Hollywood New Century

With the passage of time, in February 2010, the exchange rate of the euro against the dollar continued to decline, not to mention the acquisition of NBC Universal.

As the sole controller of Nine-headed Bird Capital and Xinghai Entertainment, he not only participated in a large amount of shorting the euro, but was also the mastermind behind the acquisition of NBC Universal.

Every day, Simon has to face the pervasive reporters, at the door of the company, on the way home, etc.

"Boss, do you want to take a trip to the small town of Saint-Tropez in France, I have already seen a large seaside villa, a building on a rock, surrounded by trees, facing the Mediterranean Sea, with an excellent view. Italian-style Mediterranean modern glass decoration style," Kathryn Hills suggested that Simon didn't seem to like the reporters very much, and suggested,

"Moreover, the Polaris has also been transferred from the port of Marseille to the port of St. Tropez, and you can go to St. Tropez at any time to take a yacht for vacation."

Simon shook his head. After spending so long in Marseille, France during the New Year, Saint-Tropez is only more than 100 kilometers away from Marseille, just between Cannes and Marseille.

Recently, Simon has not only been busy paying attention to the acquisition plan of NBC Universal, but also paying attention to the euro shorting of Nine Head Bird Capital, and wasting time facing these reporters.

Simon is a little irritable, and there will definitely be a period of running-in and transition after the successful acquisition of NBC Universal.

"I heard that the Burj Khalifa is now the tallest building in the world?" Simon seemed to have seen this news by accident a few days ago.

Katherine Hills was stunned for a while, is she going to the Middle East to relax? He quickly recalled: "Early last month, the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and the Ruler of Dubai personally unveiled the curtain. In order to show respect for the President of the United Arab Emirates and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, the Burj Khalifa was renamed Burj Khalifa."

The Sheikh of Abu Dhabi is also the President of the United Arab Emirates with Khalifa in his name!

"So it is!" Simon nodded slightly.

"Last year, the Dubai real estate crisis, the emirate of Abu Dhabi specially injected 28 billion US dollars for the emirate of Dubai to deal with it," Kathryn Hills explained again.

"Oh, Dubai seems to be a place that likes high-profile, the Burj Khalifa seems to be more than 820 meters high, tsk tsk," Simon's mouth jumped.

"My Xinghai Building in lower Manhattan seems to be less than 250 meters high!"

"The title of the world's tallest building in the Shanghai World Financial Center has only been lost in two or three years," Simon also lived for a while last year, touched his nose, and continued,

"Let's make arrangements. After three days, fly to Dubai to rest for a few days, and by the way, play the world's tallest building."

Also in Burbank, at the Walt Disney Group headquarters, Chairman Robert Iger was talking with Sean Bailey, Disney's president of production.

"Sean, the board is going to sell Miramax, and now seven or eight companies have expressed interest," Robert Iger said while sitting on the sofa.

“A joint venture between builder Ronald Tuto and private equity firm Clooney Capital and Qatar Investments seems to have the most interest.”

Miramax was acquired by Disney in 1993. At that time, it spent 80 million US dollars. After a decade of rapid development, Miramax was due to the disagreement with the Weinstein brothers and the downturn of independent films. It's no longer a priority for Disney.

Sean Bailey nodded. Since the resignation of Dick Cook, the chairman of Disney Pictures, a new chairman is still being selected. Now Disney Pictures is the CEO of him.

"Didn't the Weinstein brothers think about acquiring Miramax?" Sean Bailey seemed a little uncertain,

"It is estimated that it is the price. Now the Weinstein Films does not have any funds, and it is not easy to find capital support."

"Don't worry about them, the board's valuation of Miramax is around $670 million, and the Weinstein brothers have no ability to raise funds," Robert Iger said.

After all, Miramax's film style is too different from Disney's. Now Disney is considering commercial blockbusters and animated feature films, which is in line with Disneyland's strategy.

Focusing on a series of upstream and downstream products such as resorts, stores, derivatives, etc., independent art films are mainly based on pure film and television income, which is not in line with Disney's future route.

"Hey, Robert, it's a pity that Xinghai Entertainment rejected our acquisition of Marvel. Otherwise, with Pixar and Marvel, we will now have another IP treasure trove." Sean Bailey is also very helpless. On Marvel and a few commercial blockbusters developed by Disney Pictures themselves, there is no need to consider the development of small and medium-sized independent films.

The Disney Pictures Group includes not only Disney Animation, which includes Pixar, but also live-action film labels Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures, as well as Miramax Pictures, which is now for sale. And now both Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures are half-closed labels, and even Miramax's number of movie releases has been greatly reduced.

After Robert Iger came to power, the golden age of independent film was over because of the sluggish DVD market.

The success of Pixar has also made Disney pay more attention to the production of IP, missing Marvel, which has hit Disney too hard.

"I have submitted a proposal to the board of directors to acquire Lucasfilm, George Lucas is almost semi-retired, and Lucasfilm's most important Star Wars series has been suspended for several years, this is Our important piece of the puzzle," Robert Iger is now just hoping to convince George Lucas that Sean Bailey seems to be friends with Lucas.

Sean Bailey smiled bitterly: "George takes his Lucasfilm very seriously, and you should also understand how much meaning the "Star Wars" series IP represents;"

"Not only the price, but also the future planning should convince him. Of course, the most important thing is to gain George's trust, otherwise he will not let Lucasfilm go."

Robert Iger frowned and said with determination: "In any case, as long as George Lucas has the slightest idea of ​​letting go, we Disney must buy Lucasfilm!"

There is really no way. Disney is now supporting Pixar. Since Miramax started to lose money a few years ago in terms of live-action movies, there are not many successful live-action movies developed by Disney Pictures.

Now that Disney Pictures has restarted "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" without IP, watching the success of Marvel's adaptation of the film, Robert Iger's thirst for IP is becoming more and more anxious.