Taking Down Spider-Man

A few days later.

After accepting Zucker's commission, the negotiator Candy immediately made contact with Marvel. After several days of effort, he finally succeeded in initiating the first round of negotiations regarding the Spider-Man copyright.

However, the situation took a turn that exceeded Zucker's expectations.

"What? You're saying Marvel is asking for an exorbitant price?!"

Zucker frowned.

Hearing this, Candy shook his head: "It's not just that; there are other issues as well."

Other issues?

"That's right!"

Attorney Zhang Wei, who was standing to the side, spoke up: "This involves the historical complications of Spider-Man. Currently, MGM and Sony Columbia have also joined the fray to acquire the Spider-Man copyright."

Hiss!

Zucker couldn't help but gasp.

Sony Columbia, one of the big six in Hollywood, and MGM, a camel that is still bigger than a horse even if it is dying, are no small players; they could even be called behemoths!

Compared to them, Wald Pictures is not even in the same weight class.

No, to be precise, it's not even in the same dimension.

The historical issues of Spider-Man?

Initially, in 1985, the script for Spider-Man was sold to Cannon Films.

In 1989, Cannon Films fell into financial trouble and was acquired by the French company Pathé. Meanwhile, the chairman of Cannon Films, Menahem Golan, took the Spider-Man copyright with him to 20th Century Fox.

While at Fox, Golan sold the script for the Spider-Man adaptation to Sony Columbia, preparing for James Cameron to direct it, with Arnold Schwarzenegger slated to play Doctor Octopus.

However.

Just at that moment, Sony Columbia had already been acquired by Sony Pictures, causing the production plan to fall through. Later, MGM acquired some of 20th Century Fox's assets, which included the Spider-Man script, but Sony Columbia insisted that the copyright belonged to them.

Therefore, the current copyright for Spider-Man has become a three-way tug-of-war between Zucker, MGM, and Sony!

"Candy, Attorney Zhang, even if Sony and MGM have joined in, it's just a matter of price. What do we have to worry about?" Zucker gritted his teeth.

Although he said that, Zucker's actions had undoubtedly offended two giant corporations.

Both MGM and Sony Columbia have immense influence in Hollywood and across the globe. If they were to pull a few strings regarding media coverage or theater distribution, they could make things extremely difficult for Zucker's Wald Pictures.

"Hmph!"

"I refuse to believe in this nonsense!"

Even if you are big companies, so what?

I'm not afraid of offending you; after all, this is Spider-Man we're talking about!

A dozen days later.

The copyright issue for Spider-Man was finally settled!

Zucker secured the Spider-Man copyright for 9 million dollars.

That was 2 million dollars more than what Sony paid in history.

Of course, what Zucker secured was not just the copyright for the character of Spider-Man, but also the rights to comic characters related to Spider-Man, such as Venom, Doctor Octopus, Vulture, and Mysterio, which could be adapted into films at will. Marvel would only provide some creative control on this basis to avoid conflicts with the MCU storyline.

However, there was one key point in the contract.

"Regarding the image of Spider-Man in future developments, including comic book plots, Zucker's Wald Pictures holds the final veto power."

Regarding this point, Marvel's shareholders, and even the CEO of Wald Pictures, Victor, were somewhat confused.

Heh, am I supposed to tell you that I'm a transmigrator and I know about the problems that happen later? Zucker thought to himself.

The issue of Spider-Man's image is indeed particularly important!

For example: After the success of Fantastic Four 1, which was filmed by Fox, Marvel once proposed to Fox that they increase Marvel's share of the box office, but they were refused.

However, what did Marvel do?

Fine, if you won't give me more money, then I will blacken them all in the Fantastic Four comics.

Heroes turned into villains!

Evil to the core.

The kind of evil that oozes pus!

Not only that, but they also wrote them all to death!

As a result, Fantastic Four became extremely repulsive to many American audiences, leading to the dismal box office performance of Fantastic Four 2, which caused huge losses. The third and fourth installments, which had already been planned, were aborted.

"I have to say, Marvel is ruthless enough!"

Since Zucker knows this information about the future, he certainly cannot give Marvel the opportunity to take advantage of him.

Zucker Wald was naturally delighted to have secured the rights to Spider-Man.

Even though it cost nine million dollars, once he thought about the future brilliance of Spider-Man, the extra two million dollars spent didn't matter at all.

However.

Now, a problem had arisen!

Zucker's current liquid assets were only a little over three million dollars, and he still owed the bank a large sum of money; where would he find the hundred million dollars needed to film Spider-Man?

It seems I can't afford to be lazy from here on out; I have to find a way to make some money!

That same evening.

While Zucker was eating dinner at home, he unexpectedly received a phone call.

"Is this Zucker Wald?"

The voice coming from the phone was male, and the tone was not very friendly.

"I am. Who are you? Let me tell you, I don't have a wife, and I certainly don't have a son. If you're going to tell me you've kidnapped my son, then go ahead and tear up the ticket. If you're going to tell me I've won a prize, then I must also tell you that in just three months this year, I've already won two refrigerators, three microwaves, three Mercedes-Benzes, five BMWs, and a cash prize of 270 million dollars. Hmm, go ahead, what have I won this time?"

Zucker rattled on incessantly.

Since your tone is unfriendly, don't expect me to have a good tone either.

Watch me brag you to death!

"Mr. Wald, please don't joke around!" the man on the phone said, suppressing his anger.

Hearing this, Zucker curled his lip in disdain: "Then speak."

"Mr. Wald, let me introduce myself. My name is Kenta Dwight, and I work at MGM, serving as the deputy manager of the production department."

"Oh? And then?"

"I know you've secured the rights to Spider-Man. You can sell them to us now. Of course, we at MGM won't let you suffer a loss. How about 9.1 million dollars? You'd be making a 100,000-dollar profit."

Upon hearing his words, Zucker laughed out loud on the spot.

Buddy, that's Spider-Man!

Are you trying to send a beggar packing?

Forget about adding 100,000 dollars; even if you added 10 million dollars, Zucker wouldn't sell!

Just think about it: as long as Spider-Man is successfully released, the profits it will bring to Zucker will be calculated in the billions of dollars!

"Friend, how many dishes did you have tonight to be drinking like this?" Zucker said dismissively.

The man on the other end of the phone was stunned for a moment.

"What do you mean?" the man asked, confused.

"Heh! What I mean is for you to get lost! If you're old, you should go to bed early. I don't have time to waste chatting with you."

After Zucker finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

So what if you're MGM?

Although MGM still claims to be a big company, it only has the shell of one. Look at what good movies they've released since the 90s; aside from one or two films, they've only been relying on 007 to keep them alive.

Just keep being arrogant. Once I have money in the future, you'll be the first ones I acquire, hmph!

<> A few words of thanks.

The book has been uploaded for 8 days now. Without any promotion or publicity, I am already very grateful to everyone for the results achieved so far. The number of favorites is approaching 300. Here, the author would like to thank everyone for their support.