Chapter 110: Falling Out with the Marvel Board of Directors, Acquiring Marvel Early!

"So, yesterday it was you and Kristen who drove me back?"

"Mm."

"What about her? Is she okay?"

"Mm... she's fine. She went back after dropping you off."

"Alright, I still wanted to thank her."

Xu Can didn't know what expression to make.

Kristen, she actually wants to thank you.

"Why were you drunk? I've never seen you this drunk before."

"Last night, you went to find Taylor, right?"

"No, how could that be." Xu Can flatly denied it.

Without solid proof, he wouldn't confess easily.

"She posted a photo of dinner on Face; my intuition tells me the person across from her was you."

"How is that possible? You're overthinking it."

"Alright, I guess I'm too sensitive. After all, we're just friends of convenience, right? We haven't officially confirmed a relationship."

Seeing Stone pucker her lips and look at him with pleading eyes, Xu Can truly felt heartache.

He and Emma Stone had been together for almost a year now; as the best on-screen couple, as Spider-Man and Gwen...

The two were truly compatible, both physically and mentally.

Whether he loved her was uncertain, but he definitely liked her.

Xu Can didn't explain much; he just silently embraced the fragile woman before him.

Stone tried to struggle, but each attempt was easily deflected by Xu Can's advance.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain; she finally wrapped her arms around Xu Can's waist, rested her chin on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear with a resentful tone.

"Sigh... I have now completely become Gwen Stacy."

Xu Can knew what she wanted to say.

In every universe, Gwen falls in love with Peter Parker.

John Wick brings good news frequently; in one week it broke 230 million dollars!

After the global box office statistics are settled shortly, breaking 300 million dollars is a done deal!

According to the marketing department's professional forecast, John Wick's final global box office is expected to break 400 million dollars!

On the surface, this gap with Spider-Man's 1.1 billion dollars seems too large, but in reality, this is already a resounding victory.

A total win!

Comparing horizontally, Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible 3 had a box office of 398 million;

Die Hard 4, 380 million;

Superman Returns, 391 million;

The Bourne Identity 3, 440 million;

300 Spartans, 450 million...

Which of these films isn't a combination of a big-name director and big-name actors?

The average production cost is all above 120 million dollars!

Even so, these films are considered box office successes, making it into the top 10 box office list of the year, and champagne is opened after their release.

Xu Can, with a cost of 16 million dollars, created a box office myth of 400 million dollars!

No need to wait for the film to end its run; right now, a bunch of Hollywood insiders are jumping out seeking cooperation.

Everyone showed a shocked expression in their interviews.

"To be honest, creating 400 million dollars in box office with a 16 million dollar cost; hearing such news before would definitely be treated as a joke. Now... suddenly I feel old; Hollywood seems to be the world of the young."

Famous director Martin Scorsese, who directed landmark works like The Departed, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, and The Wolf of Wall Street, evaluated Xu Can this way.

"However, John Wick did awaken my blood; I also want to direct a cool enough action film."

According to the analysis by the Los Angeles Times, Xu Can will earn at least 130 million dollars in revenue share from this film!

The facts are not much different; next month, the first revenue share remittance from the theaters is about to arrive.

The amount is 60 million US dollars!

10 million of that will be invested in the company, enough to maintain operations for a very long time. This includes the cost for Star River Music to produce an album for Taylor Swift.

Another 10 million is kept for Xu Can's personal use, and 40 million will be immediately reinvested into the production of Iron Man.

When the subsequent box office dividends arrive, another 30 million investment will be added.

This way, Xu Can can occupy half of the investment in Iron Man!

After that, when Iron Man is released, breaking the 1 billion dollar box office as history dictates,

Xu Can will obtain around 200 million dollars in revenue share!

Investing 70 million and turning it into 200 million in one year; an annualized return of 285% is comparable to robbing money!

Just as Xu Can was happily calculating and preparing to officially launch the Iron Man project, Kevin Feige suddenly called.

"Xu, there's trouble."

"Unless the cast is changed, the board refuses to approve the funding investment."

"No, didn't we agree on this before?"

"No, I only agreed to shoot Iron Man; I did not agree to this casting."

In the office of the Chairman of Marvel Entertainment, Kevin Feige and Xu Can sat on the sofa.

Across from them, Marvel's current chairman and largest shareholder, Ike Perlmutter, sat with his legs crossed, looking thoroughly stubborn.

"You could just spend a little more money. Wouldn't it be great to hire Tom Cruise? I've already spoken with him, and he's agreed to take the role. But no, you had to be cheap and hire some druggie?"

"What? You contacted other people without even talking to me? I'm the project lead."

Kevin Feige was a little angry. As the Executive President of Marvel Studios, he had full authority over implementing the film plans.

In theory, he was on equal footing with Perlmutter!

Perlmutter had actually gone around him and privately discussed casting with others, clearly showing no respect for him or Xu Can.

"I'm the chairman of Marvel! This entire company is mine!"

Once this old man's temper flared up, not even ten oxen could drag him back.

Kevin Feige was also furious and had just prepared to argue, but Xu Can held him back.

Xu Can tried his best to stay calm:

"I already wrote out detailed casting suggestions before. If you want to make Iron Man, Luo Bote Downey Jr. is the only choice."

"Tom Cruise is an A-lister in Hollywood, but he's not Iron Man."

Perlmutter, however, was completely unmoved. He curled his lip and waved his hand dismissively:

"No. I refuse to give work to a drug addict."

"He's already quit. He just got out of rehab." Xu Can still wanted to defend Tang Ni.

"No way. Having him around will absolutely affect the film and the stock price. Look at the current price—just the rumor of casting has already dropped the stock by 10 points! Do you know how much ten percent is worth?"

Perlmutter was so angry he pounded the table.

Based on Marvel's current stock price of $9,

a single piece of news—"Luo Bote Downey Jr. joins Marvel to star in Iron Man"—caused Marvel Entertainment's market value to evaporate by $70 million!

At this point, Xu Can didn't know what to say.

Only he could see the future—how Luo Bote Downey Jr. and Iron Man would turn Marvel around.

The current Perlmutter could only see the tiny patch of land right in front of his eyes.