Malibu, Daenerys Studios.
The time is April 12th.
This is already the 12th day that Peter Jackson arrived in Los Angeles. Yesterday, he received a notice that Simon Westeros wanted to meet with him to discuss the movie "The Ghost" he was preparing and another submission about "The Lord of the Rings". " series production plan, so I didn't get much rest all night, repeatedly weighing how to deal with meeting a certain young Hollywood tycoon.
The agreed time was 4:30 pm, and Jackson arrived at Daenerys Studios an hour early.
Arriving too early and being late are often not very pleasant. Peter Jackson, who is actually very diplomatic, did not ignore these details. After parking the car in the administrative area of Daenerys Studios, he did not rush directly to the No. 1 office. Instead, he sat down at a cafe inside a movie theater in the administrative district, bought a copy of The Hollywood Reporter, and drank coffee while reading about recent current events in Hollywood while waiting.
The North American Easter schedule ended yesterday. This issue of "The Hollywood Reporter" is mainly a summary of the Easter schedule.
In addition to "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", which has a domestic box office of over 650 million US dollars, there are two new films produced by Daenerys Entertainment: "Planet 2" and "The Haunting of the Morgue 2."
Jim Carrey's new film "Planet 2", which opened on March 29, took in a box office of US$45.51 million in its first week. It dropped 40% in the second week, taking in another US$27.27 million. Within two weeks of its opening, this sequel to "Planet", which was released on Easter two years ago and made Jim Carrey famous, has a cumulative box office of US$72.78 million.
According to the tiered accounting rules, Daenerys Entertainment easily recovered all US$50 million in production and publicity costs within two weeks and achieved profitability.
Then comes "The Haunting of the Morgue 2" on April 5.
In the first week from April 5th to April 11th, the box office performance of this fourth film in the Conjuring film universe series was even better. With the same production and promotion scale as "The Conjuring 2", the seven-day revenue reached $51.69 million.
Another member of the 100 million yuan box office club that is certain to be a movie.
The Conjuring movie universe series that Daenerys Entertainment has focused on building in recent years, although its commercial volume is far from being comparable to the DC movie universe series, but including the previous "The Conjuring", "The Haunting of the Morgue" and "The Conjuring 2" , the entire series has been able to achieve over 100 million for four consecutive movies. This achievement is considered a big miracle in Hollywood.
What's more, the cost of this series is low enough.
Even if the global box office of the first three movies is in the range of 200 million to 300 million US dollars, it may not be as good as the local box office of the DC movie universe blockbusters, but on the other hand, the production cost of this series, take "The Haunting of the Morgue 2" as an example , also only cost 30 million US dollars, which is also only a fraction of the production cost of Super Batman War.
Daenerys Entertainment has done an excellent job controlling the production costs of the DC Cinematic Universe series. The production budget of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" still reached US$135 million, which is equivalent to "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" two years ago. .
Looking at the news in the "Hollywood Reporter", Peter Jackson, who is quite ambitious in this circle, felt his heart go up and down.
It has been eight years since I went to Melbourne and was accidentally hired as the assistant director of "Batman Begins". The talented boy who had just emerged in Hollywood has now reached a position that everyone can only look up to. Position, Peter Jackson has not stopped his pace over the years.
Whether it is the wickedly funny "Crazy Fat Baby Variety Show" or the recent mockumentary "Forgotten Movies", they have all achieved a certain response in the industry. "Angel of Sin" two years ago also won the Venice Silver Lion Award.
If you really enter this industry, you will understand that there are thousands of movies produced around the world every year, and most of them fail to even make a splash.
Therefore, no matter what aspect, as long as your film can attract attention, it is a success.
Moreover, Peter Jackson can clearly feel that he has been under the radar of Daenerys Entertainment or, to be precise, Simon Westeros over the years. From the original "Crazy Fat Baby Variety Show" " to last year's "The Forgotten Movie", as well as "The Dead" and "Angel of Sin" in between, eight years and four movies, and Daenerys Entertainment has been very active in contacting him for cooperation every time. This made the most difficult financial threshold for many filmmakers to overcome, and everything went smoothly on his side.
This is clearly the case with a recent screenplay, The Haunting, and with his proposal for a Lord of the Rings series.
This time it was clearer.
Simon Westeros wanted to interview him, and it was obvious that the other party had not forgotten the director's assistant on the set of "Batman Begins."
Always paying attention to the time, Jackson arrived at Simon Westero's office in the Administrative District No. 1 Office Building on time at 4:25.
After just waiting in the lounge for a while, a young man whose appearance had hardly changed over the years quickly appeared, which made Jackson slightly surprised by the other party's punctuality. In the Hollywood circle, people feel they have gained status. Whether it is many studio executives or big-name celebrities, it is almost normal to be unpunctual. Many people obviously do this deliberately to show off their appearance.
However, Peter Jackson soon understood. Simon Westeros doesn't need such unsavory tricks at all. In comparison, the fact that the other party is able to do this in his current position makes people even more admirable.
Thinking of this, Jackson stood up quickly, smiled and stretched out his hand to Simon who was walking over: "Hello, Mr. Westeros."
Simon shook hands with Jackson and said with a smile: "Just call me Simon, like you did on the Batman set. By the way, how are you doing lately?"
Peter Jackson also smiled: "Not bad."
I didn't ask the other party a question as usual, mainly because I was instinctively cautious when meeting a superior person, and how is Simon Westeros doing? Needless to say
Simon did not deliberately exchange too many greetings with Jackson. After greeting him, the two entered the office and sat down together in the reception area.
Girl A, who followed, placed two pieces of information in front of Simon and Jackson respectively. Another female assistant brought them coffee, and then they both left quickly.
Simon opened the information in his hand and went straight to the point: "Let's talk about "Horror" first. Peter, I read your production meeting memo on this project last week. Everyone positioned the film as another "Ghost Hunt". "The Expendables", this direction is very good. However, I found a problem, that is, the scale between horror and comedy is very critical. Just like "Ghostbusters", although it is 'ghost hunting', it is positioned as a fantasy comedy. It’s not scary. The overall experience of the audience watching this film is very happy. And "Scary Ghost" is positioned as a horror comedy. You also described a lot of scary scenes in the script. If you are not careful, you may end up with something that is neither scary nor scary. It’s an awkward situation that’s not comedy, have you ever thought about this?”
Peter Jackson did not expect Simon to be so direct, and almost failed to follow the train of thought, but he quickly cheered up and said: "Of course, Simon, I have been discussing this issue with the team recently, and it has been determined that the film will tend to be a comedy style. , that is, comedy outweighs horror. Moreover, we have also paid attention to your question just now. Everyone feels that the key is to identify a suitable male protagonist. We are selecting actors these days."
The original "Scary" starred Michael J. Fox, the star of the "Back to the Future" series.
The film ended in failure. Although there were many reasons, the failure in casting the male lead was indeed a factor. Although the popular "Back to the Future" series also has comedy elements, Michael Fox's positioning is more inclined to a teenage idol star, and by the mid-1990s, he was a has-been idol star and did not have the qualities of a comedy actor. Star potential.
The main reason for choosing the other party was that the producer of "Scary" was Robert Zemeckis. Zemeckis was the director of the "Back to the Future" series. There was obviously a human factor in it.
Compared to Fox, "Scary" needs a real comedy star.
Simon pondered this information and asked, "Are there any suitable candidates currently?"
Peter Jackson nodded and explained: "What I need is a male protagonist who is about 30 years old and has the temperament of a loser. These days, we have considered Dana Vecar, Rob Lowe, Michael Fox, Frank Wei Lee and other male stars, and also conducted some auditions. So far, Dana Vika's performance is better."
Dana Veka is another male protagonist in the "Tokyo" series alongside Mike Myers, but he was suppressed because of Myers' identity as the core creator.
Simon recalled Dana Vika's performance in the "Today's Tomb Raiders" series and shook his head: "If we talk about the temperament of a loser, Vika is indeed fine. However, the protagonist of this script is a fraudster who relies on his psychic ability. He is a small person, so he still needs some low-level savvy. In this regard, Dana Veka is too dull."
After rejecting Jackson's preference, Simon did not discuss it with the other party. After some consideration, he said: "The comedy style of "Scary Ghost" tends to be black, so the performance of the male protagonist cannot be too extroverted, and needs a kind of restraint and contrast. In this way, I give You have two choices, one is Ben Stiller, and the other is named Adam Sandler. Well... Adam seems to be a little stupid too, so let’s just go with Stiller." With that said, Simon quickly wrote on the document in front of him. Come up with a name, tear off a corner and hand it to Peter Jackson: "I'm not sure about his current specific situation. You can contact him yourself. I believe it should meet your needs."
Peter Jackson took it and said seriously: "I will do it as soon as possible."
Any director hopes to gain control of his own work, but Peter Jackson put his position very squarely. He knew that he had no room for bargaining with Simon. What's more, the film talent of the young man in front of him is definitely not comparable to that of studio executives who are lawyers and accountants. The quality of the other party's selection of actors is definitely far higher than his, and they are definitely not laymen guiding experts.
Simon handed the note to Jackson, then remembered something, wrote a line on the document again, tore it off and handed it to Jackson, saying: "Also, I would like to recommend you another movie. This is a Hong Kong movie called "Mr. Zombie" ", a standard horror comedy style, and it was also the box office champion of Hong Kong films in 1985. I suggest you watch it a few times, it can bring you a lot of inspiration. By the way, there is also a heroine. According to the setting of the script, I suggest you Find an actress who has the aura of a goddess.”
Peter Jackson took two notes in a row and put them carefully in his hand. He was almost overwhelmed and asked subconsciously: "Goddess temperament?"
Simon said: "It's the kind that seems unattainable at first glance, the Cindy Crawford kind."
"Simon, you mean, let me choose a supermodel?"
"Of course not. The heroine of this story is not a vase. She still needs acting skills. At the same time, she must be stunning and eye-catching. In the end, the heroine and the hero come together, and the loser's counterattack can bring a sense of satisfaction to the audience."
Peter Jackson is not one of those self-proclaimed filmmakers. Hearing Simon say this, he felt suddenly enlightened: "So, Simon, what do you think of, um, Miss Nicole Kidman?"
"Nicole is too tall and has a cold temperament, which is not suitable for comedy." Simon said, after a moment of consideration, he said: "Mia Sara, yes, that's it."
Peter Jackson recalled for a while and remembered who Mia Sara was. The most famous movie of this actress was called "Spring Is Not a Day to Read". It was one of the best-selling movies in 1986. He also saw it in New Zealand that year. . Moreover, the male protagonist of this movie is named Matthew Broderick.
Jackson still knows some of Simon Westeros' past.
Just when he didn't know how to respond, Simon also remembered this. It wasn't the grudge with Matthew Broderick. A certain starlet who had completely disappeared from Hollywood was not qualified to let him remember it until now, but " "Spring Is Not a Day for Reading" was already a movie 10 years ago.
Mia Sara was really stunning in the movie back then, but she doesn't know what she looks like now, because she didn't have any other movies that Simon remembered after "Spring Is Not a Day to Read".
After casually pressing the phone on the side table next to the sofa, Girl A opened the door and came in. Simon ordered: "Mia Sara, the heroine of "Spring Is Not a Day for Reading", I want her recent photos."
Girl A nodded, turned and left.
Simon turned back to Jackson: "Let's continue, Peter. I think you should be able to feel Daenerys' support for you over the years. These are all arranged by me personally."
Sure enough.
Even though he had already guessed in his heart, Peter Jackson still showed an expression of surprise and joy, and with gratitude, he stood up slightly and said: "Thank you, Simon."
Simon waved his hand for Jackson to sit back down and said: "Of course, I must also tell you that you are just one of them. Before you, people such as Michael Bay and Brett Ratner all fell into this category, and There are also losers among them.”
"The reason why I think highly of you is that you are very pragmatic, which is very important in Hollywood, because many filmmakers, as literary and artistic creators, do not lack talent, but they are often too aloof and stubborn, and it is difficult to cooperate well with Hollywood. .”
"Films are never a job that can be completed by a single individual. If a filmmaker cannot pragmatically coordinate the entire team to complete the project, no matter how talented he is, he will not be able to display it. Secondly, on a pragmatic basis, you do not lack talent. , both the original "Crazy Fat Variety Show" and "Angel of Sin" which won the Venice Silver Lion Award, have proved this point. Therefore, I hope "Scary Ghost" can be the beginning of your entry into Hollywood. "
Who is Michael Bay
The first film "SpaceX" achieved a box office of over 100 million, and the box office of "Jurassic Park 2" exceeded Spielberg's first film.
Who is Brett Ratner
Last year, he directed "The Man from Earth" written by Simon, which was a small trial, and it earned more than 200 million US dollars in box office in North America alone. Later, he directed "Charlie's Angels" and adapted "Charlie's Angels", which was also hot.
As for others, Peter Jackson can think of many names.
All Hollywood filmmakers who are still trying to climb the ladder, including himself, probably want to be one of them.
Unexpectedly, Simon Westeros had already listed him among them. Peter Jackson didn't know what to say for a moment, and couldn't help but want to get up. He just remembered Simon's gesture just now, and fell back on the sofa, his body still slightly forward. Qing, said: "Simon, I promise, I will try my best to complete "Scary Ghost"."
Simon nodded with satisfaction: "So, regarding "Scary Ghost", since the style of "Scary Ghost" has been determined to be more comedy, my final reminder is that you need to change yourself as much as possible from "Space Stranger", "Crazy Fat Baby Variety Show" and other early The Cult film style accumulated in the film, OK, that’s it, let’s talk about your thoughts on shooting the “Lord of the Rings” series. First, why do you want to shoot this movie?”
Peter Jackson realized that this was the focus of this conversation when he received the invitation for today's meeting. After sorting out his thoughts for a while, he said: "Simon, I actually didn't come into contact with Tolkien's works for the first time until I was 17 years old. It was an animated version of Ralph Bakshi in 1978. Because the Tolkien series was so famous, everyone went to watch it, and I followed him into the cinema, but I was very disappointed."
"Not long after, I traveled from Wellington to Auckland. Because I had to take a long train, I bought a "Lord of the Rings" novel. That trip completely changed my perspective. Along the way, I read Tolkien's novel The magnificent epic scroll, while admiring the scenery along the way, the snow-covered mountains, the boundless grasslands connecting the sky and the earth, and the surging rivers under the peaks and cliffs. At a certain moment, I felt that my hometown should be Tolkien The Middle-earth I wrote about, if possible, I will one day depict those stories on New Zealand soil."