The Best Entertainment Era

New York, Upper East Side, James Murdoch walked out of the apartment, met Jim Prowse who was waiting here, and drove to the newly purchased mansion by Rupert Murdoch and his wife together.

How's the situation? James Murdoch glanced at the gloomy sky through the car window: Is there any possibility of salvation overseas?

Jim Prowse knew that he was talking about Ten Thousand Years Before History. Out of the sense of responsibility of a professional manager, he could only tell the truth: Overseas may be worse than North America.

James Murdoch is not lacking in decisiveness: Stop investing overseas, stop the loss.

Okay. Jim Pross said with a bit of guilt, I will be responsible for the failure of these two projects...

James Murdoch waved his hand: Now is not the time to talk about these things. Isn't the project you set up recently also successful? The results of The Simpsons are good.

He doesn't look like he's letting Jim Prows take the blame just yet.

For every Hollywood company, it is normal for the production and distribution of films to have success or failure. The three films released by Twentieth Century Fox this summer, Pharaohs and Gods and Ten Thousand Years Before History are commercially successful. Failed, but also had the success of The Simpsons.

The movie, based on the animated series, has grossed over $150 million in North America since it was released in early June.

Jim Pross didn't speak anymore. After all, deep down, he didn't want to be held accountable.

Although the three films in the summer file are two failures and one success, which is often seen in the top six Hollywood films, the production costs of the failed Pharaohs and Gods and Ten Thousand Years Before History are both US$100 million. above, and the successful Simpsons was only a middling production.

However, this also means that The Simpsons can have a lot of profits, which can somewhat make up for the losses of Pharaohs and Gods and Ten Thousand Years Before History.

James Murdoch suddenly asked: Jim, do these two failed films have anything in common?

Hmm... Jim Pross had actually thought about it, and said, They're all epic war movies in costume.

James Murdoch asks: Is there anything like this in the big-budget project?

Jim Prose said: There is another one, Robin Hood, the investment is also very high, 130 million US dollars...

As soon as this number came out, the air in the car seemed to freeze for a moment.

Even for a company like Twentieth Century Fox, more than US$100 million is quite a large investment.

Although I can't figure out where the problem is, Hollywood film companies have their own living standards and ways of judging their projects. James Murdoch asked: Can the Robin Hood project be terminated?

Jim Prose shook his head and smiled bitterly: The project has entered the post-production stage. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars. If it is terminated, the loss will be huge.

Then finish it. James Murdoch quickly made a decision: After the completion, organize a few more viewing sessions, and see the specific response before deciding on the scale of investment in publicity and distribution.

Twentieth Century Fox will also learn from the failures of Pharaoh and the Gods and Ten Thousand Years Before History. There are really not many that can be recovered.

Since the beginning of the new century, big-budget films have invested more and more in publicity and distribution, not only approaching the production cost infinitely, but some even exceeding the production cost.

Jim Pross quickly responded: Okay.

It is impossible to give up Robin Hood, which has already started post-production,

But the failure of two consecutive costume epic films also made the top executives of 20th Century Fox, including Jim Prose, become very cautious about this genre.

I have issued an official notice. Jim Pross said at this time: In the short term, 20th Century Fox will not have any more epic projects.

James Murdoch nodded slightly: This decision is very timely. He thought of another thing and reminded: There are also two directors, Ridley Scott and Roland Emmerich. Within this year, 20th Century Fox will no longer cooperate with them.

I understand. Jim Pross said: The management of the company has reached a tacit understanding.

This kind of thing doesn't come out in the open, but no one wants to work with a loser.

James Murdoch asked: What about the other big-budget, big-budget projects?

Jim Prose said: There is no epic film project. Among the major projects currently being invested in production and planning, in addition to the derivative series of X-Men, there is also the disaster-type Superstorm, and science fiction films are also sequels. Terminator 4, and the movie adaptation of the big-budget game Dragon Ball.

Hearing these words, James Murdoch felt relieved and said: Abandon other epic film projects except Robin Hood, and invest all the saved funds and resources into these projects.

Jim Pross replied again: Okay.

The car left Manhattan and finally came to Long Island, where it stopped in front of a luxurious manor.

Entering the manor, James Murdoch just greeted other brothers and sisters, who are also potential competitors, and was called to the study by Rupert Murdoch.

Compared with other sons and daughters, Rupert Murdoch prefers James Murdoch and also gave him great power. First, he controlled the media headed by Sky Television in the UK, and then Twentieth Century Fox.

In the eyes of the outside world, this is undoubtedly a very clear signal that the media empire of the Murdoch family will be in charge of James Murdoch in the future.

James Murdoch himself thought so too.

I heard that Fox has failed two big productions this summer? Rupert Murdoch asked directly.

Pharaoh and the Gods and Ten Thousand Years Before History. James Murdoch knew that he couldn't hide it: It may cause certain losses to the company in the short term.

Rupert Murdoch sat behind his desk, pushing several documents to the front: Don't be careless, and always pay attention to the company's cash flow health.

James Murdoch picked up the document and looked at it, and said, I know, father.

In fact, most of the funds for these two projects came from 20th Century Fox, and some of the funds were invested by investment institutions. At least the loss of 20th Century Fox will not be as serious as it seems on the surface.

But this also brought about other problems. The confidence of those investment institutions in Twentieth Century Fox was severely frustrated, and they did not plan to continue investing in Twentieth Century Fox's other big-budget film projects.

This forced Twentieth Century Fox to use its own funds to invest in major production projects such as Wolverine, Super Storm, Terminator 4 and Dragon Ball.

In addition, the problem of bank loans must be resolved. A considerable part of 20th Century Fox's investment in Pharaohs and Gods and Ten Thousand Years Before History came from bank loans.

Before coming to New York this time, some banks had already begun to call for money, and some banks were even considering taking out loans for other film projects.

Twentieth Century Fox faces many problems, but James Murdoch is not panic. He is very confident and believes that he is fully capable of solving these problems.

After several years of hard work, he has basically built his own backyard in the media business in the UK, and it is time to turn his main energy back to 20th Century Fox.

Rupert Murdoch exhorted: The film and television industry has its particularities, so don't be careless.

James Murdoch immediately promised: Father, I will prove myself as I did in England.

Rupert Murdoch was quite satisfied with his younger son's achievements in the UK, nodded slowly, and suddenly changed the subject: I have a plan, and News Corporation has been preparing for it for a while.

James Murdoch had never heard of it, and immediately asked curiously: Father, what plan?\

,"Rupert Murdoch said: I am going to issue a merger offer to Time Warner and Warner Bros.!

Hearing this, even with James Murdoch being well-informed, he was stunned for a moment.

What a shocking plan this is!

Why Time Warner and Warner Bros.? This is contrary to James Murdoch's planning.

Namely James Murdoch, if it were anyone else, Rupert Murdoch wouldn’t explain it at all: “After Time Warner and AOL broke up, the media business has been in decline, but they have the best content in the world right now. Production projects, the Harry Potter series has brought Warner nearly $10 billion in total revenue.

He glanced at James Murdoch: In addition, Marvel Entertainment's movies prove that the era of superheroes has begun. We missed Marvel, but the potential of DC Comics is stronger than Marvel. News Corporation’s media business, plus Warner’s most high-quality content business, is a strong combination and complementary advantages. If the plan goes well, we will become the world’s largest media group in the future, and 20th Century Fox will also become Hollywood’s number one company.

James Murdoch couldn't help saying: It's too difficult.

Rupert Murdoch said: So, it's just a plan now. I will release the news to test Warner's attitude.

Father! James Murdoch hesitated, and said, According to what you said, News Corporation needs high-quality content, and Twentieth Century Fox can no longer meet the requirements. I completely agree with this, but Warner is not the only one. choice?

Looking into Rupert Murdoch's eyes, James Murdoch said: Relativity Entertainment! A young company full of vigor, with countless high-quality content, if Relativity Entertainment can win...

Do you think I haven't considered it? Rupert Murdoch said lightly: Relativistic Entertainment has concentrated ownership, and it is more difficult to win it than to acquire Warner Bros.

James Murdoch not giving up: What if Ronan Anderson agrees?

Rupert Murdoch said: I can consider it as a backup option.