Chapter 270: Digging a Pit for the Opponent

[Chapter 270: Digging a Pit for the Opponent]

In the office, just after hanging up the phone, Link received a call from Jay Moloney.

Jay informed him that Michael Ovitz had refused to let Tom Hanks star in his new film. If Guess Pictures insisted on inviting Tom Hanks, they would have to pay him $20 million plus 10% of global box office receipts.

Link thought that was unreasonable and offered a maximum of $20 million, no more. Earlier that year, Tom Hanks had won an Oscar for Best Actor for his spectacular performance in Philadelphia, and his film Forrest Gump had grossed over $600 million worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing film of the year, only behind The Lion King and Se7en.

As a result, Tom Hanks' salary had skyrocketed. He became the second actor in Hollywood to command a $20 million fee after Jim Carrey. Such a payout already represented the highest record in the actor industry's history.

Michael Ovitz was also pushing for Hanks to receive a cut of the box office profits, which clearly spelled trouble for the collaboration. During his conversation with Jay, Link stated firmly that $20 million was his top offer, and there would be no more. Jay assured him he would convey this message.

...

After several days of negotiations, Tom Hanks' salary was finally set at $20 million. Initially, CAA had demanded $20 million plus 10% of the global box office, but Link wouldn't budge. They then slashed their demand to $20 million plus 5% of global box office receipts, still without Link's agreement. It was clear that CAA was not showing good faith when they declared that Tom Hanks would walk away from the project.

However, that claim was swiftly denied by Tom Hanks, whose agent made contact with Guess Pictures to confirm he would accept the $20 million offer. According to Jay, Tom Hanks publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Michael Ovitz, believing that Ovitz had overstepped his boundaries and interfered in his work, which violated their agreement. He hoped they wouldn't have a repeat of this situation.

Michael Ovitz was furious when he heard this but found himself powerless against Tom Hanks, his star client.

...

"Hey, Michael, do you have a moment to chat?" After receiving the news, Link took the initiative to call Michael Ovitz to discuss the situation with Tom Hanks.

"Link, is this your little scheme? You deliberately brought Tom Hanks into your film to sow discord between us and create conflict within CAA. Truly, you are a clever one, using your tricks to your advantage, but let me warn you, don't celebrate too soon. This isn't over." Michael's tone was harsh, and it was evident he was in a foul mood.

Link leaned back in his office chair and chuckled, "Michael, can we have a calm conversation? The truth is, I never intended to compete with you or CAA. Guess Pictures is a production company, while CAA is an agency; we have no conflicting interests, and creating conflict benefits neither of us.

Since Guess Pictures is on the rise and has a lot of resources, while CAA represents numerous artists who need resources to grow, wouldn't it be wiser for us to put aside our differences and discuss collaboration? What do you think?"

"Hmph. You speak well, but you can't forget what happened with Richard Gere, Robert Downey Jr., and Dustin Hoffman. If it weren't for you, they wouldn't have faced those issues. Would CAA have lost three of its top actors and incurred tens of millions in losses? Now that you've won, you've become cocky, insisting that we have no conflicts and pushing me to bury the hatchet. If I don't cooperate, it makes me look petty. You really are a hypocrite."

Michael Ovitz let out a cold laugh.

Link shook his head, "Michael, you're quite the fool."

"WTF?! Are you calling me stupid?" Michael Ovitz roared with anger.

Link grinned, "Michael, before I became well-known, you and the other big shots couldn't defeat me. Not only were you stupid, but you were weak. After I gained recognition, you all tried to join forces against me again and failed, proving your lack of intelligence. Now I've become a major player with money, resources, and strength, while your power has diminished. You know I'm not your opponent, yet you stubbornly oppose me. What is that if not foolishness? Oh, well, foolish people often struggle to understand their own stupidity."

"Fuck! Fuck! Damn it, Link, I'm going to kill you!!"

Michael Ovitz was fuming with rage on the other end of the line, hurling the worst insults Link had ever heard.

"Michael, are you done cursing? How about considering a collaboration?" Link replied, sipping his coffee casually.

"Hmph, Link, don't get cocky. You shouldn't be so full of yourself. While you've made some progress, Guess Pictures has indeed been doing well, but this is Hollywood, the territory of the Big Seven studios. Every cent Guess Pictures makes is stolen from the Big Seven's pie. You've encroached on their territory, and they won't let you off easily. I'll bet you that Guess Pictures will go bankrupt within three years."

Michael Ovitz shouted loudly, sounding almost like he was cursing the very existence of Guess Pictures.

"A bet? You've never beaten me. Besides, Hollywood may be the domain of the Big Seven, but if Guess Pictures goes under, it just benefits the Big Seven, not you. Michael, smart people don't easily engage in others' battles, but here you are, acting as the vanguard in a fight that's not even yours. I genuinely pity your lack of intelligence."

Click! Not waiting for Michael Ovitz to respond, Link decisively hung up the phone, ignoring any subsequent calls.

...

Link smiled softly and continued reviewing his materials.

As they were preparing for The Sixth Sense, two significant events were happening in Hollywood.

The first was the formal hiring of former CAA Vice President Ron Meyer as the President of Universal Pictures.

The second involved Disney. Over the past two years, there had been considerable internal strife among Disney's executives -- Chairman Frank Wells, CEO Michael Eisner, and Chairman of Disney Studios Jeffrey Katzenberg each represented their own factions, creating a three-way stalemate.

However, events took a turn last week when Frank Wells tragically died in a helicopter accident, shifting the balance to a contest between two rival factions.

Although Jeffrey Katzenberg was extremely capable in his work, he wasn't adept at office politics and lacked the influence in Disney that Michael Eisner had.

This past Wednesday, Jeffrey Katzenberg announced his resignation from Disney.

Ultimately, Michael Eisner emerged victorious.

Many believed that with one power player gone and another resigning, Disney was set to emerge from its chaotic phase and enter a period of rapid growth.

Others speculated that the success of animated films like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin was largely due to Jeffrey Katzenberg, and now with him leaving Disney, the studio could face serious developmental setbacks.

As far as the media sentiment was concerned, opinions on Disney were evenly split between optimism and pessimism.

However, the stock market told a more revealing story.

...

Many shareholders, unwilling to see Michael Eisner monopolize Disney, began dumping their shares, which led to a decline in Disney stock prices, with its market value plummeting from $20 billion in May down to $15.5 billion.

Link once again arranged for Glimmer Capital investors to purchase 4% of Disney shares, increasing his ownership to 4.06%, making him the sixth-largest shareholder in the company.

...

Meanwhile, after Jeffrey Katzenberg announced his departure from Disney, Link proactively reached out to him, inviting him to become the chairman of Guess Pictures and offering him 5% of the company shares.

Unfortunately, Jeffrey Katzenberg declined, as he was rumored to be planning to team up with Spielberg and David Geffen to form a new film company.

Link didn't mind; he made a suggestion to Michael Eisner through personal channels with the idea of inviting Michael Ovitz to join Disney as CEO.

There were three reasons for this suggestion:

First, the internal strife within Disney mostly stemmed from the board members' discrepancies. There were various factions supporting Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Frank Wells. Now that only Eisner remained, not all board members would back him. Inviting Michael Ovitz would help stabilize the board and curb the declining stock prices.

Second, given Disney's current situation, it was clear that Michael Eisner alone couldn't resolve the chaos; he needed a strong ally to help. With Ovitz being ranked the most powerful player in Hollywood for three consecutive years, he was a suitable choice.

Third, Eisner and Ovitz had a good relationship, making collaboration easier once they became colleagues.

Link's condition was that in the future, the Glimmer Capital representative on Disney's board would fully support Michael Eisner's initiatives.

Michael Eisner stated he would seriously consider this proposal.

Link wasn't worried about Eisner refusing.

This had always been Eisner's method.

During the chaos at Disney, he had brought Ovitz on board as a scapegoat to gain power step by step. Once he had consolidated control, he had removed Ovitz from the equation.

Michael Eisner had a high level of skill in office politics, and even though Ovitz was considered the most powerful figure in Hollywood, he wouldn't stand a chance at Disney.

Link hoped to use Michael Eisner to eliminate the obstacle that was Michael Ovitz.

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.