After giving the crew a little publicity, Shao Shuaijun retracted the crew, gathered the cast and crew, made a mobilization meeting, and arranged the tasks one by one. A few days have passed in a blink of an eye, and December 18th has arrived, and the highlight of Summit Entertainment's Christmas file this year, "The Hangover", ushered in the premiere.

The hangover is a low-budget comedy, but with its hilarious content and creativity, the company has placed great expectations on it.

As an independent production company, Summit Entertainment is not only involved in a small proportion of investment in some large productions, but also produces small-budget films, and expects to turn around with a small cost. It doesn't matter if you lose one or two, as long as one of them is popular, you can jump for a while.

Like its old neighbor, Lionsgate, it produces countless horror films every year, but there are often one or two successful films, such as "SAW", which is enough for Lionsgate to eat for several years.

Summit Entertainment can't be compared with Lionsgate in terms of the number of productions, but fortunately, today's Summit Entertainment, the two series of "Twilight" and "Dance Out of My Life", plus a series directed by Shao Shuaijun, and the upcoming "Sherlock Holmes" series, are enough for the company to support for several years without decline, and even if the others are made into bad movies, it will not hurt.

But to be among the top eight in Hollywood, Summit Entertainment is still a little behind, and more blockbuster series are needed.

"The Hangover" is used to fill this gap.

To this end, Summit Entertainment held a grand premiere in Hollywood, inviting celebrities and celebrities from all walks of life, and even Shao Shuaijun, a big boss who does not often appear, also came to the premiere in person. This year's Christmas file is much inferior to the summer file. There are almost no blockbusters, and it's a good time to show your strengths.

The premiere was quite a success, and the cinema burst into laughter.

Don't think about what kind of movie "The Hangover" is, the value of its existence is to make it laugh, as long as it reaps laughter, this is a successful movie. The Hangover has also proven to be a success.

On the first weekend before Christmas, "The Hangover" was a dark horse, opening in 3,269 theaters and earning $45.68 million at the box office. Became the champion of the week.

"The Hangover is a hilarious family comedy. Very tasteful. —"Rolling Stone."

"Compared to the pre-release expectations, The Hangover is really a surprising movie." - Entertainment Weekly.

"Contributed a nice trailer and that's it." —Chicago Tribune.

The media reviews were so-so, but they didn't detract from the power of The Hangover. The second weekend. The number of theaters increased to 3,355. got $33.54 million at the box office. While achieving two consecutive championships, the total box office piled up to $118.95 million, breaking 100 million in two weeks. Summit Entertainment can celebrate.

"Shao, the fire of "The Hangover", our road to the listing of Summit Entertainment is unprecedentedly bright, haha." Mitchell laughed excitedly at the box office.

"Are you sure you're going to release it in the new year?"

"Of course, riding on this momentum, the price of the stock can be expected, definitely more than ten times, or even twenty times! Who called us the only one that is optimistic about hitting the ranks of Hollywood's eight major as an independent film company. Oh, it should be said that it is the Big Six by now, MGM has already fallen. ”

During the golden age of Hollywood, the eight most outstanding film companies controlled almost the annual box office, making it almost impossible for some independent small film companies to survive, such as MGM, Paramount, Columbia, Raiden Hua, Twentieth Century Fox, United States, Warner, and Universal.

After several twists and turns, Lei Dianhua switched to the television industry, United America merged into MGM, Columbia was acquired by Sony, and Twentieth Century Fox was acquired by News Corporation. Now that MGM has collapsed, the eight major congresses of the year have become the current unconfirmed six majors, Warner Bros., Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, and Universal Pictures.

Warner Bros. relied on Harry. Potter, as well as last year's and this year's "Batman", firmly locked in supremacy, and its DC Comics adaptation department began to exert its efforts, trying to make a strong effort in "Harry. After Potter", the superhero under DC, one of the two major comic book overlords in North America, set off a storm again.

Walt Disney started with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and now with the help of Pirates of the Caribbean and Pixar animation, it's a two-pronged affair. After the success of Warner Bros.'s Batman, Walt Disney has begun to negotiate with Marvel Comics, the future Marvel Comics, to acquire another superhero sequence against Warner Bros.

And Sony Pictures had a good performance in the past few years, and a "Spider-Man" made a lot of money, but unfortunately after "The Da Vinci Code", it fell into a slump. But there is no need to doubt that Sony already holds the rights to MGM's films, an immortal classic series 007, which can save Sony Pictures at any time.

Paramount, which was originally in decline, has begun to rise in recent years, and the two steel warriors of "Iron Man" and "Transformers", plus "Star Trek", will definitely escort Paramount for many years. However, there is also a crisis, that is, Marvel Comics, once acquired, the copyright of superheroes such as Paramount's Iron Man is likely to be taken back.

Twentieth Century Fox, which was acquired by News Corporation, was the father of Star Wars, George Fox. After Lucas's "vacation", the Star Wars series was announced, but fortunately, the development of "Horror Night at the Museum" and the launch of "Ice Age" barely maintained the status of the Big Six.

Universal Pictures, the last train of the Big Six, has also had blockbuster movies, such as "King Kong", "Spy", and the "Fast and Furious" series. But "Fast and Furious" has obviously gone downhill, and without the support of other series, Universal's six identities are in jeopardy.

With "Twilight: New Moon", "Dance Out of My Life 2", "Inception", "500 Days with Shamo", and the burning "The Hangover", Summit Entertainment's market share this year is set to surpass Universal Pictures and even Twentieth Century Fox.

Whether it's Shao Shuaijun or Mitchell. Bruce, or the financial people who follow the Hollywood film industry. are all waiting for the listing of Summit Entertainment. Once the money is raised and the scale of the capital is expanded, Summit Entertainment will inevitably overturn one of the six major and become one of the Hollywood movie giants.

This is not only a reshuffle in the entertainment industry, but also a feast in the financial circle, and it seems that countless greedy capitalists can smell in the air that they are sharpening their knives, tying their necks, and picking up knives and forks. Open your mouth and prepare to eat. Of course. Their opening of the meal is also the beginning of Summit Entertainment's gorgeous transformation with the help of this feast.

"The status of the Big Six is not achieved by one or two movies, Mitchell. Even if we go public. The market capitalization has increased significantly. The most urgent thing is to find a new support series. Whether it's "Dance Out of My Life", "Twilight", or "The Hangover", they all have their cyclical lifespans. We want to do our best to maintain the continuation of the brand, and at the same time, we must look for alternative brands and brands that will not grow old. Shao Shuaijun's eyes flashed.

Mitchell calmed down his excitement a little: "The new brand is not so easy to find, Shao, you are the boss, and the discoverer of Twilight and The Hangover, we need your guidance." ”

"There's always an end to one's gaze, don't count on me for everything, my ideas are almost squandered. However, I did have a big idea...... I can't make it clear on the phone, I'll go to Santa Monica right now, you gather the company executives, and we'll have a meeting. ”

Because of the preparation for listing, the senior management of Dream Chasing Entertainment Group, Dream Chasing Golden Harvest and Summit Entertainment are almost all in Santa Monica. When Shao Shuaijun arrived, the conference room was already full. Li Xiuxiu, Yi Jianmei, Wang Ziwen, David. Joe Cole, Mitchell. Bruce and so on, a total of thirteen executives who enjoy real shares, not options and dividends.

"It's not a formal meeting, everyone sits casually, just talked to Mitchell on the phone about the listing, Mitchell has great ambitions to impact the six ranks. Do you guys have this idea? Shao Shuaijun motioned for everyone to relax.

"I think with our current strength, it's time to hit the Big Six, the whole Hollywood, the box office market share, maybe we don't have an advantage because of the small number of movies. But we are definitely the company with the highest profit ratio, and the independent film department is on fire. "David. Joe Cole began by saying that he was the general manager of the original Twilight Entertainment Company, and that after Twilight merged into Summit Entertainment, he served as the company's vice president.

"David is right, the Big Six is just a very vague title, except for some good deeds, many people don't care about this identity. But to put it bluntly, we are not competing for the Big Six, we are making sure that we have reached the level of Hollywood's first-class companies, and getting the seats of the Big Six is a recognition of us and can be impacted. Wang Ziwen said that she now serves as the vice president of Dream Chase Jiahe.

Shao Shuaijun nodded and asked, "You all think so, Mr. Li?" ”

Li Xiuxiu smiled and said: "Everyone has this thought. ”

"It's not up to us to have the final say, we can only try our best to expand the company and let others judge. However, our company has reached a certain height, and we have to maintain this height before others will recognize us. How to keep it? We have blockbuster film series, but we don't have our own set, we don't have our own global channels. We need a complete system to ensure that the company continues to make money from making films, rather than relying on the unexpected rise of a two-hit blockbuster. ”

Shao Shuaijun waved his arm: "The direction of our efforts in the future will be to improve our production line, we must gather a group of excellent screenwriters, cultivate a group of excellent stars, and cooperate with excellent directors, and establish our own sets and channels." Of course, you must have thought of these questions a long time ago, and I'm just going to reinforce them. What I'm really going to discuss today is that I have a new plan! ”

Seeing that everyone was looking at him curiously, Shao Shuaijun cleared his throat: "This plan is to cut off Walt Disney!" We, Summit Entertainment, will acquire Marvel Comics, take back Marvel's superheroes, and let's shoot superhero movies! ”

"Buying Marvel Comics?"

"That's right, it's the acquisition of Marvel Comics!"

Mitchell was taken aback: "Shao, the market value of Marvel Comics is at least four billion dollars, and some of the superhero copyrights have been lost to the outside. As far as I know, the rights to Daredevil, Soul Chariot, Blade, Sanctioner, X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor have all been sold. Can we acquire, and is there any point in acquiring? ”

"Why not?" Shao Shuaijun asked rhetorically, "Why did Walt Disney buy Marvel Comics?" It's not because they've also fallen in love with the superheroes under the Astonishment Comics banner. Indeed, as one of the two major comic giants in North America, Marvel Comics has a market value of more than $4 billion, or even more, and has sold a lot of superhero copyrights over the years. So what? ”

"What does the chairman mean?"

Shao Shuaijun propped his hands on the table and glanced at the audience: "My meaning is very simple, as the special effects technology becomes more and more sophisticated, the superhero style that can only be achieved in comics before has been fully realized on the movie screen, and in the future era, superhero movies will continue to be hot." We should and must catch up with this opportunity. The superhero copyright of Marvel Comics can be negotiated and recovered one after another, whether it is a high-priced recovery, compensation acquisition, or a lawsuit, we want to gather the superheroes of Marvel Comics to create a super team belonging to Summit Entertainment! ”

"It's going to be a big risk, buying Marvel Comics and ...... with what we're capable of now," said Ejan May unconfidently.

"We all overlooked the fact that Summit Entertainment is going public, and our market value can definitely surpass Marvel Comics. We want to buy this comic company, we don't have to pay much, we can exchange shares, plus cash acquisition, to complete a merger, I don't want to run comics, I want its superheroes. ”

The income of comics, how can it be compared with movies, even if dozens of comics are sold, it is not as good as the benefits generated by a movie and movie peripherals. And under the Astonishment Comics, whether it is the Avengers or the X-Men, the superheroes in these teams are a play alone, and they add up to a play, prequels, sequels, sequels, and prequels, as long as you can think of it, and then package a good story, this is money!

Warner Bros. has seen the promise of superheroes and is working hard to develop DC Comics superheroes. Walt Disney also saw it, so wanted to acquire Marvel Comics.

This is a big investment, after all, to buy a behemoth, the price is too great.

But Shao Shuaijun, who has the vision of later generations, knows that in just a few years in the future, after Marvel Comics changed its name to Marvel Comics, its superheroes immediately ruled the world. DC has Superman and Batman, and Marvel has Iron Man and the Avengers, not only can you shoot it yourself, but you can also join forces with the two and shoot it with its heroes.

All in all, this is a huge resource that needs to be exploited.

Pinnacle Entertainment can't be missed. (To be continued......)