[Please subscribe after half an hour]
Rosarito is located in Baja California, Mexico. It is a seaside town less than 20 kilometers away from the border. The main scenes of "Titanic" were shot here.
Although Firefly's studio base in Playa Vista has state-of-the-art filming facilities, the filming of "Titanic" required a large venue, which could not be achieved in the Los Angeles area where every inch of land is precious. During the preparatory stage of the film, Cameron decided to move the filming to Mexico under the introduction of his friend Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, and bought a 16-hectare land near Rosarito to build a filming studio. shed.
Just after the new year, it may be that the various business miracles of the Firefly system have caused many people to experience aesthetic fatigue and rebellious psychology. When the news that the "Titanic" project was out of control, the media immediately became lively.
In recent years, the cost of film production has risen rapidly, but there are still only a handful of films with an annual budget of more than 60 million U.S. dollars. "Titanic" only completed 50% of the pre-shooting progress, and burned 60 million U.S. dollars. It is conceivable that if If the Firefly Group doesn’t make some decisions immediately, if they want to complete this film, the production cost of the film may even exceed the “Future Water World” which cost 170 million US dollars last year, and “Future Water World” has also proved to many people that, A film whose budget got out of hand during production has very little chance of success at the box office.
Although I know that with the profound background of the Firefly Group, even if it loses 100 to 200 million US dollars on a project, it is absolutely impossible to face bankruptcy like other film companies, but the "Titanic" project is out of control, which finally proves to some people that Firefly is not so invincible. Such a powerful company, after a few years of failure, also began to encounter inevitable failures, and this failure seemed so menacing from the very beginning.
Firefly originally set the schedule for "Titanic" on June 28, 1996, which is still the pattern of the trilogy of "The Matrix", "Into the Deadly Island" and "Titanic". After the news that the "Titanic" project was out of control, several film companies immediately started to move, and Paramount even obviously deliberately made the first work of the original Disney hand-drawn animation team that had been renamed Paramount Animation Studio "Pocahontas" is scheduled for June 28. After a few days of hesitation, Universal Pictures also released news that it plans to move "The Mummy 2", which was originally scheduled for mid-July, to June 21.
June is the best time for the release of summer movies. In the past few years, it has been occupied by Firefly. Although the other majors have tried many times to regain the initiative in this prime time period, they all ended in failure.
But this year, some people seem to have finally found a good opportunity to break the monopoly of Firefly's schedule. It is not difficult to understand the thoughts of the top executives of several major film companies. With the production progress of "Titanic", if Firefly wants to forcefully meet the deadline, the quality of the film will definitely not be guaranteed. If Firefly allows Cameron to maintain the current production pace, then "Titanic" It is absolutely impossible for Titanic to be released in the summer. According to the film list of Firefly Group, there is no film that can replace "Titanic". Therefore, no matter what the outcome is, Firefly will be doomed to lose the golden period of the box office in the weeks of late June and early July.
"According to Firefly's film production list in the past two years, there is no film suitable for filling the vacant schedule of "Titanic". However, at the last meeting, everyone felt that a romance film or a comedy film is the best. A good choice, but according to the original signed contract, "Titanic" has reserved 3,000 yuan for the premiere screen. This kind of opening scale cannot be filled by any ordinary romance film," said the black Chevrolet SUV , the female assistant Kelly Hines flipped through the documents on her knees and said to Eric who was sitting next to him looking out the window at the desert scenery.
A convoy of five black suvs was driving smoothly on the coastal highway in Baja California, and heard that Eric was going to the Rosarito, Mexico studio in person, whether it was Drew by his side, Joanna in New York, or even the Firefly Group The first piece of advice put forward by the high-level executives is, don't go. After finding that they couldn't be stopped, everyone's suggestion the next day was to bring bodyguards, a lot of bodyguards.
So there is the current convoy, with five people in each car. Except for Eric and Kelly, Eric's security team basically followed.
Americans' impression of Mexico is basically, except for cheap labor, it is drug dealers. And the border between the two countries is also the area where criminal activities are the most rampant, which can only be described with a random word. Therefore, although he felt that it was a bit motivating, Eric did not refuse this arrangement.
After Kelly finished speaking, she noticed that Eric seemed a little absent-minded, and reminded him softly.
Eric came back to his senses and asked, "Oh, where did you talk?"
Kelly patiently repeated what she just said.
The meaning of what Kelly said is obvious. Ordinary comedies and romance films, of course, cannot carry the scale of 3,000 opening screens, but it would be different if he personally directed the film. As we all know, Eric shot after his debut. Several global blockbuster films, from "Home Alone" to "Pretty Woman", are both types.
"I know what you guys mean," Eric said with a smile, "However, you know how busy I am now, maybe I will go to Australia next time, so I won't see the production progress of "The Matrix" with my own eyes." Don't worry, then, according to this schedule, maybe I won't be able to spare energy to do my own things until the Oscars, and after the Oscars, "007: Casino Royale" also needs to enter the formal preparations."
As Eric's assistant, Kelly is much more familiar with his work arrangements than the top executives of the Firefly Group, and she also knows that Eric can't spare time to shoot a movie before "007 Casino Royale" , she just recounted other people's thoughts, and stopped making this suggestion, and said, "Eric, how do you plan to arrange the next thing in "Titanic"?"
"How to arrange what?" Eric asked suspiciously.
Kelly thought for a while, and said: "If you want to complete the production of this film, according to Cameron's progress, you need at least 200 million US dollars, plus the later publicity budget, according to Cameron's previous box office results, Firefly Basically, there is no hope of returning the capital, and the only thing left is the question of how much the loss is. I think that decisively stopping this project may be the best way to stop the loss?"
The female assistant's suggestion is actually on the minds of many people at present, and even the media has begun to spread this view. Immediately stop the project. With the materials accumulated so far, with a little tinkering, a film can probably be made, how much more At least some losses can be recovered.
However, even if "Titanic" cannot achieve the success of the original time and space, Eric does not intend to do so. To what extent.
It was impossible for Eric to explain his thoughts to Kelly directly, but he just joked: "If you stop it directly, Jim will probably kill me."
"You..." Kelly followed up with a smile, and said, "I found that you seem to have high expectations for this film."
Eric turned his head, looked at the elegant white face of the female assistant, and asked, "Is it obvious?"
Kelly's cheeks blushed, and she whispered, "I probably can see what you're thinking. Otherwise, um, otherwise you wouldn't have come to Mexico yourself."
Seeing the female assistant randomly looking for reasons, Eric laughed, not wanting to embarrass Kelly too much, so he stopped teasing her.
After the convoy crossed the border, it took another half an hour to arrive at Rosarito, a border town with a radius of more than ten kilometers.
However, the set of "Titanic" was not in the town, and the convoy continued to walk south for about five kilometers before arriving at the destination.
On the large open space next to the road near the sea, a simple fence was built at this time. Sitting in the car, Eric could see the studio and other facilities inside the fence.
At this time, there were still many people holding cameras outside the filming base, obviously they were reporters who had heard about a series of recent media news.
Noticing this eye-catching convoy of five luxury suvs, the reporters who were blocking the door to try to get some news were keenly aware of something, and surrounded them one after another. Car windows, people trying to piss off for a photo opportunity.
Fortunately, the five cars were exactly the same, and the reporters did not find the exact target. Eric just sat quietly in his car, waiting for the bodyguard on the first car to negotiate with the guard. Amidst the shouts, they drove into the studio one by one.
The vehicle was parked in the parking lot. Just as Eric got out of the car, Jon Landau, the producer of "Titanic", came up with two staff members, and hugged Eric vigorously, warmly Said, "Eric, I'm so glad you're here."
Eric laughed and said, "I just don't know if Jimmy wants me to come."
Jon Landau shook hands with Kelly, and when he heard Eric's words, his expression suddenly turned bitter, he shook his head, and said, "Anyway, it's not bad if you can come and take a look."
"Well," Eric nodded, and said, "By the way, where is Jim?"
"Oh, everyone is shooting, come with me, on the big boat," Jon Landau said, pointing to the distance, and took Eric over.
Leaving the parking lot, Eric looked at the surrounding situation. There were three large studios standing in the studio, busy staff, props and equipment piled up everywhere, several large reservoirs, and a suspended water tank under construction. The 100-meter-long filming track, and the huge ship of the Titanic standing by the sea according to a one-to-one model...
Just looking at these, you can see how frantically Cameron burned money.
What's more, Eric remembers that the replica of the Titanic built in the original time and space was only half of the model. At that time, in order to prevent the model from being worn out in front of the camera, many special props and shooting techniques were used. The big ship model is complete.
Although Eric just looked around and didn't say anything, Jon Landau was unknowingly nervous.
The crew was filming a bow scene at this time. Under the leadership of Jon Landau, Eric climbed up the ladder along the bow, and found that many people were gathered there, and even heard Cameron's roar from a long distance Voice.
At this time, there were still many people holding cameras outside the filming base, obviously they were reporters who had heard about a series of recent media news.
Noticing this eye-catching convoy of five luxury suvs, the reporters who were blocking the door to try to get some news were keenly aware of something, and surrounded them one after another. Car windows, people trying to piss off for a photo opportunity.
Fortunately, the five cars were exactly the same, and the reporters did not find the exact target. Eric just sat quietly in his car, waiting for the bodyguard on the first car to negotiate with the guard. Amidst the shouts, they drove into the studio one by one.
The vehicle was parked in the parking lot. Just as Eric got out of the car, Jon Landau, the producer of "Titanic", came up with two staff members, and hugged Eric vigorously, warmly Said, "Eric, I'm so glad you're here."
Eric laughed and said, "I just don't know if Jimmy wants me to come."
Jon Landau shook hands with Kelly, and when he heard Eric's words, his expression suddenly turned bitter, he shook his head, and said, "Anyway, it's not bad if you can come and take a look."
"Well," Eric nodded, and said, "By the way, where is Jim?"
"Oh, everyone is shooting, come with me, on the big boat," Jon Landau said, pointing to the distance, and took Eric over.
Leaving the parking lot, Eric looked at the surrounding situation. There were three large studios standing in the studio, busy staff, props and equipment piled up everywhere, several large reservoirs, and a suspended water tank under construction. The 100-meter-long filming track, and the huge ship of the Titanic standing by the sea according to a one-to-one model...
Just looking at these, you can see how frantically Cameron burned money.
What's more, Eric remembers that the replica of the Titanic built in the original time and space was only half of the model. At that time, in order to prevent the model from being worn out in front of the camera, many special props and shooting techniques were used. The big ship model is complete.
Although Eric just looked around and didn't say anything, Jon Landau was unknowingly nervous.
The crew was filming a bow scene at this time. Under the leadership of Jon Landau, Eric climbed up the ladder along the bow, and found that many people were gathered there, and even heard Cameron's roar from a long distance Voice. (To be continued.)