Made in Hollywood

The silver Rolls-Royce car drove up Fifth Avenue, and the speed inevitably slowed down. Although it was not a rush hour, the crowded Manhattan traffic was still worrying. Sitting in the spacious back seat, Duke watched. Looking at his watch, it was still early, and even if he was stuck here for an hour, he would not be late.

As a Marvel Comics company - in 2009, it was only the Chinese name that was changed. In order not to conflict with the present, it will be called Marvel - the largest shareholder and a member of the board of directors. Senior executives discuss future plans.

Maybe Marvel has been confused in the past few years and can't see the direction of the future road, but the first "X-Men" has soared more than 150 million US dollars at the box office in North America, which is enough to make them sober.

Anyone who can become the top executive of a nationally-renowned company, including those who make bad decisions and cause the company to lose money, is all talented.

The day-to-day task of Manhattan happened, the car came to a complete stop, and Duke simply leaned back and closed his eyes to think about the topic of today's meeting.

As a major shareholder of Marvel, Duke did his homework before flying to New York.

There is no doubt that Marvel has come to an inflection point in history.

Since 1995, the North American comics industry has ushered in a freezing period. Not only the Marvel family, but also DC and Dark Horse Comics have had a hard time, and comic sales have been declining all the way. Even in the lowest year, the American comics Comic sales are less than $300 million!

Since last year, the situation has improved slightly, but the ice age of paper comics is far from over. If the comics industry wants to get out of the slump, it cannot be solved by relying solely on comics.

The pan-entertainment of comics is the way out for comics companies, and DC Comics is far ahead of Marvel in this regard. Superman and Batman are both typical examples of the successful pan-entertainment of comics.

But even if the Superman and Batman movies have been big hits, and the first X-Men got off to a rocky start, comic book movies are far from mainstream.

In order to truly become a part of mainstream films, comic films must go through a long process of investigation, analysis, integration, preparation, and compilation.

Now that X-Men is a big hit, Duke has some advice for Marvel. To speed up this process, but Marvel wants to reach the heights it used to be, and it is not something that can be done in two or three years.

Although his experience is different, he only has the most normal head of a human being, and he cannot check and accept everything like a computer, and as time goes by, even things about Marvel have been ignored. Or is it Ian McLean's Magneto that evokes relevant memories.

Maybe there are really omnipotent super geniuses in this world, but Duke is very clear that he is not one of them. He can make some suggestions based on the recalled memories, but these suggestions need to be implemented by Marvel professionals. Moreover, Marvel has been sinking for many years, and the interior must be reorganized and rectified. This is not something that can be solved by standing there and talking for a while.

The nation worships individual heroism, but even as powerful as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett. There is also a need for an equally capable team as an executive.

In fact, anyone who knows a little about the comics industry can see the problem with Marvel now. It's not something a successful movie can do.

Half an hour later, the silver Rolls-Royce parked in front of 417 Fifth Avenue, and as soon as Duke got out of the car, a Marvel staff member greeted him. Lead him to the elevator to the office floor belonging to Marvel.

Although it was not late, it was not too early. Duke followed the staff directly into the conference room and greeted Marvel's board members and several other executives who were present at the meeting.

Of course, among the people sitting in the conference room, Duke really had only one impression, Stan Lee, who wore a pair of sunglasses and had age spots all over his face.

Even though he admires the other party for creating so many comic heroes, Duke maintains his due attitude. He treats him no different from other people. This is a business activity. Also a little rude.

After just five minutes, it was confirmed that everyone was in attendance, and the Marvel board meeting kicked off. The person presiding over the meeting was Marvel CEO Kevin Feige.

After a few simple topics, the meeting quickly came to comics heroes.

"I believe everyone has seen the charm of our heroes. Those who can succeed on the big screen are not only DC's Superman and Batman, but also our superheroes!"

Sitting at the front of the long conference table, Kevin Feige said powerfully, "Everyone, we must no longer arbitrarily sell the copyrights of our superheroes!"

The CEO, who only took the top job at a critical moment, was not the standard corporate executive with a suit and tie, but he was huge and casually wore a Marvel character-themed hoodie with bulging half-worn jeans and gray sports. Shoes, not at all like the decision maker of a company.

His proposal, without suspense, was supported by everyone, including Duke.

After getting Duke's investment, Marvel's financial pressure has been greatly eased, and now it is natural to not want to stupidly sell the copyrights of other comic book heroes.

It is clear that Kevin Feige has the support of the overwhelming majority of the board, and Duke will also support him as long as the decisions he makes are in Marvel's interest.

With enough support, Kevin Feige has also thrown out a series of reform plans to optimize Marvel's interior and gradually solve the contradictions and problems accumulated over the years.

What impressed Duke the most was that he proposed the concept of Marvel's pan-entertainment, and wanted to push the reorganization of Marvel, especially to set up a special Marvel Studios to produce superhero movies belonging to Marvel.

His plan is indeed very exciting, but Duke knows that this can only be a long-term plan. Just like he thought in the car when he came, the problems facing Marvel now cannot be solved by relying solely on movies. With the state and ability, it is only an extravagant hope to make a successful movie for the time being.

And some people will always be blinded by immediate interests. There are two executive directors who directly suggested that Marvel join the ranks of the film industry to make money as soon as possible.

However, Kevin? Feige and his deputy Avi? Allard are sober enough.

"For the film industry, the entire Marvel is a layman." Kevin Feige's eyes fell on Duke. "There is one of the most successful directors in Hollywood. Why don't we listen to Duke's advice."

All eyes are on Duke, to be in this conference, there will be no real idiots and trash, understand Duke has a say in this respect than all of them combined, and he himself is the biggest in Marvel Shareholders, it is impossible to say some unreliable words.

"Kevin, let someone send the information I brought down."

This is also a long-term meal ticket in the future. Just like understanding the animation industry, Duke came up with a detailed plan based on vague memories and the future development of the film industry.

The two assistants opened the two large, thick document bags that Duke's driver had brought in, wandered around the long conference table, and placed the documents in front of many executives.

Many people couldn't wait to open the document. The two executive directors who were a little anxious, just glanced at it, and frowned unconsciously.

One of them said, "The five-year preparation period is too long, isn't it?"

Others' eyes turned to Duke again, Duke's arms slowly resting on the table, "On the contrary, five years will be enough to meet Marvel's needs, if everything goes the way we expect, otherwise it will be even longer. "

Since the beginning of the meeting, Duke has basically been silent, more like a mascot, but when it comes to his best field, his voice is no weaker than that of Kevin Feige.

"Everyone, continue to turn back the information in your hands." His voice was not high, but it was very loud, "This is not a simple movie plan, but to connect our superheroes to a world with movies. inside!"

"Marvel's internal restructuring takes time, it takes time to establish a brand new Marvel Studios, and it takes time to find partners and distributors!"

He directly pointed out the issue of time, "Marvel is just a newcomer in the film industry. Even with me watching, it still takes time to get familiar with this circle. Everyone, there are never less tricks in the film industry, and Hollywood is no more competitive than any other. The business world is simple.”

"Also, the most important points!" Duke's eyes turned to Stan Lee, "The Marvel universe is extremely chaotic, the relationship between the protagonists is extremely complicated, and the copyrights of many heroes are not entirely in our hands. To maximize the benefits, we must take back all the copyrights of the superheroes I listed in the plan, which also takes time to negotiate!"

Stan Lee has been flipping through the plan. When he saw the last few pages, his hands trembled slightly, and his voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement, "Duke, your plan, your final plan..."

"Yes, that's right!" Duke said seriously, "We put Marvel's popular characters in the same universe, use a movie to connect them together, and then use new comics, cartoons and Episodes complement the fabric of the world. Finally, our superheroes come together to take on the toughest challenge and form - The Avengers!"

"And this is not the end!" Duke continued, "If the plan really goes well, we can go out of the earth and aim at the ultimate Marvel universe!"

Neither his words nor the plan are too complicated. This is just a suggestion. The best person to realize the plan is undoubtedly the one who created the Avengers and knows the Marvel Universe best.

"And among all the movie plans, the most important one is the first one. If the first one fails, the subsequent plans will encounter major setbacks, and we must be careful! Adequate preparation time is the basic condition for success."

The plan that Duke threw aroused great attention from the Marvel management. The board of directors was also extended from one day to three days. The next two days were basically discussing the feasibility of this plan. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:  The weekend is over and I'm busy again. . . . Ask for a monthly ticket~