Heads Up Hollywood

April 1, 1999, was a day worthy of rich and colorful records for Tang En and Tang En Pictures.

After 7 months and as many as 8 negotiations, in which Tang En personally participated in 4 negotiations, Tang En Pictures and Marvel Entertainment finally reached an agreement.

Twain Pictures acquired all the shares of Marvel Entertainment for a total price of 80 million US dollars.

Since then, Marvel has officially become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tang En Pictures.

The success of this negotiation is the result of joint efforts of various parties.

Among them, CAA is in charge of communicating with Avi Arad and Ike Patham, Endeavor is in charge of getting in touch with Marvel's management, and Warner is behind the scenes to help completely cut off Marvel's idea of ​​going to Hollywood alone.

Tang En's legendary experience of quickly establishing himself as a top director in Hollywood in just two or three years is also a huge source of Marvel's confidence.

On the same day, under the witness of various media, Dunn formally signed an equity transfer agreement with the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Avi Arad and Ike Patem.

The photo of the three people smiling and shaking hands in a friendly manner was also broadcast live throughout North America through live TV.

This was originally a cooperation between two small companies, but it involved Marvel Entertainment, one of the most influential comic companies in the United States, and the popular director Dunn Walker, making such a small matter quickly become the focus of the entire United States.

Not only movie fans are deeply concerned, but comic fans are also concerned.

Could it be that...the rumors are all true, is Director Walker going to shoot a superhero movie?

Immediately after the signing ceremony, Tang En held a press conference as the big boss of Marvel Entertainment. Hundreds of reporters attended the meeting, and almost all entertainment newspapers and TV stations in North America paid close attention.

April 1st is a special day.

When the news first came out that Tang En Pictures would officially acquire Marvel on this day, everyone thought it was an April Fool's Day joke.

But now it seems that the genuine goods at a fair price!

"Director Walker, what gave you such confidence that your Twain Films acquired Marvel by means of snakes swallowing elephants? You are just a director, and you don't understand comics. How can you guarantee that Marvel will turn around?"

Warner's TBS obtained the exclusive authorization for this broadcast, and the first question was naturally raised by their reporter.

Tang En smiled slightly, "Since I entered the industry, I have never lacked confidence. The Internet age has arrived, and paper comics will gradually fade out of the stage of history. But I am a loyal fan of Marvel, and I don't want such a company to have A comic book company with decades of glorious history and endless joy to the people of the United States has just closed down."

"So, regardless of personal feelings or public interests, the acquisition of Marvel, the rescue of Marvel, and the transformation of Marvel are the general trend. No matter how big the risk is, I will not hesitate! As for the guarantee you said ...I'm sorry, I can't give you any guarantees, any business investment has risks, but I will do my best to bring Marvel back to life."

"Here, I would like to thank Mr. Allard and Mr. Patham for their hard work and hard work for Marvel over the past few years. They have recovered most of the hero copyrights that have been strayed outside, and expanded the distribution channels of comics. Gradually bring Marvel to a correct path. Now, this important and sacred mission is entrusted to me, and I will do my best to complete the mission.”

The reporters off the field all opened their mouths wide, showing expressions of surprise.

this……

Is this still Don Walker?

Has he changed too much?

Just a few years ago, at the press conference of "Titanic", Tang En was still talking nonsense, saying that "Titanic" would guarantee a box office of 1.8 billion US dollars!

Although his prophecy was successful in the end, the young man's wild, arrogant, impetuous personality is also known to everyone.

But he didn't expect that after more than two years, Tang En would talk freely, behave in a moderate manner, and be steady and generous.

No wonder he has a streak of success, he's grown so fast!

The reporters present saw Tang En smiling confidently and sitting peacefully like a mountain. After admiring him, he was a little disappointed.

Without a big mouth, there will be fewer major topics that can be hyped.

"Director Walker, what is your specific strategic plan after acquiring Marvel? Is it really like the rumors that you want to shoot a superhero movie?"

This is a young female reporter from the "Los Angeles Times", looking at Tang En like a fan girl.

"Of course, I'm a director. I love movies, and my greatest ability is also movies." Tang En paused and looked around at everyone, "Take this opportunity to officially announce to the public that from now on, "Spider-Man" The movie project is officially launched!"

Spiderman!

As the superhero among the national comic heroes, second only to Batman and Superman, he obviously has many fans.

Tang En's words immediately caused a slight commotion in the venue.

"Excuse me... are you directing it yourself?"

When it comes to Spider-Man, many reporters get excited.

Tang En said euphemistically: "It's hard to say at the moment. I need to discuss it with my team. But I can give you some inside information. This movie must be a big production with huge investment! It’s a small thing for a hero movie, and the director... must be a big hit in Hollywood.”

"In the early 1990s, there were rumors that James Cameron was eager to direct "Spider-Man". This time, will you have a second collaboration?"

Tang En said with a smile: "I have a very good friendship with James, and we have indeed talked about some Spider-Man topics. But whether we can reach a cooperation depends on the future work arrangements of both parties."

"The trend of superhero movies has not been good in recent years. Is it too risky to invest so much in shooting "Spider-Man"?"

"I'm sure it will work."

"Twentieth Century Fox's "X-Men" has been approved, and they are also Marvel's superheroes. Do you think their movies will be successful?"

"I hope so, I have a great friendship and a great collaboration with 20th Century Fox."

...

As soon as the press conference was over, Tang En went to the Marvel headquarters without stopping, and held a management meeting.

At the meeting, Dunn made several major confessions——

Don Walker himself serves as chairman of Marvel Entertainment, Alan Vann serves as CEO and leads the Creative Council, Dan Buckley serves as Chief Operating Officer, Stan Lee serves as Chief Creative Officer, and Joe Quesada serves as Chief Content Officer and Editor-in-Chief, Brian Bendis Associate Editor-in-Chief...

This basically maintained the power and status of the veterans of Marvel, with little change. What surprised everyone was Tang En's adjustment of Marvel Pictures.

Prior to this, Marvel Pictures was a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, but Twain was determined to focus on the development of the film industry, and Marvel Pictures, a shell company, naturally became the top priority.

But what Tang En hated the most was laymen guiding experts.

In the previous life, the reason why Marvel movies became so popular was that after Disney acquired Marvel, it made industrial adjustments, split Marvel Pictures from Marvel Entertainment, and mentioned the parallel position with Marvel Entertainment. Both are subsidiaries of Disney Studios.

In this way, Marvel Entertainment only has the right to make suggestions to Marvel Pictures, but not to lead, allowing Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Pictures, to use his talents calmly to build the Marvel Universe.

Now, Tang En has made the same decision, and mentioned Marvel Pictures as a subsidiary of Tang En Pictures, keeping pace with Marvel Entertainment.

This will certainly displease the bosses of Marvel, but Twain's attitude is very firm. The film industry must be led by film people.

As for who is the president of Marvel Studios...

Tang En was a little embarrassed.

Kevin Feige is still just a young man just entering Hollywood.

For Tang En, making a movie is easy, but managing a company, especially a complex group company, is very difficult.