Hollywood Domination Chapter 260: Robert’s heartbeat
"Long time no see, Bob."
"Long time no see, Jennifer—it's been a while since we sat down and had a good chat."
"Indeed, Willow and the children are all right?"
"They are all very good. The children like the French countryside very much. Thank you for your concern. What do you want, Jennifer? Let me recommend this cod to you. It tastes really good."
"Thank you, Bob, then give me a chef's salad and a cod."
"Okay, ma'am, do you want table wine?"
"It's up to the gentleman opposite to decide."
"I'll have Caesar salad, creamy soup, and steak, old three, and as for the wine, let Andy have his way - hey, boy, tell Andy to come out and say hello to old friends when the kitchen is free .”
Robert Iger happily opened the napkin, and introduced to Jenny, "This is a restaurant I like very much. Andy's cod is really a must. Willow and I often bring our children here."
Although he and Jenny have very busy schedules, they will arrange to have dinner together. In fact, it can be seen that the relationship between the two is very close, and it is no longer limited to official relations. In fact, in recent years, Cesare and Jenny have paid great attention to maintaining the relationship with the Egger family. In addition to the old friendship between Virginia and the Egger family, now she and Cesare can be regarded as family friends of the Egger family. If It's not because Iger's is renovating, Willow took the kids to France for vacation, and Jenny is still living in a hotel, not moving into a new home, this dinner should have been at one of the people's houses, friends, family It would be more appropriate for him to be with you, but on the other hand, it would be more suitable for them to discuss some high-level confidential affairs when Jenny dined with him.
Andy's restaurant is elegantly decorated, and there are preferential treatments for regular customers and celebrities. Their seats are arranged in the corner away from the crowd, which allows Jenny to stay away from the curious eyes of the crowd, and also makes their conversation more private. To be heard by strangers - a casual word from these two big men is likely to be the headline news the next day, of course they must be well protected.
"I heard that you donated one million US dollars to China?" While waiting for the meal, Bob casually chatted with Jenny about some recent trivia, "This figure is impressive, I think it is in our country's It should be among the best in the amount of personal donations.”
"Yes, this incident is heartbreaking. I heard that Disney China also made some donations, is that right?"
"Of course—this is also one of the responsibilities of large companies, but Jennifer, it's good to be charitable. I know that maybe you also have the purpose of tax refund, but it is still inappropriate to donate such a large amount to foreign countries. , because in this way, your donation figures will not be able to come down for disasters in the country or even in some countries that are close to us, otherwise, the wind of public opinion may be against you."
Knowing that this was Bob’s kind advice, Jenny nodded, “Of course I understand, Bob, and of course I’m ready to give back to the society—however, donations in China cannot be said to be without purpose. I am optimistic about the development of the Chinese market, and there are certain channels. It is effective to take advantage of the network, and it is not bad to accumulate some good feelings with Beijing. If you have similar needs, I can match you up."
Robert was a little disapproving, "Of course it is very important to break into the Chinese market, but believe me, my dear, the reason we are talking about this so passionately is not because of the box office that China can provide-quite the contrary. Therefore, we try to import films into China, even sometimes regardless of profit, because we are giving back to the society. Showing our films in China is a form of charity in itself. Of course, this will also make the White House very happy. For For some people, this is also very important."
For his obviously prejudiced words, Jenny just smiled politely, and didn't mean to refute. In Hollywood, everything speaks for money. In 2007, the total box office of movies in mainland China was only 3 billion U.S. dollars , according to the current exchange rate, it is about 400 million U.S. dollars, which is about the same as the North American box office that "Iron Man" can get. Under such circumstances, of course, only the need for "United Front" can make a big man like Bob pay special attention to the Chinese market. In the future, when China becomes the second largest market outside the United States and fully demonstrates its crazy box office potential, Hollywood will naturally China will change its face, and for a management like Robert, he may not be able to wait until the day when China's box office rises. For him, the most important thing is to grasp the present. Entering China is in the interests of Washington, and it will allow Disney to get some help in the open and in the dark. This is the reason why he attaches great importance to China at this stage.
"Anyway, if you need my help, let me know, Bob." She raised her glass to Robert, and Robert put on a smiling face, clinking his glass with her.
"How is the company doing recently?" He chatted with Jenny about Dameng, "My financial officer told me that they are very optimistic about the prospects of Dameng, and the market expectations for several projects this year are quite good. Even the headquarters is greedy for the long-term income you hold in your hands."
Although Disney has a large shareholding, under Robert, Disney has no intention of interfering with Dameng's decision-making. It only has a stronger sense of presence for a period of time after the annual audit. It can be said that it is booming, and there is no need for Disney to talk too much. However, this does not mean that Robert will completely let go of the dream. Like today's dinner, it is more or less like a work report. Jenny and Cesare will often come to him for dinner and communicate some difficult problems that require Disney's help.
"You are too much, Bob." Jenny wiped her mouth with a smile, "Of course, the big hit of "Iron Man" is good news for us, and the company will soon have a large amount of cash back ——However, you also know that we all love to spend money, in fact, we are already preparing new projects.”
"Oh, Jennifer who can never stop," Bob couldn't help laughing, he said enthusiastically, "but I like to hear this news, tell me what you think carefully?"
"This will be a relatively taboo area," Jenny said with a smile, "——Female superhero movie, we plan to cooperate with Warner, Sanqi Investment, We Seven, Warner Three, of course, the shooting of this movie The schedule has not yet been determined, but the general framework should not change."
A female superhero? Warner?
Robert frowned a little, but he didn't raise any objections. He just said tactfully, "But, wouldn't this conflict with the sequel of "Iron Man"? According to industry practice, I'm afraid you should not Will you take over the hero role of DC?"
Here we come, Xirou is coming soon——
Cesare's exhortation, the many conversations between the two, the negotiation process with Kevin... All kinds of memories flashed through Jenny's mind. Opportunity is coming soon - talking about 20% of the copyright of the "Iron Man" series is just the beginning, how much benefit this copyright can bring to her depends on her performance tonight.
"Actually..." she said, pretending she was just gossiping in order to undercut the shock of what she was about to say, "actually, that's the second thing I'm going to tell you, Bob. Wei wants to buy back the copyright of Iron Man, and Cesare and I have agreed to them."
Even though Robert has always been gentle and patient, his emotions and anger are usually invisible, but at this moment, his eyebrows can't help but raised high, forming an expression of extreme astonishment, he didn't speak, just Silently watching Jenny - obviously, if she can't come up with a good reason, their decision is doomed not to get Disney's support.
"I know, it's hard to understand," Jenny tried to make herself look more confident, and she adjusted the rhythm of the conversation with a thoughtful expression, "Anyone, I'm afraid they will keep the right to inject capital and refuse to let go, but Cesare and I think that this matter should be viewed from both sides: if Pepper is the soul of the series, or even if the series is completely original, then whoever gives up the copyright is a fool, just like the Mission: Impossible series and Tom . Cruise, even if the series is put on hold, Tom will never let go, and Paramount will not try to let him go. But the problem is that Iron Man is just a small cake in the Marvel Universe, and Pepper is completely It can’t be said that it is an important role in this series. Under such circumstances, if we underestimate Marvel’s determination to get back the copyright, it is very likely that Marvel will use the loopholes in the contract to directly bypass us to develop new series. As long as Robert Downey Jr. is around, they won't have to worry about box office..."
Seeing that Iger's expression slowly relaxed and gradually turned into deep thought, Jenny also heaved a sigh of relief: at least so far, she has done a good job.
"And just because Paramount has suffered enough from not having exclusive copyrights, Marvel is also scarred at this point, and they are talking about acquisitions again, so Cesare and I didn't delay to raise the issue. The idea of the price," she said half-truthfully, "Since they must cash in, and they must cash in now, then there is no need to get in the way, is there? This may force Marvel to choose a lose-lose strategy. After all , they, like Paramount, are very eager to get a fully copyrighted Iron Man series on the asset list, Marvel wants to inflate their valuation, and Paramount wants a treasure without blemishes, we think , as long as it can be resolved as soon as possible, they will be willing to pay a big price for it."
This is indeed the truth, and it is also one of the reasons why Jenny must discuss copyright. Although she didn't know that Paramount almost bought Marvel in her previous life, she heard about it very early in this timeline, and she also knew about the "Mission: Impossible" series between Paramount and Tom Cruise. Some rights and interests disputes, then, based on the prophetic information that "Iron Man" will explode and Marvel will become a favorite, she guesses very reasonably that Paramount must be extremely sensitive to copyright, and would rather It means that Marvel will spend a large amount of money to eliminate disasters first, and is unwilling to wait for the acquisition to be completed before entangled in the issue of sharing. In addition, Marvel itself is also allergic to the word copyright, so she believes that there is a great possibility that Marvel will want to buy back the copyright-and the clause of "only transferable to Marvel" in the contract is also her own. It was an intentional arrangement. At the time of the negotiation, this clause would make Kevin and others feel that she intended to transfer the copyright, and this clause guaranteed that she would not resell it at will, reducing the difficulty of signing the contract. After the explosion of "Iron Man", , This clause also made Marvel naturally want to buy back the copyright, preventing them from directly taking Downey away and giving up the name "Iron Man", which made her dumbfounded.
Of course, if Marvel doesn't have the demand to gather copyright, then Jenny will not suffer. Her sequel capital injection rights will allow Dameng to continue to make money for many, many years. The worst result is nothing more than Marvel. Just exchange the sequel capital injection rights and the title of "Iron Man" out of the game. Even so, Jenny has no loss, and she thinks that the possibility of Marvel doing so is extremely slim.
"So, that's why you insisted on joining the sequel capital injection right, and even insisted on using the word copyright?" It can be seen that the idea of the big dream surprised Robert, but after digesting it for a while , A smile gradually appeared on his face, "At that time, you thought that "Iron Man" would become the biggest highlight of Marvel, and planned to use this chip to exchange a large amount of cash?"
"Yes, that's why we must add copyright," Jenny said confidently, "My instinct tells me that "Iron Man" will definitely be a hit, and Cesare has always trusted my instinct. "
She wasn't lying. At that time, Jenny did ask Cesare to discuss with her how to use the bargaining chip of the sequel capital injection right to cash in the maximum benefit-she forced Cesare to put all his thinking on the " On the premise that Iron Man will explode into the sky', the other party, after staring at her with raised eyebrows for a long time, silently obeyed her request, and that's why they were able to reach the final step in the difficult negotiation—if Without Cesare's support, Jenny can't guarantee that he will do his best. Maybe in the middle of the third round of negotiations, he will be settled by the difficult Kevin Feige.
Suffice it to say, they haven't taken a huge risk so far, and even if she doesn't have a golden finger - if she's just a shrewd actress with crazy confidence in her chosen film project, things could go awry Such a development, but...
Jenny took a breath with the movement of drinking, she held her breath without a trace, adjusted, and then continued to speak with a chic smile.
"Cash? Do you think that's what we want, Bob?"
Iger's mental track of "Intuitionism" is probably similar to that of Cesare-at first, he was a little annoyed by this statement, because he felt that it was really ridiculous. However, with Jenny's success again and again, Of course, his attitude has also changed over and over again. Jenny can see that he is already a little skeptical now, and her words also stunned Egger, who was savoring the 'intuition theory'.
"What do you mean?" Robert's tone hesitated.
Jenny let out a 'puhchi' laugh. She put the wine glass back on the table, approached Robert, and lowered her voice dramatically.
"Why not stocks, Bob? Tell me, why not stocks?"
Almost accompanied by the sound effect of 'ding——', Robert's eyes lit up, and his expression also revealed the unique joy and joy after suddenly realizing it. Of course, he didn't laugh out loud, but He pointed at Jenny and tapped a few times in the air, expressing his emotions.
"You—" he said, in a tone that fully expressed his surprise and admiration, "you're—incredible, you know, Jennifer, it's really, utterly, incredible."
He took the wine glass and swallowed heavily, "Yes, of course it's stocks, of course it's stocks, if you don't want stocks, it's a crime, isn't it?"
It seems that she is doing really well...Jenny suppressed her growing heartbeat, and she deliberately broke Robert's current thinking, "Yeah, why not stocks, since we all know that Marvel is already up for grabs , waiting for a big buyer to come to buy, and after Paramount acquired this golden hen, both Paramount and Marvel's stock will have a rise-"
If it is said that she was laying out a little suspense drama just now, then this stalk has already been caught by Robert just now. The reason why he was so excited was because he guessed the riddle right. There is a tacit sense of understanding between the two parties. Now that Jenny has to explain everything, the atmosphere seems to be not so interesting. Robert is also a little confused. He doesn't understand why she has to go so far. He nodded, but became puzzled, " Yes - don't you think so?"
A new suspense has been established, and Robert's expression becomes impatient again. It can be said that his emotions have been completely controlled by Jenny, and this baggage has been blown up. The point is broken——Jenny took a deep breath indiscriminately, letting herself not think about those distracting thoughts: Could this be the only chance for Dameng to maximize her own benefits? Had Cesare misplaced his confidence in her? Did she really have the situation under control? Could it be that she didn't impress Robert at all, and the current good atmosphere is just her illusion? Can she do well? Will she succeed?
Putting out these unnecessary worries in one breath, Jenny showed her most calm, mysterious and confident smile. She lowered her voice again, using the most provocative and mellow asked in a charming tone.
"Tell me, Bob, have you never thought about buying Marvel?"
As these words came out, the air around the dining table seemed to freeze in an instant. Jenny did not let go of the slight change in Robert Iger's face, as if she was slowing down frame by frame. She witnessed the president of Disney Changes in facial expressions, listening—surprise—doubt—deliberation—
When she saw the greed and excitement on the face of this elegant middle-aged man, Jenny let out a long breath again, her beating heart gradually calmed down, and Jenny leaned back , showing a restrained and complacent smile, she leaned back towards the same person, rubbing her hands while looking at her thoughtfully. Robert Iger raised his glass and took a shallow sip of the mellow and slightly astringent red wine.
——She didn't drink much, because tonight has just started, and she needs to be absolutely sober to meet the conversation that follows. From the moment they got the copyright to the present, they killed countless brain cells to get to this point in a year and a half. However, this step is just the beginning of everything.
All of this is just the beginning!