Chapter 1430: "Chicago"
The 2002 version of the musical "Chicago", which was once well-known to the public, first originated from a famous stage script adapted from real events in 1926, and was adapted into a movie twice in the following years.
Then, in 1975, the story regained attention.
The famous Hollywood filmmaker and Broadway play master Bob Foss adapted "Chicago" into a musical, which made a sensation in the first year of the show, not only won multiple Tony Awards, but also performed several times around the world in the following years. Thousands of games.
Despite its commercial and award success, "Chicago" was as controversial as director and screenwriter Bob Fosse himself. The play rarely adopts the method of "breaking the fourth wall" and frequently "interacts" with the audience, which makes many viewers feel uncomfortable.
In addition, it is obviously impossible for the public opinion circle to like "Chicago"'s bitter satire on the media that only knows how to chase hot spots and has no regard for morality and ethics, and the American celebrity culture that does not hesitate to do any scandal in order to gain exposure
Probably because it was too subversive, after several years of continuous tour from Broadway to the West End of London to the Sydney Opera House in Australia, coupled with the change of the team at that time, the musical ended in 1983 and failed to be like "The Phantom of the Opera". Become a Broadway resident series.
So until two years ago.
In 1996, "Chicago" was restarted on Broadway. It was basically an adaptation based on Bob Fosse's style. Because it was not favored in advance, it was streamlined and economical from the cast to the stage set, but the result was unexpected.
The restarted version not only achieved great success after its opening that year, quickly recovered the cost and realized profitability, but also created a Tony Award record for the restarted version of the stage play, winning six awards in one fell swoop that year.
Then, the production of a movie version was naturally put on the agenda.
When various Hollywood studios paid attention to the film copyright of "Chicago", they discovered that this IP had already been acquired by Daenerys Entertainment. It is a normal state for film companies to hoard script copyrights. It is not surprising that everyone can only feel the vision of Simon Westeros again.
However, because the film list was too full, Simon did not rush to start two years ago, until now.
On the original timeline, "Chicago" achieved a global box office of more than 300 million US dollars in 2002 with a production cost of 45 million US dollars, surpassing "Pulp Fiction", "Good Will Hunting", "Shakespeare in Love" and other signs, becoming The highest-grossing Miramax movie to date.
On the other hand, the success of "Chicago" actually stimulated the ambition of the Weinstein brothers, and they rushed all the way on the road of large-scale literary and artistic films. In the following years, "Cold Mountain", "Nine" and other major productions made repeated mistakes. Eventually Miramax parted ways with Disney.
This time, Miramax has long since disappeared. For "Chicago", of course Simon will not miss it. He had already quietly bought the copyright when he was searching for the list a few years ago. Didn't attract much attention.
The project was officially launched a few months ago, and Simon did not take any detours. He directly locked in the director and screenwriter of the original version.
In fact, the role candidate Simon also basically knows what to do.
It's just that this part of the process was not directly finalized, but the Gaomen Films team in charge of the project arranged a normal audition. Of course, it was limited to a small range of auditions.
The front cabin living room of a Boeing 767.
Simon's immediate focus is on character issues.
The information in hand shows that Catherine Zeta-Jones participated in the audition, and after a brief review of the audition samples, Simon directly marked on the document that she was the first leading actress, Wilma Kelly.
Then there is the second heroine Rosie Hart.
The original Renée Zellweger was not among those auditioning, but even if he did, Simon would pass straight away.
It is really far from my own aesthetics.
Speaking of which, in the preparatory stage of "Chicago", the role of Rosie Hart basically fell on Charlize Theron. "Single Diary" suddenly exploded, broke into the front line in an instant, and then easily squeezed out Charlize Theron.
And, if it weren't for Catherine Zeta-Jones backstage hard enough, Renee Zellweger obviously wouldn't be satisfied with the role of Rosie Hart.
During the filming process, until the next year's Oscars, all kinds of gossip about the two heroines of "Chicago" frequently appeared in the newspapers. It was just the position of the text on the movie poster during the promotional stage, and the two management teams were tit for tat. You come to me After several months, because the left and right issues were not discussed, the official had to release several posters, one for you on the left and one on the right, and one on the right for you.
With Simon's current position, I just think it's very interesting.
A few days ago, Madonna talked about her participation in the audition for "Chicago" at the "Clash of Heaven" after-party. Simon half-joked that Queen McQueen was too difficult to deal with, just thinking of the two heroines of "Chicago".
Although it is unreliable for Queen McGregor to mix with Hollywood, this project is very suitable in all aspects.
According to the materials currently in hand, Queen McGregor hopes to play the lead heroine Wilma Kelly who has relatively more roles. Now that Zeta-Jones has been confirmed, the only thing Simon can give is Rosie Hart.
Regardless of other things, referring to the original memory and even Queen McGregor's famous experience, it is obvious that the other party is more suitable for the role of Rosie Hart.
But Simon is obviously concerned.
Her Majesty Queen's fighting power is more than ten times stronger than that of Renee Zellweger.
The role I want most, when the time comes, the crew is likely to be in a hurry. With Madonna's status, no one can suppress unless Simon often goes to the scene to watch.
Simon obviously didn't have the time.
After consideration, you can only comment to be determined.
If Her Majesty the Queen is willing to settle for the second best, Simon will come forward to talk with the other party in person, and make a three-chapter agreement.
Substitute if you disagree.
Continue to check the video along the audition list. There are many actresses participating in the audition this time. In addition to the two women Simon is more interested in, there are also Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore, Rachel Weisz, Mia Kersch A group of actresses with different statuses, including Gina, Julianne Moore, Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jessica Chastain, participated in the audition.
Even if Madonna can't be dealt with, there are still a group of choices.
And without much consideration, he directly marked the third candidate, Charlize Theron.
Mainly Theron has years of dancing ground.
When making musicals, if the actors don’t know how to dance and only rely on the expedited training before shooting, the effect will definitely not be very good, just like the original version of "Chicago", Renee Zellweger, who has no skills, and Catherine, who has learned dance since childhood · Zeta-Jones comparison, the gap is very obvious.
However, Theron also has shortcomings, that is, his current reputation is still a bit low.
This is not a problem.
First of all, the first part of "The Lord of the Rings" will be released next year. As the actor of "Elf Princess", Theron will definitely become famous. It is preliminarily determined that the first part of "The Lord of the Rings" will be released on the Thanksgiving file next year, while "Chicago" will be the Christmas file, and at the same time it will be the main theme of the subsequent Oscars.
Furthermore, the ip popularity of "Chicago" itself can also make up for the shortcomings of the actors.
In the final analysis, choosing well-known actors is the same as adapting a movie based on a well-known novel, all in order to gain a certain basic popularity in advance. However, countless dark horses in Hollywood have gone from obscurity to blockbusters in the past century, and they have repeatedly proved that the movie itself is the most important thing.
As for the choice of famous roles, it is actually a kind of conservatism.
Simon does not object to this kind of conservatism. After all, Hollywood invests tens of millions, and few people will take it lightly. However, he will definitely not be superstitious about this kind of conservatism. If he can't agree with a big guy, or if it's not suitable, he will change people decisively.
The plan for the heroine and the actor of the heroine 'Billy Flynn' have been confirmed.
This Simon is also directly finalized, Hugh Jackman.
It can be said that it is the biggest change from the original version.
For the original version of Richard Gere, Simon didn't like it, and the other party's performance in the film was also very mediocre in his memory. Even if the current salary of the actor was very cheap due to historical changes, Simon didn't plan to use it.
There was another popular candidate, John Travolta, Simon considered it, but gave up.
This time I can't afford it.
From "Pulp Fiction" to "Broken Arrow" and "Face Changing" in recent years, backed by Daenerys Entertainment, Travolta has been steadily maintaining the first-line status, and commercial films must get a maximum salary of 15 million That kind, even if it is a song and dance film like "Chicago", because of the good relationship between the two parties, even if Travolta is willing to lower his salary, there is still a corresponding sharing clause here.
Now that it is confirmed that this is a big earning project, the division is about the same as the maximum salary.
Not worth it.
Moreover, Simon is not the kind of person who talks about love when others talk about money. It is his creed that brothers should settle accounts clearly, otherwise, no matter how deep the relationship is, it will be over sooner or later.
Another reason is that the core of "Chicago" is the two heroines. Billy Flynn is not that important, so there is no need to find a big-name character.
Hugh Jackman, who has made a name for himself in Hollywood with "Contact" and "LA Confidential" in the past year, is just right. The two parties have signed a packaging agreement for three films, which happens to be the last one. Simple contact, 3 million US dollars is enough. got it done.
A price that is neither high nor low.
Although the summer "LA Confidential" was a blockbuster, it was a ensemble show with three leading actors. Even if Jackman was the leading leading actor, it didn't count as a proof of his charisma. It could only be said that he had a certain degree of popularity. In addition, participating in the film adaptation of the famous musical "LA Confidential", for Jackman himself, can also further broaden his acting career.
There are not many actors in Hollywood who can cross various themes. What is more sad is that they are limited to the young meat in youth films, and it is basically difficult to break through. As soon as Jackman made his debut, he spanned the three major themes of science fiction, crime, and song and dance. As long as the three films have achieved good responses, the next step is a smooth road.
As for Uncle Wolf's singing and dancing ability, not to mention the orthodox stage actor background of the other party, those who have watched "The Circus King" and "Les Miserables" probably will not doubt it.
Simon deliberated as he finally wrote his own notes on the casting papers for "Chicago."
Finally, I circled the name of one of the women who participated in the audition.
Alexandra Martinez.
The 'Princess of the Golden Rose Cave' who was abducted from Italy and eloped with herself.
Unlike other actresses who all tried to get Velma, Martinis auditioned for Rosie.
There is no problem with women's performances and singing and dancing. After all, she was born as a professional dancer, but she is a bit older. She is 35 years old this year and her reputation is a bit low. In recent years, Her Royal Highness has participated in some stage plays and film and television dramas with Simon's back. The face is familiar, but if you want to support "Chicago", at least it must be inferior to Simon's several key candidates.
simon traps woman
, mainly because it’s been a long time. In the next few days, I can go to a woman’s place on the east coast for a night.
This is also a stunner.
At the age of 35, she is also a beauty who has successfully resisted the old-fashioned attributes of Western women, and she is more mature.
After reading the materials of "Chicago", Simon had just closed the folder, and the little maid who had been snuggling beside him graciously took it, put it on the coffee table in front of him, and then fetched another copy for Simon.
This time it is some new project information that is brewing recently.
While opening it, Simon put his other hand on the little maid beside him, and asked casually, "Are you bored?"
The little maid shook her head again and again, raised her head, and looked over with watery eyes: "No, Mr. Westeros, it is my honor to stay by your side."
Simon smiled and motioned to the coffee table in front of him, but said to the other two: "You two Gege, let me see how the flowers bloom together."
Having already experienced several times, Big Eyes and Ziweihua certainly understand what a double flower is. After seeing the man finished speaking, the little maid came forward to help tidy up the documents and things on the coffee table. The two women glared at her in unison, but also Not daring to disobey the man's order, they quickly climbed onto the coffee table and hugged each other.
Simon only occasionally glanced at the lily scene on the coffee table, and his attention was still on the documents in his hand.
The first of a number of projects in the pipeline is The Black Dahlia, both an adaptation of a true historical event and the 'L.O. The most famous part of the City Quartet'.
The Gaomen Films team still suggested that Brian De Palma be in charge, and Palma also responded positively.
Then there are some production ideas such as preliminary script ideas.
The 2006 version of "Black Dahlia" directed by Palma ended in failure. Simon, who knew the inside story, understood that Palma just took over David Fincher's mess, and Palma made a few years in advance again. Simon doesn't have much worries about the new version.
After thinking about it for a while, I commented on Gaomen's side to advance as soon as possible.
Afterwards, several project plans were turned over, either approved or rejected, and soon came another project from Italy, which made Simon raise his eyebrows slightly.
This is a new film that the famous Italian director Giuseppe Tornadore, who has been very happy to cooperate with Daenerys in recent years, is brewing, called "The Beautiful Legend of Sicily". A very familiar movie in memory, it can be described as famous.