Perhaps at the beginning of the incident, Rupert Murdoch thought that with the strength of News Corp., he could settle the controversy in a short period of time on the basis of not paying too much price, after all, they are also a powerful old media company.

Although in the 2008 Fortune Global 500 rankings, News Corp., which includes the assets of each subsidiary, ranked far behind Relativity Entertainment Group, the ranking of the top 500 companies and the company's valuation sometimes do not indicate the true strength of a company.

Rupert Murdoch has been in business for many years, and his relationship network is intertwined, which is also one of his strengths.

However, the scale of the eavesdropping was more than initially estimated, and everyone in the British and American circles of celebrities and politicians and businessmen was in danger.

News Corp has not only crossed the already infinitely low bottom line of this society, but also pricked the nerves of too many big people.

As time went on, the Murdoch family and News Corp. became more and more disadvantaged, especially several large Wall Street investment institutions, and after joining the carnival, the stock price of a publicly traded company directly reflected the value of the company plummeted, and by late March, News Corp.'s total market value had fallen to less than $46 billion.

Whether it's News Corp. or Twentieth Century Fox, a subsidiary, some shareholders are considering getting out as soon as possible while expressing their anger at the Murdoch family.

In the reception room of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, Robert Iger met with the third 20th Century Fox shareholder this week.

"Mr. Mortenson, what are you thinking about?"

Robert Iger had coffee served, looked at the middle-aged man from Mediterranean Publishing, and said: "The situation of the entire News Corporation, I believe you know better than me, that the market and investors have lost confidence. ”

William Mortenson is clearly hesitant: "News Corp. is not going to collapse, the difficulties are only temporary, every company will encounter some unexpected situations, and I believe that News Corp will be able to weather it." ”

Robert Iger asked rhetorically: "Isn't the current situation clear enough?" He always had a smile on his face, like a kind old man: "The victims are as high as several thousand, and how many celebrities in the political and business circles are among them? The British government has only issued an investigation report and has not made any opinions on how to deal with it for the time being. It is not impossible that the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission will break up News Corp entirely. ”

These words fell into his ears, and William Mortenson's expression became more and more serious.

Robert Iger said directly: "Also, my boss, Mr. Ronan Anderson, as one of the victims, is extremely angry with News Corp and the Murdoch family. As the richest man in the world, a super-rich man with a net worth of $200 billion, I can't guarantee what News Corp and the U.S. government can do if they can't give a proper account. If Mr. Ronan Anderson really wants to throw money at it, how long can News Corp hold out in the current situation?"

William Mortenson pinched the beard on his face and said the most crucial point: "Your bid for Relativity Entertainment is too low, and with your bid, if I transfer the shares, the business will be lost." ”

Robert Iger said with a smile: "But if you keep persisting, you may lose more." Even if this incident subsides, it will be difficult for News Corp to get out of its predicament for a long time to come, and it is even very likely that this will be a turning point for News Corp. from prosperity to decline. ”

William Mortenson was seriously considering Robert Iger's words.

"Wall Street is shorting News Corp and Twentieth Century Fox. Robert Iger continued: "Anyone who knows the stock market can see that the longer the time goes on, the lower the stock price will be. Now that the economy in the United States and around the world is in recession, how many companies are willing to pay huge sums of money to buy shares in Twentieth Century Fox, which has plummeted?"

His voice was quite gentle: "Mr. Mortenson, when we talk again next week, it will not be the current price, but the market price at that time." ”

The two sides met several times and talked for a long time, and Robert Iger knew very well that in the case of William Mortensen, it was time to close the net.

William Mortensen pondered for a moment and said, "Please allow me to think about it a little longer. ”

Robert Iger said with a smile: "It's your freedom, Relativity Entertainment won't force any partner, but we can't pay a price that is not equal to the value." ”

"Tomorrow!" William Mortenson said, thinking of the stormy news corp. and the collapse of the stock market, "I will give you a clear answer tomorrow morning." ”

Robert Iger said: "Okay, hopefully we can work together. ”

The two shook hands, William Mortenson said goodbye and left, Robert Iger returned to the suite office to continue his work, and when the sun was close to the western horizon, he went to a restaurant on the second floor of the hotel to dine with people from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

The next day, Robert Iger got the good news that William Mortenson had decided to accept Relativity Entertainment's offer to sell nearly three percent of his Fox stake.

The rest is handled by a team of professionals, and Robert Iger continues to negotiate deals with other shareholders.

At this point, there is no need for Relativity Entertainment to disguise its goals.

The entire group of companies was running efficiently, and Ronan's full focus was on the acquisition, not even attending the premiere of Jessica Felton's new film "Spicy Hands Police Flower" in late March.

The premiere of this female cop comedy film was held in Boston, which was the background of the story, and a film with a production cost of only $40 million received $39.88 million in the opening weekend of North America, which was a box office hit.

Sandra Bullock has been going around for more than ten years, and in commercial movies, it seems that the image of the silly big sister is the most popular.

Such a purely commercial comedy film also made another heroine, Melissa McCarthy, really famous, and the fat actress who once starred in "Old Friends Are Fat" and "Leftover Girls Are Crazy" can be described as having a distinct personality.

Melissa McCarthy learned of the existence of Relativity Entertainment's "Blacklist Project" during the filming of "Spicy Hand Police Flower", and recommended a script she saw when she participated in "Saturday Night Live" to Shahai Entertainment, called "Bridesmaids".

The script has just completed its first draft, and it is not the work of a full-fledged screenwriter, and the person who created the script is comedy actress Kristen Wig.

The actress has a collaboration with Relativity Entertainment and is currently working as the voice for a major female character in Shahai Entertainment Animation Studios' animated feature film How to Tame Your Dragon.

Jessica Felton took a fancy to the script and quickly reached an agreement with Kristen Wig, and Shahai Entertainment has a new film project on comedy films.

In between filming and working on the next Fast & Furious series, Jessica Filton will prepare for the production of this comedy film.

Like "Spicy Police Flower", many comedy movies that seem to have a low investment will often be small and big once they can open up the market.

The success of "Spicy Hand Police Flower" has also turned Sandra Bullock's career as an actor, and "Weakness: The Process of the Game" has been filmed and will be released this year.

In addition, Sandra Bullock has also reached an agreement with Sand Sea Entertainment for the final of three films, and will play the heroine in Alfonso Cuarón's space blockbuster "Gravity".

If these two films are all successful, coupled with the previous years of seniority, Sandra Bullock has firmly crossed the threshold of A coffee.

Alfonso Cuarón's project is still in the works, and filming is still a long way off.

In contrast, the other two space film projects are progressing faster, and Embassy Pictures has finalized the schedule for "The Martian" in October this year.

After Christopher Nolan completed "The Dark Knight Rises", he has fully transferred to the preparation of "Interstellar", a space epic that will soon enter the filming stage, tentatively scheduled to be released in 2011.

Embassy Pictures has developed a dedicated distribution strategy for three space films, typically one released every other year.

At the same time, Relativity Entertainment has also secured several important actor contracts, but they are basically from the Marvel series.

After months of contact negotiations, South African diamond Charlize Theron officially signed a long-term contract with Marvel Entertainment, and will play Marvel Captain Carol Danvers for a long time to come.

This is a heroic female character who is 1.8 meters tall in the comics, and with the characteristics of Charlize Theron, it is not a problem to control such a character.

Marvel Entertainment also reached an agreement with Nicolas Cage, the actor who has become the king of bad movies, to play Doctor Strange.

Ronan doesn't remember the name of the British actor who used to be awkward, so naturally he won't spend manpower and material resources to find it.

Also, Chris Pratt, who has been tepid in Hollywood for many years, also signed a long-term contract with Marvel Entertainment to play the role of Star-Lord, the king of awkward dances.

This can be regarded as one of the most popular superheroes in the Avengers cinematic universe.

New York, JFK Airport.

Rupert Murdoch, who had just returned to the United States on a private jet after attending a special hearing in the United Kingdom, was overwhelmed by the growing storm in Britain and the United States.

Especially James Murdoch, probably the environment in which he grew up since he was a child was too good, and he couldn't see it in good times, but he found out in adversity that it was really useless.

Rupert Murdoch, accompanied by his wife, asked the people who came to greet him as he walked: "How is the situation on the American side?"

The middle-aged executive immediately said, "An hour ago, Relativity Entertainment sent us a routine notice that they had closed deals with a number of Fox shareholders and already held 14 percent of Fox shares. ”

Hearing this, Rupert Murdoch couldn't help but stop and said with a little heaviness: "Things have really turned in the worst direction. ”

He turned to his wife and said, "Let's go back to the company first, you inform the crew that it is best to prepare and fly to Los Angeles in the afternoon." ”