Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 444 Selling the Old and Opening the New, Night Chat
Native 3D places far greater demands on "spatial art" than ordinary films.

In traditional 2D filming, the art director is responsible for set design, color, and texture, mainly to serve the flat shots.

When shooting in native 3D, the sense of layering, depth, and separability of all scenes must be designed properly, otherwise it will lead to spatial distortion, dizziness, or "spatial collapse".

Interstellar contains a wealth of scientific concepts, such as wormholes, black holes, time warping, and five-dimensional space. These are not things that can be easily overlooked by simply drawing some halos around the edges.
It demands a high level of artistic design, requiring both realistic logic and a visually stunning spatial structure.

Wu Chen shook his head slightly at Han Sanping's suggestion:
"Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts is not suitable. In terms of animation, visual media, and craft design, China Academy of Art is much more suitable. In addition, the Beijing Film Academy's Department of Fine Arts understands the language of camera shots and the logic of set design, so the combination would be more reasonable."

“Okay, then we’ll take the lead with Gome.” Ren Zhonglun immediately accepted the task and readily agreed. “Shanghai has always been close to Gome, especially with the relationship with Shanghai Animation Film Studio. We should be able to coordinate quickly.”

"By the way, who will be in charge at Universal?"

“It should be Industrial Light & Magic or Digital Domain,” Wu Chen said with certainty.

There aren't many companies that can take on such a complex project at this point in time, and given Universal's style, they will most likely choose one of these two companies.

As for the top management at Global, he wasn't worried.

Although the marketing and distribution costs of Hollywood blockbusters are usually as high as 50% of the production cost, and in extreme cases even up to 100%.

If global marketing and distribution costs are included, the total budget for Interstellar could approach $3 million.

However, with the success of "The Martian" as a backing, "Interstellar" will only have a higher priority within Universal, and the risk is worthwhile given the anticipated returns.

After dealing with these matters, Wu Chen finally thought about "Now You See Me 2".

The film was completed in the second half of last year, and Lionsgate has been giving him feedback on the post-production progress. However, he has been busy with "The Martian" and the preparation of two new films recently, and has no time to take a closer look.

That evening, Wu Chen finally found some time to make a special phone call to Michael Burns of Lionsgate.

As soon as the call connected, Michael chuckled and joked, "Wu, I thought you'd forgotten about our movie, which might not do so well at the box office."

"I've been really busy lately," Wu Chen explained with a smile.

"Haha, I understand. Lionsgate can't keep up with blockbusters, but if you have some low- to mid-budget films, Lionsgate will definitely help you with the utmost sincerity."

Michael Burns emphasized this point with sincerity.

He was really envious.

These big studios invest hundreds of millions of dollars at a time, but these films can rake in hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars at the global box office. The returns may not be as great as some small and medium-sized films, but they still make a lot of money.

Moreover, DVDs of these blockbuster films are very valuable. He estimates that the global DVD revenue of "The Martian" should not be less than $1.5 million.

These facts have been verified by historical science fiction films.

Television rights sales revenue will be less, but it will still amount to tens of millions of US dollars.

Upon hearing this, Wu Chen casually replied, "I understand. Haven't we been working with Lionsgate on 'Lurking 2' all along?"

Lionsgate is indeed a step behind when it comes to top-tier blockbusters, which is something that can't be helped.
Upon hearing Wu Chen mention "Lurking", Michael Burns immediately asked, "Oh, Wu, are you really not planning to sell the IP of 'Lurking'?"
If you're looking to sell, please consider us.

Wu Chen's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this.

The story after "Insidious" is difficult to continue, but there are still good horror film series. They could sell "Insidious" and then develop a new series with James Wan.
This can be a win-win situation!

"Let's see how it goes after it's released this year," Wu Chen said, not giving a definitive answer.

Michael immediately sensed the softening in Wu Chen's tone and quickly said with a smile:
"Of course, of course. By the way, we've set the release date for Now You See Me 2 in August. We've already started the pre-release promotions, targeting the end of this year's summer movie season, avoiding those mega-blockbusters. I believe that with the popularity of the first film, the box office can reach another level."

“Good release date,” Wu Chen replied casually. Although Now You See Me 2 is a sequel to an IP, it’s safer to go head-to-head with it on the edge of the summer release window.

The hottest period of summer vacation is the domain of super IPs, and a head-on confrontation will only result in mutual destruction, or perhaps "The Heist" will suffer more.

"There are just too many blockbusters this year," Michael remarked.

Wu Chen simply nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

In fact, not only in North America, but also in China, the film market will expand dramatically this year. The days when a box office of 100 million yuan was enough to shake the industry are coming to an end.

A thought suddenly struck him, and he remembered Paramount's "Black Swan".

"I wonder if Paramount will release 'Black Swan' this year." He put down the phone and muttered to himself.

The film was completed in the middle and later stages of last year and entered Paramount's Oscar nomination pool, but there has been no news of it since.

Of course, on the one hand, it's necessary to stagger the release time with "Black Peony" to avoid aesthetic fatigue among the judges; on the other hand, it's important to choose the right time to compete for the grand prize.
However, as part of the deal he made to take Interstellar, he didn't have much say in the film; he was just a hired director, so he didn't care much about it.

If Paramount plans to release it this year, it will likely be around the Christmas season, meaning it will have to compete with films like *Avatar* and *The Hurt Locker* for awards.
Late at night, a gentle early summer breeze blew into the villa through the windows, bringing a touch of coolness, accompanied by the soft rustling of leaves.

In the bedroom, the main light was off, leaving only the dim bedside lamp on.

Couples love chatting at night, especially before bed.

Liu Yifei and others have endless topics to talk about, but they always end up talking about their time at the Beijing Film Academy.

The air conditioner was blowing cool air. Liu Yifei, wearing a Donald Duck pajama set, propped her head up with her right hand, tugged at the blanket with her left, and looked at Wu Chen with a smile:

"Hehe, junior, when you were taking photos for our class back then, what did you think of me?"

Before she finished speaking, she casually pulled the blanket up a little higher.

Wu Chen suddenly felt his feet were a little cold and uncomfortable, and subconsciously let out a "ha".

"Ugh, why do you always make me repeat myself?" Liu Yifei pouted, dissatisfied. "Quick, tell me, how do you feel?"

“This ‘quilt’ is too short,” Wu Chen muttered.

Liu Yifei immediately beamed with joy, gently patting his chest with her left hand: "You rascal, always saying such flattering things."

"No, I mean the blanket is too short; it doesn't cover my feet."

The moment the words were spoken, the romantic atmosphere vanished.

Liu Yifei turned her head and looked over, her eyes widening in anger. She opened her mouth and bit down on Wu Chen's shoulder: "I'm so angry, Wu Chen, can't you speak properly!"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Stop biting me! What I said just now was true too—'a lifetime,' not just a blanket."

"real or fake?"

Liu Yifei opened her mouth, her face full of disbelief.

"That's definitely true. Think about it, with your IQ, it's hard for me to fool you, right?" Wu Chen said confidently.

Liu Yifei smiled and nodded confidently: "That's true."

(End of this chapter)