Chapter 641: Father and Son

"Welcome to the Marvel family!"

In the office of Hughes Aircraft Studios, Kevin Feige put down the contract he had just signed and shook hands with Jon Favreau. Jon Favreau's chubby face was full of smiles: "This is my pleasure."

Iron Man, and the future Iron Man trilogy, now have a director.

Jon Favreau signed a director contract for three films with Marvel Entertainment. It's not that Ronan and Kevin Fitch don't want to sign more, but that Jon Favreau has already established a certain reputation in the director industry and has many choices , unwilling to be tied to the same series of movies for many years to come.

Putting down the director's contract, Kevin Fitch handed over another contract to Jon Favreau's agent. The agent simply looked through it and indicated that Jon Favreau was fine. The actor's contract was signed.

That's one of the reasons Ronan and Kevin Feige didn't cling on to the directing deal, and Jon Favreau signed a six-part actor deal with Marvel Entertainment.

Kevin Fitch and lawyers, representatives of the Directors' Union and Screen Actors Union went to deal with the follow-up matters of the contract, and the originally chaotic conference room fell silent.

Jon Favreau took the initiative to find Ronan who was sitting on one side of the conference table.

"I didn't expect Marvel to have such a plan." Jon Favreau thought of the plan he saw after signing the non-disclosure agreement, and was quite emotional: "I feel that I am opening an era."

Ronan had talked with Jon Favreau many times, and he had a good impression of this humorous and talented fat man. He immediately smiled and said, "It's just a plan."

Jon Favreau said without a trace: "Such a grand plan, if anyone in Hollywood can successfully realize it, you are the one with the greatest chance."

"We need to work together." Ronan is very clear that large-scale commercial films have always been the product of the team.

Jon Favreau said suddenly: "I regretted it a bit after reading the Avengers plan."

Ronan looked at him suspiciously.

Jon Favreau joked: ""Captain America" ​​is also good. I think the tone of this film adaptation should be more serious."

Ronan could tell it was a joke, and couldn't help laughing: "Jon, then you can participate in the competition for the director of "Captain America"."

Jon Favreau also laughed,

Chatted with Ronan for a few more words, looked at the time, and said, "I have an appointment with the screenwriter of Shahai Entertainment to talk about the script..."

Ronan waved his hand: "You go."

The script has only completed the first draft, and many places need to be adjusted. Jon Favreau has also given a lot of suggestions recently.

In the original comics, the character of Tony Stark participated in the Vietnam War, which was later changed to the Gulf War.

Now adapted into a movie, the battlefield must be relocated again. Jon Favreau suggested changing it to Afghanistan, because the story told in the film cannot appear too old, so it must be given an authentic contemporary look.

The preparation of "Iron Man" was not smooth sailing. Even with Ronan's golden signature, some people still have doubts about the lesser-known superhero like Marvel's adaptation.

For example, the heroine Pepper, Ronan has no intention of continuing to use Gwyneth Paltrow, a patient with deep princess disease, and plans to invite those who have already cooperated with Shahai Entertainment in the two films "Mean Girls" and "Wedding Crashers" Rachel McAdams stars as Potts.

Unexpectedly, the audition invitation issued by the crew was directly rejected by Rachel McAdams.

Ronan was somewhat surprised, because he remembered clearly that Rachel McAdams once played a supporting actress in "Doctor Strange".

Compared with that character, Pepper has significantly more weight in the Marvel universe.

Perhaps "The Notebook", a film full of literary and artistic atmosphere, made Rachel McAdams, who has always been on the commercial route, change the way of choosing roles and film projects.

It may also be full of doubts about Marvel Entertainment's request to sign multiple movie contracts at one time.

After all, she is also a famous actress.

In particular, "Wedding Crashers" exploded at the box office last month, making Rachel McAdams' fame and net worth skyrocket, faintly stepping into the threshold of second-tier stars.

"Wedding Crashers" was released in North America for five weeks, with a cumulative box office of 195.18 million US dollars.

However, this typical American comedy has a much poorer response overseas. It appeared in overseas markets two weeks ago, and has successively opened in more than 40 countries. The overseas box office is less than 25 million US dollars.

Based on the prediction of the actual response in overseas markets, the overseas box office performance of "Wedding Crashers" is one-third of that in North America.

Rachel McAdams' polite refusal also made Ronan lose his only tendency in the role of Pepper.

He would like to invite Charlize Theron to play this role, but the Oscar queen, even the Oscar queen whose salary is not particularly high, will not easily sign multiple film contracts with Marvel Entertainment at one time.

Marvel Entertainment would be too passive if they only signed one.

After discussing with Kevin Feige, Ronan simply asked the crew to hold a public audition for Pepper.

With director Jon Favreau in place, the speed of crew formation accelerated, and a team quickly entered the Hughes Aircraft Manufacturing Plant to start shooting and designing scenes.

All the interior scenes of the film will be shot at the Hughes Aircraft Factory, which also echoes the birth background of Iron Man.

The creator of the comics, Stan Lee, has stated publicly more than once that the role of Tony Stark is based on Howard Hughes, because Stan Lee thinks Howard Hughes is the most colorful character in the contemporary era. Inventor, adventurer, multi-millionaire, playboy, only to eventually become a madman.

When making a movie, sometimes a touch of the mystique of a real-life legend can have a strong publicity effect.

Thanks to the momentum created by the embassy film industry before, Ronan is still receiving the attention of many media reporters. The "Iron Man" project is on the right track, so it is natural to take advantage of the momentum to make a general impression.

Outside of the crew, Ronan and Marvel Entertainment pushed Stan Lee to the media again.

The old man dreamed of seeing his sons shine and become the hottest heroes in the world in their lifetime.

In some ways, this ties in with fathers' love of seeing their sons succeed.

Moreover, Stan Lee is over 80 years old. In the face of such an old man, even if he says something wrong, the media and the public will be infinitely tolerant.

Likewise, Marvel Entertainment has no desire to squeeze the last bit of residual value out of Stan Lee.

Stan Lee made a special trip to Los Angeles and accepted a joint interview with the media at the Hughes Aircraft Factory.

"The reason I wanted to create the character Iron Man was that I wanted to create a character that was different from the average superhero. In 1963, Iron Man's characteristics were not interesting to young readers: he was an entrepreneur. And make weapons of war."

Facing the reporter, Stan Lee seemed to return to the high-spirited 1960s and 1970s: "I said to myself: I want to create the protagonist Tony Stark, so that young people can like him, because Tony is rich, handsome, It’s funny and charming. At the same time, I intentionally designed him to have a fragile heart so that he doesn’t look too perfect, and the reader will be more concerned about his safety because of it.”

After Stan Lee's interview, "Iron Man" attracted the attention of many people in the industry, and even some invisible Iron Man fans jumped out.

Ronan got a call from Sofia Coppola, who had worked with him, and agreed to a phone call with Nicolas Cage.

"I like the role of Iron Man very much." Nicolas Cage said to Ronan on the phone: "I have been a fan of Iron Man since I was ten years old. Ronan, you must give me a chance to audition, I really do I'm very interested in playing Iron Man."

Ronan was speechless for a while. Whether Nicolas Cage was a fan of Iron Man, or he was interested in the role because the producer had Ronan Anderson's name on it, he couldn't guess.

But he remembered that Nicolas Cage's favorite superhero was Superman, and he wanted to play Superman more than once.

"You can participate in the audition." Ronan said bluntly: "But there is a prerequisite for choosing an actor for this role. You need to sign multiple film contracts with Marvel Entertainment at one time. In the next ten years, the actors will directly cooperate with Iron Man." The characters are tied together."

As soon as these words came out, Nicolas Cage on the opposite side immediately fell silent.

Today, Nicolas Cage's financial crisis is beginning to appear, but it is far from the bad situation that followed.

He also has many options.

"Let me discuss it with my agent." Nicolas Cage replied.

Ronan believes that Nicolas Cage will not mention this matter again, because not only is it a long-term contract, but the salary is also very low.

"Actually, Nicolas Cage is also good." Kevin Feige said, "It's just that the salary is too high. Our first choice is an actor with a relatively low salary."

Ronan nodded slightly, and asked a key question: "How is our number one target?"

"The first audition was very brilliant, it was a perfect fit." Kevin Feige knew that Ronan was asking about Robert Downey Jr., and said, "I still need to think about it. After all, he is a star who has been popular before."

Ronan said: "It's really not easy to get Robert Downey Jr. to sign ten films at a time, and he is willing to cooperate with us."

"I'm trying to create a situation that makes Robert Downey Jr. feel that it's very difficult to get the role of Iron Man." Kevin Fitch said simply: "In addition to sending out audition invitations, I also used sideways ways to ask for the role of Iron Man." Robert Downey Jr.'s fiancée is sending a signal that this project is the best opportunity for Robert Downey Jr."

He smiled: "Actually, it's almost the same."

Ronan understood what Kevin Fitch meant: "The harder it is to get, the more you will cherish it after you get it."

Kevin Fitch smiled: "Probably so."

None of these producers who can get to the top is really a simple person.

Ronan added another situation: "Miss Felton and Susan Levine are alumni of the USC Film School. Although they are in different grades, they dorms are opposite each other."

He reminded Kevin Feige again: "Susan Levine is the key."

Kevin Feige said: "Relax, we have quietly done a lot of work on Susan Levine."