Top of the big era

When he arrived in New York, Zhou Buqi immediately made an appointment with Richard Plepler, the new CEO of HBO. There was no way, this guy was the most anxious and kept urging me.

Time Warner has undergone major changes recently, and all major sub-sections are making strategic adjustments.

As the central figure in HBO's adjustment, Richard Plepler has been under a lot of pressure.

He put his hope in Boss Zhou.

have dinner together.

The location was chosen to be the most famous three-star Michelin restaurant PerSe in the Time Warner Building. This restaurant can be said to be the most iconic restaurant in New York.

A must-visit place when traveling to New York.

This means people coming and going.

Fortunately, Richard had the privilege and opened a private room directly... Then he invited Boss Zhou over.

After meeting, Zhou Buqi could clearly feel that Richard seemed more confident than the last time they met, exuding a complacent temperament.

It seems that he has great support in the board of directors.

However, let’s not talk about business in a hurry.

"Something happened at Legendary Pictures, did you know?"

Zhou Buqi discussed some matters with Legendary Pictures with Sun Wanran on the plane. Not only that, he also received a report from Ziweixing Global later.

Just surprised.

Legendary Pictures is splitting from Warner Bros.

However, Legendary Pictures is just an independent film company. Without the protection of Hollywood giants, how will it survive in the future? So Legendary Pictures looked elsewhere.

This high branch is Ziweixing Global!

Should we accept Legendary Pictures?

This requires Boss Zhou to look at this issue from a higher level.

HBO and Warner are brothers. They are both the core subsidiaries of Time Warner. Richard has heard about things at Warner.

The most important point is that HBO is planning to develop a TV series investment project.

This is a brand new product.

The risk is relatively high.

Hollywood’s movie platter investment over the past decade is a good reference. Therefore, Richard pays close attention to the dispute between Warner and Legendary Pictures.

Richard smiled and said, "Well, I know a little bit."

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "Legendary Pictures seems to want to go public, and then wants to ask me to be a consultant to handle the New York Stock Exchange..."

"Going public?" Richard seemed to have heard a joke. "That's impossible! Legendary Pictures' projects are full of risks and uncertainties, especially the separation from Warner Bros., which makes Legendary Pictures' long-term development even more uncertain. Uncertainty. The New York Stock Exchange will not agree. This is simply a cover-up."

"A blind trick?"

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows.

"Well..." Richard hesitated and explained simply, "I'm not saying that Legendary Pictures is playing tricks on you, I'm saying that Legendary Pictures is probably going in several directions together. I heard... I heard Legendary Pictures has already contacted Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, including Universal Pictures."

Zhou Buqi remained calm.

Richard smiled and said: "HBO is HBO, and Warner is Warner. When the choices are limited, just consider HBO. If Universal Pictures has anything to do with Legendary Pictures, it will be no problem for me."

This is very irresponsible.

If Universal Pictures really steps up and accepts Legendary Pictures at this time, it will be a fatal blow to Warner.

Even though Legendary Pictures is very weak, this is only compared to the Hollywood giants. If you don’t count the Hollywood giants, Legendary Pictures is also one of the top companies in Hollywood.

After Wanda failed to acquire Paramount in its previous life, after several selections, it gave up DreamWorks and acquired Legendary Pictures.

Whoever can acquire Legendary Pictures will be even more powerful for the Hollywood giants.

For Warner, once they really part ways with Legendary Pictures, their strength will be weakened.

Richard didn't seem to care, though.

He is the CEO of HBO.

As long as it's in HBO's interest.

Zhou Buqi waved his hand and asked, "How has the cooperation between Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. been like in the past few years?"

Richard said: "As far as I know, it's okay... Mainly because Warner has taken out many A-level projects and developed them with Legendary Pictures, including the "Batman" and "Superman" series. Now Hollywood The logic of the platter investment is changing. Warner doesn’t want to share these top projects. Legendary Pictures is not satisfied and wants to carve them out.”

"threaten?"

Zhou Buqi seemed to understand what Legendary Pictures meant.

This is to threaten Warner to make them give up their new strategy, so that Warner can continue to produce top-notch productions to cooperate and share with them.

The so-called independent listing and cooperation with Sony Pictures or Universal Pictures are probably also a threatening strategy.

Although Legendary Pictures is not that great, it is valued at several billion dollars and is one of the top independent film companies in Hollywood.

What big brother wouldn't want to accept such a little brother?

Richard said: "Hollywood's platter investment industry has produced two very successful film companies, one is Legendary Pictures and the other is Dune Entertainment. However, with the changes in Hollywood production logic, these two companies have There seem to be some problems in their operations. The two companies seem to be merging."

"merge?"

"Seems to be."

Richard nodded.

This is a bit embarrassing. As a big shot in Hollywood, Zhou Buqi lacks sufficient understanding of some of the latest developments in Hollywood. The main reason is that he doesn't pay enough attention to them.

On the contrary, Richard, who lives in New York, knows more about the changes in Hollywood because of his attention to "platter investment".

Richard continued: "Legendary Pictures may really want to go public, but this road is almost impossible. As far as I know, the more likely plan is that Legendary Pictures will raise US$400 million from Wall Street and then follow up with Dune Entertainment merges. By combining powerful forces, we have successfully completed the transformation from this stage at the end of Hollywood Platter investment. From a company focusing on Plate projects to an independently developed film company."

"That's it..."

Zhou Buqi narrowed his eyes.

Legendary Pictures itself is very good, and they have added Dune Entertainment... From this point of view, taking Legendary Pictures as a younger brother will be of great benefit to Ziweixing Global's business development.

The stock price can reach new highs again!

Back then, Paramount spent billions of dollars to acquire DreamWorks as its younger brother.

Now, there seems to be an opportunity for Ziweixing Universal. With no effort, it can enjoy the benefits of Time Warner's new strategy and the contradiction between Warner and Legendary Pictures.

In the hands of Legendary Pictures, it is much more powerful than DreamWorks!

Moreover, HBO doesn't care at all that Boss Zhou stabbed Warner in the back.

Richard just wants to make HBO happen.

As a platter investment in movies, the mission is over. Next, it’s the time to invest in TV dramas!

If you want to realize this plan, you must rely on the omnipotent Boss Zhou!

In this case, Zhou Buqi would not be polite.

I'm going to go to Los Angeles later to learn more about the situation in Hollywood. Maybe there will be a chance to cut things off halfway and overshadow the show...

Hollywood won’t let it go, and New York won’t let it go either!

"Okay, then let's discuss the cooperation between the two parties?" Zhou Buqi smiled and was in a good mood, "If you can cooperate with me, participate in this big project of mine, and create a new financing model in the TV drama industry. Then. You can also leave a mark in the development history of the TV drama industry."

What he said made Richard feel uncomfortable.

What does this mean?

The idea of ​​platter investment in TV series was clearly proposed by him. He wanted to ask Boss Zhou for help, and he also planned to start online financing with PayPal. But a few days later, Boss Zhou seemed to have taken away the initiative in this project, and he became a supporting role.

Isn’t this taking the spotlight away from the guest?

However, Richard really didn't have the ability to compete with Boss Zhou, so he could only smile in agreement, "Yes, thank you Mr. Zhou for giving me this opportunity."