The two had lunch, but Nancy did not go to work immediately, and Simon continued to accompany her patiently.
Sitting on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the movie studio, Nancy had just been brainwashed by someone's 'heretical theories'. Nancy did not continue to discuss things like work, and asked about the trivial matters of some men in Australia. I have been eating too well recently and am worried about gaining weight. Then I bring up another thing: "Simon, do you think my little guy can be as smart as Seal?"
Simon hugged the small female executive next to him and sat by the window. Hearing this, he immediately shook his head: "I don't think you should expect this."
Nancy was puzzled.
Simon explained with a wry smile: "How should I put it? Syl should be... too smart, so smart that I'm a little worried."
Nancy smiled when she heard this: "You didn't say that before. I remember you occasionally mentioned that no matter how smart Syl is, the Westeros family can provide her with a sufficient platform to perform."
"I thought so at first. I think that many amazing geniuses in history even turned into lunatics in the end because they lacked enough resources and platforms for them to fully display their talents. To ordinary people, all kinds of talents do not seem to matter. What kind of potential constraints will lead them to collapse?" Simon did not deny it, and then said: "The problem is, as I just said, Ciel's intelligence is somewhat beyond my understanding."
Nancy blinked: "Don't count. I know many geniuses who master their mother tongue within a few months of their birth. They can read various classics by the age of one or two. They are proficient in seven or eight languages by the age of three or four. Although these are rare, they are also It's all documented. For example, um, Thomas Young was such a person. In the era when Newton was at the height of his popularity, he dared to go against the other party's view of the particle nature of light and proposed the wave nature of light. Heh, it seems that he was just a doctor. He occasionally secretly The research almost overturned the theory of our scientific giant, and was banned because of it.”
Simon shook his head: "What you said is still within the scope of my knowledge. If Syl is just like this, I have nothing to worry about. The problem is, for example, Syl can even accurately sense the changes in her body. She said that her chin I would get a pimple one day, and then I would have pimples the next day. That's it. I don't remember any genius who could reach this level. Also, Searle's way of thinking, Searle's math teacher's recent post The report, oh, was also the resignation report of the mathematics professor from Stanford, because she said that she could no longer teach my daughter. In the report, she said that Searle could even use the 128-base counting method to perform direct mental operations. Moreover, thinking about many mathematical problems directly goes beyond the usual two-dimensional and three-dimensional categories and enters higher-dimensional models.”
Nancy listened with surprise on her face. She found a small dot that she could understand a little bit and raised her hand to gesture: "128-bit system, does this have enough characters to express it?"
Simon shrugged: "That's the difference. We stupid earthlings need to use symbols to identify them. Syl does not. She may just arrange the required dots in her mind."
Nancy was a little amused by Simon's statement, and after thinking about it, she said, "I think, in this case, if your 3G plan is to be realized, Siel may play a key role."
"Jenny is very happy about this," Simon did not deny it, saying: "As for the goal of breaking through the limits of life in the 3G plan, Jenny has been guiding Sylvie's interest in the field of biology. However, the problem is that although Sylvie is only 5 Years old, but the direction of her thinking now is beyond the control of stupid earthlings like us."
Nancy fantasized about certain scenarios and just laughed again.
Then stop expecting your little guy to be like Seattle.
Just be smart.
The two of them ate and rested for only an hour. At one o'clock in the afternoon, they returned to work.
Simon's afternoon work schedule consists mainly of movies.
Starting from the reports from the heads of the three labels and New Line, which they have recently planned to support, on their major film projects, the Hollywood version of "Love Call Transfer", which will be released on Valentine's Day, and the post-production progress of films such as "The Matrix" and "The Lord of the Rings" , "Chicago", "Cider House Rules" and other preparations for the progress of the film details and so on.
Starting at four o'clock in the afternoon, there was another production meeting with some specific project leaders.
A small conference room in Building 1 of the administrative area.
After Anthony Minghella, the director of "The Talented Mr. Ripley," left, Simon briefly jotted down a few notes on the work diary in front of him, and Ang Lee and his old partner James Shams also came in.
After a simple greeting and motioning for the two of them to sit down, Simon went straight to the point: "Lee, Jim, I've seen the information that you are preparing for the "Ride with the Devil" project. The theme is the Civil War. The core is, um, a little complicated, family, female sex. **, and homosexuality... I have read the first draft of your script, and it seems very ambitious and wants to talk about everything. However, I imagined the future film, and it seems that nothing is mentioned, just like the number of things in the film. There are so many characters but none of them left a deep impression on me. Li, please tell me first, what exactly do you want to express?"
"Ride with the Devil" is another Ang Lee film that Simon remembers, and it is a film that received very little attention. It was adapted from a 1987 film about the state of Missouri caught between the Northern and Southern camps during the American Civil War. A novel about some people's experiences and struggles during the war.
Simon happened to have seen the finished film.
A film very much in Ang Lee's style, with beautiful shots and a calm narrative, showing a maturity of sophistication, but at the same time it has changed its past style and pursued a brand new narrative.
In addition, the cost was close to 40 million US dollars, but the ending was silent and it was a huge failure at the box office.
Considering that the film was produced by Universal Pictures, which was going through turmoil at the same time as Panasonic was selling out and leaving, the box office failure of "Ride with the Devil" was largely due to a distribution error. If it can operate at the level of art films like Miramax, win some small awards, and gain global box office at least equivalent to the cost, it won't be a problem.
That's why Simon didn't directly veto it.
In the conference room, hearing what Simon said, both of them were a little worried. Li An thought for a moment and said, "Simon, you are right. This is a new attempt in my plan. I hope to get rid of the past emphasis on shaping people. It shows a panoramic landscape painting of the people living in the cracks of war during the American Civil War."
Simon listened carefully and did not raise any objection, but asked: "Then, the problem is, the core, Li, landscape paintings also need a core. If you give me one, you can also give one to future audiences, so that they can finish reading After this movie, won’t you be confused and completely lose focus?”
Li An frowned slightly and thought for a moment, then said: "The core of growth is Jack's growth."
"Very good," Simon nodded in agreement: "However, the problem is that Jack's growth trajectory is too scattered. At least I can't see this clearly from the script. I hope you will make certain modifications and new elaborations. Furthermore, since we want to focus on Jack’s growth, the casting of this character is also crucial.”
After Simon finished speaking, James Shamus eagerly continued: "Simon, we are in contact with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Leon is also very interested in this role."
Simon paused, smiled and shook his head.
This is right.
The leading actor in the film was Tobey Maguire, DiCaprio's best friend, who happened to be an actor that Simon had no feelings for at all. However, the actor is obviously very smart in private. After Leonardo DiCaprio rose to prominence, as Leonardo's core 'star companion', Tobey Maguire took advantage of the situation and picked up many roles from the extremely popular DiCaprio, such as "The Cider House Rules", such as this "Ride with the Devil", and even the "Spider-Man" trilogy that brought Maguire's career to the top.
In the press releases at the time, the relationship between Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio was linked, intentionally or not. It was probably because Leonardo DiCaprio did not have time to star, so he recommended his good friend Maguire.
These films have successes and failures, and in Simon's case, the only flaw happens to be the male lead.
Simon didn't like it very much.
Because Maguire basically has the same acting style from beginning to end, exactly like his good friend DiCaprio, who plays all roles as Tobey Maguire, from "The Cider House Rules" to "Spider-Man" ", basically all of them are honest and cowardly, with a lackluster look like I'm not the protagonist, I'm just a supporting role for DiCaprio who doesn't exist in the movie.
I just happened to be discussing another movie "The Cider House Rules" with Ella Deutschman of Highgate Films. Regarding the final confirmation of the role, Tobey Maguire appeared again, and Simon just crossed it out and reminded Deutschman doesn't want to let himself see this lackluster actor again.
At this time, he heard that James Shamus said that he was in contact with Leonardo DiCaprio. Simon felt that if he did not intervene, the result would be that Leonardo DiCaprio would not be available again, so he recommended his good friend Tobey Maguire.
Shaking his head slightly, Simon said: "If Leon is invited, even if he is willing to share the role with a salary cut, the budget will probably pile up to 50 million US dollars. Jim, what do you think the box office prospects of this movie are?"
James Shames is also a veteran producer who is very good at deceiving investors. He said without blinking: "Simon, if we can invite Leon and distribute it properly in the future, I believe that the local income of 50 million will definitely be achieved." The problem is that the global revenue should exceed 100 million. In this case, a budget of 50 million is acceptable."
Simon smiled, did not refute, thought for a while and said: "Tornadore, well, the Italian one, you must know that he is preparing a new film, probably he wants to shoot his own "Sunny" "Days", the last time I read the script, I discussed with him that his story may fail because of the male protagonist. On the one hand, the story focuses too much on the heroine. On the other hand, and the most important point, It's not easy to choose a successful leading actor. The key to Jiang's "Sunshine Days" winning the youngest Venice Best Actor award was choosing the right role. I've heard some behind-the-scenes rumors. During the preparation stage, Jiang’s mother went to visit the class and saw the male protagonist. She was surprised and said that he looked exactly like Jiang when he was a child, from appearance to personality. So, do you understand?”
The two paused and nodded together.
Simon's attitude is obvious. The reputation of the character is not the most important, but the suitability is the most important.
Thinking about the rise of Daenerys Entertainment for so many years, as the most powerful major studio in Hollywood, it is also the studio that pays the least attention to big stars. This is not to say that it is the confidence brought by its own strength, but just, The simplest thing is to choose only the right ones, not the expensive ones, when it comes to film casting.
And often with great success.
Seeing the two of them nodding, Simon nodded slightly with satisfaction and said: "So, don't be like those commercial film producers who chase after you, who most likely won't be able to catch you. Let's talk about a few top stars. Put aside these thoughts and focus on Choose some potential new actors who are more suitable for your films. Lee, Jim, I hope you can have an ambition to achieve some actors through your own films, rather than hoping to achieve your own films through big-name actors. Once there are With this kind of thinking, you have already planted the seeds of failure for yourself.”
When Simon finished speaking, James Shams subconsciously responded, but Ang Lee paused for a moment before nodding and saying with a serious expression: "Simon, I will remember these words."
"So, finally..." Simon said: "As for the budget, I hope to control it at around 35 million US dollars, two of you. By doing this, you can have quite a lot of freedom to play based on some of the tendencies we just discussed."
Li An and Shamus looked at each other and quickly nodded together.
At the same time, I understood that Simon directly rejected the proposal to invite Leonardo.
However, the full use of the US$35 million must be limited to the framework discussed by both parties, that is, from a panoramic landscape painting to a certain emphasis on the male protagonist, but it is still a good result.
In fact, what touched Ang Lee the most was Simon's words: let the movie make the actor, not the actor make the movie.
Thinking about it again, Leonardo, who is still firmly fixed in the halo of "Titanic", is indeed a bit inappropriate. Ang Lee does not want his audience to see DiCaprio in his future films, but what comes to mind is It was the image of the young man embracing Rachel Weisz on the captain of the ship.
After seeing the two of them off, another series of project creators came and went like a flowing stream.
Until it was close to seven o'clock in the evening.
The last one in line, Lena Kane and Annika Settle, a pair of best friends, walked in with the comedy project they were preparing at this time, "Crazy About Mary."