With the promulgation of the Golden Globe Awards, the 1999 awards season officially began.

"Saving Private Ryan", which was originally released in theaters, has dropped to 5, but because of the overwhelming Oscar call for Best Picture, the number of theaters has exploded again, increasing to 1027!

In contrast, "My Grand Greek Wedding", which had a lackluster performance during the awards season, only changed from 23 theaters to 196, which had little impact on the overall box office of the film.

You have to understand that before this, the North American box office of "My Grand Greek Wedding" exceeded Donn's expectations, and it has accumulated to $252 million!

The North American box office of "Saving Private Ryan" was only $199 million.

Some authoritative institutions predict that during the awards season, the North American box office of "Saving Private Ryan" is likely to increase by $16 million to $17 million, successfully breaking the $200 million mark, and surpassing "The Peerless Tribulation" to become the second place in the North American box office list in 1998.

But these little things, Don didn't care.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Ghost Man Menace post-production has been completed, and Donn has completed the first cut for George Lucas final review.

In addition, "Wedding Guest", which was invested by Down Pictures, was finally completed after three long months of filming, and returned to Los Angeles to start post-production.

The British are relatively more reliable than the Americans, but this is really inefficient.

Reese Witherspoon returned to Donn Pictures, carrying a bag of candy and smiling as she handed it out.

On the one hand, she finally became a heroine and shared happiness with everyone, and on the other hand, she didn't attend the company's Christmas party because of filming, which can be regarded as making up for it.

Tang En looked her up and down, smiled and said, "It doesn't look like she's tired, she's in good spirits!"

Reese Witherspoon sat down beside him and stretched, "The director strictly adheres to the eight-hour work week, and he can't get tired at all." By the way, I heard...... You've got a new girlfriend?"

Don had a black line in his head, "Who did you listen to?"

Reese shook her head proudly, "Hehe, I didn't expect it to up!"

"Naomi Watts, an Australian actress, was living in such a difficult situation that she couldn't pay the rent, so I took her back home. Oh yes, and Nicole, she's not divorced, and she's recuperating from my wounds. Don didn't hide it, and told it.

Reese blinked, "Nicole Kidman, you ......"

"Nothing! At least not yet!"

"Oh, what about me? Shall I still stay with you?"

Don thought for a moment, "Whatever you want, you can go as you like, but you can't quarrel." ”

Reese shrugged, "Then forget it, if I live in it, two Australian women will definitely join forces to bully me." If you miss me, we can go to the hotel. ”

Tang En waved his hand a little weakly, "Okay, I'll talk about these things later." Now let's go and sort out the documents first, this afternoon, we are going to start the fourth negotiation with Marvel, this time...... It's critical!"

"I'm going to be a big star in no time, and I'm still a little secretary?" Reese Witherspoon protested with a fist raised.

Don smiled and said, "What's wrong with the little secretary, Amy Pascal is still a little secretary, isn't she also the chairman of Columbia Pictures now?"

Amy Pascal, who was born as a secretary, unexpectedly became the chairman and CEO of Columbia Pictures, which was a sensational event in Hollywood in early 1999.

This woman is very capable, and the first thing she did after taking office was to buy the Spider-Man copyright.

In later life, he rose all the way and became the second leader of Sony Entertainment.

So Don must strike as soon as possible and take down Marvel.

Marvel's superheroes can't afford to wander anymore.

……

Down Pictures has been negotiating with Marvel for a long time, and for a small company with a market value of tens of millions of dollars, the negotiation time is a bit long.

Marvel's controlling side and management have also erupted into irreconcilable major contradictions.

It is conceivable that even if Don buys Marvel, Avi Arad and Ike Patham will not be able to continue to serve in Marvel.

It's a bit of a pity, but both of them are knowledgeable and ambitious managerial talents.

But compared to Marvel's great cause, it doesn't matter.

After several rounds of negotiations, Avi Arad and Ike Patham finally handed over their bottom line, and they wanted to hold a 5% stake and continue to be at the helm of Marvel Entertainment.

To put it bluntly, I just don't want to delegate power.

Shares can be put away, power is not lost, and even the price is easy to negotiate.

Don is very dissatisfied with their attitude, he has mentioned more than once that he has only one request for Marvel, and that is to buy it in full!

"Well, I'll tell you. ”

Don cleared his throat and set his sights on the Marvel veteran management, led by Alan Vane.

"If I had successfully completed the Marvel acquisition, of course, a wholly-owned acquisition, I would have done the following three things. ”

"First, improve the structure of Marvel Studios. The current Marvel Studios is completely an empty shell, with no ability to run movies at all, and no relevant talents, which is not only a problem of funding, but also a problem of connections. This is related to the future development of Marvel and must be the first to be resolved. ”

"Second, on the issue of debt, I am here to give you a promise, and it can even be written directly into the contract. From the day I acquired Marvel, within three years, I will pay off all Marvel's debts and let the company completely get rid of the debt crisis that has lasted for more than ten years! If I can't do it, I'm willing to give my shares to everyone for nothing!"

Donn's words made the eyes of the Marvel veterans glow.

Since the 80s, Marvel has struggled to survive by selling the rights to heroes. In order to tide over the company, the veterans even cut their salaries many times, and they didn't even have to think about dividends.

Don's words now undoubtedly spoke to their hearts.

How good should a financially healthy Marvel be?

"Thirdly, there is the question of your position. All of you here are veterans of Marvel, and I am very touched and admired for the development of the company. I promise you that there will be no change in the positions of all employees, and that the salary of all employees will be increased by 20%!"

This is a dignified bribery with money, and naturally it has won the favor of the management.

"As for the fourth, it's the movie. ”

Don paused deliberately, because this was the point, and everyone was shocked, and pricked up their ears to listen.

"As you know, Down Pictures produced "My Grand Greek Wedding," which cost $15 million and grossed $420 million worldwide. I also directed "Titanic", which grossed nearly $1.9 billion worldwide! "Star Wars Episode 1: The Ghost Man Menace" will also be released in mid-May. ”

"What do I mean by saying all this? I just want to tell you that I have an excellent investment vision and the professional ability to shoot commercial blockbusters! Marvel's strategy of developing superheroes with other companies in the past is wrong, ridiculous, and undesirable, and the copyright is mine, and we can develop it independently!"

"The problem of funding, I will solve it. I can guarantee that if I succeed in acquiring Marvel, within this year, I will launch a super-production with an investment of $150 million, which is a real superhero movie, not a farce like Blade in the past!"

Donn's face-to-face slap did not make Marvel's management feel ashamed, but his face was ruddy and his eyes showed expectation.

Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quissada couldn't help but ask, "May I ask Mr. Walker, are you planning to film Spider-Man?"

With such a big sum and such a big investment, in order to reduce the risk, we must shoot Marvel's leading hero - Spider-Man!

Don said lightly: "Of course, I have a huge plan that will bring Marvel to the pinnacle of Hollywood! Not only Marvel, but also Iron Man in the future, as well as the Hulk, as well as Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel, will all be on the big screen! You just need to understand that as long as there is me, the days when Marvel was crushed by DC in the past will be gone forever!"

Stan Lee asked tentatively, "Mr. Walker, may I ask...... Will you direct it yourself?"

Donn smiled, "Mr. James Cameron once mentioned to me that he was interested in filming Spider-Man. If the collaboration can't be reached, I'll shoot it myself. ”

James cameron?

Don Walker?

These are all top Hollywood commercial blockbuster directors, and they are not at the same level as Stephen Norrington, the rookie director of "Blade"!

With an investment of $150 million, Marvel's ace Spider-Man, and a top commercial film director, how could such a movie fail?

Tang En's words are like the magic brush of Ma Liang, which paints a colorful and starry future prospect for everyone present.

Alan Vane, Stan Lee, Brian Bendis, Joe Quisada, Dan Barkley and other Marvel veteran executives looked at each other and nodded their heads.

Without a doubt, Don is the best person to take the helm of Marvel!