With a simple sentence and a dissatisfied look, it can be seen how unwelcome Andrew Morgan is to Chu Huan.
Li Xiaolong, who was accompanying Chu Huan, suddenly turned ugly, while Zou Wenhuai was expressionless.
Chu Huan grabbed Li Xiaolong, who was about to argue with Andrew Morgan, and looked at Andrew Morgan with an indifferent expression.
"Do you not want to go to Xiangjiang in the future?"
Only then did Andrew Morgan remember Chu Huan's identity in Xiangjiang. He was not only the boss of a film company, but also one of the richest tycoons in Xiangjiang.
If such a person wants to deal with himself in Xiangjiang, it will be extremely easy.
Andrew Morgan has not forgotten what happened on the set of "Enter the Dragon" last year. At that time, people from the Xiangjiang Society went to the set to cause trouble. As a result, as soon as Chu Huan took action, the other party did not dare to come again.
Andrew Morgan became embarrassed thinking about these things.
Chu Huan looked at him indifferently and said indifferently: "Warner is Warner, and you are you. Even if you are an employee of Warner, I can easily deal with you!
So, don’t block the road in front like a clown!”
After finishing speaking, Qin Peng pushed Andrew Morgan away, Chu Huan walked over directly, and Li Xiaolong followed.
"Ah Huan, after we go to Warner later, will you stay at my place?"
Li Xiaolong suggested following Chu Huan.
Because he was going to Hollywood for development, Li Xiaolong specially asked Linda Emery to buy a villa in Los Angeles, but it was not big.
Chu Huan smiled and shook his head, saying: "Let's forget it. It's better to say goodbye to your sister-in-law than to get married, so I won't bother you."
Li Xiaolong didn't force it. Several people walked out of the airport. Andrew Morgan, who had just been threatened by Chu Huan, was following behind them, looking on with a cold eye. He came to pick up Li Xiaolong this time, but he didn't prepare a car to pick up Chu Huan!
But when he saw the two cars parked at the airport gate, he showed a helpless expression. Chu Huan's billionaire name was not fake.
The car that came to pick up Chu Huan was naturally arranged by Kelly. After Chu Huan got in the car, she directly told the driver to go to Warner Brothers first!
Although I came here for George Lucas's "Star Wars", I still have to do the scenes I have to do.
So I definitely have to go on this trip to Warner Bros.
As everyone, even Chu Huan, could have guessed, the trip to Warner did not go smoothly. The deputy manager of Warner's public relations department who was responsible for receiving Chu Huan did not even send the deputy manager of the production department.
When the two parties were negotiating the investment share of the movie "Dragon Warrior", Li Xiaolong and others also came to Warner Bros.
Instead, they went directly to the Warner Bros. production manager.
Li Xiaolong originally wanted to stay with Chu Huan, but Chu Huan smiled and asked him to leave.
Since Warner Bros. doesn't care about Chu Huan, it is naturally impossible for him to agree to Chu Huan's continued investment in "Dragon Warrior".
In the end, Chu Huan left Warner Bros. very angry!
Chu Huan left Warner Brothers and came to Apex Pictures.
Apex Pictures has begun to take shape at this time. The so-called beginning to take shape actually means having its own office space. It is no longer a simple leather company.
"I didn't expect that this time you would come here in person!"
In Kelly's office, Kelly was a little surprised and brought Chu Huan a Coke.
She had just told Chu Huan about 20th Century Fox the day before yesterday, but she didn't expect Chu Huan to come to Los Angeles in person, and to come so quickly.
"I just wanted to fight for Warner Bros. again, so I came with Li Xiaolong!"
Chu Huan preached relaxedly.
Kelly asked curiously: "How was the discussion with Warner Bros.?"
Chu Huan shook his head, "Not good, the other party has no intention of talking to us at all!"
This answer was also expected by Kelly. She sat next to Chu Huan and said to Chu Huan: "In this case, I think it is better to sell the investment share you signed with Li Xiaolong to 20th Century Fox."
Well, Warner Bros. can take advantage of you because you are a film company in Hong Kong.
But if it is sold to 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. will have to hold its nose and admit it. In this way, you will not only make money, but also disgust Warner Bros., I think this is good!"
Kelly preached without paying much attention.
In fact, she seems to want a share of the investment in "Dragon Warrior". Like the bosses of other film companies, Kelly also sees the potential in Li Xiaolong. Compared with Spielberg's uncertain box office, Kelly is more willing to
I believe Li Xiaolong’s movies can make money.
But 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 Apex Pictures gets the contract signed by Chu Huan and Concord Pictures.
It’s useless!
Chu Huan asked: "How are Spielberg's preparations for "Jaws" going?"
Kelly said: "Spielberg is discussing the script with Peter Benchley and Karl Gottlieb, and we are also looking for actors in Hollywood."
At this point, Kelly paused and said, "There is something else I want to tell you!"
Seeing Kelly's expression, Chu Huan knew that this movie must be like other Hollywood movies, with an increased budget!
Sure enough, Kelly continued: "According to Spielberg's calculations, the budget of the movie "Jaws" has now increased to US$9 million, and I don't have that much cash in my hand!"
A $9 million production was already considered a Class A production in Hollywood at this time.
Spielberg has only directed one film, the first film for a small company called Apex Pictures.
No new film company would agree to such an investment.
"Okay, I will ask Xiangjiang to transfer the money to you tomorrow afternoon!"
Chu Huan is not an ordinary person, so naturally he fully supports him.
Hearing what Chu Huan said, Kelly also said happily: "Then there will be no problem on my side."
Chu Huan nodded and said, "Let's talk about Twentieth Century Fox!"
Kelly said: "The other party wants to buy out your share of the investment in Li Xiaolong's Concord Pictures for US$300,000!"
At this point, Kelly also said helplessly: "Fox must have realized that this contract is worthless in your hands, so they dared to offer such a low price."
Chu Huan chuckled and said, "But Fox has forgotten that they are not the only company that wants this investment share in Hollywood."
After a pause, Chu Huan immediately said to Kelly: "Let it out, just say that I am in Los Angeles now and want to sell my share of the investment in Concord Pictures.
Fox is the first to know, but that doesn’t mean the other party will definitely be able to get it!”
Kelly didn't know Chu Huan's true thoughts, but when she heard what Chu Huan said, she immediately smiled and said: "Yes, as long as the wind is released and everyone bids it up, the price of this contract will definitely increase."
Rising.”
Chu Huan frowned slightly.
He is indeed here for "Star Wars", but again, if you want to win "Star Wars", you must not appear too eager, otherwise, you may be manipulated by the other party, so many things must be paid attention to.
Strategy.
Then the two discussed the details. After all the business was done, Kelly stood up and came to Chu Huan, "You have been on a plane all night. Do you want to go to my place and have a good rest?"
Chu Huan looked at Kelly who was already ready to make a move, smiled and nodded: "Okay!"
...
The next day!
Rumors spread in Hollywood that Chu Huan wanted to sell his investment share in "Dragon Warrior".
In an instant, the matter was brought to the offices of the presidents of the eight major Hollywood film studios.
Warner Bros!
Warner Brothers was founded by four Jewish brothers named "Warner", namely Harry Warner, Albert Warner, Sam Warner and Jack Warner. It is for this reason that they are called Warner
Brother's.
In the summer of 1967, Jack Warner stepped down as president, marking the end of Warner Bros.'s 49-year reign.
Two years later, Ted Ashley became the company's new president and signed stars such as Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood.
Another big thing happened to Warner Bros. this year, that is, they acquired DC Comics, which owns classic IPs such as Superman and Batman.
At this time, Ted Ashley was sitting in his office, looking very unhappy, and Andrew Morgan was standing opposite him tremblingly.
"Is this what you told me, surely there is no problem?"
Ted Ashley looked at Andrew Morgan indifferently, with a hint of storminess in his calm tone.
Andrew Morgan replied in a low voice: "I really didn't expect that Chu Huan would actually 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 not care about Chu Huan's black and white images, but it cannot 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 he could take the initiative in the negotiations with Chu Huan.
But now, with Chu Huan doing this, it is very likely that other Hollywood studios will join in, and Warner Brothers will lose some of its initiative.
"You didn't expect that?" Ted Ashley laughed angrily: "Then let me tell you one more thing that you didn't expect. Bruce has made it clear to me that his "Dragon Warrior" is not
We need you to be the producer!”
Although Hollywood is a producer system, there are exceptions to everything.
Now Li Xiaolong is this exception. The success of "Enter the Dragon" in North America has given Li Xiaolong a certain say here. In addition, the movie "Dragon Warrior" was originally planned by Li Xiaolong himself.
It can be said that Li Xiaolong has a very high say in this project...as long as there is no interest involved.
Because of his relationship with Zou Wenhuai, Li Xiaolong couldn't say anything to Zou Wenhuai, but he would definitely not be so good-tempered towards Andrew Morgan who was making trouble in secret, so when he met with Ted Ashley yesterday
, directly proposed to replace Andrew Morgan as the producer.
Andrew Morgan was not in the office at the time and naturally did not know about this matter.
Ted Ashley believed that Warner Bros. was already unhappy with Li Xiaolong regarding the issue of black and white images, and did not want to have any other friction with Li Xiaolong. However, he could not just change the producer he designated.
So I just said that I would think about it.
However, something happened today that made Ted Ashley seriously doubt Andrew Morgan's ability, so his previous hesitation was gone.
"BOSS, please give me another chance. I know Bruce best in the company!"
Andrew Morgan knew that he had become the company's scapegoat and would not allow Chu Huan to participate in the investment. He only had the right to make suggestions, but not decision-making. Didn't the company also not want Chu Huan's black and white images to be involved?
Now something went wrong and he became the scapegoat, but Andrew Morgan didn't dare to talk about it and 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, and waved him directly to leave his office, and then called his secretary.
"Contact Kelly from Apex Pictures for me and tell her I want to meet Chu Huan!"
The news was spread through Vertex Pictures, so if Ted Ashley wanted to meet Chu Huan, he would naturally have to go through Vertex Pictures.
The most important thing is that he can't find Chu Huan now.
...
MGM!
The same movie studio where the lion roars at the beginning of the movie.
This is an ill-fated film company. After experiencing glory in the 1940s and 1950s, it began to decline. In the 1970s, it was acquired by North American gambling tycoon Kirk Kerkorian.
However, after Kirk Kerkorian acquired MGM, he did not take MGM too seriously. Instead, he paid more attention to the development of the hotel and gambling business. He only regarded the acquisition of MGM as a deal.
It’s just business!
The boss of such a company is naturally the least concerned about this matter.
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 Kerkorian.
After thinking about it for a moment, Kirk Kerkorian handed the matter over to the general manager to handle it himself.
...
Paramount!
A snow-capped mountain with countless little stars surrounding the film company.
Famous movies such as "The Godfather", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Forrest Gump" were produced by this company.
However, Paramount was experiencing a leadership turmoil at this time. Robert Evans, who had been in charge of Paramount for eight years, was preparing to leave. From then on, Paramount's top management changed frequently until two years later.
, Barry Diller came on the scene to save Paramount, which was in financial crisis due to high-level turmoil.
Robert Evans pondered for a moment as he watched the news handed over by his assistant about the news released by Apex Pictures.
"Just think of it as your last gift to Paramount!"
After muttering to himself, he asked his assistant to contact Apex Pictures.
Everyone knows that if you want to find Chu Huan at this time, you must go through Apex Pictures.
...
Columbia Film Studios.
The logo of this film company is the famous Statue of Liberty holding a torch, and it later invested in Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu"!
In the early days, the eight major companies in Hollywood basically focused on production, distribution and theaters to maximize profits. However, Columbia took a different approach and did not invest in theaters and focused on production and distribution. The advantage of this is that it saves money.
, the disadvantage is that it is easy to be controlled by others.
However, this also allowed Columbia Pictures to suffer the least loss among the eight major studios in the 1948 Paramount Act.
The reason why the 1970s is called the dark period of Hollywood is not only because there were few classic movies released during this period, but more importantly, during this period, life in the Eighth National Congress was generally not very good.
The popularity of television has seriously divided the audience in the movie market.
So did Columbia Pictures, which escaped the Paramount bill.
With the passing of the founders, the Cowan brothers, and the departure of its most promising successor, Ralph, Columbia Pictures entered a period of turmoil.
Although Amber Schneider, the successor at the time, freed Columbia Pictures from the control of the Cowan family.
But CEO Schneider thinks movies are a sunset industry and doesn't care much about it. He prefers to play with real estate.
There is no worst, only worse. In the 1970s, not only did Columbia's production output drop sharply, but it also almost went bankrupt. It could only survive by signing a contract with Warner and sharing a studio.
By the way, Li Xiaolong's "Game of Death" has investment from Columbia Pictures, but the film has not been released yet.
Amber Schneider's idea was the same as Kirk Kerkorian's idea. It's time to talk about it. So after learning about Chu Huan's incident, he immediately asked his assistant to contact Apex Pictures.
Already.
...
Disney Studios!
This company, known as the Acquisition Maniac in later generations, actually did not always have a smooth development path. In 1984, it was almost acquired.
But that was later.
Disney Pictures should now be the only one of the eight major Hollywood studios that is not interested in Li Xiaolong's "Dragon Warrior" movie.
Because in the view of Disney executives, Li Xiaolong's movies are incompatible with their cultural attributes.
So after getting the news, the other party directly shelved the news.
...
United Artists Pictures.
This is a company where the dragon knight transforms into a dragon after killing the dragon.
United Artists was originally founded by Chaplin, Fairbanks, Pickford, and Griffith, with the purpose of fighting against the Hollywood studio system.
But the four people were not so united at the time, and Griffith, one of the founders, left first, which made United Artists' already difficult situation even worse.
Fortunately, United Artists later hired veteran producer Joseph Schenck as chairman.
Schenck adjusted the company's decision-making to invest in and distribute films to independent producers in addition to giving United Artists a regular output.
This decision allowed United Artists to quickly overcome the crisis and grow into one of the eight major Hollywood film companies in the 1930s.
By the way, Twentieth Century Film Company, one of the predecessors of Twentieth Century Fox, was founded by Joseph Schenck after he left United Artists!
In the 1960s, United Artists Pictures was acquired by North American insurance giant Pan American, and Benjamin and Cream were invited to jointly manage the company.
Last year, United Artists took over the 10-year distribution rights for British and American films, and Film International took over the distribution rights for international films.
Even so, it is still difficult to lead United Artists Pictures out of the predicament.
At this time, United Artists, like most Hollywood companies, was struggling.
Since you are in a struggle, you can get some benefits just like in this movie by Li Xiaolong.
So at this time, Benjamin and Krim are discussing how to get 30% of the investment share of "Dragon Warrior" from Chu Huan.
"Do you know what's going on with this Chu Huan?" Benjamin, the president of United Artists Pictures, asked General Manager Krim.
Krim shook his head and said: "I don't know much about him, I just know that he is the boss of a film company in Xiangjiang!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Then how did he get in touch with Apex Pictures?" Benjamin said.
Krim said nonchalantly: "I know that Apex Pictures bought Spielberg from Universal Pictures some time ago, and by the way, it also gave Universal Pictures the first opportunity to get the "Jaws" they were about to produce!"
Benjamin thought for a moment and said: "I have an impression that he is the director of "The Great Escape"!"
Krim nodded and said: "That's this guy. I've talked with the director of the company. This Spielberg still has some talent."
Benjamin waved his hand and said: "No matter what, contact Apex Pictures. Since Chu Huan wants to sell his share of the investment, this is a very good business for us at United Artists!"
Krim said: "Okay!"
...
Universal Pictures!
The development history of this film company was also bumpy. It was founded in 1912 by Carl Laimer, a German Jew, who began his twenty-year control of Universal Pictures.
On October 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market suddenly collapsed, announcing the arrival of the Great Depression in North America. In 1930, Universal City no longer received tourists; in 1932, Universal Studios suffered a loss of up to 1.2 million U.S. dollars. In the end, Laimer could only
The company was sold for US$4.5 million and ended badly.
In the mid-1940s, following 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 Company acquired Universal International Pictures and established a separate subsidiary for Universal Studios.
At that time, coinciding with the rise of the television industry and the modern advertising industry, Universal Studios once again started with "walking into movie shooting locations", advertising heavily to attract movie fans to the park, and the global tour project was restarted.
Based on the success of the movie, there are many popular check-in spots in the new Universal Studios, the most famous of which is the creepy house in "Psycho" directed by Hitchcock in 1960.
The influx of tourists has also made Universal Studios' development strategy clear - to shoot more good movies and incubate more good IPs.
The head of Universal Pictures at this time was Lew Wasserman.
"Apex Pictures again?"
Luwa Zeman naturally also knew about Chu Huan’s desire to acquire 30% of the investment share in “Dragon Warrior” through Apex Pictures.
But Lou Zeman is more concerned about Apex Pictures!
After all, Vertex Pictures bought Spielberg out of their hands before.
"How is Spielberg doing now?" Lew Zeman asked his assistant.
"The project "Jaws" is being prepared. According to the news we have received, the investment in this project has risen to US$9 million!"
Luwa Zeman was a little surprised, "Nine million? This is already an A-level movie. Does Apex Pictures have that much money?"
The assistant smiled and said: "Depending on the situation, it should be possible. With 9 million US dollars in Spielberg's hands, it's hard to say whether he can make money!"
Obviously he is not optimistic that Spielberg, a director who has only directed one movie that has not yet been released, can control a 9 million project!
Luwa Zeman looked at the other party dissatisfied and said calmly: "I remember that Apex Pictures signed a distribution agreement with us!"
Because Apex Pictures spent money to buy Spielberg, the cooperative relationship between the two parties is pretty good. After all, Universal Pictures also likes Apex Pictures as its scapegoat.
For an unknown director, he is willing to pay a transfer fee of 2 million US dollars.
So Kelly signed some other contracts with Universal Pictures, one of which included the distribution rights for Spielberg's first film shot at Vertex Pictures!
Now that Spielberg has determined that his first movie will be "Jaws", Universal Pictures will naturally be responsible for distributing this movie.
If the movie does well at the box office...
Thinking of this, Luvozeman didn't know for a moment whether he should be happy or unhappy.
The box office is good, and Universal Pictures is responsible for the distribution, so naturally they will make more money.
However, this director was originally a contracted director of their company, and their company was the first to discover the "Jaws" project, and now it has been bought by Apex Pictures.
It is not certain that they can be happy.
The assistant lowered his head and didn't know what to say.
Luwa Zeman mused: "It cost 2 million U.S. dollars to buy Spielberg and 400,000 U.S. dollars to buy the rights to "Jaws." Now the production cost of this movie has increased to 9 million U.S. dollars.
The total investment is US$11.4 million!”
"It seems that Apex Pictures has quite a lot of ambitions!"
Luvozeman suddenly laughed.
The assistant asked: "BOSS, should we contact Apex Pictures?"
Luwa Zeman said with a proud smile: "Of course we have to contact you. No matter what the relationship between Chu Huan and Apex Pictures is, we have cooperated with Apex Pictures after all, and I believe that the other party will be very happy to cooperate with us.
"
The assistant nodded and said: "Then I will contact Kelly from Apex Pictures now."
Luwa Zeman nodded slightly, and then said: "By the way, let's investigate the relationship between Chu Huan and Apex Pictures, and also draw attention to the filming process of "Jaws". I also want to know about Apex Pictures
Why are you so optimistic about Spielberg?"
"yes!"
As soon as the news came out that Chu Huan was going to sell his investment share in "Dragon Knight", it immediately stirred up the entire Hollywood at this time!