American Gossip King

Chapter 289 You are truly a wise man

Saddam's spring breeze is still burning hot, while Ian Karl has thrown himself into his work with all his heart.

Pirates of the Caribbean had just been released and was already a box office hit, showing a strong upward trend.

Taking this opportunity, Ian also frequently visited Hollywood, continuing to look for new targets.

The king of Hollywood has returned from Iraq, carrying the glory of accompanying Saddam Hussein, as well as the powerful backing of a super media and financial bank. When he waves his checks, few can stand against his takeover bid.

Warner Bros.' DC Comics rights, a 20% investment in Harry Potter (across all channels) and nearly half of its marketing and distribution rights, as well as the Lord of the Rings rights in collaboration with New Line Cinema, have all fallen into Ian's hands.

Aside from Nolan's Spider-Man series, DC's adaptations haven't been very successful, but what does it matter? After Marvel became popular, DC was bound to follow suit, and then Ian McKellen would just sell it back. I don't care about your profits or losses, I'm sure I'll make a profit.

Universal Pictures negotiated the rights to the Bourne series last year and finally secured them this year, just in time for the release of the second film. In addition, they also acquired the rights to the Fast & Furious franchise and the Hulk.

Paramount isn't good at producing film series; they also took over Mission: Impossible, Transformers hadn't been released yet, and they didn't have a good relationship with Viacom, so it was best to let it go.

Disney didn't work out either, mainly because Pirates of the Caribbean was a box office hit, and Eisner felt he had sold it at a loss.

You son of a bitch!

I acquired it for 300 million, but I'm not making much money from it, okay?

Only if you spend 600 million to buy it back can I make a profit!

As for the Disney animated series, Ian didn't want them.

Animation profits depend on merchandise. Ian doesn't produce merchandise, which requires a huge industry chain, so taking it would be useless. Besides, even if we asked, they wouldn't give it to us... The point of mergers and acquisitions is to take someone else's garbage and turn it into a source of revenue. But to take someone else's pillar and turn it into garbage is just stupid.

Ian's news focuses on adults, and he doesn't expect to make any progress in the children's industry for the next ten years unless he buys Disney directly. But Ian has no such idea—there's no end to the money in the world, and what matters is finding what you're good at!

In addition, Ian has acquired most of the popular Hollywood series, including 007, as well as some film sources for broadcast on LANN.

Because they only acquired the copyrights and not the development rights, and because of Ian's influence and good reputation in this area, the total value of these copyrights is not very high, only around 3 million.

The 3 million dollars basically came from the Pirates of the Caribbean box office. Overall, with the release of some of the films Ian acquired last year, Ian basically no longer needs to invest in Lockbridge, and it can finally grow and develop on its own.

But in essence, it remains a vessel that feeds on the massive foundation of Hollywood.

Overall, the return of the Hollywood king did not bring any shock to Hollywood; it merely further consolidated control over the development of major Hollywood franchises and their box office and marketing efforts.

The initial revenue is handled by Lockbridge Pictures, while the final promotion and distribution are handled by Carl Media.

........................

Today is another banquet, and Ian is dressed to the nines.

Inside the glittering, brightly lit venue, VIPs in suits and ties were everywhere.

They strolled around casually, arm in arm with their beautiful female companions, chatting idly, with Ian undoubtedly at the very center of attention.

Bertram Rick, CEO of Touchstone Pictures, walked over and respectfully said to Ian, "Mr. Carl, you've arrived."

He felt a deep sense of sorrow.

Three years ago, when he saw Ian Carr, the other was just a humble young man. A year later, he was on equal footing with him, discussing the publicity for Pearl Harbor.

A year later, he became a world-renowned figure, on par with James Peley.

As for now, he is on the same level as Murdoch, and even Eisner, the most powerful figure in Hollywood, would be inferior to him.

His rise has been so rapid that Bertrandrick now looks up to his old friend with awe.

Ian nodded with a smile: "Hi, Bert."

I hate it when people call me Bert!

Bertrandrick sighed inwardly, but smiled broadly: "The hardships of Iraq have not diminished your charm; you look even more handsome."

Ian smiled: "I've been getting skincare treatments lately."

The joke wasn't funny at all, but Bertrandrick still smiled obsequiously.

Michael Bay walked over from a distance, accompanied by Brad Pitt and Icabod Harnett... The latter was the director of Channel 4, which now belonged to LANN and was under the management of Deer Chandler.

So Ian is now Harnett's boss's boss.

Director Hannett said respectfully, "Boss, Mr. Michael Bay has an idea that you might be interested in."

Ian raised an eyebrow: "What?"

Michael Bay laughed and said, "Remember what we discussed two years ago? I said your experiences could make a movie. At that time, you said your stories were too few, but I think they're enough now. The Blaze case, the Palos bank robbery, the 9/17 attacks, the Bolshoi Theatre incident, and the days spent with Saddam."

Michael Bay only talked about Ian's most glorious experiences, and as for the news interview about burning the torch, which violated human ethics, he wouldn't mention it, as he was smart enough not to.

Upon hearing Michael Bay's suggestion, Ian immediately thought it was worth considering.

He nodded. "Sounds pretty good."

Although Michael Bay prioritizes effects over plot, he is still an excellent director, even one of the most beloved directors in Hollywood... because he has an important skill: he knows how to control the budget. He not only doesn't exceed the budget when making movies, but he can even save a lot of money!

James Cameron is amazing, but he always goes over budget when making movies, and by huge margins, which is not in line with business principles!

True businessmen never gamble on success. Investing in James Cameron is gambling. You can be happy about his success, but you should never imitate him in business operations.

The latest novel is first published here!

Michael Bay is the kind of director who works within the system, which means that even though "The Island" was a failure, he still has plenty of film offers!

Given the unpredictable future, Ian would certainly prefer the standard operating procedure.

Ian asked, "Who will be the lead actor?"

Brad Pitt chuckled and asked, "What do you think of me?"

Ian's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "That's great."

Although Ian is also handsome, he is obviously not as good-looking as Pippen.

Ian asked, "Where's the female lead?"

Michael Bay said, "Of course, the original girls. Kate Beckinsale from the Charlie Mills and Blazer case. Shauna from 917, and Ekaterina and Natasha from the Bolshoi Theatre."

Ian nodded: "And there's Scarlett who saved the suicidal teenager, Jessica and the others from the Dandy Tower murder case, Gal Gadot from Tokyo Tower, Megan Fox who repaid kindness on the spot... If necessary, we can add Natalie Portman too."

After that incident, Natalie Portman never contacted Ian again.

But out of some perverse and mischievous psychology, Ian would occasionally call her over and enjoy himself in various ways.

A beautiful woman you don't have to worry about, and using her is especially enjoyable!

Michael Bay: "..."

No, doing it this way isn't an adaptation!

I hate it when people interfere with the script.

However, this is what the "original work" requires, and it can even be what the investors require. Michael Bay finally understood that Ian Carr didn't care about his position in the film; what he wanted were the girls who would support him.

As for Ian Carl, he didn't care.

For films whose future is uncertain, he simply takes "copyright, marketing, and equity," but he absolutely doesn't invest any money.

Michael Bay said helplessly, "A movie can't contain that much content."

Ian casually said, "You can make it into a series, based on the years. The first one could be called '2001: The Shocking Story,' which would just be the story from the fourth quarter of 00 and 01. If you don't have enough content for the later ones, you can make one every two years."

Fake!

What a terrible name and terrible plan!

Michael Bay beamed, "You are truly a wise man, Mr. Carl!"

(End of this chapter)