On the top floor of Relativity Entertainment, in Ronan's office, Connie knocked on the door and walked in.

"A cartoon about zombies, something was discovered. Connie put the comics she had just bought from the bookstore on the desk in front of Ronan: "At present, there is only this one, the relevant situation is being sorted out, and there will be a written report soon." ”

Ronan picked up the comic and looked carefully at the cover, which had a line of eye-catching letters - "The . Walking. Dead》。

The Oriental name that was once translated was called "The Walking Dead".

"That's right. Ronan opened it and saw the introduction of the actor, and he was roughly sure: "This is it." ”

Connie knew why Ronan was looking for this comic, and hurriedly said: ""The Walking Dead" is a comic book published by Image Comics Company, a zombie-themed comic book that began to be serialized in the form of a monthly volume in October 2003, written by Robert Kirkman, illustrated by Tony Moore, and copyrighted by Image Comics Company. ”

She paused for a moment, reminisced carefully, and said, "At present, there is a piece of information that is not very certain, and it is found that if Image Comics transfers the rights to the adaptation of The Walking Dead, it needs to get permission from Robert Kirkman. ”

Ronan asked, "The comic rights are still in the hands of Image Comics. ”

"It's still there. Connie is very sure of this: "There is not much repercussions about the comics for the time being, and there are no companies interested in buying the rights. ”

Ronan nodded slightly: "Need permission from Robert Kirkman, who is Robert Kirkman? ”

Connie thought for a while, and said as concisely as possible: "Robert Kirkman is only twenty-six years old this year, but he is known as one of the five major comic book writers in the comic book industry today, before working with Image Comics, he worked with Marvel Comics for a period of time, and served as the screenwriter of the "Ultimate X-Men" comic series, I called Mr. Avi Arad, Mr. Avi Arad spoke highly of Robert Kirkman, and made it clear that this is the comic book screenwriter that Marvel Entertainment is currently focusing on. ”

Ronan didn't expect to have anything to do with Marvel Entertainment.

Connie added: "The Walking Dead participated in this year's San Diego Comic-Con selection section of the Eisner Awards, and nothing came of it. ”

Ronan pondered for a moment and said: "Since Marvel Entertainment is in contact with Robert Kirkman, it will forward the relevant materials of "The Walking Dead" to Marvel, and let them be responsible for negotiating with Robert Kirkman and Image Comics to win the film and television adaptation rights of this series of comics, etc......."

Connie looked up at her boss with a little confusion.

Ronan has a new idea, popular film and television works can often greatly drive the sales of the original book and peripheral products, and increase the related commercial value: "You personally contact Avi Arad and ask Marvel Entertainment to buy out all the rights to "The Walking Dead" as much as possible. ”

Connie asked, "Turn 'The Walking Dead' into a Marvel Entertainment production." ”

"Yes, exactly. Ronan said: "This comic is generally popular for the time being, and there is a possibility of copyright trading. ”

Connie continued: "It's very difficult for the entire comic industry to survive right now, and as long as the price is right, the video comic company shouldn't stop selling." ”

Even the two big brothers in the comic industry have to rely on the parent company to get by, let alone other companies.

Because of the acquisition of Marvel, Ronan has a clearer understanding of the North American comic industry and the comic winter.

If you can get the copyright of "The Walking Dead", plus "Game of Thrones", which already holds the copyright, the two popular American drama series of cable TV will all be in the hands of Relativity Entertainment.

Relativity Entertainment's copyright library is enough to support the company's development for many years to come.

This week, two of Relativity Entertainment's films ended filming, with Paul Greengrass' "Spy 3" and Guillermo del Toro's "Hellboy" all returning to the Relativity Mansion and moving into post-production in the studio.

"Spy 3" and "Hellboy" are not in time for this year's schedule, the former will be released in the summer of 2005, the latter schedule is not yet determined, and Embassy Pictures has given two options in August or October.

Embassy Pictures has added three more films to its schedule for next year's release this week, namely "Madagascar" from DreamWorks Animation Studios, "Despicable Me" from Shahai Entertainment Animation Studio's first animated feature, and "The Devil Wears Prada".

In addition, three films will also start shooting this month.

Jared Abrams finally waited for the two leading actors, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried, and the entire crew of "Hurricane Rescue 2" rushed to Istanbul to shoot.

Another film can't be described as starting shooting, it is true that it has entered the production stage.

After Ronan watched most of the samples of "Despicable Me", he pushed the Minions' independent film into actual production, and Shahai Entertainment Animation Studio had a team of nearly 50 people to start the pre-production of the animated feature film on the basis of the "Minions" animated shorts.

Also, Ang Lee led the crew of "Brokeback Mountain" to Wyoming, preparing to let Heath Ledger and Jack Gyllenshear, two handsome actors, have a battle against the foundation in the poetry of green mountains and green waters, blue skies and white clouds.

In the words of the great director to Ronan before leaving, the emptiness and loneliness made the two 19-year-old young people fall in love with each other, one cooks, the other herds sheep, talks by the campfire, love in the tent, and same-sex love accompany the two to spend the best summer time in their lives.

No matter how strong the love is, the only thing that bears witness to it in the end is the magnificent and lush Brokeback Mountain.

Most Hollywood movies always leave people with good memories of love, and I believe that even in the past ten years, many people still clearly remember the entanglement of love and betrayal around "Mr. and Mrs. Smith".

Once, this entanglement made a super blockbuster movie.

Now, because Relativity Entertainment acquired the film library and script library of Artisan Pictures, the script copyright of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" fell into Ronan's hands.

This project, after Ronan forwarded the script to George Clint, Shahai Entertainment has been working hard to promote it.

In order to go according to the plan, Shahai Entertainment has long sent out invitations to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

During this year's Cannes Film Festival, Nicole Kidman wanted to ease relations with Ronan and then compete for the lead actress in the project.

But how could Ronan possibly give the heroine to Nicole Kidman?

This week, George Clint officially signed actor contracts with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on behalf of Shahai Entertainment and the "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" crew.

For a long time in the future, these two actors will work in the same crew, and no one knows if something bloody will happen.

Ronan's attitude is clear, just let it be.

As for helping people who have never dealt with each other to defend marriage and love and the like, whoever is interested will do it.

Ronan was a businessman, not a father.

Of the total $100 million production budget for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," $30 million is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's pay.

The former has a salary of $20 million, and the latter is also as high as $10 million.

This project, because the producer is Ronan Nexus, there is no shortage of interested well-known actors.

For example, Will Smith has asked Ronan, Mark Walkerberg's agent has also contacted the crew, and Johnny Depp's agent has also expressed his intention to continue working with Relativity Entertainment.

These people, the commercial appeal is actually stronger than Brad Pitt, but the actor still falls on Brad Pitt's head.

As for the heroine, there are even more well-known actresses who are interested.

Nicole Kidman herself performed a reconciliation show for Ronan at Cannes, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas spoke on the phone with George Clint successively, and Cate Blanchett and Gwen Stephanie also expressed a strong interest in Mrs. Smith.

But these people all lost to Angelina Jolie in the audition.

After signing the actor contract, Shahai Entertainment communicated with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie respectively, in order to create a realistic image of the action effect in the film, the two top killers must be proficient in various weapons and fighting, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie must go to Los Angeles's famous action stunt training venue, which is also a famous "secret agent school" in Hollywood to study and train together.

It lasted for about a month and a half.

In short, Ronan and Shahai Entertainment have set up the stage, and whether a good show will be staged depends on the free play of the actors.

As for the paparazzi who ran around eighteen turns, that is, the team that secretly chased and filmed Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston around the clock, it has absolutely nothing to do with Sand Sea Entertainment and Relativity Entertainment.

No matter how you check, Shahai Entertainment and Relativity Entertainment are innocent.

After all, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Jennifer Aniston are all A-list stars in Hollywood, and it's normal to have paparazzi follow them all year round.

Of course, the cycle of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" cannot be dragged on too long, and director Doug Liman signed the contract with a written guarantee that the film will be completed by May next year, and will be released on time in the summer of 2005.

Relativity Entertainment shoots and distributes more than 10 movies every year, and in addition to the films whose copyrights are completely owned by itself, there will also be some types of investment involved.

For example, Tom Hanks is filming and producing "The Da Vinci Code", such as the upcoming "Batman: Time to War".

The week after "Death Comes 3" won $14.54 million in North America the following weekend and exceeded $50 million at the North American box office, "Batman: Time to War" was released by Warner Bros. and pushed into the North American theater market.