"In recent days, Kingpin was arrested, and his criminal empire collapsed. I didn't expect this upheaval to involve Stark Industries. However, some high-level executives within the company were secretly colluding with Kingpin... In short, I have taken this matter very seriously, and the authorities have also been involved. Please be assured, trust in Stark Industries..."
Obadiah Stane's expression was solemn, his face radiating integrity.
He addressed the cameras of various media outlets, explaining the internal investigation into Stark Industries over the past few days.
In these statements, Obadiah completely distanced himself from any connection to Kingpin.
Even if someone were to come forward now and accuse Obadiah of colluding with Kingpin, few would likely believe it.
Unless they could produce undeniable evidence.
However, no one had any evidence.
In the original story, S.H.I.E.L.D. was willing to search the deserts of Afghanistan for Tony Stark for months, yet they couldn't get a single lead on Tony from Obadiah Stane.
Doesn't this prove how difficult Obadiah Stane is to deal with?
"It seems Obadiah has sensed that certain departments are keeping an eye on him!"
Anton thought to himself.
He searched the name of the unlucky guy Obadiah pushed out to take the blame. He found that this guy was Obadiah's senior assistant, holding considerable power within Stark Industries and was Obadiah's capable subordinate.
This time, Obadiah could be said to have made a painful sacrifice.
"...I'll leave this guy for Tony to deal with when he gets back."
Anton shrugged and turned off the TV.
He was busy right now.
Anyway, Tony Stark had been missing for almost a month. Judging by the plot in his memory, Tony Stark would naturally make a triumphant return in at most two months.
By then, Tony Stark should have transformed and become Iron Man.
Obadiah was a complete old fox, very difficult to deal with. Anton had other plans recently and didn't intend to get involved.
His thoughts shifted, and he saw Betty approaching.
"Anton, Batman will be pulled from theaters in a week."
Betty said, "So far, Batman's domestic box office is 470 million, overseas box office is 380 million, and the global total box office is 850 million. With the remaining week, it will probably reach 880 million."
"If I remember correctly, there are still some countries that haven't released it, right?" Anton asked.
"That's right."
Betty nodded, subtly excited. "Once the global release is completely over, maybe it really can reach a global box office of 1 billion. Such a result can completely squeeze into the global film's annual box office record. Anton, you've already been regarded by Hollywood as the person of the year. I've received many party invitations for you. Should I accept them one by one?"
At the end of her words, her tone turned flat.
"Uh, really? Parties in New York, I can consider..."
Anton's eyes brightened. He'd been cooped up for a long time recently.
Then, thinking again, he sighed helplessly: "No, I will pass. I've been very busy recently, you know. Tonight I still have to talk with Jim about my next movie."
"Next movie?"
Beside them, Eddie's eyes lit up: "Are you going to make a second Batman movie?"
Anton smiled mysteriously: "No, it's a new film, a new superhero story."
"A new superhero?"
Eddie was puzzled.
He was indeed surprised. Instead of filming the sure-fire money-maker that was the Batman series, they were going to make a new superhero movie. That's probably just how rich people thought.
That evening.
Anton met with Jim to discuss the next film.
Jim was also surprised to hear that he wouldn't be doing Batman. After all, he had come prepared to set up the crew and film the second Batman movie.
Now, Batman was the hottest superhero in America, with fame comparable to a Hollywood superstar. Moreover, Batman himself was very mysterious in the public eye, and the movie seemed to be revealing his origins. Everyone was eagerly anticipating the second film.
Anton wasn't going to make it?
Jim was so angry he wanted to throw the chair, and it was a long while before he calmed down.
Because he understood Anton's meaning.
Anton wasn't going to direct, but he didn't forbid others from taking on the project.
It's important to remember that even though Anton was the director of the first Batman film, changing directors wouldn't significantly impact Batman's commercial value.
In fact, Anton's second original film was more likely to spark discussion.
He was abandoning a profitable series to continue down the path of original content!
A genius's pride was hard to understand.
In fact, Anton was already a recognized genius director in Hollywood. If this guy succeeded again, it would be like DC Comics had gained another gold mine.
Jim no longer objected.
The two discussed for a long time, finalizing DC Comics' next steps in film.
Jim began searching for investors and preparing the film crews.
Of course, his workload was immense, as he was preparing a total of three film crews.
That is to say, DC Comics currently had three film projects, all of which were big-budget productions.
The first was The Dark Knight; the second was Cyborg, the second film of Anton's career; and the third was Superman.
Jim knew that he couldn't persuade Anton and that Anton now had the capital to make mistakes, so he let the latter take the lead, focusing instead on the logistical work.
\n\n
Soon, the preparations for the three film crews were completed.
In this process, Browning had also provided Anton with the film scripts for Cyborg and Superman early on.
As for the script for Batman's second film, The Dark Knight, he had already written it long ago.
It's worth mentioning that the serialization of The Dark Knight, Batman's second novel, had already started online on The Daily Bugle's text forum yesterday. Soon, stories of heroes like Superman, Cyborg, and The Flash would also be gradually uploaded within the next week.
The only problem was finding investors, a huge headache in Jim's hands.
As everyone knew, superhero films required huge action scenes and a lot of special effects, with the investment for any single film exceeding 100 million. The initial budget, just for the two films Batman and Cyborg, would require over 300 million in funding. Adding in Superman, it would be at least a 500 million investment to get started.
And that was in US dollars!
Although Anton had money, he wasn't really at the level of a Tony Stark, able to casually pull out 500 million dollars without batting an eye.
After all, the various companies under the Jameson Family had professional managers in charge. There was no reason for him to divert funds from those companies for his own use, and it wouldn't be in line with regulations.
The liquid assets that Anton could use came from selling off assets and the first round of box office dividends after the release of Batman Begins. Furthermore, the theater chains owed him over a hundred million, but he couldn't push them, because that was the industry norm.
Cash flow issues are something every businessperson deals with.
Besides, with such a large investment, even if Anton had the money, he wouldn't handle it all himself.
Wouldn't it be better to use the remaining funds to open up other channels?
Remember, movies are just the primary source of fan value, not the only one.
Moreover, Anton persuaded Tony to invest before because nobody was optimistic, and he didn't have enough money.
Now, things are different. As a Hollywood genius director, he holds Batman, a guaranteed-profit super IP, and countless people are waving money, chasing after him.
The problem is that the Cyborg and Superman projects require too much investment, so not many people are willing to join.
As for the few with the courage, Anton also needs to screen them.
He doesn't just take money from anyone.
It wasn't until someone got the news and came knocking through Jim that the investment problem was solved.
Anton was very surprised to see the visitor.
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)