Chapter 301: Pirates of the Caribbean Project Launch
Random House and Hasbro contributed a lot to clearing out those dissatisfied shareholders. Therefore, Liu Hongmin allowed them to acquire MGM's shares, with Random House getting 11% and Hasbro getting 16%. The remaining shares were held by shareholders who chose to surrender.
CEO Andrew once again brought out the filming plan for "Pirates of the Caribbean", which was passed unanimously.
Andrew was very happy. He was the first to propose the Pirates of the Caribbean project, but he did not expect that this plan would lead to a major shareholder change at MGM. What he did not expect was that Liu Hongmin could easily come up with $300 million and even bring in Random House and Hasbro.
However, he was still a little worried. After Sony acquired Columbia, it became a thorn in the side of Hollywood giants. Now that MGM has a new major shareholder, it is likely to face a bloody storm.
However, he now has no way out. Either he follows Liu Hongmin to make MGM bigger and stronger, or he helps Hollywood capital to cheat Liu Hongmin.
As soon as the idea of deceiving Liu Hongmin came into his mind, he drove it out of his mind. After Liu Hongmin expressed his intention to invest in MGM, he specifically investigated Liu Hongmin and learned that he had a large number of industries in the mainland and Hong Kong. The most important thing is that he knew that Liu Hongmin had a security company under his command, and even the Hong Kong gangs did not dare to take action against Liu Hongmin.
Andrew knew too well what kind of people the security companies were like, and he didn't want to die in vain.
Soon, he held a press conference and announced that he had reached a cooperation with Liu Hongmin and that MGM would film "Pirates of the Caribbean". As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused an uproar.
The media reported and speculated on the truth of the news. Soon, someone with inside information broke the news that Liu Hongmin had become a major shareholder of MGM. According to Liu Hongmin's practice in Hong Kong, he gave the film and television adaptation rights of most of his novels to Tomorrow Films. Therefore, it should be true that MGM obtained the film and television adaptation rights of Liu Hongmin's "Pirates of the Caribbean".
However, even if we get the adaptation rights, we still don’t know whether we can complete the filming. After all, even if the film project is approved, the filming may be interrupted.
This kind of thing happens too much in Hollywood, so people are still waiting and watching.
Andrew announced the filming plan and immediately met with director Cameron. Cameron had just finished filming "Terminator 2" and was looking for materials and researching new special effects technology.
Cameron was very interested in filming Pirates of the Caribbean, and after seeing the filming plan brought by Andrew, his interest became even stronger.
The special effects technology at sea is what he is interested in. Since filming "The Abyss", he has been interested in the mysterious sea and even had the idea of filming a documentary about "Titanic".
After Liu Hongmin learned the news, he hoped that Cameron could come to Hong Kong. Cameron also wanted to meet the author of "Pirates of the Caribbean", so he flew to Hong Kong.
The two met at the Clearwater Bay Villa, and Liu Hongmin was very interested in the idea of filming a documentary about the Titanic. He immediately said, "Director Cameron, if you can help us film Pirates of the Caribbean, I will invest in your documentary about the Titanic on behalf of MGM. Even if you want to film a movie about the Titanic, MGM will also invest in you."
Hearing this, Cameron immediately perked up.
"Mr. Liu, are you telling the truth?"
Liu Hongmin nodded. "I admire talented people, especially talented directors. At Tomorrow Film Company, I have launched several series of films centered on directors and actors. If we can reach a cooperation, I will also value you."
Cameron thought for a moment and said, "I am indeed very interested in Pirates of the Caribbean. But it would take too long to shoot three movies at the same time."
Liu Hongmin nodded. Filming a trilogy is not that easy. The Lord of the Rings trilogy took 274 days to film. It is a long and boring process that can easily cause mental problems. Pirates of the Caribbean has to be filmed at sea, and the environment at sea is much worse than on land.
“What if we only filmed The Curse of the Black Pearl?”
Cameron thought about it and said, "That's fine, but I may not be able to shoot the next two sequels."
Liu Hongmin nodded, "Then please help me find a few directors so that I can let them take over the filming of the sequel."
"That's no problem!" Cameron nodded. MGM was going to invest in a documentary about Titanic, so it was only right for him to help train a few directors. After all, MGM still had to make money from the sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean. If he couldn't direct and didn't help train directors, why would MGM invest in you?
Liu Hongmin laughed, "Then we will have a pleasant cooperation. I can guarantee that all the special effects for Pirates of the Caribbean will be done by your special effects company."
Cameron spread his hands in astonishment, "I haven't started a special effects company yet, it's just my own special effects studio."
Liu Hongmin was stunned. "Hasn't the company been established yet?"
"Yes, I do have the idea of setting up a special effects company, but I lack the funds."
"How much is missing?" Liu Hongmin asked.
"At least $100 million." Cameron said, "Mr. Liu, you have also established a special effects company in Hong Kong. You should know that the most important thing for a special effects company is the special effects machines, and special effects machines are very valuable."
Liu Hongmin nodded, "Of course, MGM has invested 100 million US dollars. Cameron, when you go back, immediately pull together the crew of Pirates of the Caribbean and start a special effects company. There are many fantasy elements in Pirates of the Caribbean, so it may require a lot of new special effects, which will take time to solve."
Cameron didn't expect that with just a trip to Hong Kong, he not only solved the funding problem for the "Titanic" documentary, but also found investment for a special effects company.
This Mr. Liu is indeed as wealthy as the rumors say. He invested hundreds of millions of dollars as soon as he said it.
Cameron said happily: "Mr. Liu, I will get everything done as soon as possible and finish filming The Curse of the Black Pearl."
Liu Hongmin nodded. "If you encounter any problems with filming, go find Andrew. If it's a technical problem, go find Feng Kan. He owns a lot of technology companies and can provide you with technical support."
Before Cameron got off the plane, Liu Hongmin had already passed the news of the cooperation to MGM.
Andrew was very happy, and after Cameron got off the plane, he presented the contract for investing in the special effects company. A few days later, Cameron announced at a press conference that he had reached a cooperation with MGM and would become the director of "The Curse of the Black Pearl".
When the news came out, the whole Hollywood was shocked.
(End of this chapter)
