The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

Bai Bing never expected that the distribution company for "Manchester by the Sea," Extraordinary Pictures, was actually the boss's company.

"You only need to know about Extraordinary Pictures."

Lin Bufan turned to look at Bai Bing.

Bai Bing is his assistant, and he will inevitably have to deal with some things related to Extraordinary Pictures in the future. When he brought her along this time, Lin Bufan never intended to hide it from her.

As for the others, Lin Bufan didn't want them to know for the time being.

It's not that he's trying to protect himself from them; it's mainly because he's still young and inexperienced. If more people know about Extraordinary Pictures, someone might accidentally let it slip.

At that time, it will definitely be coveted by others.

Therefore, it's better not to tell them until Lin Bufan is fully capable and no longer has anyone to covet him.

"Yes, boss."

Bai Bing nodded upon hearing this.

Upon arriving at Extraordinary Pictures, Lin Bufan looked at Carter in the office and asked, "What happened to Kung Fu Panda?"

Before arriving, Carter had reported to Lin Bufan that there was a problem with "Kung Fu Panda" that Lin Bufan needed to resolve.

"Paramount has learned that we are producing 'Kung Fu Panda' and wants to invest in it." Carter looked at Lin Bufan with a helpless expression.

"How did Paramount know?"

Lin Bufan frowned slightly.

"Boss, as you instructed, we have established an animation department at Extraordinary, poaching many people from animation companies such as DreamWorks, so..."

Another point is that although "Kung Fu Panda" is an animated film, it still needs to be registered, so Paramount naturally knew about it.

"Does Paramount just want to acquire a stake?"

Lin Bufan looked at Carter.

If it's just about taking a stake, he wouldn't necessarily object.

"Paramount not only wants to take a stake, but also wants to dominate the entire project," Carter said helplessly.

Compared to Paramount, Extraordinary Pictures is far too weak.

Clearly, Paramount also has high hopes for the Kung Fu Panda project and wants to snatch it from Extraordinary Pictures.

Paramount also stated that if we do not accept this, they will refuse to release Kung Fu Panda.

There has always been a saying about the "Big Eight" film studios in Hollywood, mainly because of film distribution.

Hollywood does have independent production companies, but their distribution capabilities are very weak, and they sometimes even need to rely on the Big Eight studios for film distribution.

The reason why the eight major film studios can intervene in the production of many films, and even become the main force, is because of the film distribution.

Extraordinary Pictures, established for less than a year, has virtually no distribution capabilities. This is not just a problem for "Kung Fu Panda," but also for other films.

We can't just make a movie and then not release it, can we?

"Boss, what do you think?"

Carter glanced cautiously at Lin Bufan.

The filming of "Lurking" is about to be completed, and the original plan was to have Paramount distribute it.

Now that this has happened, he doesn't know what to do.

As for bypassing Paramount and seeking distribution from other Big Eight film studios, their requests might not be as easy as Paramount's.

In the past, even if Lin Bufan was unwilling, he would have had no choice but to accept it.

But things are different now.

"From now on, the distribution of Extraordinary Pictures' films will be handled by Kyoto."

Lin Bufan turned to Bai Bing: "Xiao Bai, tell Li Guojun to come over."

"Yes, boss."

Bai Bing nodded in agreement.

Before coming to Los Angeles, Lin Bufan had already established a distribution department within Kyoto Entertainment, and Li Guojun was the manager of this distribution department.

Li Guojun was once a manager in the distribution department of Shanghai Film Group.

"Boss, what's this?"

Carter was stunned.

He wasn't unaware that his boss had Kyoto Entertainment in China, but for a Chinese entertainment company to handle the distribution of his Hollywood films...

"I forgot to tell you, I'm now the largest shareholder of AMC Theatres."

Lin Bufan looked at Carter with a smile on his face.

"What?"

Carter looked at Lin Bufan with a shocked expression.

He knew AMC Theatres, of course; it was the second largest theatre chain in North America, with over 300 theaters and more than 5,000 screens.

He suddenly remembered that he had heard some time ago that AMC Theatres had changed its largest shareholder.

At the time, he didn't think much of it, but now he never expected that his boss would become the largest shareholder of AMC Theatres.

With this convenient condition, Extraordinary Pictures can now distribute its own films.

"Forget it, Extraordinary Pictures should just set up its own distribution department."

After thinking about it, Lin Bufan decided that he couldn't let Kyoto handle the distribution of Extraordinary Pictures' films, as it would be too restrictive for Extraordinary.

At this stage, the US dollar is still the most profitable currency.

"Next, let's talk about the other movies."

The distribution of the movie "Kung Fu Panda" will be handled by them, so it has nothing to do with Paramount and they don't need to worry about any threats from Paramount.

How long until "Lurking" is completed and released is it expected?

Lin Bufan looked at Carter and asked.

"Boss, 'Lurking' is now in the later stages of filming. It is expected to be completed in another half month, and the final editing will take about a week..."

Carter did the calculations.

It has been confirmed that "Lurking" will be released on February 21.

"Can!"

Lin Bufan nodded.

After the film is edited, it will need to be promoted, which will also take time. The release date is set for February 21, so the timing isn't too rushed.

How much available cash does the company have right now?

"There's less than a million dollars left."

Carter was somewhat helpless.

Currently, Extraordinary Pictures is entirely focused on expenses and has no revenue yet.

This million dollars wouldn't even cover half a month's expenses for "Kung Fu Panda." Making a decent animated film is no easy feat.

Especially for Feifan, which has established its own animation production department, the initial investment will be greater.

Production costs will only decrease later, as personnel and technology become more mature.

Fortunately, the production cost of "Lurking" was not high, only US$150 million was enough. Once "Lurking" was released, Extraordinary Pictures would have income.

Have the budgets for the four movies, *Night at the Museum*, *I Am Legend*, *Taken*, and *Final Destination*, been finalized?

"It's done."

Cartier nodded and began explaining the film's shooting plan and budget.

The budget for "Night at the Museum" is $1 million.

The budget for "I Am Legend" is $1.5 million.

The budget for "Taken" is $2500 million.

The budget for "Final Destination" was $2300 million.

Apart from "Taken" and "Final Destination," which are considered low-budget films, the other two are big-budget productions.

The same applies to "Kung Fu Panda," which required a budget of $1.3 million, but it could be produced slowly, with investment made little by little.