Chapter 529

Peter Parker, an orphan, lived with his uncle and aunt in Queens, New York. He was bitten by a mutant spider during an extracurricular activity and became Spiderman because his uncle died in front of him. He had a crush on his high school classmate, Mary. Such a young man, who seemed ordinary when he was not a superhero, was hugely popular when it was first published. There was no other reason than the strong sense of immersion.

From the beginning, he was a very ordinary American high school student. He was bullied at school and did not have many friends. He had a crush on a girl but did not dare to confess. It was in line with the image of most American high school students, wasn't it? After becoming a superhero, he was very good at upholding justice, but in normal times, he was still a young man running around for a living. This was also in line with the image of most American young people, wasn't it?

In any country, mediocre people were the majority. However, these people also yearned to become extraordinary. For example, they wanted to become superheroes to save the world. It was this strong sense of resonance that made Spiderman gain great popularity as soon as it was published, becoming one of the most popular superheroes. Similarly, the original movie became the best-selling one among the Marvel Superheroes.

In Adriaan's memory, the movie rights of Spiderman were obtained by Sony because they owned the Japanese television rights of Spiderman. So they made a lot of money with the trilogy, completely getting rid of the predicament they had been in, and achieved good development in the early years of the 21st century.

Of course, it was impossible now. Adriaan had no reason to give them this gold mine, did he? Although they still had some friendship with each other, they were all media groups, and competition was inevitable. Of course, it was not in the interests of AC Media to weaken Sony too much. It just so happened that Emmerich was interested in the script of Godzilla, just as he remembered. Now he was contacting him to get investments for the movie. Adriaan did not mind introducing it to Sony.

Although the movie was good at the box office, it did not make much money compared to the huge investment. It was perfect to hand it over to Sony. But then again, this movie seemed to be invested and distributed by Sony. But what did it matter?

"In addition, we can also authorize other film companies to produce other comic book characters, such as X-Men. We don't have to invest too much at once. When we see the market results, other film companies will naturally come to us for help. " After confirming that the film adaptation was Spiderman, Adriaan immediately said.

The senior executives did not have any objection to adapting Spiderman into a movie. They had obviously discussed it a long time ago, but they had a different view on X-Men.

"Why not The Incredible Hulk?" someone asked.

"Because if 'The Hulk' isn't handled well, it will be hated by the audience. A berserker who is controlled by his emotions will have a completely different feeling when reading a comic and watching a movie," Adrian replied.

In his memory, The Hulk wasn't very likable. Of course, there was a certain gay director — okay, maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Who knew? — but there were also many problems with The Hulk. Just as Adrian said, The Hulk was fun to fight, but if he was too violent and brainless, it would be hard to get into the movie. So, unless there was a good script and a good director, it would be difficult for this manga adaptation to have any development.

However, although this comic book character was likely to be abandoned, it did not mean that it was useless, because … hehe …

Although no one would question the statement of the miraculous director and boss, they inevitably argued with each other. Even Stan Lee could not help but interject a few words. As a result, until the end of the meeting, they had not decided which comic to adapt after Spiderman.

This efficiency was a bit bad, but Adriaan did not take it to heart. Anyway, in his heart, he had already arranged for the movie version of Spiderman to be released in 1999. Goblin was still a little small now. It would be just right to shoot it next year, right? As for the choice of Spiderman, it did not have to be Tobey Maguire.

"Let them argue for a while. I believe they will see the value of X-Men." On the way back, when Claude asked him why he did not make the final decision, Adriaan said so.

At first, Adriaan told him that in addition to Spiderman, they had decided to make X-Men, but he did not insist on his opinion at the previous meeting.

"Their concerns are not wrong. There are too many characters in X-Men. If they all use newcomers, it will be difficult to guarantee the box office; if they all use big names, it will be very troublesome to make a sequel. Therefore, we must discuss it in detail, and the investment is likely to be more than Spiderman. " Adriaan continued, "Although we can get other film companies to invest, it is not a bad thing to let them discuss it more. Otherwise, they will be blinded by victory."

To be honest, although the box office of X-Men was good, it did not make much money compared to the investment, not to mention there were all kinds of dividends. Although there were all kinds of peripherals, the data was not good after all. Getting other companies to invest not only shared the risk, but also showed his generosity. Anyway, the peripherals rights were in his hands.

"It sounds like you are sure that Spiderman will be a big seller." Claude opened the small refrigerator in the car and poured two glasses of whiskey.

"Of course, this is my judgment." Adriaan raised his glass confidently.

Having said that, he still had to do his homework, and not only for Spiderman, but also for X-Men. Mr. Wolverine had probably gone to Hollywood to develop, and he had to find out more about him. If he was sure, he could ask Michael to sign him. Right, if it was appropriate, he might as well produce that movie. In his memory, the box office was not good for some reason. If he could advance it to now, it should not repeat the same mistake.

Besides, Black Pearl didn't seem to have any influential works recently, so it was perfect for her. As for Travolta, he was currently filming Wu Baige's Many-Faced Duo with Cage. It wouldn't be a big deal if he could find the time, but if he couldn't, they could just find someone else. Why not let Sean Pan try?

Taking a sip of the wine in his glass, Adrian's mind was filled with countless thoughts, but he quickly threw them to the back of his mind. He would deal with these later, there were more important things to do now.

"Okay, let's talk about us." Adriaan put the glass on the tray.

"No problem. Why did you go to New York first and then return to Los Angeles?" Claude, who also put down his glass, asked.

Adriaan shrugged, puzzled. He did not understand why he would ask this. "I wanted to visit Uncle Anderson. You know, I have to act like a good nephew."

Indeed, it was very successful. Uncle Anderson was very satisfied with his attitude, even though he knew very well about Zhang Heng's affairs. Of course, he also wanted to visit his little lover. Just keeping in touch with her on the phone and writing wasn't enough to improve their relationship. Spending a few hours running around with her was also quite romantic, and it didn't necessarily mean that he needed to exercise in bed.

"Then why did you take a flight back to Los Angeles instead of your luxurious private plane?" Claude continued to ask.

"Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm just curious."

"You're jealous."

"Okay, I'm jealous, but I'm also curious."

"Okay, okay." Faced with the tireless Claude, Adriaan had to tell the truth. "It's no big deal, really. I just met a Latin beauty in a nightclub in New York."

"Wow." Claude couldn't help but whistle. "She must be hot for you to like her."

"Yes, she is, so …"

"So you had sex. But what does that have to do with taking a flight?"

"She's a singer, and a famous singer in Latin America. She was going to Los Angeles for a vacation, so I went with her, and then …"

"And then had a passionate moment in the bathroom at 10,000 meters high. Damn it. Don't you have a bathroom in your extremely luxurious private plane?"

"You're not a fish. How do you know the joy of a fish?"

"Damn it, don't speak Chinese to me. I hate it when you speak Chinese!"

Adriaan laughed. Claude rolled his eyes and asked, "Name? What's her name?"

"Shakira, a Colombian singer," Adriaan replied.

Claude thought for a moment and showed a look of sudden realization. "If I remember correctly, she released an album last year, oh, the year before last. It sold millions of copies worldwide."

"Yes, it's her." Adriaan snapped his fingers. "You've collected more and more information now."

Claude's expression became a little strange at this time. He rubbed his chin and looked at Adriaan meaningfully. "I remember she has a very famous technique …"

"Electric butt. Of course I've tried it. It's delicious." A smile that only men would understand appeared on Adriaan's face.

It was not only delicious. In the bathroom on the plane, when Shakira sat on him and began to shake her lower body like an electric motor, Adriaan could hardly do anything but hiss and suck in the cold air. It was even more powerful than the night before in the hotel bed. She really deserved her reputation.

The Latina beauties were indeed very passionate. After recognizing each other in the nightclub, it did not take Adriaan much effort to hook up with them. Moreover, their lower body curves were quite perfect. Shakira was so, and so was Jennifer Lopez. However, it was also because of this that it was enough to have a friendly match with them two or three times. It was the same for Lopez and Shakira, even though Lopez had just released a new album under his label and exchanged phone numbers with Shakira when they left the airport.

"Well, let's talk about something else, Krau." Adriaan pulled the topic back. "You're not saying all this because something went wrong, are you?"

"Well …" Claude raised his glass again. "Two pieces of news that are neither good nor bad."

"Only good news and bad news, no good or bad news. Tell me about it." Adriaan sat up straight.

"The first piece of news is that we may not achieve our goal after the first phase. Soros is a sly old fox. When he is uncertain, he is patient enough to wait for others to test him."

"It doesn't matter. There are risks in the financial market. There are profits and losses. So, how much?"

"The best estimate is about 800 million US dollars."

"That should be good news. At least we still made a lot of money." Adriaan laughed. "What about the other news?"

"The plan has been delayed, not because of the funding problem. The negative impact of Seagram's rapid expansion has just begun to show. It will take at least a few more months for them to fully ferment and put them in a difficult position."

"This is also good news. We can temporarily focus on the second phase, collect more funds, and take down the target in one fell swoop."

"It's neither good nor bad for me." Claude took a sip of whiskey. "The overall situation is favorable, and we have a lot of advantages. You and Spielberg have a good relationship, and Spielberg has a good relationship with them too. Why don't we get him to help us persuade them? On Viacom's side, Lei Shidong already owns Paramount and is now pursuing CBS. Not only will they not obstruct us, but they will also support us strongly. As for the other companies, there are many variables. "

"It's alright. Don't be so anxious. Take it slow. Collecting information is the key. Moreover, we haven't received any funding yet." Adriaan smiled.

"Are you sure you want funding?" Claude raised his eyebrows.

"Although it's the last resort, it's still one of the options." Adriaan waved his hand. "Alright, let's talk about what you're most interested in. How about the Superbowl?"

"It took a lot of effort, and the league has agreed. Victoria's Secret is bound to welcome a new wave of development at the beginning of next year." Claude couldn't help but smile.

As the finals of American football, the Superbowl had always had the highest ratings in the United States. Those who loved football would turn on their televisions to watch it if they couldn't be there. Hence, the Superbowl's popularity was unparalleled. If a singer could perform at the Superbowl, his popularity and reputation would increase tremendously. Many heavenly singers, such as MJ and Madonna, had also performed at the Superbowl.

If Victoria's Secret wanted to raise its brand to a higher level, a stunning runway show at the Superbowl was undoubtedly the best choice. The few people in charge of Victoria's Secret were outstanding talents. After being acquired by AC Media, they started to cooperate with ABC. They selectively absorbed some of the suggestions that Adriaan and Claude had given them. They were all in favor of the Superbowl runway show.

With two supermodels and a dedicated team of models, the development of this underwear brand was much better than that of another time and space. Although Adrian didn't pay much attention to it and didn't know much about it, with Claude by his side, he had a rough idea of the extent of it. Therefore, the runway show that was supposed to take place in another two years was moved forward by a year under his suggestion.

"For Victoria's Secret, this will be a new beginning," Adriaan said as he raised his glass to Claude. Then he thought of something.

"Oh yes, Krau, do you have a backup plan?" he asked.

"What backup plan?"

"Of course it's for the models."

"For the models?" Claude immediately raised his eyebrows meaningfully. Unexpectedly, Adriaan rolled his eyes at him. "I am discussing this topic very seriously. You see, although we have a dedicated team of models, they are all from various modeling companies. We don't have one that belongs to us. If we leave after one or two years, it will be troublesome for the company, especially for the more outstanding models."

"This … shouldn't be a big problem. We can extend the contract and have the priority to sign the contract … Wait, are you thinking of buying a modeling company?" Claude asked doubtfully.

"Of course not." Adriaan laughed. "I just thought of an idea to let ABC produce a talent show: America's Top Model."

Because of the acquisition of Victoria's Secret, when Adriaan was looking for a suitable program with high ratings for ABC, he thought of a sitcom extended from it: Victoria's Secret Wardrobe. This TV series showed the life and work of these underwear models in the form of a sitcom. Although it was axed after only three seasons, the ratings of the first two seasons were quite high.

Adriaan didn't know why it was axed. In fact, he didn't even read the content carefully. He only had a general understanding based on the information on the website. The popularity of this version of Victoria's Secret Wardrobe was entirely due to the efforts of the production team. However, it wasn't difficult to guess. There weren't many models in Victoria's Secret, and there were only so many things that could be shown. Once the audience's initial curiosity was over, the ratings would inevitably drop.

In this case, it was necessary to replace it with a new program. Originally, Adriaan planned to carefully recall what other TV series would have good ratings in the current environment. However, when discussing Victoria's Secret with Claude, a new idea came to his mind.

"We have discussed it before. We are currently lacking in traditional print media, so we can choose to cooperate with groups that have advantages in this area but are lacking in emerging media. This is a good start. According to my initial idea, first of all, as long as they are American girls, they can sign up. Secondly, the judges will select suitable girls — the number can be between 12 to 18, or less — and then they will collectively participate in training under 24-hour surveillance, such as posing, taking photos, walking, makeup, meeting guests, national culture, and so on. After the training, they can participate in a small competition, and one will be eliminated every once in a while. We can intersperse some advertisements. I mean, let them take some real advertisements. It doesn't need to be too big, as long as it's appropriate, so that we can observe them better. Continue like this until the last model with professional qualities is selected, and she will be provided with a generous contract as a reward! "Adriaan said with fervor and assurance.