Hollywood legendary director

"Sahara Raiders" failed. Even though Paramount wanted to ignore all this, the facts are facts, and they can't be avoided by pretending not to see them.

Whether it was a big box office dive or a poor reputation among the audience, they all declared that the project had failed. Even the critics did not want to see the film. It was a mockery and proved that the film could not go the way of the awards season...

It may be said that "Saharan Raiders" is almost bathed in criticism, and the box office is declining every day.

For this reason, a lot of troubles appeared.

The failure of every masterpiece requires someone to be held responsible, and this time, Paramount resigned two production executives.

But this approach can hardly make up for anything. It is just for the shareholders of the board of directors. They need an explanation.

On the other hand, the original author of the novel also jumped out, and the United Publishing House sued Paramount in court because Paramount did not perform the adaptation contract well-because the project failed, the original author could not get his box office Revenue sharing, but there is no stipulation in the contract for profit sharing. Therefore, as long as there is a box office, the profit should be shared. However, Paramount believes that the loss part does not need to be divided into accounts-if no money is made, what points are taken?

The two argued differently and were noisy for a long time, but this kind of lawsuit is usually not fruitful. To a large extent, the court will allow the two sides to settle in private, and dragging is not a solution.

Of course, these are small things. The real big thing is that for a project that is eager to make a series of profitable box office sales, "Sahara Raiders" has no future.

What's more sad is that Paramount did everything in its power to stop the loss. It did not give the actors, directors and even the production team behind-the-scenes shooting bonuses. It also reduced the publicity expenses and quickly sold the copyright. After calculation, The loss will still be more than 120 million, which is a nightmare for the embarrassing Paramount.

In other words, if Paramount in the first half of the year only relied on the production business, it would have lost more than 300 million yuan (7 films were produced in the first half of the year, 4 of which failed). If there is no distribution business and other sources of profit, revenue and expenditure The balance cannot be maintained.

The facts are exactly the same. The current Paramount is so weak that it can't even maintain the dignity of the Big Six, even most second-tier studios.

The fiasco of "Sahara Raiders" made Paramount pay more attention to the new project "Smiths", and Shirley Lansing even called to urge Lyman to complete the preliminary preparations as soon as possible.

On April 22, when Lyman stepped out of Paramount’s elevator, Director Tony greeted him with a smile, "Mr. Rust, the actors are all here."

Lehman followed Tony forward and asked casually: "Are the location, props, and costumes ready?"

"Well, it's all ready."

"That's OK, let's fix the actors too. Paramount is really pressing."

Tony agreed and smiled.

Afterwards, the two walked into a reception room with a beautiful woman sitting inside.

She has long black and flowing hair, a pair of charming amber pupils, and she has the elegance of a British lady, beautiful and sexy...

This woman is Catherine Zeta Jones, who is specially selected by Lehman and fits the role of Jane Smith. She is 36 years old and has practiced classical ballet since she was a child. Although she is a woman, she still maintains a good figure. Of course, she is a star. The road is a little bleak, it's not good to mix in Hollywood, and the resources are too few.

In the original time and space, after marrying Michael Douglas, a famous old playboy in the circle, he almost retired, and occasionally came out to pick up a few bad movies, and he was not famous.

It just so happened that this time the "Smiths" casting list was auditioned for two rounds, and when the audition performance was attached to Lyman, he saw her at a glance, so he called her agent to ask about the schedule.

Of course, Catherine, who has been half-retired with children at home, is very idle. After receiving the project invitation, she quickly rushed to Hollywood.

Catherine had heard of Lyman's deeds, and after the two came in, she immediately stood up and said hello.

After a greeting, Lyman exchanged roles with her, "Miss Catherine, I have seen your audition performance, and I think your image matches the role very well."

"Thank you."

Nowadays, Lehman is very famous in the circle, and Catherine, as a British actor, is not popular with many people. She is not happy in Hollywood. This is the reason why she married early-if the actor has a successful career, she may not marry So simply, I can’t bring the children at home. I heard that I might become the hostess of "Smiths". Of course I am very happy, "Thank you, Mr. Rust, for giving me this opportunity. I will work hard."

Lehmann waved his hand, "Your role this time needs to be trained as soon as possible to adapt to firearms and fighting performances. There are a lot of such shots in the filming scenes."

Don’t look at Catherine Zeta-Jones when she’s quiet, she’s very ladylike, but her dancing skills have never fallen. She has good toughness and a good skill. Many difficult shapes can be made easily, not to mention her in "The Mask of Zorro" "The hot wild beauty in" is more suitable for Jane Smith than Angelina Jolie.

"Okay, let's do this first, remember to ask your agent to come over to talk about the pay. Also, come and meet your partner tomorrow to get familiar with the shooting." Lehman waved to let Catherine leave and discussed with Tony: "The hero of "The Smiths", who do you prefer?"

"This role must be paired with Catherine, and it must be appealing and positive."

"Well, the combination of handsome men and beautiful women is definitely eye-catching, and the audience will accept it."

Tony personally presided over the audition for the role. Lehman basically didn't intervene except for intervening to remove Brad Pitt in advance.

So, speaking of the actor's familiarity, Tony should be more familiar with the audition style.

He thought for a while before suggesting: "Pierce Brosnan? Bond is famous enough, do you want to be sure of him?"

"Pierce? Isn't he about to quit the 007 series?" Lehman seemed to be impressed by the matter.

"Yes, I heard that the 007 series will change the male lead. If he continues to play, his pay is too high, and the shooting risk is too high, and his coming to audition this time may also mean that he has to quit."

Lehman thought of this person and thought it was okay. He was famous and had a good audience. After all, he was an agent "Bond". He was a kind of sentiment. The most important thing was that the image was suitable and he was used to acting in action movies. Guns are certainly no stranger, and can adapt to the role as soon as possible.

After thinking for a moment, Lehman ordered: "Then let him come over tomorrow."

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