America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 188, Section 187: Taking Down Marvel – A Fierce Box Office Battle and a Glorious Premiere

New York, Fifth Avenue, Marvel headquarters.

After getting out of the car, Isaac Perlmutter hurried toward the office building, more like jogging than walking.

When the Marvel employees saw him, they were all terrified and quickly made way for him. Perlmutter had a bad temper to begin with, and no one dared to provoke him.

Inside the elevator, one person stood in the middle, while everyone else huddled in the corners as much as possible.

Ding!

As the elevator doors opened and the boss left, the others breathed a sigh of relief.

Lately, Isaac Perlmutter has become even more irritable.

Many employees heard that it was because of a conflict with another senior executive in the company, Avi Arad. The two had a good relationship, but for some reason, it suddenly became tense.

Boom boom boom!

Pushing open the door, Isaac Perlmutter looked at his companion standing by the window. Their relationship had become tense ever since his last conversation with Eric Cooper.

The reason is simple: Isaac Perlmutter wanted to exchange shares, but Avi Arad disagreed.

The two had talked so many times that Isaac Perlmutter couldn't even remember them all; they were practically living at each other's houses.

In order to persuade Avi Arad to exchange his shares, he has already used his connections with Avi Arad's family, and everyone is working together to persuade him.

After more than a month of relentless bombardment, the old guy's attitude finally softened.

"Avi, I know you see Marvel as your own child, but the problem now is that this child is starving to death."

"Without funding, Marvel will only be able to continue to eke out a living, and we may miss out on the current booming market."

"You don't want to mortgage the copyright again, do you? Banks don't care about feelings. If the movie fails, Marvel will be doomed."

"Handing it over to MGM at least offers a good outlook; Eric Cooper's abilities are widely recognized in the industry."

Isaac Perlmutter has said these words many times.

Avi Arad stood with his arms crossed, looking down from a high place, where all he could see were GGs of the Transformers.

Even when he went downstairs to buy a coffee, the Starbucks logo had been changed to a Transformer.

Although no one knows the final quality of the film, judging from the released trailers alone, it is indeed very exciting.

Furthermore, Eric Cooper recently won the title of the youngest screenwriter in history, which proves everything.

He's not some rich kid dabbling in movies, nor is he a clueless film buff; he's a true genius.

With money, power, and ability, and the ability to manipulate and play mind games, Marvel's superheroes might not necessarily shine in their own hands.

But once it's in the other party's hands, the probability of it shining and generating heat is much greater.

Moreover, apart from MGM, Marvel's options are very limited now.

Sony, Fox, Universal, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, Lionsgate, and others were excluded in advance because these companies all hold the rights that Marvel had previously sold.

Warner even owns the entire DC.

They already have too many superheroes to film themselves, why would they give you money to play with?

Moreover, companies like Universal Pictures, which botched the Hulk franchise, are unlikely to touch superhero movies again for several years.

With investments often reaching hundreds of millions of dollars, small companies simply can't afford to participate, so Marvel's options are really limited to just a handful of companies.

Grabbing Avi Arad's hand as they returned to his desk, Isaac Perlmutter said excitedly, "And I just got some more good news."

"Eric Cooper promised that the budget for the first film would not be less than $1.4 million, and he would hire the best director and special effects team."

"Furthermore, through my mediation, he learned that you have a deep affection for Marvel, so he agreed that you can retain 2% of the shares."

"And you will continue to serve as one of Marvel's management teams, and you will be allowed to participate in the company's future development strategy. You have not abandoned your child."

Upon hearing this, Avi Arad's thick beard trembled: "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course it's true. These terms can be added to the contract. You're just sending your child to a better school."

Feeling a little tempted, Avi Arad rubbed his temples vigorously.

As longtime partners, Isaac Perlmutter knew this was a sign of his partner's inner turmoil.

He quickly added fuel to the fire: "Avi, this really is our last chance, there's no time left."

"Look at all the advertising outside, there are only a few days left until the release of Transformers."

"And do you know what it means once the movie is released?"

"What?" Avi Arad's eyes widened.

"This means MGM is about to officially begin the process of relisting, and the lion's stock price will skyrocket."

"More than a month ago, Eric Cooper promised that our equity stake could be halved."

"Avi, you need to understand one fact: Marvel will become less and less valuable, while MGM will become more and more valuable."

"If we don't seize the last few days to sign the contract, we could have gotten $2 million, but we might only have gotten $1 million left."

"You have an affinity for Marvel, but don't turn down money, okay?"

These words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back; there really weren't any better options, and MGM's offer was the most generous among the major companies.

If you continue to persist, you'll be carrying a donkey's head on your shoulders, not a head.

"Isaac, let's do it this way, but you absolutely must not tamper with the contract. I must review it myself."

Isaac Perlmutter gave Avi Arad an enthusiastic bear hug before hurrying out of the office.

"I've revised the contract many times. It's in the safe. I'll show it to you now. You can go and hire a lawyer."

"Ideally, we should fly to Los Angeles this afternoon or tomorrow morning."

In the fall in the United States, the weather has turned cold, and people on the street are wearing wool coats and leather jackets.

However, in contrast to the cold weather, cinemas are experiencing a boom, with major film companies bringing out their best works.

"Don't Breathe" held the top spot at the box office for only a week, earning $3600 million, before being dethroned by Disney's new film.

Following last year's "Treasure Planet", Mickey Mouse has once again released an animated feature film, "The Bear".

With 2511 cinemas opening simultaneously, and seemingly recognizing its own strengths, Disney seems to have realized that 3D is not its forte.

So this time they returned to 2D and told a touching story of an ancient legend.

With a G rating, the film appealed to all ages, and critics and audiences alike gave it rave reviews, propelling "The Bear" to the top of the box office in its opening week and raking in $4100 million.

But The Legend of the Bear didn't stay on the top spot for long, as it faced challenges from MGM's Legally Blonde 2 and New Line Cinema's The New Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the second week.

With 2240 theaters showing, The Former Films: Legally Blonde 2 grossed nearly $3900 million in its opening weekend.

The latter was weaker, but the killer's legacy remained, and it had a loyal fan base, earning $2900 million at the box office.

Compared to a budget of less than $1000 million, this once again proves that horror films are definitely the best choice for achieving big results with a small budget.

The two films also surpassed the $2500 million grossed by "The Bear" in its second week and the $1300 million grossed by "Don't Breathe" in its third week.

This also meant that four films accounted for 75% of the total market share, while the remaining 51 films shared 25%, fully demonstrating the ruthlessness of the film market.

However, Legally Blonde 2 didn't stay in its element for long, as the pink-clad lawyer could only win one championship at most.

In the fourth week of October, Dimension Films brought its highly anticipated film, "Scary Movie 3," to theaters.

Not only did Anna Faris return as the series' female lead, but Charlie Sheen was also brought in to play the male lead.

Charlie Sheen is a well-known bad boy in Hollywood. You can say he's a scumbag, but you can't say he's bad.

This guy's acting has always been solid; he's the kind of actor who can handle both serious dramas and comedies.

As usual, the film parodied a large number of intellectual property (IPs), including Ju-on, Signs, The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, 8 Mile, Independence Day, and Hulk.

Eric and Theron also contributed two movie tickets, laughing heartily.

However, David Zack became the director of Scary Movie 3, and the Wayans brothers were poached by AK Films to direct Shark2.

Thanks to the influence of its predecessor and its excellent comedic ability, Scary Movie 3 successfully grossed $4970 million, becoming a box office champion.

In just one October, the box office battle has already left many companies and film critics exclaiming how exciting and unbearable it is.

The fierce competition caused the box office predictions of various institutions to become invalid, all falling by hundreds of millions of dollars.

But this is only the beginning.

As we enter November, even fiercer competition is about to unfold.

Disney was the first to enter the market, with Rob Minkoff, director of The Lion King, bringing his latest blockbuster, The Haunted House, to the three major theater chains.

This film, with a budget of $9000 million, like "Pirates of the Caribbean," was made to promote the haunted house attraction at Disneyland.

Rob Minkoff not only directed "The Lion King," but also "Stuart Little."

A few years later, he also filmed "The Forbidden Kingdom," which was the only film Jet Li and Jackie Chan collaborated on.

With the huge success of "Pirates of the Caribbean," Disney naturally had high hopes for "The Haunted House."

Unfortunately, reality dealt the rat a harsh blow, with its opening weekend box office only reaching $2400 million.

While low-budget films are something to celebrate, "The Haunted House" is completely unworthy of its investment and cast.

What defeated it was Warner Bros.' trump card, The Matrix Revolutions.

The release date chosen for The Matrix 3 is November 5th, not a Friday, but a Wednesday.

As I've said before, people who do these kinds of fancy tricks are either lazy or incredibly skilled and daring.

In just three days, The Matrix Revolutions raked in a staggering $48 million at the box office, leaving The Haunted House's weekly box office in the dust.

The latter had twice the release time of the former, while the former's box office was twice that of the latter.

New Line Cinema then re-entered the fray, releasing the fantasy comedy "Elf" on November 7th, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Will Ferrell.

After a week of intense competition, "Elf" took home $3200 million at the box office.

The Matrix Revolutions continued its dominance, becoming the only film to hold the top spot at the box office for two consecutive weeks in just over a month.

By November 14th, "Don't Breathe" had finished its run in North America, and only a few countries overseas were still showing it.

After this fierce competition, the global box office only reached $1.36 million.

Although they still made a fortune, it was the worst performing project among those led by Eric.

"Legally Blonde 2" has been in theaters for a month and has grossed $1.17 million worldwide. It is expected to reach $1.5 million by now.

Today is Friday, a traditional movie premiere day, and Miramax's "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" is opening in 2900 theaters.

The film had a budget of $1.5 million and was directed by Peter Weir, who directed classic films such as Dead Poets Society and The Truman Show.

The lead actor is Russell Crowe, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor two years ago for his role in Gladiator.

With a big production and a star-studded cast, everything pointed to its potential for a box office hit, and Miramax did a lot of promotion.

The Weinstein brothers held a premiere and invited many celebrities from the industry to attend.

Although Eric didn't think the film could challenge "Transformers," he still treated it with great respect.

He also disguised himself and sneaked into the movie theater with the Olsen sisters at night.

However, after buying the ticket and entering the screening room, Eric realized he had worried too much.

Because the occupancy rate was very low, only a dozen or so people were sparsely seated in the 300 seats.

After watching the movie, his remaining worries vanished completely.

Even the Olsen twins said the plot was incredibly boring, and if they hadn't been with Eric, they would have left long ago.

In fact, less than 40 minutes into the movie, some of the original dozen or so audience members had already left.

He walked along, shaking his head and muttering curses, uttering words like "boring," "rubbish," and "waste of money."

With no worries left, Eric was in high spirits and played with the two sisters until dawn before finally stopping.

As he predicted, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" only grossed a little over $1200 million on its opening day.

The second day was even worse, with less than $900 million.

On the third day, the value was halved, leaving only $400 million.

Ultimately, the film only grossed $2500 million in its opening three days, which was its biggest box office draw.

Compared to the $1.5 million investment, this figure is enough to make Miramax tremble with fear.

Eric could already picture Harvey Weinstein looking utterly pathetic.

November 16, Los Angeles, Arc Light Cinema.

MGM has once again chosen this venue as the premiere location for "Transformers".

A long red carpet stretched out from inside the cinema, a hundred meters long, all the way to the edge of the asphalt road.

On both sides of the cinema entrance, Transformers such as Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Barricade, Vertigo, and Ironhide stand tall, adding to the imposing atmosphere.

Even if many people have already seen just one of them, the sight of so many Transformers gathered together is still very appealing.

From day to dusk, tens of thousands of people checked in, took photos, and shared them.

Unfortunately, the premiere tickets were sold out long ago, and most people could only wait around to join in the fun.

As the time approached 8 p.m., a cool breeze blew in, and the temperature dropped considerably, but thousands of people still gathered on both sides of the red carpet.

As a stretched Lincoln slowly came to a stop, Eric led the crew and was the first to arrive.

Gal Gadot, Chris Evans, Ryan Reynolds, the British trio, Crocevini, and others accompanied him.

Each person held a small Transformer in their hand, which was none other than the Miniature Chaos from the Decepticons.

At first, they were able to maintain the group, but after walking a few steps, everyone separated and went off to take photos and sign autographs for fans.

Before the red carpet was even halfway over, the joint arrival of Johnny Depp and Hugo Mortensen sparked another frenzy among fans.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Jack Sparrow! I love you!"

"Aragorn, Aragorn, give me your autograph! Ah, don't push!"

Depp was blowing kisses to female fans, and Brad Pitt and his wife Jennifer Aniston also arrived. Eric gave Rachel a leading role, and the couple naturally knew how to reciprocate.

"Rachel! Pete!"

"Rachel, I love you, will you marry me?"

Aniston covered her mouth and laughed: "Sorry, my husband is right here."

"Dude, that's not a good idea," Pete replied jokingly at the opportune moment.

Then came Pierce Brosnan, Cate Blanchett, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, Edward Norton, Jessica Alba, Keira Knightley, and Hugh Jackman.

Over the past year, Eric has gradually built up his network of contacts.

Last year's premiere of "Red Dragon" required my dad's help.

This year, all it takes is one phone call; half of Hollywood will give him face.

Even Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and the Olsen twins attended.

They didn't come at Eric's request; they insisted on coming on their own.

Eric couldn't really tell her not to come, since her rival was there. He could only hope that something exciting would happen.

Sergei Hasenfield and Kate Winslet arrived last, but they did not enter together; instead, they entered one after the other.

However, upon seeing the two of them appear, Eric probably understood.

After the lively red carpet event was over, everyone entered the venue to begin the stage segment.

It includes various questions, narrations, behind-the-scenes tidbits, and introductions to various Transformers.

The lights in the screening room went out as soon as the clock struck midnight.

On the big screen, after the lion roared, the Autobots officially made their appearance.

(End of this chapter)