In April, Xiang Nan began to prepare for the filming of "John Wick 2, 3, and 4". He shot three films at once, which also brought the series to a successful conclusion.
In addition, he also leaked rumors that he wanted to change hands of Universal Pictures.
On the one hand, he also has a movie called "Fast and Furious 8". After filming is completed, he will choose to retire. After retiring, of course he hopes to leave everything alone and be able to be a pastoral man at home.
On the one hand, Ning Jing has no plans to take over, and Ning Jian is still very young, so he doesn't know how long it will take for her to take over. If there is no one to take over, it will be better to change hands as soon as possible.
As soon as this news came out, it immediately caused a strong sensation in the industry, because no one expected that Xiang Nan would change hands around Universal, which really exceeded everyone's expectations.
You must know that Universal Pictures is a chicken that can lay golden eggs. Its Marvel Cinematic Universe, Harry Potter Wizarding Universe and Monster Universe are all well-known IPs, with annual profits of more than 6 billion US dollars, enough to be compared with Coca-Cola.
Such a company is now changing hands, and naturally a lot of people want to get it. However, not everyone can come up with money.
After all, Universal Pictures has a market value of US$220 billion, and Xiang Nan holds more than 50% of the shares, which is more than US$111 billion. Which company can afford so much cash. Therefore, although fat meat is delicious, not everyone has such a good appetite.
What's more, Universal Pictures is what it is today because of Xiang Nan's leadership. Before being acquired by Xiang Nan, Universal Pictures was heavily in debt and suffered annual losses of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Therefore, after Xiang Nan changes hands, Universal Pictures' profits are bound to decline, and it will definitely not be worth US$220 billion by then. Therefore, everyone also hopes to reduce prices.
In this regard, Xiang Nan also promised that although Universal Pictures has changed hands, he will continue to serve as the honorary chairman of Universal Pictures for up to five years, responsible for finalizing the filming of new films by Universal Pictures every year.
This gave those acquirers confidence, and eventually many consortiums sent people to discuss with Xiang Nan. The most positive among them is Apple.
Apple is no longer a company that only knows how to sell hardware devices. In fact, software resources are its most profitable business. For example, iTunes’ annual profit is US$15.8 billion, which is higher than Universal Pictures’ two-year profit. In addition, Apple’s Apple TV also provides video subscription services.
So it needs content, and Universal Pictures has a huge library of nearly 10,000 movies, as well as well-known IPs such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Harry Potter Wizarding Universe, and the Monster Universe.
Therefore, if we win Universal Pictures, we will not only gain access to massive resources so that we will not be strangled by other content providers, but we will also have sufficient self-development capabilities.
By then, Apple will definitely not be weaker than YouTube and Flix in streaming media. This will also become another profit point for Apple, so Apple is very interested in this.
…
Xiang Nan sent someone to talk to them while filming his own movie.
The negotiations went fairly smoothly. After all, one party really wants to sell and the other party really wants to buy. The only difference is the price and payment method.
Although Apple now has a lot of cash, it still hopes to pay in stock and cash. After all, it is indeed a bit difficult to take out more than 100 billion US dollars.
Xiang Nan said yes.
After all, Apple's stock price is still strong. He is also one of Apple's major shareholders. As early as the late 1990s, before Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he had quietly acquired nearly 30% of the stock.
At that time, Apple's market value was only US$6 billion, and 30% of its shares were only US$2 billion. Today, these 30% of stocks have risen to nearly 400 billion US dollars, a huge increase of 200 times.
Subsequently, the two parties reached an agreement that Apple would acquire Xiang Nan's Universal Pictures shares for US$60 billion in cash and US$60 billion in stock.
Xiang Nan's acquisition of Universal Pictures only cost over US$3 billion. Twenty years later, the price has increased more than forty times, which can be considered a good business.
A large-scale acquisition like this cannot be completed within a month or two. In fact, acquisitions often take months or even years, and the accountant's audit alone takes more than a day or two.
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In May, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" was released, telling the story of Star-Lord's murder of his father.
The "Guardians of the Galaxy" series is different from traditional superhero movies. Compared to the bitterness and hatred of other heroes, several heroes in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" are relatively funny, so its style is more funny and more interesting.
In addition, director Gunn personally likes nostalgia, so the "Guardians of the Galaxy" series also has a lot of nostalgic easter eggs.
The first part includes Sony Walkman, as well as classic songs from the 1970s and 1980s; the second part includes "Knight Rider", David Hasselhoff and Microsoft's Zune player.
Therefore, movie fans who like this series of movies cannot put it down. Movie fans who didn't like it scoffed at it, and their views were very divided.
But even so, there are still more people who like it. This is why "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" achieved a box office of US$280 million in North America and US$860 million in global box office, which is quite impressive.
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In June, Universal Pictures released "Jumanji: The Next Level."
The original version of this movie was not a success. It only earned more than 500 million US dollars in global box office, which was nearly half of the previous film, and its reputation also dropped sharply.
Its failure is multifaceted. The first is the complete failure of characterization.
In "Game of the Brave: Battle in the Jungle", the school beauty becomes a fat boy, the nerd becomes a strong person, the strong person becomes a weakling, and the ugly duckling becomes a beautiful woman... Through this transformation, everyone realizes their own shortcomings and strengths. , realizing the growth of the characters.
And this contrast also creates a lot of contradictions and laughter, enriching the audience's viewing pleasure.
But in "Game of the Brave: The Final Battle", although there is a contrast, it is only treated as a punchline. Everyone's character motivations are inexplicable, and the logic of behavior completely collapses, reducing it to a mindless and enjoyable movie that can only look at special effects.
Secondly, the main line is not clear.
In the first part, both the protagonist and the villain compete for the gems, and the main plot is simple and clear. In the second part, although the levels are one after another and the audience is dizzy, the levels and tasks are not closely connected.
For this reason, although the protagonist group encountered many dangers in the process of breaking through the level, the audience was unable to have a sense of crisis, and the movie-watching experience was naturally greatly compromised.
Xiang Nan re-arranged it to address these shortcomings.
In the previous film, Xiang Nan left a foreshadowing in the easter egg. The game console that was smashed by the protagonists is recovering on its own. Therefore, at the beginning of the movie, the protagonists heard the familiar drum sound again and were sucked into the game again.
Secondly, the main story has been reorganized, and the villain is more cruel, vicious, and more like a villain. The villain who doesn't want to think about the original version is just an idiot.
Through these changes, although "Game of the Brave 2" cannot be said to be perfect, it is at least much better than the original version.
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