章節 314: Chapter 314
This time, The Wall Street Journal hosted a party that seemed to attract many senior executives from News Corp., including those from Fox TV and 20th Century Fox.
Jeffrey Godsick, the President of Production at 20th Century Fox, was also a part of Hollywood's film industry like Charles Capet. As such, they had more to talk about compared to people from the newspapers and media.
"Marvel Studios really surprised everyone with Iron Man, with over $300 million domestically and over $550 million worldwide!" Jeffrey Godsick was taken aback. None of the X-Men trilogy movies had achieved such high box office numbers.
"It's okay, but it's a bit late. Sony's Spider-Man trilogy, as well as your 20th Century Fox's X-Men series and two Fantastic Four movies, are already well established. Capet Pictures is merely catching up," Charles said, having come to terms with the fact that various companies were already developing Marvel Comics characters. He knew Marvel Studios wouldn't offer any great advice.
Now, it was Marvel Entertainment that dealt with the movie companies externally owning Marvel characters. Their primary goal was to leverage the films to promote Marvel Entertainment's comics, toys, and merchandise.
"Too bad we originally invited Zack Snyder to direct X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but he preferred to direct R-rated movies and chose Warner Bros.' DC comic adaptation Watchmen!" Jeffrey Godsick had a deep impression of Zack Snyder, the director who helmed 300.
"Watchmen!" Charles did remember that movie. It seemed to have earned critical acclaim but lost at the box office.
"Was Bryan Singer's refusal to direct because he was set to direct the World War II movie Valkyrie for MGM and United Artists with Tom Cruise?" Charles asked.
Jeffrey Godsick nodded. Yes, that was the reason. Bryan Singer, who directed the first two X-Men films, went on to direct Superman Returns for Warner Bros. Otherwise, last year's X-Men: The Last Stand would not have had a different director.
"Next year, Warner Bros. and DC Comics are release The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan. Is Marvel Studios confident about Thor?" Jeffrey Godsick smiled as he looked at Charles.
Charles shook his head, saying, "Unless there's another Spider-Man sequel, I doubt it. Nolan's first Batman Begins already had high praise, and The Dark Knight has fans even more eager."
Even as confident as Charles was, he wouldn't dare claim that Thor could compete with Batman. They were simply not in the same league.
"Has Disney offered to buy Capet Group again?" Jeffrey Godsick suddenly changed the topic.
"Haha, the news travels fast, but I don't have time to entertain such offers. Capet Entertainment is priceless to me," Charles remained calm about other companies wanting to acquire his.
Not to mention that Disney had been considering it for the past two years. Even 20th Century Fox showed interest, and Rupert Murdoch had twice expressed a desire to buy it. Paramount did the same earlier.
"Haha, worthy of a toast," Jeffrey Godsick said, clinking his glass with Charles'.
Charles took a sip of his drink. What's worth toasting here?
However, News Corp's geographical business range spanned Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. Their core business included films, TV productions and distribution, radio, satellite TV, cable TV broadcasts, newspapers, magazines, book publishing, digital broadcasting, and encryption and subscription management system development.
For Charles, News Corp was indeed a giant. As the world's most vertically integrated company, News Corp produced movies and TV programs in Hollywood through the 20th Century Fox Entertainment Group and distributed them globally.
They had Fox TV in America, STAR TV in Asia, and Sky TV in the UK. News Corp's information network was genuinely globalized.
America, as the largest consumer market, contributed 75% of News Corp's revenue. Its influence there was the most significant.
After finishing his chat with Jeffrey Godsick, Charles met Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News TV, to have another round of conversation.
After all, the unspoken rules within Fox TV were shocking. Roger Ailes treated the female anchors as his personal mistresses.
Charles was also quite interested in this nearly 70-year-old bald, fat man. After taking a sip of red wine, Charles began, "Roger, do you think next year we'll either have a female president or a black president?"
"Really? John McCain from the Republican Party isn't without a chance," Roger Ailes, of course, understood that Charles was referring to the two leading Democratic candidates, Hillary and Obama.
"Do you believe America needs a woman or a black person as president? Aren't you worried about losing everything with such strong support?" Roger Ailes commented lightly, knowing that Charles Capet's support for Obama wasn't a secret.
Charles looked at Roger Ailes and responded undaunted, "People like us, do we really care who the president is? Even if you put a pig in the White House, with our system, it'd still be the world's only superpower."
"True, everyone cares about interests!" Roger Ailes hesitated, but quickly understood and laughed, initially thinking Charles was young and supportive of the Democrats since he was from Hollywood.
"So that's how it is. You really are a businessman," Roger Ailes said, patting Charles on the shoulder.
"No matter what, we'll definitely have opportunities to collaborate, right?"
Interest exchanges require support from those in power. As long as profits are involved, capitalists don't care about who's in power.
Currently, Charles was supporting Democrats but could switch to support Republicans, just like most capitalists who bet on both sides.
Charles nodded with a smile, saying, "Of course. Mr. Ailes, your connections in Congress are indeed enviable."
"Charles, in the future, you must take some time to play golf with us old folks!"
Roger Ailes finished, sharing a knowing smile with Charles.
*****
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