Five Hundred and Twenty-Two - He Is the Strong Elephant in Hollywood!

The sunshine in late March in Los Angeles has returned to its violent temper again. Not long after the early morning, it began to pour heat desperately onto the earth, illuminating the entire manor brightly and dazzlingly.

With a tired look on his face, Jimmy sat in the sitting area of ​​the manor's living room, staring at a copy of The New Yorker in boredom. The other people sitting in the sofa area did the same. Everyone seemed to be trying their best to move as lightly as possible. This will not disturb the owner who is still sleeping in the bedroom on the third floor.

But in fact, even if they shouted together in the living room, they would not be able to disturb the main building of the villa with excellent sound insulation, let alone the master bedroom with excellent sealing effect.

The reason why several people, including Ruben and Anna, were able to do this was because everyone knew how much pressure Wayne was under during this period. When everything passed, he suddenly reaped the best results. You will definitely relieve all stress, relax your tense nerves, and have a good sleep.

"Jimmy, are you sure you don't need some breakfast?"

When the agent's stomach made an obvious protest sound again, Anna Greenberg raised her eyes from the newspaper in her hand, looked at the agent sitting across the coffee table, and asked again. "Wayne and the others don't know how long they will sleep. Who knows whether they will sleep until noon. If I were you, I wouldn't wait hungry."

"ok."

The agent stood up, opened his hands and stretched hard. He glanced at the time and found that the hour hand had passed the number nine. He shook his head helplessly. He was sleepy and hungry now, but the real owner everyone was waiting for , but hid in the bed and fell asleep.

Nodding politely to Ruben and Anna, Jimmy walked towards the restaurant. As he walked, he shrugged at the housekeeper Hela who happened to enter the living room. "Damn, I feel like I'm going to be hungry. Madam, please get me something to eat. It's best if it can be served to the table quickly."

The housekeeper nodded slightly, turned and walked towards the kitchen. "No problem, just wait five minutes."

Sitting at the large dining table, Jimmy heard his stomach growl again and curled his lips and smiled silently. If he had known this was the case, he should have rested at home for a few hours before coming over.

Before the food was served on the table, he once again turned his attention to the newspaper he had been holding in his hand. Just as he imagined, the newspapers published this morning, whether they were mainstream media or third- and fourth-tier gossip tabloids, were all correct. His customers sang praises and praised some of them, which made even him feel nauseous after seeing them.

It is understandable for smaller entertainment media to do this. After all, they need to take advantage of various hot events and issue supplements to attract attention and increase sales. However, even some authoritative media have such a tone. Jimmy felt a sense of unreality for a time, as if he really didn't know the true face of his client, even though they had been working closely together for nearly ten years.

For example, in the New Yorker in my hand, an article written by David Denbigh, a famous Mesozoic film critic who is well-known throughout North America, said:

"Wayne Greenberg is the strong elephant in North American Hollywood, and the group of followers (die-hard movie fans) who surround him closely regard him as the beginning of a new "golden age" in Hollywood. The North American public calls him the last owner of chivalry among all billionaires! What kind of legendary life is it that makes him have such a high evaluation?!"

Lifting one of his arms, Jimmy grabbed his somewhat disheveled hair. What he wanted to do most at the moment was to give his thighs two hard slaps to see who was talking nonsense! Could this be referring to his insidious, profit-seeking, greedy, lustful, and death-phobic client, who was born with the dirty blood of capitalists flowing through his body? !

No one could explain this answer to him. After all, it was not just the media that sang praises for Wayne, and it was not just David Denbigh who risked his life to praise him.

Shaking his head helplessly, he continued to read down the newspaper. “On March 3, 1970, in a private hospital on Malibu Beach, a traditionally wealthy area of ​​Los Angeles, a Jewish boy who was about to overturn the rules of North American movies was born, Wayne Greenberg!

Wayne's mother Anna is a gentle woman who is a short story writer, screenwriter and producer, and has a unique perspective on film art. His father, Ruben, is the owner of a small film company and is naturally a member of the producer alliance.

Such a film and art family moved away from the bustling Los Angeles when Wayne was five years old. Even though he was far away from Hollywood, the center of world film art, the young Wayne did not distance himself from film art. Two years after moving to a farm in Ventura County, hundreds of kilometers away from Los Angeles, he told his parents that his My wish is to become a successful director when I grow up.

He wrote his first short film script on his own at the age of eight, and started playing with a 16mm handheld camera at the age of fourteen. This little boy who aspired to become a great director spent almost all of his childhood and youth being watched by adults. A film theory book that will give you a headache! Not only that, while he was obsessed with learning everything about filmmaking, he still maintained an A grade in every subject in school, including sports.

Facing this child’s dream that he has been holding on to since he was a boy, his mother is like a constantly flashing light around him. Whenever he takes a break, he will always take him into major Hollywood film crews through his connections back then and watch them with his own eyes. The process of how a movie was born continued until Wayne left the shelter of his parents and, with the support of his mother, returned to Los Angeles to attend college alone.

Yes, with his exceptionally excellent SAT scores, he successfully received an invitation to attend the University of Southern California, which ranks No. 1 in television and film arts in North America. From the day he entered school, he became an alternative weirdo in the eyes of his classmates and professors. Almost all of the experimental short films he shot had the same characteristics: blood, violence, darkness, playing with human nature and other elements. They were considered by everyone to be niche. Not in a niche film genre, some professors once asserted that even if this child with amazing talent graduates, it will be difficult for him to survive in Hollywood. However, the light of gold cannot be concealed after all. Mr. Anderson Horowitz, a senior film and television professor at the University of Southern California, discovered the difference of this child at a glance. Even though others were not optimistic about it, he kept encouraging him to succeed. Stick to your own style. With the care of Professor Horowitz, Wayne gradually completed his journey from director apprentice to full-time director during his four years of study at the University of Southern California.

Four years later, this unusual boy took a check of US$1.2 million from his father and made his own in less than three months when no one was optimistic about it. Graduation feature film "Happy Death Day"! Although he could not find any film company willing to release this newcomer's work, and although he repeatedly encountered obstacles at the Saint-Denis Film Festival, this still did not extinguish his dream of directing.

A few months later, holding a film copy of "Happy Death Day", Wayne Greenberg knocked on the door of Twentieth Century Fox, one of the traditional six giants of Hollywood. He originally just had the idea of ​​​​trying it out. After the current Fox CEO and former distribution director Townsend Rothman watched the film, he was directly given a generous buyout and distribution contract that was very rare for newcomers.

As a result, this absurd black horror film with college students as the main perspective attracted the attention of countless young people as soon as it was released, and the box office hit new highs under the stunned gaze of countless insiders. Because of this, Wayne sold all the rights to "Happy Death Day" to 20th Century Fox and gained the first pot of gold in his life!

Just when the movie was in full swing, the unfamiliar name Wayne Greenberg became the focus of investigation by numerous film companies. The turning point came. When his new project was submitted to 20th Century Fox for review, he was poured cold water on it. In the end, due to various reasons, the two parties ended their short but sweet cooperation.

Kevin Tesuhara, then CEO of Warner Bros., overheard the child’s talent as a director and sent someone to find him, saying that Warner Bros. was willing to invest in this talent and would not interfere with his creation. free. It was also during this period that Kevin Tetsuhara's move gradually revealed clues for Warner Bros.'s revenue to surpass the other five Hollywood giants in the future.

In the summer of 1992, Wayne produced the Oscar-level movie "Get Out" in his multiple capacities as screenwriter, director, and producer. After its release, it caused a huge sensation. It was also from this film that he established his special production style that could balance both art and business. Then, in the following years, he successively produced "Joker" that was destined to be famous in film history. Films such as "The Clown" are still regarded as the ceiling of horror films by movie fans.

However, this talented kid who would make God jealous is obviously not satisfied with his current artistic pursuits. He used DC animation under Warner Bros. as inspiration and successfully produced..."

"Jimmy, Jimmy!"

Just as the agent was already fascinated by what he saw, several consecutive shouts made him raise his somewhat confused eyes and look at the surprised housekeeper Hela next to him.

"It's been so long and you haven't moved a bit?" Hela looked at the other party speechlessly, pointed at the sandwiches and scrambled eggs on the table, and said, "Didn't you say you were about to starve... ."

"Damn it."

Jimmy instantly felt his stomach making a protest sound again. He nodded in thanks, picked up the milk in front of him, and drank half of the glass in one go. After taking a long breath, he stretched out a hand to grab the sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth.

However, his other hand was still holding the New Yorker supplement, and he kept stuffing food into his mouth without taking his eyes off the article in the newspaper.

In his eyes, what this well-known film critic writes is completely different from the media that only know how to sing praises without thinking. It has gone through a lot of investigation at first glance. Although some of the incidents have undergone a little artistic processing, as most of the incidents Jimmy, who had experienced it personally, had an unspeakable memory, which made the blurry picture in his mind clear again.

"What are you looking at? You're so absorbed."

After an unknown amount of time passed, Wayne interrupted the agent's thoughts again with a lazy and relaxed voice. When he started to start, the two people who had just gotten up were already yawning and sitting at the dining table.

"Good morning, Jimmy."

Naomi Watts waved slightly and said hello to him.

"Good morning..." Jimmy nodded subconsciously in response, and then looked out the window blankly, only to reflect when he saw the sun that was almost reaching the middle of the sky. "Hey, hey! It's not morning now."

Wayne and the Australian actress looked at each other, shrugged slightly awkwardly, and ignored the resentment on the agent's face. Turning his head and glancing at the newspaper in the other person's hand, he asked a little strangely: "You came here so early just to read the nonsense of these media?"

"This is written by David Denbigh." Jimmy waved the newspaper and said, "It records in detail all the major events you have experienced since birth, until you got the damn statuette last night. So far, I have to say that he has written very well. In this article, you have simply become the representative of the American dream."

"Thanks."

While taking the food brought by Hela, Wayne nodded nonchalantly. In his current opinion, nothing was as important as eating. The special celebration at midnight last night had exhausted the last bit of energy in his body, and now he was in urgent need of replenishing energy.

"Good morning, Mom."

After greeting his mother who entered the restaurant, he began to lower his head and concentrate on eating. If he had any questions, he would wait until he was full before discussing them. "Nami, what's wrong with your neck...shit!"

Anna Greenberg originally wanted to take a look and leave, but after accidentally discovering the marks on Naomi Watts' neck, she asked with a straight face. "Hey girl, tell me, did Wayne abuse you? Or did he beat you?!"

The Australian actress subconsciously shrank her neck and immediately reflected on the crazy games last night. Under Jimmy's special gaze, he stood up, took Anna Greenberg's arm and walked out of the restaurant, while still whispering explanations.

"Game!~"

The two people only left a surprised question before disappearing into the restaurant.

Jimmy stared at the empty plate in front of him, as if he didn't see what had just happened, as if there was some rare beauty on the plate that kept him lingering, unwilling to look away for a moment.

Compared to Naomi Watts' character, Wayne is very thick-skinned. He keeps stuffing food into his mouth quickly. It is not until the last piece of beef is eaten that his upper body relaxes. He reached the back of the chair and lit a cigarette comfortably.

"Tell me, come here early in the morning. What's going on?"

After hearing the question, Jimmy raised his head and said urgently: "A large number of interview invitations from the media, invitations from various celebrities, and..."

"You should know that I don't have that time!" Wayne waved the fingers holding the cigarette and said helplessly: "I can rest for two days at most. I have to rush back to the post-production studio of Warner Studio to work on "The Dark Knight." The fine editing work will be completed soon, and I have to grasp the final direction, as well as add the soundtrack and some special effects, and whether dubbing needs to be re-dubbed, etc., etc., there are countless tasks waiting for me."

When the Oscars ceremony officially ended, regardless of whether he got what he wanted, he knew very clearly that he had to retract his energy on the awards season as soon as possible and invest in "The Dark Knight" which will be released in May.

The importance of this film is self-evident. Warner Bros. has been conducting large-scale and intensive publicity and promotion. If there is an accident in the post-production work and the release needs to be postponed, it will be a serious accident and the loss will be huge. Just a little bit, but all the big promotional money invested up front.

"No, Warner Bros. also wants you to accept some exclusive interviews with the media, or more famous talk shows." Jimmy explained patiently. Of course he knew how stressful his client's work was, but there were some obligations that he couldn't refuse. dropped.

"As you know, "The Departed" has never been completely released from theaters. It has been waiting for this day. Warner Bros. has invested so many media resources in order for the film to return to theaters on a large scale after winning the Oscar. Make a lot of money. So, at least you have to accept some media interviews and talk about various information about "The Departed" in front of the North American audience."

Secondary promotional video, so to speak, Wayne understands. In any case, the Oscars have an influence that cannot be underestimated in North America and even the entire Western stage. Coupled with the Academy's careful arrangements for the Oscars this time, Warner Bros. would be foolish not to take advantage of the Oscars' unparalleled marketing benefits.

You know, of all the profits from "The Departed", he can get half of it. As soon as he thought of this, he nodded silently, completely losing his impatience.

Although using the Oscars, the highest honor in the industry, to talk about profits seems to be completely different from the artistic awards ceremony, in fact, this is indeed the best marketing gimmick in Hollywood. It is only a marketing gimmick once a year. Otherwise, so many production companies, Why do you risk your life every year to win prizes?

To a certain extent, the ownership of each Oscar statuette can be converted into the film's revenue figures in a targeted manner, and the unit is US dollars.

"You and Nina have a chat and discuss a recent program." Wayne stood up and led the way to the living room while instructing. "The best thing is to be on a local media show in Los Angeles. I don't have time to be a trapeze artist before May."

Jimmy nodded. "Okay, by the way, that bearded man from New Zealand named Peter Jackson is looking for you again during this time. The script in his hand seems to have been almost revised, but he said that other than you, there will be no one else. For anyone to watch.”

"Tell him for me that I am very busy during this period, and let him correct himself. I will find him when he is done with this period of time."

For Wayne, winning the coveted Oscar statuette also means that his work has become busier. Most interview invitations and various invitations can be ignored, but there are some activities that cannot be avoided at all, because " The income from "The Departed" is closely related to him.

After a brief discussion, Nina and Jimmy had a brief communication with Warner Bros. in the afternoon. Warner Bros. was also very fast. No one was more worried about the work progress of "The Dark Knight" than them. The next afternoon , everything was arranged.

"'The Departed' can be said to be the summary of my academic career. Maybe this film is not the best box office among my works, but it is indeed one of the most satisfying for me."

Located in Burbank, the media capital of Los Angeles, in the studio of ABC TV Channel, Wayne sat on a single sofa and talked to the camera and host who were broadcasting live. "This film may not be suitable for all audiences. Some people don't like the violence, gore and other scenes in it, and some people can't accept the foul language. But the definition of this film is an R-rated film, and it may also be my last An R-rated movie!”

Of course, he has never forgotten what his mission here is. As for creating gimmicks for the film, as one of the investors behind the film, he once again emphasized the concept of "the last R-rated film" ". "Many viewers know and are looking forward to the production progress of your new movie "The Dark Knight." Can you talk about this, or can you give us some information about the film."

After chatting about the topic of "The Departed", the host began to gradually change the topic, hoping to lead the conversation to the more concerning "The Dark Knight". "You know, movie lovers all over North America have deep expectations for this movie."

"This is a story that connects the past and the future of DC movies, and it is also a story about ideas. I think if I want to describe the positioning of the Joker and Batman in this movie, I will use the metaphor of two sides of the coin." Not given to the host Given the opportunity to continue to entangle, Wayne said directly to the camera: "The production of the film is progressing very well. A preview screening will be held before it is released. There will be lucky fans who can watch it in advance."

It’s the end of March now, and we’re about to enter April, so it won’t be too long before the movie is released. The previous plot leaks disrupted some of his plans. Although Warner Bros. took advantage of the situation and started publicity in advance, and they also benefited from it, in order to avoid other accidents, he will never advance the plot at this time. Tooru, not even for publicity.

After the talk show ended, Wayne walked down the TV station building with his assistant without stopping, preparing to go directly to Warner Studios to complete the final work on the film.

At the same time, while he was being interviewed by the media and on ABC Live's talk column, with all the media reporting on Wayne and the film's Oscar popularity, Warner Bros. and the theater alliance once again made "The Departed" available on the same day. Appeared in theaters in large numbers and started showing again.

The marketing effect of the Oscars is undoubtedly evident. Many movie fans in North America who have never seen this film were affected by the Oscars ceremony and went out of their homes to buy tickets at nearby theaters to watch it.

This has also allowed "The Departed" to be expanded from dozens of theaters to 2,200 theaters, showing a short-lived explosion that is hard to find. What is even more surprising is that it has basically dropped to 30,000 to 20,000 US dollars. One-day box office revenue soared to over three million US dollars on the first day after the film's return!

Warner Bros. and the theater alliance know that this situation will not last for a few days, but they are also happy at the same time. Now every cent of box office revenue is pure profit beyond their expectations. This is especially true for the distributor Warner Bros., after all, after a short screening, it means that more profitable time is coming...