China Entertainment: I became a capital tycoon

Chapter 628: It would be a waste if you don't take advantage of these
While Cao Yu and Li An were talking, they came to the office of Bob, the boss of Universal Pictures.

"Cao, you're finally here. I missed you so much."

When Bob saw Cao Yu, his eyes lit up and he immediately went up to him and gave him a big hug.

The box office of Despicable Me 2 is even better than the first one, so how can he not be enthusiastic?
"Mr. Bob seems to be worried?"

Although Bob was very enthusiastic, Cao Yu could still see some vague distress in his eyes.

"Ah, you actually figured it out. You haven't been to the United States for a while, and a lot of things have happened in Hollywood."

Bob sighed and said, "I originally thought that MGM was going to go bankrupt, but I didn't expect that it would get involved with New Line Cinema, which was acquired by Warner Bros. It just finished filming The Hobbit in the first half of the year and it seems that it wants to recreate its former glory."

"Hobbit?"

Cao Yu is naturally well-known for this series.

A total of three films were made about this movie, which really made MGM famous again, but it was a pity that the distributor was Warner Bros.

However, this series of movies still made MGM a huge profit when it was acquired by Amazon for US$8.5 billion.

But his goal is not to develop in the United States for a long time, otherwise he would have acquired MGM last year.

Cao Yu guessed what Bob was thinking and said with a smile, "Are you interested in MGM? Do you want to acquire it?"

"I do have this idea, but unfortunately the price is a bit high, so I have always been conflicted."

Bob did not hide his plan and said, "Now we are competing with Warner Bros. for the top spot in Hollywood. If they acquire MGM, it will not be a good thing for Universal Pictures."

"probably not."

Cao Yu shook his head. He remembered that it was ten years later that MGM was acquired, and the buyer was not Warner Bros.

"So sure?"

Bob still felt uneasy.

“I just don’t think it’s useful for Warner Bros. to buy MGM.”

Although Cao Yu said this in his heart, when he thought about the box office of "The Hobbit" trilogy which reached 3 billion US dollars, he felt that he could gain some benefits.

After all, he had a good relationship with Warner Bros.

But I couldn't say this in front of Bob, so I changed the subject and asked, "Mr. Bob, how is the preparation for the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" going?"

"It's almost ready. We can start filming in September."

"I can rest assured that."

Cao Yu nodded, then turned back to Li An and said, "Thank you Director Li for your hard work in filming in India this time. I wonder how long the post-production will take?"

"It's not hard."

Li An couldn't help but laugh and said, "Boss Cao also knows that this film needs special effects in the later stage, which will take four or five months at the earliest. Is Boss Cao in a hurry?"

Before Cao Yu answered, Bob said, "Of course he's anxious. We didn't win any Oscars this year, so we're just waiting for Life of Pi to win an award."

"Haha. It's a bit urgent."

Cao Yu really wants to get the title of the most beloved director as soon as possible. After all, his technology company affects the interests of the United States. He might turn against him one day and restrict him.

Although the Oscars are a film award, they are actually influenced by some other factors.

Therefore, get the Grand Slam sooner and feel at ease sooner.

He groaned for a moment and said, "I'll talk to Digital Domain and ask them to set up a special project team for this film. They'll assign more people and try to finish it as soon as possible."

"If so, although the time is a bit tight, it should be in time for the Christmas release."

Although Li An was one of the directors, this film was almost completed by him alone. Although Cao Yu was listed as the director, he did not interfere much in the filming, which made Li An happier.

After discussing these things, Cao Yu was about to leave when Bob asked, "Cao, when will Despicable Me 3 be released?"

"The second part was just finished this year, so let's wait until next year."

Although Cao Yu made a lot of money from the first two "Despicable Me" movies, he couldn't take out all his tricks at once, otherwise how could he keep Universal Pictures hanging?

After leaving Universal Pictures, Song Zue couldn't wait to post Li An's autographed photo on his circle of friends.

After sending it, she hugged Cao Yu's arm and said, "Godfather, you are amazing. You are so familiar with Director Li An."

The little girl originally thought that Li An was already very capable, but she didn't expect that such a famous director would still have to look at her godfather's mood.

“This is just the beginning.”

Although Cao Yu guessed that this little girl must have an intention, he was always happy to be praised, which was human nature.

He laughed and said, “Isn’t James Cameroon’s reputation greater than Li An’s?”

"You are so good, why don't you help me arrange a movie in the United States? Even if I can't go to school this time, at least I can make a cameo appearance in a movie to make myself familiar to others."

Song Zue's purpose in praising Cao Yu is to get into Hollywood.

"He's a smart little kid, no wonder he's so sweet!"

Cao Yu tapped Song Zu'e's head and said with a smile, "But it's not impossible. Let me think about it first."

He stroked his chin and thought secretly: "There are indeed many Chinese faces in Transformers 4, but except for Li Shuangbing, the others have a weak presence. There are quite a few children in Jurassic World."

Thinking of this, he took out his phone and called Bob back.

"Cao, did you forget something?"

"Bob, I remember Universal Pictures has a Jurassic movie series. Are you interested in making another one?"

"Cao, you are really well-informed. I do have this plan and I am currently preparing for it, but the script is not ready yet. Can you help?"

"Of course, and I plan to invest."

"invest?"

The first two films in the "Jurassic Park" series were extremely successful in terms of both reputation and box office.

Unfortunately, the director of the third film was changed, and the reputation and box office plummeted, so the series was shelved for ten years. Now Universal Pictures wants to start it again.

As for investment, given Universal Pictures' strength, it actually isn't necessary at all.

But Boss Cao had already spoken, so he hesitated for a moment before saying, "It would be great if you could invest."

"Okay, I'll give you the script in a few days."

Compared to other screenwriters, Cao Yu is more familiar with "Jurassic World", but this is a movie with a box office of 1.6 billion US dollars, so it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.

If you write the script yourself, wouldn't it be easy to add a Chinese face to Song Zue in the movie?

After the call, he said to Song Zue: "Okay, I'll let you shoot Jurassic Park next year."

"Godfather, I love you so much!"

Song Zue has seen the first few episodes of this movie, which were quite popular back then. He never thought that one day he would be able to star in it?

"Don't be too happy too soon. When you return to China, improve your acting skills. If your acting skills are not up to par, I will replace you with someone else!"

"I will definitely work hard!"

When Song Zue thought about the fact that at his age he could actually make a movie in Hollywood, he really wanted to tell the world this news.

Sure enough, although I didn’t get to go to school in the United States this time, it was not a wasted trip.

That night, Cao Yu returned to the villa where Disha lived. As soon as he entered the door, the Indian girl, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, was stunned when she saw Cao Yu coming back with a girl.

When she found out that the girl was still young and definitely not her daughter or girlfriend, she immediately jumped into Cao Yu's arms and said, "Honey, why did you come just now? Did you forget about me?"

When Song Zue saw a foreign girl hugging her godfather, she guessed their relationship.

"My godfather is such a playboy. Doesn't he already have a girlfriend? Why did he find a foreign girl? But this foreign girl is really pretty."

Although her English is average, she still understands "Darling". "Is the entertainment industry like this?"

For the first time, the little girl had a different understanding of the entertainment industry.

Cao Yu hugged Disha for a while and said with a smile: "How could I forget? I was just too busy."

"How long will you stay this time?"

"A month."

"Great!"

When Disha heard that she could accompany her boyfriend for a month, she kissed Cao Yu on the mouth.

“There are children here.”

"Then go to the bedroom. I miss you so much. I haven't seen you for more than half a year. I'm afraid you've forgotten me."

Disha asked Song Zue to play by himself, and pulled Cao Yu upstairs.

"Fox spirit, if my godfather treats me badly in the future, I will tell Aunt Sissi about it!"

The little girl felt very proud that she had discovered Cao Yu's romantic little secret.

The next morning, Disha took Song Zue to play at USC, while Cao Yu went to Paramount Pictures.

Paramount is not only a film company, it also owns many cinemas and has always been among the top six in Hollywood.

It has also produced critically acclaimed films such as "The Godfather", "Indiana Jones", "Forrest Gump", and the "Transformers" series.

After Fei'e Video entered the United States, it also cooperated with Paramount.

However, Cao Yu has become quite famous in Hollywood in the past two years. Not only has he won several Oscars, he also brought Marvel Studios, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, into the top six.

In the eyes of many people, this ability alone is not something that can be achieved simply by having money.

Therefore, Paramount naturally attached great importance to the arrival of China's richest man, and the company's CEO Brad Grey personally received Cao Yu.

"Your company really has a lot of background."

"Okay."

Hearing this, CEO Brad Grey was polite but looked very proud.

By next year, Paramount will be a century-old company. Cao Yu's words naturally touched his heart.

Cao Yu is here today to discuss cooperation, so naturally I won’t tell him that your company will go downhill in a few years.

He smiled and said, "Mr. Brad Grey, congratulations on the huge success of Transformers 3 this year. I wonder when the fourth film will be made?"

Brad Grey said: "We have to wait two years for the fourth part."

"It takes two years to wait? Why not just keep working on it and get it out sooner?"

"Could it be that Mr. Cao is interested in cooperating with Paramount?"

Cao Yu's reputation as a scriptwriter has long spread throughout Hollywood. Who wouldn't want to work with him?
"Of course, this is why I came here today."

“What good ideas do you have?”

In fact, the "Transformers" series has already produced three films. Although it is very profitable, the creativity in the plot has been used up.

"I don't have any good suggestions. I just think that Transformers was filmed in the United States and Africa. I suggest that the fourth film can add some Chinese elements, and the box office will definitely be good."

"emm"

Brad Grey pondered for a moment and felt that this suggestion was indeed worth considering. After all, China has developed rapidly in recent years and has huge market potential.

The main thing is to use the name of the Chinese people to hype it up.

However, filming in China also has risks, so he asked, "The total investment in Transformers 3 reached 2.3 million. If we cooperate on the fourth film, how much does Mr. Cao plan to invest?"

“I can invest 100 million, and the special effects can be done in our digital field.”

"no problem."

When Brad Grey heard that the wealthy Boss Cao was willing to bear half of the investment, he felt it was a bit too much.

"Transformers" is a mature series of movies. Even if the creativity is a little bit lacking, with the previous reputation, if the box office of the fourth movie exceeds 1 billion, the other party will share nearly half of the profits...

He calculated and said, "In fact, we have sufficient funds, but I still hope to cooperate with Boss Cao. Otherwise, your company can invest 50 million US dollars."

"Fifty million? Too little."

"Haha, I know that given Boss Cao's ability, it would be too little. How about this, 30 million is % of your investment."

"Okay, but if there are Chinese faces, can we use our company's?"

"Of course, you can, you just have to be popular."

"Happy cooperation!"

Taking advantage of Paramount was not Cao Yu’s real purpose. His purpose was to promote the actors of his own company, at least he could not use Li Shuangbing.

On the same day, the two parties signed an agreement and publicly stated that "Transformers 4" would begin preparations in 12 and would be released at the end of 13.

After securing Paramount, Cao Yu stayed in Los Angeles for two days and then went to New York with Song Zue and Disha.

Fei'e Video has cooperated with HBO and Warner Bros., so the relationship between them is also very good.

The first season of Game of Thrones, produced by HBO, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., has just finished airing in April this year.

Although the show received good reviews after its launch, the number of views in other countries around the world was not particularly ideal.

Fortunately, Fei'e Video is the largest video platform in China, with over 200 million views, which is a shot in the arm for HBO.

Therefore, Warner Bros., as the head office, showed great enthusiasm for Cao Yu's arrival.

When Warner's boss, Kai Tsujihara, heard that this Chinese man wanted to invest in "The Hobbit" film series, he agreed without a second thought.

"???"

Seeing that the other party agreed so readily, Cao Yu looked at the boss who looked somewhat oriental and felt very surprised.

Kevin Tsujihara smiled and said, "Mr. Cao, I have investigated the movies invested by your company, and none of them has lost money so far. Just based on this point, I am willing to cooperate with you."

Cao Yu didn't believe it, but still said, "I see. I hope this movie will be a big hit as well."

Sure enough, Kevin Tsujihara said, "But, Boss Cao, I have a small request. In fact, our strength is not inferior to Universal Pictures at all. If there are good scripts in the future, it is just the same to cooperate with us."

"Well, I'll think about it."

Cao Yu did not refuse directly, but smiled and said, "Although I am a businessman, I am a sentimental person. I have known Bob for quite a while, so how can I abandon him?"

Kevin certainly didn't believe this, but he still laughed and said, "Haha, Boss Cao is indeed a very good cooperative."

Businessmen are all pursuing profits, otherwise how could you, Boss Cao, be among the top five on the rich list at such a young age?

The two parties quickly finalized Feiyu's 20% investment ratio in "The Hobbit" trilogy, and also agreed to give the Chinese introduction rights to Huanyu, and the deal was successfully reached at the first try.

"Cao, you are actually a very talented person. I have always wanted to make friends with you."

After finishing the business, Kevin asked others to prepare the contract. He and Cao Yu chatted in the office: "Which "Your Name" did you cooperate with Toho in Japan? I just watched it a few days ago. The story is very good. If such a script is slightly changed and filmed in Hollywood, maybe the box office will be better."

When he said this, he suddenly smiled mysteriously and said, "Boss Cao gave such a good script to the Japanese to film. Could it be that he likes Japanese women?"

"hehe…"

Although men like to talk about women, Cao Yu didn't expect this person to speak so directly.

Westerners are really open-minded.

He was about to change the subject when Kevin, the boss of one of the six major Hollywood film companies, continued, "In fact, I think Japanese women are not as good as Western women. How about I arrange some young and beautiful girls for you when I have time?"

(End of this chapter)