Meiyu: I don’t care about the cost when making movies

Chapter 209 Taking Copyright
"Fast and Furious", "Jurassic Park" and "Ugly" are Universal's three most valuable series of IPs at present.

Among them, "Fast and Furious" and "Ugly Country" not only make money, but also have good reputations.

So when Wayne wanted "The Fast and the Furious", Barry Diller turned it down almost without thinking.

But Wayne still looked like he didn't want to give up, saying: "Give me this IP, I can make it better, and after the filming is completed, I can give priority to selling it to Universal Pictures under the same conditions. Universal Pictures is responsible for distribution.”

This time, Barry Diller hesitated slightly.

Because he also believes that if it were produced by Hemera Pictures, the ratings and box office of "Fast and Furious" would be better than they are now.

But in that case, it would be much more expensive for them to buy the rights to "Fast and Furious" than to produce it themselves.

In this way, the increase in box office and reputation will not necessarily make them more money, so he refused after thinking for seven or eight seconds.

"Sorry, Mr. Wayne, "Fast and Furious" is really not good. This is our most important IP in the next few years at Universal Pictures. You should change it."

Barry Diller said with a very sincere smile.

"Then let's go with Ugly Country." Wayne said.

This made Barry Diller's breath hitch again, and the smile on his lips froze.

Don't forget that "Ugly Country" is just a campus comedy, but if you only compare the first one, its box office and ratings are higher than "Fast and Furious 1".

Especially the box office, because this year's summer season competition is too fierce, the box office of "Fast and Furious 1" is more than 2000 million lower than Wayne's previous life, only 1.7 million US dollars.

However, "Ugly Country Party 1" achieved a global box office of US$99 million when it was released in 2.35.

It's just that the series that campus comedies can develop are limited, so within Universal, "Fast and Furious" should be paid more attention to.

But if they really ask them to sell the IP of "Ugly Country Party", it will be absolutely impossible unless the upcoming "Ugly Country Party 2" has a huge box office hit.

However, even Wayne is optimistic about the IP of "Ugly Country Party", and the possibility of "Ugly Country Party 2" box office dive is obviously very small.

"Since that's the case, let's forget it. I have other work to deal with here. How about——"

Wayne acted like he was serving tea to the guests, which made Barry Diller immediately anxious.

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Wayne. 2.3 million, we are buying the copyright of "Wedding Crashers" for 2.3 million US dollars!"

"Sorry, it's not about the money."

This time it was Wayne's turn and he refused without hesitation.

"But I really can't decide to sell these two IPs. If I want to sell them, the head office will definitely stop them."

"Then just follow the normal transaction."

"."

What is a normal transaction? It is obviously targeting them, Universal, okay!
"Wait a minute! Mr. Wayne! "Jurassic Park"! Do you think it's okay to switch to the IP of "Jurassic Park"?"

Barry Diller finally came up with Jurassic Park after being unable to sell The Fast and the Furious and The Fool.

Wayne on the other end of the phone couldn't help but have a flash of light in his eyes, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, and he said calmly in a calm tone: "Please, Mr. Diller, I also know something about the situation of "Jurassic Park". "

"It's okay if the box office is just unsatisfactory. The reputation is so bad and the score is only 4.9. It is directly classified as a bad movie. Is such an IP still valuable?"

“Even Spielberg couldn’t save it, who do you think can save it?”

When Diller heard this, even though he was already thick-skinned, he couldn't help but feel a trace of embarrassment on his face.

The value of IP lies in the blessing of good reputation in the front seat for subsequent sequels. Therefore, for an IP, the box office is still secondary, and reputation and ratings are the main thing.

The current Jurassic Park, because of the poor reputation of the third part, if it continues to produce the fourth part, not only will it not be blessed by the IP sequel, but it will also be boycotted because of the poor reputation of the previous part. The box office will be affected. Much lower than normal.

More importantly, as Wayne said, if even Spielberg can't save Jurassic Park, who else can save Jurassic Park?
So at this time, the IP of Jurassic Park cannot be said to be worthless to Universal Pictures. It can only be said that its value is very small.

If measured in terms of money, the previous Jurassic Park was probably worth about $3 million.

But now, 3000 million is a bit too much.

"Ahem, maybe Mr. Wayne and your Hemera Pictures can save him? What Spielberg can't do, you may not be able to do it." Barry Diller said with a smile.

"Haha!" Wayne said nothing, just sneered in return.

However, Barry Diller was not discouraged, and Wayne did not hang up the phone with the excuse of having something to do. This meant that there was still more to talk about, right?

"2 million in cash, plus the IP of Jurassic Park, do you think it's okay?"

2.3 million was almost Barry Diller's bottom line. Realizing this, Wayne did not counteroffer, but pretended to think for a moment before agreeing.

Barry Diller on the other end of the phone felt that the silence in the receiver was so long. It was not until Wayne finally agreed that the suffocating feeling finally left him.

There was no way, even as the president of Universal, he would still feel nervous in front of such a deal.

After all, if the deal is not reached and "Wedding Crashers" and "Ugly Country Party 2" are released at the same time, it will suffer a huge box office loss, the reputation will drop, and in the end even the IP of "Ugly Country Party" may be destroyed.

If this happens, whether he can continue to be president is a question.

It would be strange if he wasn't nervous about his current position and power.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Wayne. When do you think we will sign the contract and complete the transaction?"

"I will notify Sera later, it should be available at any time."

"Then tomorrow morning!"

Barry Diller, who wanted to settle down as soon as possible, said hurriedly.

Wayne naturally would not refuse such a rush to send him money, so he readily agreed.

However, the conclusion of this deal was only circulated among the Big Seven and several other distribution companies, and was not spread outside.

Because Universal does not plan to release "Wedding Crashers" in the near future, but plans to wait until "Ugly Country Part 2" is released.

Wayne naturally had no objections to this. After all, he knew that a big event would happen in Millikin soon.

If the movie is really released at this time, the box office will definitely be affected a lot.

"Tang Wei and Gao Yuanyuan have returned to China to film "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and they probably won't be flying back again in the short term."

"Others either don't have any jobs, or their jobs are in Los Angeles, and they probably don't have any plans to fly in the next month."

"By the way, Jet Li should be coming over from the "Hero" crew to film the "Butcher" scene. We'll check out the shooting plan later and try to finish filming his scenes this month."

Wayne, who had just received a long-distance call from Tang Wei and Gao Yuanyuan, said he had landed safely, thought to himself.

Regarding the terrorist attack that is about to happen next month and shock the world, Wayne only plans to be a quiet spectator and does not intend to interfere in anything.

After all, what does it have to do with him whether the Milicians die or not?
If this terrorist attack had not happened, how could subsequent superhero movies be such hits?
What's more, from the many reports in the past and subsequent lives, it is difficult not to make people doubt that this terrorist attack was a game between the top leaders of the United States. At least some people should have known in advance that this attack would happen.This way, it would be even less possible for him to get involved.

"The scheduled start time of "The Incredible Hulk" should be September 9.20th, right? Then the crew will go to New York to shoot, and it will be able to win the favor of New Yorkers again."

A playful smile appeared on Wayne's lips.

Then his smile faded, and he saw Russell Crowe and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who were already looking like good friends, walking shoulder to shoulder, and took the initiative to walk towards them.

Although Dwayne Johnson is also a scumbag. After becoming famous, he divorced his agent's ex-wife and found another sexy beauty, but this guy does have a very good character.

At least his emotional intelligence is much stronger than that guy Vin Diesel.

Not long after he joined the group, he, who was still only a third-tier star, had already become good friends with a popular first-tier actor like Russell Crowe, and he also had a good relationship with Wayne.

With such communicative skills, it’s no wonder he became popular so quickly and for so long.

"Hey, Wayne, this guy Johnson actually wants to take time off to go to Michael Jackson's [-]th anniversary concert next month! This guy is so unprofessional, I think you should fire him directly !”

As soon as Russell saw him coming, he rushed to complain.

Of course, this is just a joke.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. It's just that someone gave my wife some tickets. It would be a pity not to go. After all, these tickets cost 1600 US dollars each."

"."

Looking at Dwayne Johnson's deliberately painful look, Wayne also smiled and joked with him.

However, Russell Crowe's words suddenly reminded Wayne.

As soon as he turned around and returned to the rest room, Wayne picked up his cell phone and called Avril.

"Hello? Honey, why did you suddenly call me at this time? Did you miss me?" Avril's surprised voice came from the other side as soon as the call was connected.

"Yeah, baby, I miss you."

Wayne smiled, followed her, said a few words of love to her, and made an appointment to pick her up and have dinner with her after work tonight, and then he got down to business with her.

Not surprisingly, Howard Stringer has not forgotten Avril Lavigne, one of Wayne's favorite women.

Not only are Avril prepared to be a guest performer at Michael Jackson's last two concerts, but they are even scheduled to sing a duet with Michael Jackson.

You know, this is a unique honor.

Although Michael Jackson has sung with others in concerts before, it was just an ordinary concert and had a completely different meaning from this final 30th anniversary concert.

Not to mention the number of spectators at the venue, they were all full.

When the edited version was later shown on TV, more than 4500 million people stayed in front of the TV to watch the concert.

If Avril really agrees, she will become popular all over the United States with just this one concert, and her popularity and status will directly lead her to become a popular first-line female singer.

After all, Avril's own conditions and strength are also there.

To be honest, even Wayne was a little moved when he saw this condition. After all, in the entertainment industry, it is always necessary to become famous early. However, for the safety of Avril, he still insisted on his idea.

"Reject it."

"it is good!"

Avril unexpectedly agreed without even thinking.

This almost stopped what Wayne originally wanted to say.

However, he still took the initiative to explain: "There is an old Chinese saying that 'the wind will destroy the trees that are beautiful in the forest'."

"Your current position is just right for you. Performing on the same stage as Michael Jackson at the 30th anniversary concert is too high for you."

"This kind of height is not something you can grasp now that you haven't even released an album and have no actual achievements."

"If you stand in this position now, fans of Michael Jackson, as well as fans of Madonna, Britney Spears, and other female singers who have been stepped on by you, will all look at you in a colored light, and even attack you with bad words. you."

"That's not a good thing for you."

"The most important thing for you now is to make your first album."

Avril suddenly understood, and then hummed: "I'm not afraid of those people's bad words, but I will listen to you, dear. If you don't let me go, I won't go."

Wayne couldn't help but laugh.

Who would have thought that Avril Lavigne, this cool-looking punk princess, is actually a blind love brain at heart.

But in this way, Wayne finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the concert will be held on the 7th and 10th, and the venue is Madison Square Garden, don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst.

Anyway, just stay away from airplanes and New York during this period.

After finishing work in the afternoon, Wayne drove to the recording studio alone.

While waiting for Avril to come out, I opened the system panel and checked it out.

[Remaining film and television investment funds: 70370 million]

[Film and television projects currently in progress:]

[Ocean’s Eleven (18%): Estimated investment of 1500 million, currently 1500 million has been invested]

[Pirates of the Caribbean (16%): Estimated investment of 2000 million, currently 600 million has been invested]

[Spider-Man 1 (22%): Estimated investment of 3000 million, currently 3000 million has been invested]

[Star Wars Episode 2 (4%): Estimated investment is 1500 million, current investment is 1500 million]

[Death-defying Express (50%): Estimated investment of 800 million, currently 800 million has been invested]

[Heidi and Grandpa: It is expected to invest 1500 million, and 1200 million has been invested so far]

[Assassin’s League: Estimated investment is 17000 million, currently 9500 million has been invested]

[Intern: Estimated investment is 6000 million, 4000 million has been invested so far]

[The King’s Speech: Estimated investment of 10000 million, currently 3500 million invested]

[Hulk: Estimated investment is 10000 million, currently 3200 million has been invested]

[Fantastic Four: Estimated investment of 12000 million, currently 5210 million has been invested]

(End of this chapter)