Chapter 286: Hulk Rights

Charles directly handed over the matter of selling the film rights for Angels & Demons to Universal Pictures to Donna Langley, trusting that she would be able to successfully recover the rights to Hulk.

At the Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood, Charles attended a party for fun.

"Hey Charles, good evening!" A bald man wearing glasses approached Charles.

"Good evening, Scott," Charles recognized him as the acclaimed producer Scott Rudin.

Scott Rudin, who was about 50 years old, was not only a top producer in Hollywood but also a leading Broadway producer.

"I heard you also joined The Reader?" Charles asked with a smile.

Scott Rudin nodded, "Steven Daldry is a friend of mine. He recommended the novel The Reader to me, and that's how I got involved in its production. I even suggested that Capet Pictures, with Charles Capet, should be in on it. Who in Hollywood can top him?" he added.

"Haha, Scott, you're too funny," Charles clinked glasses with Scott Rudin, laughing.

Steven Daldry and Scott Rudin had previously worked together on The Hours, and while The Reader was produced by Mirage Enterprises, Anthony Minghella didn't have much time to oversee the practical production work. It was quite natural for Steven Daldry to invite a producer he had collaborated with before.

Each year, Scott Rudin's production company developed several films, with him being involved in even more.

In terms of influence, Scott Rudin was already very powerful as a top producer, but Charles Capet owned a film company with distribution channels and capital control.

"Alright, I'm heading to the restroom," Charles said, patting Scott Rudin on the shoulder before leaving.

Just as Charles returned to the hall and was about to leave the hotel and head home, he ran into Olga Kurylenko.

"Olga, when did you get here?" Charles asked casually.

"I've been here for a while, talking to a producer from 20th Century Fox about a movie," Olga Kurylenko said excitedly, not just because she got another film project but also because she met Charles Capet.

"Anything else?" Charles looked at Olga Kurylenko. "If not, just come with me."

"No, nothing else!" Olga Kurylenko would never disobey Charles.

Quickly, Olga Kurylenko followed Charles back to Capet Manor.

In the large bathtub in the bathroom, Olga Kurylenko emerged from the water, gasping heavily before leaning into Charles' arms.

"Amazing, you can do it in the water too," Charles hugged the girl in his arms, looking satisfied, seemingly having forgotten about the unpleasantness at the hotel.

Olga Kurylenko smiled, "Did you feel good?"

Charles nodded, "Has The Mist finished shooting?"

Olga Kurylenko nodded, "Yes, finished last month!"

The Mist was just a low-budget horror thriller that started shooting last November and finished around January this year.

"What project did you join with 20th Century Fox?" Charles asked again, referring to the project Olga mentioned while at Chateau Marmont Hotel.

"It's a film adaptation of a game called Hitman: Agent 47, a co-production between Hollywood and France, with Luc Besson being one of the producers," Olga Kurylenko revealed.

Charles nodded, acknowledging it as just another low-budget B movie. Luc Besson's EuropaCorp indeed had collaborations with 20th Century Fox.

Many of EuropaCorp's films were distributed in the US by 20th Century Fox.

...

The next morning, Olga Kurylenko was frying eggs and ham in the kitchen, wearing only black bottoms and a white men's shirt draped over her.

With her long legs and the open shirt revealing an alluring body, she smiled when she heard Charles coming into the kitchen and reminded him, "It'll be ready soon!"

Charles walked over, hugged Olga from behind, and said, "You got up pretty early."

"Why didn't you sleep a bit more? You must have been tired last night," Olga responded, feeling his large hands on her chest and pressing herself closer to him.

"Let's have breakfast first. There's eggs and ham!" she said.

"La Vie en Rose will be released in France on Valentine's Day. Are you going to France?" Olga asked, lying on the couch in Charles' arms, after breakfast.

"We'll see. Luc Besson has already prepared the script for Taken. He will come to the U.S. by then," Charles responded, not worried about Marion Cotillard's starring role in La Vie en Rose.

La Vie en Rose was submitted for this year's Berlin International Film Festival and was the opening film. It was also nominated for the Golden Lion Award.

The global premiere of La Vie en Rose would be held at the Berlin Film Festival.

However, Luc Besson had just completed the script for Taken, possibly because he was busy with Taxi 4 last year.

He also started preparing Hitman last year. After all, Hitman was scheduled to start filming next month, with its release planned for this year.

Olga Kurylenko had now participated in a Hollywood movie, which was far better than those neurotic French films.

...

In February, New Century Financial Corporation, the second-largest subprime mortgage lender in the U.S., released a profit warning for the fourth quarter of 2006.

Charles knew that the subprime crisis was about to start, but most Americans definitely wouldn't believe that the real estate market would actually collapse. They still thought it was just a normal market mechanism.

Freddie Mac's stock price even rose to $65 under Wall Street's encouragement about the real estate market.

In New York, Manhattan, Lily Ying sat in her office, staring at the curve on her computer screen. Another computer was collecting various kinds of data.

"Will it really collapse?" Lily was feeling immense pressure. According to the data provided by Charles, the credit default rates on U.S. mortgages were soon to exceed 30%.

The $60 trillion bubble in the CDS market was basically layers upon layers of leveraged financing. When these bubbles burst, the resulting empty pockets would be vast.

Lily certainly believed the market would fall, but Capet Fund was shorting at 10 times leverage. If it rose by 10%, it would all be over.

Dona Williams came in, looked at Lily staring at the computer, and said, "I just talked to the boss on the phone. He said not to worry, and he might even increase the leverage."

"Increase the leverage? Now? This...," Lily pointed to the computer screen, "Judging by last year's trend, even if the stock price really reaches $70, it could very well continue to rise by another 10%!"

"Uh, the boss said, 'Once the bullet leaves the barrel, it takes time flying through the air before hitting the target. Only when the target falls can it be proven that someone fired.'"

Dona thought about it and then reminded, "The boss also said, regarding the subprime aspect, Wall Street's big five investment banks are at the forefront. We should pay attention to their publicly released earnings reports and their subprime fund revenues for more confidence."

Despite Lily's current stress, Charles remained unshaken in Los Angeles. Capet Pictures' performance allowed Charles to be at ease.

By mid-February, Capet Pictures, however, suddenly made a deal with Universal, selling the rights to Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons to Universal.

Universal paid $75 million in cash for the rights, after all, the success of The Da Vinci Code was dazzlingly bright.

As the sequel, Angels & Demons gave Universal a lot of confidence. Of course, Capet Pictures also regained the rights to the Hulk.

"I originally asked for a 100 million dollars, but Universal turned me down too swiftly," Donna Langley explained to Charles with a smile.

"A 100 million dollars? Ha, Universal's production budget for Angels & Demons will be nearly a 150 million dollars. Adding marketing, the total cost will be close to $200 million," Charles laughed.

"Now they've paid us $75 million, which is basically the cost. If they wait until Angels & Demons is released, how much interest will have accumulated?

Besides, everyone knows Dan Brown's most exciting book is The Da Vinci Code. Just look at the sales figures of the books. Can Angels & Demons achieve what The Da Vinci Code did?"

Donna Langley shook her head and said, "Hard to say. Even if Angels & Demons only makes around $600-700 million at the box office, Universal paying $75 million for the rights is still worth it."

"Sure. Even if Universal is frugal, the cost of Angels & Demons will definitely exceed a 120 million dollars. They probably estimate the box office to be around $600-700 million," Charles no longer cared.

"Now we have the rights to the Hulk again. Let Kevin Feige find someone to start preparing the script!"

Donna Langley nodded. Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America, these are the main players in the Avengers.

*****

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