Meizong Wealth Life

Chapter 146 The Real Father of the Marvel Universe

Nicolas Cage.

The future bankrupt movie king and the king of bad movies.

At the moment, Nicolas Cage's career is at its peak, so it's no surprise that Ovitz recommended him as the leading actor in "The Wandering Earth."

Jamie thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

In his previous life, Nicolas Cage acted in many bad movies in order to repay his debts, but even though those movies were bad, Cage's acting skills were always online.

It must be said that Nicolas Cage’s health bar is really thick.

If it were any other actor who had acted in so many bad movies, he would have been unable to survive long ago.

Nicolas Cage appears in one bad movie after another, but his reputation can still be maintained.

The most important thing is that although these bad movies are bad, most of them are not losing money. This is why Cage has become the king of bad movies, and there are so many film companies lining up to hire him to make bad movies.

In Hollywood, this is considered the only one.

The reason is not only related to the national popularity created by Cage's various outstanding works before bankruptcy, but also closely related to Cage's status as a "second generation star".

If it weren't for the surname "Coppola", Cage wouldn't be able to survive the whole picture.

Robert Downey Jr. also went through the same experience. If it weren't for Robert Downey Sr., he wouldn't have had the chance to make a comeback.

The only uncertainty now is Cameron.

According to the plan, Cameron will first go to heaven to finish shooting the space documentary, and then start preparing for the filming of "The Wandering Earth" after returning.

Although Jamie knows that Cameron's space dream will most likely be interrupted by the Columbia space shuttle crash a year later, it is still unknown when filming of "The Wandering Earth" will begin.

Don't let Cage and Cage have an agreement by then, but because of Cameron's delay, Cage resigned.

Warner's "Superman" project, which is still in limbo, is a lesson learned from the past.

Cage was initially interested in playing Superman, but was repeatedly passed up by Warner Bros.

Cage was not used to Warner Bros. and simply tore up the contract and resigned.

Warner knew he was in the wrong and did not fall out with Cage, but secretly made a note in a small book.

This debt had to wait until "The Flash", which announced the complete failure of the DCEU more than 20 years later, was released, before Warner finally succeeded in retaliating.

There are multiple versions of Superman in the movie, including Superman played by Cage.

However, after the movie was released, Cage publicly stated that Warner did not contact him at all to film this version of Superman.

The scenes that appear in the movie are all synthesized using CG.

But Cage couldn't sue Warner, because the agreement that he unilaterally tore up did include a clause authorizing Warner to use his likeness to shoot Superman.

Ovitz was also aware of Cameron's delay in making the film, so he proposed to sign a tentative contract with Cage first. They would tell Cage the filming time of the film at least a year in advance so that Cage could free up his schedule.

Jamie added one more thing.

The filming of the two "The Wandering Earth" must be completed before 08, because after the subprime mortgage crisis, Cage was almost bankrupt.

If "The Wandering Earth 1" can be released in time, maybe Cage can get some blood back and avoid following the same path as the king of bad movies in his previous life.

Cameron also agrees with this time requirement.

According to his plan, he will go into space between 03 and 04 and start filming after returning. There is more than enough time.

The three happily reached a consensus on the choice of actor for the male lead.

However, when discussing the choice of the heroine, Cameron and Ovitz had quite a disagreement.

Cameron still followed his usual aesthetics and wanted to find an actress who looked strong.

Ovitz believes that times have changed. Not to mention finding a beautiful vase actress to star, at least it should be able to meet the audience's aesthetic requirements.

Neither of them could convince the other, and Jamie finally proposed a compromise.

"What do you think of Angelina Jolie? She has acted in several action movies recently. She is the kind of actress who can both fight and act as a vase, and her acting skills are not bad."

"The most important thing is that she just collaborated with Cage in "Gone in 60 Seconds" this year. I think the two of them still have a great sense of coherence on the screen."

Cameron and Ovitz looked at each other, and neither could find a reason to object.

Angelina Jolie's proposal to play the female lead was successfully approved.

Cameron raised his hand and looked at the time. Unknowingly, the three of them had been chatting for more than three hours.

Cameron was going to attend a cocktail party in the evening, so he stood up and left immediately.

Jamie will also attend the celebratory cocktail party for the CS eSports competition next, and is going to have something to eat first to cushion his stomach.

"together?"

Jamie extended an invitation to Ovitz.

Ovitz now has two film projects in his backlog, "The Adventures of Cheng Long" and "The Wandering Earth". With so many things on his hands, it stands to reason that he has no time to have dinner with Jamie at all.

Especially the kind that just deal with it casually.

But surprisingly, Ovitz agreed.

The reason he used was that he happened to be hungry, but Jamie didn't want to believe it at all.

Seeing that the lie was exposed, Ovitz had no choice but to tell the truth.

"You know, I was the CEO of Disney for a period of time, and while that was the biggest failure of my career, it was not without its rewards."

Jamie pretended to listen patiently.

He knew that what Ovitz was worth was certainly not the $1.2 million in severance compensation Disney paid him.

"A Disney executive who had a good relationship with me at the time had just resigned some time ago. He called me yesterday and wanted to meet you."

"I?"

Jamie was a little surprised.

If the other party is still a senior Disney official, it would be reasonable to be interested in him, but since the other party has resigned from Disney, the purpose of coming to him now is very questionable.

Despite this, Jamie agreed.

Jamie called Betty to make a reservation at the restaurant, while Ovitz contacted the former Disney executive.

The two parties finally met at a Subway fast food restaurant near the hotel.

Betty and Penny, who came here first to place an order and take a seat, looked at the three men shaking hands outside the restaurant door through the glass window.

"Who is he?"

Penny was the first to ask.

Betty shook her head. Jamie only told her to order a meal for three people on the phone. She thought the third person was Cameron. Penny immediately changed the question.

"Does Jamie often eat at this kind of fast food restaurant? It's a little different from how I imagined the life of a rich kid in the Upper East Side of New York."

Betty shrugged and replied:

"He is indeed different from other rich kids. Of course, he doesn't often visit this kind of civilian restaurant, at least not when he is dating his girlfriends."

"Girlfriends...?"

Penny looked at Betty with a shocked look on her face.

She felt as if she had heard some incredible news.

Betty knew she had made a mistake and immediately made Penny forget what she had just said.

Penny nodded understandingly, but a burning fire of gossip quietly ignited in her heart.

At this time, Jamie, Ovitz, and the strange man they had never seen before opened the door and walked in.

Betty and Penny immediately stood up from their seats.

Betty stepped forward and guided the three of them to the reserved seats, and soon Penny came over with a plate full of sandwiches, salads, wraps and other food.

After putting down the food, Penny and Betty walked to the seats next to them and sat down.

This location is neither far nor close, so there is no suspicion of eavesdropping on the conversation between Jamie and the three of them, and it is also convenient for Jamie to call them over immediately when needed.

Jamie looked at the middle-aged man across the seat and shrugged apologetically.

"Mr. Messer, in a hurry, I can only invite you to have dinner here."

The middle-aged man immediately shook his head and said that he often frequented this kind of fast food restaurant, especially the dining atmosphere, which reminded him of his struggle experience when he was young.

His name is David Messer, and he currently serves as the chief operating officer of Marvel Studios.

Not to mention Jamie, who met for the first time, even Ovitz, who knew Messer well, was surprised that Messer was re-employed so quickly.

Mainly, Messer had not mentioned his new job on the phone before, which led Ovitz to mistakenly believe that Messer came to see Jamie just to try his luck to see if he could get a new job opportunity from Jamie.

"David, how could you ever think of working for that stingy guy in Parmat?" Before starting to eat, Ovitz asked the question that had been hidden in his heart since they met.

Malpat is the executive chairman of Marvel. This Jewish guy is recognized as a miser in the industry.

The various superhero rights that Marvel has sold over the years are Palmater's masterpiece.

How stingy is this guy?

After acquiring Marvel that year, I felt that Marvel founder Stan Lee's annual salary of one million US dollars was too expensive, and I wanted to cut it in half.

In the end, after hard persuasion from the top management, only $800,000 was cut.

For the father of Marvel to be like this, it shows his stingy style.

David Messer shrugged with a wry smile and explained:

"Because I promised Palmater not to take a salary, but just give me a portion of Marvel's stock options."

This approach, which was almost like working for nothing, made Ovitz exclaim on the spot.

"Are you crazy? With Marvel's current half-dead state, it is very likely that your work will be in vain."

Messer curled his lips in disapproval.

"Maybe, but I'd rather think of it as a gorgeous adventure."

Ovitz also calmed down. Based on his understanding of Messer, the other party's words were definitely not without purpose.

"So does all this have anything to do with you meeting Jamie today?"

Messer turned to look at Jamie.

"Mr. Dutton should have guessed it, right? You have something that I, or Marvel, are very interested in."

In an instant, Jamie guessed Messer's purpose.

Then he laughed.

"Is it Iron Man?"

Just as Messer was about to nod, Jamie's voice sounded again.

"I understand that Marvel wants to take back the copyright of "Iron Man", but can that guy Palmater, or the current Marvel, afford the price?"

Messer obviously knew this, but he came anyway.

Jamie already guessed Messer's plan without even using his brain to think about it.

This guy had just finished having sex with Parmat for free, and he was going to have sex with himself again.

Otherwise, this guy is a talent!

He deserves to be able to make a fortune from Marvel Studios in his previous life!

When it comes to the success of Marvel movies in previous lives, most people's first reaction will be to think of Kevin Feige, the man who single-handedly created the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But in fact, the person who first proposed the Marvel Cinematic Universe was not Kevin Feige, but David Messer, who was sitting opposite Jamie at the moment.

Facing this time's free prostitute, Messer began to talk like he did the last time he met Palmater.

"After leaving Disney, I had been looking for an opportunity to run an independent film company, and this was the question that was on my mind."

"Why do most Hollywood movies have to follow the trilogy model? After a movie is successful, there are at most two sequels."

“If I can make one movie that I can believe in, every movie after that is going to be a sequel or a spin-off — keep the same characters in, and it’s basically going to be endless.”

"Because it's not 30 new movies, but one movie and 29 sequels, I'd like to call it a cinematic universe."

"You may ask at this time, if a character appears so many times, the audience will definitely get bored. My solution is to use one character to continuously introduce new characters to keep the audience fresh."

"And the same character appearing in different sequels does not repeat his positioning in the previous movie. The audience can see the character growing and changing in different sequels."

"It's like planting a fruit and eventually it will blossom and bear fruit. The whole process will be exciting."

"I know this sounds a bit whimsical. How can ordinary movies have so many new characters and character growth arcs to explore?"

"But superhero movies can do that, and when we shoot enough sequels and introduce enough characters, we can also bring these characters together and team up to fight monsters."

"To give an inappropriate metaphor, if one day Superman and Batman appear in a movie at the same time, the sensation caused by that scene will definitely be no less than when Warner put Superman on the big screen for the first time."

Looking at Messer's excited speech in front of him, Jamie silently complained in his heart.

In the previous life, Warner thought this way, but as a result, "Batman v Superman" almost failed.

There is certainly a reason why Warner executives interfered in the director's creation, but the main reason is that the film was released too late.

Marvel's Avengers next door has already filmed its second installment, and Warner has just begun to arrange for the two top heroes to fight.

Under the bombardment of Marvel movies one after another, the audience has long lost the novelty of superhero battles on the screen.

But it's only 2001, and Messer's words are absolutely shocking.

(End of this chapter)