Hollywood Hunter

Back in Los Angeles, Simon wants to take care of the entire Daenerys Entertainment film business, but Hollywood's attention is still firmly locked by "Batman: Hour of War" and the upcoming DC Cinematic Universe project.

From January 19 to January 25, in the fifth week of the release of "Batman: Hour of War", the film received another $31.63 million with a 23% box office drop, and the cumulative box office reached $303.36 million, officially surpassing "Six Senses" became the box office champion of the previous year.

In the words of some media, the profit that Daenerys Entertainment brings to Daenerys Entertainment from just one movie of "Batman: Hour of War" is equivalent to the annual movie business income of most Hollywood studios.

This is basically true.

Other studios can only be jealous of the crazy profits of "Batman: Hour of War", but Warner Bros. Pictures can get a share of the follow-up plan.

Therefore, Simon returned to Los Angeles these days, and hopes to advance the follow-up plan as soon as possible. Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Terry Semel keeps in touch with Simon almost every day, either by phone or directly to Santa Monica.

Daenerys Entertainment and Time Warner's negotiations on some details of the DC Cinema Universe follow-up cooperation plan also began to accelerate in this eagerness.

Santa Monica.

The time is Friday, January 26.

After seeing a piece of news on the "Hollywood Reporter" in the morning, Terry Semel came here early this morning.

Some details of the DC movie universe plan are still being discussed. However, because Simon has fully prepared in advance, the second Batman movie "Batman: Hour of War" except for Adam Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, and Tommy. In addition to the fixed actors such as Lee Jones, even the second double-faced villain has been finalized in advance. Now, the only problem is the director.

As long as this problem is solved, the film can start shooting in the middle of this year and will be released in the summer next year.

Since Simon confirmed that he will no longer be the director of the second film, many people in Hollywood have tried it out, and many of them hope to take over. Warner will participate in half of the investment in the second part. For the sake of his own interests, he also recommended some candidates to Simon.

However, Simon's determined director surprised the insider.

Jane de Bont.

If it is the time and space where Simon lives, hearing this name, many people can immediately think of "Life and Death".

However, Jane de Bont is still just a photographer.

Although he made his debut in the 1960s and has filmed more than 20 movies so far, Jane de Bont has never acted as a director.

Following the successful experience of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in memory, selecting suitable candidates from new directors to direct the DC Cinematic Universe project is a plan that Simon has determined from the beginning. He has indeed identified a lot of potential stocks. Jane de Bont is one of them.

In the original time and space, "Life and Death", which made Jane de Bont one of the first-line directors in one fell swoop, was actually the first film he directed after he switched to directorship, and the second work "Tornado" directed by de Bont was the same. The global sales are enough to prove that Jane de Bont has the potential to switch directly to directorship.

Compared with other new directors who have directed only two or three works, Jane de Bont has accumulated more experience in more than 20 consecutive works since his debut in the 1960s. Moreover, as a ‘newcomer director’, Daenerys Entertainment can also more easily negotiate a long-term package contract with Jane de Bont.

However, after Simon returned to Los Angeles last week to formally announce his decision to Warner, he was immediately opposed.

From Warner's point of view, Simon's use of a photographer who doesn't even have a directing work as the director of "Batman: The Dark Knight" is completely messed up.

The two parties were still negotiating in private. Terry Semel did not expect that the "Hollywood Reporter" suddenly published the news.

Perhaps, many people are now wondering who Jane de Bont is?

After Daenerys Entertainment reported, Warner investigated the details of Jane de Bont. Although this photographer had participated in the shooting of famous movies such as Die Hard, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Photography. Never got it. How can such a person be a heavyweight film director that both Hollywood studios have high hopes for?

Arriving at the Santa Monica Daenerys Entertainment Headquarters, Terry Semel was told that Simon was not here. After inquiring, Semel hurried to the Daenerys special effects headquarters in the nearby block.

Simon is indeed here, and Jane de Bont, who has become the focus of many people's attention, is also there. Several people are watching something in front of a computer.

Speaking of which, Jane de Bont has been out for so many years, and of course he has also cooperated with Warner, such as the most recent one, "Who is that girl" which made Madonna the worst heroine of the golden plum two years ago.

As soon as Terry Semmel greeted Simon, Jane de Bont’s mobile phone rang.

This ‘new director’ is obviously very busy today.

Sorry to everyone, Jane de Bont left to answer the phone.

Simon waited for De Bont to leave, and before Semel could speak, he said: "Daenerys Entertainment has signed a three-part contract with Bont. Terry, there is no discussion about this matter."

Terry Semel had a choked face, and he paused for a moment before he said helplessly: "So, Simon, will you follow up during the filming in the second half of the year?"

"Of course, Terry, I value the DC Cinematic Universe project more than you guys, so I also hope you can trust my judgment." Simon said, and explained to Semel, "Also, Terry, Mark ·Silvis, you should have seen it. Also, this is Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell, they will serve as the assistant directors of "Batman: The Dark Knight" together, and then they will direct "Superman" separately And "Wonder Woman."

Roland Emmerich, the name hardly needs to be introduced too much. From "Independence Day" to "2012", Emmerich is the godfather of Hollywood disaster films.

Speaking of it, Roland Emmerich is actually a German. In 1984, Emmerich produced his first science fiction film "Noah's Ark Guidelines", and he quickly became famous in the German film circle. Into Hollywood, it fell into the hands of Simon.

Although Roland Emmerich began to decline in the original time and space after 2000, and there was a failure such as the 1998 version of "Godzilla", the 34-year-old Emmerich is in the golden age of his creative career. age.

Moreover, although Emmerich’s most famous films are a series of disaster films, he actually started as directing science fiction films. The most recent films starting from "Noah's Ark Guidelines" are all science fiction films.

Simon has roughly seen Emmerich’s work in recent years. The director’s increasingly scattered, multi-line narrative style has not yet been determined. A little bit of polishing, let him direct "Superman" is still very suitable.

As for Martin Campbell, the director has already made his debut in the 1970s and has the same rich experience in film and television production, but he has never created a hit work.

Martin Campbell's famous work in the original time and space was "007 Golden Eye", and he later directed another classic "007 Casino Royale", both of which were very successful. This is why Simon chose him as the director of "Wonder Woman".

Both "007 Golden Eye" and "007 Casino Royale" have proved Martin Campbell's ability to control the big scene, which is very much needed by "Wonder Woman".

In addition, Martin Campbell is actually the director of the 2011 box office "Green Lantern".

In Simon's memory, Ryan Reynolds' version of "Green Lantern" burned a $200 million budget, and the global box office was only over $200 million. As a result, Warner fell into a huge loss, and once delayed the development plan of the DC Cinematic Universe.

However, the failure of "Green Lantern", like many subsequent DC projects, is not the director, but the result of Warner hurriedly launched in order to compete with Marvel without even finalizing the script. Except that the plot was messed up due to lack of pre-preparation, the technical details such as the special effects and soundtrack of the film are actually very good.

And, in the final analysis, Simon is the master of the DC movie universe project.

Choosing Jane de Bont, Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell as directors, in addition to their own strength, is mainly because it can ensure that Simon has absolute control over the series. Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe project, Simon will not give these directors much freedom to exercise.

Therefore, although with the current momentum of the DC Cinematic Universe, Simon can afford a first-line director, but in order to thoroughly implement his will, he does not intend to do so.

Simon introduced it, and Jane de Bont, who had finished the call, also returned.

Everyone gathered again in front of the computer just now.

Terry Semel discovered that Simon and others watched the new features recently developed by the Maya special effects software that Daenerys special effects studio has integrated, which can simulate the explosion and collapse of physical buildings and other special effects.

Seeing a building bursting apart on a small computer screen, Terry Semel temporarily put aside his curiosity about Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell, and asked Mark Silvis, president of the special effects studio Said: "Can these be achieved on the big screen?"

Mark Silvers nodded and said: "Some of the technical details of the CG image and the real-life synthesis are still being perfected, and there will be no problem this time next year."

Terry Semel understands why Mark Silvers said that.

The planned DC Cinematic Universe project will have a window period this year.

Starting next year, big screen works will be launched at the rate of two movies per year.

The confirmed projects in 1991 were "Batman: The Dark Knight" and "The Flash".

Projects in 1992 were "Wonder Woman" and the restarted "Superman". Daenerys's special effects developed at present = technology, which will probably be used in "Superman" or "Wonder Woman".

Simon said to the staff in front of the computer again at this time: "By the way, show Terry the special effects of the Flash."

The staff nodded and quickly called up a set of experimental shots.

Terry Semel immediately cheered up.

On the computer screen, a staff member who participated in the test was running in a room, and his body was entwined with faint electric lights, and a faint thunderbolt was heard from the speaker that was turned on.

A total of five heroes have been confirmed to participate in the first phase of the DC Cinematic Universe project, namely Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Steel Bones.

These five were chosen mainly because of the limitations of special effects technology in this era.

"Aquaman" and "Green Lantern" cannot be done with the special effects technology at this stage.

In comparison, "The Flash" and "Steel Bones" are easier.

In order to reflect the speed of the Flash, the production of the "Flash" movie mainly needs to use high-speed photography technology. This technology has appeared in the 1950s, although at this stage it is far from reaching the high-speed shooting of 3000 frames per second many years later. , But the existing technology plus CG special effects are enough to reach the level of 50 cents special effects far exceeding the previous stage of the "Superman" series.

As for "Steel Bones", the shooting method of combining model special effects and CG special effects is generally adopted.

In this regard, the liquid metal robots of "Terminator 2" and Schwarzenegger’s robot endoskeletons are good references. Such technology can be realized in 1991. Simon believes that after two to three years of technical research, Can achieve very good steel frame special effects on the big screen.

In order to perfect the technical details of special effects as much as possible, compared with the three superheroes of "Wonder Woman", "Superman" and "Flash" that will be launched in the last two years, the production of "Steel Bones" will be relatively late, and roughly Filming started in 1994 and was released next to "Justice League" in 1995.

Everyone stayed in Daenerys's special effects studio until noon. After lunch, Jane de Bont and others left, but Terry Semel continued to stay. Of course he will not be so leisurely, but the DC movie universe project is roughly the most important job he has at hand.

As the media said, if this series is done well, Warner will have no worries about eating and drinking in the next few years.

Now that Simon has a firm attitude towards the director of "Batman: The Dark Knight" and has selected the directors of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" in advance, Terry Semel doesn't say much. He also believes that Simon will not mess with this promising series.

Now, Terry Semel is more concerned about Warner's "Flash" and "Steel Bones."

In order to maintain his control of the DC Cinematic Universe project, Simon had previously proposed a proposal to exchange half of the investment rights in "Superman" for half of the investment rights in the two superheroes "The Flash" and "Steel Bones".

Compared with the other two of the Big Three, Warner’s "Batman" and "Wonder Woman", which both have half of the investment rights, Daenerys Entertainment's "Superman" copyright from the Salkind family has no corresponding investment. In terms of rights, Daenerys Entertainment can exclusively invest.

Although "Superman" is more popular than "The Flash" and "Steel Bones", if Warner agrees, it basically transfers the copyright of the two superheroes to Daenerys Entertainment.

With the increasing success of "Batman: Hour of War", the loss of the DC Big Three has made Warner regret it.

Now, two for one, Warner is reluctant to do so.

However, although he did not agree with Daenerys Entertainment's plan, Simon still has a strong say in the DC movie universe plan.

Not to mention, "The Flash" and "Steel Bones", although Daenerys Entertainment does not participate in the investment, but if you want these two superheroes to join the DC movie universe plan, such as movie scripts and director starring, you still have to Get Simon's approval.

Daenerys Entertainment has also made it very clear that if "The Flash" and "Steel Bones" mess up, these two superheroes are likely to be excluded from the DC movie universe plan. Daenerys Entertainment would rather The future "Justice League" will only have three heroes, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

Although he has not yet realized the benefits of plot linkage, Warner also knows that without the support of Daenerys Entertainment, he may not be able to play these superheroes.

PS: Limited exemption