Chapter 26
Kevin Feige, one of the founders of the future Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a key figure in
the rise of Marvel.
Compared with the situation after 2012, when Hollywood was gradually dominated by
Marvel,
Marvel in 2006 was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Since 1996, Marvel has owed $700 million in debt due to poor management. The family has
been destitute and has sold its sons and daughters.
Almost all the hero IPs in hand have been sold. X-Men was sold to Fox, Iron Man was sold to
New Line, and Spider-Man and Thor were sold to Sony.
Ike Perlmutter, the chairman of Marvel at the time, also stubbornly believed that investing
in superhero movies was too risky, and even cut Stan Lee's salary in half.
There was already a proposal for the Avengers within the company, but it was vetoed by
Chairman Ike.
Kevin Feige is just Avi Arad's assistant.
This year Avi Arad established a company as a producer, and Kevin Feige has just taken
over as president of Marvel Studios, responsible for the promotion of Marvel movies.
Marvel has too much to take care of itself, and Kevin Feige, the president, is currently in an
awkward position.
His purpose on the"Spider-Man" crew was to try his best to persuade the director and
screenwriter not to ruin Spider-Man's character.
In other respects, Kevin Feige has no say at all.
When filming"Spider-Man", he and Harsh Rai also had some creative talks, but the two were
not very familiar with each other, and Kevin Feige didn't even have Harsh Rai's contact
information.
This time, Harsh Rai took the initiative to come to the door and set foot in Marvel Studios
for the first time.
"May! Now that you are here, I plan to visit you at home!"
Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel, was very enthusiastic and came to the door to greet
him personally.
"I just had dinner with Mr. Stringer, and I'm close enough to come over and have a chat with
you."
Harsh Rai exchanged greetings while scanning the Marvel Studios office.
They are really in a bad situation now. The office environment looks a bit old. The desks,
chairs and supplies are all old items that have been used for many years.
It highlights the aura of the company that is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The office of Harsh Rai's newly founded"Galaxy Pictures" is much more decent than that of
Marvel Studios.
Kevin Feige looked a little embarrassed when he saw this
"We can only work here for the time being, as the rent elsewhere is too expensive... But with
the success of"Spider-Man" and its sequel, we can slightly improve the environment. Come
with me, let's go to the office and talk."
When Harsh Rai came to President Kevin Feige's office, he was not polite and sat on the sofa
naturally.
"About the Spider-Man sequel..."Kevin Feige was about to speak, but was interrupted by
Harsh Rai
"Wait, Kevin. We can talk about Spider-Man later, I'm here to talk about something else this
time"
"Um? Harsh, what do you think?"
Kevin Feige looked confused.
"Are you ready to take out a loan and shoot a superhero movie yourself?"Harsh Rai looked
at each other with a smile.
"Yes, Harsh, you are very well informed. We recently had this idea..."
Kevin Feige was quite surprised.
Since the 2002 version of"Spider-Man" did not exist,"Spider-Man" only became popular at
the end of 2006.
In desperate situation, Marvel has seen a glimmer of hope. Kevin Feige is preparing to take
out a loan these days to take advantage of the popularity of Spider-Man to create a
superhero movie.
Harsh Rai found out the news so quickly! Even the media doesn't know!
Next, Kevin Feige was even more shocked!
"Let me guess, what you want to shoot is...Iron Man? iron Man?"
"Holy shit! Harsh, is this your Eastern witchcraft?"
Kevin Feige is shocked!
Due to the changes in the world line,"Iron Man", which was supposed to be released in
2008, has not even been approved yet! The popular IPs are all in the hands of others and
have not been returned for the time being.
Kevin Feige even today I just figured it out in the morning and planned to salvage Iron Man
from the third-tier IP and shoot it myself.
Does Harsh Rai know all this?
The Indian young man in front of him suddenly seemed inscrutable!
"As a Marvel fan, I like the characters very much, so I participated in
Spider-Man, and I am interested in participating and jointly developing other IPs...."
"I know you want to create more than just a standalone movie. So many superheroes can
form a big network"
"For example, The Avengers... uses many superhero movies to create a Marvel Cinematic
Universe!"
Harsh Rai's words hit Kevin Feige's heart hard.
Finally, someone understood what he was thinking!
...
After being respectfully sent out of the Marvel Studios gate by Kevin Feige, Harsh Rai
secretly shook his fist and left with satisfaction.
The two chatted a lot about the MCU. By the end of the conversation, Kevin Feige simply
regarded Harsh Rai as his guest and wanted to start developing the MCU project with him
immediately.
In the end, the two parties reached an agreement, and Harsh Rai participated in the
development of Marvel movies as the chief consultant of the MCU.
And Harsh Rai will invest the box office of his next movie to film"Iron Man" together!
Originally, Kevin Feige planned to borrow 500 million from the bank with the mentality that
he would rather die than a jade, and all his wealth would be used to play Iron Man.
Now that Harsh Rai has joined, Kevin Feige is finally relieved.
He knew that this wave was stable!
With Harsh Rai participating in the creation,"Iron Man" will definitely be able to replicate
the miracle of"Spider-Man"!
Take a look at the current global public opinion. If you open any film and television media,
they will surely be boasting about the success of"Spider-Man"
"After"Spider-Man" was released simultaneously around the world, it quickly topped the
box office of various countries in just a few days!
The global cumulative box office has exceeded 800 million! It's only a matter of time before
it exceeds 1 billion
...
From Marvel Studios to his own Galaxy Pictures, Harsh Rai has been sitting in a silver
Mercedes-Benz SLR-McLaren supercar.
The stylish scissor doors opened upwards, and Harsh Rai, a handsome young man wearing
sunglasses, stepped out of the car with long legs.
The employees of Galaxy Pictures in the office were all dumbfounded as they watched their
boss act cool, and the blond white girl at the front desk almost drooled.
Agent Happy came out quickly
"Oh my God, you are finally willing to buy a car. How much does it cost?"
"It's only 450,000. Park it in the garage for me. I have to go in for a project meeting."
Harsh Rai threw the car keys to Happy and walked straight into the company door.
The production team of Columbia Pictures was already waiting inside.
"Hello! I'm not your parking boy!"
Happy complained dissatisfiedly, then his eyes lit up, and he dragged his fat body into the
driver's seat, intending to enjoy himself before parking the car.
In the conference room of Galaxy Pictures
"The creative team of"John Wick" is having its final preparation meeting!
The movie is about to start shooting! Expected to be released on Easter 2007!
...
On the other side, the Time Warner headquarters building.
CEO Dick Parsons slumped limply in his chair.
Previously, they also wanted to use"Superman Returns" and"Spider-Man" to fight head-on.
Spider-Man is already aiming for 1 billion at the box office, while"Superman Returns" only
had less than 300 million U.S. dollars at the box office, which can be considered a disastrous
failure.
"Superman can't do it, so let's reboot Batman. The superhero train has started, and we have
to get on board and get a piece of the action! DC's precious resources must not be wasted!"
"I have an idea to ask a well-known director to reboot Batman. The theme should be as close
to reality as possible and explore the depth. Then hire popular actors to play the roles, and
maybe the reboot can be successful." suggested producer Charles Rowan
"So who does the director invite? Who should I hire as an actor?"
"As a director, my idea is Christopher Nolan, who released"The Conjuring" this year to great
reviews. As for the actors..."
Charles Rowan said firmly:
"If you can't beat him, join in and let Harsh Rai, who is currently the most popular, star in
Batman! If he can succeed as Spider-Man, he will definitely have no problem playing
Batman!"