Back in Los Angeles, Simon has to take care of the entire Daenerys Entertainment film business, but the attention of the circle is still firmly locked in "Batman Begins" and the upcoming DC movie universe plan.
From January 19th to January 25th, "Batman Begins" was released in its fifth week. The film collected another US$31.63 million with a 23% box office drop, and the cumulative box office reached US$303.36 million, officially surpassing "Supernatural". "Six Senses" became the annual box office champion last year.
In the words of some media, the profit brought to Daenerys Entertainment by just one movie, "Batman Begins," is equivalent to the annual film business income of most Hollywood studios.
This is basically true.
Most people can only be jealous of the crazy profits of "Batman Begins", but Warner Bros. Pictures can get a piece of the follow-up plan.
Therefore, these days when Simon returns to Los Angeles, Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Terry Semel, who hopes to advance follow-up plans as soon as possible, keeps in touch with Simon almost every day, either by phone or directly coming to Santa Monica.
Negotiations between Daenerys Entertainment and Time Warner on some details of subsequent cooperation plans for the DC movie universe have also begun to accelerate amid this eagerness.
Santa Monica.
The time is Friday, January 26th.
Terry Semel came here early this morning after seeing a piece of news in The Hollywood Reporter.
Some details of the DC Cinematic Universe plan are still being negotiated. However, due to Simon's full preparation, the second Batman movie "Batman Begins" will not only star Adam Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Tommy... In addition to regular actors such as Lee Jones, even the actor who will play the villain Two-Face in the second film has been finalized in advance. Now, the only problem is the director.
As long as this problem is resolved, the film can start shooting in the middle of this year and be released in the summer next year.
Since Simon confirmed that he will no longer serve as the director of the second part, many people in the circle have tried it out, including many first-line directors. Warner will participate in half of the investment in the second part. For the sake of its own interests, it also recommended it to Simon. Some candidates.
However, Simon's confirmed choice of director surprised those in the know.
Jane de Bont.
If it were Simon's time and space, many people would immediately think of "Speed of Life and Death" when hearing this name.
However, Jane de Bont is still just a photographer.
Although she made her debut in the 1960s and has shot more than 20 films so far, Jane de Bont has never served as a director.
Following the successful experience of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in memory, selecting suitable candidates from new directors to direct DC Cinematic Universe projects was Simon's plan from the beginning, and he did identify a lot of 'potential stocks', Jane de Bon Te is one of them.
In the original time and space, "Speed", which catapulted Jan de Bont into the ranks of first-line directors, was actually the first film he directed after turning to director. His subsequent second film "Tornado" was also a global hit. Selling, this is enough to prove that Jane de Bont has the potential to directly switch to directing.
Compared with other new directors who have only two or three directorial works, Jane de Bont has accumulated more experience in more than 20 consecutive works since her debut in the 1960s. Moreover, as a 'new director', Daenerys Entertainment can easily negotiate a long-term package contract with Jane de Bont.
However, after Simon returned to Los Angeles last week to formally inform Warner of his decision, he immediately encountered opposition.
In Warner's view, Simon's use of a cinematographer with no directing credits as the director of "The Dark Knight" was a complete mess.
The two sides were still negotiating privately, but Terry Semel did not expect that the "Hollywood Reporter" would suddenly publish the news.
Perhaps many people are now curious about who Jane de Bont is
After Daenerys Entertainment reported it, Warner investigated the details of Jane de Bont. Although this photographer has participated in the shooting of well-known movies such as "Die Hard", he has not even been nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Never got it. How could such a person be the director of a heavyweight film that two Hollywood studios have high hopes for
Upon arriving at the Daenerys Entertainment Headquarters in Santa Monica, Terry Semel was told that Simon was not here. After asking, Semel hurried to the Daenerys Special Effects Headquarters in a nearby neighborhood.
Simon is indeed here, and so is Jane de Bont, who has become the focus of many people's attention. Several people are gathering around a computer to watch something.
Speaking of which, Jane de Bont has certainly collaborated with Warner Bros. for so many years since her debut, such as the most recent one, "Who's That Girl," which won Madonna the Razzie Worst Actress two years ago.
Terry Semel had just greeted Simon when Jane de Bont's mobile phone rang.
After saying sorry to everyone, Jane de Bont left to answer the phone.
Simon waited for De Bont to leave, and before Semmel could speak, he said: "Daenerys Entertainment has signed a three-film contract with Bont. Terry, this matter is non-negotiable."
Terry Semel looked like he was being choked. He paused for a moment and then said helplessly: "So, Simon, when the film is shot in the second half of the year, will you follow up the whole process?"
"Of course, Terry, I value the DC movie universe plan more than you do, so I also hope you can trust my judgment." Simon said, then turned to Semel and explained: "Also, Terry, Mark ·Silves, you should have seen it. In addition, this is Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell. They will serve as assistant directors together on "The Dark Knight", and then they will direct "Superman" separately. ” and “Wonder Woman.”
Roland Emmerich, this name hardly needs much introduction. From "Days Alone" to "2012", Emmerich can be called the godfather of Hollywood disaster movies.
Speaking of which, Roland Emmerich is a German. In 1984, Emmerich produced his first science fiction film "Noah's Ark Rules" and quickly became famous in the German film industry. He recently tried to enter the film industry. Hollywood fell into Simon's hands.
Although Roland Emmerich in the original space and time began to decline after 2000, and there were failures such as the 1998 version of "Godzilla", the 34-year-old Emmerich is in the prime of his creative career. age.
Moreover, although Emmerich's most famous films are a series of disaster films, he actually started out directing science fiction films. His recent films starting with "Noah's Ark" are all science fiction films.
Simon has generally seen Emmerich's works in recent years. The director's increasingly scattered multi-line narrative style has not yet been determined. After a little polishing, it is still very suitable for him to direct "Superman".
As for Martin Campbell, this director has already made his debut in the 1970s and has rich experience in film and television production, but he has never created a blockbuster film.
Martin Campbell's famous work in the original time and space was "007: GoldenEye". He later directed another classic "007: Casino Royale". Both films were very successful. This is also the reason why Simon chose the other party as the director of "Wonder Woman". Both "007: GoldenEye" and "007: Casino Royale" proved Martin Campbell's ability to control big scenes. This is the reason why "Wonder Woman" Much needed.
In addition, Martin Campbell is actually the director of the 2011 "Green Lantern" that failed miserably at the box office.
In Simon's memory, Ryan Reynolds' version of "Green Lantern" burned through a budget of 200 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office was only a little over 200 million U.S. dollars. As a result, Warner suffered huge losses and delayed the development of the DC movie universe for a time.
However, the failure of "Green Lantern", like many subsequent DC projects, did not lie with the director, but was the result of Warner's rush to launch the project without even finalizing the script in order to compete with Marvel. In addition to the plot being a mess due to insufficient early preparation, the film's technical details such as special effects and soundtrack are excellent.
And, ultimately, Simon is the one behind the plans for the DC Cinematic Universe.
The choice of Jane de Bont, Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell as directors, in addition to their potential, was mainly because it ensured Simon's absolute control over the series. As with the Marvel Cinematic Universe plans, Simon isn't going to give these directors much free rein.
Therefore, although with the current momentum of the DC movie universe, Simon can definitely afford to hire first-line directors, but in order to fully implement his own will, he does not intend to do so.
After Simon's introduction, Jane de Bont, who had just made a phone call, also returned.
Everyone gathered in front of the computer again.
Only then did Terry Semel discover that what Simon and others were watching were new features recently developed by the Maya software that had been integrated by Daenerys's special effects studio, which could simulate special effects such as the explosion and collapse of physical buildings.
Seeing a building shattering on a small computer screen, Terry Semel temporarily put aside his curiosity about Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell and asked Special Effects Studio President Mark Silvers Said: “Can these be realized on the big screen?”
Mark Silvers said: "Some technical details of the synthesis of CG images and real people are still being perfected, and there will be no problem by this time next year."
Terry Semel understands why Mark Silvers said that.
The planned DC movie universe project will have a window period this year.
Starting in 1991, big screen works will be released at the rate of two movies per year.
Projects already confirmed for 1991 were "The Dark Knight" and "The Flash."
The projects in 1992 were "Wonder Woman" and the rebooted "Superman". The technology developed by Daenerys' special effects will probably be used in "Superman" or "Wonder Woman".
At this time, Simon said to the staff in front of the computer: "By the way, let's show Terry the special effects of The Flash."
The staff nodded and quickly produced a set of experimental shots.
Terry Semel immediately perked up.
On the computer screen, a staff member participating in the test was running in a room. His body was surrounded by faint electric lights, and there was a faint sound of thunder from the speakers that were turned on.
A total of five heroes have been confirmed to participate in the first phase of the DC Cinematic Universe plan, namely Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Cyborg.
These five were chosen mainly because of the limitations of special effects technology in this era.
"Aquaman" and "Green Lantern" simply cannot be produced with current technology.
In comparison, "The Flash" and "Cyborg" are easier.
In order to reflect the speed of the Flash, the production of the "Flash" movie mainly requires the use of high-speed photography technology. This technology has already appeared in the 1950s, although at this stage it is far from reaching the high-speed shooting of 3,000 frames per second many years later. , but the existing technology plus CG special effects are enough to achieve a level of special effects that far exceeds the 50 cents in the previous stage of the "Superman" series.
As for "Cyborg", the shooting method will generally be a combination of model special effects and CG special effects.
In this regard, the liquid metal robot in "Terminator 2" and Schwarzenegger's robot endoskeleton in the original space and time are good references. Such technology can be realized in 1991. Simon believes that after two to three years of technical research, It's possible to achieve very good Cyborg special effects on the big screen.
In order to improve the technical details of special effects as much as possible, compared with the three superheroes "Wonder Woman", "Superman" and "The Flash" that have been launched in the past two years, the production of "Cyborg" will be relatively late, roughly Filming started in 1994 and was released in 1995 right after "Justice League".
Everyone stayed in the Daenerys special effects studio until noon and had lunch together. Jane de Bont and others said goodbye and left, but Terry Semel continued to stay. Of course he would not be so leisurely, but DC The movie universe plan is probably the most important task at hand. As the media said, if this series is done well, Warner will have nothing to worry about in the next few years.
Since Simon has a firm stance on directing "The Dark Knight" and has chosen the directors of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" in advance, Terry Semel will say no more. He also believed that Simon would not mess with this promising series.
Now, Terry Semel is more concerned about Warner's "The Flash" and "Cyborg."
In order to maintain his control over the DC Cinematic Universe plans, Simon had previously made a proposal to exchange half of the investment rights in "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" for half of subsequent DC superhero projects such as "The Flash" and "Cyborg" investment rights.
If it's a two-for-two deal, Warner might agree after a little hesitation.
"Superman" and "Wonder Woman" are more popular than "The Flash" and "Cyborg", but Warner cannot accept half of the investment rights for all other DC superheroes no matter what. The box office hit of "Batman Begins" has already made Warner regret the loss of the Big Three of DC. Doing so would be equivalent to selling half of DC to Daenerys Entertainment.
However, although he did not agree with Daenerys Entertainment's plan, Simon still has a strong say in the DC movie universe plan.
Not to mention other things, although Daenerys Entertainment does not participate in the investment of "The Flash" and "Cyborg", if you want these two superheroes to join the DC movie universe plan, such as the movie script and director and starring, etc. Get Simon's approval.
Daenerys Entertainment has also made it very clear before that if "The Flash" and "Cyborg" are messed up, these two superheroes are likely to be excluded from the DC movie universe plan. Daenerys Entertainment would rather The future "Justice League" will only consist of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
Although Warner has not yet realized the benefits of plot linkage, Warner also knows that without the support of Daenerys Entertainment, it is likely that it will not be able to play with these superheroes.