The morning sun streamed into the dining room, filling the air with the aroma of coffee and toast.
Allen closed his laptop, the screen showing the nascent outline of Iron Man. He stretched, his joints popping with a series of soft clicks.
John Lawrence was reading the financial section of the newspaper, while Lee Soo-ji gracefully cut fruit for her husband and son. It was a typical, tranquil morning for the Lawrence family.
“Dad.”
Allen sat down at the dining table with a glass of milk.
“Hmm?” John didn’t look up, his gaze still fixed on the K-line charts of Wall Street.
“I don’t plan to use the script fees and dividends from pirates of the caribbean for now.”
John finally put down the newspaper, looking at his son with some curiosity. “Oh? Does our little rich man have new plans? Want to buy a Ferrari, or invest in a sports team?”
His tone held light teasing; after yesterday’s “miracle” at Disney, he no longer dismissed his son’s words as mere childish prattle.
Lee Soo-ji also paused her knife, looking over with concern.
Allen took a sip of milk and, in a tone as casual as discussing the weather, uttered words that froze the air in the entire dining room.
“Let’s go buy Marvel.”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
John spluttered his coffee and began to cough violently.
Lee Soo-ji quickly handed him a tissue, patting his back and helping him catch his breath, her gaze at Allen filled with helplessness.
“Allen, don’t play such jokes with your dad.”
John finally recovered, wiping his mouth and looking at his son with a wry smile.
“Son, do you know what you’re saying? Marvel? That comic company that’s almost bankrupt?”
“I know.” Allen nodded, his expression uncharacteristically serious. “It filed for bankruptcy protection in the mid-nineties, and although it’s been restructured, things are still tough. Movie adaptation rights are sold everywhere; Spider-Man went to Sony, X-Men and Fantastic Four went to 20th Century Fox. What they have left are mostly second and third-tier characters.”
John spread his hands. “You see, you’ve made it very clear yourself. Why should we spend money to buy a hollowed-out mess?”
This was a rational question that any qualified investor would ask.
Allen’s lips, however, curved into an arc.
“Dad, you see a mess. I see a sleeping treasure.”
He put down his milk glass.
“Why do you think Harry Potter became so popular? Why did The Lord of the Rings become an epic?”
John frowned in thought: “Because they have grand worldviews and captivating characters?”
“Exactly.”
“They offer a complete ‘universe.’ And Marvel possesses a universe that is even grander and has more potential than theirs. It’s just that no one has ever thought of presenting this universe on the same screen.”
“On the same screen?” John was stunned.
“Imagine this.”
“Iron Man flying through the skies of New York, Thor wielding his hammer in another dimension, Captain America sleeping beneath the ice. Each of them has their own story, but their stories are intertwined.”
“When a huge crisis arrives, they will assemble together to fight a common enemy. This isn’t one movie; this is a series, an unprecedented super-series composed of countless movies.”
John’s breathing became a little rapid.
He wasn’t a filmmaker, but he was a businessman. He instantly understood the terrifying commercial value embedded in Allen’s words.
If it could truly be achieved… it wouldn’t be a money printer, but rather a mint opened directly.
“But… that’s too crazy.” John murmured, “The risk is too great. And, those characters you mentioned, Iron Man? Who would watch the story of a playboy in a tin can?”
“Audiences will.” Allen’s tone was firm and decisive, “Because Tony Stark isn’t a traditional Hero. He’s flawed, he’s arrogant, he’s cynical, but deep down, he has a warm heart. He is the epitome of our era.”
“Just like Jack Sparrow,” Allen added, “People are tired of perfection; they long to see imperfect Heroes struggling in the mud, then radiating the light of humanity.”
Lee Soo-ji listened quietly, looking at her son with complex eyes. She didn’t understand the business logic, but she could feel the powerful confidence in her son’s words, a kind of power that seemed to foresee the future.
John fell silent.
He picked up his coffee cup, only to find it empty. He looked at Allen, this thirteen-year-old boy, who, in just two days, had for the second time overturned his decades of established business understanding.
“How much money is needed to acquire Marvel?” he asked, his voice a little hoarse.
“I think, two billion dollars,” Allen stated a figure.
“With that much money, it would be a bit difficult for our family alone,” John said truthfully.
“So, we need a partner.” Allen smiled, “A partner who has just tasted success and possesses powerful distribution channels and theme parks.”
John’s eyes lit up sharply.
“Disney!”
“Exactly.” Allen leaned back in his chair, “Together with Disney, we’ll form a new film company, specifically to operate Marvel’s characters. We’ll call it… Marvel Studios.”
John stood up and paced back and forth in the dining room.
His mind was racing, evaluating the feasibility and risks of this matter.
Finally, he stopped, his gaze burning as he looked at Allen.
“I need to talk to Michael Eisner about this.”
...Disney Headquarters, top-floor conference room.
The atmosphere was even more bizarre than last time.
Michael Eisner hung up the phone call from John Lawrence, his expression as if he had seen a ghost.
“He… Mr. Lawrence, on behalf of his son Allen Lawrence, proposed a joint acquisition plan to us.” Eisner’s voice was somewhat ethereal.
The executives present exchanged glances.
“Acquire whom?” a vice president cautiously asked.
Eisner took a deep breath and uttered the name.
“Marvel Comics.”
In the conference room, there was a deathly silence.
A few seconds later, an outburst of incredulous discussion erupted.
“Marvel? That bankrupt company?”
“Why would we buy a bunch of outdated comic books?”
“Mr. Eisner, this must be a joke! Is that child crazy?”
“Shut up!”
Eisner slammed his hand on the table, and the conference room instantly fell silent.
His gaze swept over everyone, his eyes cold.
“Crazy? Two years ago, you said the same thing about pirates of the caribbean. You said the same thing about Johnny Depp.”
“Now, that ‘crazy’ child is the executive producer of this S-tier blockbuster, with the highest authority. And you, you can only sit here and listen.”
Everyone lowered their heads in shame.
Eisner’s chest heaved violently; he remembered Allen’s words that John had relayed over the phone.
“Tell Mr. Eisner, Disney isn’t buying Marvel; it’s buying the next twenty years of the film market.”
These words echoed in his mind like a curse.
“Notify the legal and financial departments to immediately conduct due diligence on Marvel Entertainment. I want the most detailed report within three days.”
Eisner issued the order, allowing no dissent.
Three days later.
A piece of news, like a depth charge, exploded across Hollywood and Wall Street.
The Wall Street Journal's front-page headline: “Disney Joins Lawrence Family, Acquires Marvel Entertainment for Two Billion Dollars!”
Variety magazine cover: “Bet of the Century! Why Did Mickey Mouse Embrace a Bankrupt Hero?”
The Hollywood Reporter: “‘Prodigy’ Strikes Again, Allen Lawrence, The Next Howard Hughes?”
The news spread like a virus.
Countless analysts, film critics, and industry insiders expressed extreme incomprehension and pessimism about the deal.
“This is a complete disaster. Disney spent two billion dollars buying a pile of comic characters abandoned by their time.”
“The Lawrence family has gone mad; they actually joined Disney in playing with fire. That child named Allen might have some talent in screenwriting, but in capital operations, he’s clearly an amateur.”
“I bet that within five years, Marvel Studios will become the biggest joke on Disney’s financial report.”
In the Warner Bros. headquarters building.
An executive slammed a newspaper on the table, scoffing at the president: “Look at our old friend John Lawrence, he actually let his son persuade him to pick up a pile of garbage. He’s truly senile.”
The Warner President merely looked silently at the side profile photo of Allen Lawrence on the newspaper, the boy in the picture.