America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 165. Sending Gal Gadot away, setting sights on Marvel.

It was evening at Gadot's apartment.

I haven't slept here for several days, and if I don't come soon, the little girl will start complaining.

Eric and Gadot, Judy and Barrefaeli, the three women and one man, were each sitting intimately on a sofa, with snacks, fruit and beer on the table.

uh-huh!

"Haha, it's a little itchy now, stop scratching."

Gadot slapped away Eric's restless hands, saying, "That's enough, the final episode is about to start, stop fooling around!"

Eric then removed his head from her neck and looked at the television. HBO was doing its final promotional material; the first season finale of The Walking Dead was about to begin in a few minutes.

After three months, this groundbreaking zombie TV series is about to reach its finale.

The reason it has been airing for so long is that the first season, which was led by Eric, was actually a combination of the content from the original first and second seasons, but with the boring and tedious romantic scenes edited out.

The original 19 episodes were compressed into 13 episodes, and Darabont's superb directing skills were also utilized.

The plot has a very strong ability to pull the audience's emotions, with one climax after another.

Since its premiere, the first episode has been watched by 800 million users, and by last week's 12th episode, the number of viewers had exceeded 1300 million.

HBO is also very excited and has mobilized its promotional resources at full speed for this final episode, aiming to break the 1400 million mark tonight.

It's worth noting that Band of Brothers peaked at ten million viewers, while HBO's long-standing mainstay The Sopranos' peak viewership didn't even surpass nine million.

This demonstrates the high viewership of "The Walking Dead," especially its far greater influence among young people compared to other shows.

According to data obtained by MGM, HBO has gained nearly 400 million new subscribers thanks to "The Walking Dead".

After tonight's episode ends, the network will have to pay MGM an additional ten million US dollars as per the contract.

"Judy, give me a beer."

The two women's lips parted, and Judy rolled her eyes at him: "Can't you see what I'm doing? If you have hands and feet, take it yourself."

"Watch out, I might fire you tomorrow just because your left foot steps into the office first."

"Hehe, darling, let me get it for you."

Gadot sat on Eric's lap with a plate in her hand. Her vanilla-scented hair was invigorating, and she pinched pieces of fruit and fed them to him.

"Tsk tsk. Look at the two of you, you're just like a foolish king and his doting little lover," Judy remarked.

The two ignored her; Gadot took a bite of half an apple and snuggled up to Eric.

"Honey, filming for 'Happy Death Day' has wrapped up. Are you planning to arrange any new work for me anytime soon?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. If I don't find a new job, I plan to go home and visit my family. I've been tricked into coming here by you for almost a year now, and I can only contact them by phone. I miss them."

Barrefaeli looked over: "Gadot, I've been away from home for just as long as you've been. My mother also wants me to go back and visit."

Seeing the two women longing for their hometown, Eric felt it was time to give them a break, a period of rest and adjustment, because they couldn't be wound up too tightly forever.

He nodded slightly: "Then go back. I'll give you a month's leave. 'Happy Death Day' will be released at the end of August, so you can come back early. You'll also need to cooperate with the promotion."

"And me?" Lefari asked hastily.

"You can't do it. House of Cards starts filming on Monday, and your role is very important. You have to be involved the whole time. We can't keep Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright waiting for you."

Barrefaeli choked for a moment, thinking that making the best actors and actresses wait for her was a sign of her being out of her mind.

Even though "The Walking Dead" brought her to the forefront and some media outlets labeled her a rising star, it depends on who she's compared to.

Hollywood also emphasizes seniority, a rule that applies worldwide.

Judy patted her on the back reassuringly and said, "Leafley, Eric films very quickly, much faster than Darabont. A TV series will definitely not take more than two months."

"Moreover, 'House of Cards' is a major project for MGM, and with Oscar-winning actors and actresses, it will definitely boost your popularity to a whole new level."

"Just imagine, when the second season of 'The Walking Dead' starts filming, Maggie will surpass Daryl and Rick to become number one in popularity. Doesn't that give you a lot of motivation?"

Barrefali thought for a moment, a smile appearing on her face.

On the television screen, the background music from "The Walking Dead" begins, signaling the start of the final episode.

The opening scene is spectacular, with countless zombies rapidly moving towards the farm in the darkness.

Rick, who had just killed his good friend Sean, was desperately trying to escape with his son Carl, narrowly escaping being pounced on by zombies several times.

These zombies move as fast as a human jog and are incredibly powerful. This is the zombie rule that Eric and Delaware have set for us: never be slow.

The farm then became the battleground, with team members constantly dying at the hands of zombies, a scene both brutal and thrilling.

Gadot's eyes widened in alarm: "How can so many people be dying! If this keeps happening, the main cast will be wiped out!"

Eric stroked her little head: "It's the last episode, so of course we have to weed out the unimportant minor characters. After that, the main cast will be officially formed, and then we'll start the new storyline for season two."

A zombie battle lasted for more than ten minutes before the farm was engulfed in flames.

Hundreds of fire zombies suddenly pounced on the car. At the critical moment, the main characters finally managed to escape separately, leaving only the unlucky Andrea who was left behind.

"OMG! Andrea hasn't gotten in the car yet, Rick didn't notice her, she's going to die!"

"Don't worry, Andrea has her own destiny, someone will save her."

On television, Daniel Wu, who plays Green, and Lefari, who plays Maggie, are seen acting together.

Eric couldn't help but ask, "Lefari, how is Daniel Oh doing on set?"

"He's great. He's an experienced actor. He taught me some skills when we worked together, and he's also very gentlemanly."

"Later I found out that he was already a big star in Hong Kong and very popular there."

"Did you know? After he finished filming his scenes, he rushed back to his country. Darabont didn't want to let him go, but Daniel said he had joined Jack Chen's crew and was about to shoot a new Jack Chen movie, so Darabont let him go."

"Jackie Chan's movie, 'New Police Story'?"

"I don't know the specifics, but it seems to be related to the police. That's when we found out that Daniel is a big star in Hong Kong, and he only makes movies, not TV series."

Judy chuckled and said, "So you still don't understand? Movie stars from other countries have to start from small roles when they come to Hollywood. Only in Hollywood can you possibly become a world-class superstar."

Eric added, "Daniel Wu is actually an American, but he was limited by his yellow skin and went to China to develop his career. Once the market on the other side of the strait takes off, he will get more opportunities."

Finally, after escaping the farm, the main characters reunited, but this time only Rick, Daryl, Carm, Green, Maggie, Carl, and others remained.

Rick finally became the leader of the team through his wit and abilities.

After 13 episodes of buildup, the core of the team is established in the finale, and they need to find a new shelter.

The camera zooms out, revealing a prison standing there, symbolizing the main stage for the second season.

Meanwhile, Andrea escaped from the farm, but was unable to shake off the zombies' pursuit.

She finally collapsed to the ground, exhausted, and was about to be eaten by the zombies when she heard the sound of wind breaking through the air.

A flash of cold light, and the zombie's head had been chopped off.

Andrea stared in astonishment at her savior, a man shrouded in a black robe, his katana gleaming coldly.

Behind the man in black robes, two zombies were chained together, and everything looked extremely eerie.

With this, the first season of The Walking Dead has officially ended.

"Huh? That's it?" Gadot stared wide-eyed at the credits.

"Oh no, didn't you see this episode is already 60 minutes long? It's an extended version."

"But things haven't been explained yet. Who is that man in black? Why doesn't he show his face?"

"Alright, honey, that's a cliffhanger for season two. We still need them to keep the audience engaged."

"No, no, tell me quickly what will happen next, and who the man in the black robe is!" Gadot persisted.

Judy laughed and said, "Don't ask Gadot. Eric probably doesn't know either. He probably hasn't even determined whether the person in the black robe is male or female, which is why he covered his whole body."

Eric nodded: "Yes, I only wrote the script for the first season. Darabont was in charge of the second season, so I didn't handle it."

"If you want to know the plot, you'll have to ask that bald guy, but he's probably still figuring it out."

Left with no other choice, Gadot had to suppress her curiosity.

And Eric didn't lie to her; in the second season, he only gave Darabont a few pieces of advice.

For example, it might be necessary to introduce an external boss to put pressure on the main characters, or to allow some characters to gradually grow stronger to enhance the group's overall power. Additionally, some characters that viewers dislike could be appropriately removed from the story.

He didn't make any specific requests, or even provide a story framework.

Eric believes that with Darabont's abilities, the quality of The Walking Dead is unlikely to decline drastically within at least five seasons.

As for the writer and director running out of inspiration after five seasons, that's normal; they can just change the cast and crew.

Eric is now looking forward to the Emmy Awards in September, wondering how many awards The Walking Dead will win and whether he can get an award for Best Writing in a Drama Series.

Despite being separated by a wall, Eric and Judy could hear each other's voices and began their match.

They fought their way from the Hundred Herbs Garden to the Three Flavors Study, and then fought their way back from the Three Flavors Study to the Hundred Herbs Garden.

Let's see who has better endurance and who can make the loudest sound.

Finally, after hearing two high-pitched cries from the other side, Eric also managed to loot from the exhausted Gadot.

The next day, after dropping Gadot off at the airport, Eric went to his office as usual.

Chen Xing was waiting outside the door when he came in with a document in his hand: "Boss, I've investigated and organized the things you arranged. The general outline is all here."

Eric nodded: "Okay, go out, I'll take a look first."

This document covers the history of Marvel's development and is also MGM's next major target.

It's 2003 now, and time is running out. We'll have to wait another two years.

If Marvel successfully secures funding and the Iron Man project launches then, it will have missed its optimal opportunity.

I remember that Mickey Mouse spent over $40 billion to buy Marvel in 2009. If the Iron Man project had been initiated, that figure would have been several times smaller.

Eric opened the document; many people already knew the history at the beginning, so he quickly skimmed through it and skipped over it.

With the surge in sales of the Captain America comic featuring the beating of Little Mustache during World War II, Marvel began to make its mark in the industry.

After World War II, especially in the 1950s and 60s, the crime rate among American teenagers soared. Due to a lack of regulation, comics contained a lot of sexually explicit and violent content, and naturally became the target of public criticism.

What followed was the judgment of the law and society. Suddenly, comics became the source of evil and were even listed as contraband by cities such as Detroit and Salt Lake City.

It's almost as if at the beginning of the century, everything was the fault of games; games were the culprit that ruined children; games were the smell of electronic powder.

Even more ridiculously, in an effort to salvage their reputation, publishers joined forces to create new industry rules, requiring that justice must prevail over evil, and prohibiting the appearance of creatures such as werewolves, vampires, and Frankenstein's monster in comics.

This contradicts the rule that there are no spirits or monsters allowed on the other side.

Once the hype died down, comic book sales began to grow again, and Marvel gradually surpassed DC to become the new industry leader.

In 1989, Marvel finally welcomed its destined partner, and was about to begin its tumultuous and tragic decade.

This person was certainly not Stan Lee, but rather the financial tycoon Ronald Perelman, who had his sights set on the booming comic book market.

As we all know, once you're targeted by capital, the vast majority of the time you don't end up well.

Perelman spent $8250 million to acquire Marvel, and then used his connections to launch the company and raise funds through a major IPO.

Marvel's stock price soared to over $30, and its market value exceeded $40 billion. Then it began a crazy money-spending spree, constantly expanding and merging.

Among the stocks purchased was a very important toy company, Beechcraft Toys. Two of Beechcraft Toys' shareholders, Isaac Perlmutter and Avi Arad, also joined Marvel's board of directors.

However, this prosperous period lasted only two years before the comic book market collapsed again, because the market was exploited too much.

The general market emphasizes sustainability and sustainable development, but the comic book market at the time completely disregarded this principle and aimed directly at eradicating the problem.

Major companies keep releasing collector's editions, limited editions, and special editions, hyping up comic books as works of art and collectibles.

A limited edition comic book can fetch thousands of dollars, more expensive than gold.

The question is, do you have that value? Does the public recognize the value of your art?

You don't have the ability to know!

It's just a small circle, a self-contained world for die-hard fans.

This kind of chaos is unbearable even for the most ardent fans. Just like trashy games that force players to spend money, the end result is that players quit en masse, and the market completely collapses.

Whether it's Marvel or DC, their sales figures can't be described as just a 50% drop; they're practically bankrupt.

At its lowest point, Marvel laid off so many people that only six writers remained, and a large number of comics were discontinued. It was from that time that it began to sell its copyrights to stay afloat.

If even the big companies are in such a bad situation, the small companies are in an even worse state. According to statistics, at least 300 have gone bankrupt.

Even at this critical juncture, Perelman still felt that Marvel still had money to be made.

This old man wants to continue expanding and acquiring companies, which is basically creating a false impression and blowing bubbles so that he can continue to fleece investors in the stock market.

However, this time he failed, encountering opposition and attacks from Isaac Perlmutter and Avi Arad.

A series of events ensued, eventually leading to a lawsuit in court, and Perelman was ousted.

Marvel and Beachy Toys have merged, or more accurately, Marvel has been acquired by the latter.

Just a couple of years ago, when it was at its peak, Marvel bought 46% of Beechcraft Toys. But just a few years later, it faltered and was acquired by another company.

After several more years of ups and downs, Marvel has made some progress, but it is still impacted by the internet and video games.

People's enthusiasm for comics has long since waned, making it difficult for them to regain their former glory.

They're barely surviving by selling merchandise now, and the only well-known film and television rights they have left are Thor, Captain America, and a few others.

In the stock market, Marvel's current stock price is $3.21 per share. It can't be called a junk stock, but it's still quite far from the average, a typical case of being half-dead and barely hanging on.

Its market value is also very low, and it mainly makes a profit by selling toys and related products.

Hasbro's stock price has now surged to $39.2 per share, especially after the release of the Transformers trailer, which saw a direct increase of 11%, bringing the company's market capitalization to nearly $70 billion.

Marvel's market value is less than $12 billion, a difference of 6 times. So while now may not be the best time to buy Marvel at its lowest price, it is the last chance.

To acquire Marvel, or to take the first step and become Marvel's controlling shareholder, negotiations with Beach Toys are necessary.

Because the current CEO of Marvel is Avi Arad, and Avi Arad is actually under the command of the real boss, Isaac Perlmutter.

As for Stan Lee, whom many fans consider the father of Marvel, he only received a fixed salary and a share of the profits from the movies.

This film revenue sharing only applies to movies produced by Marvel itself; the rights sold out don't count, so it's essentially non-existent.

Stan Lee was just a high-level employee with no say in company decisions; he only held a high position in the hearts of his fans.

"Isaac Permat and Avi Arad, it seems I need to pay them a visit."

"But what reason should we give? Help you sell toys? It seems like they don't need that."

"At least Marvel has the same channels as DoubleStar Entertainment. Before they controlled Hasbro, their toy and merchandise strategies weren't attractive enough."

"Investing to make movies for you? Turning Marvel into your employees, and then acquiring it after MGM goes public, that's a viable path."

bell.

As Eric was pondering this, his phone suddenly rang. It was Fitzheisenberg.

"Fitz, what's wrong?"

"Boss, MySpace is now online!"

(End of this chapter)