Regarding this three-party, even four-party transaction, it attracted the attention of Hollywood.
The acquisition itself lasted for several years, forming a long tug-of-war, naturally drawing the scrutiny of other Hollywood studios.
Fortunately, George Lucas's own resolve was firm enough, leaving no opportunity for other companies to intervene.
Previously, the difficulty in this acquisition was Warner Bros., because they still held partial shares in Melon Studio, giving them corresponding decision-making power.
Warner Bros. CEO Kelly Ross, operating under a "if I can't have it, neither can you" mindset, pushed the stock price aggressively.
Although George Lucas intended for Gilbert to handle it, even he couldn't refuse such a favorable opportunity. As a result, Lucasfilm's bundled acquisition price kept rising, with the latest offer reaching $4.3 billion.
Faced with Warner's shameless stock manipulation, Ivanka, Cameron Diaz, and Gilbert devised a two-pronged plan.
First, to urge Warner to complete the buyback of Melon Studio's shares as soon as possible; second, to leverage Gilbert's influence to pressure Warner.
Thus, during an exclusive interview with France's national TV film channel, Gilbert revealed that due to a tight schedule, he was considering giving up directing part of the originally planned films.
Naturally, this referred to The Dark Knight Rises, closely tied to Warner.
This "shake the mountain to scare the tiger" tactic worked. The Warner board quickly pressured Kelly Ross, as they did not want the series to switch directors.
Indeed, Kelly Ross may have considered replacing the director, but after the tremendous success of The Dark Knight, changing directors posed extreme risks.
Thus, during the global box office success of Inception, Warner's holding in Melon Studio dropped to single digits.
Except for a few minor shareholders, most of the equity returned to Gilbert's hands.
Naturally, Gilbert's shares in Warner also decreased significantly; although his board seat remained, his influence weakened.
Kelly Ross stopped pushing the stock price, allowing the acquisition to proceed.
Currently, the parties have entered detailed negotiations, and a result is expected within a year or two.
For Disney, this was extremely favorable news.
Over the years, thanks to Robert Iger's shrewd management and Disney's continuous expansion, the company's market value had reached $65.3 billion.
Due to the positive news of the acquisition, Disney's stock price reached a new high, achieving a market value of $67 billion, firmly holding the top spot among Hollywood studios.
However, Robert Iger was not satisfied; his goal was to make Disney the world's number one media and entertainment group, surpassing Sony Entertainment, Comcast, and other major media conglomerates.
At the board meeting, Robert Iger passionately painted a bright future for shareholders:
"We own Pixar, we are about to acquire Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic. We will also acquire Marvel Studios, and take over most of Melon Studio' shares.
We will acquire DreamWorks' high-quality resources. We will become the world's number one film company, a super media conglomerate combining movies, offline entertainment, video games, and series production.
We… will rule the world…"
It must be said, the vision Robert Iger painted strongly impressed Disney's board. Even internal opponents of Iger and Gilbert could not deny how magnificent this picture looked.
However, once these deals were realized, Disney would no longer be related to the Disney family; from then on, it would be called Landrini.
Although the name "Ni" remains, is a "Ni" with a different surname still the same Ni? No one could say for sure.
Disney, ambitious and full of energy, began major moves, while the film market remained active.
As of May 23, the third weekend of the 2010 summer season, Avatar had already earned $748.82 million in North America, continuing its record-breaking performance.
The film was still playing in a limited number of 3D theaters, and before new 3D films appeared, it retained a certain market.
Most shocking was the global box office: by this weekend, Avatar had earned $2.71048 billion worldwide, stunning audiences across the globe.
Amid this, there was also a comically absurd piece of news: the famous herpetologist Steve Augustin traveled to a Pacific island with a tribe of indigenous people to search for a rare snake.
To gain the trust of the locals, Steve Augustin screened Avatar for the tribal residents, of course in a standard outdoor 2D version.
The indigenous people were awestruck, abandoning their traditional totems and instead embracing the Na'vi from Avatar.
Steve Augustin became, in their eyes, a messenger of the gods and received excellent treatment from the tribe, including the attention of two women considered stunningly beautiful by the locals.
This story demonstrated that Avatar had become famous even in the remote Pacific islands, reaching people at the farthest corners of the world.
A 3D film craze swept across the globe. Anyone knowledgeable about film knew that Avatar was, at most, a competent commercial movie.
Its global popularity was due to its mastery of Hollywood special effects and its breathtaking 3D visuals.
James Cameron, as the director, was once again hailed as legendary, and as an investor, Gilbert was praised for his keen eye, standing in sharp contrast to David Ellison.
Both invested in films, but David Ellison produced something like Tron: Legacy, a poor effort, whereas Gilbert invested in films like Avatar.
The comparison was simply one-sided; Gilbert dominated completely.
Discussions about Avatar never ceased. Back in China, Guo Fan spoke about Avatar, or rather the gap between Hollywood and Chinese-language films, while attending the Beijing College Student Film Festival.
Sitting with him was director Lu Chuan, not yet nicknamed Lu Chuan Taro, a highly anticipated mid-generation Chinese filmmaker.
His family background was also strong; if Guo Fan hadn't studied abroad and directed Hollywood films, he wouldn't have been qualified to sit in such a discussion.
Lu Chuan first addressed the gap between Chinese and Hollywood films, noting that it was comprehensive, particularly in the systematic strength of the film industry.
"The world's best special effects companies are in Hollywood, and the best film industry professionals are also in Hollywood."
Lu Chuan held the microphone, his tone passionate: "At the start of the millennium, the Lord of the Rings crew came to China, and many local professionals joined the production, learning a lot.
But in Hollywood, professionals like these number in the hundreds of thousands.
For example, in terms of investment scale, the currently successful Avatar cost between five and six hundred million dollars. Which Chinese film company could afford such an amount?
Even if they could, is there such a market to support a big-budget, high-investment film?"
Lu Chuan, likely frustrated with recent difficulties in raising investment, complained about conservative film companies and unprofessional practitioners, which was understandable.
Having navigated the industry for several years, Guo Fan had some emotional intelligence; he did not refute Lu Chuan's remarks, and Lu Chuan's points were not without merit.
However, Guo Fan had his own view: he believed the key lay in the people.
Not the practitioners, but the creators.
...
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (Completed)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu