My Age of Investment

"Hahaha~"

Parmut laughed loudly, as if he heard some funny joke, and couldn't stop laughing.

Xia Jingxing took it indifferently, while Abel felt a little uncomfortable.

He glanced at the calm boss and held back the scolding that had reached his throat.

"Darren, are you kidding me? It's not like we haven't made efforts in this area over the years.

But do you know the global box office of the "Spider-Man" trilogy? $2.5 billion! And there is the possibility of further excavation. "

Parmut stopped laughing and spread his hands towards Xia Jingxing, "A few years ago we took Sony to court, but the final result was that Sony gave us all the rights to sell derivatives of the movie.

The movie adaptation rights of "Spider-Man" are destined to be lost, unless Darren wins over Sony as well. "

Xia Jingxing smiled and said: "Comic-based movies are a gold mine!"

Parmut nodded, "Yes, I think so too!"

"But only "Spider-Man" is a gold mine. In recent years, Fox has shot "X-Men" and "Fantastic Four", Universal has hired Ang Lee to shoot "The Incredible Hulk", and Lionsgate has shot "The Punisher"... …

The box office grosses were far less than those of "Spider-Man", and many of them even lost money.

From this, can we draw a conclusion: comic book adaptation is risky, and investment needs to be cautious? "

Pamut looked at the smiling young man in front of him and gradually stopped being dismissive.

However, the old man still said firmly: "That's because they don't understand the correct way to adapt and film Marvel heroes, so Marvel decided to film it themselves.

To this end, we mortgaged the film adaptation rights of the last 10 well-known heroes, with no intention of leaving ourselves a way out.

Wait until next month to find out everything! "

Xia Jingxing cursed in his mind. During the conversation, the old man mentioned the next month again and again, which was actually increasing his negotiating leverage.

If "Iron Man" is released and becomes a big success, as Marvel Studios' first true adaptation, the entire Marvel Group will benefit from it, and the commercial value of comics, toys and other industries will increase.

Of course, the biggest benefit is from the IP adaptation rights that Marvel still holds.

They have just come to invest in Marvel now. In fact, it is no longer the best time to buy bargains. About three years ago, when Marvel first proposed that its film companies would shoot movies, it was the best investment opportunity. But he and Vision Capital There was no money at that time.

By the time Equinox Fund, a PE fund focused on acquisitions, is raised this year, Marvel's "Iron Man" will be released.

At this time, if it were me, I would probably wait for the price.

But understanding is understanding, Xia Jingxing will not be manipulated by the old man.

"What if the box office of "Iron Man" does not meet expectations? Mr. Parmut, have you thought about how to solve the subsequent problems?"

Pamut shook his head slightly, "There is no need to solve it. According to our agreement with Merrill Lynch, if Marvel's movies lose money, Merrill Lynch will only take away the movie rights of these characters, and Marvel's comics and toy business will not be taken away at all. affected."

Xia Jingxing had already done his homework before coming here.

He knew very well that the old man opposite him was the kind of person who was extremely risk-averse. The old man's partner Avi Arad had proposed a filmmaking plan five or six years ago, but it was immediately rejected by Parmut because he was afraid of losing money. money.

After all, Parmut himself doesn't have much money, so he became the majority shareholder of Marvel because of some luck. In his heart, he prefers businesses with lower risks, such as toys.

When Parmut, a poor boy, came to the United States, he first started his business in a "toy dollar store". Later, by chance, he would buy ToyBiz, a poorly managed toy company.

This is a toy manufacturer that has licensed Marvel characters, so he developed a relationship with Marvel.

Later, in order to save millions of dollars in annual licensing fees, Parmut sold nearly half of the toy company's shares to Marvel, and he himself joined the Marvel board of directors.

Later, Marvel was bankrupted by Wall Street tycoons, and Parmut persuaded other creditors to become Marvel's new major shareholder.

The copyright of "Spider-Man" was sold to Sony by this old man for "US$10 million per movie + an additional 5% profit share". The idea was to kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, it could reduce the debt, and secondly, it could be sold through the popularity of the movie. Come out with more toys.

But the old man should be regretting it now. Selling toys can't make money faster than making movies, so the tone gradually loosened and Marvel Studios began to try to shoot the first movie.

Even if the movie loses money, it doesn't matter. The old man has already been fully prepared. At worst, he won't need the movie adaptation rights and will continue to sell toys.

For the time being, Xia Jingxing couldn't find a good way to persuade this "toy king" who could advance, attack or retreat.

But it is impossible for a Jewish businessman not to be interested in money.

"Mr. Parmut, if all the movie adaptation rights of the comics are sold, then Marvel will be very passive in its future operations."

"What do you mean?" The old man looked at Xia Jingxing doubtfully.

"It is said that Fox once moved "X-Men" from the original Christmas schedule to the summer schedule, which caught you off guard. The toy production plan was completely disrupted, and the income was greatly affected."

There was something unsightly about Parmut's face. Whenever he thought of this incident, he hated Fox to death. He was definitely trying to mess with him on purpose!

Why don’t you just ask for more licensing fees? With so much money being made from making movies, it’s not too much for Marvel to ask for some of the benefits, right?

"So, I am more determined to develop Marvel Studios independently. We have decided that we will no longer rely on those Hollywood giants and we must be self-reliant."

Looking at the old man with a firm tone, Xia Jingxing sneered: "But if 'Iron Man' fails at the box office, Marvel Studios will cease to exist in name only, and your self-reliance plan will also suffer a major blow."

"Daeron, from the way you sound, it sounds like you have a better solution?"

When Xia Jingxing was testing Pamut, the other party was also testing him. The situation was almost under control, and the old man decided to show off his cards.

"I said, I have a way to get Spider-Man back."

Pamut smiled and said, "Then what? Make a lot of money by making movies?"

He wanted to remind you: Young man, this industry is very deep and you can’t make it!

But after thinking about it, he swallowed his words again, it was none of his business!

"Vision Capital has also invested in a film distribution company in China. We believe that as China's economy continues to develop, it will become an increasingly important movie ticket warehouse in the world."

Parmut nodded and said: "That makes sense! Is there anything else?"

Xia Jingxing smiled and said: "The other thing is that you sell Marvel as a whole to us. We plan to put all the Marvel characters on the big screen."

Pamut was not surprised at all when he heard Xia Jingxing reveal his ultimate goal, because he had met too many similar people over the years.

The most valuable thing Marvel has is the rights to adapt comic book characters.

"Dylan, this is no small investment."

"We are well prepared!"

Pamut smiled and said, "Forget it, if you had found me a year earlier, I would have been willing to talk to you, but now that "Iron Man" is about to be released, it is not a good time to negotiate."

Xia Jingxing made a pun: "When the movie is released, Marvel won't be at this price."

"Haha, I still have confidence in the quality of the movie. No matter how bad the situation is, it won't be much worse."

Seeing this, Xia Jingxing stopped saying anything. The old boy on the other side relied on him, and the acquisition negotiations were destined to not go smoothly.