"Boss, if Aitken ruins our movie, not only our company will suffer, but also those companies that screen our films will suffer great losses. If our company suffers, it''s just a matter of losing tens of thousands of dollars and going bankrupt. But the loss of those screening companies will be huge. You know, this period is the golden time for movie screenings. If no one goes to their theaters to watch movies, the money lost in screening alone will be more than just tens of thousands of dollars. So, I think if Aitken plays tricks, his primary target must not be us," James analyzed.
"But now other companies are not screening, only Universal is fully committed. If there are losses, it can only be Universal, right?" Howard retorted.
After hearing what they said, my eyes lit up!
Aitken and Lemer are mortal enemies. The Mutual Benefit Company and Universal are at loggerheads in Hollywood, which is known to everyone. If Aitken ruins my movie, Universal, which screens "Lust, Caution", will surely suffer great losses!
I told James and Howard what I thought, and the two of them nodded frequently.
"Boss, there is one thing I don''t understand," James said, looking at the contracts on my desk.
"Say it."
"It''s not only Universal that has signed the contract with us. Big companies like MGM and Fox have also signed. If Aitken wants to deal with Universal, won''t he offend other companies all at once?"
I nodded: "You''re right, but the current situation is that other companies have strangely not screened our movie!"
"Could it be that these guys are colluding with Aitken?!" Howard and James shouted at the same time.
I walked to the window, silently for a while, and then nodded heavily: "What you said is very possible!"
In history, by the 1920s, the competition in Hollywood intensified, and they began to plot against each other and do everything possible to defeat the enemy and strengthen themselves. For this goal, they would not hesitate to pay any price. Universal and the Mutual Benefit Company are mortal enemies, and Lemer is naturally upright and has offended many people. When the sales company was not divided, he became enemies with the First National Pictures Company because of competition. After the sales company was divided, Universal had conflicts with Fox and Biograph in business. It''s just that everyone didn''t say anything unless it was absolutely necessary. So it''s not impossible for these people to unite this time to bring down Universal.
But Universal is still a big company after all. It''s unlikely to go bankrupt just because of screening a movie. At most, Lemer won''t screen "Lust, Caution" like other companies.
The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. Just at this time, the phone beside me rang.
"Boss, I finally bribed a theater manager of Universal Company with great difficulty and got an important internal message. According to him, the five movies produced by Universal this year are not very good. The three in the first quarter almost all lost money, and the latter two, one was aborted and the other just broke even. So now Lemer is basically on the edge of a cliff. He has put all his limited working capital into this front - line screening. If he loses again this time, Universal will definitely have no money to make movies in the second half of the year. In this way, Universal Company will have big trouble and may not be able to recover!" Fatty shouted thunderously on the phone.
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"Then Lemer can also choose not to screen movies like others, right?" I asked.
"Boss, this may be a trick for these tycoons to jointly play Universal. Other people haven''t invested any money at all. They just signed a contract for show. But Lemer has already put all his money in. It''s impossible to withdraw. Even if he withdraws, most of the money he has invested cannot be recovered. In addition, he still has to compensate us for the losses according to the terms of the contract. This is even more uneconomical. So now if he wants to have a glimmer of hope, he can only pray that the box office of "Lust, Caution" will be booming."
Terrible! Aitken''s move is too vicious! And it''s even more vicious that these movie tycoons are in cahoots!
"Boss, if it''s really like this, we''ll be better off," Howard looked at me with schadenfreude.
"Why?"
"Think about it. If it''s really that Universal has been tricked by Aitken and his men, then companies like Fox and Warner won''t screen our movie. In this way, they will violate the contract and have to compensate us for the losses. With so many companies, each company compensates a sum. At least our costs will be recovered," Howard smiled.
"Howard, your idea is perhaps a bit too simple. Which of these bosses didn''t come out of conspiracies? They can screen a few shows symbolically in a small number of theaters. In this way, they neither breach the contract nor can they stay out of it. In the end, it''s still us who suffer. Anyway, now we and Lemer are in the same boat. If "Lust, Caution" is a hit in Universal''s 3,000 theaters, Lemer will have overcome the difficulties, and our company will not have to go bankrupt," James looked at me and concluded.
In this way, the key to all things finally comes down to whether "Lust, Caution" can have a booming box office.
This is also the reason why Aitken even brought out the bishop to attack this movie.
That is to say, from the attitude towards this movie, we can judge who are our enemies and who are on our side.
It is certain that Paramount and the Mutual Benefit Company have exposed their intention to target me and Universal. Old Ma and others are just sitting on the sidelines watching the tigers fight. As for Essanay, Callum and other small companies, they are completely at the mercy of big companies and are people who cannot decide the overall situation.
If I want to win the final victory, I must not let "Lust, Caution" be tarnished and ignored.
The public opinion on this movie will finally determine the fate of DreamWorks and Universal!
And the current situation is that with the publication of the three articles by Dewey, Thorndike and Sennett, plus the influence of Bishop Frankenstein, "Lust, Caution" will get certain praise in the academic circle, but it will be difficult to turn over in the film industry. After all, Sennett is a veteran in Hollywood. Once Bishop Frankenstein says that "Lust, Caution" is garbage in terms of film art and spiritual level, those film practitioners and the general public will follow blindly.
Unless I can find a figure in the film industry who is more veteran than Sennett and is willing to help me, and find a religious celebrity in the religious circle who is more powerful than Bishop Frankenstein and thinks that "Lust, Caution" is a good movie.
And this is really too difficult for me.
Sennett''s status among Hollywood directors at this time is almost unshakable. Chaplin might be able to, but he has a very good relationship with Sennett. When Sennett was a director in the Mutual Benefit Company, he had been in close cooperation with Chaplin''s United Artists. Chaplin will not break off relations with Sennett for me, a small potato.
As for Bishop Frankenstein, I have basically given up the idea of finding someone stronger than him. He is absolutely an authority in the religious circle in the West, and there is no one who poses a threat to him.
After such an analysis, my prospects are bleak.
Depressed, I had dinner. Jack sent someone to bring another bad news, saying that Fox had dinner with Aitken at the Imperial Hotel in the evening. All the people at the table were senior executives of the Mutual Benefit Company, including the head of Royal Films, Floryer, the head of Pisong No. 101 Company, Kessel, the head of Keystone Company, Bauman, and their big director, the famous Mike Sennett!
This means that Fox, a wealthy company, has finally turned to Aitken, this old fox.