American Life

Chapter 235 Husband and wife team, special science fiction film

"My promise to you is always valid..."

A voice appeared in Christopher Nolan's mind, like a devil's whisper.

"Gentlemen, let's keep our focus on the present. Nolan, let's continue talking about your new movie."

Two months after its release, Batman Begins: The Dark Knight grossed US$2 million domestically and exceeded US$5 million globally, still being overtaken by Iron Man 7.But both Legendary Pictures and Warner executives were very, very satisfied with this result and immediately began urging the Nolan brothers to create the next film.

"This new film will be a high-concept science fiction film that revolves around a mission and the interpretation of dreams. Of course, it is not as obscure as David Lynch's. It is essentially a commercial film that requires high standards. Cass will support him," Nolan explained.The Cass he refers to is "the cast."

"So, we have previously sent invitations to several potential main candidates, and Leonardo DiCaprio has already made time and is confirmed to be able to star."

"We have already read the script. It is very crisp and concise, and the length is also very appropriate. Did Leonardo mention the salary?" Kevin McCrary, the senior executive who leads the entire Warner production project, asked at this time.

"A fixed salary of US$2000 million, plus 10% of the back-end adjusted earnings, and he is the first to share the income."

In Hollywood, there is also a sequence of back-end sharing. The first sharer gets the money first, and this part of the share will become the cost of the film, which will continue to increase the "cost" of the film and continue backward.

In the last movie "The Wolf of Wall Street", he received the highest fixed salary of his career so far, US$2500 million, part of which was delayed for a period of time due to overspending.

"It's too risky to do this. You know, he only took 4000 million US dollars in Titanic. That's more than 20 billion US dollars in box office." Jeff Robinov couldn't help but muttered.

Although Xiao Lizi's fixed remuneration for Titanic is only 250 million US dollars, his agent also negotiated 1.8% of the film's back-end income, and in the case of calculating DVD distribution and TV station screening royalties, let his total Proceeds exceeded $4000 million.

"We don't have such a high budget. Either he lowers the price or you lower the price. You have to choose one of them." Jeff Robinov said impatiently.

The account has been calculated very clearly in my mind. Originally, Christopher alone would get 10% of the adjusted income plus a top-level Cass. The two of them would get 20% of the adjusted income, plus a large budget. Calculate like this. Coming down is too risky for Warner.

"It's just a science fiction film. What we need is high concept, not big stars. Does James Cameron's new film have stars? No. Does Spielberg's new film have big stars? You get the same treatment as them , you have to show the corresponding skills." Jeff Robinov continued.

The negotiations reached a deadlock at this time. Although Christopher Nolan repeatedly explained to everyone present Leonardo's important position in the film, Warner still did not give in at all on this condition. It was helpless. We had to agree on a time for the second discussion.

Walking out of the conference room, Jonathan couldn't help but said to his brother: "The cost is too high. No one can afford this project unless we lower the conditions."

"If what Charlie Rossi said is true, we might try to cooperate with him. He has a good relationship with Leonardo. For the sake of this relationship, he will also reduce some pay."

·
On the other side, in the high-level meeting of 20th Century Fox, there was also a director who was caught in a similar debate.

James Ginapolis said in an almost roaring tone: "This is one of the largest game IPs in North America, and now you have turned it into a piece of stinking shit!"

At this moment, a chubby young man sitting opposite him, his name was Neill Blomkamp, ​​was silently listening to the other party's venting roar with spitting stars flying everywhere.

Two years ago, Bungie, a subsidiary of Microsoft, found 20th Century Fox, hoping to shoot several live-action short films for the upcoming "Halo " game to warm up. After careful selection, Fox found a former "Doomsday" Senior gamers who have served as special effects artists in the "Dark Angel" series came to direct this series of short dramas.

It was Neill Blomkamp in front of me. He was born in South Africa and grew up in Johannesburg. He moved to Canada with his parents when he was 18 years old. At that time, he was working for a visual effects company in Canada, facing 20th Century Fox. He gladly accepted the opportunity.

Bungie was so satisfied with the final result that Microsoft even sent people to contact 20th Century Fox again, hoping that he would complete the first live-action feature film in the Halo series, and further increased the budget.

But this feature film has become Neill Blomkamp's nightmare.From the beginning of the film's preparations, it encountered various problems, such as script, casting, and special effects. A series of disputes occurred between the two parties, which finally made Neill Blomkamp decide to withdraw from the project.

After listening to James's rant for nearly half an hour, Neill Blomkamp finally raised his head and said calmly: "I quit, this is beyond my capabilities."

"Don't even think about getting a dime in remuneration! I'll let the group's lawyers get back the prepaid remuneration!" The moment the door was closed, James's angry rebuke was still echoing in the office.

Neill Blomkamp took a breath, he had had enough of these senior executives.

Now I just feel relaxed, and before James took the initiative to dismiss him, he said the words to leave first.

In this way, even if he was fired, he was fired from 20th Century Fox.

When he thought of this, he felt even more relaxed.

What’s the next step?Should you continue doing special effects, or try to prepare a new film?I'm afraid they won't find someone to "fire" the film company, right?

And soon, a phone call rekindled Neill Blomkamp's passion for creation.

The caller was none other than the famous Peter Jackson.

"Young man, I got your phone number from a friend at 20th Century Fox. Are you interested in an interview?"

"Why, invite me to star in Lord of the Rings 4?" Neill Blomkamp asked with a smile.

The Lord of the Rings series is undoubtedly a representative work of fantasy epics, which has caused unprecedented repercussions in the Western world. Neil naturally loves this series very much.

"In fact, there are currently no plans for a fourth part of The Lord of the Rings. I have already finished filming the entire sequel."

"No, no, no, your view is completely wrong. Big movie companies will find ways to squeeze out all the value of an IP. Without the main story, there can still be spin-offs. The adventures of the Hobbit? The history of elves? The development of dwarves? The War of Gondor? They could make 200 movies about it if only one person watched it."

Having just come out of the th Century Fox office, Neil knew exactly what these people were thinking, and the Halo live-action movie was a typical example.

"No matter how they film it, it's their business. I won't participate in those shoddy projects to make money. I have already made enough money." Peter Jackson said on the phone.

He is indeed qualified to say this. If his personal assets exceed US$7 million, more than half of them will be contributed by the Lord of the Rings trilogy, including the early fixed income and the annual share from New Line Cinema. According to With the current momentum, this share will continue to be collected.

Of course, this is a deserved reward. After receiving the authorization to adapt the novel into a movie, Peter Jackson and his wife Fran Welsh spent three years adapting the script. It can be said that it was a painstaking work.

Another part of Peter Jackson's income comes from the well-known Weta Digital Special Effects Company in the industry, of which he is the co-founder.

"You haven't explained why you called." Neil said.

"It's very simple. I watched a short film you released early, "Living in Joburg". Wales and I both thought the short film was very creative and thought it could be expanded into a feature film. What do you think of this idea?"

"I don't think it's very good. What I mean is...if it is made into a science fiction movie, it will require a lot of special effects shots. We need a budget of at least 3000 million. Are you willing to invest in this movie?"

"Remember the first ironclad rule of Hollywood..." Peter Jackson suddenly said.

"Never make a movie with your own money," Neil responded.

The two people, who are nearly 20 years apart, are chatting very well at the moment.

"I don't think it's difficult to find investors." Peter Jackson remained relaxed.

As a well-known Hollywood director, Liu Da has contacted Peter Jackson more than once since the end of the Lord of the Rings series and expressed his willingness to cooperate, provided that he could be the director.

This became the problem. Peter Jackson felt that this film should be directed by a South African instead of himself. This involves the core of the film. Obviously Neil is the best candidate.

"I don't think it's possible. I just came out of the office of th Century Fox. I messed up a project. All the early investment was wasted. I might be on a blacklist or something like that."

"Why don't we go find Charlie Rossi? He is different from traditional Hollywood companies. He seems to be very generous in investing in films? I happen to have a little friendship with him, although not much, but he will definitely be willing to meet me. Bring along the core creators along the way.”

"My wife Terri Tatchell, she's great at writing scripts."

"If you say so, Fran needs to be involved in the discussion."

The two directors discovered another thing in common with each other, that is, each other's wives were quietly supporting their careers behind the scenes.

·
"So, I think this is like a family gathering." Charlie couldn't help but joked, facing the two couples.

"You should also bring a female companion, maybe more than one." responded the bearded Peter Jackson.

This matter is obviously no secret.

Charlie met Peter Jackson's wife Fran Welsh for the first time. If there was any selection of "model couples" in Hollywood, Peter Jackson and his wife would definitely be in the top three, and maybe Robert Downey Jr. and his wife should also be on the list.

The two met at the end of the 80s. Due to two career collaborations, the two gradually came together. "The Dead", which made Peter Jackson stand out for the first time, was written by Fran Welsh, who later appeared in In each of Peter Jackson's works, producers, editors, and assistant directors can be said to be where they need to be.

It can be said that without Fran Welsh, Peter Jackson would not be what he is today.

As for the two sitting on the other side, Charlie didn't have any impression at all, and he still listened to Peter Jackson's introduction.

"Charlie, I think there is absolutely nothing wrong between us. The previous unhappiness was all related to Weinstein, and he was the initiator." Peter Jackson said.

At first, Peter Jackson had been interested in cooperating with Westin Pictures. Later, after a series of differences, the two parties parted ways, and Peter then turned to New Line Cinema to start cooperating.

Although the Lord of the Rings collaboration was not achieved, Peter Jackson still cooperated with the original Westin, later PB Pictures, including "Winter's Bone" produced and distributed by PB Pictures, for which Peter Jackson served as the executive producer. .

"Of course, PB Pictures is very happy to continue to cooperate with you."

"What about coming here this time..." Peter Jackson immediately winked at Neil opposite him.

The other party immediately sat upright and began to introduce the current project to Charlie.

"It contains an identity change similar to Metamorphosis, where the protagonist changes from a human to an alien. It is also based on the forced migration of black people in history. In the film, these aliens are called 'shrimps'..." "Neal took out the prepared information, which was the original design he had drawn before this year.

"The inspiration actually came from a South African pest, the Parktown prawn, which is a type of cricket." Neil pulled out a few more photos.

"Considering the large number of special effects shots required for this film, we will not use any big-name actors, and the final cost will be approximately US$3000 million."

Charlie put on an air of hesitation.

"You know, this sounds like a very risky project. Will American audiences pay attention to apartheid in South Africa? There's a question mark."

"This type of science fiction film with a profound core is very rare. Although there is no guarantee of a Golden Globe or an Oscar, this film will have a great advantage in the competition for the Saturn Award... I am willing to reduce my remuneration as a producer." Peter Jackson showed great sincerity.

He also knew that it was not easy to attract investment for this movie. This director had no successful works before and had only directed a few short films. If he hadn't directed the film himself, Charlie Rossi might not have met him at all.

Although he knew that this film would be the future "District ", Charlie was not in a hurry to agree.

"Actually, I have another idea. It's better for Peter Jackson to tie up the shooting plan of another series of films." Charlie said suddenly.

"what movie?"

"The Lord of the Rings Side Story."

(End of this chapter)