Chapter 600: Marvel's approach

In the reception room of Relativity Entertainment, Robert Lee solemnly introduced Ronan to a bald man: "Ronan, this is the new president of Marvel Comics Copyright Department Arthur Macomb. This time he is coming to Los Angeles to deal with Marvel. For copyright matters, I made a special trip to visit the company today."
Arthur Macomb stepped forward and shook hands with Ronan: "Mr. Anderson, it's a great honor to know you."
Ronan responded with a polite smile: "It's nice to meet you."
This is the professional who Marvel Comics sent to Los Angeles to deal with copyright disputes with Twentieth Century Fox.
After a brief exchange between the two parties, Arthur Macomb said: "I came here today, mainly to bring greetings from Mr. Avi-Allard, and a little bit more."
Ronan was very angry: "Please say, where Relativity Entertainment can help, it will definitely help."
Of course Arthur Macomb is not an idiot. He can hear another meaning behind this, and he will definitely not help if he doesn't want to help.
"Shahai Entertainment Production Company, a subsidiary of Relativity Entertainment, currently holds the film adaptation rights of more than 30 Marvel superhero characters and their related characters and stories." Arthur Macomb said directly: "At the time, Shahai Entertainment It is the copyright of these superhero characters that have been bought out. Marvel Comics has been publishing related comics in recent years. The influence of many characters has been expanding through comics. I think it is necessary to modify the contract between the two parties and appropriately increase Marvel as the creator Copyright revenue, after all, cooperation must be a win-win situation."
Ronan asked Robert Lee to lobby for Marvel Comics in New York, and he was psychologically prepared for this, saying: "At present, Shahai Entertainment has no relevant film adaptation plan. I suggest that we wait for the film project to be determined before we discuss it. ."
Arthur Macomb thought for a while. The film is not adapted, and it is useless to talk about it for the time being. The main focus is on the already popular Marvel movies, and immediately said: "Yes."
Ronan stayed quiet, and Robert Lee sat with him, always smiling.
Yesterday he had a half-day meeting with Robert Iger and Ronan, and a team has already rushed to New York to start the preparatory work.
If all goes well, the future agreement between Shahai Entertainment and Marvel Comics will not be a problem at all.
As for not going well, the possibility is small. Now Marvel is a company that almost has no place to borrow money.
Ronan added: "I will communicate directly with Avi Arad on this matter."
Arthur Macomb also knew that he and Ronan were not talking on an equal footing, and said with a smile: "Okay, Mr. Allard welcomes Mr. Anderson to Marvel at any time."
Ronan made another polite sentence.
After staying for less than half an hour, Arthur Macomb said goodbye and left. Relativity Entertainment is just a small problem. After all, the related copyrights are temporarily not profitable, and the target is those companies that are or will generate revenue.
Ronan told Robert Lee: "Let the team in New York keep an eye on Marvel."
In April, the North American film market was still relatively cold. After "Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse" won the North American box office championship at its premiere weekend, the explosive energy quickly dissipated.
Most of the movies of this type belong to the type of "getting addicted to death" and basically do not have much staying power.
The freshness of rotten tomatoes is 23%; IMDB scores 6.3; ema audience scores an average of
B-
; authoritative media comprehensively evaluates MetaCritic with an average score of 42.
The reputation of "Resident Evil 2: Revelation" can only be said to be quite general.
Therefore, no one was surprised by the film's big box office jump this weekend.
On the second weekend of the show, the box office of "Apocalypse" dropped nearly 70% over the weekend, and it earned 10.8 million US dollars in three days.
For ten days of screening, the North American box office grossed $51.2 million.
"Underworld 2" spent its fifth weekend in North America, and its box office dropped to an extremely low level, earning $2.2 million for three days on the weekend. The previous non-weekend single-day income was as low as about $200,000.
This film is about to go down, and the North American box office has accumulated $82.21 million, which will not increase much.
Another film "The Passion of the Christ" has not been affected by the lawsuit between Aiken Pictures and Embassy Pictures. The box office in North America has never fallen by more than 40%. In the past few weekends, it still maintains $3 million every weekend. With the above proceeds, the North American box office totaled $375.62 million.
Overseas, the box office easily exceeded 200 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office broke the 600 million U.S. dollar mark.
Up to now, "The Passion of the Christ" firmly sits at the top of the 2004 North American and global box office rankings.
For three consecutive months, three consecutive films have succeeded at the box office, and Relativity Entertainment is still developing rapidly at its own pace.
This weekend has just passed, and Jim Pross of Twentieth Century Fox welcomed a special visitor, Arthur Macomb, the president of Marvel Comics Copyright.
"I heard that 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four" is about to start filming?" Arthur Macomb asked directly.
Jim Prolos knows what the other party is coming from, but he doesn't particularly care. After all, Marvel Comics is a company that can die at any time, and all its valuable copyrights are basically sold. He said: "Filming will start next month and will be released next year. Marvel is welcome to attend the premiere at that time."
Arthur Macomb asked again: "Where is the third part of "X-Men"?"
"You mean "Last Stand"?" Jim Prolos replied calmly, "It will be released in 2006."
Arthur Macomb was creating momentum for himself from the beginning: "I want to ask, when will the offline split of "X-Men 2" last year be accounted for."
Jim Pross glanced at him and said faintly: "There are still three months before the payment period stipulated in the contract. Marvel Comics is too impatient?"
The company behind Arthur Macomb lacked confidence, but still gathered momentum: "Mr. Pross, this time I came to Fox. I am entrusted by the Marvel Comics board of directors and all shareholders to revise part of the agreement between us. ."
Jim Pross looked serious: "Please speak."
"There are mainly two aspects." Arthur Macomb said loudly: "First, some of the contract terms of the "X-Men" series are seriously unfair to Marvel Comics. Marvel Comics requires that the payment of all revenue sharing in the film series be revised. The billing period is changed from annual payment to quarterly payment, and it must be paid within one and a half months after the current quarter."
Hearing this, Jim Pross became more serious, and said directly: "Film is different from comics. It takes time to collect income from all channels. Your request is unrealistic, and 20th Century Fox cannot do it. To."
Arthur Macomb recalled the data and information provided by Robert Lee, with a hint of coldness, and said: "As far as I know, the longest billing period for channel dealers in the 20th century is only ten days, and it is extremely large. Part of the billing period is only one week."
This is directly related to the cash flow of Fox in the twentieth century. Of course, Jim Prolos will not let go.
Arthur Macomb did not continue to struggle with "X-Men", but continued with the words just now: "Secondly, the copyright licensing agreement of "Fantastic Four" has been comprehensively revised. For specific content, please refer to "X-Men."
The words just made Jim Prolos look serious, but now Jim Prolos's face is completely cold.
Twentieth Century Fox bought out the copyright of "Fantastic Four" from Marvel Comics at one time. No matter the success or failure of the film adaptation project, it has nothing to do with Marvel Comics and does not involve any subsequent sharing clauses.
For the movies of the "X-Men" series, Marvel Comics has the right to obtain a later share. Although the proportion is not high, the trilogy series also involves tens of millions of dollars.
"Fantastic Four" is also going to be serialized...
Jim Pross said in a cold voice: "This is an unreasonable and illegal request. Marvel comics don't even need the most basic contract spirit and business reputation."
Arthur Macomb replied: "Marvel comics need to survive." His voice was also a bit cold: "Is the way that 20th Century Fox obtained the copyright of "Fantastic Four" really legal? You and the last comic In a private transaction, the Wei management reached a copyright agreement that was impossible for normal people to sign. Many people were able to prove this back then."
The method by which Fox bought the Fantastic Four in the twentieth century was not glorious, but it did not violate the legal terms. Jim Prolos was one of the witnesses and was confident enough: "You can't talk nonsense about this."
Arthur Macomb knew how difficult it was and could only be as strong as possible: "This matter can be resolved through negotiation. If 20th Century Fox does not give any opportunity, Marvel Comics can only seek legal solutions."
How could Jim Prolos compromise in front of a dying company: "The contract between Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel Comics is protected by law."
"Is this kind of unfair agreement normal?" Arthur Macomb raised his voice unconsciously: "Don't say anything else, your film adaptation can attract the attention of many people, and it will succeed in the future. Promotion doesn’t matter? Without the success of Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four would have the current influence ~EbookFREE.me~ would become a superhero second only to Superman, Batman, Spiderman and the Hulk?"
Jim Pross said coldly:
In the hands of Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four is outdated. In the past five years, how many related comics have you sold? There are still sales and influence on the comics launched by Marvel? "
These words directly refer to the greatest pain of Marvel. From the mid-1990s to the present, Marvel has been hovering on the edge of the cliff. It is not easy to survive, where there is still the scenery of the year.
Arthur Macomb took a deep breath: "So, 20th Century Fox is not going to talk to Marvel?"
Jim Prolos has a colder tone: "Twentieth Century Fox has the right to refuse any non-partial request."
Being able to come to Los Angeles, Arthur Macomb made ample preparations, especially Robert Lee of Relativity Entertainment, who also came up with a good idea to push 20th Century Fox to a dead end.
"From the second half of the year, Marvel Comics will republish the Fantastic Four comics." Arthur Macomb said: "In the main comic universe, the Fantastic Four will gradually darken and become a villain with all evil..."