America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 188 Winning Marvel, a brutal box office battle and a brilliant premiere

New York, Fifth Avenue, Marvel Headquarters.

Isaac Perlmutter got out of the car and hurried towards the office building, more like jogging than walking.

When the Marvel employees saw him, they were all so frightened that they quickly got out of the way. Perlmutter had a bad temper, and no one dared to lift his beard.

In the elevator, one person stood in the middle, while everyone else shrank into the corners as much as possible.

Ding!

As the elevator door opened and the boss left, the others breathed a sigh of relief.

Isaac Perlmutter's temper had grown even more violent in recent times.

Many employees heard that it was because of a conflict with Avi Arad, another senior executive of the company. The relationship between the two was originally very good, but for some reason it suddenly became tense.

Boom, boom, boom!

Pushing the door open, Isaac Perlmutter looked at his companion standing in front of the window. The relationship between them had become tense since the last conversation with Eric Cooper.

For no other reason than Isaac Perlmutter wanted to swap shares, but Avi Arad disagreed.

The two had talked so many times that Isaac Perlmutter lost count, and they almost stayed at each other's house.

In order to persuade Avi Arad to exchange his shares, he had already established relationships with the other party's family members, and everyone came together to persuade him.

After more than a month of fatigue bombing, this old guy finally relaxed his attitude.

"Avi, I know you regard Marvel as your own child, but the problem before you now is that this child is about to starve to death."

"Without an injection of capital, Marvel will have no choice but to continue to survive, and we are likely to miss out on the current booming market."

"You don't want to mortgage the copyright anymore, do you? Banks won't talk about relationships with us. Once the movie fails, Marvel will be in dire straits."

"Leaving it to MGM, at least the prospects are good. Eric Cooper's ability is obvious to all in the industry."

Isaac Perlmutter has said these words many times.

Avi Arad crossed his arms and stood on a high place, looking down. All he could see were advertisements for Transformers.

Even when he went downstairs to buy a cup of coffee, the Starbucks logo was replaced by an Autobot.

Although no one knows the quality of the film, judging from the trailer, it is indeed very exciting.

Coupled with the fact that Eric Cooper just won the title of the youngest best screenwriter in history not long ago, everything has been proved.

He is not a rich second generation who plays for fun, nor is he a movie idiot, but a true genius.

With money, power, ability, and knowing how to operate and play with psychology, Marvel's superheroes may not be able to shine in their own hands.

But in the opponent's hands, at least the probability of glowing and heating up is much greater.

And besides MGM, Marvel’s options are now very narrow.

Sony, Fox, Universal, Warner, New Line, Lionsgate, etc. were all excluded in advance because these companies all hold the rights that Marvel has sold before.

Warner even owns the entire DC.

I still can’t take pictures of the superheroes I have in hand, will I give you money to play with them again?

What's more, there are companies like Universal that have smashed the Hulk's big IP and will not touch the superhero theme again in a few years.

Investments of hundreds of millions of dollars are common, and small companies cannot afford it, so there are actually only a few companies that Marvel can choose from.

After holding Avi Arad's hand and returning to the desk, Isaac Perlmutter said excitedly: "And I just got another good news."

"Eric Cooper has promised that the investment for the first film will not be less than US$400 million, and he will hire the best director and special effects team."

"In addition, after my mediation, he knew that you had deep feelings for Marvel, so he agreed that you could retain 2% of the shares."

"And by continuing to serve as one of Marvel's management, the company's future development strategy will also allow you to participate. You have not given up on your children."

Hearing this, Avi Arad's thick beard trembled: "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course it's true. These clauses can be added to the contract. You just sent your child to a better school."

With something moving in his heart, Avi Arad rubbed his temples vigorously.

As an old partner for many years, Isaac Perlmutter knew that this was a sign of the other party's inner struggle.

He hurriedly added another fire: "Avi, this is really our last chance. It's too late."

"Looking at the overwhelming publicity outside, it's only been a few days since "Transformers" was released."

"And once the movie is released, do you know what it means?"

"What?" Aviarad's eyes widened.

"It means MGM will officially start the re-listing process, and the stock price of this lion will skyrocket."

"A little over a month ago, Eric Cooper promised that our equity share would likely be cut in half."

"Avi, you must be aware of the fact that Marvel will become less and less valuable, while MGM will become more and more valuable."

"If we hadn't seized the last few days to sign the contract quickly, we might have only gotten 100 million US dollars from the 200 million US dollars we were able to get."

"You have feelings for Marvel, but don't get into trouble with money, okay?"

These words were like the straw that broke the camel's back. Anyway, there was really no better choice. The conditions offered by MGM were the most generous among the major companies.

If you continue to persevere, what is on your shoulders will not be your head, but the head of a donkey.

"Isaac, let's do it this way, but you must not tamper with the contract. I must review it myself."

Isaac Perlmutter gave Avi Arad an excited bear hug and hurried out of the office.

"I have revised the contract many times. It is in the safe. I will show it to you now. You can hire a lawyer."

"It's best if we fly to Los Angeles this afternoon or tomorrow morning."

In autumn in the United States, the weather has turned cold, and passers-by have put on woolen coats and leather jackets.

However, compared with the cold weather, movie theaters have ushered in a popular period, and all major film companies have come up with their best-selling works.

"Breathless" only held the top spot at the box office for one week, taking in $36 million, before it was deprived of the top spot by Disney's new film.

Following last year's "Treasure Island", Mickey Mouse once again took out a big animated movie "Bear's Tale".

2,511 movie theaters opened at the same time, and it seems that they have clearly understood their positioning. 3D is really not Disney's strength.

So this time they returned to 2D and told a touching story of an ancient legend.

The G-rated rating made the movie popular among all ages, and critics and audiences also gave positive reviews, allowing "Bear Bear" to directly top the box office in its first week, raking in $41 million at the box office.

However, "The Legend of the Bear" did not keep the championship title warm. In the second week, it faced challenges from MGM's "Legally Blonde 2" and New Line's "The New Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

The former opened in 2,240 theaters, bringing the first-week box office of "Legally Blonde 2" to nearly $39 million.

The latter is weaker, but the killer still has the power and has a fixed fan base, taking in a box office of 29 million US dollars.

Compared with the cost of less than 10 million US dollars, it once again proves that horror movies are definitely the best choice for small and big.

The box office revenue of the two films also exceeded the second week of "Bear Bear" by US$25 million, and even exceeded the third week of "Breatheless" by US$13 million.

At the same time, four films accounted for 75% of the total market share, and the remaining 51 films shared 25%, fully demonstrating the cruelty of the film market.

But "Legally Blonde 2" has not yet secured its butt, and the pink lawyer can only win one championship at most.

Entering the fourth week of October, Dimensions entered the cinema with its golden signature "Scream 3", which it has created in recent years.

Not only does Anna Faris continue to join the series as the heroine, but it also brings in Charlie Sheen to play the male lead.

Charlie Sheen is a well-known bad boy in Hollywood. You can say that his character is rubbish, but you cannot say that he is good.

This guy's acting skills are always online, and he is an actor who can adapt to dramas and comedies.

As usual, movies have spoofed a large number of IPs, such as "The Grudge", "Signs", "The Matrix", "The Sixth Sense", "8 Mile", "Independence Day", "The Incredible Hulk" and so on.

Eric and Theron also contributed two movie tickets, which made them laugh out loud.

However, the director of "Scream 3" was replaced by David Zucker, and the original Wayans brothers were poached by AK Films to film "Sharknado 2".

Relying on the influence of the previous film and its good ability to make people laugh, "Scream 3" took home $49.7 million at the box office as expected, becoming a box office champion.

In just October, the box office battle has already made many companies and film critics shout that it is exciting and unbearable.

The cruel competition has caused the box office results predicted by major institutions to be invalid, with all of them being hundreds of millions of dollars lower than predicted.

But where is this?

Entering November, more fierce competition is about to take place.

The first to enter the market was Disney. Rob Minkoff, the director of "The Lion King", launched his latest masterpiece "The Haunting of Hill House" in the three major theaters.

The movie cost $90 million and, like "Pirates of the Caribbean," was to promote the haunted house project in Disneyland.

Rob Minkoff has not only made "The Lion King" but also "The Little Mermaid."

A few years later, "The King of Kung Fu" was filmed, which was the only film together between Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" was a huge success, so Disney naturally had high hopes for "The Haunting of Hill House."

Unfortunately, reality gave Big Mouse a hard blow, and the box office in its first week was only US$24 million.

If it is a low-budget movie, it is worthy of celebration, but for "The Haunted Mansion", it is completely unworthy of the investment and lineup of the movie.

The one that defeated it was Warner Bros.'s trump card "The Matrix Revolutions."

The release date chosen for "The Matrix 3" is November 5, not Friday, but Wednesday.

As I said before, people who usually do fancy things like this are either bad at it, or they are talented people and are bold.

In just three days, "The Matrix 3" grossed 48 million at the box office, knocking the box office of "The Haunted Mansion" to the ground in a week.

The latter's release time was twice that of the former, while the former's box office was twice that of the latter.

Then New Line also entered the battlefield again. On November 7, it brought the fantasy comedy "Christmas Elf" directed by Jon Favreau and starring Will Ferrell.

In the final week of fierce fighting, "Christmas Elf" took away $32 million at the box office.

"The Matrix 3" continues to dominate, becoming the only movie to win the box office championship for two consecutive weeks in more than a month.

At this time, the time has come to November 14th. "Breathe Breath" has been released in North America, and only a few overseas countries are still showing it.

After this fight, the global box office only received 3.6 billion US dollars.

Although it still made a lot of money, it was the worst performance among the projects led by Eric.

"Legally Blonde 2" has also been released for a month. The current global box office is 1.7 billion US dollars, and it is expected to end at 500 million US dollars.

Today is Friday, the traditional movie premiere day, and Miramax's "The Far East" is available in 2,900 cinemas.

The investment in the film is as high as US$500 million, and the director is Peter Weir, who has directed classic films such as "Dead Poets Society" and "The Truman Show".

The starring role is Russell Crowe, who won the Oscar for "Gladiator" the year before last.

A big production with big Cass, everything shows the potential to be a box office hit, and Miramax has done enough publicity.

The Weinstein brothers held a premiere and invited many celebrities in the industry to stand up.

Regarding this movie, although Eric does not think that the other party can challenge "Transformers", he is still ready to show respect.

He also disguised himself at night and sneaked into the movie theater with the Olsen sisters to watch.

But after buying the ticket and entering the screening room, Eric felt that he was worrying too much.

Because the attendance rate was very low, only a dozen or so people took the 300 seats.

And after watching the movie, all his remaining worries were thrown out of the sky.

Even the Olsen sisters said that the plot was extremely boring. If they were not accompanying Eric, the two sisters would have left the show early.

In fact, less than 40 minutes into the movie, some of the dozen or so viewers left.

As he walked, he shook his head and cursed, with words such as boring, rubbish, and waste of ticket money coming out of his mouth.

With no worries at all, Eric was in a good mood and fought hard with the two sisters until dawn.

The situation was just as he expected, "The Far Sea: Polar Expedition" only received more than 12 million US dollars at the box office on its first day.

The next day was even worse, less than $9 million.

On the third day, it was cut in half, leaving only 4 million US dollars.

In the end, the first three days, which attracted the most box office, only took in US$25 million at the box office.

Compared to an investment of US$500 million, this figure is enough to make Miramax terrified.

Eric can already picture Harvey Weinstein looking dead.

November 16, Los Angeles, Arclight Cinema.

MGM once again chose this location as the venue for the premiere of "Transformers".

A long red carpet extended from the inside of the theater, a hundred meters long, straight to the edge of the asphalt road.

On both sides of the entrance to the cinema, Transformers such as Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Barricade, Vertigo, and Ironhide stood on both sides, adding to the infinite momentum.

Even if many people have already seen one of them, the scene of so many Transformers gathering is still very attractive.

From day to dusk, tens of thousands of people check in and take photos to share.

It's a pity that the tickets for the premiere have been sold out long ago, so most people can only wait around and join in the fun.

The time came to 8 o'clock in the evening, the cool breeze blew and the temperature dropped a lot, but there were still thousands of people watching on both sides of the red carpet.

As a stretched Lincoln slowly stopped, Eric led the crew to arrive first.

Gadot, Chris Evans, Ryan Reynolds, the British trio, Chloë Sevigny and others accompanied her.

Each person holds a small Transformer in their hands, none other than the Decepticon's Soo Jin Body Chaos.

At first, we could still maintain a group, but after walking a few steps, everyone dispersed to take photos and sign autographs with fans.

The red carpet is not even half over yet. The joint arrival of Johnny Depp and Hugo Mortensen triggered another fan carnival.

"Captain Jack, Captain Jack! I love you!"

"Aragorn, Aragorn, sign your name for me, don't crowd me!"

Depp was blowing kisses to female fans, Brad Pitt and his wife Jennifer Aniston also arrived. Eric gave Rachel a heroine. Of course, the two couples knew how to reciprocate.

"Rachel! Pete!"

"Rachel, I love you, marry me."

Aniston covered her mouth and laughed: "Sorry, my husband is right next to me."

"Man, that's not a good idea." Pete replied in a timely and funny way.

Then Pierce Brosnan, Cate Blanchett, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, Edward Norton, Jessica Alba, Keira Knightley, Hugh Jackman

Over the past year, Eric has gradually built up his own network of contacts.

Last year's premiere of "Red Dragon" also required my father's help.

This year all it takes is one phone call, and half of Hollywood has to give itself face.

Even Theron, Nicole and the Olsen sisters were in attendance.

They were not asked by Eric, but they had to come.

It's hard for Eric to tell him not to come. His love rivals are all present, so he can only hope that something exciting will happen to him.

The last ones to arrive were Sergey Hassenfeld and Kate Winslet. They did not enter together, but one behind the other.

But seeing the two of them appear, Eric probably understood.

After the lively red carpet session was over, everyone entered the stage to begin the stage session.

Including various questions, narrations, tidbits, etc., as well as introductions to each Transformers.

Until the clock struck midnight, the lights in the screening room suddenly went out.

On the big screen, after the lion roared, the Autobots officially appeared.