Chapter 342 Meeting to Discuss Interstellar

Los Angeles, Paramount Pictures Headquarters.

Linda Obst, the film producer of the Interstellar project, and Kip S. Thorne, a theoretical physicist, arrived at Paramount early and waited in the conference room with two Paramount executives.

"I really didn't expect that Daniel would take over the film in the end."

"Yeah, I didn't expect Spielberg to break up with Paramount."

"I don't know if Daniel's views on the film will conflict with ours."

"Anyway, my principles will not change. The content of the film cannot violate the existing laws of physics. All imaginations must be based on science rather than the imagination of the screenwriter and director!"

"Of course, I agree with you."

Linda Obst and Kip S. Thorne gathered together and whispered.

The two of them had the idea of ​​the film "Interstellar" as early as 2000, and later attracted the interest of Steven Spielberg to direct. The film began to be developed in June 2006.

In March 2007, director Nolan's brother Jonathan Nolan was hired to write the script for the film.

Up to now, the script of "Interstellar" has been polished almost to the point that Spielberg broke up with Paramount last year, and the project was shelved and not further promoted.

Originally, Linda Obst thought that "Interstellar" might fail, and it would not be started again in at least the next five years.

After all, apart from Spielberg, there is no other top science fiction director in Hollywood who can take over the work of this film.

Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better.

Wu Yuan suddenly contacted Paramount, hoping to take over the filming of "Interstellar" and was willing to co-invest with Light Age.

The project of "Interstellar" itself is an original hard science fiction film with extremely high risks. It can be said that except for a few directors such as Spielberg and Cameron, other directors will face great risks of losses if they come to shoot.

If Wu Yuan just wants to take over the project without sharing the investment, Paramount may still hesitate.

After all, although Wu Yuan did a great job in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, "Pirates of the Caribbean" is a fantasy movie, which is very different from hard science fiction, and has some Disney influence.

What?

You mean "Gravity"?

A Chinese science fiction movie, even if it has achieved nearly $100 million in box office in China, is not worth mentioning in the eyes of Hollywood tycoons and cannot be used as a criterion for judgment.

However, if Wu Yuan is willing to share the cost, the situation will be different.

Paramount is still willing to let Wu Yuan try this project under the condition of reduced risks. After all, with Spielberg "defecting" to Disney, Paramount can't find a more suitable director than him.

Rather than letting the "Interstellar" project be shelved indefinitely, it is better to let Wu Yuan give it a try.

This is why we met today.

The person in charge of Paramount and the core creators of "Interstellar" are waiting for Wu Yuan to come and have a meeting with him.

Ten minutes later, Wu Yuan, who arrived on time, walked into the conference room under the guidance of a staff member.

All the people sitting in the conference room stood up to greet him.

"Daniel, welcome to Paramount."

Seeing so many people, Wu Yuan was also a little surprised: "Sorry, am I late?"

"No." A vice president of Paramount said with a smile: "We arrived early. This is the respect that should be given to a top Hollywood director."

"Please sit down."

Wu Yuan sat down, looked around at the group of blond and blue-eyed foreigners, nodded and said: "Then, let's talk about the cooperation of "Interstellar."

John has already talked about commercial cooperation with Paramount on behalf of Light Age.

The production cost of "Interstellar" is currently 180 million US dollars, of which Paramount will contribute 52 million US dollars, Universal will contribute 46 million US dollars, Light Age will contribute 48 million US dollars, and the remaining two cooperating independent film companies will contribute 17 million each.

Paramount and Universal together are the main investors of this project, and these two companies have the most say.

There is no way. For a movie with an investment of more than 100 million US dollars and the goal of global distribution, it can only be done through cooperation with the six major companies. Guangshidai can forget about starting a new business on its own.

After determining their respective investment shares, the cooperation was basically finalized.

And this meeting is more about the specific preliminary preparations for the project.

"Daniel, according to your request, we have contracted a 500-acre (about 30,000 acres) farm in the Okotoks area south of Calgary, Alberta, Canada."

"The team is now building a road to the filming location and planting corn. It is expected to take half a year to grow before the start of filming."

Linda Obst, the producer in charge of the team's main control, immediately told Wu Yuan about his first arrangement after taking over "Interstellar".

Planting corn in Canada!

According to the script setting, in the future, crops on Earth will often fail due to climate change and blight, and only corn can be planted.

The protagonist Cooper, who used to be a space shuttle pilot, was also forced to become a farmer to help solve the food crisis and grow corn on Earth.

In order to show that corn has been grown in the most unsuitable places on earth for growing corn. Alberta, which has a cold climate and the lowest temperature in winter is about minus 50 degrees, is a very suitable place to reflect this background.

Linda Obst can understand Wu Yuan's request for the crew to grow corn in Alberta.

This is not 2016. Although it may be more convenient to use computer special effects to create cornfields, the resulting CG special effects are not realistic enough.

At least in the eyes of old-school producers like Linda Obst, this kind of plot that can be completed in real shots must be the most realistic in real shots. He supports Wu Yuan's idea.

"Ha, maybe when the movie is finished, we can sell these 30,000 acres of corn, and not only can we recover the cost of renting the land, but we can also make a small profit." Linda Obst said very optimistically.

"What you asked for is a way to artificially create a "black dust storm." Some technicians and I also found a good choice."

Science advisor Kip S. Thorne also spoke out: "There is a chemical material C-90, which is a non-toxic, biodegradable material made of shredded cardboard that is safe enough to be used in some applications. The processed food filler can be exactly what you want, to simulate the gritty and immersive feel of a sandstorm, but it’s also light enough to achieve the hovering effect Nolan wants.”

"With some large blowers, we can indeed artificially create a small black dust storm."

Wu Yuan listened and nodded: "So, we are only left with the most important spaceship that we haven't finished yet?"

"Yes." Kip S. Thorne nodded: "But the team has studied the International Space Station documentary and visited the space technology company, and already has an idea."

"There are three kinds of spacecraft that appear in the film - the Ranger, the Lander and the Ever Given."

"The Eternal circular mothership that has appeared the most is composed of 12 compartments and rotates at 5 times per minute to generate 1G of gravity through centripetal force."

"Connected by an airlock system and curved continuous floors, 12 compartments assume different missions: four engine compartments, four permanent compartments, and include living areas, cockpits, cryogenic rooms and medical laboratories and Four landing modules will be placed on the surface of the new planet."

"We held many meetings and discussed it, and thought we could make a model more than 10 meters long using steel and polystyrene. We also designed hydraulic landing gear, airtight cabin, waterproof layer, freezing bed and hydraulic seat. Through a six-axis With a universal joint, the operator can precisely control its movement.”

"I heard that you used LED screens to play the space environment and simulate space during the filming of "Gravity". This is a great idea."

"During filming, the actors can see through the portholes the same scene as in real space. The precise and huge projection allows them to quickly immerse themselves in the space situation. We also plan to adopt this design."

"Of course, the most difficult thing about this movie is the wormhole described in the plot, the world composed of the theory of relativity, and the huge real black hole."

"How to accurately depict wormholes and black holes in movies may require us to discuss and study together. I hope that based on Einstein's relativity equations, the most realistic representation of the black hole pattern under current scientific research can be achieved."

"This may be a large project, and visual effects production requires a large number of manpower and consultants with rich knowledge of theoretical physics to follow the entire process."

Kip S. Thorne is a physicist himself. He has an extremely rigorous attitude towards science. He also confirmed with Wu Yuan repeatedly before cooperation that "Interstellar" must obey the basic laws of physics and cannot be like Like some soft science fiction movies in Hollywood, they all rely on one's imagination to create plots that seriously violate the laws of physics.

Yes, we’re talking about those superhero blockbusters.

Wu Yuan certainly agrees with this. He also knows that the reason why "Interstellar" was later regarded as a masterpiece is because it is extremely real.

Even the black hole model scenes made in the movie were found to be surprisingly consistent with reality after the first real photo of a black hole was taken on Earth, and it became popular again.

Wu Yuan certainly recognized this rigor and scientific foresight.

"No problem. We still have half a year of preparation time to form a large scientific advisory team. I believe we will discuss a suitable special effects presentation method that conforms to the laws of physics." Wu Yuan assured.

Kip S. Thorne nodded with satisfaction. It seems that Wu Yuan, like Spielberg, is a rigorous director who pursues authenticity.

On the side, Paramount executives who had been listening quietly to their discussion coughed at the right time, interrupting the discussion between the two.

"Gentlemen, before discussing the specific plot design, should we first finalize the starring candidates for this movie?"

"Who should we find to play the leading role?"

"Leonardo DiCaprio?" (End of Chapter)