**Chapter 147: Not Enough Money? Raise the Fee!**
"Pixar Animation?" Wayne raised an eyebrow in surprise, then quickly appeared to understand.
"That's right. George Lucas sold Pixar Animation to Steve Jobs for just $10 million back in the day, and he's been ridiculed for it ever since. It's probably a sore spot for him."
Wayne couldn't help but smirk.
However, George Lucas's concerns were unfounded. Wayne was certain that even without his involvement, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) would continue to grow and thrive, eventually being valued higher than its parent company, Lucasfilm.
If George Lucas sold ILM now, he'd be losing out.
But Wayne was determined to acquire ILM, so he needed to find a way to persuade George Lucas.
"What if we offer a combination of cash and some Pixar stock? Also, I can offer $15 million for 'Star Wars: Episode II,' with only a 12% share of the priority box office profits."
"And what's the total amount for the cash and stock?"
"Try to keep it under $115 million!" Wayne quickly calculated the available system funds and replied.
"Okay, I'll go talk to George Lucas again."
After deciding on the direction for the next round of negotiations, Wayne didn't linger and left the company with Jessica and Lily.
What Wayne didn't know was that while Jessica paid little attention to his conversation with Sarah, Lily remembered every word and told her mother, Jill Tavelman, as soon as they got home.
"What? Wayne is planning to spend $110 million to acquire ILM from Lucasfilm?" Jill Tavelman was shocked.
That's $110 million! Not a small amount!
It was now clear that Wayne and Hemera Pictures were much wealthier than she had initially thought.
"It seems Hemera Pictures is even stronger than Miramax and Lionsgate. Among all the mid-sized studios in Hollywood, only DreamWorks and Pixar might surpass it. It's definitely in the top five."
"Mom, do you think you can help Wayne?" Lily asked her mother, eyes wide and bright.
Though she was only 12 years old, thanks to her mother's influence, Lily understood more about certain matters than most girls her age.
Jill Tavelman frowned and thought quickly.
George Lucas had already divorced his first wife, who was much older than him. While he had several girlfriends, he didn't have a new wife.
So, trying to influence George Lucas through pillow talk was impossible.
However, the COO of Lucasfilm was a member of the Beverly Hills Women's Club, where Jill had some connections.
If she could persuade the COO to agree to the acquisition, it would undoubtedly influence George Lucas's decision.
With this thought, Jill Tavelman sent Lily off to practice her lines and posture, then went to her room to look through her Rolodex.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Whether it was Wayne's new offer or Jill Tavelman's efforts, something had clearly worked. In the most recent meetings, Sarah could sense a noticeable shift in George Lucas's attitude.
Meanwhile, Wayne wasn't solely focused on the ILM acquisition. Other projects continued to move forward.
With a significant amount of system funds now available, the acquisition of the rights to *The Notebook*, which had been delayed for nearly two months, was finally completed.
Moved by Hemera Pictures' 'sincerity,' the original author, 'King of Romance' Nicholas Sparks, sold the rights for $7 million and agreed to be one of the two screenwriters for an additional $500,000.
Next, pre-production on *Taken* resumed at a faster pace, and Wayne finally secured a contract with Liam Neeson, paying him an initial salary of $2 million.
As for Wayne's $6 million salary for *Mean Girls*, it was paid in full upon the completion of his scenes. This money was immediately reinvested into buying Pixar stock.
As a result, Wayne's personal stake in Pixar Animation reached 1.2%, and with Hemera Pictures owning 3.75%, the total share was now 4.95%.
This move didn't go unnoticed by Steve Jobs, who had been watching Wayne's actions closely. Jobs personally called Wayne.
During their half-hour conversation, Wayne reassured Jobs that he was merely optimistic about Pixar's growth and wanted to make some money in the stock market, with no intention of acquiring the company. Jobs finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He then casually invited Wayne to play golf sometime, before ending the call.
Whether Jobs truly believed him, Wayne didn't know. But if the opportunity arose, Wayne would certainly not hesitate to acquire Pixar.
"Wow, it's pretty amusing to make the 'Apple Messiah' this nervous. But man, money really doesn't last long."
Lying on a lounge chair by the pool, Wayne glanced at Hannah, Jessica, and Lily playing in the pool, then opened the system panel to check the numbers.
**[Remaining film investment funds: $150.81 million]**
**[Current film projects in progress:]**
- *Resident Evil 1 & 2*: Budget $65 million, $36.85 million invested so far
- *Mean Girls*: Budget $20 million, $13.79 million invested so far
- *Taken*: Budget $35 million, $7.9 million invested so far
- *Ocean's Eleven* (18%): Budget $15 million, $7 million invested so far
- *Pirates of the Caribbean* (16%): Budget $20 million, $0 invested so far
- *Spider-Man 1* (22%): Budget $30 million, $10 million invested so far
- *The Notebook*: Budget $38 million, $8.75 million invested so far
Although $150 million seemed like a lot of money, after setting aside the $120 million for the ILM acquisition and the $5 million initial investment for *Pirates of the Caribbean*, there wouldn't be enough left to finish *Resident Evil*.
So, to generate more system returns, Wayne gritted his teeth and raised his salary for *The Notebook* to $13 million, increasing the film's production budget to $38 million.
"Looks like I need to finish *Mean Girls* as soon as possible. As for acquiring the rights to *Transformers*, *Godzilla*, and *The Ring*, those will have to wait."
(End of Chapter)