"I'm sorry" "Don't refuse in a hurry. I want to ask Chairman Rodman first, how high do you think the follow-up box office of X-Men can be? The trilogy is over, how can we make up a new story later? "This is our own business at 20th Century Fox." "Okay, let me ask again, do you think you are investing heavily in a project like X-Men that has insufficient potential and unclear prospects? , and then take risks to make more money, or is it better to make money first and then work on other projects? " "You have to take risks when doing any project, right? The greater the risk, the more you can earn. " "But the probability of capsizing is high, especially when 20th Century Fox is short of money. How much budget can you give to X-Men? If there is no budget, how can you use it for special effects and make big money?" Wan Xiaohu laughed. There was no smile on Tom Rodman's face: "What does Wan Dao mean?" "What I mean is very clear. Now 20th Century Fox is short of money, and I have more spare money. You know, Golden Harvest Entertainment and Sasha Entertainment are both It¡¯s a very profitable company. We don¡¯t lack money for projects. Twentieth Century Fox doesn¡¯t lack projects, but it lacks money. ¡°Why does Director Wan think we are short of money?¡± ask. "Because of "Avatar"" Wan Xiaohu said it casually, but Tom Rodman's expression suddenly changed, and he was uncertain. "Avatar" is a great movie title that is destined to go down in history. In its previous trajectory, "Avatar" directed by James Cameron broke the world box office record held by his own "Titanic". 2.75 billion US dollars to once again become the world champion. In film history, it was the first movie with a box office of more than 2 billion US dollars, and it also allowed James Cameron to win the Oscar for Best Director twice with commercial films. Such a movie, behind such brilliant achievements. But it has a different flavor. When "Titanic" was filmed, Twentieth Century Fox also invested. The initial budget was less than 100 million US dollars, about 70 to 80 million US dollars. It was already a very expensive investment in the 1990s. As a result, within a few days of filming, Cameron approached Fox executives. Said there was no money. What should I do if I have no money? Just add more. So an additional US$10 million or US$20 million was added. Within a few days, Cameron looked for it again, and there was no money! In this way, it was increased to US$135 million. It was already a sky-high price at the time. As a result, all US$135 million was spent, and only about three-fifths of the film was shot. "As a result, the entire Fox company is in trouble. You don't know how much money you want, even if you don't own a family, how much money do you want? I've spent so much money, I've already invested it at a sky-high price, and I haven't filmed it yet." Can you take the photo? At that time, the media was also fanning the flames, saying just wait and see, Cameron's team will be finished sooner or later! Cameron was also very angry at that time. He took a fruit knife blade and hung it on the computer. He said that if I didn¡¯t make money from the film, I would use this knife to commit suicide, vowing to live and die with "Titanic"! Fox was dumbfounded, what would happen to the movie if you died? What to do with $135 million? Who is willing to take over this mess? Therefore, we could only continue to invest more, but Fox was unwilling to pay. The money at that time was valuable, and Fox really couldn't get it out, so it took out the North American distribution rights. Sold to Paramount Pictures for $65 million. In this way, at that time, the most expensive movie in the world and the first movie with an investment of more than 200 million US dollars came out. Eventually it became a global sensation. Going back a hundred years ago, when the Titanic was actually produced in history, US$200 million was enough to build 22 Titanics. Fortunately, God has paid off, and "Titanic" has grossed 1.9 billion US dollars at the box office. James Cameron, a self-taught train driver, swept away the gloom and held the Best Director statuette at the Oscars. He said loudly: "I am the king of the world." Became the most famous director in 1998. He was happy and proud, but Twentieth Century Fox was counting the money until his hands cramped, and he was sighing. If they weren't so narrow-minded and unwilling to spend more money, all the money they made was theirs. The result was good. Paramount didn't have to worry about it and just counted the money easily until his hands cramped. This has also become a problem that cannot be erased by 20th Century Fox. It is clear that it can eat alone, but half of it is given to others, which made people laugh at the time. Tom Rodman naturally knows that past event. Even though he was not an executive at the time, he still felt shameless. Therefore, when Wan Xiaohu said "Avatar", he immediately lost his composure. James Cameron is definitely a talented director, but the most unsatisfactory thing about this guy is that he is a perfectionist and wastes money making movies. I also like to play with technology, ?A complete technical geek, he even holds the title of consultant to NASA. After playing with technology for several years, Cameron came back in 2005 to prepare for filming "Avatar". This was a script he wrote in 1994. At that time, conditions were limited and it could not be filmed. This time he found his enemy Twentieth Century Fox again. With the success of "Titanic", Twentieth Century Fox got excited and started filming. But only after boarding James Cameron¡¯s pirate ship did I know what it means to be speechless. The budget was agreed upon at US$200 million, but within a few days, there was not enough money. Okay, we added $50 million, but after a few days, the money was not enough. We added another $50 million, but it was not enough again! Ask him what he spent it on. Well, Cameron actually used the money to invent his own camera. He wanted to make 3D movies and design a 3D camera! ¡°It¡¯s so suspenseful that it made the executives at 20th Century Fox furious to death. But when it came to "Titanic", 20th Century Fox was itchy again and had no choice but to let James Cameron mess with it. It's just that there's too much money spent here, and there won't be enough money to make any movies there. Especially the box office revenue of the big-budget "X-Men 3" was not as much as expected, which made Fox's finances even more difficult. . Wan Xiaohu was leisurely shaking the coffee in his cup. Now is a good time. Twentieth Century Fox is short of money! I highly hope a deal can be made. Tom Rodman had a sullen face, and after thinking for a long time, he breathed out quietly: "Director Wan, how much money are you willing to pay to buy back the copyright of the X-Men?" Wan Xiaohu smiled, and sure enough, Rodman's heart moved. : "Yeah. I'm only responsible for buying, not negotiating money. You can talk to Kevin Feige." Kevin Feige has been waiting for this moment and said with a smile: "We have two options. One is Separately repurchase the copyrights of the X-Men series of superheroes, one is to repurchase the copyrights of all Marvel Comics superheroes from Twentieth Century Fox" Both plans give an exciting figure. Of course, in installments. Now, Marvel Comics has very little money on its books and must refinance. This is also one of Wan Xiaohu's goals. By refinancing, he can spend more money and occupy more shares. He personally holds shares in several Internet companies. It's almost time to sell, and you can exchange it for a large sum of cash at any time, so you won't be short of money. "Let's talk about the X-Men alone." In the end, Tom Rodman chose to be conservative. They still had the copyright to the "Fantastic Four" and were ready to give it another try instead of selling it all. Remaining time. It's all about negotiation, and it can't be decided in a minute. Just when Wan Xiaohu was relieved to leave the negotiations to Kevin Feige and prepare for the global release of "Kung Fu Panda", within a few days, Tom Rodman came to visit. "Director Wan, the current management of 20th Century Fox has basically agreed to sell the copyright of , we hope to invite Director Wan to participate in the investment of "Avatar". "What?" Wan Xiaohu almost jumped up, "You don't have enough money yourself?" Tom Rodman thought that Wan Xiaohu was unwilling, so he said, "Director Wan." Taking away our cash cow, we have to share some risks, right? Although the budget of "Avatar" has repeatedly exceeded the standard, many companies are willing to cooperate with us, isn't it? " "Since there are companies willing to cooperate, Why are you still looking for me?" After Wan Xiaohu was surprised, he calmed down, but there was something meaningful in his eyes. He doesn¡¯t know what Twentieth Century Fox means. Wan Xiaohu had never thought of taking a share of a blockbuster movie like "Avatar", thinking that Twentieth Century Fox would definitely not be willing to diversify its investment. Who would have thought that 20th Century Fox would come to us? It's strange. And it feels to Wan Xiaohu that if he doesn¡¯t invest, he won¡¯t give him face. This is simply asking for money. why? Wan Xiaohu didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from pretending to be stupid and reluctant. "Because other companies offer more aggressive prices and want more shares, I hope to reach a perfect share agreement with Director Wan." Wan Xiaohu suddenly realized that 20th Century Fox was trying to rip off the copyright of X-Men. Blackmail, trying to take advantage. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk, as for who takes advantage of whom, let¡¯s talk about it! At that moment, Wan Xiaohu reluctantly agreed to this "unequal" prerequisite. In fact, he was extremely happy. This is a big killer of 2.75 billion US dollars in the future box office. Damn, this is an unsolicited gift. Here comes the money! Wan Xiaohu is satisfied, Tom RoweDeman is also satisfied. In Fox's risk budget, "Avatar" is likely to cost more than 500 million U.S. dollars in shooting costs and at least 150 million in publicity costs. If this continues, the cost will be huge. If "Titanic" cannot be copied, The miracle of "No. 1" is a failure. When cooperating with other companies, these companies are not stupid and they have to work hard to increase their profit sharing. Looking at Wan Xiaohu's appearance, it's a typical "people are stupid and money will come quickly" rhythm. If you don't knock Wan Xiaohu's, who will knock it? So there was such a joyful cooperation. "There is also a second prerequisite. We hope to invite Director Wan to collaborate on three movies. The first script is "Percy Jackson and the Fire Thief"" "Wait a minute, you want to make a movie with me ?" Wan Xiaohu was surprised again, "Although I have made a few Chinese-language films that are quite profitable, except for one small-budget Hollywood movie, you are not afraid of losing money?" Tom Rodman laughed: "Of course we are afraid, so we have done research and found that the movie directed by Wan is completely a Hollywood movie as long as the actors and scenes are changed, so there is nothing to worry about. How about it, Director Wan, we sincerely invite you. His personal salary is definitely that of an A-level director!¡±