Just as Nanaya was kneeling on the washboard in front of Shion, the Fox Building in Century City, Los Angeles, welcomed a new owner.
The man in his thirties was wearing a white shirt and a black suit, and looked very serious.
He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the reception room on the top floor of the Fox Building, his eyes looking into the distance, thinking about his future direction in his mind.
The man's name is James Murdoch, and he is the youngest son of media tycoon Murdoch Sr.
Of course, he now has another identity, that is, the new chairman of 20th Century Fox.
Originally, Murdoch Jr. would have been promoted from president of British Sky Broadcasting to chairman of Sky Broadcasting in 2007.
At the same time, he was appointed by Murdoch Sr. to be responsible for News Corporation's affairs in Europe and Asia.
However, history changed 0.0001% here. Murdoch Jr. did not become the chairman of Sky Broadcasting, but was asked by Murdoch Sr. to manage 20th Century Fox Group.
The reason for this is still related to the very poor revenue situation of 20th Century Fox in the past two years.
Because of a certain time traveler, all of 20th Century Fox's works in the past two years have coincided with the release dates of Washimine Entertainment's films without exception.
This alone is nothing.
More importantly, due to a certain director's manipulation, even 20th Century Fox has changed.
Big profits become small profits, small profits become break-even, and break-even turns into losses.
The end result was that Fox, whose financial statements should have been okay, became very bad.
Although it is not as indebted as MGM and has to be sold, the company is definitely making losses.
Old Murdoch is a rich man, and no matter how rich he is, he cannot be treated like this.
So in order to improve the revenue situation of 20th Century Fox, old Murdoch had to send his youngest son.
James Murdoch was very happy about this, after all, it proved that his father trusted him.
If he could successfully manage 20th Century Fox, he would be one step closer to inheriting his father's position as a media tycoon.
Murdoch Jr. even feels that the future is in his own hands.
The door to the reception room opened and Jim Gianopulos, the current president of 20th Century Fox, walked in.
"Hi, James."
He greeted his new boss enthusiastically.
Although Jim Gianopulos was old enough to be Uncle Murdoch, he still spoke to him in an equal and even subordinate tone.
"Sorry, I had a meeting just now, so I was delayed a little."
Murdoch Jr. seemed very approachable. He smiled and said to Ganopoulos: "It doesn't matter. Your work is important."
"I'm so sorry."
Jim Ganopoulos said it again, and then invited the other party to sit on the sofa chair in front of the window.
The current situation does not allow Jim Ganopoulos to be careless. He certainly knows that his performance in the past two years was not very good.
No, it should be very bad.
Otherwise, why would the boss send this prince down? It's because his own ability has been doubted.
But Jim Ganopoulos had no other options now. He had caused the company to suffer losses, and had already lost points in the eyes of the group's top management.
If I cooperate well with Murdoch Jr., he will be able to regard me as his confidant.
Then when Murdoch Jr. leaves office in the future, he might be able to continue to run the company.
After all, it is unlikely that the prince will be based in 20th Century Fox permanently, and his arrival is more like that of an imperial envoy.
In two years, when the company's business conditions improve, Murdoch Jr. will definitely return to the group.
But if you don't cooperate well, or even go against the other party and secretly try to seize power, you will end up making a mess of the company.
Young Murdoch can naturally just walk away, because he has a good dad. Even if he fails, he can still go back and become a rich second-generation.
But Jim Ganopoulos himself is a different story.
He believed that when that day came, packing up and leaving would be the best outcome.
So Jim Ganopoulos kept a low profile when facing Murdoch Jr.
Jim Gianopulos almost hugged the other person's thigh and said, "For the sake of the party and the country, please give me a hand."
"You should know why I'm here." Murdoch Jr. didn't beat around the bush. He asked directly, "What do you think is the most urgent problem that Fox needs to solve right now?"
"We need a big project that can make money."
Jim Ganopoulos said affirmatively: "Only in this way can we demonstrate our strength."
Big projects bring not only profits to the company but also external influence.
"I heard James Cameron is making a new movie right now?"
Murdoch Jr. had done his homework before coming, so he certainly knew which movie Jim Ganopoulos was talking about.
"Yes."
Jim Ganopoulos nodded in the affirmative.
"Isn't this project expensive?"
Murdoch Jr. seemed a little worried.
"There's nothing we can do about it. James Cameron has always been lavish with his money, but the returns on investment in him are directly proportional."
Jim Ganopoulos spread his hands.
If possible, he certainly hopes that Mr. James Cameron can be as quick, efficient and economical as other directors.
But this is obviously impossible.
Since the first day this guy joined the crew, every time he contacted Fox he had only one thing to say - I'm out of money for the movie, please quickly transfer me 10 million US dollars.
Even the kidnappers are not as arrogant as you!!
But we can't not give it.
The entire Fox company is counting on James Cameron to create another miracle like "Titanic".
Of course, there is one thing that Jim Ganopoulos did not tell Murdoch Jr.
20th Century Fox has already spent over $200 million on Cameron. If it stops now, all that money will be wasted.
So no matter how high Cameron's asking price is, Fox will have no choice but to follow this truck driver until the end.
This is also the consistent practice of many film companies. Once a film project is launched, they must find a way to complete it.
Because if you give up halfway, you will definitely lose money, but if you continue, there might be a small chance of making a comeback.
Most people working in the film and entertainment industry are very gambling-minded and they will not give up until the results are announced at the last minute.
"But the price that Director Cameron is asking for this project is too high. I'm afraid the company's financial statements will look terrible in the next two years."
Murdoch Jr. was a little hesitant. He certainly knew the benefits of a successful big project, but he was more concerned about Fox's financial statements.
After all, his tyrannical father would not look at his progress. All he would look at were the financial statements and the stock market value directly linked to them.
"We can make a profit through some small projects."
After hearing so much from Murdoch Jr., Jim Ganopoulos realized that the prince was an impatient person.
Fortunately, he had already figured out how to trick this gentleman.
"From today to next year, the company will mainly focus on small and medium-cost film projects, such as Wrong Turn 2 and Agent 47."
Jim Gianopulos said quickly: "These movies require low investment, have a short payback period, and are mainly horror films, so the offline revenue is also considerable."
As Jim Ganopoulos spoke, he handed the film materials to Murdoch Jr. for review.
"It shouldn't be too difficult to rely on these projects to sustain Director Cameron's filming schedule."
"Do you think there's a good chance that Cameron will succeed in directing that movie?"
Murdoch Jr. asked a key question.
Jim Ganopoulos hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to tell the truth.
"It's hard to say until the box office results come out. I think the success rate of this movie is at least 70%."
"Why?"
"Because of the application of new technologies," Jim Ganopoulos said directly. "The movie FZ released earlier this year has proven that the 3D movie formula is feasible, as long as the special effects technology is strong and the story is exciting enough. The audience still recognizes 3D movies very much."
"Is that... the movie from Washimine Entertainment?"
Little Murdoch's eyes sharpened.
"Yes… yes."
Jim Ganopoulos also looked a little embarrassed.
After all, as the president of one of the Big Six, it was undoubtedly a shame for Jim Gianopulos to suffer setbacks one after another at the hands of a film company that had been established for less than five years.
"Kill this company."
Murdoch Jr.'s expression suddenly turned ferocious: "How dare they go against 20th Century Fox? We must make this company go bankrupt!"
"OK."
Although he didn't know why the prince had such hatred towards Washimine, Jim Ganopoulos quickly agreed.
After all, he has been unhappy with Washimine for a long time, and he would certainly not let go of this company if he had the chance.
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At the same time, Shion, who was far away in Japan, said something similar to Murdoch Jr.
"In any case, you must get rid of Fox." Shion said viciously, "I must destroy this company!"
Perhaps because she was in front of her man, Shion didn't care about her ladylike image at all and expressed her strong dissatisfaction to Fox directly.
Nanaya, who was massaging his wife's legs, paused when he heard this.
Although the conflict between Washimine and Fox had already been very obvious, it was the first time he heard Shion speak in such a fierce tone.
[You didn't act like this when you threatened to throw me into Tokyo Bay, did you? ]
"Shion, calm down first. How did I offend you?"
Nanaya patted Shion's chest to signal her not to be so angry, but Shion glared at him instead.
"Sorry, I've been with Ori for a long time, I'm used to it."
Nanaya awkwardly withdrew his hand from Shion's chest.
"Nanaya, I once heard you say that Fox's latest big project is the movie called Avatar, right?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
Shion tapped her folding fan in her palm: "Your new film project should be released very close to that movie, right?"
"So what?"
Nanaya had a very bad feeling.
"Nanaya, use your new movie to beat Cameron's movie!"
Shion smiled and placed her hand on Nanaya's shoulder.
"Excuse me for refusing!"
Nanaya rejected this idea outright.