Hollywood legendary director

While Lehmann was worried about the output of the Firefly project, Warner's interior was not calm.

Burbank, inside the chief office of Warner Century City headquarters.

Barry Meyer sat opposite the production manager without speaking.

Sitting next to him was the distribution manager, with his head down as if he was thinking about the floor decoration of the room.

"Come on, what should I do?" Barry Meyer frowned.

The distribution manager looked up at the production manager, and then quickly turned his attention away-this is obviously not our responsibility.

After all, what Mr. Executive meant was that the box office of "Superman Returns" did not meet the expected results, and the decline was too fast the next week. Why?

In other words, "Superman Returns" was released on June 28 (Wednesday). In the first weekend of the Independence Day schedule, it received 52 million US dollars. It premiered 5 days and accumulated 84 million in North America. This market performance has been since the beginning of 2006. Warner's best movie.

But the problem is that the cost of "Superman Returns" is 350 million, not to mention that it can be higher than the global market of 700 million in "X-Men 3: The Last Stronghold", at least not too far away.

But judging from the current market performance, it seems to be far worse...

The production manager murmured, and his mood was extremely bad.

As early as the moment when the results came out in the first week, he felt bad-this type of blockbuster, not breaking 100 million in the first week, or a five-day screening cycle, has already revealed many problems.

It was a bit of a fluke, maybe the audience was still waiting and looking forward to the follow-up trend, but the box office dropped by more than 40% the next week, which also severely shattered similar expectations.

However, the bad thing is that I like to come to the door one by one.

Warner has a taste of bad luck this year. In addition to the unfavorable performance of the highly anticipated Superman series restart masterpiece, I just lost a "Poseidon" some time ago. Looking forward, the relationship between the early spring and the firefly is stale, and HBO is also pretty good. opinion......

The three people with the most say in Warner Pictures sat together, and the production department naturally became a vent. After all, the distribution department invested the highest level of resources for publicity, and this result was not going to get up. Obviously, the distribution cannot be blamed.

"Perhaps, it was the director's choice..." The production manager suddenly suffocated a sentence.

The director he is referring to is naturally Brian Singer, who directed "Superman Returns."

But, this is the man who started the super-British trend in one hand. In 2000, the adaptation of "X-Men" was an unexpected and great success, which made Columbia, Warner, Universal and other studios start again. The idea of ​​setting up a project to shoot a super British movie.

If he can't do it, doesn't it imply that the superman theme itself is a pit?

Thinking of this, even Barry Meyer felt nervous.

Because over the past 18 years, "Superman Returns" has stumbled, and it's really like a curse, but it's going to be an accident-Christopher Reeve was paralyzed because of the fall of an equestrian event, and the most classic Superman actor died in depression.

You know, before the restart of "Batman", super talents were the most important to Warner. Every year, there are proposals and projects, but they are always a little bit worse. If Brian Singer does not take over, this film also means It is uncertain when it will be completed.

As soon as the distribution manager was about to agree, Barry Meyer got up and said, "Forget it, no matter who is responsible, the production department will always be responsible. I will explain to the board of directors later. Also, help me get in touch. Christopher Nolan."

The last sentence was a bit lonely.

However, Barry Meyer's meaning is also very clear. If there is any reduction or exemption from the loss of "Superman Returns", it will undoubtedly put the filming of "Batman 2" on the agenda.

The production manager nodded, indicating that he was clear.

And this is undoubtedly an opportunity for him to make up for it. Working in a big company, without results, he must be in an unstable position, not to mention the film industry where he leaves most frequently.

......

Joson Campbell was the director of the Warner Bros. Pictures Film Production Department in 2003. His predecessor left because of his poor performance during his tenure. It was unexpected that he would be frightened for this reason now.

He came out of the boss's office a little lonely, instead of contacting Nolan immediately, he returned to his office.

As soon as he walked in, he lifted his spirits a bit and recruited all the team members and acquaintances he had promoted in his daily life.

These people can also be regarded as the personnel foundation he has laid down in the company over the years. Seeing the small group of 5 or 6 people in a circle, Jonson suddenly became less worried.

——After all, we are not alone.

Joson Campbell pretended to be relaxed and asked: "Everyone knows that the "Superman Returns" project did not meet expectations, do you have any ideas?"

"Guide the public opinion and let the film crew come forward."

"Reduce the theater line and guarantee the box office of the single library?"

Everyone talked to me, whispering and exchanging opinions from time to time, and they still put forward a lot of proposals that would benefit Johnson.

He didn't stop him, because he needed to prove that his status was still guaranteed, so that this small group wouldn't immediately disperse-if Johnson loses power, this will definitely happen.

"Ahem." Seeing everyone express their thoughts, Jonson Campbell gave a dry cough before he said the order of the executive officer just now, "The company's next significant film project has been set as a sequel to "Batman". Yours What do you mean?"

"This project is still good. The fans of the last movie "The Mystery of Xia Ying" have a good reputation, and the production cost will not be too great."

"Well, if "Superman Returns" hadn't been repeated several times and increased production costs, it wouldn't be as uncomfortable as it is now."

"Yes Yes."

"..."

"Filming the sequel of "Batman"... should be more than that." Someone in the crowd said.

"What can I say?" Qiaosen asked cooperatively.

"If it's just because of a project failure, launching a low-risk work to restore the decline, such a decision is definitely correct and can block many people's mouths, but on the firefly side..." This person frowned, guessing Said: "Could it be that the company wants to ease the relationship? Also, DC adaptation is the company's general trend in the next few years. The failure of "Superman" is undoubtedly missing a trump card. Is it because the image of Superman has not changed? So , This is not just a simple project."

Joson Campbell nodded slightly. In fact, he had similar thoughts in his heart, because Barry Meyer had revealed regrets more than once in the past few months. This emotion was especially serious when we met just now.

After all, the purpose of suppressing the fireflies was not to slap the fireflies off the dust, but to let the studio understand its status and provide excellent film sources.Don't be delusional.

It is a pity that the strength of Firefly has grown too fast. Years of production reputation has also made some theaters very supportive, and it can no longer be easily suppressed. Not to mention that Lionsgate, Mubao and other studios are also eyeing and seeking breakthroughs. .This is a family matter.

Moreover, Warner did not expect Lehman to be so courageous. He would rather lack theater resources to reduce the overall profit income in the future, and resolutely refuse to accept it.

Furthermore, because the contract was signed for three Batman films in exchange for the investment of sufficient funds for Firefly, it is impossible to shoot the sequel to "Batman" without looking for Firefly.

As for why Nolan was called first, it may be that Barry Meyer wanted to test the firefly’s reaction first...

Well, it should be like this.

Thinking of this, Johnson Campbell said: "The project review will begin tomorrow at the latest. As for Superman... it is not something we can decide. We still think about how to make a sequel to "Batman". "

With that said, Jonson gave his own group of interest groups the basic details of his conversation with Barry Meyer, how to start, and how to do it.

The only thing not explicitly stated is Barry Meyer’s emotional warning of dissatisfaction with his work.

Well, of course I can’t say.

A group of people listened carefully, each had a goal, and quickly moved forward.

Setting up a project is not a simple matter, especially for a large studio like Warner. It is not easy to decide just by following the process in a few weeks.

Because there are too many things involved.

For example, production investment, such as theater investment, such as tentative schedules, such as market prospects, such as research reports, should be saved accordingly for future film screenings.

This prudence can be regarded as common to big studios...