"I really didn't expect that Lance's next plan would be a comic adaptation movie. His brain circuit is indeed something that ordinary people can't see through. You said, if we had successfully cooperated with Lance, wouldn't Superman have been like this this summer?"

"Don't talk about Superman, I think it's not a problem to develop a series comparable to Harry Potter. The company won't have to worry about the next ten years. It wasn't that Lance wanted to have a big one at a time, and the company cooperated with the company. At that time, everyone was overestimating their abilities. So what about now?"

"Last time I heard that 'I am a legend' was originally looking for Lance, but now it seems..." The speaker used his right hand to make a spatula around his neck, and spit out his tongue vividly. The vivid expression made everyone laugh, but before the laughter could make them noise, everyone closed their mouths in unison, looked at the same direction with a stiff face, and then everyone scattered and left in an instant.

Barry Meyer's eyes glanced at the crowd that quickly dispersed, and his calm expression was not affected at all. He seemed to have not heard the discussion just now. He walked into the elevator calmly. The person who was already standing in the elevator was embarrassed to leave. He could only nod and greet Barry with a smile, then looked away, stared at the ceiling, and tried to eliminate his sense of existence.

There was no sound in the elevator. The silent dullness and depression made people almost collapse. After every "ding" sound, someone left the elevator silently. Apart from the flowing air, there was no noise, until only Bari was left in the elevator.

After arriving at the top floor, Barry quickly walked out of the elevator without looking sideways. Even when his assistant greeted him, he didn't respond at all. He walked straight into the office and pulled the tie knot hard. The fingers that were too hard and were not obedient, took a lot of effort to loosen the tie, and then he pulled it hard toward the glass window. The dull "bang" sound was as slight as a bee falling on the petals. This made Barry more and more depressed, and the anger surged in his chest and couldn't vent it.

After a glance, I fell on the newspapers neatly stacked on my desk. The top headline of the Los Angeles Times can see the name of "Lance". The anger swept over again in an instant. I raised my hand and grabbed the top newspapers, spilled them out. Looking at the newspapers flying all over the sky, my mood finally calmed down a little.

This is the headquarters of Warner Bros. Barry knew more or less about the gossip just now, but it was another thing to hear with his own ears. What he was really angry was not because of the idea that the company's employees upheld, but because even they have recognized Chaos Pictures' strong position. Just the news that "Iron Man" and "Invincible Hulk" confirmed the project, it triggered their infinite association, which is a threat that DreamWorks did not bring. Such treatment is almost equivalent to put Chaos Pictures as the seventh player.

Even if he is as cunning as Barry, it is difficult to suppress his inner anger at this time.

However, after venting, Barry quickly calmed down. He needed to vent, but he could not lose his mind because of being angry. He had to calm down again and think about the response plan. As a top company like Warner Bros., challengers are everywhere. In addition to Chaos Pictures, there are five other real competitors. Therefore, Chaos Pictures is indeed a big problem, but not the most important problem.

For Warner Bros., the most important issue is always to be good at doing yourself. The devastating defeat this summer is ultimately due to Warner Bros.'s strategy mistake, but they still have the opportunity to win back the game in the second half of the year, let alone the year after, as long as they maintain sufficient competitiveness, they will still be the most powerful competitors in the North American market.

First there is "Iron Man" and then "Invincible Hulk". It is certain that Lance will not be able to create the DC universe for Warner Bros. In a short period of time, as for the degree to which Marvel Studios and Chaos Pictures' cooperation has reached, it is not very important. What Barry needs to consider now is:

Should the DC Universe be invested immediately, especially after the collapse of "Superman Return"? If the answer is yes, then how should they avoid the mistakes of "Superman Return" and who should they find to take the helm? Of course, there is also a core question. This summer's loss is so great, how should the investment in the first stage of the DC Universe be controlled, three works? Five works?

A series of problems are in front of Barry. Even as the CEO of Warner Bros., he is still a "working person" and cannot do whatever he wants.

The disastrous defeat of "Sea God", "Superman Returns", and "Banshees in the Water" has led to the board of directors complaining and many differences. If Barry's original plan is followed, the board of directors will be persuaded to join and Lance will be the leader, then the board of directors will not be a problem. With the title of Lance's undefeated record, they can easily convince them to give the green light to the DC universe; but now this road is not working, and all the problems are placed in front of Barry, and even himself, he needs to clarify his ideas.

Give up the DC Universe? Temporarily put the DC Universe on the shelf? Wait for the achievements of "Iron Man" and "Invincible Hulk" before making plans?

Barry is indeed a very bold trader. Many of his decisive choices are shocking, but he is not a brave and unscheming reckless man. He charges in the face of uncertainty, and ends up dead without a complete body. Judging from the current situation in 2006, comic adaptations are still not stable, and the risks are too great.

"Spider-Man" is the most successful comic adaptation work at present. The first in 2002 swept 821 million yuan worldwide at a cost of 139 million yuan, truly opening a new door for comic adaptation movies, which shocked everyone; the second in 2004, with a comprehensive upgrade, and a huge investment of 200 million yuan was shocking, but the box office in North America and overseas declined, and the global box office fell to 783 million yuan. Strictly speaking, the decline was not obvious, but this result was a disappointing one.

Firstly, the box office of the sequel movie exceeds the previous work, which is what the film company expects to see. For example, the box office of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" is much higher than the previous work, let alone the sequel series that exploded one after another like the "Monster Shrek" series; secondly, the increase in costs has not brought the box office to an increase, which really makes the film company feel a little uncomfortable. Although "Spider-Man 2" has successfully achieved profitability, its profits are shrinking, which also makes people more worried about the upcoming "Spider-Man 3" next year.

Although the "X-Men 3" released this year's premiere weekend exploded with a box office of 100 million, the subsequent trend was not satisfactory, and the global box office was finally at 459 million, which only increased by 50 million US dollars compared to the second part of the series three years ago. The increase is really disappointing, because the cost of the third part is almost twice the cost of the second part, from 110 million to 210 million. What is shocking is that "X-Men 3" caused 20th Century Fox to lose nearly 50 million.

In other words, the comic adaptation movie seems to be vigorous, but in fact, only the two works "Spider-Man" and "X-Men 2" have met the success standards in the minds of large film companies. Putting aside the competitors, go back to Warner Bros.

In the past five years, Warner Bros. has successively filmed five comic adaptations, including "Catwoman", "Hell Detective", "Superman Return", "Batman Prequel: The Mystery of the Shadow" and "V-character Vendetto", and the result is... the entire army was wiped out. Even the "Mystery of the Shadow" with a huge reputation has lost about 15 million, not to mention the "Catwoman" who fell apart in a vigorous manner. The five works have caused Warner Bros. to lose more than $300 million. What is even more terrifying than the losses is that all five works have failed, and no wins. The "V-character Vendetto" with the least losses relied on videotape rental to control the losses to less than five million, which is undoubtedly a heavy blow to Warner Bros.

If you think carefully, after entering the 21st century, the only things that can be called successful in comic adaptations are "Spider-Man", "X-Men 2", "City of Sin" and "Spider-Man 2" can barely get along.

It can be seen that there is still no successful routine for comic adaptations, and it cannot even be said to have a stable market. Any investment requires certain risks, but there is still too much uncertainty in this type of movie.

Of course, Warner Bros. will not miss the excavation of comic adaptations. "Batman Prequel 2: The Dark Knight" is still in full swing, but the question is, do they need to push further and take risks at this point in time? Do they need to interrupt their own plans because of the abruptness of Chaos Pictures? Lance swore outlined the blueprint of the DC Universe, and now he has started to build the Marvel Universe. Can he really continue his undefeated myth? Should they wait and see for a while?

In fact, after going around, I still returned to the state of last year. Faced with Lance's planning for the DC universe, Barry finally retained his opinion and was unwilling to take too much risk; a year has passed, and the situation has not changed much. The disappointing performance of "X-Men 3" and "Return of Superman" is still not enough to be the decisive winner.

But why is Lance so sure? Is it because he really saw business opportunities, or is it because he really has faith, or is it just because of his paranoidness and arrogance?

"Dingling" The phone ringing interrupted Barry's thoughts. His brows couldn't help but tied up, pressed the inside button, and answered directly, "I'm thinking!" His assistant did not hang up the phone, but said, "Barry, you should answer this call, I think."

Barry paused for a moment and said impatiently, "Who?"

"Robert Iger."u
Chapter completed!