Hollywood Road

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Back at Stanton’s studio, Murphy went through Jordan Belfort’s biography again. He didn’t even remember how many times this was the first time he looked at it. In order to write the script and formulate the plan, he must review these. Know it clearly.

In addition to the biography, he also asked people to collect a large amount of Jordan Belfort's third-party information for use by himself and the screenwriting team at Stanton Studios.

For this script writing, Murphy still used the way he provided the outline template, and other screenwriters were responsible for different content writing. As long as the communication channel is unblocked, this pipeline mode script will be more conducive to future film shooting.

A person will always have unexpected places, and brainstorming can still bring some benefits.

In his work, Murphy will also ignore things, not only script writing, but also other aspects.

When formulating the script outline, he ignored Leonardo DiCaprio's fame and the influence on the original author Jordan Belfort.

"Director Stanton, I hope to take back the film adaptation rights of my personal biography "The Wolf of Wall Street."

Standing opposite Murphy is a middle-aged man with short dark hair. He is not tall and looks quite shrewd. "I will give you appropriate compensation."

Pour a cup of coffee for Jordan Belfort, who came here, and Murphy sat on the sofa next to him, "Can you know why?"

"You know my situation."

This former financial scammer made no secret, "I need money very much now. Someone has paid a higher price, and besides the copyright fee, I can get a considerable share of the box office and DVD sales."

Although Jordan Belfort didn't say it explicitly, Murphy could also guess who was behind.

Jordan Belfort was straightforward, and Murphy didn't go around in circles, "Are you going to tear up the contract?"

"After you bought the film adaptation rights of "The Wolf of Wall Street", it has not been made into a movie." Jordan Belfort knew that it was not easy to recover the copyright, and he was psychologically prepared accordingly. "In view of this situation, I have the right to reclaim the right of adaptation and hope that we can reach an agreement instead of going to court."

Murphy frowned. "My studio is preparing this film."

If he could, he didn't want to have an irreconcilable contradiction with Jordan Belfort.

Jordan Belfort thought for a while and said, "I hope Leonardo DiCaprio will play me in the film. He is the most suitable candidate."

"But I don't think so." Murphy rejected it directly. "This project is still in the initial script stage, but I can assure you, Mr. Belfort."

He already understood that things could not be ended simply, and he was no longer as tactfully as before, "My film is not the turn of others!"

Jordan Belfort is not a good person either, he stood up and shrugged, "Then we can only meet in court."

"Mr. Belfort," Murphy reminded at last, "I hope you can think clearly. You know the financial market well, but the copyrights in Hollywood and North America are not what you think."

These words, conceited people like Jordan Belfort, of course, would not listen to them and left directly.

A film adapted from a novel or other literary works would be quite troublesome if it does not get the support of the original author, especially if it falls out with the original author, but Hollywood is not without such a precedent. The original author of "The True Story", Winston Grum, was contrary to the idea of ​​the producer and completely fell out, but there was no way to prevent the film from being shot and released.

Jordan Belfort’s situation is different from Winston Grum. The latter is a fictional novel, while the former is based on his own experience.

Probably Jordan Belfort is not very knowledgeable about this situation.

There are clear provisions in the American entertainment law that the facts on which the film is adapted are not protected by copyright or trademark law, and the parties have no rights to the facts they experience.

Although production companies often use "authorized by the parties" as a gimmick for film promotion, in fact, the US federal law does not clearly stipulate that films adapted from real people must obtain the authorization of the parties.

Filming is the freedom of Hollywood and production companies, but the premise is that the legal rights of individual citizens cannot be violated. Out of artistic and commercial considerations, the film may disclose the private life of the protagonist, fabricate some eye-catching plots, create or upgrade the contradiction between the protagonist and others, and so on.

Of course, these distortions of reality can easily lead to damage to the personal interests of the parties involved, and the production company may be sued for improper coordination.

In the beginning, Murphy did not want to cause unnecessary troubles when he acquired the copyright, but now that troubles arise, Stanton Studios' films can be adapted from facts instead of autobiography.

As for the degree, his lawyer Robert has a deep research on entertainment law. As usual, he will continue to serve as the legal counsel of the future crew, and he will naturally avoid minefields as much as possible.

Now that he has made up his mind to advance this project, Murphy also asked Robert to make a targeted plan in advance. This aspect is mainly for the trouble that Jordan Belfort may bring.

In the judicial practice of the United States, the trouble for the parties to find the production company is nothing more than the fixed routines.

The first is the crime of defamation. Fictional or improper use of plots that have a negative effect on the parties, such as extramarital affairs, drug abuse, etc., make the parties feel that their reputation and social status are damaged, which constitutes the crime of defamation.

The second is the right to privacy. In order to make the story more full and to attract the audience, the adaptation of the film usually adds a lot of unknown information to the parties. If the parties do not want to disclose the information without the consent of the parties, it causes mental pain. , It constitutes an infringement of the privacy of citizens.

When Murphy was writing the script, he avoided these minefields as much as possible. If Jordan Belfort really did something, he would not wait to die, just like there are always people who jump out and say that big-selling movies infringe their copyrights. Hollywood There are also systematic measures in this regard.

The defamation charge is aimed at a fictitious plot. The true facts are clearly a defense against defamation. The U.S. Constitution grants ‘true speech’ privilege protection. As long as the plot in the film is proved to be true, the defamation responsibility can be exempted.

To achieve privacy immunity with freedom of speech, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution provides for freedom of speech. As a way of expressing speech, movies are naturally protected by it. If the material used in a movie comes from public records, such as news reports , Public information, official registration information, etc., their creation is not restricted.

Also, if a film can be authorized by the reporter who reports on something, it also has legal copyright.

These are enough for Robert, an experienced lawyer, to make appropriate arrangements.

The arrival of Jordan Belfort undoubtedly means that the negotiations between Murphy and Leonardo DiCaprio have officially broken down.

In Hollywood, many directors are willing to make concessions if the original author strongly demands, but Leonardo DiCaprio obviously did not realize that Murphy was not among the ranks.

Even without Jordan Belfort, Murphy would not be able to cooperate with Leonardo DiCaprio. His high salary is the biggest obstacle.

Murphy's director's remuneration has caused headaches for many Hollywood studios, but his films can always give investors more returns, so there is no shortage of partners.

The high salaries of the stars make Hollywood bear like a thorn.

Today, Murphy is not only a director, but also an investor. Last year, he took advantage of the economic crisis to invest in a number of films. Stanton Studios has been cooperating with other film companies in the "Chain Saw" series and "Game of Thrones" series. , The high pay of the actor also gave him a headache.

Fortunately, in the "Chain Saw" series, a main character will not survive for long, but "Game of Thrones" is different. This series has attracted many actors and made these actors the spokespersons of their respective roles. What follows is Every big hit American drama can not avoid the problem of a large salary increase.

For actors like Jessica Alba and Margot Robbie, the pay for each episode has risen to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the latest season of "Game of Thrones", the pay of the cast members accounted for the total production cost. Thirty percent.

But this is a common phenomenon in Hollywood, and even the laws of the industry. Murphy cannot solve it alone. Those actors are also human and have desires. It is impossible to be stupid for an outstanding role or so-called artistic pursuit. Give him free part-time work.

Fortunately, these people say that for those superstars like Leonardo DiCaprio, the pay is the horror.

But this kind of thing can't be slapped, even if their pay is super high, there are still companies willing to use them, this is the superstar.

Because their names have magical effects in Hollywood where "money speaks", they can influence the decision-making of studio owners. After all, it is a word of money. With their joining, investors are willing to spend money to buy tickets, and audiences are willing to pay for tickets. This is entirely due to the supply and demand relationship under the invisible hand of the market mechanism.

Because of this, Hollywood celebrities have repeatedly broken through the ceiling. Not only the basic salary is as high as 20 million U.S. dollars, but also the box office dividends, ranging from 10% to as high as 25%, making Hollywood thorns in the back, unbearable. .

For example, in 2003, Keanu Reeves, who ranked first on the star pay list in history, received a total of $30 million in pay for the two films "The Matrix 2" and "The Matrix 3" plus a box office dividend of up to 1 US$56 million; Arnold Schwarzenegger’s starring in "Terminator 3" was paid US$20 million, plus 20% of the box office dividend, and the film’s global box office totaled more than US$430 million. Twenty percent of it goes to Schwarzenegger.

This can also be said to be a game between labor and management.