Chapter 1409 Columbia Pictures

"The film and television business? Isn't that Columbia? Sony has reached the point where it wants to sell its core assets?"

Immediately afterwards, Yang Cheng asked himself and answered, "By the way, I have read Sony's related reports before. Kazuo Hirai had the courage to buy Columbia back then, and he made a lot of money over the years. strangeness."

Wang Yitong affirmed, "That's right, Sony Columbia's performance in recent years has been at the bottom of the top six in Hollywood, and losses of varying degrees have made the Tokyo headquarters have doubts about continuing to hold Columbia.

As far as I know, Sony is already in contact with several financial institutions in the United States. The reason why they haven't released the news is because the company still needs to consider the performance of "The Emoji Movie". "

Yang Cheng raised his brows, "That means Sony's headquarters haven't given up yet. Once "The Emoji Movie" performs well, they will give up the idea of ​​selling it?"

Without waiting for Wang Yitong's answer, Yang Cheng directly called Donna Langde, and asked professionals about Hollywood matters.

"Boss?"

"It's me, didn't bother you?"

"No, what happened?"

"Sony Columbia's movies released this year, are there any projects that have exploded or are likely to explode?"

Donna Lande didn't understand why Yang Cheng suddenly became concerned about his competitors, but she still answered truthfully, "Among the films that have been released so far, there is no amazing box office performance, but the big movie "Angry" based on the game "Little Bird" will be released in the middle of this month.

Judging from the feedback from the test screening, the final box office in North America should fall around 150 million U.S. dollars. Globally, it is ideally estimated not to exceed 400 million U.S. dollars. Of course, if there is an accident, it may be higher. "

Yang Cheng knew that the accident was an uncertain factor, and no one could predict the occurrence of the accident. From the normal logic analysis of Donna Lande, the global box office of "Angry Birds" will not be too high, and it can only be said to be profitable.

This kind of game-changing movie, peripherals are the big ones, but Sony Columbia can't eat this big cake, so it won't make any positive changes to the financial report.

After a pause, Donna Round seemed to be rummaging for something, and said, "In the second half of the year, Sony Columbia will also release projects such as "The Expendables", "The Brave Seven", and "Passengers", and the box office has not yet appeared. It’s impossible to estimate, but these projects are neither sequels nor adaptations of popular IPs, and it’s relatively difficult to make a hit at the box office.”

Yang Cheng knew it in his heart, so he said directly, "Recently, you have a dinner with people from Columbia Pictures, and see if they have any intention of selling it."

Donna Round was shocked, "Columbia Pictures is going to sell?"

Yang Cheng didn't dare to say anything dead, "I just heard some rumors by chance, and it won't hurt to try it out. Once the other party is really interested, we have to seize this opportunity.

Once the merger and reorganization of Disney and Fox is completed, it will be a giant with no precedent in Hollywood history. I don’t want to compete with others for the second place. If it can win Columbia Pictures, Disney will not be the only one.

I believe that the capital market is also happy to see the birth of competition. "

Donna Round agreed with Yang Cheng's statement, "I believe that Americans are very willing to see Columbia Pictures return to its homeland, just like Westinghouse Electric."

Yang Cheng smiled and didn't answer. He doesn't have a sense of belonging to the United States, but he can understand the American psychology.

As a classic case of foreign capital acquisition of Hollywood assets, Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures caused quite a stir.

At the end of the 1980s, under the depreciation of the US dollar year after year, RB companies began to frantically merge and acquire in the United States.

As the pride of RB in that era, Sony was naturally the first to set off a frenzy on the west coast, acquiring Columbia Pictures and MGM.

The acquisition of Columbia Pictures alone cost US$5 billion, of which US$3.4 billion was purchased from Coca-Cola for Columbia's equity,

And assumed Columbia's $1.6 billion in incidental debt.

At that time, on the cover of "Newsweek" in the United States, the Statue of Liberty, the registered trademark of Columbia Film Corporation, was replaced by an RB geisha wearing a kimono with a full face, to express the Americans' respect for the symbolic American film and television culture. The spirit of Colombia was acquired by anger.

If there is news that Columbia Pictures may return, I believe that entertainment-oriented Americans will be happy to see such a scene.

As for whether Sony will sell it, in Yang Cheng's view, the answer to this question is already obvious.

Today, Sony suffers from sluggish growth in hardware business performance, lack of innovation, and serious decline in overall strength. After several layoffs, it also cut off the PC business.

On the other hand, although it has not interfered with Columbia's operations, its film business has become more and more tasteless in recent years. It cannot be swallowed or spit out, and it is useless to keep it in hand.

Although Columbia Pictures itself is profitable, it is just a drop in the bucket for Sony's huge system. Looking at the current market, if Columbia Pictures is marked with a price of nearly 10 billion and sold successfully, it will be a big deal for Sony. In other words, it is more conducive to its streamlined business and return to the core.

Therefore, what Yang Cheng needs to do now is to make the final decision for Sony.

So he told Donna Round, "Find a way to snipe Columbia's upcoming movie."

Donna Round's mind turned quickly. This is to add fire to Columbia Pictures. A project that had no hope of becoming a big hit, faced with the pressure of movies released at the same time, the probability of success will decrease again. As long as there are three or two projects that lose money in a row , I don't believe that the Sony headquarters can still hold on!

As for the benefits of the acquisition of Columbia Pictures, it is not enough to say billions of dollars. As one of the oldest major companies in Hollywood, its film library is worth billions of dollars, which once left a mark in film history. The classic films that have been written countless times can still contribute a lot of profits to Columbia Pictures.

In addition, as the biggest trump card in the hands of Columbia Pictures-Spider-Man and the copyrights of related characters are worth billions, and unlike other displaced characters in Marvel, Columbia almost owns the territory of Spider-Man All copyrights of .

Moreover, the status of Spider-Man in the hearts of fans of Marvel comics is not the same as that of Iron Man's second- and third-tier supporting roles. Wei Qiong sold all his sons, so that he would not be reduced to using Iron Man as the protagonist of a turnaround. Fortunately, Marvel still won this desperate gamble!

In fact, Columbia Pictures was able to get Spider-Man after twists and turns. At the earliest time, in order to ease the business difficulties, Marvel had to sell his own son to Cannon Pictures in tears. However, a few years later, Cannon Pictures The management was poor, and it was acquired by the French film company EMI, while the chairman of Cannon Pictures took the copyright of Spider-Man to 20th Century Fox.

Next, Fox sold the rights to adapt the script of Spider-Man to Columbia Pictures, preparing to let James Cameron shoot it, and Arnold Schwarzenegger will play Doctor Octopus.

As a result, MGM later acquired part of the assets of Twentieth Century Fox, including the complete copyright of Spider-Man, but Columbia Pictures insisted that the copyright should belong to them. So in the end, Columbia was able to get the complete copyright of Spider-Man.

As a result, Columbia owns not only the copyright of Spider-Man, but also the copyright of comic characters related to Spider-Man, such as Venom, Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Mysterio, etc., and can make movie adaptations at will. Marvel is only here Basically provide some creative control to avoid clashing with the Avengers storyline.

Of course, after being acquired by Disney, in the face of interests, Marvel and Columbia reached a cooperation agreement, allowing Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the role of the Avengers can also appear in Spider-Man's solo movies, provided that It is with the permission of Marvel. All in all, the two parties have a very pleasant cooperation under the circumstances of common interests.

And once Columbia is in the hands of New Era Pictures, this kind of cooperation will undoubtedly be more in-depth. Because of Yang Cheng's relationship, New Era Pictures and Disney have recently gotten very close.

After hanging up the phone, Yang Cheng said to Wang Yitong, "I will step up my contact with Mitsui Jiro. As long as he lets go, Sony shouldn't have too many problems."

Wang Yitong said worriedly, "Jiro Mitsui obviously hopes to get rid of the burden of JDI. For Sony, Columbia Pictures is just tasteless, not so burdensome, but JDI has already suffered major losses.

Will he agree? "

"So we have to prepare with both hands, find a way to contact Yuji Sato, and I will talk to him face to face."

Wang Yitong was surprised, "Is this necessary?"

There are some things that Wang Yitong doesn't know, and Yang Cheng doesn't want to say much, but said firmly, "Yes, you can contact me, and this is not a test. If Sato Yuji is really determined to prevent this acquisition, he should not Will you agree to meet?

On the contrary, once he agrees to the meeting, it proves that he has a request, as long as there is a request, then everything can be discussed! "

After being told by Yang Cheng, Wang Yitong also understood what to do.

After the two separated, Yang Cheng returned to Amman and enjoyed a top-notch spa treatment all afternoon. In the evening, she appeared in a small izakaya that couldn't be smaller.

Wang Yitong's efficiency was frighteningly high, and Yuji Sato agreed to meet so straightforwardly, which really surprised Yang Cheng.

When Wang Yitong informed him that the meeting was arranged, Yang Cheng even thought that Yuji Sato had been waiting for him to come to the door, otherwise why would he agree so easily? A little restraint can be regarded as a stand-up character!

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