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

"Boss, you called me!"

After Lin Bufan chased Qiao Nianfei away, he had someone call Carter Dennis over.

"I heard you've landed the role of Iron Man?"

Lin Bufan looked at Carter Dennis.

"Yes, boss!"

Carter Dennis nodded and then explained, "The role was agreed upon the day before yesterday. Originally, I was thinking of reporting back to you after the premiere of '2012'."

The longer they spent together, the more imposing Lin Bufan became to him, filling him with awe.

"What are the conditions?"

Lin Bufan nodded and did not pursue the matter further.

Because he knew that Carter Dennis would not and dare not betray him, at least not yet, there was no indication of it.

Moreover, the character Iron Man would never keep anything from you unless he wanted to betray you.

It was with this in mind that he believed Carter Dennis wanted to surprise him after the premiere.

How can you possibly blame an employee like that?

"It was Strong Wind Bank that spearheaded the deal, securing the Marvel bet from Merrill Lynch..."

Lin Bufan learned the whole story from what Carter Dennis said.

In 05, Marvel secured a $5.25 million non-recourse loan from Merrill Lynch by mortgaging the film rights to 10 superhero IPs to fund its own studios for film production. If the company defaulted, the mortgaged IPs would revert to Merrill Lynch. This was a crucial step in the creation of the MCU.

This is an IP, which includes Captain America, the Avengers, Nick Fury, Black Panther, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Hawkeye, Cloak and Dagger, the Power Squad, and Shang-Chi.

The most successful of them all is the Avengers.

The Avengers series grossed $77.8 billion worldwide.

Captain America followed closely behind, grossing $22.4 billion at the box office.

Black Panther grossed $16.3 billion; Ant-Man grossed $16.2 billion; Shang-Chi grossed $4.3 million.

Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Cloak & Dagger, and Power Squad do not have standalone theatrical releases, so they are not included in the count.

Even so, these 10 IPs have earned a total of 137 billion US dollars in box office revenue alone.

Even if the final profit is only 10%, that's still 13.7 billion US dollars. Moreover, the profit is much higher, with a minimum of around 20% or even more.

This only includes box office revenue; other revenue streams are not included.

As a result, thanks to Carter Dennis's leadership and extensive networking, Strong Wind Bank managed to secure the "betting" agreement between Merrill Lynch and Marvel.

Of course, Strong Wind Bank also spent US$6.25 million to obtain this betting agreement from Merrill Lynch after a thorough evaluation.

For Merrill Lynch, they suffered no losses and already made $1 million. What more could they ask for?

On the contrary, Marvel was quite worried about this.

To put it bluntly, Marvel is indeed very famous in the entertainment industry, but compared to capital, Marvel is a weak group.

Furthermore, the performance-based agreement between Marvel and Merrill Lynch did not stipulate that Merrill Lynch could not be sold.

Although the agreement is still the same agreement, for capital, contracts, as long as they exist, will always have loopholes.

It all depends on how the two sides proceed.

After some negotiations (and threats), Strong Wind Bank promised Marvel that it would not engage in any underhanded tactics, but on the condition that Marvel would release the Iron Man IP.

Ultimately, Marvel sold the Iron Man IP to Strong Wind Bank for $1000 million. Remember, it was sold.

Subsequently, Strong Wind Bank licensed the Iron Man character IP to Extraordinary Business.

"Alright, you can go ahead and get busy!"

Lin Bufan nodded slightly, and after understanding what had happened, waved to Carter Dennis.

"Let Marvel win?"

The moment the thought crossed Lin Bufan's mind, he immediately dismissed it.

Are you kidding me? How could Marvel possibly win an IP worth billions of dollars? If they really did that, they'd probably slap themselves every night when they woke up.

If you do the math, that's a nearly 100 billion IP, and that's just in terms of box office revenue, not even counting merchandise.

Lin Bufan is not Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch could watch Marvel slowly win the bet, one film after another, and eventually turn his life around completely.

"Tian'ai, inform Bart Elvis to come see me as soon as possible."

Lin Bufan called Zhang Tianai over: "Also, have him bring the head of Strong Wind Bank and the investment team here as soon as possible."

Lin Bufan was not very familiar with financial capital methods.

The only solution is to consult professionals to figure out how to make Marvel lose this bet.

"Yes, boss!"

Zhang Tianai nodded slightly, then turned and left the venue.

Since having a relationship with Lin Bufan, she has stopped calling him "President Lin" so formally, and instead addresses him as "Boss" like Bai Bing does.

Especially at certain times, when Zhang Tian'ai knelt there and turned around to call Lin Bufan "boss" in a sweet and gentle voice, the gale would become even more violent.

……

Although Lin Bufan was filled with "desire" for Marvel, he didn't forget that this was the premiere of his first Hollywood blockbuster.

The interview ended with some lighthearted banter, and then it was time to get to the main content.

As soon as the main feature started playing, it instantly attracted the attention of everyone present, especially when the breathtaking special effects appeared before their eyes. Although it was not 3D, it felt as if they were actually there.

The impact was indescribable.

Lin Bufan drew on some theories from later generations for these special effects. Although they are not 3D, they are just as stunning as 3D.

"3D?"

Lin Bufan's heart stirred.

In later years, when "Avatar" was released, it grossed a staggering $29 billion worldwide, a record that remained unbroken until Lin Bufan's rebirth in his later life.

Before his rebirth, Lin Bufan had read many entertainment novels of the time-travel and rebirth genres.

Without exception, none of the main characters in the film dared to break the dominance of the movie "Avatar".

"Rebirth + System, if I don't even dare to take action, wouldn't that be too contemptible...?" At this moment, an ambition suddenly arose in Lin Bufan's heart.