Chapter 204 199 We Found Taylor Swift

Chapter 200 We found Taylor Swift

When Eric heard the name Kevin Feige, his eyes lit up.

Anyone who knows Marvel knows that the reason why DCEU has flourished over the past decade is that a bunch of superheroes have formed a movie universe together. Kevin Feige is the one who planned and promoted it behind the scenes.

It can be said that until the end of "Avengers 4", which is the third phase of Marvel, the company's operations have been extremely successful. It has made hundreds of billions of dollars in the world for more than a decade, making countless people jealous.

And the biggest contributor to such success is Kevin Feige. He has a comprehensive view of the overall situation and is undoubtedly a successful planner and strategic master.

Then the quantum travel and the death of Thanos, the climax that the audience has been looking forward to for more than a decade finally came to an end. Although some viewers complained that there were too many bugs in the plot of Avengers 4, most of the audience were still satisfied, which can be seen from the box office.

Then the Marvel Universe entered the fourth phase, and the departure of Iron Man and Captain America made the hero team lose its backbone instantly.

In addition, the superhero blockbusters of more than ten years have indeed made the audience aesthetically fatigued. After watching the end game, the fans who have been chasing for more than ten years have realized their wishes.

Just like when a man shoots a puff during sex, his desire will drop sharply, and he will naturally have little interest in the following works.

The new audience group is unwilling to review the old movies from ten years ago. If they don’t watch many plots from the first part, they can’t understand them. Unconsciously, they have raised the threshold for watching movies.

These factors are in line with objective laws and no one can change them.

The TV series launched in the fourth stage include "Wanda and Vision", "Falcon and the Winter Soldier", "Loki", "Black Widow", "Shang-Chi", "Eternals", etc.

Have you found the problem?

The quality of the first few dramas launched was not bad, especially "Wanda and Vision" was well received, but it took a sharp turn later.

The casting of "Shang-Chi" was obviously discriminatory. Liu Simu was deliberately selected and there was a disgusting girl who was uglier than a Korean girl. Tony Leung Chiu-wai also ran to participate in it.

That is to say, he was too famous, so he was not banned, just like when he filmed "Lust, Caution", it was also because of his fame that he was not banned, but the newcomer Tang Wei was unlucky and had no movies for three years.

"Eternals" is even more shit, with LGBT elements shining, and it is so bad that it cannot be worse.

The reason for this situation is actually internal.

Because just as Warner likes to interfere in the planning and filming of DC, Disney also began to interfere in Marvel's internal operations from this stage.

Mickey Mouse appointed a new CEO Bob Chapek to take office. After the old log took over Marvel, he immediately placed a large number of confidants in important positions in the company, the representative figure was Victoria Alonso, and they took away the power in Kevin Feige's hands.

Because Kevin Feige understands both comics and movies, he has always held face-to-face meetings with directors to communicate project blueprints.

But after Bob Chapek came, Kevin Feige was forbidden to communicate directly with directors and screenwriters, but had to have other executives present to negotiate.

If everyone disagrees, then sorry, you can no longer make decisions like before, you must hold meetings and consult and ask for instructions.

If the director, screenwriter and other executives agree, then Kevin Feige will be kicked out and lose his right to make suggestions.

Under Bob Chapek's series of operations, Marvel has become a place where political correctness is rampant, and Kevin Feige has been completely isolated and has become a puppet with no power.

Fortunately, the consequences are also obvious. Except for "Spider-Man 3" which made a wave of money by relying on feelings, other projects are mostly losses.

After being tossed around for a few years, Disney seemed to finally realize its mistakes, so it kicked Bob Chapek out and invited Kevin Feige out of the mountain, hoping that he could clean up the mess.

Then Marvel made a masterpiece like "Loki 2" that was once again enshrined in the gods.

From the development history of Marvel in later generations, it can be seen that Kevin Feige is definitely a talent. Marvel with him and without him are completely two different companies.

At the same time, it also indirectly confirms that if an outsider guides an insider, something will definitely go wrong.

Eric must take this kind of talent into his hands, and let him take over Avi Arad as CEO after two or three years, and he will serve as the chairman of the board.

On the surface, Kevin Feige is in charge of Marvel, and Eric is in charge behind the scenes. The two of them, one bright and one dark, can ensure that Marvel will prosper for decades.

Of course, Kevin Feige does not do well every time, such as the plots of "Captain America 1", "Thor 1", and "Thor 2".

But even if it is not good, it is better than those in the later period, and these bad works need Eric to control.

As for the opening work of DCEU, it is of course the best to be able to shoot "Iron Man", but unfortunately the copyright of Iron Man is still in the hands of New Line.

After New Line successfully launched the "Blade" series, it seems to be more confident in superhero movies. It once released news that it wanted to bring Iron Man to the big screen and invited Tom Cruise to play Tony Stark.

Then MGM can only settle for the second best and shoot "Captain America" ​​first.

Anyway, in terms of character popularity, Captain America is much stronger than Iron Man. The former has always been a first-line hero, while the latter has never been a first-line hero.

It was only after the movie was released that Iron Man's popularity began to rise rapidly, but he still has not become the most popular.

Spider-Man, Wolverine, Doctor Doom, Magneto and others have always been better than him.

At Neverland Ranch, Eric and Michael talked about what happened during this period.

"Maiko, I went to China to promote Transformers a few days ago and talked about you with the officials there."

"They asked me to help send you an invitation. They hope you can go to China to attend a large party and perform on stage."

"Me? You mean Huaxia plans to invite me?" Maikou asked, pointing at his face in surprise.

"Yes, you are the king of pop in the world. You also have a large number of fans in China, probably more than in the entire United States."

"There are a total of 1.3 billion people there. Do you know how big a group of people this is? The United States only has more than 200 million people, which is only one-fifth of China's."

"Eric, wait for me."

Maikou said, stood up and left, and came back after a while holding several photo albums.

"Wow, look at the cover, this photo album seems to be quite old."

"Well, the photos stored in it are all my photos from the 1980s, at least more than ten years ago."

As he spoke, he opened one of the books and flipped through it but couldn't find what he was looking for. Then he picked up another book and opened one of the pages. He pointed at it with a smile and said, "Look at this, guess where this place is?"

The photo shows a young Maikou. At that time, his skin was still completely black. He looked to be in his twenties, with a handsome face and a feminine touch.

Next to him was a Chinese old lady, looking kindly at the camera.

Eric could tell at a glance that he was definitely from China. The feeling was completely different from Southeast Asia and Bangzi.

"Hahahaha, you can't guess it. Let me tell you, the place in the photo is China."

"That was in 1987. I went to Xiangjiang for vacation, and then went to a city in GD Province, or it would be more appropriate to call it a village."

"I can't remember the specific name of the place, but look at the scenery in these photos. It's really beautiful there. It's a beauty unique to nature, mysterious and peaceful."

Then he pointed to a photo on the lake and said: "Look at this, I am sitting on a boat wearing a straw hat, surrounded by water. The color of the water is very clear."

"That old lady, she invited me to her house for tea and gave me a few potatoes to eat."

"This memory suddenly came to me. It's so wonderful to think about it now. I love that country."

Eric looked at the photo album for a long time.

Fate, wonderful!

"Maiko, would you like to attend the party? It will probably delay you for two or three days."

"Which year exactly is it?"

"It's the evening of January 22nd, but you have to fly there in advance. The party may require a rehearsal, and you also need to familiarize yourself with the stage in advance."

"Eric, are there many people watching this show?"

Eric nodded solemnly: "The Spring Festival Gala is the highest-profile gala in China. It is only held once a year and will be watched by hundreds of millions of people at the same time. You can think of it as the Chinese version of the Super Bowl."

It is said that Americans don’t understand the Spring Festival Gala, but no American understands the Super Bowl. Football is actually the number one sport in the United States. Baseball, basketball, and football combined are not enough to play.

Sure enough, when he heard the word "hundreds of millions of people", Maikou, who was used to big winds and waves, was also surprised.

"Oh my God! It seems that I really have no reason not to participate in the party watched by hundreds of millions of people. What do you need me to perform? Sing or dance?"

Eric shrugged: "You decide the show yourself, just think of it as a warm-up for next year's national tour."

"Hahahaha, you're right. I've been doing recovery training recently, so let's take this show as a touchstone to get back on stage."

"It has always been my dream to let more people see me and get to know me. Thinking about the scale of hundreds of millions of people is exciting."

"If you agree, I will give you an answer. You sign the contract as soon as possible. However, I predict that the remuneration will not be too high. I hope you don't mind."

Maikou waved his hand: "Remuneration is not an issue, Eric. We are all people who don't value money. It is enough for hundreds of millions of people to see me at the same time."

It went smoothly beyond expectations. I didn't expect that Maikou agreed so easily. Eric had planned to persuade him.

After all, limited by economic conditions and copyright restrictions, people over there were watching and listening to pirated copies, and in fact, they did not contribute much economic benefit to Mykou.

There is no compensation for inviting celebrities to the Spring Festival Gala. You can just provide them with lunch boxes. Even if foreign celebrities are compensated, it was not high in 2003.

It is said that when Celine Dion sang in the Spring Festival Gala, she only received a friendly price of 2 million yuan.

Now, 200,000 RMB is pretty good. At the same time, Maikou will definitely bring its own clothing and team, which is actually equivalent to a discount.

Eric knew what Chen Ou had in mind when he came to find him, but he was just aware of his relationship with Maikou, so he wanted to use his face.

Now that McQueen has given itself face, MGM has been helping China expand overseas markets. After paying so much, I don’t believe they are still stuck in the approval process for American dramas.

If he is really so unkind, don't blame Eric for turning against him when the time comes.

Of course, there is still some selfishness. Let MyKou bring a little shock to domestic entertainment. It is best to severely crack down on the Korean wave and the idol style, improve the public's aesthetic level, and improve the ratings of American dramas after they enter China. It will also be helpful.

Picked up the phone on the spot and called Chen Ou.

"Hello Director Chen, is it convenient for me to speak?"

"It's convenient, just tell me Mr. Cooper."

"As for the thing you asked me to do, Maikou has already agreed that he will attend this year's Spring Festival Gala."

"Really? Thanks, thank you so much Eric."

Chen Ou's somewhat excited voice came from the other side. Being able to invite the world's three tenors does not mean that the world's king of pop can be invited.

The former is a bit too elegant, and being too elegant means that the music is too highbrow and unpopular. Ordinary people cannot understand it, and the spread is not wide enough, so in terms of popularity and value, it is actually far inferior to Michael.

"You're welcome. I've said that friends are supposed to help each other."

"Hahahaha, you're right, you're right. Friends are supposed to help each other. It makes so much sense."

"Take some time to send someone over to sign the contract and discuss the details of the stage. After all, time is running out."

"Well, I'll send someone to the United States right away, Eric. I didn't expect you to get things done so quickly. To be honest, I was just trying it out that day."

Eric smiled and said, "Director Chen, I also hope that you can give me a reply quickly."

"Don't worry, I'll do my best, no, I'll do my best!"

After hanging up the phone, Eric looked at Mike: "Huaxia will send someone over soon. You two can discuss the specifics. I won't care."

"What! That won't work! We'll go together then. As a middleman, you can't shirk your responsibility."

Eric laughed and said, "No problem. It's not bad to watch the Spring Festival Gala live."

After talking about this, the two talked about the management of Meiyi Records, especially the fact that the Voice of America should start recording, otherwise it will not be able to compete with American Idol next year.

"By the way, Michael, when will the recording of The Voice of America begin?"

"Soon, it will officially start before the end of the month. The contestants we found this time are all good seedlings with good skills."

"I listened to their song demos, and several of them are very outstanding. I think they are worth cultivating."

"Hehe, they are really strong to get your recognition. Do you have detailed information? Resumes and so on."

Soon, Michael brought a thick file, which was all the contestants' personal information, including name, home address, singing style, etc. There were dozens of them.

Yes, although the other three mentors did not know the contestants' information, Michael, as one of the producers, would be incompetent if he did not know.

But what we heard were all demos, which were very different from the live performance, so it would not affect the live recording effect.

Besides, even if it would affect a little, there is still acting skills, which can make up for it.

Opening the first page, there is a teenage boy named Cavallon Sinai, Eric has no impression of him.

The second page is another teenage boy, but he still doesn't know him.

I turned to the tenth page, and suddenly a young girl appeared in front of me. She looked only 13 or 14 years old.

The name column clearly read: Taylor Alison Swift.