Chapter 1783 A Miracle that Is Difficult to Replicate

What was originally an ordinary lunch changed several times because of a piece of fish. Soon people gathered and met Donna and Adam Ferguson's family for the first time.

Yang Cheng was very polite, and the other party was even more polite, giving each other a bottle of red wine. After all, it would not look good to be a guest without anything.

There had been no guests in the manor for a long time, and White seemed particularly excited. This was his favorite job, bar none.

Lunch was still being cooked, and everyone sat around the fire next to the outdoor swimming pool, with a panoramic view of Los Angeles and the Pacific skyline.

Adam exclaimed, "This house is awesome. I heard it even set a transaction record at that time?"

Yang Cheng smiled and hugged Luo Yue, looking very lazy. He nodded slightly and said, "But that's just a number for external publicity. In fact, it didn't cost that much."

Adam also knows the tricks of real estate agents, "It's also very expensive, I can't afford it~"

Yang Cheng burst out laughing, "I can definitely afford it, but is it necessary~"

"You're right, but I'm really planning to change my house. I wonder if there are any properties for sale near you? How about being a neighbor?"

Yang Cheng looked at White after hearing this, "You have to ask White about this, no one knows better than him."

White immediately answered, "Dear Mr. Ferguson, as far as I know, there is a manor that has just been listed about two minutes' drive down from Jason Manor. The former owner was a real estate tycoon and had to list it because of financial problems. For sale, he bought this house less than 2 years ago. It has been renovated and the facilities and furniture are all new.

Of course, the area is smaller, less than 800 square meters, but the scenery is good, the view is wide enough, surrounded by green trees, and very quiet. "

Adam was quite interested, "What's the price?"

"The listing price seems to be 14 million US dollars. It should be negotiable. If Mr. Ferguson is interested, I can help contact the agent. Of course, you still need to negotiate in person for details."

"Of course, please contact me."

"This is what I should do~"

White went to make a call, and Adam said instead, "I specifically requested a meeting this time because I want to hear your big boss's attitude towards STX and the route we are currently taking."

Yang Cheng knew what he was going to say next,

will determine Adam Ferguson's final choice, so he seemed very cautious and did not rush to talk. He took a sip of wine and said slowly, "Actually, your question is equivalent to asking when Marvel's dominance will be broken, or Will the future still be an era of blockbusters?”

He answered the question from another angle, and the initiative was in his hands.

Seeing Adam nodding in approval, Yang Cheng mused, "Avengers 2, released last year, grossed US$1.4 billion at the global box office, which shocked the industry. Although it was 100 million less than the first film, the production cost It has also increased, but making huge profits is an unchanging fact. It can be expected that Avengers 3, as the final chapter, will definitely trigger a craze again. Of course, because of the gathering of celebrities to make dumplings and the high production costs , will further compress profits.

But we all know that Disney has never only made money at the box office. The real profit is from IP peripherals.

However, this size obviously cannot support Marvel's ambition to win a thousand miles in ten years.

Since the first "Iron Man" in 2008, over the past ten years, Marvel has produced a total of 19 movies with interconnected plots, and a staggering estimated total box office of more than 15 billion US dollars. It has made an amazing transformation from a comic book company on the verge of bankruptcy. It has become a huge IP film and television empire.

More importantly, Marvel's ten years not only subverted the structure of Hollywood, but also changed the rules of the game in Hollywood.

In the past five years, the production of the six major Hollywood film studios has become more and more inclined to be extensions of existing big IPs. Medium-cost original films have almost disappeared. Looking at Hollywood’s film production plans in the next few years, almost 80% of the films are produced by certain companies. As a sequel to an IP universe, the living space of original movies has been compressed to the extreme, but the emergence of STX has given people a bright feeling.

It's like a green plant suddenly popping out among thousands of flowers. Even though it's not big and doesn't have a magnificent shape, it can still catch people's attention at a glance. "

He inadvertently complimented Adam Ferguson a few words, and everyone suddenly smiled. Someone was carrying the sedan chair. Hearing personal praise from a hero like Yang Cheng must be more beautiful than 10,000 praises from ordinary people.

But everyone knows that the next step must be a turning point, "But this situation is not stable, at least in my opinion, it is very dangerous. If you know the ancient history of Country Z, you know that Marvel's current approach can be called the Three Kingdoms period. The iron cables connecting the boats seem to use strong iron chains to connect the large aircraft carriers together to withstand wind and waves, but the disadvantage is that all the boats are kidnapped, and in the event of a disaster, all will be lost.

The salaries of star actors and actresses are getting higher and higher, and the cost of production is getting higher and higher. The entry threshold is invisibly too high. Small companies cannot afford it, and large companies have difficulty doing it. Moreover, audience iteration and aesthetic fatigue are potential crises. It is no different than firewood placed on hay. Without sparks, a gust of wind can set off a huge fire.

In this sense, Marvel's success has led the industry direction of Hollywood for ten years, but as the decade ends, Marvel's future is equivalent to the future of Hollywood.

This is also the reason why STX seems to be surviving well at present, because everyone is waiting and watching. The giants hope to have more choices when the crisis comes, and STX is undoubtedly one of the options. "

Adam Ferguson said in astonishment, "You mean, STX can only passively accept choices and cannot actively change anything?"

Yang Cheng hesitated for a moment and shook his head, "It's difficult!"

After finishing his own wine, he simply picked up Luo Yue's wine glass and took a sip, making her slap him with annoyance.

“The reason Marvel was able to counterattack was because its own resources were the foundation, and they were in a desperate situation, forcing them to fight with their last resort.

Twenty years ago, with the rise of new forms of entertainment such as video games and the Internet, the bubble in the American comics industry burst, and a large number of comic shops went bankrupt and closed. Marvel's sales channels were severely hit. Only five years after its listing, Marvel had to File for bankruptcy reorganization.

In desperate need of funds to recover, Marvel Studios began to sell the movie adaptation rights of its own superheroes at low prices in exchange for funds.

After selling all their brands, Universal bought the Hulk, Sony bought the filming rights to Spider-Man, and Fox selected the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.

All of them are Marvel's first-line heroes. As long as there is one of them left, they will not be where they are today, and they may still be lingering in dire straits.

Everyone knows what happened next. The two series "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" swept the U.S. box office. The Spider-Man series alone earned Sony more than 2 billion at the box office. Whenever Sony Pictures cannot hold on, it will "Spider-Man" came to the rescue, but these two series of movies only brought Marvel less than 100 million in box office share.

This number undoubtedly doesn't change anything, it just delays Marvel's death slightly.

However, when Marvel, which no longer wanted to be married, decided to make its own movies, it discovered that almost all of its most popular superheroes had been sold.

I had no choice but to search through all the heroes before I found Iron Man and prepared to make a desperate move.

When they first started filming the movie, Marvel was at the end of its rope and could only mortgage the copyrights of more than 20 superheroes to banks to get a loan of US$500 million.

Robert Downey Jr., who was also at the bottom of his acting career at the time, had just returned from drug addiction and was in urgent need of a turnaround. In Stan Lee's original conception, Iron Man was a villain hero who was both good and evil. Iron Man's playboy character and story were in harmony with Downey Jr. Ni's yuppie temperament is very consistent with his ups and downs in Hollywood.

The two hit it off and the film became an instant hit.

In the same year, "The Incredible Hulk" was released to a mediocre response, and the Easter egg at the end of the film actually connected the Hulk with Iron Man.

Of course, none of this has escaped the fate of being acquired. Speaking of which, do you feel that this is somewhat similar to the situation in front of you?

At that time, Hollywood was also in a critical period of transformation. The six major giants were in confusion. They didn't know what to do next. Should they continue traditional large-scale productions or transform into 3D productions?

At this time, Disney took the first brave step and acquired Marvel for US$4.2 billion in cash and stock. Marvel has since had the most powerful marketing and derivatives production chain.

Disney has completed a key step in its transformation. With Disney's support, Marvel's marketing expenses have increased several times, the entire industry chain has been completely opened up, and the IP value of superheroes has finally shined.

Starting from "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk", Marvel began to attach importance to the value of IP, gradually recovered the sold IP copyrights, and built the Marvel Cinematic Universe through individual movies one after another.

Each movie has common story elements, plot settings, and characters. Easter eggs are used to pave the way between each movie, and suspense is used to connect the logic of the entire story, continuously extending the vitality of Marvel.

At that time, this kind of collective commercial film operation thinking, which linked all the films of a production company, was unprecedented in Hollywood. Of course, looking at it now, this concept has also achieved unprecedented success.

After the failure of "The Incredible Hulk" and the success of "Iron Man", Marvel no longer uses first-line actors who are difficult to control as leading actors. Instead, they boldly use second-line actors whose image and temperament fit the role in the selection of superheroes. Directors also choose Being a non-famous director not only reduces production costs, but also ensures Marvel's absolute control over the film's style.

Looking at the Marvel movies, except for "Spider-Man" which has relatively more light comedy elements, other movies still show a relatively unified visual style under the direction of different directors.

This is the key. If there is no unified style, the audience will feel confused. It doesn't take much, just one film can prevent a considerable number of audiences from entering the cinema.

Moreover, Marvel has very good control over the production costs of all its films, most of which are around 200 million U.S. dollars, and the global average box office of all its films easily exceeds 800 million U.S. dollars. This kind of profitability makes us envious, but again, The rise of Marvel is indispensable.

At this point, it is difficult for STX to replicate the miracle of Marvel. "

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