Xiao Yunhai had never encountered a copyright dispute before. He vaguely remembered that Kree had mentioned that MGM Grand had fought such a lawsuit before, so he picked up his phone and dialed Xiao Yunhai's number.
"Hey, Xiao, congratulations on your Lord of the Rings. The global box office reached an unprecedented 786 million US dollars on the opening night and the first day. That's terrifying."
On July 21st, Lord of the Rings received 504 million US dollars at the global box office. Including the opening night, it almost exceeded 800 million US dollars.
Hurricane Operation, on the other hand, was affected by it and only received 178 million US dollars. It was completely outclassed by Lord of the Rings.
There was a huge gap in their reputation. It could be said that Hurricane Operation had completely lost in the battle. Unless a miracle happened, it was impossible to turn the situation around.
Paramount could only place its hopes on online video and DVD sales.
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "This is all within my expectations. Kree, I heard that the movie Green Hornet has started filming. Is that true? "
Last time, after Xiao Yunhai sold the movie and TV rights of Green Hornet to MGM Grand, they asked the company's scriptwriter team to quickly adapt it. In just ten days, the script was ready.
After careful selection, MGM Grand invited the company's top director, Pippen, to direct the movie. The movie had just started filming yesterday.
Chris chuckled and said, "You're not up to date with the news. Let me tell you, not only the movie, but the TV series also started filming yesterday. It's just that it was more low-key. "
Xiao Yunhai said, "Then congratulations to all of you. Kree, I heard you say before that MGM Grand's movie accidentally used a singer's song as the soundtrack, right? "
"That's right. That's the stupidest mistake our review department has ever made. "
"Then what was the result?"
"What else could it be? We lost money. Fortunately, the singer was not very famous and the song was just average. We only lost three million US dollars. Otherwise, we'd even have the heart to die. Xiao, why are you asking this question? Could it be that the soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings also made such a stupid mistake? "
Xiao Yunhai said, "No, the one who made the mistake was Paramount's Assassin. One of its soundtracks uses the melody of Billie Jean. "
Kree's reaction was the same as Xiao Yunhai's. "That's impossible."
Xiao Yunhai said, "I also thought that it was impossible, but after listening to it, I realized that it was indeed the case. It took about 25 seconds."
Kree asked, "Are you sure it's more than 80% similar to the melody of your 'Billie Jean'?"
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "It's not 80%, it's 100%. Their accompaniment music hasn't even changed a single tune. I'm a professional when it comes to music. I definitely won't make a mistake. "
Kree chuckled and said gloatingly, "Paramount is so unlucky. Two movies with more than two billion US dollars invested in were defeated by you. I didn't expect them to make such a low-level mistake. This is simply giving you money. What are you going to do? "
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "Of course, I want money. My song is worth at least 100 million US dollars. Paramount violated my copyright. According to the copyright law, Paramount needs to pay me 1 billion US dollars. "
"Wrong." Kree said, "At the end of last year, the American copyright law was amended. The compensation was increased from the maximum ten times to twenty times. Haha, Xiao, Hanks is probably going to cry. "
Xiao Yunhai exclaimed, "That's a lot. Kree, do you think I should find a lawyer and settle it privately with him? If we can't reach an agreement, then I'll sue him. "
Kree said, "Xiao, you're obviously doing something unnecessary. If I were Hanks, I wouldn't give you so much money even if I were beaten to death. I think it's better to go to court directly. With such conclusive evidence, the facts are clear, and there's no room for denial. Basically, it can be judged in court. You're really lucky. You didn't do anything and someone actually gave you money, and it's 2 billion US dollars. Why didn't I get such a good thing? "
Xiao Yunhai said angrily, "You're a tone-deaf guy. You can't even sing, let alone write. By the way, have you settled the MGM Grand cinema chain? I'm still waiting for the money. "
Kree smiled and said, "I was just about to talk to you about this. That movie company is getting a loan, and it should arrive in two days. When the time comes, I'll call you and we'll sign the contract. Then I'll transfer the money to you. "
Xiao Yunhai said, "That's more like it. I'm not going to chat with you anymore. I still have a lot of work to do. "
After hanging up, Xiao Yunhai got Daniel to come over and handed the copyright dispute to him.
There was no choice. After all, he was the most free among the people in charge of the four companies.
In the afternoon, Xiao Yunhai met the main creative team of the four superhero blockbusters.
Good lord, just based on their appearances, they definitely had the potential to be big stars.
Some of the male actors were young and handsome, while some were mature and steady. The female actors were all beautiful and had hot figures.
After everyone introduced themselves, Xiao Yunhai silently remembered their names. He smiled and said, "Everyone is the most suitable actor to act in our superhero movie that the four directors chose from tens of thousands of Hollywood actors. This means that your acting skills and abilities are very good. By the way, you should have signed a contract with Marvel, right? "
"Yes, Mr. Xiao," everyone said in unison.
"That's great. I can guarantee you that after entering Marvel, you won't be far from the status of a first-tier movie star in Hollywood, "Xiao Yunhai said with a smile.
The beautiful British actress, Maeve, asked, "Mr. Xiao, our contract is ten years long, and we're all newcomer contracts. Mr. Raúl said that our treatment will improve with our fame. If the superhero movie the company is filming now is popular in the world, when can we change the contract? You know that the treatment of newcomers is too low. "
Xiao Yunhai looked at her with admiration and smiled. "You're all worried about this too, right?"
The others nodded.
Hollywood newcomer contracts were indeed very cheap. The commission was a terrifying 9: 1, and 90% of it had to be handed over to the company. Ordinary artists could not stand it at all.
Many conflicts between companies and artists were caused by this. An artist who was already an A-lister would definitely not be willing to give a B-lister a contract.
Xiao Yunhai said, "Miss Maeve, you're indeed very courageous to be able to discuss this matter with me openly on our first meeting. At the same time, you also show strong confidence. You might have heard that I, Xiao Yunhai, am not short of money. A while ago, I gave the employees of Magic Visual Effects a bonus of 400 million USD. Do you think I'll use the so-called contract to bully you? "
"Let me tell you something. As long as there are no accidents, the box office of these four movies will be very good. As the lead actors, you'll definitely become popular. When the time comes, I'll let the company sign a contract with you according to Hollywood standards. If you're a B-lister, you'll have a contract with a B-lister. If you're an A-lister, you'll have a contract with an A-lister. Also, we'll give you 10% higher treatment than the outside world. However, the superstar contract is an exception. The distribution ratio between them and the company is 9: 1. If it's 10% higher, I'll be working for nothing. "
"Hahaha."
Hearing Xiao Yunhai's words, the only worry in everyone's hearts was relieved.
Xiao Yunhai turned to look at the four directors and said, "Your treatment will be different from theirs. I'm going to use the box office to set a standard for you."
James was puzzled and asked, "Mr. Xiao, what do you mean?"
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "Let's put it simply. If you want to shoot a second movie, you'll have to use the profits of the first movie to determine the amount of investment we'll give you. For example, James, your 'Doctor Strange' ultimately brought in 5 billion USD of profit for the company. Then, as long as your next movie doesn't exceed 50% of that profit, which is 2.5 billion USD, the company will support you. If the second movie loses money, not only will you not make any money, but you'll also lose 1 billion USD. You don't have to worry about that. You'll still have a chance. We'll give you 50% of the remaining profits to continue shooting. Originally, it was 2.5 billion USD. Deducting the loss of 1 billion USD, that's 1.5 billion USD for the third movie, and so on. "
Halle asked, "What if the third, fourth, and fifth movies all lose money?"
Xiao Yunhai was amused and said, "Then do you still have the face to stay at Marvel? You might as well retire. "
James smiled and said, "At that point, there's no need for the company to chase me out. I'll go home and not dare to come out to meet people."
Hughes said, "Mr. Xiao, your idea is really good. Everyone has to rely on their own abilities to make a living. No one can blame others. "
Halle said confidently, "I think the investment limit for my second movie should be about 4 billion USD."
James glanced at him disdainfully and said, "You mean that 'X-Men' will make 8 billion USD of profit? Haha, are you kidding?"
Halle snorted and said, "Anyway, no matter what, my 'X-Men' will definitely be better than yours."
The two of them originally had a grudge. Now that they were in the same company, it was naturally impossible for them to attack each other. However, they still couldn't stand each other. Whenever they had the chance, they would be sarcastic and sarcastic.
James said angrily, "Halle, don't go too far with your words. Do you dare to make a bet with the box office of the two movies? "
Halle raised his eyebrows and said, "What's there to be afraid of? How about this? Whoever loses will give their director's salary to the winner. How about that? "
James said, "Then I'll thank Mr. Halle in advance. There's no need to make an agreement. With Mr. Xiao as our notary, I believe some people won't dare to go back on their word. "
Halle snorted disdainfully.
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "There's no need to bet so much. Let's bet with half of your salary, lest one of you needs to borrow money from the company."
Xiao Yunhai was very willing to see this kind of healthy competition. It wasn't a bad thing for a film company.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
