While he was having fun with his children, Xiao Yunhai's cell phone rang. It was a call from Bikven.
"Hey, Director Bikven, how was your rest last night?"
Bikven smiled and said, "Not bad at all. Xiao, the global box office for the three consecutive shows on the opening night is out. It's a total of 294 million USD. It has a very good reputation around the world, and the scores are all above 9. "
Xiao Yunhai chuckled and said, "That's really great. Congratulations, Director Bikven. You've made another good movie. Maybe your 'Lord of the Rings' can break the box office record of 'Wars Against the Aliens'. "
Bikven said, "If that's the case, that would be great. Xiao, thank you. Without your full support, 'Lord of the Rings' would not have achieved such good results. "
Xiao Yunhai said, "You've said it 800 times. You don't have to be so polite. The better 'Lord of the Rings' does, the more I earn. It's a win-win situation for us. By the way, how's the box office of 'Hurricane Operation'? "
Bikven said, "114 million USD. It's not bad. Of course, its reputation and box office are far worse than ours. "
Xiao Yunhai laughed and said, "It seems that we've already won. It's a good opportunity to teach Paramount's Hanks a lesson, so that he won't always find trouble with me when he has nothing better to do. Director Bikven, I'll drive to the hotel to pick you up later. We'll go back to America together. "
Bikven said, "Okay."
At ten o 'clock in the morning, except for the stars who needed to stay in Hua Xia to continue promoting the movie, Xiao Yunhai and the main crew took a private jet back to Hollywood.
After coming out of the airport, Xiao Yunhai did not waste any time and went straight to the company.
At this time, the 62-story building he bought had been completely renovated. All the employees of Marvel Comics, Magic Visual Effects, Storm Gaming Company, and his private investment company had moved in. Even so, it was still very spacious. Even if another thousand people came, it would still be able to fit them.
As soon as he sat in his chair, Raúl knocked on the door and walked in.
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "I happen to have something to tell you. Have our four directors come up with the budget for four superhero blockbusters? "
Raúl nodded and said, "It's done. Including the special effects, it was a total of 2.5 billion USD. Among them, Iron Man earned 800 million, Captain America earned 700 million, Doctor Strange earned 500 million, and X-Men earned 500 million. "
Xiao Yunhai frowned and said, "Paramount's action blockbuster 'Hurricane Operation' has a budget of more than 1.2 billion. How can we have so little?"
Even a serious person like Raúl couldn't help but laugh when he heard Xiao Yunhai's words. He thought to himself that his boss was really special. What all Hollywood investors were most afraid of was a high budget. Yet, he actually complained that the budget was too low.
"Boss, most of the funds for a film like 'Hurricane Operation' were spent on the artists. I heard that the director and the stars' salary alone reached a terrifying 400 million USD. "Also, for publicity, the film company would often make a false report. In fact, the real budget used to film the movie was only 600 million USD. "And the total salary of the directors and actors for our four movies is less than 400 million, so the budget for each movie is not high."
At this point, Raúl sighed and said, "Hollywood is like this. The poorer the poor, the richer the rich. "There are superstars who can earn 40 million in a movie, and there are also extras who can't even afford to eat. "Even among celebrities, the gap is huge. The salary of a B-list actor is not even one-tenth of that of an A-list actor."
Xiao Yunhai nodded and said, "It's the same for the entertainment industry in other parts of the world. Raúl, go and make the arrangements. I'm going to hold a press conference at 4 o 'clock this afternoon to announce to Hollywood that Marvel Comics has officially entered the film industry. "
Raúl nodded and said with a face full of excitement, "Yes, boss."
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Raúl suddenly patted his forehead and said, "Look at my brain. I was so excited that I almost forgot about the important matter. Boss, have you seen Paramount's movie 'Assassin'? "
Xiao Yunhai said, "No. What's wrong? "
Raúl said, "Boss, when I was browsing the entertainment website yesterday, I accidentally saw a small website. It said that 'Assassin' used the music of one of your songs in a certain segment. I asked someone to check it out, and there is indeed such a piece of music. It takes about 25 seconds. "
Xiao Yunhai said in surprise, "How is that possible?"
The importance of copyright in this world was much higher than in his previous world. After the director finished the post-production of a movie, the film company would arrange for people to go back and forth and check it several times. Anything that involved other people's copyrights would be signed with the copyright owner to avoid copyright disputes.
For example, the soundtrack used in the movie was the focus of the inspection. Generally speaking, such a problem would never occur.
Raúl said, "Boss, your album is popular in North America. Your songs are played everywhere on the streets. I think the melody might be too familiar. They thought it was an old song, so they didn't pay too much attention to it. "
Songs that were more than ten years old could be casually used in a movie.
Xiao Yunhai nodded and said, "Maybe. Raúl, cut that segment for me. Humph, if Paramount really dares to use my music as the soundtrack without my permission, they're dead meat. "
Raúl said, "Boss, if that's the case, I'm afraid there's no way for us to reconcile with Paramount."
"Reconcile?" Xiao Yunhai sneered and said, "Raúl, if you lose 17 billion USD because of someone's interference, and then lose 20 billion USD to that person in a bet, will you become friends with him in the future?"
Raúl shook his head and said, "Of course not, unless he returns the money to me. Boss, I understand. "
Less than five minutes after Raúl left, Christy came in with a large stack of documents.
Xiao Yunhai suddenly felt a headache and said, "Madam Christy, how many projects did you invest in this time?"
Christy smiled and said, "Not many, just 18. They're all small projects that we think can make money. The amount isn't large, and the total amount is less than 1 billion USD."
Xiao Yunhai nodded and was very impressed with Christy's behavior. It was a wise saying that one could not put all their eggs in one basket.
However, if she let him look at these documents, he would politely decline.
Xiao Yunhai said, "Madam Christy, you can just summarize them into a report for me."
Christy revealed an "as expected" expression and took out two pages of forms and said, "Mr. Xiao, this is the relevant information and development prospects of all the investment projects. Please take a look."
Xiao Yunhai took a look and smiled. "Madam Christy, I said that you don't have to report to me about these small investments."
Christy said, "Mr. Xiao, don't look down on these small investments. Who knows, there might be a financial giant in the future. "
Xiao Yunhai said, "Although the probability of this happening is not high, it does exist."
Christy smiled and said, "Mr. Xiao, I'll leave the documents here. Please take a good look at them. I need to negotiate with someone this afternoon, so I'll take my leave first. If there's anything you're not clear about, you can call me at any time. "
Xiao Yunhai nodded and said, "Go ahead."
After Christy left, Xiao Yunhai looked at the documents on the table and shook his head with a bitter smile.
Xiao Yunhai was very optimistic about the ability of his economic team. However, they were all workaholics. Every time he came back, there were countless documents waiting for him to review. This made Xiao Yunhai a little uncomfortable.
Thinking about how his wife, Zhao Wanqing, seemed to be much better at business than him and seemed to be very interested in it, Xiao Yunhai wanted to bring all these documents back to Hua Xia and let her handle them. If there were any problems in the future, Christy could contact her directly.
Yes, that's it.
Xiao Yunhai took out these documents and the documents that were previously in the safe. He was going to take them on the plane when he left.
After a while, Raúl sent the clip of Xiao Yunhai's music in "Assassin."
Xiao Yunhai listened carefully and found that it was indeed a small part of Michael Jackson's song, "Billie Jean."
According to the American copyright law, if the soundtrack used in a movie exceeded 15 seconds and there was no music copyright agreement signed, the user would be fined up to ten times the value of the original work. If there was no money, the relevant person would have to go to prison to reflect.
The song, "Billie Jean," had tens of millions of hits on the Internet. Including the single and album, it was estimated to be around 100 million US dollars. If it was ten times, it would be one billion US dollars.
The profit that "Assassin" brought to Paramount was less than 400 million US dollars. Even if it was all to compensate Xiao Yunhai, it would not be enough.
"Hehe, Hanks is dead for sure now."
Xiao Yunhai had never thought of letting him go.
Back then, the two of them were a little unhappy because of the copyright of Superheroes. Later, Hanks did not give him face in public at the Oscar Awards. Recently, he used "Assassin" to attack his "Battle of Red Cliff". In addition to the 20 billion century bet, Xiao Yunhai and Hanks could be said to be incompatible.
Since they could never be friends, they might as well offend each other to death.
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