American fame and fortune

Disney Studios, post-production studio.

Standing in front of a multi-screen monitor, Martin put on headphones and listened carefully to the soundtrack he had just added.

On the screen, the male protagonist dressed as a clown is running around like a madman.

"Stop!" Martin shouted.

Sound editor Dawson immediately hit the pause button.

Martin took off his headphones, looked at the assistant director Steve Downton next to him, and said, "There seems to be something wrong with the soundtrack here."

Steve Downton expressed himself simply: "It's quite satisfactory."

Not bad, but not outstanding either.

Martin whispered: "The clowns here are just professional clowns, living at the bottom of society, trapped in a cage, facing a cruel social environment..."

Steve Downton said: "Do you want to go back and redo it? Or change it?"

The experienced Dawson interjected at this time: "Director, how about adding a background song here? The kind that suits the situation."

Martin listened to the opinions, especially from the experienced industry experts hired by Qiancai, and immediately asked: "Do you have a suitable choice?"

This was not the first time that Dawson had collaborated with Martin. Knowing his style, he said directly: "There are several clown scenes that are very suitable for using "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the background music."

Hearing the name, Martin recalled briefly and asked: "Queen?"

"Yes," Dawson responded, "Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'"

The song automatically played in Steve Downton's mind, and he looked at the paused clown image and said, "Shall we give it a try?"

Martin responded: "Let's try it first."

Trying it privately, without considering copyright authorization for the time being, Dawson downloaded a song of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and re-edited the soundtrack and sound effects for this section.

Martin and Steve Downton waited for a while and put their headsets back on.

Dawson pressed play again.

It's still the same clip as before. The clown is bullied on the street and runs wildly, trying to escape from this terrible society.

The background music completely changed and became the melody of "Bohemian Rhapsody".

"Is this real life or just a nightmare? I am pressed under the mountain and want to escape from the cage of reality."

The clown was beaten down by the crowd and lay on the ground struggling in pain.

"Open your eyes, look up at the sky, I am just a child in suffering..."

At the end of the segment, Martin took off his headphones and said, "I feel better."

Steve Downton responded: "It's much better than the soundtrack just now."

Martin looked towards Dawson: "The tone is lower."

"Low? Okay." Dawson noted it down and said, "There's still one more section."

Martin put on the headset again: "Continue."

Dawson plays another segment.

This is a scene in which the clown falls into his own spiritual world and communicates with his mother after killing his first person. The original soundtrack was replaced by a singing voice.

When he returned to his old apartment and saw his mother, a version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" sang with sadness and high spirits.

"Mom, I just killed someone. I put the gun on his head and pulled the trigger, and now he is dead! Mom, life has just begun, but I threw it away in the wind..."

Martin nodded slightly. The song perfectly matched the plot and the emotions of the characters.

Moreover, the song has a strong nostalgic style, which may arouse the emotions of a group of viewers.

Last year's "The Guardians" launched by Marvel Studios was a huge success, and several nostalgic classic songs played a big role.

The temporarily replaced soundtrack and sound effects were not perfect. Martin said to Dawson: "Please improve these pieces of soundtrack and re-edit the sound effects. Once it is completely completed, we will see how it goes."

Dawson responded and reminded: "If you want to use it publicly, you need to get authorization."

This is not difficult. After paying a fee, the copyright of these old songs can be used. Martin told Steve Downton: "Go back and ask someone to get the authorization for "Bohemian Rhapsody"."

Steve Downton said: "Let Michael run."

The work here came to an end, and Martin left the studio and returned to his office.

Soon, Louise opened the door and came in, pulled out a chair and sat across from him, saying, "I just got the news that people from DC have officially contacted Joss Whedon."

Martin was immediately interested when he heard this: "Invite Joss Whedon to join the "Justice League" project?"

Louise said: "The two sides are meeting behind closed doors. What they are talking about is not yet certain, but it is 80% that Joss Whedon will replace Zack Snyder."

Martin thought for a while and asked, "Is Zack Snyder willing to quit?"

Louise said: "No director is willing to quit at this time. Once Joss Whedon replaces Zack Snyder, not only will the film be re-edited, but there may also be extensive reshoots, and Zack Snyder will even sign the director's name. All will be lost.”

She added: "If Warner and DC make huge compensation, it is not impossible for Zack Snyder to withdraw."

Martin said: "If the film fails, these will become the decision-making mistakes of Warner Group."

Louise smiled: "The premise is that "Justice League" fails."

"Changing the director at this moment, the tone of the movie is almost completely overturned and started over again. What is the chance of success?" Martin has been in contact with Daniel and learned about the recent high-level meetings of Warner: "If it's not chaotic enough, we will add more fuel to the fire below?"

Louise said: "You know, I'm always on your side."

She knew that the conflict between Martin and the Warner team had come to an end with Jon Berg's resignation, but Kevin Tsujihara brought another woman out. It's only because Martin is highly vigilant on a daily basis, or his paranoia has reached the late stage, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.

"First of all, we can't let Zack Snyder withdraw easily, we must make a fuss." Martin hesitated for a moment and called Thomas.

Thomas happened to be discussing business at Disney Studios and quickly rushed over.

After hearing Martin's words, he said, "This is simple. I'll find a way. I'm familiar with Zack Snyder's agent."

Martin said, "No need to do much, just remind them."

Thomas understood, "This is their own legitimate interests. Warner and DC will not give up if they do this."

…………

The circle of top Hollywood agents is not large. Because Martin has participated in many DC activities, Thomas has known Zack Snyder's agent Fisher for a long time.

Thomas also knows about the relationship between Warner and Martin. As a qualified agent, he has established a close relationship with Fisher since the release of "Man of Steel".

At that time, he just thought that it might be useful in the future, but he didn't expect that it would be really useful now.

In a coffee shop in Century City Plaza, Fisher added sugar to his coffee and asked with a smile: "Why do you suddenly have time to ask me out for coffee?"

Thomas said directly: "I just got a message about your number one client Zack Snyder."

Fisher looked up at him and asked: "Is it between Zack and Warner?"

"To be more precise, it is related to DC." Thomas said: "DC's Jeff Jones contacted Joss Whedon. If I remember correctly, Jeff Jones is the representative of DC stationed in "Justice League"? "

Fisher knew exactly who Joss Whedon was and what he had done. Hearing these words, combined with the recent series of conflicts between DC and Zack Snyder because of the movie, he immediately had a guess.

Is DC going to replace the director of "Justice League"?

Fisher stopped adding sugar, took out two dollars, put them on the table, and said, "Thank you for the news, I'm leaving first."

Thomas nodded: "Just go ahead."

Fisher came out of the cafe, took out his phone and dialed Zack Snyder's number: "Where are you? In the studio of Warner Studios, OK! Don't leave yet, I'll be there soon, it's very important, you call Deborah to come with me."

He got in the car and quickly went to Warner Studios.

All the way, Fisher was thinking about how to deal with it. If Zack Snyder's commercial appeal and status in Hollywood could be comparable to Thomas' client Martin Davis, all these problems would not be a problem.

But Zack Snyder is too far away from Martin Davis. The support that Warner won for "Man of Steel" was not only returned to "Batman v Superman", but also deteriorated and even the director's ability was questioned.

Fisher knew very well that if Warner and DC really wanted to change the director, neither Zack Snyder and his wife nor the agency would be able to resist.

Warner Bros. is not as good as it was a few years ago, but it is still a behemoth.

But it is impossible to pack up and leave directly.

When Fisher arrived at Warner Studios, he called Zack Snyder and his wife out and informed them of the news.

Zack Snyder was not very surprised: "I have been feeling this way for the past month."

Fisher said: "What do you think?"

Zack Snyder thought for a while and said: "I am just a director."

His wife, Deborah Snyder, who has always been a partner as a producer, said: "Since "300 Spartans", Zack has brought at least more than a billion dollars in profits to Warner, but now they want to kick Zack out!"

Zack Snyder stared at his agent: "What do you think?"

"If Warner and DC really do this, we can't stop it." Fisher was very rational: "But they have to do it according to the contract!"

Zack Snyder did not speak for the time being.

Fisher's meaning was very clear: "Our interests must be protected!"

Deborah shook her husband's hand: "You do the directing work, and leave the rest to me and Fisher."

Zack Snyder nodded: "Let's do it."

Fisher said: "No matter what happens, you must inform me as soon as possible."

Just as they were discussing the response strategy, Bruce and Jodi had just finished a date.

Although the former had a pelvic pain, he still informed Jodi of the news clues about Warner, DC and Zack Snyder.

Jody immediately called his most reliable team.

That night, TMZ got the exact news and announced the news that shocked the entire North American entertainment industry on the front page of the website.

"Shocking! The director of "Justice League" is about to be replaced!"

"After two internal previews, Warner and DC were extremely dissatisfied with Zack Snyder's Justice League. They have sent people to formally contact Joss Whedon, the director of The Avengers, and plan to replace Zack Snyder with Joss Whedon to complete the final production of Justice League."

If this news happened to other major Hollywood companies, fans might treat it as a rumor.

But when it happened to Warner Bros., no one was surprised.

The Warner group's slapstick operation has spread throughout North America in the past two years.

Once the news was exposed, Warner and DC executives were extremely angry. According to their ideas, they should complete this director change as little as possible.

The exposure of TMZ made their plan fall through.

Kevin Tsujihara decided to cut the Gordian knot and instructed Hamada to speed up the replacement and complete the director change as soon as possible, so as to strive for the release of Justice League this year as originally planned.

Hamada asked the crew to start the director's withdrawal mechanism, but unlike what they expected, Zack Snyder himself refused to meet directly and asked the crew to negotiate with the agent and Deborah Snyder.

The latter two were extremely tough. The Snyders could withdraw from the "Justice League" project, but DC was asked to pay the full amount of liquidated damages, not a dollar less.

What's worse is that the six leading actors of the crew privately expressed their support for Zack Snyder.

The black, gay and Jewish actresses among them also relied on their special identities to say a few words in public.

Joss Whedon, who was about to take charge of the "Justice League" project, saw it and kept it all in mind.

With two "Avengers" as capital, Joss Whedon certainly didn't want to copy others. He almost completely denied Zack Snyder's style and editing, and proposed conditions for reshooting to Warner and DC.

The expected investment for the reshoot is as high as 60 million US dollars. Almost all the original crew creative shooting team resigned, and Joss Whedon's team was re-hired to complete the remaining work of the project.

The internal conflicts of the "Justice League" project were completely aroused.

For a time, the entire project was in turmoil.

Although the Warner team always bursts out with genius ideas and plans, their decisiveness and execution are beyond reproach. Seeing that the project was about to get out of control, they immediately accelerated their actions, paid the Snyders and the original team the liquidated damages in full, and cleared them out of the group.

Then, they all agreed to the conditions proposed by Joss Whedon and invited Joss Whedon's team to take control of the project.

The reshoot plus the liquidated damages of the old team, plus the salary of the new team, DC's expenditure on "Justice League" increased by 100 million US dollars!

All Hollywood was dumbfounded, and the determination of Warner management was jaw-dropping.

At the signing ceremony of the new team, Joss Whedon announced that the film would be reshot on a large scale, with a more relaxed and entertaining style and content.

Fans who originally accepted the dark style of DC have automatically blocked this "Justice League".

Passersby think they should wait and see how the film is received.