Why is MM willing to spend such a big price to take Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic?

In the current film market, unless you have a popular IP, it is difficult to make money, and MM is a master in creating IP, the most dazzling pearl of the science fiction kingdom, how can they let it go? Lucasfilm just provides MM with a bunch of ready-made valuable materials, a complete galactic empire, thousands of character stories, thousands of planets, and a history spanning 2,000 years, which is the largest IP in the universe.

This summer, the film industry's revenue fell for the first time in seven years, to $4.27 billion, down 3 percent from a year earlier. To make matters worse, movie tickets sold fell to about 532 million, down 4 percent from the summer of 2007 — the lowest number of moviegoers since 1933, and many studios were forced to reduce their investments, and in the face of market uncertainty, they were shrewd enough to invest heavily in films that already had legions of avid fans.

And Star Wars has an even stronger fan lineup: parents who lined up to buy tickets when the first part of the Star Wars Prequel trilogy was released in 1999 and were packed with parents who had been fans of the film as teenagers and now recommend it to their children.

Paul Degarrabidian, an analyst at Hollywood Movie Sites, called it one of the greatest "cross-generational marketing moments" of all time (there are plenty of videos and blogs online that teach parents how to pitch the film to their kids). ）

Lucasfilm is very good at cultivating the market and fans, and often organizes a large number of events, these fan convention gatherings, which attract thousands of loyal fans and are the mecca of the Star Legend.

With a box office of $4.4 billion in 6 blockbusters in 35 years, George Lucas's "Star Wars" film series has captivated generations of fans with its extraordinary imagination, bizarre storyline twists and turns, and dazzling high-tech special effects, creating an enduring myth in the history of cinema. Lucas, the "father of Star Wars", has also become the king of independent films with his unique interpretation of science fiction films.

According to Forbes in 2004, Lucas's personal net worth was $3 billion, and he owned five companies named after him: Lucasfilm Ltd., Lucas Online, LucasArts & Entertainment, Lucas Digital Technologies, and Lucass Image Product Development, all of which together formed a huge business empire with annual profits of $1 billion.

However, he is 64 years old, and in many industries, he is long past the age of retirement.

The Star Wars trilogy was a huge success, but Lucas's family and company were crumbling under the impact of divorce, and it was because of the cash crisis that he was forced to sell Pixar to cash out, "It was a very difficult time. I had to concentrate all my energy on taking care of my young daughter and the plate making company and ILM that were still unstable. Lucas said to Mark.

It was a private party, in Lucas's Skywalker Manor, and the attendees were the MM Big Four, Joe's gang leader, Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Spielberg and others, because it was a private banquet, they all attended with their families, and Mark and his wife brought Martin Jr. and Margaret with them.

Located in Marin County, Northern California, in a small valley near San Francisco, Lucas's film production base and private residences are sprawling with ranches, lakes, woodlands, hills, vineyards, and a separate fire brigade.

Although the base is known for producing sci-fi special effects, there are no traces of artificial carvings in the entire base, more than 95% of them have maintained their natural and original appearance, there is a wooden mansion in Skywalker Manor, and its main building contains many precious collections such as antiques, including a private library is amazing, the base enjoys a high reputation in China, and there are also some Hollywood memorable items on display, such as Charlie Chaplin's cane, Rudolph Valentino's whip and the Holy Grail from "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Many of the original prop models from Star Wars, valuable video materials, promotional materials and even movie copies are stored here.

Lucas invited a group of close friends to celebrate the merger of the two companies, and Joe laughed, "Did you sell Pixar or did Star Wars ruin your marriage?"

Everyone chuckled out loud that Lucas remained celibate after his divorce until he publicly began dating DreamWorks Animation Chairman Billedy Hobson in 2006.

Miledie Hobson is 40 years old, is a young and promising famous entrepreneur, she is not only the chairman of the DreamWorks Animation Department, but also the president of a famous investment company in Chicago and the chairman of the Ariel Mutual Foundation, her career spans all major fields, especially passionate about the film and television industry, Miledie has invested in the famous "Good Morning America" program, and created his own investment and financial program, is also a well-known rich man, strong woman, today she is attending as a hostess, greeting everyone.

Lucas glanced at Hobson nervously and said, "Of course it's Pixar, let you take advantage of this hateful guy, what do you think?"

Selling Pixar for divorce was definitely a strategic-level failure in his career, and Pixar today is worth more than his company combined.

Mark said: "George, don't worry about it! If I get divorced, I definitely can't sell Pixar and finish it, so I have to learn from Lei Shidong many times!"

The people next to him laughed, Mark, this is a joke among the rich people.

Lei Shidong's marriage broke down 30 years ago, but in order not to be divorced and take away half of the family property, he refused to divorce, and this lawsuit lasted for 30 years, and was laughed at as Lei Shidong's 30-year Franco-Prussian War.

So much so that every time he made a major merger or acquisition, he had to reassure shareholders and investors: "My marriage is very strong!" until he completed the great cause of dominating the world, coincided with the Internet crisis, and the stock market plummeted, so he hurriedly divorced, because the money given at this time was relatively small.

And Mark also has no prenuptial agreement, and if he gets divorced, it will be enough for him to eat a pot.

Giselle came over after feeding Margaret, and asked with a smile, "Gentlemen, what is so funny?"

Mark was embarrassed, of course he didn't dare to say that he was joking about marriage just now.

Hobson said, "My dear, it's only been two months since I gave birth, and you've recovered so well? How did you do that? Let's go have a drink and have a good exchange, what are the good topics for these men to talk about together?"

This dissolves everyone's embarrassment.

Lucas continued: "It was a difficult time. I had to concentrate all my energy on taking care of my young daughter and the unstable production company and ILM, and the revenue generated by "Star Wars" in terms of rights was like a clear stream to support the company's operation, however, ILM "ate" a lot, and every time I finished a film, it came to me and asked me to make another "Star Wars", we needed money, so I told them that it wouldn't work, that the company should serve me, not me make money for the company. It wasn't until I got on my feet in the company, had the skills I needed, and my children grew up and became independent, that I came back to shoot a new episode of Star Wars. ”

Twenty-four years on, ILM has grown from a studio that used traditional hand-drawn models to create special effects for films to one of the world's largest and most advanced digital film effects production companies. With its own design software, it not only produces special effects for Lucas's "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones", but also serves all the films that Hollywood needs. The special effects in film classics such as "Ghost Love", "Forrest Gump", "Tornado", "The Abyss", "Jurassic Park", "Saving the Soldier" and other films are all masterpieces of industrial light and magic.

The most dick is the box office runner-up "Tornado" in 96, that is, ILM produced a set of amazing special effects for tornadoes, so that producer Catherine Kennedy saw it and immediately made a super blockbuster.

It is co-produced by several large film companies in small countries, in order to pursue higher profits, the bosses have made a lot of preparations for the filming of "Tornado", first of all, Stephen Spielberg, who is the world's top box office, was invited to be the executive director for group shooting, and then found the director Jane de Bont, the director of the highest grossing "Life and Death" in 95, to direct this film.

The elderly are like this, when they talk about the glory of the past, they go on and on, Mark brings the words out, they go around again, these are the leaders of the industry, the top existence of Hollywood.

Iger said: "George, you don't have to worry, Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic are not sold, but join the powerful MM family, Industrial Light & Magic is very edible, but it can't eat the big fat produced by MM." ”

Lucas can maintain a transcendent status in Hollywood because of its Industrial Light & Magic, which powers major Hollywood blockbusters with special effects.

This special effects department burns money extremely much, buying equipment, opening up software, and recruiting talents, which is recognized as a high-investment, low-return industry.

Sony Image, D2, which was once very strong, was unable to sustain due to lack of funds, and Lucas has made a lot of money over the years, at least half of which is filled here, which is a daughter that ordinary people can't afford, and her various expenses and expenditures will scare ordinary people to death, if there is no such expenditure to support, this eldest lady will lose its charm.

Whoever wants to go to this daughter, there is no other way than to win her heart, if it is strong, it will definitely attract public anger, so MM will promise such generous conditions to marry Industrial Light and Magic and Lucasfilm.