"Kung Fu Panda?"
Li Mu was shocked by Spielberg's words.
He thought that it would take at least two or three years for Kung Fu Panda to be released, but he did not expect that DreamWorks had already started the art design work for Kung Fu Panda last year. This meant that the entire project for Kung Fu Panda did not just exist on paper. It was very likely that the entire project had been finalized.
Li Mu hurriedly asked him, "Steven, can you tell me about the story of Kung Fu Panda?"
Spielberg smiled and said, "Kung Fu Panda is an animated film set in the Hua Xia culture. The main character of the story is Hua Xia's unique national treasure, the panda. In our movie, the main character is a panda who is very obsessed with Kung Fu. He accidentally gets involved in a martial arts dispute and eventually becomes a martial arts master."
Li Mu smiled and asked him, "Have you designed the characters?"
"Not yet." Spielberg said, "We are mainly doing the set design for the film. Because we need to have full Hua Xia elements, our art team is looking for suitable scenery materials for Hua Xia. When they come back, we will start on the character design."
Li Mu said, "I don't think you need to go through the trouble. I'll give you the image of the panda bear and let the panda bear act as your Kung Fu Panda. What do you think?"
"Panda bear?" Spielberg exclaimed and said, "Oh my god! Why didn't I think of this! "
As he said this, his voice was full of joy. "If we use the panda bear, it will be of great benefit to both of us. Not only can we directly use the panda bear's fan base, but we can also create a sufficient background story for the panda bear."
Li Mu praised Spielberg in his heart. Spielberg's eyes were really sharp. He immediately saw where the pain point of both sides was.
For DreamWorks, creating a brand new story had no foundation, and there would not be any fan base. The only thing that could gather fans was DreamWorks' own fame. However, if the story was set to have a strong fan base, then the story would naturally have a strong fan base.
The panda had hundreds of millions of fans around the world. If they could really use its image to create this movie, then as long as the news was released, there would be countless people waiting to go to the cinema to see what was going on.
Just as Spielberg was about to agree, he suddenly realized a very serious problem.
Copyright.
If DreamWorks followed their original plan to develop "Kung Fu Panda" independently, then without a doubt, all the rights to the entire movie would belong to DreamWorks, especially the main character, the panda. It was a huge copyright that could be developed on a large scale. However, if they cooperated with Li Mu, then the rights to the main character of "Kung Fu Panda" would belong to Li Mu. They couldn't not have the rights to the core characters, right? Then his future derivative value would be castrated.
Thinking of this, Spielberg hurriedly asked Li Mu, "Mr. Li, if we cooperate, how should we deal with the copyright?"
Li Mu said, "First of all, I will license the image copyright of the panda bear to you for free. At the same time, I will not take a single cent from your box office revenue. I can also give you the rights to three big movies at once. This is all free. However, the copyright of the movie belongs to you. The other characters in this movie also belong to you, but the copyright of the panda bear belongs to me."
Spielberg hesitated for a moment.
As a successful Jewish businessman, he was very sensitive to the distribution of rights and interests. Although Li Mu gave the copyright for free and did not take a share of the box office revenue, and even gave the rights to three movies at once, he still felt a little uncomfortable. Because he knew that if he lost the copyright of the core protagonist, the copyright of the other characters would lose its development value.
For example, if he wanted to cooperate with Universal Studios to build a venue for "Kung Fu Panda", but he did not have the copyright of the panda bear, the protagonist of Kung Fu Panda, how could the venue continue to operate? Even if they did, the customers would be very depressed, right?
Thinking of this, Spielberg could not help but say, "Mr. Li, if we lose the copyright of the protagonist, it will be a great loss for us …"
Li Mu asked, "Your loss? Steven, you can't only think about what you lose, but not what you gain. Have you thought about how much extra income you can generate from the box office by licensing the image of the panda bear to you? If you develop 'Kung Fu Panda' yourself, can the global box office reach 400 million or 500 million US dollars? "
Spielberg said awkwardly, "I can't be sure. A global box office of 400 to 500 million US dollars is already very successful."
Li Mu asked, "If you have the image of the panda bear, will the global box office of 400 to 500 million US dollars still be a problem?"
"This …" Spielberg suddenly fell into deep thought.
At this time, Li Mu said again, "If your original three movies can get a box office of one billion US dollars, then I believe that if you change it to the panda bear as the protagonist, the box office of your three movies will add up to at least 1.5 billion US dollars. I did not say that I would share this money with you."
As he said this, Li Mu's tone became more serious. He said, "Steven, sometimes it is not suitable to be a 100% businessman. Just like our previous few collaborations, when I cooperated with you, I also treated you as a friend. So when you wanted to cooperate with me on the Mu Ying ticketing system, I readily agreed to it. Did I ever complain to you that you would share my profits?"
Spielberg's voice immediately became a lot more nervous. He hurriedly explained, "Mr. Li, you misunderstood me. I did not mean that. I also treat you as a friend. It's just that my brain was not working properly just now. I'm really sorry."
As he said this, Spielberg hurriedly added, "Then let's do it according to what you said just now. You authorize us the copyright of the panda bear, and we will make it the protagonist of Kung Fu Panda."
Li Mu's voice was a little cold. He said, "Steven, I have changed my mind. How about this? The other conditions remain the same, and I will invest 30% of this movie."
30% meant that Li Mu would also take 30% of the box office after the movie was released in the future. For a project that was uncertain whether it would make money or not, it was a good thing to have someone invest in it. But for a project that was 100% sure to make money, it was very awkward for someone to invest in it. It was like holding a cake and wanting to eat it, and then someone else came and took away 30% of it.
However, Spielberg could not refuse.
He had already realized that Li Mu was a little angry with him for being calculative.
He did regret it. He should not have shown his nature as a businessman to Li Mu without thinking.
Now, Li Mu seemed to have a lot of opinions about him.
Spielberg did not expect that he would be controlled by a young man's emotions at such an old age. But there was no other way. The nature of a businessman was to pursue profit. Even if he had hundreds of millions of yuan, he still desired more benefits. And Li Mu represented more and greater benefits. In any case, he could not lose the rarest resource line.
So, although his heart was bleeding, he did not hesitate to agree and said, "Mr. Li, let's do as you said. I have no opinion."
"Okay." Li Mu was a little satisfied. He coughed and said to Spielberg, "Hua Xia has an old saying that if people respect me, I will respect them tenfold. The relationship between a ruler and a foot is ten times that of the former."
Spielberg immediately said, "I understand what you mean. Please rest assured. I will definitely remember this sentence in the future."
Li Mu agreed and thought to himself that even an old Hollywood artist who excelled in both virtue and skill could not escape the essence of a businessman in his bones. In front of such a pure businessman, "father" had nothing to do with age, but only with how much money.
Immediately, Li Mu said, "How about this? Tomorrow, you send someone to Hua Xia with a book. Tell me the story's plot setting and world background setting in person. Also, bring the investment contract over. If there is no problem, sign the contract."
In fact, Li Mu knew the story background and plot setting of "Kung Fu Panda", but the reason why he asked Spielberg to send someone from the United States to introduce him in person was to put on the airs of a big boss.
Li Mu even felt that he seemed to be a little too "approachable" to Spielberg before, making him really treat him as an equal. Talking about such a small matter, Spielberg actually haggled with him. He had to put on airs and let him know that he was not on the same level as him at all.
As long as he still wanted to follow me to make money or rely on my resources, no matter how old he was, or how great an artist he was, he had to put away his edge and abacus. Otherwise, I will immediately stop all future cooperation and turn around to support his competitor, making him very uncomfortable.
Spielberg was also very smart. When he heard that Li Mu wanted him to send someone over, he immediately said, "Mr. Li, why don't I go over tomorrow?"
Li Mu asked hypocritically, "Aren't you busy with the post-production of" Flying Tigers "? Do you have time to come over? If you don't have time, just send someone over. You don't have to come personally for such a small matter. "
At this time, Spielberg did not dare to take advantage of the situation. He immediately said very firmly, "Don't worry, I have time. I don't have to keep an eye on things in the post-production."
Speaking of this, Spielberg said again, "I will rush over as soon as possible tomorrow and try to meet you in Yanjing within 24 hours."
"Okay."
Since he said this, Li Mu naturally would not pretend to be polite with him anymore. He immediately said lightly, "If you land in Yanjing during working hours, come directly to Makino Technology to find me."
Under normal circumstances, Li Mu would definitely arrange for Makino Technology's motorcade to meet him at the airport. But now, since he made him unhappy, he would not receive any treatment. He had to find a way to come over himself!
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