The Best Entertainment Era

In the reception room of Relativity Entertainment, Robert Lee solemnly introduced a bald man to Ronan: Ronan, this is Arthur Macomb, the new president of the Marvel Comics copyright department, this time he came to Los Angeles to deal with Marvel's issues. For copyright matters, I made a special trip to visit the company today.

Arthur Malcolm took a step forward and shook hands with Ronan vigorously: Mr. Anderson, it's a great honor to meet you.

Ronan responded with a polite smile: It's a pleasure to meet you.

This is the professional sent by Marvel Comics to Los Angeles to deal with the copyright dispute with Twentieth Century Fox.

After the simple greetings between the two sides, Arthur Macomb said: I came here today mainly to bring greetings from Mr. Avi Allard, and there is also a small matter.

Ronan was very angry: Please tell me, Relativity Entertainment will definitely help where it can help.

Of course, Arthur Malcolm was not an idiot, he could hear another meaning behind these words, and he would definitely not help where he didn't want to help.

Sand Sea Entertainment, a subsidiary of Relativity Entertainment, currently holds the film adaptation copyrights of more than 30 Marvel superhero characters and related characters and stories. Arthur Macomb said directly: At the beginning, Sand Sea Entertainment The copyright of these superhero characters was bought out. Marvel comics are still publishing related comics in recent years. The influence of many characters continues to expand through comics. I think it is necessary to revise the contract between the two parties and appropriately increase Marvel as the creator. copyright income, after all, cooperation is a win-win situation.”

Ronan asked Robert Lee to go to New York to lobby Marvel Comics, and he was mentally prepared for this, and said: Currently, Sandsea Entertainment has no related film adaptation plans. I suggest that we talk about it after the film project is confirmed. .”

Arthur Malcolm thought about it. If the movie is not adapted, it is useless to talk about it for the time being. The main focus is still on the already sold Marvel movies. He immediately said: Yes.

Ronan remained calm, and Robert Lee sat beside him, always wearing a faint smile.

He had a half-day meeting with Robert Iger and Ronan yesterday, and a team has rushed to New York to start the preparatory work.

If all goes well, the future agreement between Shahai Entertainment and Marvel Comics will not be a problem at all.

As for the failure, it is less likely. Now Marvel is a company that almost has no place to borrow money.

Ronan added: I will communicate directly with Avi Allard about this matter.

Arthur Malcolm also knew that he and Ronan were not talking on an equal footing, and said with a smile: Okay, Mr. Allard welcomes Mr. Anderson to go to Marvel again at any time.

Ronan said a few more polite words.

After staying for less than half an hour, Arthur Macomb left. Relativity Entertainment had only a small problem. After all, the relevant copyrights were not profitable for the time being, and the targets were companies that were or were about to generate revenue.

Ronan told Robert Lee: Let the team in New York keep an eye on Marvel.

In April, the North American film market was still relatively cold. After Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse won the North American box office champion in its opening weekend, the explosive energy quickly dissipated.

Most of this type of movies belong to the die after the addiction type, and basically don't have much staying power at all.

The freshness of Rotten Tomatoes is 23%; the IMDB score is 6.3 points; the average audience score of ema is B-; the authoritative media comprehensive evaluation MetaCritic average score is 42 points,

The reputation of Resident Evil 2: Revelations can only be said to be quite average.

Therefore, no one was surprised that the film's box office plunged the next weekend.

In its second weekend, Apocalypse dropped nearly 70 percent at the weekend box office, earning $10.8 million in three days.

After ten days of screening, the North American box office grossed $51.2 million.

Underworld 2 spent its fifth weekend in North America, and its box office dropped to an extremely low level. The three-day weekend revenue was 2.2 million US dollars. The previous non-weekend single-day revenue was as low as 200,000 US dollars.

This film is about to be released, with a cumulative North American box office of 82.21 million U.S. dollars, and there will not be much increase.

Another film, The Passion of the Christ, was not affected by the lawsuit between Aiken Films and Embassy Films, and the North American box office has never fallen by more than 40%. In the past few weekends, it still maintains 3 million US dollars every weekend. With the above income, the North American box office has accumulated a total of 375.62 million US dollars.

Overseas, the box office easily exceeded 200 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office broke through the 600 million U.S. dollar mark.

As of now, The Passion of the Christ is firmly sitting at the top of the North American and global box office charts in 2004.

For three consecutive months, three consecutive films have achieved box office success, and Relativity Entertainment is still developing rapidly at its own pace.

This weekend has just passed, and Jim Prose of Twentieth Century Fox welcomed a special visitor, Arthur Macomb, president of Marvel Comics Copyright Department.

I heard that 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four is about to start filming? Arthur Malcolm asked directly.

Jim Prose knew the other party's intentions, but he didn't particularly care about it. After all, Marvel Comics is a company that could go bankrupt at any time, and basically all its valuable copyrights have been sold. He said: The filming will start next month and it will be released next year. Marvel is welcome to attend the premiere.

Arthur Malcolm asked again: What about the third X-Men?

You mean The Last Stand, right? Jim Prowse replied calmly, It will be released in 2006.

Arthur Malcolm was building momentum for himself from the beginning: I want to ask, when will the offline share of X-Men 2 last year be credited.

Jim Pross glanced at him, and said lightly: There are still 3 months before the payment deadline stipulated in the contract, Marvel Comics is too impatient, right?

The company behind Arthur Macomb lacked confidence, but still mustered up its momentum: Mr. Pross, I came to Fox this time, entrusted by the board of directors of Marvel Comics and all shareholders, to revise part of the agreement between us. .”

Jim Pross looked serious: Please speak.

There are mainly two aspects. Arthur Malcolm said loudly: First, part of the contract terms of the X-Men series is seriously unfair to Marvel Comics. Marvel Comics requires modification of the payment of all revenue share of the movie series The term of the account period is changed from annual payment to quarterly payment, and the account must be received within one and a half months after the current quarter.

Hearing this, Jim Pross' already serious expression became more serious, and he said directly: Movies are different from comics, and it takes time for all channels to repay their income. Your request is unrealistic, and Twentieth Century Fox cannot do it. arrive.

Arthur Macomb recalled the materials and information provided by Robert Lee, and said with a hint of coldness: As far as I know, the longest billing period that Twentieth Century Fox gave to distributors was only ten days, and most of them Some bills are only for one week.”

This is directly related to the cash flow of 20th Century Fox, and of course Jim Pross will not let go easily.

Arthur Malcolm did not continue to entangle with X-Men, but continued what he just said: Second, the copyright licensing agreement of Fantastic Four has been completely revised, and the specific content refers to X-Men.

What he just said just made Jim Pross look serious, but now Jim Pross' face is completely cold.

Twentieth Century Fox bought out the copyright of Fantastic Four from Marvel Comics at one time. Whether the film adaptation project succeeds or fails, it has nothing to do with Marvel Comics, nor does it involve any post-sharing terms.

For the X-Men series of movies, Marvel Comics has the right to obtain the post-production share from them. Although the proportion is not high, the trilogy series involves tens of millions of dollars.

Fantastic Four is also going to be serialized...

Jim Pross said coldly: This is an unreasonable and illegal request. Marvel Comics doesn't even want the most basic contractual spirit and business reputation.

Arthur Malcolm replied: Marvel Comics needs to survive. His voice was also a little cold: Is the way Twentieth Century Fox obtained the copyright of Fantastic Four really legal? The management of Weiwei made a private transaction and reached a copyright agreement that is impossible for normal people to sign, and many people can prove this at the time.

The way Twentieth Century Fox bought Fantastic Four back then was not glorious, but it did not violate the legal provisions. Jim Prose was one of the witnesses, and he was confident enough: This is not a nonsense.

Arthur Malcolm knows how difficult it is, so he can only try his best: This matter can be resolved through negotiation. If 20th Century Fox does not give any chance, Marvel Comics can only seek legal solutions.

How Jim Prowse could compromise a dying company: 20th Century Fox's contract with Marvel Comics is protected by law.

Is this kind of unfair agreement normal? Arthur Macomb raised his voice unconsciously: Not to mention anything else, your film adaptation can attract the attention of many people, and it will be successful in the future. Does promotion matter? Without the success of Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four would be where they are now, the superheroes next to Superman, Batman, Spiderman and the Hulk?

Jim Prose said coldly: In the hands of Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four are outdated. In the past five years, how many related comics have you sold? Marvel comics still have sales and influence?

These words point to the greatest pain of Marvel. From the mid-1990s to now, Marvel has been hovering on the edge of the cliff. It is not easy to survive, and there is no such thing as the scenery of the past.

Arthur Malcolm took a deep breath: So, is 20th Century Fox planning to talk to Marvel?

Jim Prose's tone was even colder: Twentieth Century Fox has the right to refuse any unreasonable request.

To be able to come to Los Angeles, Arthur Malcolm has made sufficient preparations, especially Robert Lee of Relativity Entertainment, who also came up with a good idea to push 20th Century Fox into a dead end.

Marvel Comics will republish the Fantastic Four comics starting from the second half of the year. Arthur Macomb said: In the main comic universe, the Fantastic Four will gradually turn black and become villains who do all kinds of evil...