During this period of time, shouldn't Marvel have been flirting with Disney in private?
Why would Stan Lee come here alone to beg for alms from him, the God of Wealth?
"To me, each of those characters is like a beloved child. No parent would want to sell their child to someone else."
Stan Lee wanted to ensure Marvel's independence, and he personally did not want the characters to be controlled by large companies.
Once incorporated into a larger company, many things will no longer be decided by him and Marvel.
"So, what do you think?"
Li Zhenyu needs to understand his true intentions before deciding whether to do so.
Stan Lee wanted to bring in new investors to revitalize the company.
Just like MGM today.
So, he was looking at the money in his own pocket and saw hope in MGM.
"Price?"
"Marvel needs $200 million to start a new project. You can set any conditions as long as you can guarantee its independence."
"What's the new project?"
“Iron Man 2.”
Li Zhenyu remembers that this film seemed to make money, but he is not sure how much it made.
US$200 million. Based on the transaction price of US$4.09 billion when Disney acquired Marvel, Li Zhenyu can get 2% of the shares.
Such a small amount of shares doesn't mean much to him.
"One billion, 35% of the equity..." Li Zhenyu raised his hand to Stan Lee who was about to speak, and then said, "I can authorize the equity to you as long as you can make money for me."
"Stan, I'm a businessman, a pure businessman. I will support whoever can make money for me."
"Of course, I personally like those Marvel characters very much, but I like the value contained in them more... money, understand?"
Li Zhenyu rubbed his fingers, vividly expressing the greed and commercialism of capitalists.
Stan Lee was happy about this, as he liked pure businessmen like Li Zhenyu the most.
As long as you make money,
Such investors are as generous and great as God in the eyes of those seeking funds.
"I'll discuss this with Fitch."
"discuss?"
Li Zhenyu narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression looking very playful.
This was clearly intended to make him express his position in public and give himself a clear answer.
"I'll convince him."
Stan Lee restrained his smile and made a promise to him with a serious face.
Should it give up some of its interests and continue to control Marvel's future development direction, or sell it in a package to Disney and become a puppet in the hands of others.
Stan Lee is not a qualified businessman, but that does not affect his ability to make correct judgments.
It is impossible for Marvel to burn money on its own.
With Li Zhenyu's $1 billion, they can start all the previous filming plans.
What's more, Marvel doesn't have enough resources to call upon.
Almost all the outstanding film talents have been recruited by the Big Seven, and those who are working outside also have their own teams.
If outsiders want to use these talents, they will have to pay a huge price.
It's possible that a hugely successful film won't earn any money at all.
All profits may be deducted and stolen by big companies under various pretexts.
Good Will Hunting is a ready example.
Advanced equipment, concepts, the best venues, and an excellent production team are the important elements that make up a classic film.
Money is important, but when it is no longer an issue, it becomes worthless.
With the support of MGM's production team, Marvel's filming plans will proceed more smoothly.
"Lee, I will convince Fitch, but 35 percent is too high."
"If he wants $1 billion in cash, he should learn to accept it, not refuse it."
What Li Zhenyu gave was real money, not any stock exchange, to pay off the debt.
If you want this money, show your utmost sincerity.
He should understand the difference between a package acquisition and purchasing a portion of the equity and then authorizing the equity to the other party, and Kevin Feige should also understand this.
If he couldn't even figure this out, Li Zhenyu could only say, "It's such a pity."
After talking with Stan Lee, he left in a hurry.
Seeing that Li Zhenyu was alone, Sam Mendes hurried over and asked him if he had any ideas or suggestions for the next shooting.
Sam Mendes doesn't want to do this. As a director in Hollywood, what he wants most is the power to make decisions.
“Everything I wanted to say is in the script.”
He wrote the script himself, so there is nothing else that needs special reminders.
No, it’s all in the script.
"that's all?"
"Yes, that's it."
Sam couldn't hide his joy. He felt that he must have used up all his luck to meet such a boss.
There are no messy demands, and they will not interfere with the normal filming of the crew. They pay money quickly and generously.
I just like playing with female celebrities, can this be called a request?
If the age difference wasn't so big, Sam Mendes really wanted to ask him: "Dear Lee, can you be my godfather?"
Ah~ I almost forgot about the child. There is also a child.
"Lee, are you interested in being my child's godfather?"
Li Zhenyu was very surprised. Why did he suddenly mention this? Their relationship was not that good yet.
"I'm not religious, Sam."
Sam, who was overly excited before, regained his composure: "Sorry, I was a little too excited. Believe me, Lee, it will definitely work."
Sam Mendes thought that he was only using the excuse of "not being a religious person" to politely reject him just to take care of his own feelings.
Who wouldn't believe in religion? Where should his soul and his faith go?
Besides, he is a businessman.
Only if a physicist comes, he will find it normal.
"Li, we meet again."
Today, there were quite a lot of people who wanted to talk to him alone. As soon as Sam Mendes left, Monica, who was the beauty and sexiness of the film, came to him.
"You look very good, radiant, and more... alive than when we met last time."
Like a peony watered by rain and blooming brilliantly in the sun.
"Thanks."
Monica Bellucci thanked him with a complicated expression.
Because she didn't know whether this sentence was a compliment to herself or Li Zhenyu's self-praise.
He should be the one who knows best why he has become like this and who has nurtured him.
"What's up?"
Hearing his question, Monica, who was lost in her imagination, blurted out her thoughts: "I want to ask, are you free tonight? We can find a place to have a drink alone."
'Alone' 'Drinking'
When these two elements are put together, the meaning they express is no different from "let's have a go".
"Sorry, I have an appointment..."
Seeing her somewhat lost look, Li Zhenyu took out his cell phone and shook it and said, "Maybe I can ask her if she minds having more people."
Tonight, he has a date with the Hester sisters.
To be precise, it was the Hearst sisters who asked him to meet them tonight on the Upper East Side, saying that they had something important to discuss with him in person.
Li Zhenyu actually didn't want to make any trouble, but Lydia made it very clear on the phone.
It was something very important, and Amanda also said that she was not joking.
Therefore, he could only ask the crew to make another trip.
He raised his wrist and checked the time. "It's almost time. Do you want to go together?"
Looking at the palm open in front of her, Monica didn't hesitate for long before handing her hand to him.
"Should you tell the director when you're coming back? Shooting officially starts tomorrow."
"Don't worry, you'll be able to show up on the set before dawn tomorrow morning at the latest."
Nodding to Zhao Xianzhu, he walked towards Sam Mendes who was telling everyone the story summary, how he got the director position, the shooting plan and progress, etc.
Now is the best time to create hype, and the red envelopes given at the end of the interview are not given in vain.
"Director Mendes, can you talk to me first?"
After Zhao Xianzhu returned to the car, it immediately drove to the airport.
After 4 hours and 45 minutes, the Gulfstream G300 landed smoothly in New York, and the hands on the watch stopped at 5 pm.
Turning the knob, the time goes back 3 hours. It is now 2:35 New York time.
…
PS: The weather is really cool this year, with rain from time to time, and the highest temperature is only 30 degrees.
I was originally planning to install an auto-hook, but now I am confused because I have gained weight. I feel like I don’t need it at all! (End of this chapter)