Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 536 Blocking Fox

"There's a pornographic film that's been released recently, I wonder if you've heard about it?"

Aaron asked Christina Yeri.

"What kind of movie? You usually wouldn't watch this type of film?"

Aaron smiled. "Lolita, the one that was released in the US last month, starring Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons."

"The investors are Lionsgate, a new Canadian film company, and Samuel Gowin Films."

The copyright library of the Samuel Gowin Film Company had previously been sold to Dawn, but Aaron did not purchase the Samuel Gowin brand and trademarks from Samuel Gowin II;

Therefore, Samuel Gowin II is still running his company.

Of course, Aaron wasn't interested in Samuel Gowin's film company, but rather in this new Canadian film company, Lionsgate!

"As for *Lolita*, I'm more familiar with the 1960s version directed by Stanley Kubrick."

"I haven't seen this year's version yet. Do you think it's good?"

Lolita is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Russian-American author Vladimir Nabokov. It tells the story of Humbert, a middle-aged man who becomes infatuated with his landlord’s underage daughter, Lolita, and moves into the house after scheming to do so, leading to an illicit affair between the two.
Stanley Kubrick's version in the 1960s was a huge success and had a great influence; it was quite amazing in the social context of the time!
Aaron shook his head. "This movie was released across Europe last year; the director is the famous erotic film director Adrian Lane."

"The film received less positive reviews than expected, and it also failed commercially; it was a failure."

Adrian Lane is the director of films such as Flashdance, Nine and a Half Weeks, Fatal Attraction, and Indecent Proposal;
Lolita cost $6200 million to make but was a box office flop. This kind of subject matter is simply unacceptable to American society today!

Christina Yerry blinked, puzzled. "Why are you suddenly interested in this movie?"

Aaron smiled. "The main investor in *Lolita* is a new Canadian film company called Lionsgate."

"Having been established for only two years, this company has already released several B-movies. Their approach is very similar to that of our Twilight Pictures."

Christina Yerry shook her head. "So what? Twilight Studios owns one of the most successful horror franchises right now, the Scream series. How can any other company compare?"

Both Scream films grossed over $100 million at the North American box office, and $160 million and $170 million respectively worldwide.
Among horror films, only Dawn's "The Silence of the Lambs" bi-part series is more impressive.

Aaron thought for a moment, then smiled, "Yes, I was indeed overthinking it!"

Let alone a small Lionsgate, because of Dawn's rise, the other six major Hollywood studios are now all under its thumb. Why would they care about a B-movie studio that focuses on horror and gore? "By the way, City of Angels grossed $7500 million in North America, and in overseas markets, it has already surpassed $1 million!"

This romantic film, starring Nicolas Cage and Sophie Marceau, has clearly achieved considerable success.

“This performance is quite good,” Aaron said, pulling Christiana Yerry to sit on his lap. Although it didn’t gross over 100 million in North America, the results of “City of Angels” were still impressive enough.

As a romance film, City of Angels had a budget of $5000 million;
Although it can't compare to Notting Hill, it's enough. By the time it's taken off the screens, we don't know if City of Angels can break $2 million at the global box office.
"Hmm, I see that the casting for 'Spider-Man' is almost complete at the company, and filming should start soon, right?"

Aaron nodded. "The crew is currently building the set at Universal Studios. Filming will begin next year, with the film released the year after, giving millennial audiences a truly stunning experience."

"Next summer, 1th Century Fox will release Lucasfilm's 'Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,' and it's a bit of a shame that 'Spider-Man' can't compete with it."

Christina Yerry chuckled and kissed Aaron on the cheek. "So you think Spider-Man can beat Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace?"

Aaron touched the woman's thigh, then whispered in Christiana Jerry's ear, "You never know, but have faith."

"This year, Marvel Studios' collaboration with New Line Cinema, *Blade*, also performed quite well, grossing $7000 million in North America and $1.3 million worldwide."

"New Line's attempt at adaptation has clearly been a success!"

Aaron had no regrets or envy regarding the successful adaptation of New Line Cinema. Marvel Studios' involvement in the film's production and Dawn Universal's international distribution rights were enough.

As the parent company of Marvel Studios, Marvel Studios owns most of the copyrights to Spider-Man and X-Men.

Apart from "Fantastic Four," the filming rights are held by Constantin Film in Germany. They previously produced a low-budget "Fantastic Four" film that was never released in order to retain the filming rights.

What left Aaron speechless was that Marvel had signed a 10-year agreement with Constantin Film. According to the contract, Constantin only needed to release Fantastic Four before 2005!

However, Aaron has already contacted Constantin Film in Germany, and Dawn Universal will cooperate with them to develop "Fantastic Four".
After all, the current situation doesn't allow them to mess around anymore. Constantine needs to find a Hollywood film company to cooperate with, and Dawn Universal, as the Hollywood giant, is their first choice.

In any case, Aaron would definitely not allow 20th Century Fox to obtain the copyright from Constantine;

In its previous life, Constantin Film collaborated with 20th Century Fox on two Fantastic Four films. Due to the poor reception of the sequels, Constantin sold the rights to 20th Century Fox.
For Aaron, none of this will ever happen again. 20th Century Fox will no longer have X-Men and Daredevil, and of course, they can't have Fantastic Four either, completely severing 20th Century Fox's connection with Marvel.
If Aaron hadn't been so skeptical of Black superheroes, Blade wouldn't have been developed by New Line Cinema.

In the future, Dawn will certainly license other film companies to develop amazing characters, but will definitely retain more rights and interests!
It's worth noting that Marvel Comics has over 5000 characters, and developing them into movies, television shows, and animations is not something Dawn Comics could accomplish on its own.

(End of this chapter)