Chapter 2125: Not Bad Performance

Hollywood is actually quite an interesting place.

There are many legends and stories here, especially when told by Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson, making them even more fascinating.

"This is where 'The Godfather' was filmed."

"Back in the day, Marilyn Monroe took photos here..."

"I even shot promotional photos here when I was a kid."

After all, having grown up here, both Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr. had plenty of past events and anecdotes to share.

Zhao Fusheng listened with great interest.

For him, this trip to Hollywood was purely for relaxation; everyone needs a break sometimes.

Zhao Fusheng was no exception.

He wasn't a deity, and even as a time traveler, he couldn't guarantee that he would be like a machine, free from all worries.

"Zhao, you're also building a film studio in China, right?"

Scarlett Johansson asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was startled, looking at her with some surprise, not expecting her to know about his plans in China.

But on second thought, it was quite normal, since the projects of Future Film weren't kept secret from the outside world; with a little investigation, one could certainly find this information.

More importantly, he also knew that Scarlett Johansson had always had a crush on him.

As the saying goes, love me, love my dog. It was acceptable for her to look into this because of him.

After all, she had once privately asked Ye Jing if she could go to China for events or to act in films.

That was a long time ago, something Ye Jing had mentioned to Zhao Fusheng.

When Zhao Fusheng heard it back then, he was utterly helpless.

Women, they're really hard to deal with.

Especially beautiful women like her.

"Yes."

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Scarlett Johansson, "What, are you interested?"

Scarlett Johansson smiled shyly and shook her head: "Can I?"

"If you want to invest, I'm open to it."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said calmly.

Regardless, if Scarlett Johansson joined this project, it would at least be a good promotional angle for his film studio.

All in all, it wasn't a bad thing.

Moreover, Scarlett Johansson was destined to be a goddess; for that reason alone, Zhao Fusheng was willing to cooperate with her.

"Really?"

Scarlett Johansson, unaware of all this, looked at Zhao Fusheng with surprise.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled but said nothing more.

Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr. silently sighed to himself. If those fans who idolized Scarlett Johansson knew that the goddess they worshipped was so eager to please this Chinese man, who clearly wasn't that interested, they'd probably cry their eyes out.

But that's life.

Often, what we want and what we get are different.

...

...

Soon, the group left Hollywood and went back to rest.

Zhao Fusheng had Liu Yiming escort Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr. back to the hotel, then returned to his room, washed up, and sat down to rest.

Meeting them today was just a whim for him, and an opportunity to plan Marvel's future development.

"Robert Downey Jr."

Zhao Fusheng murmured the name to himself, his expression quite intriguing.

To be honest, Zhao Fusheng had a fairly good impression of Robert Downey Jr., as he was a classic example of a prodigal son who turned over a new leaf.

But the problem was, even though Zhao Fusheng admired the man, that didn't mean he was willing to spend hundreds of millions of yuan to hire him for a film.

That was the reality.

Although Robert Downey Jr.'s current salary was only a few million dollars due to his previous contract, once the contract ended, a raise was inevitable.

The question then would be how to handle the Avengers.

Whether to continue filming or to let Iron Man die, as in the memories he once had.

"Chairman, I've sent them back."

After escorting them back, Liu Yiming reported respectfully to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded with satisfaction: "Good, you go back and rest too."

"Okay."

Liu Yiming seemed to want to say something but held back, then returned to his own room.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly and didn't bother to explain. If Liu Yiming couldn't figure it out on his own under these circumstances, then there was no need to keep him around.

The next morning, Liu Yiming got up early and came to Zhao Fusheng's room.

"Chairman, I've already sent people to start collecting information on the copyrights of Marvel superheroes."

Liu Yiming said respectfully to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Okay, got it."

Sure enough, Liu Yiming was smart.

The core of Marvel was the superhero copyrights.

In other words, without the comic copyrights of these superheroes, Marvel's audience wouldn't be that large.

It's important to note that before becoming movies, these Marvel superheroes were first protagonists of comic books.

And the success of Marvel's films in the previous life was due to their own merits.

Making popcorn movies exciting, enjoyable, and not clichéd is no easy task. Overly pursuing plot depth would be too highbrow, and following the traditional hero-defeats-villain blockbuster formula wouldn't appeal to today's audience.

Marvel mastered the rhythm of popcorn movies, setting an industry benchmark. They not only produced dark plots like spy thrillers and villain victories but also developed mature superhero comedy tropes.

The special effects and fight scenes were also of high quality. Whether it was time-space effects or multi-hero group battles, they were vivid and realistic, far superior to DC's effects, which still relied on characters exploding, colliding, and being sent flying.

Most Marvel movie villains were also innovative, such as Zemo in Captain America: Civil War, Loki in Thor and Avengers, the Vulture in Spider-Man, not to mention Thanos. Even the relatively poorly received Thor: Ragnarok had an unexpected twist where the prophecy was fulfilled by summoning Surtur to defeat the seemingly invincible Hela.

Of course, that was all in the future.

For now, Marvel gave the impression of being on the verge of falling into the abyss.

After the success of the first Iron Man, the box office failure of The Incredible Hulk led many to believe it was a flash in the pan.

What Zhao Fusheng valued was Marvel's future development.

As a secretary, if he couldn't see that, Liu Yiming would be a failure.

Fortunately, he didn't disappoint Zhao Fusheng.