Made in Hollywood

Now is not the time to talk in detail. Duke and James Cameron didn't talk for long, and the party officially kicked off. This kind of thing doesn't need two people to talk about it. As long as they can reach the initial intention, there will naturally be Professionals conduct more in-depth cooperation negotiations.

Probably because the cooperation in "Titanic" left a good impression on James Cameron, or maybe the investment expected by the king of the world was too high. James Cameron revealed a bit of his affection for Duke's investment. Appearance of interest.

After the party started, Duke also went to a secluded place and called his accompanying bodyguards directly to let them record the incident and notify Tina Fey and Nancy Josephson in time.

Although the party was not held in the form of a formal dinner, it was divided into many tables, and where there were people, there was a circle. In this very commercial party, fame and wealth were the criteria for delimiting the circle.

Undoubtedly, in Duke's current status, he is naturally a member of the top circle of the party.

After enjoying the well-prepared dinner at the hotel, Duke didn't plan to stay any longer. After all, there was still preparation for "Iron Man" tomorrow, but Rupert Murdoch took the initiative to find him, and it seemed that he had something to talk about.

With the head of Mrs. Murdoch leading the way, Duke and Rupert Murdoch entered a reception room on the top floor one after another. After the waiter served coffee, they sat on both sides of the room. on the sofa.

"Duke, speaking of which, I have some opinions on you, the major shareholder of Marvel Comics."

Sitting on the sofa, Murdoch said in a half-serious, half-joking tone, "It's okay if Marvel doesn't cooperate with the announcement of "Fantastic Four", and there are so many things."

Having roughly understood what Murdoch meant, Duke showed a helpless smile, "You should know. Rupert, I don't have any authority to participate in the specific work of Marvel Comics."

This is the truth. Except for the general direction and the necessary financial issues to be monitored, Duke, a shareholder of Marvel Comics, will not participate in the operation at all, and he is not good at this.

But Rupert Murdoch's "Fantastic Four" thing. Duke is also very clear.

"Fantastic Four", like "Spider-Man", "Iron Man", "Hulk" and "Captain America", are the signature characters of Marvel Comics. Because of the financial crisis and bankruptcy problems that Marvel Comics once faced, Marvel Comics will "Fantastic" The film rights to The Four were sold to Twentieth Century Fox.

Marvel's financial situation has improved significantly after the Duke injection, and it's also getting better as the comic book industry's winter is over. In particular, the success of the "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" movies has allowed Marvel executives to thoroughly see the power of their own superheroes on the big screen.

Therefore, Marvel inevitably wants to take the stray children back into their own hands, and after the failure of Ang Lee's version of "Hulk". I took back the film rights to "The Hulk", and then set my sights on "Fantastic Four".

But 20th Century Fox is not a fool, even if Marvel Comics offered a high enough price to repurchase the copyright, it still chose to refuse. "Fantastic Four" was also carefully crafted and officially released in July.

Due to the film rights contract signed by Marvel and Twentieth Century Fox. There is a clause that automatically triggers when a condition is met-if the box office of "Fantastic Four" is too low, Marvel has the right to recover the film rights at the original selling price-so, in 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four" will soon be. When it was released, Marvel used some small tricks.

They're in the Fantastic Four Someworld comics in July. Not only did the four of them become villains who did all kinds of evil, but in the end, they all died in extremely miserable ways.

Maybe the comics played a role, or maybe the vase of Jessica Alba, who no longer knew where she was, was missing. The box office of Fantastic Four did not meet 20th Century Fox's expectations, but so far It also made $100 million at the box office in North America, and did not activate the buyback clause of Marvel Comics.

Duke knew about this, but he had no intention of intervening. It was just a small matter for him.

Rupert Murdoch just mentioned it briefly, and then tossed it aside. After all, "Fantastic Four" is nothing compared to what we're going to talk about below.

"Duke, I heard that the three-way negotiation between Duke Studio, Pixar Studio and Time Warner has reached the final stage?"

After the topic left "Fantastic Four", Rupert Murdoch turned directly to Time Warner, "If this negotiation is completed, Time Warner will become even stronger."

Knowing that the other party had something to say, Duke just looked at Rupert Murdoch.

The media mogul didn't make him wait either, and was quick to say, "I have an idea for Time Warner."

Duke raised his eyebrows slightly, thought about it, and said, "I'm just a director..."

As soon as he said this, he was interrupted by Murdoch, "Duke, don't be so humble, who doesn't know how important you are to Warner Bros., you are not only the largest individual shareholder of Warner Bros., but also the movies related to you. The revenue generated by the project is also a heavyweight in the entire Time Warner..."

He looked at Duke, his old face was very serious, "If this three-way negotiation is completed, you will become one of Time Warner's major shareholders. Although I don't know the specific content of the negotiation, I want to come, you and Steve ? Jobs is bound to ask for Time Warner's board seat."

"And..." He seemed to want to completely expose the other side of Duke that was hidden under the director's coat, "You have already initially revitalized DC Comics and introduced Marvel Comics into Warner's system. These two major systems If you can achieve the expected success, your voice in the entire Warner system will become pivotal."

"Also, you can still influence that guy Steve Jobs..."

Hearing this, Duke couldn't help showing a helpless smile that he only understood. He can indeed impress Jobs with interests and other means, but if he can really affect the other party, it is indeed too high for him.

"With Time Warner's equity and board seats, and through business operations, you can affect the performance of the entire Warner. Duke, you will become a key point of Time Warner."

Rupert Murdoch stared at Duke for a few seconds, and suddenly sighed, "Originally, you were supposed to be a partner of News Corporation, but That idiot Townsend Rothman..."

After hearing Rupert Murdoch say a few more words, Duke took a sip of coffee, put down the coffee cup, and said, "Rupert, what are you trying to do?"

"I want to buy Time Warner!"

Duke wasn't shocked to hear Murdoch's words, glanced at him, and said, "Why should I support you? Your chances of success are probably very low."

Since it was a business negotiation, he didn't mean to beat around the bush.

Duke was not shocked, but Murdoch was a little surprised. In his eyes, Duke was too calm, but he didn't show it, and said, "If you don't try, how can you succeed?"

"The Time Warner now is not the Time Warner it used to be."

It seems to be showing his determination and confidence, Murdoch said lightly, "Time Warner is not News Corporation, its shares are scattered in the hands of thousands of shareholders, anyone who can hold 5% of the shares can It can be called a major shareholder, and as long as it can earn the support of the major shareholder, this acquisition is likely to be completed.”

There is no doubt that if the three-way negotiation between Duke Studio, Pixar Studio and Time Warner is completed, Duke and Steve Jobs will also become the major shareholders of Time Warner in Rupert Murdoch's mouth.

"What about the Justice Department's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission?"

Why was Duke not shocked, because he once saw the news that Murdoch wanted to acquire Time Warner, "This is the media industry, how could they sit back and watch such a behemoth appear."

"There's always a way." Murdoch just smiled.

Duke can certainly hear the meaning of this sentence. Having lived in North America for so many years, he is very clear that many federal agencies are actually not as clean as they think.

Rupert Murdoch bewitched and said, "Duke, don't you think that we will create a new situation in the world media industry together, which is a great innovation that can be remembered in history?"

Duke shook his head directly. He was not interested in this kind of name that had no actual benefits.

This conversation has long involved business negotiation, and Rupert Murdoch is not stupid. He knows that words alone cannot impress Duke. When you come to Time Warner and the shares of Warner Bros. you hold, you can get power independent of all the film companies of News Corporation, all your project companies will give full support, and you can share 100% of all the proceeds of the movies you make. Thirty points!"

Hearing this, Duke suddenly thought of another thing, "Rupert, you want more than these, right? If Marvel's movie is successful, is it also in your plan?"

"Why not?" Murdoch's words were very direct, "Duke, you know that News Corp. can't come up with so much cash flow, and the transaction with you will inevitably take the form of share exchange. Not only the shareholders of the group, I will also be on the board of directors, leaving you an important position."

Duke was silent for half a minute before slowly saying, "I will seriously consider it."

"Hopefully we can work together." Murdoch laughed.

"There is an opportunity for us to cooperate right now." Duke suddenly changed the subject, "Rupert, although the rise of the Internet has brought certain changes, the media market is so big, and the rise of new companies will definitely damage the news. For the interests of the Group and Time Warner, I think it is the top priority to snip at the newly emerging media groups, such as Walt Disney, compared to the mergers and acquisitions that I don’t know when they will be realized in the future!”

(The dispute between Marvel and Fox about the Fantastic Four happened this year, borrowed.) (To be continued ~^~)