Chapter 487

Seeing Wei Ming, Cheng Long was very surprised and jumped up to hug Wei Ming. It was a meeting of old friends in a foreign land.

He didn't know Wei Ming was in the United States, but he specifically booked the Hyatt Hotel where they had stayed together before. He didn't expect to meet him.

Wei Ming let Little Aunt and the others go upstairs first, and he chatted with Lao Long. Cheng Long's eyes flashed over Miss Li Zhi. She was really a premium product, but it's a pity that a friend's concubine cannot be stolen.

After sitting down and chatting, he learned that Cheng Long was here to sign the contract for *Cannonball Run II*, and then he had to go to Australia to film. His scenes were not many.

"After I finish this movie, Big Master Brother and Yuan Biao and I will go to Spain to film a new movie."

This new movie must be *Wheels on Meals*, which is also quite classic.

He also told Wei Ming a good news: "The box office of *Project A* in Japan finally reached 3 billion yen. It's a pity that it was less than 100 million short compared to *Shaolin Temple*."

This gap made him too uncomfortable. He only hoped that one day he could suppress that young man named Li Lianjie as soon as possible.

3 billion yen is equivalent to more than 10 million US dollars in box office, exceeding 100 million Hong Kong dollars. This result far exceeds the box office of the film in Hong Kong, so now Zou Wenhuai's feelings for Wei Ming are also changing. He very much hopes that he can write another script for Cheng Long that sweeps Japan and South Korea.

However, Wei Ming had no motivation. He was afraid that it would be difficult to exceed *Project A* if he wrote again, unless he attacked Hollywood, but now is not the time.

When Cheng Long asked about Wei Ming's purpose in coming to the United States, Wei Ming smiled: "I am preparing to come to the United States for graduate school."

"Graduate school? Won't you have to get a PhD in the future?"

Wei Ming: "I have this plan."

Cheng Long looked Wei Ming up and down: "Tsk tsk tsk, I thought you had started to be a director and film movies, and you must live in Hong Kong for a long time. I didn't expect you to come directly to the United States. Aren't you afraid that your little girlfriend will be worried?"

"How can a man be tied down by feelings?" Wei Ming said insincere words.

Cheng Long liked to hear this, and gently touched a cup with Wei Ming with tea: "By the way, I saw your little Zhou Diva when I went out to eat with my brothers two days ago."

"Impossible, our Ah Min never goes to those messy places."

Cheng Long: "We don't just go to those kinds of places. This time we met at the Jumbo Kingdom."

"Oh, who is she with? Anita Mui?"

"No, she's much prettier than Ah Mei, very tasteful, just a bit thin." Cheng Long recalled. Being too thin is a minus for him, unlike Zeng Zhiwei who can eat even if he is a skeleton.

"Oh~" Wei Ming responded meaningfully.

After Cheng Long finished checking in, he couldn't stay at all and wanted to go to the Sunset Boulevard bar to mess around. Wei Ming didn't accompany him.

Cheng Long messing around is just drinking foreign wine and blowing foreign cows, while Wei Ming doesn't need to drink and can blow directly.

After Wei Ming went upstairs, he went straight into Melinda's room. She was checking the information of New Line Cinema, focusing on their past performance.

"Although this company has been established for more than ten years, I have never heard of any of the films in the film library, and none of the films have a box office of more than 10 million. The highest is only 5 million. The key is that this cost is too high and it lost money. Valuing this company at 10 million is a bit high."

Wei Ming sat beside her: "When Coca-Cola bought Columbia, it spent twice the market value of Columbia. It was just using money to buy time. You can use it directly after buying it. I have this attitude towards New Line. Although this company is small in scale, it has everything it should have, and small companies that have been operating for more than ten years and still exist have something. Robert Shaye is also an old bird who has been mixing in Hollywood for twenty years. As long as you conquer him, you can save a lot of trouble."

Melinda said: "He probably won't be unmoved by the price you gave. I guess he will call you tomorrow. How long do you expect to recover the investment cost?"

"If it goes well, it can be done in a year." Wei Ming's hand reached into Melinda's arms.

Hollywood movies, not to mention big blockbusters, even medium-sized blockbusters with tens of millions of box office can directly offset their investment.

Melinda's hands also became restless: "How about making *It* into a movie? This novel is very popular in the United States. Find a director with a level, I think the box office should be good."

Wei Ming kissed her: "I think so too..."

Just when the two were about to ignite on the sofa, the phone rang. I don't know if it was Little Aunt or Little Sister.

The result was Robert Shaye.

"Mr. Wei, I agree to cooperate. Shall we meet tomorrow?"

He was quite anxious. Wei Ming: "Okay, come directly to the Hyatt Hotel tomorrow morning. Happy cooperation, Mr. Shaye."

"Happy cooperation."

At this time, Robert Shaye did not have much sincerity, all for money, but Wei Ming would let him understand how happy it is to hug a big thigh.

Wei Ming hung up the phone, and Melinda picked up the receiver again. No one can disturb them next.

An hour later, Wei Ming, who had stopped the flags and drums, said to Melinda: "Later, you register a DreamWorks Pictures in the United States to acquire New Line and invest in New Line's films."

In Hollywood, no matter the size of the company, filming movies will attract investment, trying not to use their own money to reduce risks. Wei Ming has confidence in his vision, so he also earned the money of investors.

Melinda: "Okay, but I am in the UK. Who will manage this company?"

Wei Ming: "One thing doesn't bother two masters. Hong Kong DreamWorks is managed by Miss Li Zhi. Let her be responsible for American DreamWorks too. Anyway, it's just doing accounts."

Melinda put the phone back in place and joked: "Then should we call her over to discuss it now?"

Wei Ming hugged Melinda tightly: "Tomorrow, sleep."

American DreamWorks also has a task, which is to acquire those potential copyrights, such as the works of Tolkien that Wei Ming asked Little Aunt to inquire about. These are no longer potential, but belong to highly regarded masterpieces.

Tolkien is recognized by the public as the father of modern fantasy literature. In the 1950s, his works triggered a reading frenzy worldwide.

His main works are a series of stories that took place in Middle-earth, spanning countless years and ethnic groups, mainly *The Hobbit* in the 1930s, *The Lord of the Rings* trilogy in the 1950s, and the posthumous work *The Silmarillion* published by his son after his death in the 1970s.

What Wei Ming wants most is *The Lord of the Rings* trilogy. It is not only a box office hit, but also has very high derivative value. It is a successful example in Hollywood history.

The next day, Wei Ming held a meeting room at the hotel. This time he also called Wei Hong. This child hadn't played games for more than ten hours, and she wanted to challenge her self-control.

Robert Shaye also called the other partners who had shares in the company. Finally, except for a small shareholder holding 2% who wanted to sell and took away 200,000 US dollars, everyone else continued to hold shares, so DreamWorks directly controlled 72% of New Line's shares.

This acquisition process cannot be done in a day or two, and it also involves the establishment of American DreamWorks.

And Wei Ming also has to review the company's subsequent projects. Unnecessary garbage films should be cut if they should be cut. New Line should go to a new level.

New Line has made breakthrough progress. Wei Lingling is anxious to return to Hong Kong to set up a video game department. She said: "Then we will return to Hong Kong first. You and Melinda continue to watch."

Wei Ming: "Didn't I ask you to help me inquire about Tolkien's copyright?"

Wei Lingling: "Now Robert is here, you can ask him. How can an old Jianghu like him not know?"

Makes sense, so Wei Ming asked his partner Robert directly.

He can be considered to have asked the right person: "I am also a loyal reader of *The Lord of the Rings*. I am not very satisfied with the animations of *The Lord of the Rings* and *The Hobbit* in the past few years, so I have some understanding of this, but our company really does not have the ability to invest."

"Oh? These two films have also been made into animations?"

"Yes, but the level is relatively average," Robert said truthfully, one is the 1977 *The Hobbit*, and the other is the 1978 *The Lord of the Rings*.

However, it is not surprising that these two films were made into animations. With current technology, it is indeed difficult to present the various races and spells of Middle-earth in live-action films.

Next, he continued to talk about the copyright issues of these works.

"First of all, at the end of the 1960s, because Tolkien was short of money, he sold the copyrights of *The Hobbit* and *The Lord of the Rings* to United Artists. This includes film adaptation, stage play, games, peripherals, etc. As everyone knows, United Artists has now been sold to MGM, and MGM belongs to casino tycoon Kirk Kerkorian."

Wei Ming: "How much did it sell for?"

"100,000 pounds and a portion of the box office share of the adapted works," he said, "The copyrights of the remaining works are all in the hands of the Tolkien Estate, managed by Tolkien's son. The box office share also needs to be handed over to this foundation."

Wei Ming nodded. It's just that he doesn't know what this box office share specifically refers to, and he guesses that the copyright ownership cannot be so simple.

Sure enough, Robert continued: "United Artists once tried to film a live-action *The Lord of the Rings*, but canceled the plan because of the huge cost. A few years ago, they sold part of the copyrights of the two novels to famous producer Saul Zaentz. The animation of *The Lord of the Rings* was produced and filmed by him and United Artists. However, he is most famous for producing the Oscar Best Picture *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*."

Little assistant Miss Li Zhi was taking notes on the side and wrote down this key name.

"Saul Zaentz specifically established a company for these copyrights, called Middle-earth Enterprises. If you want to film *The Lord of the Rings*, you have to buy authorization from Saul."

"Authorization?"

"Yes, he doesn't sell, he only authorizes other companies to film, but so far no fool has been fooled," after finishing, Robert Shaye laughed, and as he laughed, he couldn't make a sound, and looked at Wei Ming, "Do you want to film?"

Wei Ming: "I just think about it, but I want to buy this Middle-earth Enterprises directly, once and for all."

Wei Ming remembers that Amazon also filmed a *The Lord of the Rings* TV series in his previous life, but it was a prequel.

Robert doesn't know many inside stories about copyright. After all, he is just an outsider. Perhaps he can only find out after contacting Saul in person.

When sending Robert Shaye away, they also met Cheng Long. Cheng Long was very strange and asked Wei Ming what the background of that foreigner was.