Seven Hundred and Eleven - This Is Crazy

The Hollywood film market, or in other words, the North American film market, is essentially a fully mature market. After decades of commercial development, North America has matured into the world's largest movie box office, which actually means that the market has long been divided up.

Even if there are only six large film companies left in Hollywood, it is actually very crowded. As the large film companies are taken over by media groups, the tacit understanding of the six major Hollywood companies is that if they can't kill each other, then they will join forces to defend it. This mature market eliminates the soil for the rise of any new forces.

When Steven Spielberg teamed up with two other giants to create DreamWorks with a very high price, the company became an entity that was jointly suppressed by the six major companies.

No one dares to underestimate Steven Spielberg's ability, not to mention that DreamWorks also has music mogul David Geffen and former Disney Animation Studio leader Jeffrey Katzenberg.

In fact, among the top executives of the Big Six, and even the top executives of the media groups behind the Big Six, no one believes that DreamWorks can break through and become the seventh largest film company in Hollywood. But no one can guarantee that there will be any accidents. Everyone just boils the frog in warm water with a tacit understanding.

To say who has been the biggest beneficiary in the past two years, it is definitely Sony Columbia, which Benzi invested in. Since Sony acquired Columbia Pictures, after many years of development, it still cannot change the embarrassment of being at the bottom of the six majors. But with DreamWorks attracting most of the firepower, they were prevented from falling into an even more embarrassing situation.

Otherwise, it is really uncertain whether DreamWorks, which was just established by the three giants, will overwhelm Sony Columbia in revenue. If such a scene occurs, it is bound to cause shock to the entire Hollywood industry.

Unlike Sony Columbia, Warner Bros. itself knows Wayne very well, including executives and shareholder representatives headed by Jeff Robinov. They all know clearly that they will not mind once the master of Hollywood's dark movies leaves Warner Bros. Create a big scene with your friend Spielberg.

To put it bluntly, this is what they are most worried about. Wayne is no longer the little guy he was back then. He represents a considerable amount of capital in his own right.

"The global box office of "X-Men" is approaching US$400 million. Wayne, you are going to make a lot of money again this time."

At exactly two o'clock in the afternoon, Wayne took Nina into the Warner Bros. Building. When he opened the door to the CEO's office, the first thing he saw was Bruce Rosenblum throwing down the newspaper in his hand and teasing him enthusiastically. he.

"No, no, man, you have to forgive me, what I said was too one-sided." Before he could sit down and say hello, the Warner Bros. distribution director shrugged and continued teasing with an exaggerated expression.

"Not only the movie "X-Men", but also "Charlie's Angels", "The Matrix", and "The Flash". Man, after this summer season is over, you are definitely the biggest winner in the entire industry!"

"That's right, boss, you should hold a big party to celebrate." Zack Snyder, who had just walked into the office, hugged Wayne warmly and agreed. "Swimming pool, beautiful women, alcohol, by the way, don't you have a good relationship with Tom Cruise? You can borrow his big yacht to hold a party."

"Okay, after this period of busy work, I invite you to join the yacht party." Faced with everyone's teasing, Wayne sat down and shrugged, smiled and nodded in agreement.

While chatting and laughing with a few people, he glanced at the newspaper that Bruce Rosenblum had thrown on the coffee table. It was a copy of the New York Times. On the opened entertainment section, almost the entire page was related to "x News related to "Men".

The situation is obvious. Although the popularity of "X-Men" in North America has gradually passed, 20th Century Fox's promotional offensive has not diminished at all. Even such authoritative newspapers have endless comments and reports.

Obviously 20th Century Fox wants to stir up movie fans who have not yet watched the movie as much as possible, and enter theaters while "X-Men" is still popular, completely draining the film's market potential.

Similar reports not only appear in big media like the New York Times, but also in print media and TV programs that are basically related to entertainment. They are all voices discussing "X-Men".

Those who are sober know that the leader in the North American theater market today is "The Matrix: Revolutions". Those who don't know thought that "X-Men" was the box office champion last week. It can be seen that 20th Century Fox has invested Publicity resources are huge.

Inevitably, Wayne's name is frequently mentioned in a large number of promotional reports about "X-Men". Twentieth Century Fox knows very well that their cooperation with Wayne will most likely only be this one, and since they have paid a sky-high remuneration, they will definitely take advantage of this cooperation to fully utilize his influence.

"Look at this, boss."

Seeing Wayne tilting his head to read the newspaper on the coffee table, Zack Snyder and others were not in a hurry to get down to business, so he casually handed over a copy of Premiere magazine.

The moment he took the magazine with a smile, he immediately looked at the title on the magazine cover and shook his head. 'A textbook success, Wayne Greenberg, this time personally changed the superhero movies dominated by him alone! ’

On the entire cover of "Premier", there is only this one line of huge headlines, and the cover photo that goes with the magazine is a photo of Wayne on the set, holding the director's viewfinder with one hand. This photo is obviously from a certain crew Filmed secretly by staff.

Even though he was thinking about it, he couldn't remember when the photo on the cover was secretly taken. But none of this mattered. He opened the magazine and saw a report written in a professional tone.

'If you only know George Lucas, the father of Star Wars, but don't know the man called the "Lord of Darkness," then I definitely recommend that you find a Blockbuster store and rent Wayne Greenberg's Watch all videos. Or you can patiently read this report, then stand still for two minutes, and reflect on what you have missed in the past!

Steven Spielberg considers him his best friend, Will Smith and Nicolas Cage ask him for advice on acting, and Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are actually his A loyal fan, since he plunged into Hollywood, he has created countless splendid and popular stars!

Different from traditional noir film directors, although Wayne Greenberg's works still contain violence, death, crime and large-scale shots, themes of greed, deception, and emotions of anxiety and uneasiness, he guided these The traditional black elements are perfectly balanced with business.

So far, he is the only special director in Hollywood who can attract a large number of movie fans into the theater while ensuring a strong personal style. Because of his special film style, both professionals in the Hollywood film industry and enthusiastic North American movie fans call him the "King of Darkness".

1 Greenberg brought a DC comic book character to the big screen for the first time. Once "Joker" was released, it immediately aroused great discussion in the entire society. I think fans who have watched "Joker" know how deeply impressive this movie is in a special social context. Almost every audience has found their own shadow in Arthur.

This attempt by DC Comics to adapt a movie has completely put aside Wayne Greenberg's worries. He clearly knows that countless fans have fallen deeply in love with this series. In the following years, he successively filmed and produced a series of DC comic superheroes such as "Batman Begins", "Batman: The Dark Knight", and "The Flash".

There is no doubt that the annual DC superhero movie has become an annual sweet date between countless movie fans and Wayne Greenberg. No one can deny the huge success of superhero movies! As time goes by, the appetite of movie fans is growing, and they are gradually no longer satisfied with the status quo of only seeing one superhero movie a year.

So, just this summer, 20th Century Fox made a bold decision to team up with Wayne Greenberg to create amazing superheroes in addition to DC superhero movies. Without any accidents, "X-Men", written and produced by Wayne Greenberg, has been popular among countless movie fans since its launch in the North American theater market in early August!

At the same time, Wayne Greenberg also invisibly changed the scene of superhero movies that he alone dominated! This is like a perfect lesson for the entire Hollywood film industry. Wayne Greenberg personally tells all practitioners how to shoot and produce superhero movies other than DC in order to gain recognition from fans!

Since the early 1990s, Hollywood producers have been afraid of adapting superheroes because they believe that heroes outside of DC comics are difficult to film. But Wayne Greenberg and Bryan Singer proved that this idea was wrong. Not only could superheroes outside of DC be filmed, but they also proved that as long as the quality of the film is up to standard, it will gain fans.

From this year's "The Flash" to the currently-showing "X-Men", Wayne Greenberg has broken people's perceptions time and time again.

The former is the first Hollywood movie to make extensive use of motion capture, and it is also the first work to make extensive use of CG special effects, digital special effects, models, etc. This application method based on the Hollywood film industry is worth learning by all practitioners.

Needless to say the latter, "X-Men" is still a hit in the North American theater market. This work belongs to Marvel Comics and is completely different from the style of DC superheroes...'

The core theme of the entire report is naturally Wayne and the changes and promotion his works have had on Hollywood movies. But as long as you watch carefully, even ordinary readers can find that the entire article is still promoting "X-Men".

"How is it? Boss. To a certain extent, this report is right. You have indeed set a successful example for everyone in Hollywood this time."

Seeing that he closed the magazine halfway through, he raised his head and touched the cigarette with a smile. Zack Snyder took the magazine and threw it on the coffee table. He spread his hands and said, "But Twentieth Century Fox's little thoughts are too obvious. They Obviously I want to drain all your appeal!"

"The Romance of Fairy Wood"

"Zach, they paid for it."

With a wave of his hand, Wayne rejected Jeff Robinoff's cigar, tilted his head and lit a cigarette of his own.

His words made everyone in the office laugh unconsciously. Yes, they paid, and they paid a lot of money.

To put it bluntly, Warner Bros. executives did not pay attention to the film "X-Men" at all. In the eyes of Warner Bros., which holds the full copyright of DC Comics, in the past ten years, there has been only one enemy of DC superhero movies, and that is itself.

"Okay, let's talk business."

After the small talk, Wayne looked around at the people in the office, his eyes moving from Bruce Rosenblum to Jeff Robinoff, and finally resting on Zack Snyder's face.

Following his words, several men present tacitly put away their smiles and focused their attention on him.

"Zach, I remember from my crew, right?"

"That's right."

Upon hearing this, Zack Snyder was obviously stunned for a moment, and then nodded quickly. "The then assistant director Luke Simmons left the team, and I ran from New York to Los Angeles and got the precious opportunity to join the crew of "Joker."

To put it bluntly, Zack Snyder's film directing career was deeply influenced by Wayne. Although he is indeed close to Wayne's ideas in terms of directorial style, one thing everyone has to admit is that Director Zha is a genius, and he is also a genius who is good at learning.

Just from these three "The Matrix" movies, we can see the growth of Zack Snyder. The results of the "Matrix" trilogy have explained everything.

"Okay, Zach, personally, I have no objection to your ability at all."

Wayne stretched out his fingers holding the cigarette and tapped it on the back of the sofa next to him. His eyes were fixed on Zack Snyder, and while he was considering it carefully in his mind, he slowly said:

"Bruce and I have mentioned it many times, hoping to give you an opportunity to take the helm of the latest "Superman". Let's put aside other external factors first and tell me, Zach, what do you think?"

For a moment, the atmosphere in the entire office fell into silence.

Including the two Warner Bros. executives, and even John Gray and Nina sitting in the corner, they all turned their attention to Zack Snyder and wanted to see what he had to say.

Everyone could see that there was obvious struggle on Zack Snyder's face. He wanted to open his mouth to say something several times, but he held it back. Undoubtedly, this issue also has many concerns for him.

Wayne was not in a hurry at all, he just relaxed on the sofa and smoked silently with his legs crossed. In fact, he is the person who knows Zack Snyder best in the entire office. To put it bluntly, this level of understanding is better than Zack Snyder himself.

From a God's perspective, Zack Snyder is one of the most successful Hollywood directors of his generation. His filmography ranges from historical epics to dystopian futures. However, each of his works shows a distinct operatic visual style, which some people say is like a magnificent oil painting.

Arguably the most obvious element of Zack Snyder's style is his penchant for slow motion. Like many directors, he uses it to heighten the intended mood of a shot. The benefits are obvious. With a large number of high-speed and slow-motion shots, tragedy becomes more tragic and romance becomes more romantic.

If fans are careful, they will find that there are usually a lot of sports and slow-motion shots in his films. However! This is what worries Wayne the most.

The crazy obsession with high-speed slow motion seems to have been deeply imprinted in Zack Snyder's blood. Regardless of the conventional application methods or his iconic curve speed changes, it is as if he has left these slow motions that exaggerate emotions. It’s like I can’t do action scenes anymore.

This is probably the most criticized point by movie fans on the Internet in later generations. No one denies the shockingness of the scenes shot by director Zha, but the frequent abuse of various slow motions is constantly eroding the fans' favorability for the movie.

Looking at his most successful early work "300", movie fans can clearly see the transition between fast motion and slow motion in various war scenes. Those shots that closely follow Leonidas' killing of people are all shot at 100~3 per second. The purpose is to facilitate the editing of fast and slow motion nodes in post-editing.

Therefore, in the eyes of movie fans, every time Leonidas's sword strikes the enemy, it will shock the enemy and cause thick splashes of blood. Then there was an alternation of fast and slow movements, one sword after another.

This is not without its benefits. The gorgeous shots like commercials, the shocking visual effects like oil paintings, and the epic space layout can stimulate the emotions of the moviegoers to the greatest extent. It is also for this reason that Zack Snyder is most suitable for blood-filled R-rated films. The larger the lens size, the better it can bring out Zack Snyder's style.

The key is, forget it if you like to abuse slow motion in various postures, if you put it in other commercial action movies, the advantages will definitely outweigh the disadvantages.

But this guy is still a die-hard DC fan. The DC superhero movies he shoots, at best, restore the comic book world to the greatest extent. At worst, they use the world's top budget to produce movies specifically for DC fans. Niche genre film!

Coupled with his uncontrollable desire for slow motion, there are various slow motion renderings that cannot be stopped once Superman enters the fight scene!

"Boss, I'm under a lot of pressure."

The silent atmosphere in the office was finally broken by Zack Snyder himself. He smiled bitterly, looked at Wayne and said directly: "The pressure is so great that I can't breathe. You know, directing the DC series is my dream. , but after all, this is different from "The Matrix" where you arranged everything..."

Nodding silently, Wayne looked at Zack Snyder with deep appreciation in his eyes. Clearly, the guy hasn't let his streak of success go to his head.

Outsiders don't know it, but the two of them know best that the success of "The Matrix" is inseparable from Zack Snyder's outstanding performance.

But it cannot be ignored that Wayne had planned everything in "The Matrix" perfectly before the filming of the first part of "The Matrix". Including the script, film direction, etc., even the shooting sequence of the scenes, and even the camera position and lighting requirements were all done when filming the first part.

To put it bluntly, when filming the first part of "The Matrix", Zack Snyder was more like a traditional film machine. From the second to the third film, although Wayne did not continue to make such perfect preparations for the film, the general direction remained unchanged. It seems that the entire crew is under the control of Zack Snyder, but in fact they are still working according to his plan.

"Zach, I don't think I need to emphasize to you how important the beginning of Superman is..."

Following Wayne's words, several people nodded slowly. Those working on this project are all veterans in the industry. Everyone knows that every Hollywood director faces unprecedented pressure when taking on a big project. Directors who are overwhelmed by pressure in the industry are not only not uncommon, but are common.

You know, from the moment he signs his name on the director's contract, the director has been burdened with tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars of pressure. This is also the reason why many directors are generally like a powder keg in the crew. They are really under too much work pressure. This kind of pressure does not last for a day or two, but lasts for months to years.

"Well, Zach, I give you two choices."

Wayne looked at Zack Snyder, took a big puff of cigarette, stretched out a finger, and said slowly: "First, I can fully support you in directing the beginning of Superman. Don't be happy now, I can Let me tell you in advance, in my plan, the investment scale for the beginning of Superman should be around 180 to 200 million US dollars.

This is one of the central characters in the DC film series, and you have to make the film meet my requirements. Zach, there is no friendship to be had in this regard. If you want to take over the opening of Superman, you will definitely be preparing for filming under the eyes of me and the producers. If you make a mistake, I will not hesitate to replace you. "

Zack Snyder nodded, fully understanding the meaning of what Wayne said. There is no doubt that Superman is too important. On such a top Hollywood project, not to mention the little friendship between them, even father and son would not risk US$200 million.

"the second."

Seeing Zack Snyder nod, Wayne stretched out a finger again. "Most of the scenes at the beginning of Superman, and even the preparations for the entire movie, were still shot by you, but you didn't have to work under huge pressure. Just like you did in "The Return of the Clown", you were only responsible for shooting the footage. , the success or failure of the film has nothing to do with you, you just need to do the job I give you."

Zack Snyder asked in astonishment: "Assistant director?"

"Deputy director!"

"No, no, no." Unexpectedly, before Zack Snyder could say anything, Jeff Robinov shook his head first and said: "Wayne, this won't work. You will never be able to come here in a hurry." Those who are dragged down by work may end up delaying everything..."

Bruce Rosenblum also opened his mouth and murmured: "This is crazy, Wayne..."