giants of the era

Chapter 92 Additional Investments
However, when Li Zetian thought of the box office and influence of "Star Wars", he felt happy.

"So...you hope that Apple can invest more!" Li Zetian said with a calm expression on his face.

George Lucas nodded again and again, "Yes, that's exactly it!"

Li Zetian frowned deliberately, and said: "According to your current shooting progress, the entire film will cost at least tens of millions of dollars, and Apple will invest at least 500 million dollars in it. For Apple, the risk is huge." great!"

After speaking, Li Zetian pretended to be contemplative.

George Lucas looked at Li Zetian nervously, hoping to get a satisfactory answer from him.

After a while, Li Zetian said, "George Lucas, please contact [-]th Century Fox immediately, and let's discuss whether to invest more."

"All right……"

George Lucas asked, "Oh, by the way, Chronos li, what did you call me here for?"

"I'm not busy. I'll talk about it later. You should contact Twentieth Century Fox now!"

As he spoke, Li Zetian signaled George Lucas to use his landline to make a call.

George Lucas nodded and picked up the phone... Two minutes later, he said to Li Zetian, "The producer of Twentieth Century Fox, Steven Marlowe, will be here in the afternoon."

"Before Steve Marlowe comes, I will introduce someone to you. Please come with me." After Li Zetian finished speaking, he stood up and walked in front.

George Lucas responded and followed.

After a while, Li Zetian brought him to an office in Walkman's laboratory, "Wait here for a while, I'll call that person over."

"Ok."

George Lucas nodded, looking around curiously.Apple is full of incredible things everywhere, full of science fiction, and being in it seems to have brought him infinite inspiration...

Two minutes later, Li Zetian led Dr. Dolby in, and introduced, "This is Dr. Dolby from Dolby Laboratories, and this is Director George Lucas."

"Hello!!!"

The two shook hands and greeted each other politely.

Li Zetian said with a smile, "Sit down, everyone. The reason why I invited the two of you together this time is because I think the Dolby surround sound system being developed by Dolby Laboratories can be applied to movies, so I plan to make Star Wars "Be the first to try it!"

"What is Dolby Surround?" George Lucas wondered.

"I think this question should be explained to you by Dr. Dolby himself," Li Zetian smiled and looked at Dr. Dolby.

"Dolby Surround Sound System is a theater sound system successfully developed by Dolby Laboratories to improve the quality of stereo sound. It can record the information of the left, center, right and surround channels into two channel, and then restore it to four channels in the opposite way during playback, thus realizing the compatible transmission of multi-channel and two-channel. To put it simply, it realizes the synchronization of sound direction and picture movement, such as a When a person walks towards us, the audience can clearly identify the direction and volume of his footsteps, which gives people a more realistic feeling!"

"Great! This is exactly what I need!!!" George Lucas exclaimed in great surprise.

"Don't get excited, Lucas! You know, this thing is definitely not cheap!" Li Zetian immediately poured cold water on him.

George Lucas couldn't help sighing, oh, damn, the budget is seriously insufficient!
But Li Zetian said again: "However, you should ask Dr. Dolby first. If [-]th Century Fox is willing to invest more, this film can naturally continue to be filmed! Okay, you two have a good chat, I have something to do. go out for a while."

George Lucas nodded, and then couldn't wait to ask Dr. Dolby more questions about the "Dolby Surround Sound System".

The chat lasted for an hour or two, and Dr. Dolby provided George Lucas with many solutions and suggestions on film sound.

At this time, there was a knock on the door, and a young female secretary pushed the door in, and then said to George Lucas: "Mr. Lucas, Mr. Steve Marlowe from Twentieth Century Fox has arrived. Chronos li asked me to invite you to his office!"

"Okay, I see, I'll go right away," George Lucas nodded, and then said goodbye to Dr. Dolby, "Dr. Dolby, as long as they are willing to invest more this time, I will definitely use Dolby Laboratories' technology!"

"Hehe, then it's a deal!"

Dr. Dolby was overjoyed when he heard this, and then sent George Lucas to the door of Walkman's laboratory.

Later, George Lucas followed the female secretary to Li Zetian's office again.

Sitting on the sofa in the office is a middle-aged man in his 40s, short hair, of medium build, and wearing a black suit.

"Mr. Marlowe, hello!" George Lucas hurried forward to say hello, this is a big benefactor, and then nodded to Li Zetian, saying hello.

After Li Zetian waited for the two of them to say hello, he said, "Mr. Marlowe, you must be aware of the filming of "Star Wars". So far, the film has not been completed for one third of the film, but the money has already been spent." Two-thirds. Lucasfilm invested $100 million, Apple invested $200 million, 300th Century Fox invested $600 million, and the total is only $[-] million. Director Lucas, do you think the entire film is completely shot? How much money do you need?"

Naturally, George Lucas had already figured this question out, so he answered directly: "About 1300 million US dollars, because there will be some special effects processing in the later stage..."

Li Zetian nodded and said, "In other words, there is still a shortfall of 700 million US dollars!" At this time, Li Zetian turned to Steve Marlowe and asked, "Mr. Marlowe, is Twentieth Century Fox willing to invest more? ?”

Steve Marlowe shook his head and refused: ""Star Wars" has far exceeded the budget of [-]th Century Fox, and judging from the current American film market, science fiction films have almost no signs of selling. If we continue to invest more It will face huge risks, so [-]th Century Fox no longer plans to invest more!"

When George Lucas heard this, he immediately became anxious. If he did not invest more, all the money he had spent before would be wiped out.

"Mr. Marlowe, if we give up the investment, then we will lose more than 400 million US dollars! If we finish filming the entire movie and then release it, we may be able to recover some losses. If the movie becomes popular, we may still be able to make money!"

Sci-fi movies are in the doldrums these days, and even Lucas himself doesn't think his low-budget film of more than $1000 million will sweep the world and achieve incredible success.Yes, at this time, no one can imagine it, except Li Zetian!
Seeing that Steve Marlowe was still unmoved, George Lucas gritted his teeth and said resolutely: "If Twentieth Century Fox can continue to increase investment, I am willing to cut the director's fee and script by 50 US dollars." fee, but I want to retain the sales rights of the film-related products and the ownership of the sequel!"

If "Star Wars" doesn't sell, the rights to sell merchandise related to the film, as well as the title to the sequel, will be worthless.In fact, in the previous life, George Lucas made such a proposal that made Twentieth Century Fox agree to invest.

The corner of Li Zetian's mouth twitched, what the hell, how can this work!

PS: It's three more, ask for a ticket, the update will not be interrupted

　PS: It's three more, ask for a ticket, the update will not be interrupted

　　
　
(End of this chapter)