The day after Marvel Company's shareholder meeting, Charles received the share sale agreement from the minor shareholders, but what Charles cared about most were Ike Perlmutter's Marvel shares.
As long as Charles held 90% of the shares, he could apply for mandatory privatization and reclaim the remaining shares.
However, Charles also believed Ike Perlmutter would make the right choice within three days.
"Fili, have someone acquire the film and television adaptation rights for author Cecily von Ziegesar's bestselling young adult novel, "gossip girl." Cape Television always needs to develop more TV series, and teen idol dramas are also a good option," Since the topic was brought up with Megan Fox, action had to be taken.
"gossip girl," published in 2002, sold many copies," Phyllis Jones knew that stories of wealthy children's youthful romances captivated these young girls.
Youth romance has always been a niche genre, not particularly favored by film companies in the film and television industry.
"What if the rights are with other producers?"
Charles glanced at her and chuckled, "Then Cape Television will directly support him in developing it. Producers who see value in adapting novels usually know a bit more!"
"Oh, and George R.R. Martin's novel "a song of ice and fire" released its fourth volume this year, right? I also want the film and television adaptation rights for this novel."
Phyllis Jones paused, "Boss, Martin has already rejected many companies!"
The novel "a song of ice and fire" is very popular, with the first volume "A Game of Thrones," the second volume "A Clash of Kings," and the third volume "A Storm of Swords" all published before 2000.
This year, George R.R. Martin published the fourth volume, "A Feast for Crows"!
Now, these large, popular IPs are no longer simple novel copyright transactions, but rather package deals with deep author involvement.
Profits from film, television, and derivative products all require negotiation, and the author will be fully involved in the preparation and process of the novel's adaptation. Most importantly is the film company's budget investment for the novel's development.
"a song of ice and fire" has some shadows of "The Lord of the Rings," and is an American epic fantasy novel.
"It seems convincing George R.R. Martin won't be an easy task!" Charles said, stroking his chin, "Let's try to make contact first. We can report the production budget as high as possible."
However, while there are already many American TV series with a single integrated episode costing over a million dollars for their first season, the vast majority of series definitely won't reach $1 million per integrated episode.
For example, "prison break" currently has a single integrated episode cost of around $1.6 million for its first season, which is definitely a representative of well-produced series!
HBO, Showtime, Starz! These pay-TV channels are willing to invest heavily, have broader content, and rely on subscriptions rather than commercials.
ABC, NBC, CBS, these free-to-air channels primarily rely on advertising; TBS, A&E, FX, USA, these cable channels also have some broader content, and generate revenue through a combination of advertising and subscriptions.
Now, to genuinely talk about a $5 million per episode production budget for "a song of ice and fire," Charles himself would be reluctant. He doesn't even have a TV station, and cooperating with other TV stations feels like it wouldn't be worth it!
Just like DreamWorks collaborated with HBO to develop the epic war American TV series "Band of Brothers," DreamWorks indeed earned a lot, but the profits HBO gained from "Band of Brothers" were beyond DreamWorks' imagination.
"Boss, then should I have Mr. Winster contact Mr. Martin?" Phyllis Jones suggested.
Charles nodded, letting Henry Winster sound him out first. He estimated he would likely have to personally step in later!
"Then, for the movie premiere of "mr. & mrs. smith" tonight at the Mann's Chinese Theatre in Westwood, will the boss be attending?" Phyllis Jones asked again.
Charles shook his head, "Universal has set a $65 million budget plan for distribution and promotion, and with the high popularity and rumors surrounding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, I'm not at all worried about the film's publicity and marketing right now!"
Today is Tuesday. "mr. & mrs. smith" will begin its North America theatrical release on Friday the 10th, with some overseas regions also releasing it simultaneously.
At the same time, on the Disney side, the Weinstein Brothers, founders of Miramax, officially left The Walt Disney Company.
Along with the Weinstein Brothers, Dimension Films and hundreds of millions of dollars in cash also left. Simultaneously, The Weinstein Company, formed by the two brothers, also signed a joint film distribution agreement with MGM.
Not only that, The Walt Disney Company's ceo, Michael Eisner, also resigned early. After discussion by the Board of Directors, Disney's chief operating officer, Robert Iger, took over the ceo position.
The battle over the new generation of high-definition DVD disc formats is also becoming increasingly fierce. On one side, the blu-ray high-definition DVD camp, led by Sony and comprising Panasonic, Samsung, and Philips, is pitted against the HD-DVD camp, led by Toshiba and comprising Microsoft, Intel, and NEC.
In terms of content, the alignment of The Big Six in Hollywood is also extremely important. Sony, holding Columbia Pictures and MGM, also persuaded Disney to support blu-ray high-definition DVD.
The main supporters of the HD-DVD side are Universal and DreamWorks. Toshiba is close to persuading Paramount to also join their camp.
However, although The Big Six expressed support, for high-definition DVD distribution, many companies will still release both formats of high-definition DVDs simultaneously!
DVD sales in North America have been a market of approximately $25 billion annually in recent years, while the North America box office market is less than $10 billion a year!
The home entertainment market, as the largest share of film copyright revenue, cannot be underestimated by any Hollywood film company.
In the battle for the new generation of high-definition DVDs, the alignment of The Big Six is crucial, and exclusive format distribution agreements are a key focus of competition between the two camps.
At the same time, Charles's coercion and inducement of Marvel shareholders also yielded results, with several shareholders, including Ike Perlmutter, agreeing to sell their shares.
In Marvel Company's main conference room, Ike Perlmutter stared at the hundreds of millions of dollars check in his hand for a while before letting out a curse: "F*ck!"
Charles acquired % of Marvel Company's shares in these three days, spending hundreds of millions of dollars. Charles now owns 92% of Marvel Company's shares, allowing for mandatory privatization to reclaim the remaining shares.
"Ike, I'm letting you continue to enjoy the beautiful Atlantic Ocean view from your Miami beach villa, and I'm letting your children enter Ivy League schools! No matter what, you should at least say thank you," Charles's sharp eyes swept across him,
"Instead of a damned f*ck!"
Ike Perlmutter was silent for a few seconds, then, under Charles's gaze, he still said: "Thank you!"
"You're welcome," Charles took a sip of coffee, "Now get out of my company!"
Without the awareness of a loser, Charles felt unhappy.