the conditions himself."

Hearing this, Kembauer felt that it made sense. Since he decided to reproduce the tragedy of the Titanic, he must need a water studio.

What they couldn't stand was the cost of the water studio, because to simulate the water environment, a large studio is much more expensive than an ordinary studio.

The board of directors could only agree to the budget.

But Kembauer always had a bad feeling.

So much money had been spent before the filming started, and more money would definitely be spent in the future.

Sure enough, not long after, another budget request was added to the board's desk.

"Director Cameron wants to build a 1:1 model ship according to the design drawings of the Titanic?"

The board of directors was inexplicably relieved. They were really scared. Fortunately, Cameron was still clear-headed.

He didn't say he wanted to rebuild a Titanic!

You know, the Titanic cost 3 billion to 6 billion US dollars.

Even if Fox was sold as a package, it wouldn't work.

"Can this ship be reused?"

"No, it must be destroyed in the end to recreate the scene of it falling into the sea."

"And Director Cameron requires that the decoration inside the ship, including the prop bowls, seats, and luxurious stairs that may appear, should be restored to the real thing as much as possible."

At this time, it was useless for the board of directors to regret. They had spent nearly 30 million in the early stage, and they couldn't give up halfway.

Although Kembauer was a little mad, the pride of the Ross family made him hold back his anger.

The major shareholder News Corporation did not object, so he couldn't be the first to say that he had no money.

Wouldn't that be very embarrassing?

He could only watch Cameron do whatever he wanted with the huge budget.

The board of directors naively thought that a ship model, even if it was restored at a one-to-one ratio, would cost 20 or 30 million dollars.

But God Cameron quickly spent the 80 million US dollars budget prepared in advance.

Seeing that the ship model was only half completed, the entire Fox executives wanted to cry but had no tears.

At this time, the matter was completely out of Kembauer's control.

Even if Cameron said he wanted to give up at this time, the board of directors would not do it. He spent 80 million US dollars before the filming started, and the ship was half built. No matter what, he would not let this old guy give up halfway.

As a result, Director Cameron increased the budget again and again...

This half year has become Kembauer's trouble.Ball's most tormenting months.

After spending $120 million on this broken ship, plus the more than $20 million spent before, Cameron has already spent $140 million!

A large part of this was invested out of the pockets of major shareholders.

Even so, the filming of Titanic has not officially started yet.

20th Century Forbes is also on the verge of bankruptcy.

At this time, the shareholders all realized that something was wrong. Why does this situation feel familiar?

"Cameron will not repeat the tragedy of Cleopatra."

As soon as these words came out, the entire conference room fell silent.

You must know that in order to recover the cost of Cleopatra, it has been repeatedly re-released in the following decades, and the cost has not been recovered until now!

In terms of cost, Titanic is even more expensive.

It is still unknown how much budget will be spent after the filming begins.

More importantly, 20th Century Fox has no ancestral property to sell. If Titanic loses money, the company can directly declare bankruptcy on the spot!

Everyone's face darkened at the thought of this possibility.

Someone spoke for Cameron:

"Director Cameron's ability is trustworthy. We had a good time with him in the Alien collaboration, and his Terminator series is also very profitable."

"But don't forget that he also messed up the Abyss project."

The Abyss also tells an underwater love story. Because the pace was too slow, it failed miserably at the box office and its reputation was polarized.

Everyone couldn't help but have a bad association. Titanic is a love story and is related to the sea. Cameron is likely to fail again...

"What should we do now?"

Everyone couldn't help but look at Kembauer.

"Sir, no matter what the result is, we have to let Cameron continue filming."

Kembauer asked unhappily: "So?"

"I'd like to trouble you to talk to your brothers and help raise some funds. We are willing to give them a corresponding share of the box office."

Although he was not happy, he knew that this might be the only way out now.