hollywood draw

"...Yes, Jeff, I don't think there is anything to discuss in the script."

In the Greenberg Manor Restaurant, Wayne was wearing pajamas, holding a mobile phone with one hand, tilting his head and talking. He was not idle with the other hand, and kept scrambled a piece of scrambled eggs with a steel fork and sent them to his mouth.

He chewed things in his mouth, making his voice sound a little vague. "I only have one opinion on the script. If an executive or shareholder thinks he understands DC superhero better than me and movies better than me, then I respect his revisions!"

"Well...Dear, is there any food?"

Just as Wayne tilted his neck and clamped the phone and was talking to Warner Bros. Ceao in a striking tone, Naomi Watts covered his mouth with one hand and walked into the restaurant while yawning.

He glared at the Australian actress fiercely, pointed to the phone on his neck, and pointed to the place where breakfast was left on the dining table.

“sorry.”

Naomi Watts shrugged and apologized silently. Regardless of whether the man saw his apology, he pulled open the chair and sat before breakfast, and began to keep stuffing food into his mouth.

"Wayne, be prepared. Within a week, I will make "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" pass the audit of the audit committee and promote the establishment of these two projects as soon as possible!"

Jeff Robinoff's voice came from the phone. In fact, Warner Bros. CEO thought of the result in the morning. This phone call was more like a routine for other senior executives to see. "Hey, man, don't tell me you're having breakfast. It's already ten o'clock in the morning."

"Yes, I gave myself a half-day vacation." Wayne responded with a smile, but his eyes were involuntarily aimed at the Australian actress. "Okay, then that's what you want, Jeff, try to move as fast as possible, we don't have enough time."

After saying that, he hung up the phone, threw the mobile phone on the dining table, and kept trying hard to deal with the scrambled eggs and bacon on the plate.

Although it was late September, the sunshine in Los Angeles was still enthusiastic. Naomi Watts picked up the milk and drank two big gulps in a row. Turned to look at the hot sky outside the window, and asked casually: "What's wrong? Let Jeff call the manor early in the morning to find you."

"The script issues of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman"." Wayne muttered, muttering: "The Warner Bros. Review Commissioner has some senior executives who have some opinions on the timelines of these two scripts."

"How to solve it?" The Australian actress shook her head gently and continued to ask in surprise: "Revise the script? Or how about it?"

Without waiting for his answer, he cleared his throat with a look of watching the show on his face and said seriously: "Wayne Greenberg's new project was blocked, and the Warner Brothers Review Committee requested a modification, otherwise the project will not be approved. Hahaha, I really look forward to this headline tomorrow!"

"Dear Ms. Watts, I'm afraid you will be disappointed."

After swallowing his last bite, Wayne leaned on the chair with a comfortable face, glanced at the proud Naomi Watts, reached out to pick up a cigarette and took out one, lit it, and took a big mouthful of force.

With the blue smoke coming out of his mouth, he smiled and said, "At least, Jeff will promote the project establishment in just one week. Nami, you have to know that in Hollywood, if you have money, then the rules can be adapted. If you have the right, the rules can serve you.

The rules of the Warner Bros. Review Committee are tailored for producers and directors who have neither money nor authority. But I am not in this category, do you understand?"

She rolled her eyes fiercely. Naomi Watts didn't continue to say anything. Although she didn't want to admit it, everything the other party said was the fact that Chiloro in this circle.

Large Hollywood film companies have rigorous and complete project review mechanisms. Unlike independent film companies, every project invested in and produced by a large film company must go through almost strict review procedures.

It is still the late 1990s, but the investment scale of mainstream Hollywood commercial films has reached tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Don’t look at large Hollywood film companies, they all seem to be rich, but in fact there is not much working capital. The failure of a large-scale project investment of hundreds of millions of dollars is entirely possible to bankrupt a medium-sized film company and cause a large film company to become irritated.

Therefore, film companies are not allowed to be cautious or cautious. Even so, film investment is like gambling for film companies. No company can ensure the success of the film before the project is released. This is one of the reasons why Hollywood film companies like to produce sequel projects.

In the years since Hollywood is commercialized, film companies have already had a complete set of operating rules. However, when the project is officially approved for investment, there is no idea how many plans are required every day. It is suppressed at this closure. It is even more common for projects that have been reviewed for several years in the circle.

But all of this is for ordinary producers or directors, practitioners of Wayne or Steven Spielberg, who are of the same level, are fully capable of ignoring the almost strict rules in the circle to a certain extent.

Not to mention the detailed project plan and script, directors or producers of their level, even if they are empty-handed and rely on an idea that suddenly comes to mind, they will still not lack investors who actively give money.

"I'm going to the farm to see Fendi, do you want to be with me?"

For actresses, body management is always the focus of life. Naomi Watts seems to be very hungry, but he still controls his desire to eat more. He just ate some bread and picked up skim milk and looked at Wayne and complained:

"Damn it, I hope Little Fendi hasn't forgotten me as a mother."

"I asked Roland Emmerich in the afternoon to talk to him about the preparations for "King Kong"." Shrugged at the woman, Wayne spread his hands regretfully. "Cherish your vacation, Nami, I suggest you stay on the farm for two days and spend a good time with our good daughter."

"Well, I'll consider it."

Naomi Watts drank all the milk in one sip and stood up and walked out of the restaurant. "But I still have to say, Wayne, I enjoy the feeling of work very much."

Looking at the graceful back of the Australian girl, Wayne's mind kept surging with the madness of last night. Even he himself admitted in his heart that no matter how hot other women are or how delicate their faces are, in the end, the woman who is most accompanied with him must be this Australian girl.

When he was the only one left in the restaurant, he inevitably began to consider the call he had just answered.

In fact, after the scripts of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" were submitted to Warner Bros., together with the project plan, Wayne had already thought that there would definitely be some executives who would object to the script's timeline.

After all, according to his plan, both the production and release time of "Wonder Woman" must be placed in front of the beginning of "Superman". If the two films are replaced in order of each other, these sounds will never appear.

First of all, there is "Wonder Woman". Wayne did not make much modifications, and the overall script was still based on the version in his mind. After all, the long legs of that Israeli actress really impressed people too much.

The success of this version has fully proved the excellence of its script and story. He did not give up any effort and made major changes to himself. If the current script is different from the picture in memory, it is just that some lines are added to the film, which seem to be true and false, suggest the existence of the Green Lantern.

The ending easter egg is where he really intends to arrange it, and the other stories have not changed much as a whole. The memory of "Wonder Woman" is like showing how beautiful Gal Gadot is at 360 degrees. The version he is about to shoot continues this way except for the replacement of the heroine.

What attracted the opinions of Warner Bros. is actually the script and story arrangement of "Superman". Because Wayne puts Superman's storyline in front of "Wonder Woman".

There is nothing surprising about the overall story of "Superman". It can be said that even if it has not been filmed, DC fans can guess it. This film mainly gives the origin of Clark Kent, and the biggest villain will only be General Zod.

It’s just that according to normal people’s understanding, there is no doubt that the “Superman”, which has a higher timeline, should be given priority to production and release, and then through some small means to lead to the Wonder Woman Diana Prince.

But Wayne didn't do that, and his plan was completely the opposite.

If a single film, or these two films are put together, "Superman" is before and after "Wonder Woman", it is indeed more conducive to the film's screening results, and also to the understanding of movie fans and the smoothness of movie fans' viewing.

However, Wayne's eyes did not stare at these two films at all. Instead, he paid more attention to the foundation laid for "Justice League" after the release of these two films, providing sufficient persuasive logic.

At least in his opinion, with the popularity accumulated in the past few years, coupled with the popularity of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" that has become popular all over the world, even if the timelines of these two films are reversed, they will still not lack the support of fans.

But "Justice League" is completely different. When the expectations of movie fans are pushed to the highest, the difficulty of producing "Justice League" is also raised to the highest.

No one can deny that shooting a movie that is like a big grocery is much more difficult than a single protagonist. When all kinds of heroes gather together, appearance time, display of their respective abilities before and after appearance, etc., it inevitably becomes a problem of the century.

It seems that all Warner Bros.'s senior executives have no concern about Wayne being able to film "Justice League". However, these concerns have always been whispering in his heart. After all, he is not Jos Wadeon. This type of film will not even have the chance to practice.

In fact, as long as Justice League is successful and the first phase of the DC Universe is perfectly concluded, Wayne will not be worried about the development of the second phase.

Whether it is the new characters he has given the plan, such as Shazam, Arrow, Aquaman, Constantine, Suicide Squad, or Batman, Flash, and Superman who continue the sequel, with the success of the first stage, as long as you follow the steps, even if one or two of them are not satisfactory, it will be difficult to affect the advancement of the overall universe.

Everything was no different from Wayne's expectations. Before the end of September, Warner Bros. announced the project announcements for "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" through its subsidiaries. Once the news was released, it immediately attracted the attention of the entire North America.

Compared with the slightly dull theater market in late September, the news of the launch of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" can attract more attention from the media and movie fans.

This year is the year of Warner Bros. From May, the summer season, to the end of the war in the summer season, Warner Bros. is the biggest winner.

So far, the number one in the North American annual box office rankings in 1998 is still firmly dominated by the Flash's $293 million. The second place is the $214 million of "Save Private Ryan", which is also the publisher of this film is Warner Bros.

Behind the fourth place, "The Matrix 3: The Matrix Revolution", the 201 million US dollars. The North American box office of this R-rated film finally barely exceeded the threshold of 200 million US dollars. Behind the North American box office is "Charlie's Angels", which has just exceeded 100 million US dollars, "Rush Hour" with a box office of 130 million US dollars, "The Sky Cannon 4" with a box office of 115 million US dollars, and so on.

Just open this year's North American annual box office rankings and look at it at a glance, basically half of the top ten can have Warner Bros.'s name.

The glory of more than half a year has been no longer new in the eyes of the media, or it is already numb. Don’t think that Warner Bros.’s domination of the theater market has ended. Now the popularity of "Speed ​​Moment" is still there, Warner Bros. has already begun to promote "Super Powerful Pleasure" released in early October...

No one can deny Warner Bros.'s success this year. Although there are still a few months before the end of 1998, the whole Hollywood has realized that Warner Bros.'s total revenue this year is destined to rank first among the six giants.

On the morning of October 1st, hundreds of journalists from mainstream North American media flocked to the headquarters of Warner Bros. Burbank. Today, the project launch conference of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" will be held. These two films attracted the attention of almost all media, and there was no media that was willing to miss the new DC work that was destined to be popular. There is not too much news that can be hyped here.

"The two projects of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman", will be launched together. I didn't expect Warner Brothers to have such a big appetite!"

In a large conference room on the 7th floor of Warner Bros. Building, Candice Mays, a reporter from the New York Times, looked at his colleagues who were still pouring in and sighed in a low voice with the photographer beside him.

"It's not just Warner Bros.'" Photographer Hunter Brent reached out to wipe the sweat on his head, looked at the empty organizer's long table, and joked: "Candice, I would rather believe that Wayne Greenberg has a bigger ambition and a more expansive appetite."

"Actually, it's not that Warner Bros. and Wayne Greenberg are so crazy, and they start two huge projects at the same time." A reporter from "The New Yorker" lowered his head and said after hearing the chat between the two, "Did you notice this year's North American annual movie box office rankings? There are about half of the top ten, and the publishers are all Warner Bros!"

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, looked around and looked at the chaotic crowd, deliberately lowered his voice, and continued: "What makes people even more shocking is that the name Wayne Greenberg is hung behind many of the projects!"

Two reporters from the New York Times were stunned for a moment, and then nodded silently. "The Flash", "The Matrix", "The Charlie's Angels", these three works that have entered the top ten of the annual box offices, Wayne is either a director, an investor and a producer.

In this regard, this name is still the greatest guarantee for Hollywood's success. The Warner Bros. agreed to establish the project with "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" and handed it all over to Wayne, which makes it completely understandable.

The reporters in the conference room were still entering the venue. The protagonist they were waiting for was in an office not far from the conference room, also waiting for the official start of the project launch conference.

"Zach, I heard that you have received quite a few invitations during this period."

Several people were sitting on the sofa, Luke Simmons looked at Zach Schneider in a well-decorated suit and joked: "If I were you, I'll just leave it alone."

After saying that, he deliberately glanced at Wayne and raised his eyebrows at Zach Schneider.

"call."

Zach Schneider whistled, crossed his hands on his legs, and watched Luke Simmons shrugging, and a sentence made the other person's blood pressure soar. "Luke, if you didn't have the same idea back then, the assistant director of "The Joker" would not have been given by me, the director of New York commercials."

His counterattack was not too heavy, and everyone in the office laughed out loud. Everyone looked at Luke Simmons with a smile. Basically everyone knew what happened back then.

If Luke Simmons, who was Wayne's senior, was fooled by a small film company with the temptation of a director, there would undoubtedly be no Zach Schneider today. This matter has basically become the main topic for team members to tease him, and it has always been out of date.

Looking at the senior who raised his middle fingers to everyone, Wayne also smiled and shook his head. There were inevitably conflicts among the group of people, but every time when their new project started, they would at least temporarily put aside all prejudices and at least show the unity they should have in front of themselves, which is enough.

Another point, Luke Simmons said nothing, that was the invitation flying towards Zach Schneider like a snowflake.

According to the information he learned, since the North American box office of "The Matrix 3: Matrix Revolution" exceeded 200 million US dollars, many companies in the circle have extended olive branches to Zach Schneider. This has always been like this in this circle, and business results represent everything. There is no doubt that Director Zach is now very popular in the circle.

Wayne suspects that if Zach Schneider is willing to let go, there will definitely be many high-paid projects among the film companies that have invited him. Maybe there will be companies that will be willing to make 10+10. After all, the results of the "Matrix" trilogy are there, and the box office numbers are far more convincing than what talent and ability come.

The vicious circle of Hollywood has always been like this. There are more talented film directors, but 99% of such people are still working odd jobs on a small crew until they give up and cannot get a director opportunity.

Opportunities are always much more important than talent. No film director who can achieve small achievements in this circle has become famous smoothly.

It’s okay for a person like Wayne, who has a good father who is willing to support and capable of supporting his debut work, has gained an opportunity to show himself to the outside world.

For example, David Lynch, when filming his first feature film "Eraser Head", not only fooled the North American Film Association with ten thousand yuan in support funds, but also emptied all his savings. Even so, the funds needed to face the debut work are a drop in the bucket.

In the end, there was nothing I could do. David Lynch simply shot a movie, delivered newspapers, and picked up rags to make money. Finally, he had the opportunity to show himself to the outside world. If niche fans who like cult films, cult films, and mill films should have seen this special "classic".

Robert Rodriguez's first work "The Sorrow of the Killer", was produced by him as a pharmaceutical company to try out drugs and get paid.

There are countless similar things. It can be said that none of the famous directors in Hollywood can easily succeed. Although they are extremely generous when they invest in them after becoming famous, they will never let go of their money before success, even if Hollywood giants see the talent that is about to overflow from you.

It is because he knows the importance of opportunity that Zach Schneider is unwilling to take risks. He understands his luck better than anyone else. Don’t think that he was laughing when he teased Luke Simmons. In fact, in the entire behind-the-scenes team, he and Luke Simmons have always had a good relationship because of the opportunity that happened by chance.

"Zach, when you go back, tidy up your beard. I don't want to be called a black-hearted capitalist who is trying to squeeze you out." He raised his wrist and looked at the time. Wayne reached out and patted Zach Schneider on the shoulder. "Be ready, we will face the group of fly-like media reporters in ten minutes."

Zach Schneider shrugged, not caring about the messy beard on his face at all, but just lowered his head to tidy up his suit.

Many people laughed at him behind their backs and mocked him for his retreat when facing the "Superman" guide, but no one knew how much pressure he was under after picking up the guide.

Not to mention the project "Superman", even when he was hosting the filming of "The Matrix" for the first two years, the pressure almost broke down several times. Just as Wayne said, Zach Schneider was lucky to have a smooth opportunity, but he also lost the time to exercise his own stress resistance through low-cost projects.

He never told anyone that during the filming of "The Matrix", even if he completed his daily work step by step, the terrifying pressure made him never sleep well...