Three Hundred and Twenty-Three - The Last R-Rated Film.

At nine o'clock in the morning on November 10th, on the seventh floor of the Warner Bros. Building in Burbank, the media capital, a flash of snowy white lights lit up in the huge conference room.

Behind the long table at one end of the conference room, Bruce Rosenblum and Wayne signed the new project contract in the presence of the media, and then raised the contract and displayed it in front of a crowd of people.

The photo-taking lasted for two minutes before they handed the contract to the staff, sat on the chairs behind the table, and the press conference was ready to officially begin.

In fact, this contract is just for show. The real contracts were signed early on. Not to mention the project agreement, the salary contract for the director and producer alone is thicker than the average tome, and it contains various records. The liability clause is more than a thousand pages long, and it is not as crude as it appears to the media.

In this production of "The Departed", Wayne once again served as a part-time director and producer. However, compared to the previous "Batman Begins", the salary he received was not much higher.

The main areas for improvement are related to his treatment during filming. For example, the contract clearly stipulates that during the filming period, the director will have an exclusive rest trailer, and the standard of food, clothing, housing and transportation shall be based on the local five-star hotel.

For example, the director's personal assistant's personal salary during the filming period will be borne by the crew, and the director's personal bodyguard expenses will also be borne by the crew.

As everything in Hollywood became commercialized in the 1990s, the various benefits of directors and producers were marked in increasingly detailed contracts, so small that even the brand of cigarettes Wayne usually smoked had a letter. Not bad appears in the contract.

In the tacit negotiations between Jimmy and Warner Bros., Warner Bros. has given the highest conditions regarding Wayne's personal treatment, and no one will think there is any problem with this.

His personal salary was the main factor that caused a period of tug-of-war between the two parties.

Because the investment capital of this film is not high, the total production cost is only 40 million US dollars, it is simply unrealistic for Wayne to receive too much basic salary.

Jimmy's initial proposal was to give up all basic early-stage remuneration, producer, director, project sponsor, screenwriter, etc., and not receive a penny of early-stage income, so that all production funds can be invested to the maximum extent. Filming in progress.

But this plan was rejected by Bruce Rosenblum the moment the agent said it, before he even finished speaking, leaving no room for negotiation.

Without Jimmy saying anything, they guessed the subsequent conditions. Since Wayne gave up all his early income, this part of his salary must be folded into the later share of the income.

Just thinking about the "Batman Begins" project and the astronomical share that will be distributed to the other party can make many senior executives and shareholders of the company feel pain. It is a huge sum of over 100 million U.S. dollars, and they cannot afford to miss it of huge sums of money.

In the end, Wayne couldn't help but ask Jimmy to put down some conditions before he could reach a consensus with the other party.

As the director, producer and other person in charge of a series of work of the film, his package salary is a symbolic three million US dollars. After the film is released, regardless of the results, he will receive 20% of the global box office.

This kind of contract is obviously inconsistent with Wayne's current worth at a glance. It is a complete bargain.

But he knew in his heart that the main purpose of this film was to win an Oscar, and a salary cut was unavoidable. Moreover, the film's award-winning resources also depend on Warner Bros., so appropriate concessions are extremely normal.

In fact, it is not just Wayne who does this himself. As long as it is a project for the sake of winning prizes, the main participants will basically cut their own salaries. The investment in such projects is destined to not be large.

Yes, Hollywood A-listers who participate in films will never lower their value easily, but if their fundamental purpose is not for business, but for academy awards, then everything is open to discussion.

Not to mention taking a salary cut to star in and direct, it is not uncommon for people to get zero pay, or even use their own money to join the crew. Many superstars and big directors have participated in such films.

In fact, Wayne had the same plan. Although he personally invited Brad Pitt, he would also tell him the goals of the film before the audition. However, if the other person did not lower his price, he would not hesitate to change the candidate. .

Brad Pitt's popularity is very strange now. Why do you say that? This big star's acting skills have never been a problem, but he is a literary star and has only acted in very limited commercial films.

If you look through his resume carefully, you will find that few of the films he starred in have high box office, and "Seven Deadly Sins" is definitely a particularly good performance.

Whether it is "Interview with the Vampire", which has received great acclaim for him in the past two years, or "The Last Days", which was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, the box office performance of the film is average.

If "Seven" hadn't exploded at the box office, it would be difficult to define Brad Pitt's popularity.

Not only is this the case now, but the films he starred in later have never been famous for their high box office. Even the commercial film "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" that is the most talked about among movie fans only had a global box office of more than 400 million US dollars.

"Wayne, can we start?"

Bruce Rosenblum noticed that he was lost in thought, raised his arm, and gave him a gentle poke.

Shaking his head slightly, Wayne glanced at the dozens of reporters in front of him, nodded and signaled to the Warner Bros. staff. "No problem, let's get started."

"Director Greenberg." A reporter with a copy of the Los Angeles Times stood up and asked: "Can you talk about the film type of the new project and what kind of story it is."

"This is a realistic gangster film." Wayne leaned his upper body forward slightly and leaned closer to the microphone and said: "As for the specific story, I can only briefly say that the story takes place in Boston, and the main content is the relationship between the police and the gangsters. confrontation."

"Wayne, what made you choose to make a realistic gangster film?" The reporter then asked: "All fans want to know when the second Batman movie will be available to everyone."

Wayne shrugged at everyone and teased with a smile. "The reason is very simple, hey, you should have guessed it, yes, it is because this will be an R-rated film, an 18-ban film. Maybe without the large-scale stuff, I might not really know how to do it. Filming started.”

Many reporters laughed good-naturedly when they heard what he said.

Some time ago, when "Return of the Clown" was released, many media published a point of view: Did Wayne Greenberg lose his ability to make movies without large-scale lenses?

Then in less than a year, the PG13-level "Batman Begins" swept the North American theater market. Starting from the summer season in May this year, it has been showing strongly until now in November.

There is less than a month left in 1995, and there is no other film that can threaten the box office performance of "Batman Begins." This film has firmly dominated the year's box office with a box office of over 300 million US dollars. Box office champion.

"As for the second part of Batman..." Wayne deliberately pondered into the microphone for two seconds. After seeing that he had attracted everyone's attention, he continued:

"Batman Part 2 will be released in the summer of 1997. The specific month has not yet been determined. However, I will start filming Batman Part 2 immediately after completing this project."

"Buzz..."

No one expected that the release of Batman would actually be announced, not even the reporter who asked the question.

In fact, this is a coincidence. Wayne briefly mentioned this when discussing the announcement with Bruce Rosenblum early in the morning. "The Departed" will definitely not be able to compete with DC superheroes in terms of film type and investment scale. compared to.

In order to promote early, expand the already niche audience, and let more adult movie fans enter the theater, it is inevitable to play off the popularity of Batman during promotion.

"Wayne, why don't you just shoot the second Batman movie instead of spending a few months making a gangster movie?" a reporter from the "Los Angeles Daily Entertainment News" asked impatiently.

"Okay, I want to answer this question seriously." Wayne straightened his expression and returned to a serious and tense expression. "Here, I can tell the media and fans in advance that my future work will definitely revolve around DC comic book movies, so there will be more than just Batman, there will be many superheroes that will appear on the big screen.

But as a director who has been studying noir films since I was in school, I am always a little unwilling in my heart. It keeps telling me that even if I have to shoot PG13 for many years, I still have to make a contribution to my previous studies. A fair summary.

Therefore, with this "The Departed", I will put all my understanding of film noir into this film to satisfy my inner calling. Of course, all this is thanks to the support of Warner Brothers. When I told Jeff about this idea, what he said to me was, go ahead and do it, boy, Warner Bros. will give you the greatest support! "

"Pop" "Pap" "Pap"!

The reporter who asked the question applauded him. No matter what these reporters thought in their hearts, they all applauded him on the surface.

A reporter immediately asked: "So, Director Greenberg, will this be your last R-rated film?"

"In a sense, that's true." Wayne shrugged and gave a somewhat affirmative answer. "Because I can't always be willful, right? After this film, I will temporarily give up making R-rated movies and concentrate on filming DC comic superheroes."

He didn't believe anything he said, but so what did it matter? Just create enough publicity stunts.

There are many directors who make movies, but he is not the only one. In his memory, Quentin has done this more than once.