American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 117 Patience and Hibernation: One Yuan Purchase
Although Rupert Murdoch is a Forbes-listed billionaire, he still took the time to watch "The Devil Wears Prada." His reason for paying attention to Prada was simple: he wanted to curry favor with the old London Union Jack.

The cause of this is this:
News Corp. is currently registered in Australia.

Before a company grows large, its registered address and which government regulates it are things that nobody really cares about. But as the company expands and has extensive operations in North America, if it doesn't voluntarily submit to the world's police, it will be investigated at best, and dismantled at worst, especially in the media industry where it can influence public opinion, where the targeting becomes even more intense.

Then, News Corporation has now reached the point where it must change its place of registration. If it doesn't change it... as I said before, Murdoch is the easiest member of the anti-American alliance to be killed by American capital. Robert Iger only needs a whistleblower to take him down.

Then, those who want a piece of his wealth will come running.

But if Murdoch changes News Corporation's registration from Australia to the United States, his businesses in the UK will be in danger again.

These two brothers, the British and the American, are just superficially brothers.

Britain, which has built the BBC into a global megaphone, also highly values ​​the background of large media groups.

Furthermore, the reason Murdoch was able to expand his business from Australia to the UK without any obstacles was actually because he had a good mother. His mother's ancestors included a viceroy of the West Indies, so much so that his mother had a title.

His mother first received a Queen's Hood award in 1961.

At that time, Murdoch hadn't even sorted out his business in Australia yet.

Yes, Murdoch's mother has more than one medal!
Murdoch's rise to power was essentially fueled by British resources, so if he dares to leave, he will inevitably pay a price. In order to minimize this price, he must maintain deeper connections in Britain.

Yes, he had previously formed close alliances with many politicians, such as the Iron Lady, but...

The influence of these people in Britain is subject to change.

It changes as people come to power and go out of power.

In a place like Britain, only the old aristocracy can always have a voice, and of course, the most influential people are the old ladies. But Murdoch couldn't find any of those, which is why his mind started to stir with the appearance of Prada.

The Cavendish family, Dukes of Devonshire, wield considerable influence in England.

Does the author of Prada dare to criticize this kind of family?

And expose the other person's embarrassing moments to everyone?

Oh--

If Murdoch could turn all of this around, wouldn't he be able to naturally start talking to the other party?

At that time, if News Corp. were to slightly collaborate with the other party's subsidiaries, such as fashion, those in the UK who were secretly watching them would have to think twice before making a move.

In his plan to curry favor with Anna Wintour, what he really wanted was to force the author of Prada to apologize to Anna Wintour.

Using movies to rehabilitate Anna Wintour's image will only make her feel that her reputation has been restored a little bit.

Only by making the original author kneel down and kowtow to Anna Wintour, begging for forgiveness and promising to make changes, can the other party feel relieved.

Yeah~
This is actually the real reason why Fox has been hesitant to buy the Prada franchise.

If you're going to fawn over someone, then you should do it thoroughly.

Furthermore, people in the industry know that Anna Wintour was furious after seeing Prada.

The anger is so great that all current Vogue employees have signed confidentiality agreements with the magazine, requiring them to refrain from publishing books using Anna Wintour or Vogue's internal affairs as a gimmick after leaving the company.

Of course, future employees will also need to sign the contract.

Once Anna Wintour is able to pull off such an agreement, catering to her preferences makes it easier to succeed.

But now, Warner Bros. wants Prada?
"Um……"

Murdoch spoke through his nose, sounding somewhat irritated.

Why did Warner Bros. and Isabella suddenly become interested in Prada?

"We really couldn't find this information; it seems to have appeared out of nowhere."

"What was their quote?"

Two million US dollars.

"Two million dollars? Oh—does the original author own the production rights? I don't believe Warner Bros. would adapt the Prada story completely, word for word, for the screen, especially since Isabella is J.K. Rowling's person."

"Well, according to what we've heard, Warner Bros. really doesn't want Lauren Weisberg to be involved in producing. They're willing to pay an extra two million dollars in exchange for maximum freedom. This price is very tempting for Lauren Weisberg, but also makes her hesitant, because Lauren Weisberg also feels that Warner Bros. might completely revise the script, but four million dollars... is a lot..."

Lauren Weisberg, the author of Prada, is very greedy.

Or rather, with the explosive popularity of "Prada," everyone has figured out exactly what color her underwear is.

The reason this guy wrote Prada was to make money off Anna Wintour's fame.

In her book, she wrote that the reason she left Vogue was because she couldn't accept Anna Wintour's PUA tactics.

Don't be ridiculous, in reality, her position at Vogue was just Anna Wintour's temporary assistant.

She didn't even stay in Vogue for 10 months.

This kind of person doesn't deserve to be manipulated by Anna Wintour.

In her book, she wrote that she was someone who embraced life by quitting her job without a plan.
Ah--

In reality, she received the offer from Departures first, and then resigned.

Departures is a magazine owned by American Express, specifically designed for customers with Platinum cards and above.

Therefore, when the investors inquired about the situation with American Express, Lauren Weisberg's job application timeline became clear. The funniest thing was that during the interview, Lauren Weisberg said that she had a good relationship with Anna Wintour and that she came to American Express because Anna Wintour said that her style matched American Express.

So……

"It seems things are getting a bit complicated."

Murdoch adjusted his glasses and said thoughtfully, "Warner's offer is almost outrageous. There's something wrong with the price they're offering, so if we compete with them, it will only make us look more problematic."

“From a normal business perspective, we should have given up on the rights to Prada when they reached four million.”

"Not to mention……"

Murdoch stared at his secretary and said, slowly and deliberately, "We are now watching Warner."

Yes, Warner Bros.' sudden offer for Prada really annoyed Murdoch.

This is not only because Warner's interference disrupted Murdoch's plan to curry favor, but also because if Murdoch were to compete with Warner, he would likely expose all his 'purpose' and 'scheme'.

The logic is very simple.

The development rights for Prada are not worth 400 million.

Therefore, if Warner quotes a price that is not in line with the market, then anyone who competes with that person is the one with the problem.

If the competitors were Universal, Sony, or Paramount, Warner would probably just call them idiots.

But the competitor is Fox?
The moment Fox raises its price, Barry Mayer will be investigating them.

If Barry Mayer finds out that News Corporation is quietly changing its registered address, okay, that old guy will definitely call in air support right away, and Robert Iger's fists will definitely come crashing down on him immediately.

And what if Barry Mayer found out that they had made an appointment with Constantine at Fox?
Ah--

If Barry Mayer had been a second slower in drawing his knife, he wouldn't be alive today!

and……

"Boss, isn't the most troublesome thing right now the real reason behind Warner's sudden offer?"

The secretary said, "If they simply like Prada, okay, that's a good thing for us. But what if they only started liking Prada after they were after us..."

"Then we might be in big trouble."

The secretary looked at her boss with a serious expression.

Murdoch took a deep breath and nodded slightly; he understood what his subordinate meant.

If Barry Mayer had discovered their meeting with Constantine before making the offer to Prada, that day would have been truly catastrophic—you want to mess with my HP? I'd fucking stab News Corp. in the neck!

Come on, let's fight!
This is the worst-case scenario!

This is also the situation Murdoch least wanted to see!

Rubbing his temples, after much deliberation, he asked, "Has 'Azkaban' been given a release date?"

"deal."

"When?"

"Summer movie season, June 4th."

The secretary said, "Then they have two premieres, one in North America and one in the UK. The North American premiere is on May 23, and the UK premiere is on May 31. That means... according to the original plan, we could have blocked them directly in North America."

This fact made Murdoch nod slightly, and he continued, "What other movies are released in the same period as them?"

The secretary said, "There aren't any films released in the same period directly, because no film wants to compete head-on with 'Harry Potter.' But this year's release schedule is a bit hellish for 'Azkaban,' because of our arrangements..."

"This year's summer movie season is already packed with blockbusters."

This summer's movie season features numerous blockbusters.

There are even three movies that were instantly revealed.

They are Shrek 2, Azkaban, and Spider-Man 2.

然后，它们的上映时间分别是5月19日、6月4日和6月30日。

The main reason these films choose to be released at off-peak times is because the market is limited.

When two IPs collide, there is only one outcome.

It's not a winner-takes-all situation, but a lose-lose situation.

However, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., and Sony have managed to maintain a tacit understanding and avoid fighting each other.

That doesn't mean other movies don't have the element of stealing food.

There are only 52 weeks in a year, and good slots are even fewer.

Just because your epic IP needs to eat doesn't mean I should just starve to death.

impossible!

So, between *Shrek 2* and *Azkaban*, on May 28th, a movie called *The Day After Tomorrow* will be released in North America. Yes, it's the one about the icy world directed by disaster film master Roland Emmerich.

He directed "Independence Day".

Then, between Azkaban and Spider-Man 2, on June 11, a live-action Garfield movie will be released in North America, and on June 18, North America will welcome Spielberg and Tom Hanks' collaboration, Terminal.

"The Terminal" is also known as "The Terminal".

Yes!

This year's summer movie season is absolutely wild!

A blockbuster movie every week!
Therefore, if a movie is embroiled in negative public opinion, it will most likely be ruthlessly crushed by other IPs!

Of course, these hellish movie slots didn't appear out of thin air.

Both *The Day After Tomorrow* and *Garfield* are actually Fox movies. Fox has gone to great lengths to kill off *Harry Potter* and *Azkaban*!

therefore……

"Okay, then let's give up on buying Prada."

Murdoch took a deep breath and made his decision. "I can still find a way to deal with things in the UK, but this is the only window to target Harry Potter, so... I hope Warner Bros. just likes Prada."

"Then, let Gail Berman keep in check on the cooperation with Constantine, and let everything be under our command."

"The reason I contacted him directly and had him communicate directly with Bernard Eisinger was because he was insignificant."

“I’ve already staked too much on this operation, and I don’t want to fail.”

Those who cannot endure hardship will never become capital.

Because resources are limited and are fought over, if all the contestants in this arena are carrying knives, and one of them only knows how to shout and fight like a hothead when trouble comes, then he will only be the first one to be kicked out of the game.

Therefore, with Murdoch's infiltration, a potential conflict was nipped in the bud.

After waiting for March 24th, another major event came into the public eye.

That was after the movie "The Passion of the Christ" successfully broke the $3 million box office mark 29 days after its release in North America.

Speaking of this movie, many people might call it a legend—

Because Mel Gibson filmed stories that Hollywood dared not film;
Mel Gibson achieved tremendous success despite Hollywood capital's strong resistance to release his work.

But in fact……

Mel Gibson isn't exactly a saint either.

Yes, he doesn't even deserve to be called a human being.

Or perhaps, their whole family makes a living from magic.

First, let's talk about the movie. The reason why "The Passion of Christ" was able to break through the 'media blockade' and become a hit was purely because the so-called 'media blockade' was a suffering fabricated by Mel Gibson himself.

Before the film's release, after the rough cut was produced, the film entered the Vatican City in the northwest corner of Rome, Italy...

The current second generation had already seen this movie back in 2003.

Then, Father Augustine of the Congregation for Theology posted that "Mel Gibson's film is not a documentary, but it remains faithful to the common basic structure of the four Gospels, and Mel Gibson's film is completely faithful to the New Testament."

Then, the president of the American Evangelical Association directly endorsed the move, publishing an article through American church media stating...

Not watching makes you a heretic.

Ok.

It's the 21st century, and people are still playing these heretical games.

ABC, CBS, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal may not have promoted The Passion of the Christ, but does that mean they aren't media outlets? That's nonsense!
The idea of ​​a massive hit with zero advertising is simply impossible!
If no one knows you've released an album, how can they support you?
Do I cheer for you in my dreams?
Then, the president of the Evangelical Association stepped forward to support the film, which was just the beginning of the publicity campaign. After his support and before the film's release, more than two cardinals and countless archbishops voiced their support by name.

The entire film is described as God once again spreading the gospel to the world.

Then there's Mel Gibson. How did he manage to get the film to the young king?

Very simple.

His father makes a living from this.

His grandfather was very wealthy; his family was in the tobacco business and were already millionaires in the 19th century. This allowed his father to get involved in all sorts of things from a young age. His father had attended countless Masses, and he wasn't just in the audience, but on the stage.

His father published many theological books, the most famous of which was the statement that "Vatican II is a conspiracy of the Freemasons supported by Judaism".

That's right, Mel Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, was the creator of magic!
Mel Gibson could never agree with Jews!
So, is Mel Gibson a true hero with unwavering courage?
Did he film the history that some maggots wanted to cover up?
Ha ha.

Their family truly has a royal throne.

The person who made "The Passion of the Christ" was only doing it to inherit the family throne.

The so-called fight for justice is nothing more than one group of people with the Bible fighting another group of people with the Bible.

Because these things are not secrets in Europe and America, the popularity of "The Passion of Christ" was not seen by the European and American public as another good movie, but as a struggle of faith and a struggle of positions.

The number of related verbal battles, fights, and bloodshed is countless.

If I had to describe it, the world today is truly teeming with demons.

However, none of these things affected Isabella.

Because she had already returned to the HP production team as early as March 15th.

No media outlets dared to cause trouble here.

So, besides undergoing intensive training, the most common news she heard was that "American Idol" was still very popular.

Although the emergence of "The Voice of China" ended the miracle of "American Idol", the number of applicants for the third season of "American Idol" still exceeded 70,000 in just two months. This number is not small, because the total number of participants in the second season of "American Idol" was only 70,000 after the auditions were opened. And there is still a month left before the auditions for the third season of "American Idol" close.

The record number of participants is an inevitable outcome that is obvious to the naked eye.

Next, Isabella heard that "Kill Kill" only reached number five on the singles chart.

Yeah~
After eight weeks of running, Lana Del Rey's first career single is likely to have a set result.

Fifth place or highest on the B list.

This is not to belittle her talent, nor is it to diminish the popularity of "The Voice of China".

However, there were quite a few amazing singles released at the beginning of this year.

For example, on January 3, Beyoncé's first career single, "Me, Myself and I," reached the top ten on the Billboard charts;
On the same day, Kanye West and Twista's "Slow Jamz" also broke into the top ten;

Then, on January 10th, Usher released "Yeah!";
On January 12th, Maroon 1 released "This Love";
Also on January 12th, Britney Spears released her transformative album, "Toxic";
Then, Jay-Z released "Dirt off Your Shoulder"...

None of them are easy to mess with.

The entire northwestern Shanxi region is in complete chaos!
If it weren't for the fact that these people have different stances, identities, and companies, Isabella would have even thought this was a massive trap set by Fox! Her people were just about to release a song and these big names suddenly appeared? What the hell is going on?!
It is precisely because Fox has no influence in the pop music industry that they cannot control the market here. Moreover, the competition in the pop music scene is extremely fierce. Therefore, Lana Del Rey's career debut single was at most fifth on the Billboard chart.
Isabella can accept this result.

Not to mention, in Isabella's previous life, "Kill Kill" never actually made it onto the Billboard charts.

This is not only because "Kill Kill" has been released in too many versions, making it difficult to include on the Billboard charts, but also because while "Kill Kill" is indeed Lana Del Rey's signature song, it is not her biggest hit.

Therefore, the fact that Kill Kill has sold nearly two million copies in North America is a historic achievement.
News from the pop music scene was merely fodder for Isabella's conversation, since music wasn't her main profession. As for film, besides *The Passion of Christ*, Isabella heard other things...

1. On April 2, Warner Bros. told her that they had acquired the development rights to Prada for $8 million.

This price is expensive, but there's a reason why it's expensive;
Warner Bros. acquired all the development rights, including film, television, stage plays, musicals, etc.

The entire development right is valid for 20 years, and as long as it is developed once within the validity period, the copyright will be automatically extended when it expires.
Then, the original author voluntarily relinquished all supervisory rights during the adaptation and development process, retaining only the right to be credited.

2. On April 11, Nathan Bailey called Isabella and told her that Universal was unwilling to sell the Hulk copyright.

Even though their movie flopped last year.

The one directed by Ang Lee.

3. On April 14, Nathan Bailey called again, stating that the copyrights to Captain America, Black Widow, Black Panther, Deadpool, Iron Fist, Humanoid, Punisher, Morbius, and others were all held by Lionsgate.

Lionsgate is also unwilling to sell the rights to these IPs because they have just made a bet in the comic book adaptation field.

Lionsgate's "The Punisher" will be released on April 16th this year.

Regardless of profit or loss, they will continue development.

4. On April 20th, Nathan Bailey called again and again, saying...

“Isa, here’s something you might not believe: the copyright for Iron Man is with New Line Cinema.”

"They bought it in December 1999 and had always wanted to develop it, but they hadn't found the opportunity."

"The reason we discovered this is because we recently took inventory of the assets on the new line."

"so……"

“Mr. Mayer has already had a contract drafted. You just need to sign it and you can buy it for one dollar. But if you really want to do it, Warner Bros. has to participate in the issuance. As for the investment? It depends. That’s something we agreed on before.”

“Okay, have someone bring the contract over so my mom can sign it,” Miss Beaver readily agreed.

Honestly, Isabella really didn't expect that Iron Man would be in New Line Cinema.

As the soul of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, obtaining it is equivalent to obtaining everything.

Of course, Marvel can change its plans.

But this is not important.

To reiterate, her purchase of the Marvel rights was just a whim.

She doesn't care whether she succeeds or not.

If it can be done, and if we can share the profits, that would be the best outcome.

What if it can't be done?
Does this affect her portrayal of Hermione Granger?
Right?

Isabella was very happy to have gotten Iron Man for just one dollar.

So much so that after filming of "Goblet of Fire" officially began, she didn't have that dark, sad feeling at all.

It's fortunate that "Goblet of Fire" was discontinued. Before the appearance of the Dark Mark, the story in "Goblet of Fire" was relatively light and enjoyable. Otherwise, she would definitely have been "scolded" by Chris Columbus.

Even though her emotions were largely in line with the story's requirements, everyone was still curious about her situation. And when they learned she might be starting a new project, the Hogwarts kids immediately became envious—

"Oh, Isa...it seems like you have endless work to do..."

"Yeah, yeah, I feel like you have so much work to do that you could fill up the Mariana Trench."

"No! Her work is so much that it could crush Voldemort! All she has to do is wave her wand and yell 'Works appear!' and countless jobs will 'bang bang bang' out of Voldemort's head and then fall down and crush him to death."

"hahahaha~~~"

Because Miss Beaver knew everyone was joking.

Therefore, she simply gave those people some eye drops, and that was enough to put the matter behind her.

After chatting about other things for a while, she remembered something else, so she darted over to Chris Columbus with a "whoosh" and said in a cute way, "Director, do you have time now?"

"I'm eating right now, do you think I have time?" Columbus pointed to the plate in front of him.

"Oh, so there is!" Miss Beaver smiled. "We used to chat a lot while eating."

“You’re the boss, so whatever you say goes.” Columbus shrugged, looking at the now-grown girl, and said, “Your Majesty, what would you like to discuss with your most loyal subject, Christopher, today?”

"Oh—I just wanted to ask you a question—"

Columbus's antics made Isabella wave her hand.

It seemed like she was swatting away his joke, but it also seemed more like she was telling him to take it seriously.

Isabella asked, "How are the Transformers and Fantastic Four projects going?"

(End of this chapter)