Meizong Wealth Life

Chapter 147 Why Iron Man

Messer still clearly remembers the last time he said these shocking words in front of Marvel Executive Chairman Palmette, and the surprised expression on the other person's face.

I thought Jamie and Ovitz would have similar expressions to Palmater after hearing this.

The result is just the opposite.

Jamie continued to chew on the sandwich in his hand, as if the food attracted him more than what Messer had just said.

Ovitz looked at Messer with interest as he fiddled with his Coke straw.

"David, you have a great idea—"

This inexplicably familiar tone and expression immediately gave Messer a bad premonition.

Because Parmat also started like this last time.

You said it well, don't say it next time.

Palmater's reaction has a lot to do with Marvel's current half-dead state.

Although the idea of ​​creating a Marvel Cinematic Universe put forward by Messer is tempting, the film and television rights of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Marvel's leading superhero Spider-Man are all in the hands of others.

Marvel only has some unknown third-tier superheroes left in its hands. If it wants to build a Marvel Cinematic Universe with just these three melons and two dates, it is sheer nonsense.

The most important thing is that Marvel is very poor now, and Palmater was elected as the executive chairman of Marvel because he is stingy.

If open source cannot be achieved, then we can only reduce expenditures.

In this case, he wanted Marvel to spend money to make a superhero movie. The reason why Palmater could endure Messer's talk was because the meal had already been paid for.

Even if Messer was told to leave immediately, Palmater would not be able to finish the dinner for two by himself.

Now, the situation seems to be repeating the same mistakes as last time.

Messer, who has always been quick-witted, decided to turn the tide again, just like last time he persuaded Palmater in less than a minute after rearranging his language.

This time, in order to convince Jamie, Messer also prepared a "big killer".

But before Messer could speak, Ovitz's voice rang out first.

"I don't know what happened recently, but you are already the second person to propose the idea of ​​a movie universe in front of me."

Messer was stunned.

"Michael, this joke must not be funny. I swear in the name of God, I only told Palmater about the idea of ​​​​the movie universe. Could it be that he revealed some information to you in advance?"

Ovitz shook his head decisively and said:

"I have never dealt with Palmater. The person I am talking about is sitting in front of you now."

Under Messer's shocked expression, Jamie put the last piece of sandwich into his mouth, took out a tissue and wiped his hands, then looked up at him, shrugged and said:

"Yes, it's me."

In order to prove Jamie's words, Ovitz briefly revealed the current preparation progress of the live-action version of "The Adventures of Cheng Long" to Messer.

The expression on Messer's face gradually changed from shock to horror.

He didn't expect that the creativity he was so proud of was already the leftovers from someone else's play.

Before Messer could recover from the blow, Ovitz comforted him and said:

"David, I believe in your character that you would never commit plagiarism, so this is just a pure coincidence."

There was more than a trace of bitterness at the corner of Messer's mouth.

After being around Hollywood for so many years, how could he not hear the subtext in Ovitz's words?

If there are similarities, you can copy me!

The live-action version of "The Adventures of Cheng Long" has entered the actual preparation stage, while the Marvel movie is still just a fantasy on paper.

At this time Ovitz's voice continued to sound.

"But I'm curious. Based on my understanding of Palmater and Marvel, your creative vision of a movie universe and the gimmick of working for free without salary may not be enough to convince the other party to hire you as Marvel's COO, right? "

Seeing that his underwear was stripped off by the other party, Messer could only nod with a wry smile and said:

"That's right, in addition to the promise of no salary, I also promised to Palmater that as long as the opening work of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is successful, I can pull the strings and persuade Disney to acquire Marvel at a premium, allowing Palmater to and other Marvel directors will make a fortune.”

Not to mention that Messer is a talent.

In the eyes of others, he is working for Marvel for free, but in fact he is working for Marvel for free.

Using only the idea of ​​​​a movie universe, he defrauded Marvel stock options.

Don’t look at the current Marvel stock price, but once the Marvel Cinematic Universe is successfully constructed and catches the eye of the financier, Disney, the price will not be the same as it is now.

Ovitz obviously understood this and immediately asked:

"Making a superhero movie requires an investment of at least hundreds of millions of dollars. Can Marvel afford this money now?"

Messer immediately replied:

"I have convinced the Marvel board of directors to pledge the company's remaining superhero copyrights to banks to obtain loans to make movies."

Ovitz was about to ask Messer if he had considered the risk of failure.

As he said this, he suddenly remembered that this matter would be risky for Messer.

If Messer failed, he would just slap his butt and leave. In the end, Marvel would be the unlucky one.

The Marvel board of directors and the old pervert Palmater all know this, but for them and Marvel now, there is no greater risk than maintaining the current half-dead state.

So you might as well give it a try!

Seeing that Ovitz didn't continue to speak, Messer followed and looked at Jamie, who was watching the show with his hands folded.

"The Marvel board of directors and I comprehensively analyzed all the superheroes whose copyrights are still in the hands of Marvel, and found that the most suitable one to start the Marvel Cinematic Universe is "Iron Man," so we hope to recover the copyright of this superhero. "

Jamie just shrugged noncommittally.

"Mr. Messer, as you just said, Marvel has no money right now. Even your so-called idea of ​​mortgaging superhero copyrights to banks is still just an idea stage."

"The most important thing is, why should I return the copyright of "Iron Man" to Marvel? You should know very well that I got it from Weststar Films not to sell it at a high price one day. To Marvel.”

"And I don't think Marvel can afford a price that would tempt me."

Although it was not good news, Messer was still relieved.

At least Jamie didn't say no outright.

"Mr. Dutton, if "Iron Man" does not return to Marvel, then it will always be just a third-tier superhero. But if it can join the Marvel universe, I am confident that it will be comparable to DC Superman and Batman. A-list superhero."

Messer's original intention in using this example was to say that cooperation can maximize the benefits of both parties.

Jamie suddenly remembered something else.

"Mr. Messer, interrupt me first. Can I ask you a digression?" Messer was stunned and nodded subconsciously.

Jamie then asked:

"You can come up with such a great idea to build a movie universe, why not go to Warner Bros. to cooperate?"

A complicated look flashed in Messer's eyes.

Unlike Marvel, DC has never been outsourced to its superheroes because it was acquired by Warner very early.

And on the road to superhero film and television, DC has always been far ahead of Marvel.

No matter how you look at it, DC is better suited than Marvel to build a superhero movie universe.

But even so, Messer will still choose Marvel.

He was about to say the reason, but Jamie suddenly said something.

"Okay, I already know why."

If Maisel goes to Warner Bros. to collaborate, it’s not to mention whether the other party will be impressed by the creative concept of the movie universe.

Even if they were moved, Warner executives would only reply to Messer.

It's a great idea, but now it's mine!

The creativity of the movie universe is not protected by copyright, so why should we pay if we can get it for free?

If Messer can't even see and understand such a simple truth, then he has been a Disney executive for so many years.

In the same way, Jamie would rather use the "Joker" script to whet Warner's appetite first than throw out the idea of ​​constructing the DCEU right from the start.

When "Joker" becomes a big hit, it will be Warner who begs him.

When the time comes, Nolan's version of "Batman" trilogy is thrown in front of Warner, and I ask Warner how to respond?

Before Messer could recover, Jamie asked another question.

"That question just now doesn't count. I'll change it to another one."

"Mr. Maisel, why do you and Warner executives think that "Iron Man" is the most suitable work to start the Marvel Cinematic Universe?"

"As far as I know, there are many Marvel superheroes who wear mechas and fight like Iron Man. Although they are not very famous, Iron Man is not the only one, isn't he?"

Messer's Adam's apple rolled.

His intuition told him that Jamie was even more difficult to deal with than that old bitch in Palmater.

It was also a lie, and Parmater might have left Messer to finish dinner.

And Jamie might tell Messer to get out of here in the next second.

After his brain quickly organized the language, Messer said in a deep voice:

"Mr. Dutton, I wonder if you have noticed one thing. Sony has postponed the release date of "Spider-Man" to May next year."

Jamie said nothing, but glanced at Ovitz.

Ovitz understood and said:

"The news I received is that Sony will invest an additional US$2000 million to re-adjust some plots of "Spider-Man"."

In fact, Sony released a trailer during this summer vacation, and a scene appeared in it.

Spider-Man spun a web between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and trapped a villain's helicopter.

Who would have thought that just a few days after this trailer was released, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center received two large airplanes from the Middle East.

Sony and the Spider-Man crew are all numb.

The biggest visual attraction of the Spider-Man live-action movie is that the little spider swings among the high-rise buildings in New York.

As a landmark building in New York, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center have appeared many times in movies.

Once the 911/ incident happened, all these shots had to be redone.

This matter is not a secret in Hollywood, and most other film companies also have the mentality of watching the excitement.

Ovitz didn't understand, why did Messer bring this up when he had nothing to do?

Immediately Messer's voice rang out.

"I don't mention this out of gloating. Although Marvel definitely hopes to take back the copyright of Spider-Man, I personally really hope to see Spider-Man released as soon as possible, and preferably it will be a big success, so that it will There are more people supporting my plans to build the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

"In fact, Spider-Man is not the only movie that was affected by 911. Even Warner's current key project, The Lord of the Rings, was affected to some extent."

This sounds very nonsense.

The magical story "Lord of the Rings" that takes place in the virtual world of Middle-earth can be related to the real-life 911/ incident.

But reality is so magical.

After 911, the entire United States was in panic.

The second part of The Lord of the Rings is called The Two Towers, which is easily reminiscent of the crashed Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

In order not to change the name, director Peter Jackson went on the show to clarify that Twin Towers and Twin Towers are not the same word.

"The encounter between "Spider-Man" and "Lord of the Rings" is just the beginning. I think the subsequent impact of 911 will change the theme trend of the entire Hollywood movie."

"September 911 made all Americans realize that the United States is not as safe as they imagined. I can boldly predict that in the future, anti-terrorism-themed film and television works will be very popular."

"At the same time, the usual villains in Hollywood movies will also change from woolly bears in the post-Cold War era to terrorist organizations in the Middle East."

"In this atmosphere of lack of safety, superhero movies will usher in a big explosion, but not just any superhero can succeed. In my opinion, those superheroes who are closer to real life are more likely to succeed. Easy to succeed.”

"For example, in Spider-Man, 911 seemed to cause some trouble for the movie, but in fact it will help the movie become more successful."

"In the same way, if Warner starts a superhero movie like Batman at this time that does not have exaggerated superpowers and is closer to reality, I think the probability of success is also very high."

When Messer said this conclusion, Jamie's calm expression finally showed a trace of emotion.

Nolan's Batman trilogy is essentially a profound reflection on the 911 incident.

So it became the ceiling for superhero movies.

With the Batman trilogy still on the horizon, Maisel can be prepared to foresee Batman's possible success.

Is this why he chose "Iron Man" from many Marvel superheroes?

Without thinking much, Messer's voice sounded again.

"If the Marvel Cinematic Universe wants to make a splash, its first choice is a superhero that is close to reality and can quickly arouse the audience's empathy. However, currently, none of the superheroes that Marvel still owns the copyright meets this condition."

"Looking at Iron Man, he has all the success factors I just mentioned. The most important thing is that Iron Man was born in a war, and in reality, the United States is also launching a war on terrorism. In reality, this may not be good news. But it’s definitely the biggest positive for the movie.”

(End of this chapter)