Rebirth In Hollywood

"I have bought three important products in my life, one is Viacom, one is Paramount, and the other is CBS."

Sitting behind the desk, Summer Redstone looked at the person opposite, "Now, my shopping bag is full."

Although he is over eighty-five years old, Summer Redstone's desire for power has not diminished in the slightest, and he has always firmly controlled Viacom. For this reason, he did not hesitate to turn against his son and daughter.

However, compared to Rupert Murdoch, the older Redstone no longer has the adventurous spirit of more than a decade ago, and the crumbling Viacom hit by the financial crisis cannot withstand the next risk. shock.

"Whoever wins this fight, we stand to gain."

It is not too much to describe Summer Redstone as old and mature, "Matthew, let our media follow suit and help whoever has the upper hand."

"Mr. Murdoch's phone call..."

The executive named Matthew on the opposite side seemed to be hesitant, "People from the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Justice have also arrived in Burbank, Disney..."

"Hmph, no one can underestimate Ryan, and no one dares to underestimate Ryan!"

Summer Leishidong's slightly cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, "I have known Ryan since he was twelve years old, and I know what kind of person he is."

"Let Murdoch fight him well, and we have nothing to lose." He raised a finger, "We only help the winner."

Redstone is almost a reflection of the positions of the major media groups in North America. News Corporation is obviously targeting Walt Disney, and has firmly gained the absolute upper hand. Now they are almost all standing in favor of News Corporation. Anyway, no matter which of the two It's in their interest that the family is unlucky.

"It is clear,"

Disney's top trio meeting. Ryan said to Robert Iger and Cook Dick, "News Corp. wants to take advantage of... no, this antitrust investigation triggered by complaints. It is probably planned by News Corp. They want to disrupt Disney's normal business. .”

"Their goals are also very clear!"

Robert Iger pointed to the name on the document at hand. "Lucasfilm!"

"Are we suspending the acquisition of Lucasfilm?" It was the president Cook Dick who spoke.

Of the trio that make up Disney's highest power structure,

Cook Dick is not as radical as Ryan and Robert Iger, and is relatively more conservative. This is why Ryan has always appointed him as the president of the group. There are more advantages than disadvantages in having such a person fall behind.

Ryan slowly closed his eyes, thought for a few minutes, and said slowly, "The negotiation continues. I will deal with News Corp. Robert, this is a good opportunity. I not only want Lucasfilm, but I also want Twentieth Century Fox's part of the "Star Wars" copyright!"

The trio meeting ended in just ten minutes. Ryan called George, and the special assistant walked in immediately.

Taking out a file bag from the side drawer, Ryan handed it to George, "Give it to Garcia Rodriguez, he will destroy it immediately after reading it."

George nodded. left the office.

About half an hour later, Nicole opened the door and walked in, sitting opposite. Asked, "What can you do with me? Can't you go home and tell me?"

"Nicole, I can't leave Los Angeles for the time being. You will go to England on my behalf." Ryan thought for a while, "Go to Buckingham Palace and meet Her Majesty the Queen. The royal family has encountered some troubles since last year, and we can help them."

"You mean..." Nicole understood instantly.

"Do you still remember what I mentioned after the board meeting?" Ryan said unhurriedly, "I believe Her Majesty the Queen, Her Royal Highness, and No. 10 Downing Street must not be able to bear it. Gordon Brown has a very close relationship with News Corp. Difference!"

"Um!"

Nicole didn't say much, and walked out quickly.

throughout early February. News of Disney's antitrust investigation is spreading in Hollywood, and industry insiders have mixed reactions to it. Some people are happy, some people are worried, and more people look lively.

Ryan Jenkins has been so good for so many years, it seems that this time he is finally going to be unlucky.

On a very ordinary Monday, February 15th, another news that has been circulated in Hollywood for a long time was confirmed. George Lucas officially announced at a press conference in San Francisco that he has entered the state of 'retirement' and will stay away from commercial film production in the future. More participation in charity, film teaching and experimental film exploration.

At the same time, Walt Disney officially announced that it would buy Lucasfilm for $3.7 billion.

Shortly thereafter, Twentieth Century Fox joined the buying industry on behalf of News Corporation, stably overtaking Disney with an asking price of US$3.85 billion.

In an instant, there were more sensible people in Hollywood.

Lucasfilm, which is up for grabs, is not in a hurry at all, and has contacted and negotiated with Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox at the same time. As for which side Lucasfilm will lean towards, it depends on the bids of both parties up.

George Lucas called Ryan specifically for this matter. He is only one of the major shareholders of Lucasfilm, and he cannot completely control the inclinations of other shareholders.

Ryan is also very aware of this. In the face of billions of dollars of money, the only decisive factor is profit.

Although Walt Disney is plagued by monopoly rumors and is also being investigated, it has no intention of giving up on Lucasfilm. Twentieth Century Fox is clinging on to Disney's offer. A goodwill acquisition is inevitable. It turned into a long-term hostile bid.

Disney's troubles are not limited to these. On Friday, Bryant Moore, a science fiction writer from Maryland, sued Disney and James Cameron in Maryland District Court for plagiarizing two of his works on "Avatar." A script, suing Cameron and the entire "Avatar" crew for breach of contract, fraud, etc., and proposed compensation of up to 250 million US dollars.

The precarious Disney has been hit again.

"Every time a film is commercially successful."

In a press conference, Ryan said, "There will be a lot of people who will come out and want to steal the fruits of victory!"

James Cameron, who attended the press conference with him at the same time, also accepted an interview, "Since the success of "Terminator 2", I have seen too many such people and such things. I said a long time ago that "Avatar" It’s my most precious asset, a project I’ve nurtured with my own hands. It took me decades to go from having this idea to actually having a concept and developing it into a movie.”

Maybe others will doubt, but Ryan believes in James Cameron. As early as the 1990s, he had seen James Cameron’s related drafts. One of them was a sketch of a truck driver in high school. The big tree in the painting is infinitely close to the prototype of the tree of life on Pandora.

In the eight years from 2002 to the present, Disney has never encountered so many troubles, but now it has jumped out one after another.

The British "Daily Mail" reported that Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series copyright Vito organization is also planning to sue Disney. They believe that Disney seriously underreported the box office of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy to reduce payments. The share for Tolkien's descendants, if possible, will take back the adaptation rights of "The Hobbit" and "The Silmarillion"!

Regardless of whether the news is completely true or not, this has made many Disney managers feel a crisis. If they lose the right to adapt "The Hobbit", Disney will face huge losses of hundreds of millions of dollars.

You know, Disney has already invested heavily in this project, and Peter Jackson is leading a crew to shoot the "The Hobbit" trilogy in New Zealand at one time.

For this reason, Disney specifically questioned Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series of copyright Vito agency, the other party's words were flickering and vague, obviously interfered by external factors.

When things were going wrong for Disney, Ryan received a call from Rupert Murdoch.

"Long time no see, Ryan."

The voice on the phone was still as affectionate as usual, "If you have time, you and Nicole are welcome to visit."

"If I have time, I will." Ryan's tone is also very relaxed, as if nothing has happened these days, "I'm waiting for you to help me introduce more celebrities in New York."

"I'm going to hold a party the day after tomorrow." Rupert Murdoch's words seemed to have ulterior motives. "As long as you leave Los Angeles and come to New York, you will definitely become the most popular guest."

"Then I can only say I'm sorry." Ryan rejected the seemingly well-intentioned invitation without hesitation, "You know, Rupert. Disney has encountered a lot of trouble recently, and I can't get away from it."

His attitude is very clear, and he will never make easy concessions on Lucasfilm.

"Well, I won't disturb your work."

The two sides talked for half a minute before hanging up the phone.

Putting down his cell phone, Ryan sat in the office, quietly thinking about what Murdoch would do next. Although the current News Corp. is making frequent bad moves and being aggressive, to be precise, it has not gone beyond the scope of normal business competition.

However, the opponent is News Corporation after all, a media company with no lower limit at all.

He can fully imagine that when normal business methods fail, the other party will definitely use some other methods.

Ryan quickly thought about himself. What he was most criticized for was his relationship with Nicole and the others, but these were all old things, and it was of little value to stir up cold rice.

Of course, it is not impossible for people to take advantage of this place, such as the daughter who has never appeared in public.

I hope Murdoch will not make such a stupid move, otherwise he will not mind dragging the other party to hell together.

In a villa not far from Burbank, private detective Anthony Pelicano, known as the "Hollywood Eye", welcomed a visitor. Some of the handles of the other company's transaction fell into the hands of others, coupled with the temptation of a huge check, Anthony Pelicano finally accepted the commission. (to be continued) r655

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