Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Los Angeles.
This is the afternoon of Friday, August 6th. The movie market outside is busy because of the release of "Fight Club". Simon is here to help with the final editing of "Cyborg 2", which will be released at the end of the year. matters.
Although Warner strictly guarded the copyrights of superheroes such as "The Flash" and "Cyborg" and no longer opened them to Daenerys, Simon was still named as the executive producer of "The Flash" and other series, and he still really took the rights. The kind of generous remuneration, so whether it is out of his interest in the entire DC movie universe series or his own professional ethics, Simon will spend a certain amount of energy on these films.
This "Cyborg 2" is the 13th film in the DC Cinematic Universe series and the last solo work before next year's "Justice League" where heroes gather.
Speaking of "Justice League", the film officially started filming in July, still in Australia, and the director once again chose Roland Emmerich.
Furthermore, after much consideration, of course, to put it bluntly, in order to maximize profits, "Justice League" will be divided into two parts.
In fact, the original plan for the project included two "Justice League" films, but one after "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice". It was similar to the rhythm of the original time and space, and the big villain was also Steppenwolf. Then after several solo works, we come to "Justice League 2", where the big villain is Darkseid.
Plans cannot keep up with changes.
The biggest change is that Simon had already reached a tacit agreement with Jack Welch to package and sell the DC superhero rights held by Daenerys back to Warner after "Justice League". Then, Daenerys This is naturally the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
From a business perspective, this is very irrational.
It stands to reason that even if she does not plan to continue the DC movie universe after "Justice League", Daenerys firmly holds the copyrights of superheroes such as Superman in her own hands, which is equivalent to containing Marvel's biggest competitor.
Simon just wasn't going to use this rogue approach.
First of all, the relationship with Time Warner and even GE, the current owner of Time Warner, has always been very good. Simon also has the idea of gradually controlling GE. Therefore, if the copyrights of the three giants are returned to DC, it may still be his own in the future.
Secondly, Time Warner should maintain a certain degree of strength to prevent Daenerys from reaching a monopoly that is too big to be bigger.
Although Simon does not intend to retain his strength in Daenerys' expansion in recent years, he does not have any intention of ousting all other companies. Time Warner is Simon's competitor specially left for Daenerys.
Without competitors, people often lose their ambition, and the same goes for companies.
Finally, I completely let go, with no way out, and I can devote myself wholeheartedly to the development of my own Marvel Cinematic Universe.
All in all, since you are planning to let go, of course you must maximize your benefits before letting go.
In addition, although the plan is to be divided into two parts, taking into account the audience's movie-watching mentality, no one likes a movie to be divided into two parts. Therefore, the actual rumors are that two parts will be shot back to back, each with its own The subtitles are basically their own complete stories.
The first film centers on the resurrection of Superman, and the villain is Steppenwolf.
The second part is about Darkseid's invasion of Earth after the failure of Steppenwolf as the vanguard.
Simon actually gave up on his original plan to maximize the benefits of inserting a few more single-player stories between the two films, and directly made two elongated stories back to back.
I’m planning to let it go anyway, who can care so much.
If after Daenerys withdraws, without Simon's control, Warner will not know how to promote the follow-up, and even end up in a messy situation, then it can only be because it is too unsatisfactory.
Let’s talk about “Cyborg 2” again.
As the last solo movie before "Justice League", the plot of this movie can be said to be a link between the past and the future.
The story roughly tells that after the intersection of Wonder Woman, Cyborg and The Flash in "Wonder Woman 2", Cyborg, who completed a transformation, proposed that superheroes should establish an alliance and watch the death of Superman during the Super-Bat War. Victor Stone, who had retreated, made up his mind and took the initiative to start running for it.
Just from this development, it can be imagined that "Cyborg 2" will definitely not be a completely single-player story like "The Flash 2".
In the previous "The Flash 2" after "Wonder Woman 2", because the Flash chose to leave quietly after the Battle of Central City in "Wonder Woman 2" and hide his fame and power, therefore, "The Flash 2" is still completely The single-player story is against the old villain in the "Flash" series.
In short, this time in "Cyborg 2", The Flash showed up again, as did two other famous heroes in the DC movie universe, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman.
After continuous exploration in recent years, Daenerys' special effects have conquered the underwater special effects technology required for Aquaman's appearance, and it is very stunning. As for Martian Manhunter, it mainly involves transformation, which is easier to operate.
As for the equally popular Green Lantern in DC comics, obviously, due to special effects, he will not appear this time. Of course, it’s not that the special effects of Green Lantern cannot be produced. The key point is that within an acceptable budget, the special effects of Green Lantern cannot be produced yet, or they are not perfect.
Back to the plot of "Cyborg 2", after convincing the Flash and Martian Manhunter, Cyborg hit a wall with Aquaman.
Because of his childhood experience, Neptune had no good impression of the Atlanteans and was equally alienated from humans, so he lived alone and lived in isolation.
While Cyborg was in contact with Neptune, he also found out something. A group of mysterious pirates somehow knew the secret of the Mother Box and were trying to go to Paradise Island to seize the Mother Box.
The leader of this mysterious island group happens to be Orm Curry, the half-brother of Aquaman Arthur Curry. The source of Orm Curry is a foreshadowing laid in the previous "Suicide Squad 2", an anti-hero 'outlaw' who successfully escaped, well, it's not Zhang San, it's the DC Suicide Squad series. An anti-hero in Orm, he joins Orm's pirate group and colludes with Orm in order to obtain the power of the Mother Box.
Not only that, Orm also united with King Nereus, who hoped to unify Atlantis again and ascend to the highest throne.
The three bosses, Orm, Outlaw, and King Nereus, agreed to share the three mother boxes equally after the event was completed.
Understanding the importance of the Mother Box, and in order to stop his brother from continuing to do evil, Arthur was finally persuaded by Cyborg and his tribe to assume his responsibilities and fight against several villains.
The final battle takes place near Paradise Island.
Cyborg, Aquaman, the Atlanteans, and the Amazons faced off against the three armies of Orm, the Outlaws, and King Nereus, involving the land, sea, and air forces. The scene was spectacular and grand.
Of course, due to copyright restrictions, Wonder Woman did not appear.
The plot of Paradise Island is actually Daenerys making certain concessions to consider the overall situation.
At the end of the story, of course, justice triumphs over evil again.
At the same time, the Justice League took shape.
At the end, there are indispensable easter eggs.
At some point, a huge spaceship arrived near the earth. Steppenwolf, holding a giant axe, issued an order to his demon-like army: "Go and find them."
So, it was overwhelming.
It took about three and a half hours to complete the preliminary edited version of all the special effects. Simon spent an entire afternoon working until about seven o'clock in the evening before finalizing the final editing plan.
The final film is expected to be around 2 hours and 40 minutes.
It's kind of long, but no matter how short it is, it will affect the integrity of the story.
Simon will not ignore the schedule of more single-day filming like Warner once did. After all, this can be regarded as a gathering.
In fact, because of the appearances of The Flash, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman, and the fact that the film is no less exciting than Superman, Simon roughly predicts that the box office of this film will be very bright, and it is not impossible to hit 400 million locally. . It's a pity that, except for Simon's personal production fee, Daenerys has no share of the profits at all this time.
After a day's work, Terry Semel, who was already in charge of GE's media and entertainment business, came over and said he wanted to invite Simon to have dinner with him.
I roughly understand what Semel means, but I still want to talk about the DC copyright sale in advance.
Simon did not refuse, but he also did not go to have dinner together. Instead, he took Semel to the wealthy area of Bel Air.
He agreed in advance that Jonathan Friedman, the head of WMA, would go to his place to attend a cocktail party held by him in the evening, which was a daily social event in Hollywood.
The two rushed to Jonathan's family's hilltop mansion in Bel Air. The sky had completely darkened. Looking down from their feet, the entire Los Angeles was dotted with stars.
The stars are also shining here.
There was no rush to talk about the matter. The two of them greeted the host beforehand and then went to socialize separately for the time being.
Even in his current position, Terry Semel still attaches great importance to relationships with stars. This is also the result of being influenced by former Warner head Steve Ross for a long time.
After walking among the crowd for more than ten minutes, Semel came to the second-floor terrace of the main villa of the mansion. A group of people here are gathered around a circular sofa overlooking the night view of Los Angeles, chatting animatedly.
Terry Semel looked over and saw Simon first.
Then next to a certain young tycoon, sitting on her left hand was Demi Moore, who had recently become famous again with her role as the heroine in "The Matrix". Of course, this is not interesting yet. Not to mention the right side, still to the left, next to Demi Moore's husband, Bruce Willis.
No matter where, under normal circumstances, a man's husband should sit next to another male guest. This couple... is obviously different.
Not only that, Terry Semel happened to see Demi Moore wearing a high-cut dress with her exposed calf leaning against Simon, seemingly still rubbing it gently.
This is even more interesting.
Moreover, Bruce Willis on the other side not only looked normal, but even leaned forward slightly to look at Simon who was speaking in a flattering manner.
But Terry Semel understands this.
Not only Demi Moore, but also Bruce Willis, who has aged much worse than his wife in recent years, has become famous again this summer.
Michael Bay's "The End of the World".
Simon once again chose Bruce Willis as the leading actor. Although Simon never felt that Bruce Willis had any tough guy temperament compared to male stars such as Stallone and Schwarzenegger, but playing an oil worker, Still more than enough.
After getting this role, even if the core of the project is Michael Bay, the selling point is the dazzling special effects, and even if the project does not actually meet expectations, Bruce Willis has still largely restored his declining popularity.
Without any good works, this actor may not even be able to stay in the second tier.
Hence the present moment.
In a vanity fair like Hollywood, in pursuit of fame and fortune, ordinary people can imagine that all kinds of bad things beyond cognition can happen here. Therefore, let alone this level of turning a blind eye, even... or even even... Semel feels that it is very Nothing will happen to Bruce Willis, who knows the current affairs.
And it may also create a certain mentality.
Roughly speaking, if his wife has an affair with Lao Wang, the husband will definitely be furious, but if his wife has an affair with the king, the husband may regard it as an honor.
This is not a fabrication.
Many Western countries have similar traditions in their history.
The wife had an affair with the king and became pregnant, so she received a reward, became a noble, and owned the territory. Not only did the husband not make a big fuss, he would happily take up office in the territory. After enjoying a lifetime of wealth, he would pass the territory on in the future. To the king's son.
Complete.
Terry Semel greeted everyone and did not go to the couch where Simon was sitting. Obviously he couldn't squeeze through. He could only sit down in an empty seat that a few people here took the initiative to help him. Only then did he pay attention to the other people. .
First of all, it’s Simon’s side, a couch that can seat five people. On the left is Demi Moore and his wife. Next to Simon on the right is Hollywood beauty Catherine Zeta-Jones. Outside is the heroine Julianne of the “Conjuring” series. · Moore.
Seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones made Semel think of "Chicago" again.
Zeta-Jones appears here and the film is apparently finished.
Speaking of this musical project that is a hit on Broadway, Warner also fought for it at the beginning, but unfortunately it couldn't win over Daenerys. There was nothing we could do about it. Looking at the lineup this time, the gorgeous actress Zeta-Jones is partnered with the pop queen Madonna, and there seems to be a new Australian actor participating. Combined with the popularity of the project itself, it is probably not easy to lose money.
Looking at the others, Jonathan Friedman, Brian De Palma, Jeff Bridges, Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith came with their rumored recognition of someone When the godfather's daughter Dakota Johnson, 'Batman' Adam Baldwin, British director Paul Greengrass, who quickly established a place in Hollywood by directing "Blair Witch" and "Public Enemy"...
If it were Hollywood in the past, and everyone sat together, Terry Semel understood that the status of everyone sitting here was basically equal, or the status of the big names might actually be higher than that of studio executives like him. Higher.
Now, however, it is clear that the stars are over the moon.
Someone was sitting there, chatting and laughing, and everyone was paying their utmost attention to each other, as if they were afraid of missing something. Even Semel himself quickly fell into this state without even realizing it.
Terry Semel could only lament this, mainly because the gap was too big to be envious.