Viacom Group.
It is the parent company of Paramount, one of The Big Six of Hollywood, and is the third-largest media group in America, existing only behind Time Warner Group and News Corporation. It owns as many as 39 local TV stations and dozens of radio stations across the U.S., showing its immense strength.
Furthermore, it also owns MTV, an extremely profitable music television station.
It should be known that MTV Music Television is the largest music television station in the World, bar none, providing Viacom Group with over $7 billion in annual revenue.
However!
However, Sumner Redstone, the Chairman of Viacom Group, was extremely angry at this moment.
"Bastard~"
"This damn bastard~"
"First, it was my dearest son, Brent. He actually took me to court, accusing me of forcing him out of the family business through a campaign, causing a huge uproar and making me lose face in front of the whole World."
"But... what about now?"
"I never expected that my favorite nephew, Michael, would also dare to sue me?!"
"And he's claiming $4 billion in damages?"
"What kind of joke is this? Why doesn't he just ask me to give him the entire Paramount Pictures?!"
"Hmph~"
At this moment, Redstone, the 76-year-old Emperor of Paramount, completely transformed into a fiercely angry lion, his mighty presence remaining despite his age.
He accused his son and nephew again and again!
He cursed them for being ungrateful and disregarding their family ties.
Yesterday afternoon, the local court in Los Angeles convened. Redstone attended the hearing as the defendant and saw the three people he least wanted to see, immediately spiking his blood pressure.
Ex-wife: Phyllis;
Son: Brent;
Nephew: Michael;
"...Those three are my sworn enemies,
constantly trying to extract money from me. They are Vampires, disgusting parasites! They should go to hell and face Satan's judgment. They should be grateful this isn't the Middle Ages, or I would surely slaughter them with my own hands!"
Redstone gritted his teeth and cursed some more.
For a time, the entire spacious office fell silent, and none of the group executives present dared to speak.
"Father, getting too angry harms your health."
The only person who dared to speak stepped forward. She was Redstone's daughter, Shari, currently 40 years old.
Currently, she also works for Viacom Group as one of the executives and is one of the old man Redstone's heirs.
Seeing his daughter Shari speak, the furious Redstone calmed down considerably, managing a wry smile.
He showed a rare moment of tenderness.
"Shari, you're the only one who cares about your father. Unlike those three bastards, Phyllis, Brent, and Michael~" Redstone said solemnly.
Hearing this, Shari immediately said, "Don't worry, Father. I am not Mother Phyllis, nor am I Brother Brent, and certainly not Michael. I will always support your decisions."
Knock, knock, knock~
Just then, Redstone's secretary, Joanna, knocked on the office door and entered.
"Boss, Mr. Jordan from Paramount Pictures and Mr. Kyle Page have arrived," Secretary Joanna said.
"Oh?"
Instantly, Redstone, whose eyes had been slightly clouded moments before, flashed with brilliance.
"Joanna, bring Kyle Page and Jordan in. As for everyone else, carry on with your work. Shari, stay here," Redstone instructed.
"Yes, boss."
"Yes, Father."
Everyone responded. A few seconds later, only Redstone and his daughter Shari remained in the spacious office.
"Father, I heard you called Kyle Page here to have him serve as the producer for the lara croft: tomb raider project?" Shari asked.
"That's right!"
If she hadn't mentioned it, it would have been fine, but as soon as she did, the anger that Redstone had just managed to quell flared up again.
"These useless people..."
Up until now, Paramount Pictures' performance this year had greatly displeased Redstone, who was always strong-willed and refused to admit his age.
As of the end of September 1999, only one film among the top ten on the North America annual box office chart was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Furthermore, the film ranked in the top ten, Runaway Bride, was co-produced and distributed by Disney and Paramount Pictures, not independently completed and led by Paramount.
Does Paramount Pictures, one of The Big Six, still want to maintain the reputation of a hegemon?
Isn't that shameful?
Compared to the performance of the other companies among The Big Six of Hollywood, their results are far inferior.
Looking at the other films produced by Paramount Pictures on the list, the best-performing one was Double Jeopardy, but it only achieved $116 million at the box office in the North America region, completely unworthy of the status of one of The Big Six.
More crucially... this movie... lost money.
Well, at least relying solely on box office profits, they won't recover the costs.
"As for the other films, sigh, let's not talk about them. At most, they only made a small profit. Their performance is far worse than the year before last, and last year's performance wasn't great either," Redstone said angrily.
Anyone could tell that he was extremely dissatisfied with Paramount Pictures' performance.
If there weren't a lack of suitable talent to take over Paramount right now, given his volatile temper, he would have long since cleared out all of Paramount's executives.
Shari asked doubtfully, "Will Kyle Page serving as the producer for the lara croft: tomb raider project definitely achieve high box office results and restore the dignity of Paramount, one of The Big Six?"
She consistently felt that Kyle was too young and somewhat unreliable.
Heavens~
How great can a producer in his twenties possibly be?
"Heh heh!"
Redstone chuckled, "Don't underestimate Kyle Page just because he's young. You aren't responsible for the group's film and television entertainment projects, so you don't know enough about him."
"But!"
"Looking at the works he has written and produced, whether it's the early run lola run, the recent 300, or even the animated film Finding Nemo, they are all rare masterpieces that have achieved high box office returns."
He paused, then added, "If he didn't have some capability, how could he have become the youngest billionaire?"
Of course, there was one thing Redstone didn't say aloud.
The lara croft: tomb raider project was originally a game project. Paramount Pictures acquired the film adaptation rights, and Kyle had previously tried to purchase them from Paramount.
The result, naturally, was predictable... he was rejected.
Kyle, like a shark smelling blood, was naturally unwilling to simply give up. After some effort, he decided to invest capital and join the lara croft: tomb raider project.
"Although that guy Kyle is a bastard and shameless, his eye for projects isn't bad. Maybe this lara croft: tomb raider project will be a success?"
The executives of Paramount Pictures began to speculate.
Thanks to the recent massive success of Finding Nemo, Paramount's boss Redstone proposed that Kyle join the lara croft: tomb raider project as a producer.
Well, throughout the entire negotiation process, Kyle seemed rather foolish.
But in reality, Kyle had ulterior motives and was up to no good.
Knock, knock, knock~
The knocking sounded again.
"Hi, Kyle, you finally made it!" Redstone stood up to welcome him and gave Kyle a big hug.
Kyle naturally reciprocated with false enthusiasm.
"This is my daughter, Shari, my most outstanding heir," Redstone introduced his daughter.
Kyle took one look and was immediately amused.
The most outstanding heir?
What a joke~
Kyle had paid close attention to Redstone's recent asset dispute lawsuits with his ex-wife, son, and nephew, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle as a bystander.
As for Redstone's daughter, Shari—the one he called his most outstanding heir—Kyle, as a transmigrator, knew that in 2012, Redstone and Shari would have a ferocious public falling out, causing a massive scandal far more turbulent than the previous family disputes.
They even publicly broke off relations, declaring they would never speak to each other again!
"Tsk tsk tsk~ Precious father-daughter affection, but you'll have plenty of time to fight later," Kyle chuckled inwardly.