As the reception continued, Ronan and Jessica Felton then went elsewhere to say hello to people they knew, not only from the Hollywood film industry, but also from the San Francisco business district.

It's home to the world's most famous Silicon Valley.

Strictly speaking, a considerable part of Lucasfilm's business also belongs to the computer industry, which itself is inextricably linked to Silicon Valley.

Ronan met with Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, at the reception and briefly asked Steve Jobs about the situation.

Joe's health was not ideal, and he was hospitalized again last month, and Tim Cook temporarily replaced Steve Jobs and took over the management of Apple.

If nothing else, Tim Cook will soon become the new head of Apple.

And compared to Steve Jobs, he has a stronger businessman attribute.

Once on the Internet on the other side of the Pacific, many people joked that Steve Jobs was making products and Tim Cook was selling products.

Joe's time is running out, non-human beings can change, and they can persist to this day, and the ability to make money plays a vital role.

Ronan remembers a colleague at the time who said that cancer treatments such as liver, lung and pancreatic cancer could be described in one sentence — first your money, then your life.

There used to be a saying that the disease that cannot be cured in this world is ...... Poor disease.

Therefore, countless people try their best to change their fate, which is manifested in Hollywood, which is a variety of well-known rules.

It's not just Hollywood, looking at the workplace and business circles, similar situations are not uncommon.

There are always people who want to take shortcuts.

Jessica Felton met a female classmate at USC Film School and talked to her alone, who is now a middle and senior executive at Lucasfilm.

Ronan spun around and chatted with Mark Randolph for a while, seeing George Lucas walking alone to the floor-to-ceiling window and returning to him.

"How did you become a man?" asked George Lucas, looking at Ronan.

Ronan didn't go around in circles and said, "George, find a place to talk alone?"

George Lucas nodded slightly: "Yes." ”

He walked out of the ballroom with Ronan and into the adjacent lounge.

George Lucas sat on the couch and asked, "Ronan, are you looking for me?"

Ronan said directly: "Yes, about your retirement. George, we've been friends for many years, and I have a question for you, are you planning to retire, what about Lucasfilm?"

George Lucas didn't answer immediately, but looked at Ronan and said slowly, "It seems that you have an idea about Lucasfilm." ”

Ronan didn't need to deny it, and said: "I don't think there are many people in this world who are not interested in Lucasfilm. ”

George Lucas said: "I've considered selling Lucasfilm, but it's just a scenario at the moment. ”

Ronan immediately answered: "George, you know enough about me and Relativity Entertainment, Lucasfilm is your child, if you want to find a guardian again, don't you choose to be familiar and have enough understanding?"

George Lucas has always had a very good impression of Ronan and Relativity Entertainment, smiled and said, "Indeed, Relativity Entertainment is a good choice. ”

It is not difficult to judge from George Lucas's words that he does have the idea of selling Lucasfilm.

Ronan has been with George Lucas for many years, has a good personal relationship, and has been planning for a long time, so he doesn't need to go around in circles too much, saying: "We have the same philosophy, Relativity Entertainment and Lucasfilm work closely together, and there will not be too much conflict. ”

This is also what George Lucas considered, he thought for a moment and said: "Ronan, all I can say is that I am ready to retire, and I do have the intention of selling Lucasfilm, and you and Relativity Entertainment are also good choices in my opinion." But you understand that Lucasfilm is not my company alone, and I can't make a decision right away, and I can't give you any promises. ”

Ronan nodded slightly: "I understand." ”

George Lucas is the majority shareholder of Lucasfilm, but not the only shareholder.

Besides, he and George Lucas do have a good personal relationship, but it's a three-billion dollar deal.

This kind of multi-billion dollar deal, careful and long-term argument negotiation is a necessary process, and no one will finalize the intention of cooperation in a few words, and Ronan and George Lucas are no exception, and George Lucas has a clear attitude behind him, if he sells Lucasfilm, and on similar terms, he will give priority to Relativistic Entertainment.

If someone outbids much higher than Relativity Entertainment, then all that can be said is sorry.

In short, the two did not reach a clear intention, but they were very interested in each other.

In fact, Ronan knows very well that under the premise that George Lucas persuaded other shareholders to intend to sell Lucasfilm, the biggest obstacle does not come from Lucasfilm itself, but from the external hidden dangers, and there are several hurdles that Relativistic Entertainment can't bypass.

Lucasfilm has three key profit projects, one is Industrial Light & Magic, the second is the "Star Wars" series, and the third is the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series.

Needless to say, this is the most powerful film special effects company in the world, and there is no one! And although the profit of ILM is not too much, it is relatively stable, and the business is relatively independent, and it is not mixed with too many external factors like movies.

Paramount Pictures has a say in the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series - Paramount and Lucasfilm co-produced the series and also has the distribution rights - given the characteristics of this series, if Lucasfilm can be acquired, and then a sequel or reboot can be made, Ronan does not mind Relativity Entertainment cooperating with Paramount Pictures.

The biggest trouble is Lucasfilm's most profitable "Star Wars" series, even after the financial crisis hit in 2007, the "Star Wars" series of toys and peripheral products excluding DVD and TV network on demand still brought Lucasfilm more than $231 million in net profit!

If Relativity Entertainment takes Lucasfilm, it will definitely reboot the Star Wars franchise, and Twentieth Century Fox will be the biggest obstacle.

Twentieth Century Fox owns the rights to Star Wars: A New Hope, and as the publisher of the entire series, it also owns some of the revenue rights for offline distribution for a long time.

After the successful acquisition of Relativity Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox would not be able to get around the obstacle of re-releasing the DVD discs of the "Star Wars" series.

"Lucasfilm has demonstrated extraordinary imagination, emotion and visual effects, as well as a consistent ability to tell stories from its founder, George Lucas. If Lucasfilm, a world-class film database, is combined with Relativity Entertainment's unique and inexhaustible creativity in platform, business and market operation, it will bring long-term, visible and significant driving force and benefits to Relativity Entertainment. ”

These were the words that Robert Iger had to say to Ronan the following day while discussing matters about Lucasfilm, and the CEO of Relativity Entertainment, like Ronan, made no secret of his desire for Lucasfilm.

In addition to the special effects department that can get Industrial Light & Magic, which is urgently needed by Relativity Entertainment, Lucasfilm's series of classic movie images are an effective supplement to Relativity Entertainment's film and television brand.

Just like Marvel's superhero movies began to sweep the world, with the huge platform support of Relativity Entertainment, the new "Star Wars" will be even more popular in the future.

In the eyes of many people, movies like Star Wars are simply not worth mentioning, and they are vulgar to the extreme, but no one can deny that it is these 'daydream' movies that can become popular movies all over the world.

People like to embrace the experience, both because it's really fun, and because the majority of the world's audience sees movies as a way to consume them for simple or even pure entertainment.

For the sake of the widest audience and the maximization of profits, the successful model of large groups, big investments and big movies is destined to be mainstream, and if the "Star Wars" series is restarted, it will inevitably be included in this model.

At the high-level meeting of Relativity Entertainment, it took almost no time to reach an agreement on the acquisition of Lucasfilm.

After receiving the latest reply from George Lucas, Relativity Entertainment will form a small team in advance and quietly contact Lucasfilm to push forward with the acquisition as soon as possible.

George Lucas has confirmed that he wants to retire and sell Lucasfilm, but needs to do the work of the other shareholders.

After several years of hard work by Ronan, in terms of personal intentions, George Lucas is undoubtedly heavily biased towards relativistic entertainment.

Of course, the prerequisite is that Relativistic Entertainment bids are appropriate.

Relativity Entertainment has long estimated Lucasfilm, which is roughly within $4 billion.

It will depend on the outcome of the final talks between the two sides.

The time is getting closer to Independence Day, and the weekend before Independence Day, "Alice in Wonderland" was officially released in North America.

Due to the continuous popularity of "Avatar", too many audiences around the world have been aroused by 3D movies, and even 3D glasses have become a hot seller.

In the short term, the only real-3D movie that can be released is this "Alice in Wonderland".

Fairy tales are a never-fading landscape in Hollywood movies, and romantic innocence and unbridled fantasy are the eternal themes in fairy tale movies.

This gorgeous 3D visual effects impact makes "Alice in Wonderland" have an extraordinary appeal.

And the film won the hearts of female audiences, who thought that the film was rich in imagination and full of childlike fun.

With the help of "Avatar", it appeared in the movie with the attitude that best meets the market demand, and this live-action fairy tale movie, which is no less gorgeous than "Avatar", has received the due market response.

On its North American premiere weekend, "Alice in Wonderland" grossed $142.56 million in 4,022 theaters.