Huayu Zhihao

Chapter 238 When I was poor, I sold the entire Avengers

In the 90s, Marvel barely survived by selling its superhero copyrights. In 1996, it had to go bankrupt and restructure. After a round of MBO, Marvel belonged to Avi Arad.

In 1997, Avi Arad began to take back the sold adaptation rights, and corporatized its film department, changing its name to Marvel Studios.

It's just that the road to recovering the copyright is not smooth. First, Marvel doesn't have much money to spend, and second, several Hollywood giants are not willing to sell the copyright back to Marvel easily.

Especially after the new millennium, Sony Columbia's "Spider-Man" and [-]th Century Fox's "X-Men" have exploded at the North American and global box offices.

Let Hollywood studios see the great potential of superhero movies.

Of course, not all of Marvel's superheroes are blockbusters, especially single-player hero movies. At present, only "Spider-Man" can sell well.

The box office performance of "Blade" and "Daredevil" can only be said to be mediocre, which is one of the reasons why Marvel has not yet risen.

It is no exaggeration to say that Marvel is in a predicament now, because they have not yet found the correct way to open the Marvel superhero universe.

Everyone in the future knows that the beginning of the Marvel superhero movie universe is "Iron Man" in 2008, and now it is 2003.

Chen Hao doesn't know if Marvel is already planning a superhero movie universe, but even if it starts, it is definitely not mature, so he still has a chance.

What we have to do now is undoubtedly to buy the copyright of superheroes while Marvel is still in a trough, so that we can at least get a share of the Marvel superhero movie universe in the future.

As for the acquisition of Marvel, that is unlikely. Although the current Marvel is very down and out, after all, it has the copyright of more than 5000 superheroes.

When Disney bought Marvel in 2009, "Iron Man" was already a success, with a price tag of $42 billion.

Although Marvel is currently at a low point, the price must be at least 30 billion US dollars, and Chen Hao does not have such financial resources.

And "X-Men" and "Spiderman" are obviously impossible, because these superheroes have proven their popularity and ability to attract money, and it is impossible for Hollywood giants to let go.

But like "Iron Man", "Black Widow", "Captain America", "Thor", "Guardians of the Galaxy" and so on, superheroes who have not yet proved themselves may not be impossible.

The more Chen Hao thought about it, the more excited he became, and then impatiently called Davis.

"Chen, how is the promotion of the movie going?" Davis asked.

"Everything is going according to plan, so it should be fine." Chen Hao said perfunctorily, "I have something important to ask you now."

"Oh? What's the matter?" Davis was taken aback when he heard this. What could be more important than "District [-]" now.

"Know Marvel!" Chen Hao said.

"Of course, there are very few Americans who don't know the three major comic companies of Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse." Davis heard this and laughed.

"You know I'm very interested in Marvel's superheroes, so I want to buy a few Marvel's superhero copyrights!" Chen Hao said.

"You really like Marvel's superheroes?" Davis said with a smile.

Before Chen Hao revealed that he liked Marvel superheroes in a talk show, Davis thought that Chen Hao only said that to please American audiences.

"Of course, do you have any relationship to help me contact Marvel." Chen Hao said.

Davis heard the words but asked, "Do you want to make these superhero movies?"

"There is such a plan!" Chen Hao admitted, and now the Marvel superhero movie universe has not yet come out, and he generously admits that no one knows what Chen Hao is thinking.

"I think you'd better be cautious, after all, superhero movies are basically A-level productions with more than 1 million US dollars, but currently only "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" are blockbusters, other superhero audiences don't buy it at all! " Davis persuaded.

Chen Hao smiled when he heard the words, "I just like a few superheroes, and I have always wanted to photograph them. This is one of my wishes!"

"Okay, then who do you want to buy? I can help you refer to it. I also knew about it when Columbia bought the copyright of Marvel." Davis said.

Chen Hao happily said, "Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Black Widow!"

Davis pondered for a while and said, "I understand "Captain America" ​​and "Thor", but "Iron Man" and "Black Widow" are not very popular!"

"I just like it!" Chen Hao said directly.

"Well, what a shame, if you had said that earlier, you could have bought 15 comic book characters at once," Davis said.

"What do you mean?" Chen Hao asked in surprise.

"Artisan Entertainment reached an agreement with Marvel in 2000 to make at least 15 comic characters into movies or TV series, including Captain America, Black Panther, Black Widow, Deadpool, Iron Fist, Ant-Man, Punisher , humanoid, vampire Mobia, etc." Davis said.

"And then?" Chen Hao's heart was bleeding when he heard it!There are Captain America, Black Widow, Ant-Man, Deadpool and Black Panther!

"Just in October not long ago, Lionsgate Pictures acquired Artisan Entertainment and inherited the copyrights of these Marvel characters it owned." Davis said.

"Lionsgate?" Chen Hao frowned upon hearing this.

He had dealt with Lionsgate Films in his previous life, and later became one of his major shareholders, but at that time it seemed that the copyrights of these superheroes were taken back by Marvel one after another.

"Yes, but the copyrights of these 15 superheroes actually belong to Marvel, but Lionsgate can shoot film and television dramas." Davis said.

Now Marvel is in a difficult situation, but there is no money to make live-action movies, so after selling the copyright, if it makes a profit, it can share the corresponding profit.

Although the box office hits Marvel and makes less money, he can only rely on this method to survive.

"What about Iron Man and Thor?" Chen Hao continued to ask.

"Thor's copyright should still be in the hands of Marvel, but Iron Man should be in the hands of New Line." Davis said.

"New line?" Chen Hao frowned slightly upon hearing this.

It seems that Marvel in the 90s is really poor and crazy, this copyright is really sold by anyone!

"In 1990, Universal bought the copyright of Iron Man, Hulk and Namor. In 1996, Twentieth Century Fox bought the copyright of Iron Man from Universal.

Until 1999, the copyright of Iron Man was transferred from Fox to New Line Pictures. said Davis.

Chen Hao could only nod helplessly when he heard the words. It is estimated that when the Marvel superhero universe breaks out in the future, these companies will be so regretful that their intestines will be green!
But Marvel is also awesome. When they were poor, they sold the entire Women's Federation!

(End of this chapter)