America's Top Player

Chapter 174 The Walking Dead
"I didn't realize you were a Harry Potter fan," Beyoncé said. "That wand is beautiful. Congratulations on winning it."

Not many people would have thought that Li Ang, who has been surrounded by street aura since his debut, would be a die-hard fan of a youth fantasy movie.

For Leon, buying the Elder Wand was more of an investment. Seeing such a good thing did indeed trigger some collecting habits in him.

Thirty minutes later, the auction officially ended.

The Elder Wand sold for $100 million, becoming the highest bidder of the night.

As is customary at charity dinners, the most generous donor of the night will receive the highest level of treatment during the cocktail reception.

As soon as Jeff walked off the stage, he picked up his glass of wine and walked straight towards Leon.

"Mr. Li Ang, thank you for your contribution to African children."

"This is what I should do." Leon noticed that there was a middle-aged man of medium build following Jeff, and couldn't help but look him up and down.

Noticing Leon's gaze, Jeff pulled the man aside and introduced him, "This is Director Zack Snyder. You should be familiar with his reputation."

Zack is a low-key Hollywood director.

When he heard the other party's name, Li Ang's mind instantly flashed with a number of familiar movies such as "300 Spartans", "Watchmen", and "Dawn of the Dead".

He immediately shook hands with the other party enthusiastically, "It's an honor to meet you!"

Zach was a little shy, and his eyes kept avoiding when he shook hands and greeted people.

Jeff noticed this and patted him on the shoulder. "Relax, Leon is an elegant and easy-going man. The gossip media only hypes things up! They never report the truth!"

"If Leon's relationship with Jay-Z was really that strained, why would he be here with Beyoncé?"

As he spoke, he looked at the two of them with a meaningful smile.

Li Ang just wanted to skip this awkward topic and used the movie as a starting point to ask, "The final chapter of the Harry Potter series is now in theaters. I think this year's global box office champion is a foregone conclusion."

In July, the summer box office competition has entered a fierce stage.

"Transformers 3," released by Paramount Pictures, took first place in the box office with a $9700 million opening in early July.

It surpassed "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" to become the best performing movie at the first week of box office in the North American film market since the beginning of 2011.

Next, Paramount will have another blockbuster superhero movie "Captain America" released soon.

It's a bit like a siege on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2".

Facing the competitive pressure of two blockbusters, Jeff remained remarkably calm. "First of all, let me be clear: I'm not arrogant. Do Paramount think they've found a lifeline for superhero movies? No. The true beginning of the superhero film era isn't theirs, or even Disney's."

Jeff's confidence in making such bold statements comes from the huge copyright library in the hands of Warner Bros.

Not only do they have super IPs like "Harry Potter", but they also have the inexhaustible treasure trove of DC Comics.

In the early American comics market, DC almost led the development of American comics superheroes for a period of time.

Batman and Superman have been the most popular characters in American superhero comics for a long time.

In comparison, Iron Man, which brought Paramount a taste of success, is only second-rate in popularity.

In Jeff's opinion, Paramount simply seized the opportunities given by the times first, and the ultimate winner must be Warner, which controls DC Comics.

"I grew up watching Tim Burton's version of Batman. Nolan's The Dark Knight is also a perfect work. He pushed superhero movies to a new height." Li Ang complimented.

Jeff enjoyed the flattery very much and drank the champagne in his glass with satisfaction.

"The Dark Knight" is known as the most profound superhero movie in history, and it has achieved great success in both box office and critical acclaim.

Although the film was entirely set by Nolan, its release was just after Jeff took over as president of Warner Bros. in 2007.

Naturally, he must be included in the list of merits.

"This is just the beginning. It won't be long before you can see the best superhero movie!" Jeff took another glass of wine from the waiter.

Warner's massive launch of the DC Universe project has been widely reported by the media.

According to the current news, Warner intends to throw out the trump card of Superman and Justice League at the beginning, in an attempt to defeat the Marvel camp in one fell swoop.

Li Ang doesn't care who will win the competition of superhero movies. No matter how much money these big IP movies make, it has nothing to do with him anyway.

He could only stare blankly.

But through the conversation with Jeff, he still got some information that was beneficial to him. At least for now, it seems that Warner’s mind is not on "Ready Player One" at all.

There is no sign of this novel being launched yet.

Li Ang took the opportunity to get to the point: "I can already imagine who will dominate the film market in the next few years. Perhaps there will be an opportunity for us to cooperate?"

Jeff's eyes lit up, and he was obviously interested in the proposal.

When Leon was looking for distributors to work with for the filming of Straight Outta Compton, he also sent an email to Warner.

When the secretary reported this to Jeff, he didn't take it seriously at all.

A new singer who has just debuted for a year wants to make a movie, a low-budget black music biopic?
Everyone working in the film industry reacted as if they had heard a ghost story when they heard about this.

Now the box office performance of "Straight Outta Compton" has slapped every doubter in the face. Winning the summer box office for three consecutive times is a feat that "Transformers 3" has not achieved.

Especially when people heard that the movie, from the script to every shot, was designed by Li Ang himself, no one dared to question his ability to make movies anymore.

"Of course!" Jeff quickly asked the waiter to fill Leon's glass. "If you have any ideas about collaborating, please let me know immediately. Your talent is unquestionable!"

As he spoke, he nudged Zack beside him with his arm, signaling him to follow suit and said, "Am I right, Zack?"

"Of course, I know how difficult it is for a music biopic to achieve that kind of box office," Zach agreed.

In the following period of time, the two sides chatted more and more speculatively.

Li Ang has been using a roundabout tactic, which is not to proactively mention the copyright of the novel "Ready Player One".

If he appeared too eager, it would inevitably arouse the other party's suspicion. Spielberg was also eyeing the script.

After the party, Li Ang took Beyoncé's car back to her mansion in Beverly.

Seize the opportunity to cherish your last night of love in Los Angeles.

The two of them tossed and turned until 11 o'clock in the evening. Beyoncé, exhausted from all her energy, fell on the pillow with her legs limp and fell asleep in a second.

At this time, Li Ang unexpectedly received a text message.

[Which hotel are you staying in? What's your room number?] From: Megan Fox.

"This woman..." Li Ang smiled and shook his head.

All signs indicate that this stupid woman has resorted to any means to become popular again.

To offend Spielberg is basically like being sentenced to death in your career.

Li Ang put it aside and pretended not to see anything.

The next day at noon, Li Ang returned to New York and went to Fulton Street first.

Inspecting the renovation progress of the Tianqi Music office building.

"It looks like a rat's nest here." Phil brushed away the spiderwebs wrapped around his neck. "Don't you think it's cold here? It's like being in a cemetery!"

"Shut up!" Li Ang glared at him, and Lao Deng immediately became obedient.

This building was built in the 1980s and is definitely not an old building in downtown Brooklyn.

For the past thirty years, it has been run as a hotel.

Therefore, the first step in renovation is demolition.

Leon, who has always been stingy, has no intention of saving money in this regard, and indicates that all the old things here should be thrown into the garbage dump.

"Based on the current progress, how long will it take to complete the demolition work?" Li Ang asked as he handed a cigarette to the contractor.

"At least a month."

"Fuck! What's taking so long?!" Li Ang cursed out loud. Demolition is the least technically demanding part of renovation work. It's a job that relies entirely on quantity.

There were thirty workers on site, so it shouldn't have taken so long.

When he noticed the workers' skin color, Li Ang's mind seemed to be connected to the Internet and everything became clear.

The black and gold limited edition skins are notoriously time-consuming to create.

"Did you contact these idiots?" Leon asked Bonnie.

"Yes."

"Get these black guys out! For the same price as the Mexicans, they can finish the job in seven days!"

"I understand!"

Seeing Li Ang's furious look, the contractor immediately said that he would transfer a group of illegal immigrants who had just entered the country tomorrow.

If they are given the same salary, they will work themselves to death like cattle and horses.

"How many recording studios do you plan to set aside?" Phil asked.

"Three rooms, maybe."

"The company only has three signed artists. When did you become so generous?" Phil joked. "Apart from you wanting some excitement in the recording studio, I really can't think of any reason for you to do this."

According to the original plan, Li Ang only planned to reserve two recording studios, which were enough to meet work needs.

Top-of-the-line recording equipment doesn't come cheap.

He had seen Dre build seven recording studios at any cost, half of which remained idle for a long time.

At present, setting aside an extra recording studio is the best option to save the company from unnecessary hassles when expanding in the future.

"Have you thought about setting up a new label?" Phil sighed. "Those two guys from Chicago are always pestering Cardi. If you don't find them something to do, Cardi might be pregnant the next time you see her."

Li Ang had already assigned the matter of registering a new label to Bonnie. Now all that was left was to come up with a name so that they could formally submit the application to the New York Tax Department.

If nothing goes wrong, it will be approved within three days.

Originally, he was not in a hurry about this matter and wanted to wait until the matter of "The Rap of America" was finalized.

Considering that these two guys have abnormal thinking patterns, this matter cannot be delayed any longer in order to prevent them from causing any trouble on the streets of New York.

Li Ang glanced at his watch and asked, "Where are those two guys now?"

"Probably in the hotel, taking drugs and playing video games." Phil shrugged.

"Let them come to the company now."

An hour later, Li'l Duke and King Von arrived at the office.

As soon as they entered the room, the two of them chattered non-stop, "Damn~ Boss, I heard you went to Los Angeles a few days ago? Why didn't you take us with you?"

"I heard that there is the prototype of Grove Street in Grand Theft Auto: SA, and Venice Beach is full of big-butt girls in bikinis~"

dong dong——

"Shut up." Li Ang knocked lightly on the table, and the two of them immediately quieted down.

Born in the O-blocks of Chicago's South Side, Lil Duke and King Von were like wild animals of the African savannah.

But he always obeyed Li Ang's orders.

He then asked, "I asked you to manage your social media accounts seriously. How are you doing?"

"Of course! I cleared all my previous tweets as you asked." King Feng said excitedly, "Can you believe I have 100,000 followers on Facebook?"

Li Ang immediately poured cold water on him, "Those fans were bought by the company."

"What?!" King Feng's eyes widened, unwilling to believe the reality, "Boss, are you kidding me?"

"What else? How could a hundred thousand people follow you, two poor fellows, who talk trash on social media all day and show off your Glock that's almost patinaed?" Li Ang retorted.

The focus on online channels was the tone set before signing these two people.

The essence of Drill music is rough poor music, ghetto music.

It belongs to the real bottom layer, deep underground.

It's impossible to expect the audience for this kind of music to pay for records or streaming copies.

Under these circumstances, operating King Von in the traditional way would not be cost-effective in terms of both cost and prospects.

What future gangster singers sell is their persona and their stories, with the value of their works accounting for only a small part.

"Tell me, what are your ideas about the new label?" Li Ang asked, putting his feet on the table.

"You want to hear our opinion?"

"Of course, this company is not a plantation, and I will fully respect your opinions."

King Feng's thoughts were no different from what Li Ang had thought before.

The new company should sell itself on street culture and pure gangsterism.

Going against the trend in the current market where melodic rap is king.

It seems like this is going down a well-worn path, a path that rap culture has taken since its inception.

But Li Ang keenly realized that this might be the trend of the future.

He has participated in many rallies organized by the Donkey Party, most of the participants of which are minorities in society.

Awakeners, extreme female fighters, extreme environmentalists...

These cyberpunk lunatics who seem to be a minority in society may just be the backbone of America's future.

Perhaps among them there will be generals, members of parliament, ministers or even presidents.
In this social environment, the extremely rebellious and violent street drill music will definitely not lack a market.

Those lyrics that would make you blush in the past can now be sung out loud in front of your parents!
The success of Cardi B and Nicki Minaj's music is a testament to this.

They currently regard each other as their biggest competitors and both want to prove that they are the best female rappers.

The two became increasingly vulgar in their lyrics, but also became more and more popular.

"Very good, your suggestions are all very reasonable," Li Ang said. "But I have to remind you that you are selling your image. There is no need to actually go out on the street and fight people."

"I spent a lot of money to package you, so please don't cause me any trouble."

When King Feng heard this, he remained silent and nodded his head up and down.

"Then this new label will be managed by Marco from now on. He will be your agent, so we can maximize work efficiency." Li Ang said.

"No problem! Marco is a good man! His wife is also a good person!" the two said in unison.

Marco on the side shook his head. Although he was being praised, he still felt something was strange.

In order to build closer relationships with his artists, he often invites these two guys to his home.

Many brokers do this.

"So this new label is officially launched today. Once the approval process is complete, we'll release this news through the media."

"What do you guys think of the name for this new label?"

Li'er Duke and King Von looked at each other, scratched their heads, and said, "How about calling it Walking Dead?"

"The Walking Dead? Tell me why?" Li Ang seemed very interested. "Have you watched the TV series 'The Walking Dead'?"

Lil Duke, clutching his belly and laughing, explained, "In the South Side of Chicago, we call people who've used bath salts the walking dead. If you get that stuff, you're not going to live long."

"The Walking Dead is the street lifestyle closest to death."

(End of this chapter)