After buying White Castle Press (for $7.8 million), Smile Publishing House (for $63 million), and the Duke of Brown Bear Press (for $70 million), the Golden Sun Entertainment Group had spent a total of $140.8 million.
Even though the company was rich, that was still a lot of money.
"Victor, do we still have enough cash left over to build our new movie networks in Mexico and South America?" Zane asked.
"Yes, we do!" Victor nodded, looking confident. "I just checked with Martha, our money expert, this morning. The main company still has $120 million in cash. It's enough to get started. And even if we run low, our TV network and movie studio are making so much money, we can always use some of that to help."
Hearing this, Zane nodded, feeling much better.
"Oh, that's right," Zane added. "About Titanic... please keep a close eye on that. Make sure Paramount and Fox send us our first big payment soon."
"Okay, boss."
"Those 'Big Six' studios are famous for holding onto money," Zane said, sighing. "They're like dragons sitting on a pile of gold. If we're not careful, they'll try to cheat us out of our share. I really don't want to have to take them to court. That just sounds like a giant headache."
He knew the big studios were not always fair.
Zane's company, Wald Pictures, had invested $85 million in Titanic for a 25% share of the profits. And he knew, thanks to his secret knowledge, that the movie was going to make about $659 million in North America and $1.15 billion in other countries. A total of $1.8 billion!
But here was the tricky part.
After the movie theaters took their cut, and the director (James Cameron) took his cut, and the studios took money for "costs"... there was only about $164 million left for the producers. Since Zane's company owned 25% of that, their share from North America was only $41 million.
"Darn it, Victor," Zane complained, pointing at the report. "Look at this. They're charging an 18% 'distribution fee' to move the movie around! That's crazy!"
He was genuinely annoyed. "Usually, the fee for a big movie like this is way lower, maybe 8% or 15%. They're just being greedy!"
Victor just laughed. He knew how these things worked.
"Haha! Boss, you can say that to me," Victor smiled, "but please don't say that to the bosses at Paramount. You'll make them really mad!"
Victor then gave Zane a big grin. "But look on the bright side. Don't forget, we made a ton of money from the overseas box office."
"From outside North America, our share was $160 million. After we take out our $85 million cost, we still made a clean profit of $75 million."
Victor wasn't done. "And the real money will come from DVDs, videos, and TV rights. I bet that will bring us another$250 million over the next few years."
Hearing that, all of Zane's anger just melted away.
He'd been annoyed about the 18%, but Victor was right. When he did the math, he was still making a giant, giant profit. It was a very sweet deal.
"Okay," Zane said, feeling much better. "The next job is to put our three new publishing companies together into one big one. We need to get them ready to launch the Harry Potter books. That's going to be our next big hit."
Meanwhile, at 20th Century Fox...
The mood was not happy. The bosses were all in a meeting, and they were angry.
"Bill," said Tom Rothman, the company president, "we lost so much money on that Titanic deal. You are the CEO. This is your fault!" He was pointing right at the CEO, Bill Mechanic.
"Our money experts say that new kid, Blackwood, is going to make at least $320 million from our movie!" another boss said. "The board of directors is furious. They want to know why you sold it!"
"Yes!" Jack, another boss, agreed. "Bill, this is on you! You have to take responsibility!"
Total betrayal! Bill Mechanic felt a cold chill.
These men were all supposed to be on his team. And now, they were all turning against him. He was so angry. He cursed them, and he cursed that kid, Zane Blackwood. If it weren't for Zane, he would be the hero who made Titanic!
And, just a few days later, the big board of directors had a meeting. They all ganged up on Bill.
In the end, they all voted.
Bill was fired. He had to step down, feeling angry and defeated.
"Zane Blackwood," Bill swore to himself, his fists clenched, "you cost me my job! I'm not finished with you!"
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