Chapter 293 The Eight Major Hollywood Studios (7K chapter, please subscribe~)
Why are you here?
With a simple sentence and a dissatisfied expression, it can be seen how much Andrew Morgan does not welcome Chu Huan.
Li Xiaolong, who was by Chu Huan's side, suddenly turned ugly, and Zou Wenhuai was expressionless.
Chu Huan grabbed Li Xiaolong who wanted to argue with Andrew Morgan, and looked at Andrew Morgan indifferently.
Do you not want to go to Xiangjiang in the future?
It was only then that Andrew Morgan remembered Chu Huan's identity in Xiangjiang. He was not only the owner of a film company, but also one of the richest men in Xiangjiang.
If such a person wants to clean himself up in Xiangjiang, it will be too easy.
Regarding what happened on the set of Enter the Dragon last year, Andrew Morgan has not forgotten it. At that time, some people from the Xiangjiang Society went to the set to make trouble, but as soon as Chu Huan came out, the other party never dared to come again.
Thinking of these things, Andrew Morgan was embarrassed.
Chu Huan looked at him indifferently, and said indifferently: Warner is Warner, you are you, even if you are an employee of Warner, I think it will be very easy to deal with you!
So don't stand in the way like a clown!
After speaking, Qin Peng pushed Andrew Morgan away, Chu Huan walked over, and Li Xiaolong followed.
A Huan, after going to Warner later, will you live with me?
Li Xiaolong suggested following Chu Huan.
Because he was going to develop in Hollywood, Li Xiaolong asked Linda Emory to buy a villa in Los Angeles, but it was not big.
Chu Huan shook his head with a smile, and said, Forget it, you and your sister-in-law are newly married, so I won't bother you.
Li Xiaolong didn't force it. They walked out of the airport. Andrew Morgan, who had just been threatened by Chu Huan, was following them, looking on the sidelines. He came to pick up Li Xiaolong this time, but he wasn't going to pick up Chu Huan's car!
It's just that when he saw the two cars parked at the gate of the airport, he showed a helpless expression. Chu Huan's billionaire was not fake.
The car that came to pick up Chu Huan was naturally arranged by Kelly. After Chu Huan got into the car, he directly told the driver to go to Warner Bros. first!
Although I came here for George Lucas' Star Wars, I still have to do what I should do.
So this trip to Warner Bros. is definitely still going.
As everyone, even Chu Huan, could have guessed, the trip to Warner didn't go well. The deputy manager of the public relations department of Warner who was in charge of receiving Chu Huan didn't even send out the deputy manager of the production department.
When the two parties were negotiating the investment share of the film Dragon Warrior, Li Xiaolong and others also came to Warner Bros.
Instead, they went straight to the Warner Bros. production manager.
Li Xiaolong originally wanted to stay with Chu Huan, but Chu Huan laughed and told him to leave.
Since Warner Bros. didn't care about Chu Huan, it was naturally impossible for him to agree to Chu Huan's continued investment in Dragon Warrior.
In the end, Chu Huan left Warner Bros. very angrily!
Chu Huan, who left Warner Bros., came to Vertex Pictures.
At this time, Vertex Pictures has already begun to take shape. The so-called beginning to take shape actually means that it has its own office, and it is no longer a simple bag company.
I didn't expect you to come here in person for this incident!
In Kelly's office, Kelly brought Chu Huan a glass of Coke in surprise.
She just told Chu Huan about the 20th Century Fox the day before yesterday, but she didn't expect Chu Huan to come to Los Angeles in person, and he came so quickly.
I just wanted to fight again with Warner, so I came with Li Xiaolong!
Chu Huan spoke easily.
Kelly asked curiously, How did you talk with Warner Brothers?
Chu Huan shook his head, Not too good, the other party has no intention of talking to us at all!
This answer was also expected by Kelly. Sitting next to Chu Huan, she said to Chu Huan: Since this is the case, I think it's better to sell the investment share you signed with Li Xiaolong to 20th Century Fox. Yes, Warner Bros. can take advantage of you in this matter because you are Xiangjiang's film company.
But if it was sold to 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. would have no choice but to admit it. In this way, you would not only make money, but also disgust Warner Bros., I think this is very good!
Kelly didn't pay much attention to the sermon.
In fact, she herself seems to want the investment share of Dragon Warrior. Like the bosses of other film companies, Kelly also saw the potential in Li Xiaolong. Compared with Spielberg's uncertain box office, Kelly is more willing I believe Li Xiaolong's movies can make money.
However, the problems faced by Vertex Pictures are the same as those faced by Chu Huan. At this time, Vertex Pictures has no influence in Hollywood, and Warner Bros. may not even see Kelly.
Even if Vertex Pictures got the contract signed by Chu Huan and Xiehe Pictures.
It's also useless!
Chu Huan asked: How is the preparation for Spielberg's Jaws going?
Kelly said: Spielberg is discussing the script with Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb, and we are also looking for actors in Hollywood.
Having said that, Kelly paused and said, There is one more thing I want to tell you!
Seeing Kelly's expression, Chu Huan knew that this movie must be the same as other Hollywood movies, increase the budget!
Sure enough, Kelly went on to say: According to Spielberg's calculations, the budget of the movie Jaws has now increased to 9 million US dollars, and I don't have that much cash in my hand!
With a $9 million production, Hollywood at this time is already an A-level production.
Spielberg is the director of just one film, the first for a small company called Vertex Pictures.
Such an investment would not be acceptable to any new film company.
Okay, I'll ask Xiangjiang to send you the money tomorrow afternoon!
Chu Huan was not an ordinary person, so he naturally supported him with all his strength.
Hearing what Chu Huan said, Kelly also said happily: Then there is no problem on my side.
Chu Huan nodded and said, Tell me about 20th Century Fox!
Kelly said: The other party means that they want to buy the investment share of Xiehe Films from you and Li Xiaolong at a price of 300,000 US dollars!
Speaking of this, Kelly also said helplessly: Fox must have noticed that this contract is worthless in your hands, so they dare to offer such a low price.
Chu Huan chuckled and said, But Fox has forgotten that they are not the only companies in Hollywood that want this share of investment.
After a pause, Chu Huan immediately said to Kelly: Let the wind out, just say that I am in Los Angeles now and want to sell my investment share with Concorde Films.
Fox was the first to know, but it doesn't mean that the other party will definitely be able to get it!
Kelly didn't know Chu Huan's real thoughts, but when she heard what Chu Huan said, she immediately smiled and said, That's right, as long as you let the wind out, the price of this contract will definitely be high when everyone pushes you up. rising.
Chu Huan nodded slightly.
He did come for Star Wars, but still the same sentence, if you want to win Star Wars, you must not appear to be too urgent, otherwise, you may be manipulated by the other party, so many things must be paid attention to. Strategy.
Afterwards, the two discussed the details again. After all the business was done, Kelly got up and came to Chu Huan, I've been on the plane all night, do you want to go to my place and have a good rest?
Chu Huan looked at Kelly, who was about to move, and nodded with a smile, Okay!
The next day!
In Hollywood, word spread that Chu Huan wanted to sell his investment share in Dragon Warrior.
In an instant, this matter was taken to the offices of the presidents of the eight major Hollywood film studios.
Warner Bros!
Warner Bros. was founded by four Jewish brothers named Warner, namely Harry Warner, Albert Warner, Sam Warner and Jack Warner, which is why they are called Warner Brother's.
In the summer of 1967, Jack Warner stepped down as president, marking the end of Warner Bros.' 49-year reign.
Two years later, Ted Ashley became the company's new president and signed stars such as Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood.
In this year, another major event happened to Warner Bros., that is, they acquired DC comics with classic IPs such as Superman and Batman.
At this time, Ted Ashley was sitting in his office with a very ugly expression, while Andrew Morgan stood tremblingly opposite him.
That's what you told me, sure it's all right?
Ted Ashley looked at Andrew Morgan indifferently, and there was a storm in his calm tone.
Andrew Morgan replied in a low voice: I really didn't expect Chu Huan to play tricks!
The investment share of Dragon Warrior is completely different in the hands of Chu Huan and in the hands of the eight major Hollywood studios. Warner can ignore Chu Huan's black and white images, but it has to care about the other seven at the same level as itself. Film production company.
At this time, Ted Ashley even felt that it was better to keep this investment share in Chu Huan's hands, at least in the negotiation with Chu Huan, he could take the initiative.
But now, with Chu Huan making such a move, it is very likely that other Hollywood studios will join in, and Warner Bros. will lose some initiative.
You didn't think of it? Ted Ashley laughed angrily: Then let me tell you one more thing that you didn't think of. Bruce has made it clear to me that his Dragon Warrior is not I need you to be a producer!
Although there is a producer system in Hollywood, there are exceptions to everything.
Now Li Xiaolong is the exception. The success of Enter the Dragon in North America gave Li Xiaolong a certain right to speak here, and the movie Dragon Warrior was originally planned by Li Xiaolong himself.
It can be said that in this project, Li Xiaolong's right to speak is quite high as long as it does not involve interests.
Because of Li Xiaolong's relationship with Zou Wenhuai, it is not easy to say anything to Zou Wenhuai, but he will definitely not be so good-tempered to Andrew Morgan, who is secretly poking around, so when he met with Ted Ashley yesterday , directly proposed to replace the producer Andrew Morgan.
Andrew Morgan was not in the office at the time, so he naturally didn't know about it.
Ted Ashley thinks that Warner Bros. has already had some troubles with Li Xiaolong in the matter of black and white images, and he doesn't want to have any other friction with Li Xiaolong, but he can't just change the producer he appointed. So at the time, I just said that I would consider it.
But what happened today made Ted Ashley seriously doubt Andrew Morgan's ability, so the previous hesitation disappeared.
Boss, please give me another chance, I know Bruce best in the company!
Andrew Morgan knew that he was the company's scapegoat, and he didn't let Chu Huan participate in the investment. He only had the right to make suggestions, but not the right to make decisions. Didn't the company not want Chu Huan's black and white images to be included?
Now that something went wrong, he became a scapegoat, but Andrew Morgan didn't dare to talk about it, so he could only beg Ted Ashley to give him another chance.
Ted Ashley didn't want to say anything more to Andrew Morgan at this time, he waved him away from his office, and then called his secretary.
Help me contact Kelly from Vertex Pictures and tell her that I want to meet Chu Huan!
The news was spread through Vertex Pictures, and Ted Ashley would naturally have to go through Vertex Pictures if he wanted to meet Chu Huan.
The most important thing is that he can't find the current Chu Huan either.
MGM!
That is, the studio where the lion roars at the beginning of the film.
This is a ill-fated film company. After experiencing the glory of the 1940s and 1950s, it began to go downhill all the way. In the 1970s, it was acquired by North American gambling tycoon Kirk Kerklean.
However, after the acquisition of MGM, Kirk Kerrion did not pay too much attention to MGM, but paid more attention to the development of the hotel and gaming business. He just regarded the acquisition of MGM as a deal. It's just business!
The boss of such a company naturally doesn't care about this matter the least.
However, the general manager of MGM still knew that Li Xiaolong's new movie would definitely be profitable, so he made a suggestion to Kirk Kerklein.
After Kirk Kerrion thought about it for a while, he handed over the matter to the general manager to handle it himself.
Paramount!
A snow mountain, the film company surrounded by countless little stars.
The famous Godfather, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Forrest Gump and other movies come from this company.
However, at this time Paramount was experiencing leadership shocks. Robert Evans, who had been in charge of Paramount for eight years, was preparing to leave. Two years later, Paramount’s top management changed frequently until two years later , Barry Diller appeared on the stage to save Paramount, which was in financial crisis due to high-level turmoil.
Robert Evans pondered for a moment as he watched the assistant hand over the news about the release of Vertex Pictures.
Consider it as the last gift for Paramount!
After talking to himself, he asked his assistant to contact Vertex Pictures.
Everyone knew that if they wanted to find Chu Huan at this time, they had to go through Vertex Pictures.
Columbia Film Studios.
The symbol of this film company is the famous Statue of Liberty holding a torch, and later invested in Zhou Xingchi's Kung Fu!
In the early days, the eight major Hollywood companies basically focused on production, distribution and theaters to maximize profits as much as possible. However, Columbia took the lead by not investing in theaters and focusing on production and distribution. The advantage of this is to save money. , the disadvantage is that it is easy to be controlled by others.
However, this also made Columbia Pictures, in the 1948 Paramount Act, the film studio that suffered the least loss among the eight studios.
The reason why the 1970s are known as the dark age of Hollywood is not only that there were few classic movies released during this period, but more importantly, during this period, the life of the eight majors was generally not easy.
The popularity of television sets has seriously divided audiences in the movie market.
So did Columbia Pictures, which dodged the Paramount Act.
With the death of the founder Cowen brothers, and the most promising successor, Ralph, Columbia Pictures entered a period of turmoil.
The successor at the time, Amber Schneider, although he let Columbia Pictures out of the control of the Cowen family.
But the president, Schneider, thinks that movies are a sunset industry, and he doesn't care much. He prefers to drum up real estate.
There is no worst, only worse. In the 1970s, not only did Columbia's production output plummet, but it almost went bankrupt. It had to sign a contract with Warner and share a studio to survive.
By the way, Li Xiaolong's Game of Death has Columbia Pictures' investment, but this movie has not yet been released.
Amber Schneider's thinking is the same as that of Kirk Kerr Corin, and he will talk about it if there is no date, so after learning about Chu Huan, he immediately asked his assistant to contact Vertex Pictures up.
Disney Pictures!
This company, known as the acquisition maniac in later generations, has not always had a smooth development path. In 1984, it was almost acquired by someone.
But that was later.
Disney Pictures should now be the only film company in the top eight Hollywood that is not interested in Li Xiaolong's Dragon Warrior.
Because in the eyes of Disney executives, Li Xiaolong's movies are not compatible with their cultural attributes.
So after getting the news, it was convenient to put the news on the shelf.
United Artists.
This is a company where dragon knights turn themselves into dragons after killing them.
The earliest United Artists was founded by Chaplin, Fairbanks, Pickford, and Griffith to fight against the big Hollywood studio system.
But at that time, the four were not so united. Griffith, one of the founders, left first, which made United Artists, which was already struggling at that time, even worse.
Fortunately, United Artists later hired veteran producer Joseph Schenk as chairman.
Schenk adjusted the company's decision-making. In addition to allowing United Artists to have a fixed output, it also invested in and distributed films to independent producers.
This decision allowed United Artists to quickly overcome the crisis and grow into one of the eight major film companies in Hollywood in the 1930s.
By the way, one of the predecessors of Twentieth Century Fox, Twentieth Century Film Company, was founded by Joseph Schenk after leaving United Artists!
In the 1960s, United Artists was acquired by the North American insurance giant Pan Am, and invited Benjamin and Kerim to jointly manage the company.
Last year, United Artists took over the 10-year distribution rights of British and American films, and Film International took over the distribution rights of international films.
Even so, it is still difficult to lead United Artists out of the predicament.
At this time, United Artists, like most Hollywood companies, was struggling.
Now that we are struggling, it is like in Li Xiaolong's movie, to gain some benefits.
So at this time, Benjamin and Kerim are discussing how to get 30% of the investment in Dragon Warrior from Chu Huan.
Do you know what's going on with Chu Huan? United Artists President Benjamin asked General Manager Kerim.
Kerim shook his head and said, I don't know much about it. I only know that he is the owner of a film company in Xiangjiang!
Then how did he get in touch with Vertex Pictures? Benjamin asked.
Kerim said nonchalantly: I know Vertex Pictures bought Spielberg from Universal Pictures some time ago, and by the way, gave Universal Pictures the pre-emptive release of Jaws!
Benjamin thought for a while, and said: I have the impression that it is the director who directed Rampage!
Kerim nodded and said, It's this guy. I talked to the director of the company. This Spielberg is still quite talented.
Benjamin waved his hand and said, It doesn't matter that much, let's contact Vertex Pictures. Since Chu Huan wants to sell his share of the investment, this is a very good business for us at United Artists!
Kerim said, Okay!
Universal!
The development process of this film company is also bumpy. It was founded in 1912 by German-Jewish Karl Leimer, and since then he has controlled Universal Pictures for 20 years.
On October 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market suddenly crashed, announcing the advent of the Great Depression era in North America. In 1930, Universal City stopped receiving tourists; in 1932, Universal Pictures lost as much as $1.2 million. In the end, Lemer could only sell the company for $4.5 million, which ended badly.
In the mid-1940s, under a series of mergers and acquisitions, British businessman Arthur Rank and an independent production company International Pictures jointly established Universal International Pictures,
In 1964, North American Music Corporation acquired Universal International Pictures and established a separate subsidiary for Universal Studios.
At that time, coincident with the rise of the television industry and the modern advertising industry, Universal Studios once again started from entering the filming location and advertised heavily to attract movie fans into the park, thus restarting the global tour project.
Based on the success of the film, there are many popular check-in spots in the new Universal Studios, the most famous project comes from the creepy mansion in Hitchcock's Psycho in 1960.
The influx of tourists has also made Universal Studios' development ideas clear-shoot more good movies and incubate more good IPs.
At this time, the head of Universal Pictures was Lou Worthman.
Apex Pictures again?
Lu Wo Zeman naturally also knew about Chu Huan's plan to sell 30% of the investment share in Dragon Warrior through Vertex Pictures.
But Lu Wo Zeman pays more attention to Vertex Pictures!
After all, Vertex Pictures bought Spielberg in their hands before.
How is Spielberg doing now? Lou Warzermann asked his assistant.
We are preparing for the Jaws project. According to the information we have received, the investment in this project has risen to 9 million US dollars!
Lu Wo Zeman was a little surprised, Nine million? This is already an A-level movie. Does Vertex Pictures have that much money?
The assistant said with a smile: Depending on the situation, there should be some. With $9 million in Spielberg's hands, it's hard to say whether it can make money!
Obviously he is not optimistic about Spielberg, a director who has only directed one movie that has not yet been released, and can control a 9 million project!
Lu Wo Zeman glanced at the other party with dissatisfaction, and said indifferently: I remember that Vertex Pictures signed a distribution agreement with us!
Because Vertex Pictures spent money to buy Spielberg, the cooperative relationship between the two parties is not bad. After all, Universal Pictures also likes Vertex Pictures.
For an unknown director, he is willing to pay a transfer fee of 2 million US dollars.
So at the beginning, Kelly signed some other contracts with Universal Pictures, one of which included the distribution rights of Spielberg's first film shot by Vertex Pictures!
Now that Spielberg has confirmed that his first film is Jaws, Universal Pictures will naturally be responsible for distributing the film.
if the movie does well at the box office
Thinking of this, Lu Wo Zeman didn't know whether he should be happy or unhappy for a while.
The box office is good, and Universal Pictures is in charge of distribution, so naturally they earn more.
However, this director was originally a contracted director of their company, and their company was the first to discover the Jaws project, and now Apex Pictures has bought it.
It is not necessarily true that they are happy.
The assistant bowed his head not knowing what to say.
Lu Wo Zeman pondered: It cost 2 million US dollars to buy Spielberg, and 400,000 to buy the copyright of Jaws. Now the production cost of this movie has increased to 9 million. The total investment is as high as 11.4 million US dollars!
It seems that Vertex Pictures has a lot of ambitions!
Lu Wo Zeman suddenly laughed.
The assistant asked: Boss, should we contact Vertex Pictures?
Lu Wo Zeman showed a proud smile and said: Of course we have to contact, no matter what is the relationship between Chu Huan and Vertex Pictures, we have cooperated with Vertex Pictures after all, I believe the other party should be very happy to cooperate with us.
The assistant nodded and said, Then I will contact Kelly from Vertex Pictures now.
Lu Wo Zeman nodded slightly, and then said: By the way, let's investigate the relationship between Chu Huan and Vertex Pictures, and let people pay attention to the filming process of Jaws. I also want to know the relationship between Vertex Pictures. Why are you so optimistic about this Spielberg!
yes!
As soon as the news that Chu Huan was about to sell his investment share in Dragon Knight came out, it immediately stirred up the entire Hollywood at this time!
But this is exactly what Chu Huan wants to see!
The debut was a success!
It’s gone today, thank you everyone~ The next chapter will be tomorrow at 12 o’clock in the morning~