Nearly mistaking the famous "Mr. Fantastic" Stan Lee for an extra, Ex knows he has made an unforgivable mistake, but now it's too late to remedy. He immediately asked Caud to call the receptionist on his office phone and invite Stan Lee to the VIP room.

Lin Mingyang and Ex immediately got up and rushed over there, and on the way, Ex straightened his tie and asked puzzledly: "Why did Stan Lee play a role in the "New Spider-Man" series? ”

"It's probably a celebrity's peculiar fetish!" Lin Mingyang shrugged, "This old man, like the film master Hitchcock, likes to make cameos in his works. He played a customer who ate a hot dog in "X-Men", and an old man with a drink in "The Incredible Hulk"... He's always been happy with it. ”

"Then he's here for this too?" Ex asked puzzled.

Lin Mingyang, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and turned around suddenly, Exx was caught off guard and almost collided with him.

Ex complained dissatisfiedly, "What are you doing here? ”

"You suddenly reminded me!" Lin Mingyang clasped his hands and covered his chin, "I was thinking just now, I know the old man Stan Lee well, but what is he doing with me at this time?" ”

"So you already have the answer?"

"That's right!" Lin Mingyang turned around and walked side by side with Ex: "I just dozed off and sent a pillow, it seems that I am lucky!" ”

Ex looked at Lin Mingyang in confusion, and then Lin Mingyang explained: "Didn't we just worry about the new film, if I guessed correctly, this old man Stan Lee will bring us a big surprise!" ”

――――"Oh! Felix, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon... I went to Sony Pictures before I came here, and the post-production of "The New Spider-Man 2" was only half done! After exchanging hugs and greetings, Stan Lee, a spirited old man, began to shake his head and complain: "I don't know how Sam Raimi did it, it's so disappointing to me, how can he make fans who are looking forward to the release of this movie wait so long..."

As soon as the old man spoke, it made Ex feel that he was not simple, don't look at his words as if he was greeting Lin Mingyang, but in fact, his words revealed a lot of important information, he seemed to inadvertently mention Sony Pictures, which seemed to hide some special meaning.

Ex winked at Lin Mingyang, and a smile of understanding appeared on the corner of Lin Mingyang's mouth.

"Mr. Stan, this is my former manager, Ex, who is now the president of MGM Pictures!"

Stan Lee helped his glasses on, "Mr. Ex, it's a pleasure!" ”

"It's been my pleasure to know you... I'll tell you the truth, I grew up watching your comics too! Ex stepped forward and shook Lee's hand politely.

After taking his seat, Stan Lee grinned and asked, "Felix, how did you come up with the idea of dropping out of Harvard and buying MGM?" ”

Lin Mingyang smiled and spread his hands: "Everyone thinks that I must have some complicated purpose for acquiring MGM, but I actually want to master a film company and then make some movies that I like." ”

"There aren't many people in Hollywood who think like you now!" Stan Lee, after sparing a corner, finally said what he meant:

"Felix, actually, I'm here this time to want you and join forces to launch a new movie!"

Lin Mingyang and Ex glanced at each other, the "meat show" finally came, and they didn't say anything, quietly waiting for Stan Lee's next step.

"Many years ago, one day I had a whim, I wanted to create an insect super comic hero, at that time I thought about a lot of insects, mosquito man, ladybug man, these I didn't think well, in short, it was a neurotic, slightly obsessive-compulsive, and always introspective weak young man, after being bitten by an alien insect has superpowers, not invulnerable, but also a moral story."

The idea disgusted my boss, my cousin-in-law, Goodman, the founder of Marvel Comics, who thought that a flawed, Woody-Allen-esque superhero would not be popular, but he managed to make a small and least important spot in the company's comic journal because I was a relative. It was 1962, and the American comic book industry was like a big baby who had just changed his diaper and staggered forward, and he only loved one toy, and that was the doubtfully perfect Superman! ”

"As you might guess, this insect super-comic book hero is Spider-Man. Even if it wasn't made into a movie like Superman, Spider-Man still has a prominent place in comic book history, and many years later, when Marvel Comics was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the cover of the company profile was a photo of me standing in front of the stock exchange with a Spider-Man doll in my hand. ”

Stan Lee begins to reminisce about the past, but Lin Mingyang and Ex clearly feel that he has strayed from the topic, but Stan Lee himself is not aware of the problem.

"The box office of "Spider-Man" surpassed the box office record of "Batman" that year, and Bob, the creator of Batman, has passed away and cannot see this day. I felt very sad that he was my former colleague, my dining partner, and a friendly competitor. We used to be very good friends and used to joke with each other... I think if he's still alive, he would be more than happy to see Spider-Man succeed! ”

Lin Mingyang saw an opportunity and interrupted Stan Lee, "I heard that you also had a lawsuit with Marvel Comics because of the fact that "Spider-Man" was made into a movie? ”

"The movie 'Spider-Man' was so successful, but I didn't get a penny out of it, and Marvel Comics signed a deal with me that every character I helped create would get 10% of the company's profits if it was made into a movie or TV series... That lawsuit ended as early as 05, the lawsuit is a lawsuit, friends are still friends, and I still have a good relationship with them. This time, I'm here to negotiate with you on behalf of Marvel Comics. ”

Stan Lee accidentally slipped his mouth in advance, which made Lin Mingyang and Exx, who were sitting opposite him, look playful.

At this time, Stan Lee began to become cautious, and he carefully explained: "Marvel Comics is going to invest in the filming of "Iron Man", and we need to find a film company that can be called an expert in film production and distribution as the brand ambassador of "Iron Man", and now MGM meets the requirements of Marvel. ”

Standing in the position of MGM president, Ex said very politely: "At the beginning of the conversation, I noticed that you kept mentioning Sony Pictures, and in my opinion, MGM is not the first choice for Marvel Comics. ”

Before Ex's words were finished, he was stopped by Lin Mingyang, but the implication of his words was obvious, Marvel Company did not negotiate with Sony, so he chose MGM as the partner to cooperate, speaking of which, MGM was just a substitute in their eyes.

Stan Lee was a little speechless for a while, because Marvel's initial target was indeed Sony Pictures, but Sony was not interested in Marvel's offer of cooperation. Finally, at Stan Lee's suggestion, Marvel Comics set its sights on MGM.

"Ex, no matter what Marvel thinks, Mr. Stan's ability to come in person is enough to show his sincerity." Seeing that the atmosphere was a little embarrassing, Lin Mingyang had no choice but to stand up and play a round.

Lin Mingyang's statement relieved Stan-Lee's heart. Ex is only the president of MGM, to put it bluntly, he is a senior manager, and Lin Mingyang is the actual controller of MGM, since he has shown interest in this cooperation, then there is a drama in this matter.

Stan Lee nodded, and explained downhill: "Actually, I went to Sony Pictures this time, and I talked to them about another business, we previously handed over the film rights of "The Punisher" to Lionsgate, but the company's senior management was worried that the company's strength was not enough, so they specially invited experienced Sony to escort it in production and distribution. ”

Lin Mingyang asked curiously: "So how is Marvel going to cooperate with us this time?" ”

Stan Lee replied bluntly: "Marvel invests in the film, and MGM is responsible for the production and distribution. ”

This time, it was Ax's turn to ask, "I want to know, which side of the film copyright belongs to in this cooperation model?" ”

"Of course, the copyright of the film belongs to the producer, but the peripheral products of the film are operated and sold by Marvel."

Although Stan Lee was answering Ex's question, the corner of his eye kept paying attention to Lin Mingyang's expression, and the movie periphery is the biggest source of profit outside the box office. The average Hollywood studio can only get 40% of the box office revenue of the film, and a large company like MGM, which owns its own theater chain, can probably get about 50%. But a film only needs to gross more than twice as much as the production cost for the producer to make a profit through the film's peripheral products.

During the release of the live-action version of "Transformers", the Transformers model toys in American supermarkets were out of stock for a while, and Hasbro made a lot of money. The more box office blockbuster movies are, the more profitable the peripherals are.

Ex didn't say anything, and Lin Mingyang thought about it. He knows that Stan Lee's "eagerness" to push "Iron Man" to the big screen is inseparable from the development strategy of his old club Marvel Comics, and it can also be said that the movie version of "Iron Man" sounded the clarion call for Marvel to enter the Hollywood film market.

Marvel Comics' strategy is not wrong, but for more comic book fans and even movie fans around the world, the breakthrough they have chosen, the cold, steel-covered comic book characters are not as well-known as Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man. If Marvel had had had this idea a few years earlier, Spider-Man or X-Men would have been better suited than Iron Man as a springboard to Hollywood.

As one of the two major comic book giants in the United States, Marvel Comics is anxious to see that Superman and Batman, the main "stars" of its old rival DC Company, have become cash cows that have made a lot of money in the film market in recent years in the hands of Hollywood filmmakers. At the same time, Spider-Man, who is not the "male number one" under his own, has made as much as $2.5 billion in just six years after being fully packaged by Sony Pictures.

The situation is stronger than people, and Marvel Comics has finally made up its mind to be self-reliant, although it is a little late, but they still want to make great efforts to launch this "big screen novice" who still has enough development space - Iron Man.

The asking price for the cooperation of Marvel Comics is not low, which also shows that they are determined to enter Hollywood. For MGM, there is also an urgent need for such a "safe" subject matter to open up the situation, and cooperation is beneficial to both parties.

"The previous conditions are acceptable to MGM, but we have to take 50% of the box office dividends... And I heard that Marvel only signed the adaptation rights for 3 episodes of "X-Men" with 20th Century Fox, so can we also leave the filming of subsequent episodes to us? ”

Lin Mingyang is naturally not willing to play a supporting role, only dividends, he wants to use "Iron Man" as a bargaining chip to win the distribution rights of Marvel's "Ant-Man", "X-Men" and "Captain America" in one fell swoop.

This kind of "lion big mouth" request for cooperation, not to mention Stan Lee, even Ex also sat there stunned and speechless. Under the surprised gaze of the two, Lin Mingyang's face did not change, and he did not feel that there was anything wrong with his request.

In the face of such a request, Stan Lee was directly "speechless" and did not speak, and the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became awkward, and finally Ex coughed twice, "Felix, about other films, can we take our time?" ”

Lin Mingyang smiled at Stan Lee, "I know that my request sounds a bit of 'blackmail' at first glance, but if I guarantee that each of these films will grossing more than $500 million, can Marvel seriously consider it?" ”

Stan Lee's eyes widened, if it weren't for the glasses in the way, it is estimated that he would be able to pop out directly, if Lin Mingyang's words just now gave him the impression of whimsy, then Lin Mingyang's promise at this time can be directly said to be arrogant.

Seeing that the negotiations were about to reach an impasse, the door of the VIP reception room was gently pushed open, and Cod, Eck's assistant, stood at the door with a folder, "Mr. Felix, I have made the statistics you want!" ”

"I know a promise isn't enough to convince you, so I've got this for you!" Lin Mingyang took the folder from Cod's hand, and without looking at it himself, he pushed it directly in front of Stan Lee, "Here is a comparison table of the investment income of several films, most of these films are directed by me personally, of course, some of them are provided by me or directly invested... I'm very responsible to tell you that these films ended up grossing more than five times their original investment. ”

Stan Lee looked at the information given by Lin Mingyang without saying a word, among all Lin Mingyang's directorial works, the top two box office revenues are "The King of Kung Fu" and "District 9", both of which have a global box office of more than $600 million, and "The Social Network", which was released not long ago, also has a box office of $460 million, and some of Lin Mingyang's early works are small-budget films, but the box office of each film has exceeded 100 million, and "Three Fools" is at a low cost of $500,000, It has earned nearly $200 million at the box office, and the benefits are more than 40 times the cost.

Lin Mingyang's words just now were of course arrogant, but this information was an indisputable fact, and in the end Stan Lee wavered.

He closed the information in his hand, lowered his head and thought for a moment, and when he raised his head, he had already made a decision in his heart, "I agree to your request, but in view of your information, I have one more request!" ”

From Stan Lee's expression, Lin Mingyang had already guessed the other party's thoughts, and he asked with a wry smile: "You don't want me to be the star of this film, do you?" ”

"How do you know?" Stan Lee was visibly stunned for a moment, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then immediately regained his composure, "So we coincided again?" ”

"I just guessed!" Lin Mingyang shrugged helplessly: "What do you think I look like the Iron Man in the comics?" ”

"It's similar in many ways, and I'm serious!" Stan Lee doesn't look like he's joking with Lin Mingyang, "I'm based on Howard Hughes and created the character of Iron Man, Howard is the richest character of our time, he is an inventor, an adventurer, a millionaire, a playboy, and eventually a madman, and this is the whole picture of Iron Man Tony Stark." ”

Lin Mingyang was about to retort, but Stan Lee stopped him with a gesture: "Felix, I know you want to say that you and Howard Hughes are not the same kind of people, but in my opinion, you and him do have a great deal of similarity. Howard Hughes attended many excellent schools throughout his life, but was never able to earn a degree; And you've just dropped out of Harvard, and you're so similar in terms of life experiences. ”

Lin Mingyang explained with some tears and laughter: "It's just a coincidence! ”

Stan Lee waved his hand and motioned for him not to rush: "I know, I know... Being able to get into Harvard is a symbol of strength in itself, and being able to give up the honor of being a Harvard graduate is even more remarkable, in fact, whether it's you, Bill Gates and the kid who founded Facebook, are very thoughtful guys, which is very similar to Howard Hughes. ”

"And Howard Hughes has been involved in the film industry, made several good movies, and is also a famous playboy, with well-known female surnames who have had affairs with him include Katharine Hepburn, Betty Davis, Gene Tierney, etc."

The more Stan Lee talked, the more "off-topic" he became, and finally he winked at Lin Mingyang: "Your experience of fame in Hollywood is a legend in itself, and the most important thing is that there are as many scandals about you as Howard Hughes, which is very much in line with my character setting for Iron Man!" ”

(To be continued)