Due to the epidemic in 2020, many film shootings were delayed. Therefore, Xiang Nan did not help Universal Pictures finalize new projects in 2021.

After all, in the face of the epidemic, Universal Pictures does not dare to make films rashly. Otherwise, the film will not be released, and it will end up losing money.

Also because of Universal Pictures' production cuts and box office revenue that fell short of expectations, Universal's stock price fell by more than 10% again. Compared with the market value when Xiang Nan sold, Universal has depreciated by nearly 30 billion U.S. dollars.

At this time, people who had previously lamented that Xiang Nan had sold a chicken that laid golden eggs were now praising Xiang Nan for his good luck. If he had not taken action early, he would have lost at least 20 billion US dollars.

In 2021, Xiang Nan continued to accompany Cong Shan at home, and Shanshan enjoyed a happy life. He also donated his property to charitable organizations, such as Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Po Leung Kuk, and the Red Cross.

In 2020, he donated US$5 billion, setting a record for charitable donations in Hong Kong. In 2021, he plans to continue his efforts and donate another US$10 billion.

In fact, the speed at which he donates money now is less than the speed at which he makes money. The reason is that when Bitcoin was first released in 2009, he accumulated a large amount of it one after another.

During the epidemic, in order to stimulate the economy and encourage consumption, the United States issued an excessive amount of currency, causing the price of Bitcoin to skyrocket. From a few hundred or a few thousand dollars a piece before, it rose to 50,000 to 60,000 dollars a piece, an increase of dozens of times, and hundreds of dollars apiece. times.

Therefore, the money Xiang Nan donated was much less than the money he earned.

…

In 2022, the United States gradually relaxed epidemic restrictions, and Hollywood regained its vitality.

Universal Pictures has also returned to the right track, starting to shoot new films and release old films. "John Wick 2, 3, 4" and "Fast and Furious 8" previously filmed by Xiang Nan will be released one after another.

In addition, "Avengers 3 and 4" are also being released one after another, and the follow-up "Thor 4", "Black Panther 2", "Spider-Man 4", "Deadpool 3", "Fantastic Four 2", etc. are also scheduled On the agenda.

During this period, Xiang Nan's relationship with Universal Pictures began to change.

In the past, he basically always spoke the truth at Universal Pictures, and no one dared to object or comment on the projects he decided on.

But things are different now. Maybe the new boss wants to establish authority, or maybe the new boss is suspicious of Xiang Nan's motives, or maybe the business strategy has changed...

In short, several projects that Xiang Nan finalized were rejected by Universal Pictures. For example, "Interstellar", "Superbody", "Three Days of Danger", "The Destiny Bureau", "The Conjuring" and so on.

On the contrary, several projects that he rejected were picked up by Universal Pictures, such as "Shang-Chi", "New RoboCop", "Men in Black: Global Pursuit", "New Ghostbusters", " Independence Day 2: Resurgence" and more.

From an analysis point of view, Universal Pictures' management is more conservative than before, and most of its investments are sequels or remakes of classic works. This does have a higher probability of achieving good box office, but if the remake is not effective, it can easily damage the brand. of.

Xiang Nan dropped these projects because the scripts were not written well enough and he knew they would ruin his brand. Unexpectedly, the new executives at Universal regarded them as treasures and picked them back up from the trash can.

…

Seeing that Universal Pictures insisted on going its own way and no longer followed his own opinions, Xiang Nan stopped being infatuated and tried his best to help them make plans and randomly arranged a few movies for them.

And because of Universal Pictures' self-righteousness, five of Universal Pictures' movies suffered huge losses in 2023. They are "RoboCop", "Ghostbusters", "Independence Day 2", "New Ghostbusters" Die Hard" and "Back to the Future."

The previous films of these films were all blockbuster hits with huge reputations. They are one of the most treasured IPs in Universal Pictures' film library, and they are also the most precious memories of countless Americans.

Universal Pictures wanted to exploit the value of these classic works, so they remade and filmed sequels one after another. However, due to their incompetence, each of these movies they produced became uglier than the last. In the end, they had a poor reputation and a poor box office.

Like "Back to the Future," the original trilogy is one of the top ten box-office films of the year. Calculated by inflation, each film has a box office of nearly one billion U.S. dollars.

But even though "New Back to the Future" has more investment, more amazing special effects, and more grand scenes, the story is a mess, and it is completely incomparable to the meticulous, logical, and imaginative story of the original.

After its release, movie fans were greatly disappointed. There was a lot of criticism on the Internet, accusing Universal Pictures of ruining classics and IP. In the end, the global box office of this movie was only 80 million US dollars. Compared with the investment of 150 million US dollars, it was a loss. One hundred and twenty million dollars.

Other movies also suffered a lot of losses, which eventually led to Universal Pictures' first huge loss in 27 years.

Universal's box office failure further proves Xiang Nan's indispensability. Without him, Universal is destined to be mediocre and become the most ordinary company in Hollywood.

As a result, Global lost the confidence of investors, and its stock price fell for several days in a row, finally falling to US$90 billion before it stopped falling. Compared with the market value at its peak, it was US$150 billion less.

Although Apple is a great company, the loss of US$150 billion, equivalent to two years of total revenue, is really unsustainable.

In the end, Universal Pictures' management was swept away, and capable people were re-appointed and selected. Xiang Nan was also taken seriously again.

Xiang Nan did not miss old grudges and re-ordered several movies for Universal Pictures, such as "Deadpool 3", "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 4", "Top Gun 2", "Crazy Rich Asians", and "Sherlock Holmes" , "Baby Men 3", "Baywatch" and so on.

Several of these works are also sequels to well-known IPs, but they are all sequels, and Xiang Nan's move is extraordinary. The stories, entertainment, and freshness of these movies are all very complete. After they were released, they have received great reviews and the box office will naturally not be bad. , made Universal Pictures make a lot of money, and the stock price began to rise.

However, in 2024, after the contract expired, Xiang Nan resigned from Universal Pictures and no longer served as the honorary chairman. Although Universal Pictures repeatedly expressed condolences, Xiang Nan did not agree again.

Xiang Nan's departure caused Universal Pictures' stock price to plummet again. The box office, which had rebounded before, fell back this time.

This also proves Xiang Nan's indispensability from the side.

…

After resigning as the honorary chairman of Universal Pictures, Xiang Nan was completely free from anything, so he focused on his family.

He spent half his life wandering around and didn't spend much time at home or spending time with his family.
Chapter completed!