America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 574 Warner's Mysterious Operation

David Fincher was busy with work and left the studio soon.

Daniel saw that there was no one else present except Bruce who was sitting in the corner, so he talked to Martin about something else: "I've seen the three old movies you chose. They require a lot of investment to make. Do you really think they have a good prospect of being remade?"

Martin said vaguely: "For now, I think they have better prospects." But he did not say anything final: "I am still studying the others."

Daniel was no different from before, and he looked curious: "Can you tell me why it is Peter Pan, Exodus and The Wizard of Oz?"

Because of personnel adjustments at Warner Bros., the first batch of names Martin picked out were not the ones he actually favored.

In complicated moments, he habitually kept something in reserve.

Hearing Daniel's question, Martin glanced at him casually. Maybe he had acted too much and had been with top-notch actors like Nicholson for a long time. Coupled with the persecution delusion that came from the soul, he suddenly felt that Daniel was not natural.

Daniel has been looking at the information in his hand.

Martin smiled and said, "In fact, I chose these three films based on the current and future film market conditions."

Daniel continued, "Oh? They say you are good at selecting films. It seems you have made some special discoveries."

"There are some discoveries, but they are not special." Martin's words are true and false: "Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz were chosen because Disney just released Alice in Wonderland. This live-action fairy tale movie grossed $1.16 million in its opening weekend, which indicates that there will be a market for 3D live-action fairy tale movies in the next few years."

Alice in Wonderland had just been released, and with the ready-made example right in front of him, Daniel couldn't help but nod. To be honest, Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz were more famous and had a greater influence.

Martin still has some truth to say: "Both Ben-Hur and Exodus are mainly because of another project that Warner Bros. is pushing hard."

Daniel thought: "The Hobbit trilogy?"

"Yes, it's because of this magical epic series." Martin said openly, "In recent years, ordinary epic movies have not been doing well. After the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, there was a wave of magical epic movies. The "Chronicles of Narnia" series launched by Disney was a huge success. Although there were also failures, most of them were problems with the films themselves, and the original works were not well-known enough."

He did not give examples of his failures: "I am confident that Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy will be a billion-dollar fantasy epic, which will surely trigger another wave of popularity for such films. Exodus involves fantasy elements and is a well-known story. If it can piggyback on the popularity of The Hobbit..."

Daniel thought about it and found that these words made sense. The risk of investing in movies is huge, but the risk of riding on the popularity of movies is relatively much smaller.

What does Hollywood do best?
Apart from discussing work in a hotel room, that’s just following the trend.

Martin thought for a moment and added, "That's what I'm thinking at this stage, but the specific changes will have to be made in actual operations. No one can guarantee that a film will be 100% successful."

Daniel nodded and said something polite: "Of these three films, Exodus does not involve copyright, but the last two do. You can ask someone to talk to Warner Bros."

Martin said, "I'll have someone talk to him."

He had seen in Warner's information before that Exodus came from the Bible, so there was naturally no dispute over film copyright.

The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan have not yet entered the public domain, thanks to Disney's continued efforts to extend the copyright of works before 1978 in the Copyright Act.

The film and television copyright of the former is in the hands of Warner Bros., and the copyright of the latter is owned by a hospital that has authorized both Disney and Warner respectively, so you can just talk to Warner.

Of course, Martin didn't actually want to talk about it.

Daniel asked a few more questions and soon said goodbye and left.

Martin came back from sending someone away and asked Bruce who was sitting in the corner: "Do you feel that he is not natural?"

"No, I didn't notice that." Bruce shook his head, thought about it carefully, and said, "He rarely discussed the film market with you in the past."

Martin said, "Let Jessica contact the people at Warner Bros. If Warner Bros. is willing to talk to us about the remake authorization, there may not be a big problem. If they are not willing to talk, Daniel or Warner Bros. may regard me as their film selector."

Bruce said one thing: "Alan Horn is gone."

"He will be taking up his post at Disney Studios soon." Martin sighed, "It's a pity that this is a production company, not a distribution company."

Bruce said, "I remember you picked those three movies randomly?"

“Warner Bros. is going into a turbulent period, and I’m just being prepared,” Martin said.

Daniel returned to the Warner Building and called Kevin Tsujihara.

Kevin Tsujihara had just taken office and was full of energy. He immediately notified Warner Bros. and sent a special team to communicate with Daniel to discuss whether what Martin said was feasible.

While The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan were relatively coldly received at Warner Bros., the idea of ​​filming Exodus again was hotly discussed.

Many people in Hollywood have a passion for epic films. Every year, there are always big-budget epic films released, and they are so popular that even their parents don’t recognize them, but there are endless entrants to follow.

What's more, this time there is also the pre-insurance of "The Hobbit".

Alan Horn resigned, and the Warner producers and executives who had been suppressed by him for a long time and had "genius-like creativity" began to let their minds fly.

Without the suppression of powerful figures, Warner executives can soar to the sky.

Not only did this group of people think that it was feasible to shoot a magical version of Exodus, they also felt that Christian Bale, who had been working with Warner for many years, was very suitable to play Moses.

There is even a long list of directors, with Hollywood epic film expert Ridley Scott at the top of the list.

When Martin heard about the train of thought of this group of people, he couldn't understand it at first.

But soon it dawned on me that this wasn't the mysterious operation that Warner Bros. had been doing since 2010.
What other people find strange is normal at Warner.

Jessica's contact with Warner Bros. ended in failure after being dealt with for a while.

Later, Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz were also discussed by Warner Bros., as many Warner executives thought that Alice in Wonderland could be made into 3D live-action movies due to its huge success. Exodus was discussed the most and also received support from Jewish forces behind it. By late January, Warner Bros. pushed it into the review committee and successfully got the green light.

Warner Bros. once again contacted Christian Bale.

…………

Warner Bros. Studios, in the studio where the crew of "Horrible Bosses" is filming.

When Martin visited Aniston on set, Aniston also mentioned the project.

"Steven Zaillian, who has worked as a screenwriter on Mission Impossible and Gangs of New York, has been hired by Warner to write the script."

Sitting on a lounge chair outside the studio, Aniston handed Martin a bottle of water and said, "Warner Bros. has issued a fundraising plan for Plan B, intending to raise no less than $1.5 million for filming and production."

Martin exclaimed: "$1.5 million, worthy of Warner Bros."

Aniston said naturally: "You are a successful person, can you give me some advice?"

Martin is a man of conscience: "Hollywood throws huge sums of money into epic films every year. Look at me. When I see such films, I immediately avoid them."

Aniston understood: "You don't think this type of movie is good?"

Martin turned on the water and handed it to her.

Aniston took the water, took a sip, and said, "I will avoid epic movies in the future."

As the two were talking, a dark-skinned woman suddenly turned over from the studio.

When the woman saw Martin and Aniston, she trotted over like a little fangirl.

She saw Bruce appear and quickly said, "Jennifer, I'm Megan, Megan Markle."

Martin asked, "Do you know him?"

"I don't know her." Aniston shook her head.

Megan reminded: "You and I both work on the set of Horrible Bosses, we are colleagues."

Aniston had some impression: "It seems so."

Martin waved at Bruce.

As soon as Bruce stepped aside, Megan opened her bag, pulled out an iPhone, and asked, "Can we take a photo together?"

Martin was always friendly to young actors, and he pulled Aniston up: "Sure."

Megan handed the phone to Bruce: "Thank you."

She was smart enough to stand on Aniston's side and hold Aniston's arm affectionately.

Bruce took three photos in succession.

"Thank you." Megan thanked Martin and Aniston, took the phone returned by Bruce, and left.

Walking some distance away, she opened Twitter on her phone and prepared to send a new tweet.

Megan first selected the photo she had just taken with Martin and Aniston, and then wrote some text on it.

"The biggest gain from entering Hollywood in the past few years is that I have made many good friends. Today, I ran into my friend Martin Davis who came to visit the crew. I talked to him and another friend Aniston for a long time, discussing the development of Hollywood movies in the next few years, the situation of this year's Oscars, etc."

After writing it, Megan sent it out.

Her last tweet was a selfie with Aniston in the background, and the tweet read: "It's so fun to be in a movie with my best friend."

Megan left the studio and drove back to her rented apartment. She opened her phone and checked Twitter, but there were only a few followers.

It’s too difficult for ordinary actors to get noticed, even on social media.

Megan returned to the main Twitter page to see what the hot news was.

The hottest news at the top comes from Harvey Weinstein. A total of more than 120 victims have formally sued him.

Megan opened the news page and read it carefully, trying to find the characteristics of the hot spots.

Images of victims wearing #MeToo badges appeared on the news pages, and Megan suddenly discovered something remarkable: none of the victims were black!

She vaguely grasped the traffic password.

Megan first commented on the news, then forwarded Harvey's image and news link, and posted her comment in the form of a tweet.

"Harvey Weinstein is not only guilty of sexual assault, but he is also a racist. There is not a single black person among the people he has assaulted!"

The next day, this tweet not only became a trending topic on Twitter, but was also reposted by many websites and media.

Meghan Markle became famous overnight.

(End of this chapter)