Made in Hollywood

"Walt Disney used to be just a label that focused on the animation industry, but since the end of the last century, they have continued to change to the direction of a media group and have basically achieved success."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly reversed. It became Duke saying and Rupert Murdoch listening, "I believe you know very well that Walt Disney continues to grow into adulthood while maintaining the advantages of children’s works. The advancement of the human market has squeezed out a lot of markets that originally belonged to us."

The rise of any media company will inevitably harm the interests of inherent forces.

Although Rupert Murdoch didn't nod his head or verbally agreed, Duke could tell his approval from his face.

"Have you heard, Rupert." Duke threw out a message, "Walt Disney has reached an initial cooperation agreement with Steven Spielberg. If nothing else, Disney Pictures will become The distributor of DreamWorks’ live action film studio."

This means that Walt Disney will get the biggest complement for the weakest live-action film project.

"Disney's foundation in North America is strong enough." Rupert Murdoch finally said, "Even if we snipe it, there will be no obvious effect."

"It's true." Duke ☆ agreed with him very much, but after a turn of the conversation, he said, "What if it is an emerging market?"

"Which emerging market?" Murdoch was a little puzzled.

Duke pointed his finger to the west and prompted, "Rupert, on the other side of the Pacific, the country you always wanted to enter."

"I believe you know the breadth of that market better than me." Before Murdoch answered, Duke continued, "I don’t know much about other aspects of the media industry. Its related products are the main pillar of Fox’s performance. Now the film market in most countries such as North America, Europe, South America and Southeast Asia is basically mature. Even if it increases, there will be no explosive growth."

Glancing at Murdoch thinking, Duke picked up the coffee cup and took a sip. Said, “Hollywood has already reached a consensus on where the movie market will finally break out.”

Murdoch seemed to want to say something, but Duke raised his hand to stop him, "I understand your worries, Rupert. The film split ratio over there is really pitiful, but don't forget that about the film. The WTO Memorandum and other cultural products will take effect within a few years, and the share of Hollywood movies will increase to 25%. And the box office has always been only a small part of our movie revenue, as long as movies can enter That segment of the market also means opening up a broad market for other related products."

Hearing Duke talking about this, Murdoch nodded slowly, "What does this have to do with us sniping Disney?"

"Because even if the WTO Memorandum is launched, there will still be a certain limit on the number of imported films. This limit is really small for Hollywood's huge film production.

Go to this time period. As long as you are not too stupid, you can see the potential and breadth of the opposite market. Although Duke's words have different purposes, they are based on the most basic facts. Otherwise, how could it be possible to impress people like Rupert Murdoch.

He said in a declarative tone, "If there is a distribution company that can win the favor of the opposite, it will undoubtedly get more quotas, Rupert. You have had a lot of dealings with people over there, and you should know the market. Traits."

Murdoch sighed softly, "Different from our side, the human relationship there is heavier."

Having said that, he also glanced at the woman next to him. Duke noticed his action. After all, there have been rumors from the outside world that the reason why Murdoch married the other party was to use her identity to make a fuss, but the effect was basically zero.

"Disney plans to build the largest Disney park in Asia there." Duke said unhurriedly. "The investment involved is as high as tens of billions of dollars."

As soon as these words came out, Murdoch immediately understood what Duke meant, "Disney's approach is quite clever."

"It's true." Duke looked at him and put on a very serious tone. "If Disney can really reach an investment agreement with the other party, it is not difficult to imagine that Disney's products will swarm into that market."

This is not an imagination, but a fact that has happened once.

"What are you going to do?" Murdoch asked.

Duke was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I have been there too, and I have had a brief understanding of their films and related industries. According to my calculations, at most eight to ten years, they will become second only to In the North American film market, I am the majority shareholder of Marvel and Warner Bros., and I have also participated in investing in many relatively popular film series..."

The Harry Potter series, the Mission Impossible series, and the Matrix series, even Murdoch feel jealous. Those who own the rights to these movies and who will continue to invest in the future want to maximize their profits.

"If Disney takes too much share, the movies and Fox works I invest in will be squeezed." Duke naturally put himself on the front of 20th Century Fox, "Rupert, my idea is , Why can't we squeeze out Disney?"

"You mean to obstruct Disney's plan to invest in the construction of Disneyland?" Murdoch immediately understood what Duke meant.

Duke said directly, "I have reached a consensus with Warner Bros. and Time Warner and have proposed a plan to build a Warner World. The total investment is only a lot more than Disney."

"But we are one step behind Disney after all, and the reputation of Warner World in Asia is far less than Disneyland."

Hearing Duke's words, Murdoch gently twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "So, you want me and News Corp to join?"

"Yes." Duke admitted, "If it's just the Time Warner family, there is not enough confidence, but with your participation, we have a great chance to squeeze Disney."

As early as the 1990s, Rupert Murdoch was ambitious to enter the opposite market. Although to this day, attempts have basically ended in failure, even Phoenix TV failed to succeed, but Murdoch It must have left a broad network of contacts over there.

Murdoch laughed, but did not speak.

"This is something that is good for both of us." Duke understands that if you don't see enough benefits, the other party will never be moved. "I will be responsible for persuading Warner that as long as the investment plan is successful, News Corp. will occupy enough investment, and Warner World can also be called Warner Fox World. The works of the two companies and well-known movie roles are more than enough to support a paradise."

"The opposite is a human society. Although this will not eliminate too much guard, but when the conditions are similar, we will definitely give priority to introducing our products."

Speaking of this, Duke emphasized, "These products are not just movies, Rupert, don't you want Phoenix TV to appear anywhere in that country?"

In any case, sniping on Disneyland is far more beneficial for Duke and Murdoch.

But Murdoch still didn't speak, just looked at Duke.

Duke sighed secretly, knowing that it is almost useless to talk about friendship, and he wants to impress the other party, only tangible benefits.

"James Cameron has a new plan, but the investment is too high and the risk is too high. It was rejected by Fox."

Of course, Duke is not a fool. "I know you still have a certain degree of confidence in James Cameron. The biggest doubt is the investment risk. Rupert, I can share the risk of this investment with Fox. "

This is not over yet, Duke added, "As long as I am the largest shareholder of Marvel Comics, I will try my best to prevent Marvel from reclaiming the copyright of the "X-Men" and "Fantastic Four" movies."

Rupert Murdoch stood up, apparently ready to end this discussion, "I will consider your suggestion, Duke."

Duke nodded, stood up, and walked out with the Murdoch couple.

He knows very well that even Rupert Murdoch would be cautious about this kind of decision that may involve future business strategies and the direction of huge funds. If he agreed on the spot, Duke would definitely doubt his sincerity.

The party is over here. When Duke left, he deliberately walked with James Cameron. Although the two sides could not talk about friendship, they were not enemies, and there was still the possibility of cooperation. With the new technology of film, some common topics can also be found.

In the past, Duke had not considered the idea of ​​playing "Avatar", but in the end he chose to give up.

Not to mention whether James Cameron really had the initial idea of ​​"Avatar" more than ten or twenty years ago. Duke will face a lot of problems in terms of technology alone.

In order to shoot this sci-fi masterpiece, James Cameron has been preparing for these years, continuously going deep into the sea to shoot 3D documentaries, and cooperating with Sony Electronics and imax to improve the shooting and production technology, and has a large number of patents in his hands.

A movie is not a simple matter of copying and pasting. It is one thing to understand the production process of "Avatar", but it is another thing to make it completely. Without years of preparation like James Cameron, don’t even go. miss you.

If there are five years or so, Duke is also confident to produce this movie, but it is impossible for him to spend so much time and energy on a movie.

To put it bluntly, although he is a director who is attributed to the outside world as a technology stream, he is not a technology madman like James Cameron.

After the party, Duke handed over the related matters to Warner, Tina Fei and Nancy Josephson and others to discuss. He continued to prepare for "Iron Man". After more than four months of preparations, he opened in Los Angeles. The prologue of the official shooting. (To be continued...)

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