Chapter 98: Acquisition of Marvel in Progress

Only Kevin knew how versatile Jim Carrey was. Therefore, having Jim Carrey showcase his astonishing acting skills in front of them was the best way to resolve the issue.

Under Kevin's direction, Jim Carrey began to portray the character of the Joker.

...

Moments later, applause filled the room.

Kevin also looked at Jim Carrey's performance with an appreciative gaze.

If Heath Ledger was a genius, then Jim Carrey was simply divine.

While Heath Ledger took a month to study his role, Jim Carrey had fully immersed himself in the character within just a few days.

The producer couldn't help but applaud and ask, "How were you able to portray the Joker so well?"

"I feel like you are America's Joker, no, no, don't get me wrong, I mean the Joker in the movies."

"Please forgive me for my confused words because I really love your portrayal of the Joker."

Jim Carrey smiled gently, his smile carrying a hint of sadness, as he explained, "It's been twelve years since I started playing comedy."

"I was like the clown in a circus, using funny expressions and movements to make people laugh."

"But gradually, I realized that I wasn't happy myself, despite bringing happiness to others."

"I knew I needed a breakthrough, to find an important non-comedic role."

"The Joker became my choice, I am the Joker!"

The producer applauded once again, nodding his head, while also looking at Kevin.

It seemed like he was asking Kevin with his gaze if he was satisfied with Jim Carrey's performance.

Kevin also applauded and had a smile on his face that revealed he had everything under control. He said, "Congratulations, Mr. Jim Carrey, the role of the Joker is yours."

With those words, the framework of the Batman film crew was basically established.

However, the shooting wouldn't begin immediately.

Unlike Pirates of the Caribbean, the Batman series had its comic book source material, which meant there were many important characters that needed certain modifications.

This could involve gaining or losing weight, building muscle, and other transformations based on the comic book depictions.

Additionally, there were road closures to deal with, applications to various departments, and the donation of public funds.

All these tasks combined delayed the start of The Dark Knight production.

After the interviews concluded and the specific contracts were signed, Kevin made individual demands for each important actor according to his requirements.

Everything was in full swing with preparations.

Amidst the busy schedule, Kevin received information from his undercover agent and arrived at Marvel Entertainment.

…..

As a billionaire, Ronald Perlman looked at Marvel's current financial report and had to admit that he had been overly arrogant when acquiring Marvel.

Since acquiring Marvel a few years ago, he had been continuously using mergers and acquisitions to expand the company's scale.

However, this also meant that the annual expenses had greatly increased.

Yet, Marvel's profits were far from being as beautiful as he had imagined.

Now, it had reached a point where he needed to allocate funds from his own resources to fill the gap.

However, as a mature businessman, his approach to facing difficulties was not to deplete funds to solve the problem. That would only dig him deeper into trouble.

Therefore, his solution was to sell the film rights of popular Marvel comic characters, including but not limited to the rights for future adaptations, merchandising, and other related rights.

The X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises were his primary targets.

The millions of dollars earned from these sales successfully supported Marvel for over a year.

But now, financial difficulties arose once again.

Selling the rights again seemed to be the best option.

What made Ronald Perlman hesitate was the concern that if he sold too many of Marvel's iconic characters, it would render Marvel itself worthless in the end.

Ultimately, he would be losing the money he had invested.

If he were to take action now, his initial investment of $90 million, plus subsequent funds, amounted to around $200 million.

Considering Marvel's current value, selling for $300 million wouldn't be a major problem.

In other words, with a cost of $200 million and his network resources, he could earn a 50% profit within four to five years.

For a billionaire like him, this wasn't considered a significant gain.

However, the biggest question remained: Who would be the successor?

During these years of development, Marvel had its glorious and peak periods. At that time, it was even more glorious than DC and came close to acquiring classic IPs such as Batman and Superman. However, due to antitrust reasons, Marvel's attempt to make DC disappear by acquiring its classic IPs failed. As a result, DC fell into the hands of Warner Bros. and regained its glory, while Marvel gradually declined due to the wave of the times.

With the advent of the internet era, Ronald Perlman felt the impact of this wave even more strongly. People were no longer interested in reading comics, and the sales of both Marvel and DC, as well as other comic companies, were declining rapidly. Unlike DC, which had Warner Bros. as its backing, Marvel's IP influence was far inferior to DC's, and so far, no film company had been willing to spend a large sum of money to purchase Marvel. At most, they would target a specific Marvel IP.

But Ronald Perlman knew that once he sold off the valuable IPs, no one would be interested in the less popular ones that remained. Therefore, his requirement was to sell the IPs as a package deal, a condition that no film company was willing to accept. The problem was stuck at this point.

Ronald Perlman had also tried to adapt Marvel's well-known IPs into TV shows and movies, but they all ended up losing money. In the end, he was a complete outsider when it came to the film industry.

Now, he just wanted to quickly find someone to take Marvel off his hands and get rid of this big burden. It was at this moment that one of his employees voluntarily reported the news that Steve Kevin was very interested in Marvel. This made him ponder.

The name Steve Kevin was well-known and reverberated throughout the industry. Even as a pure businessman, Ronald Perlman had gathered information about this person from various angles. In today's Hollywood, he was a famous director who, although lacking in awards and accolades, was no less competent in commercial films than those long-established directors. He was also a major shareholder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), one of the eight major film companies in Hollywood, and held a high position in the industry.

Why did he come to find me?

Ronald Perlman had completely forgotten about Kevin's previous visit two years ago. At this moment, he was alone in his office, contemplating.