Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 165 Acquisition First

Although in the early 1990s, the number of works about homosexuality gradually increased and developed into a new type of art film, and the St. Denis Film Festival played a significant role in promoting it, "The Crying Game" written and directed by Neil Jordan is a revelation!
In the conference room of Dawn Pictures in Burbank.

"Before The Crying Game was released in the UK, I wrote to almost every well-known British film critic, asking them not to mention the story twist that Dill is a man in their reviews after the previews!"

Neil Jordan spread his hands, looking helpless. "The end result was that they really didn't mention this twist, but almost all the critics criticized the film."

The Crying Game was a flop in the UK, receiving generally negative reviews, which even made Neil Jordan doubt his own decision.

Aaron Anderson and Brad Grey looked at each other and laughed, "You've seen the reputation of 'The Crying Game' in the United States. The twists and turns of the story are indeed very fascinating."

The biggest highlight is the actor Jay Davidson who plays Dill, he is so feminine;
A transvestite man who appears in female clothing and with a female face is the highlight of this work!
"Don't worry, Dawn will intensify its publicity efforts for 'The Crying Game' and its Oscar campaign."

Not only is it famous, but it is also profitable, so Aaron will not be stingy.

Brad Grey and Neil Jordan were then asked to continue discussing the next plan. As for the project of "Interview with the Vampire", they would wait until the reputation of "The Crying Game" spread.
Otherwise, with Neil Jordan's current fame, he probably wouldn't be able to make Tom Cruise obey him.

Following the news from the MPAA, European countries set up a pan-European film industry alliance to revitalize the European film industry, which had been in a slump due to the Gulf War.

At the same time, the European Union also proposed to stop the preferential import system for American films and is preparing to adopt an import quota system to resist the strong invasion of American films!

"The market share of local films in European countries is generally below 35%. Only France, which has the strictest protection for local films, has exceeded this proportion;"

"No wonder European countries are boycotting Hollywood movies?"

Esther Beckett came to Aaron's office and reported the news.

"By the way, what's going on with Marvel Studios? Do they still have the rights to adapt Spider-Man?"

"Marvel Comics?" I'll check it out!

In 1985, Cannon Pictures acquired the five-year filming rights for Spider-Man from Marvel Comics. Unfortunately, Cannon Pictures later withdrew a large amount of funds due to the production of two high-budget films, "Superman IV" and "Inception."

It was then proposed to drastically cut the budget for the Spider-Man movie to less than $1000 million, causing the project to be halted.

In mid-1990, Cannon Films' Spider-Man license expired, and Cannon Films was acquired by France's Pathé Films;

Golan, the former president of Cannon Pictures, founded a shell company, 21st Century Films, and negotiated with Marvel to obtain the Spider-Man license for another two years!

"Golan's Spider-Man script didn't meet Stan Lee's approval, did he?"

"Yeah, the current creative director of Marvel Comics is Stan Lee."

After hearing Iselin Beckett's introduction, Aaron also understood that the surprise now belonged to former Gillette boss Ronald Perelman;
Moreover, Marvel is now more than just a comic book company. Last year, under the operation of Ronald Perelman, Marvel went public and acquired card companies, sticker companies, toy companies, postcard companies, etc.

Comic book publishing accounts for only about a quarter of Marvel's current business. Ronald Perelman, a mergers and acquisitions magnate, never considered running Marvel properly; he simply wanted to make a killing in the financial markets! "A few years ago, Cannon Pictures rushed out a shoddy Fantastic Four film when the Fantastic Four license expired."

"This angered Marvel Studios at the time. They were worried that the release of this movie would affect the sales of Fantastic Four comics and peripherals, so they spent millions of dollars to acquire copies of the movie and destroy them;"

"Spider-Man, he's Marvel Comics' absolute trump card, the only one who can compete with DC's Superman and Batman. Marvel certainly doesn't want to arbitrarily change him!"

Aaron leaned back in his chair, completely understanding Stan Lee's thoughts.

"Golan pitched the Spider-Man script to Columbia Pictures, but unfortunately, they rejected it."

Etheline Beckett explains.

"This 21st Century Company?"

Aaron knocked on the table in thought, "Just buy it directly, and then talk to Marvel about extending the Spider-Man license!"

"Boss, are you going to shoot Spider-Man?"

Esther Beckett's eyes lit up. This was one of the national heroes, whose fame and influence were comparable to Superman and Batman!

Well, this year's sequel to Warner Bros.' Batman Returns didn't seem to make as much money as expected, but it still made some money, and there will definitely be a third film.

Aaron smiled slightly and said, "Whether we film the movie or not, let's get the Spider-Man license first. With Dawn's current reserves, it won't be a problem if we want to develop it."

"understand……"

Soon after, Dawn Pictures acquired 21st Century from Golan, with its main assets being several Marvel Spider-Man scripts;
After all, the current 21st Century Company was established specifically for the purpose of filming the "Spider-Man" movie. It is just a shell company that holds the Spider-Man filming rights authorized by Marvel. It is very easy to acquire it because the copyright is about to expire.

At the same time, they also negotiated with Marvel Studios that after the Spider-Man license expires this year, Marvel will authorize Dawn to shoot for 5 years, and Marvel will enjoy a 5% share of the box office revenue of Spider-Man movies in the future;

As for other things, such as comics and toys, the copyrights still belong to Marvel. After all, Marvel seeks help from film companies to shoot its own superheroes in order to promote them and thus boost the sales of derivatives such as toys.

As the US election approaches, the federal senator elections that need to be renewed in various states have ended, and we are just waiting for the general election next month;

The Republican representative is George Bush, who is seeking re-election; the Democratic representative is Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton; and the independent electoral representative is Texas tycoon Ross Perot!
On the rooftop of the Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles, Aaron Anderson and Jack Wells looked toward Koreatown. "Is Clinton coming to Los Angeles to inspect the disaster area again in his final days?"

Jack Wells smiled and said, "We bet on him to win. The racial issue will bring him a lot of votes."

"Well, yes!"

(End of this chapter)