King of Hollywood

Chapter 269 Ready to start

Although the investment in "Lord of the Rings" is not much, based on the original version, each one does not exceed 100 million yuan, which is not enough compared to the blockbuster movies with an investment of 100 to 200 million yuan after entering the 21st century, even if it is now replaced by Adrian Production and directing only increased the total investment by 50 million yuan, and each movie was just over 100 million yuan, which is still incomparable with those big productions in the future.

However, the word-of-mouth and box office obtained by the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is definitely one of the few works of its kind. The box office of the Harry Potter series may far exceed it, and the peripheral profits are much more than it, but in Word of mouth, no fantasy works can surpass it. Therefore, this is a well-deserved masterpiece, so Adrian chose Universal to be in charge of the trilogy.

As early as 1994, he had already obtained the film adaptation rights of "Lord of the Rings". In the 1970s, the novel was adapted into animation and radio dramas, so the film copyright is in the hands of Hollywood producer Saul Saz.

Saul Saz can be considered a figure in Hollywood, but Adrian’s power at that time was far less powerful than it is now. Although he had already made a lot of fame at that time, the acquisition was also expanding, and it was still delayed until 95 years later. , Adrian became the youngest best director of the Oscars, and he was considered to have the film copyright of "Lord of the Rings" in his hands.

Even so, he didn't get all the film copyrights of "The Lord of the Rings". Although Saul Saz adapted "The Hobbit Adventure", the distribution rights were in the hands of United Artists instead of him. But it doesn't matter. Adrian has reservations about the prequel, so people can talk about it slowly. Anyway, United Artists and MGM have merged, and they have robbed MGM's film library. They have some relationship with each other, so it can be Take your time.

Of course, all the terms must be detailed, and the profit sharing is the most important thing. Don't bring lawsuits in the future because all parties feel that the sharing is unfair. Although with his current power, those people would not casually sue him, and he was not worried about a lawsuit at all, but once this happened, he would be unhappy after all.

After getting the film copyright of "The Lord of the Rings", Adrian hid it in the snow until Universal Films was acquired by the media, and the film and television production was basically stable, so he threw out the first monument as the foundation.

"Although the filming takes about a year, it doesn't really need that much. What I'm good at is squeezing time." Adrian continued humorously, and immediately got a low laugh.

"I believe in this." Hugo Weaving answered. Among the several actors sitting, except for the women, only he and Adrian had worked together.

"Great, does that mean I can go home now? I'm also good at squeezing time." Ian McKellen asked pretendingly, and Zhou laughed again.

"I support you very much, Ian. I want to play Gandalf more than Saruman." Christopher Lee, who was sitting next to him, said solemnly, his smile suddenly became wider, and the atmosphere in the conference room became more harmonious.

Adrian nodded secretly with satisfaction. Ian McKellen is a very interesting old man. He always maintains a sense of humor, humor and optimism. He is infectious and can adjust the atmosphere. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Basically, he used the original cast, not to mention McKellen who played Gandalf, Lee who played Saruman, and Weaving who played King Aaron, Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Karl Urban, Sean Austin, Sean Bean, etc. are all in this room, and Blanchett and Liv cannot escape.

But the change is not without it. Adrian is not interested in using all British actors. Besides, in the original version, isn't Liv an American actor? So it was Silver Phoenix who played the role of Prince Legolas.

As early as more than a year ago, he had already made up his mind and told Silver to practice archery. Silver, who suffered a lot of setbacks in music, followed his advice and found an archery teacher. Okay, but the posture is already in shape. In addition, the accent is also in place, at least when talking with Mortensen and others, there is no difference. It is still the same sentence, this kid is very talented in acting, but he wants to make music. It makes people smile.

As for Orlando Bloom, who cares if he dies.

Of course, the change is not limited to this point. Another important figure, King Rohan's female concubine Eowyn, also changed her actress to Gwyneth.

As early as after she and Blanchett starred in "Shakespeare in Love" and "Elizabeth" respectively, the media pushed her to the opposite of Blanchett intentionally or unintentionally. There was a lot of noise, but the two women behaved very well and intimately in public, and the media failed to catch the opportunity to make a big fuss.

But what made Adrian make up his mind was that Gwyneth and Blanchett co-produced a movie last year, "The Talented Ripley" directed by Anthony Minghella. Although knowing Minghella's slow-paced storytelling style is not very pleasing, it may be good to watch it once, but it will be boring after more, Adrian still asked Miramax to make this movie, and the box office No, it's better to earn word of mouth.

However, Minghella hoped that Adrian could persuade Gwyneth and Blanchett to play the role, and for this reason he revised the script according to his wishes. Adrian agreed, and then gave birth to the movie that he directed The idea of ​​acting together in a movie. Now that he has Gwyneth and Blanchett together, whether in life or career, it would be interesting to have them make a movie together.

Besides, when "Shakespeare in Love" and "Elizabeth" were filmed, they were already making movies together, so it was perfect for Gwyneth to play Eowyn.

"Please come here, everyone, mainly to meet each other, get to know each other and communicate, so that the crew can arrange everyone's schedule accordingly."

"Early before this, I had already sent people to New Zealand to collect information, and before sending out invitations to you, some of the people in charge had also gone to build the set."

"As for why New Zealand is considered, it is very simple, the environment is very suitable, and labor is cheap."

Adrian answered the actors' questions unhurriedly.

Although he temporarily hid himself after getting the film copyright, he still arranged many people to go to New Zealand in the next few years, to the places he remembered, such as Queenstown or Tongariro National Park to collect relevant information , and started preparations early on, so when he is now ready to start, the various scene setting diagrams and character setting diagrams are already very complete.

Since there is the original version as a reference, there is no need for Adrian to go to other places to find a suitable location.

"Thank you for taking the time to come here. The fear will be held in the middle of this month at the latest. Please be prepared." Adrian ended today's meeting with these words.

Everyone knows the name of the director of Miracle, especially since he was nominated for three best directors at this year's Oscars, so after sending out the invitation, no one refused, and Gwyneth just played a small temper.

"I just think it's unfair. Why can Kate play the role of the elf queen, but I'm just a princess?" After the meeting, Gwyneth, who was walking behind, asked Adrian. This is where she was dissatisfied.

"Because Ed thinks you are very suitable." Blanchett, who was with her, said with a smile.

Gwyneth rolled her eyes but said nothing, and Liv, who was at the back, looked at them a little unhappy, but at the same time thoughtful.

Although "The Lord of the Rings" has been put on the schedule, there is still some time before the actual shooting, and Adrian has to arrange other things, such as the post-editing of "The Beautiful Legend of Sicily"-in fact, there is no need to rush, the film must at least Waiting until the end of the year to screen, there is enough time for him to slowly edit to achieve the group number—or the screening schedule of some movies, and how certain information will be delivered to him in the first place, as well as the itinerary of other women.

You must know that Adrian will be in New Zealand for at least several months, and there is a considerable time difference and reversed climate. Although it is convenient to go back to Los Angeles, it should not be too frequent, so how to transmit information efficiently, How to let women go to New Zealand for vacation, etc., all need to be planned. Fortunately, he has a capable female secretary.

Of course, in addition to these, there are still some things that require his own initiative to arrange.

"New Zealand? At least ten months?" At Julius' home, Avril could not help but widen her eyes after hearing about it.

"Yes, it's a fairly large-scale production, and I need to stay there for a long time to direct the filming work." Adrian nodded.

"Oh, that's too bad, I still have a lot of things I want to ask you for advice." Avril did not hide her annoyance and loss.

"I heard that you make movies very quickly. A movie that takes half a year for others can reach you in two months at most. Why did it take so long this time?" She asked again immediately.

Avril Lavigne is a lively girl, within a few weeks of coming to Los Angeles, she has become familiar with a group of kids playing rock and roll at school, and she has also invested a lot of enthusiasm in the company's training for her. Norton praised Adrian more than once, she has great potential in pop and rock.

Adrian often took time to chat with Avril Lavigne and discuss music topics. The girl was surprised to know that he wrote several popular songs for Britney and Christina, but Adrian rarely fully admitted it.

"I just have a lot of ideas, such as a few melodies that come out of a sudden inspiration, and it's okay to hum, but it's not so easy to write a complete song, so the real credit is Eric and the others." He said so .

Yes, I didn't fully admit it, but I brought that kind of semi-concealment to the extreme, so Avril Lavigne inevitably had a look of curiosity and even admiration in her eyes. But more often, it was Avril who spoke, and Adrian listened, listened to her talk about those things when she was a child, listened to her complaining or boasting, and then said something at the right time.

Therefore, when Avril Lavigne, who is used to this, it is normal to feel lost when she learns that Adrian will be going to New Zealand for a long time.

"This is a trilogy, that is, we need to shoot three movies at a time. Even if each movie takes two months, it is half a year, not to mention the scale of this movie is very large." Adrian simply explained , and then reached out and touched the girl's head, "But don't worry, if you want, you can come and see me."

"Then it's settled," Avril Lavigne shouted immediately, as if he was afraid that he would go back on his word.

"Of course." Adrian nodded with a smile.

Obviously, the girl has a very good impression of him and holds a lot of weight in her heart, which is a good start, but the other one is a little different.

"New Zealand? At least ten months?" Jessica opened her eyes wide. Although she was a little surprised and disappointed, she was also a little envious and regretful. After listening to Adrian's explanation, she had nothing but wished him a smooth shooting. say what.

It wasn't until the party was about to end that Adrian was about to leave, and Jessica took the opportunity to see him off and asked, "So, do you stay there until the end, or do you often come back?"

"I will come back some time, but not often. After all, the jet lag is too frequent, which will affect the efficiency." Adrian said.

Then Jessica sighed: "I really want to see what New Zealand is like."

Adrian raised his eyebrows, and then said, "If you want, I can invite you to go on vacation."

"Really?" The girl showed surprise again, but then showed hesitation, "But..."

"In this way, I invite the entire crew of "Dark Angel" to go on vacation in New Zealand. You can follow the crew alone or bring your family." Adrian said.

She probably didn't expect the other party to be able to see her thoughts, Jessica opened her mouth wide, jumped up with joy, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a heavy mouthful: "Thank you, Ed."

Then he screamed when he thought of something again, his face blushed a lot, he shook off Adrian and went back home like a panicked bunny.

What a... funny, conflicted girl. Adrian thought so while touching the cheek that Jessica ěn touched. Although he didn't have as much contact with her as Avril Lavigne, and most of the time he was on the set of "Dark Angel of the Last Days", but there were definitely a lot of them. The relationship between them was fairly harmonious, and she even invited him to several parties she held.

Jessica likes to throw parties and invite a lot of friends to come and play, but most of the parties are held in her own home. She still lives with her parents and younger brother, so she is actually different from some party animals, so Adri Ann would describe her with contradictions. It's like a... a little butterfly that is eager to break free, get out of the cocoon, but shrinks back inside a few times for various reasons, not yet fully grown.

That's right, that's right. In a few months, Jessica is more beautiful than when she first appeared in "Dark Angel". She is gradually approaching the image in Adrian's memory, but there is still a long way to go. . Just like a butterfly that has not yet broken its cocoon, so if you really want to do something, you have to hurry up. The influence exerted when breaking the cocoon is not as great as when it is still an egg.

Well, let’s not mention these things. The time for the official start of filming of “Lord of the Rings” is getting closer and closer, and Adrian is also starting to prepare to leave, and it will be fine after he takes action on something that has been planned for a while.

"Why invite me here? Couldn't it be in a cafe, restaurant, or club?" Nicole asked immediately after sitting down.

Although there was a bit of impoliteness in her words, there was no impatient expression between her brows. On the contrary, she looked quite relaxed, as if some big stone had been lifted from her heart.

Nicole certainly has reason to relax, because there is no time limit on Cruise's side, and the divorce case between the two has been delayed for almost a year, and now the dust has finally settled. According to the judgment of the court, Cruise handed over to her a mansion in Sydney and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles respectively, and also paid 50 million US dollars Note 2. In two days, after the signing of the divorce agreement, she can Get rid of that man completely.

Besides that, her performance in "Mulholland Drive" got a lot of praise from the critics, and she also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. , she won Best Supporting Actress, although she had already won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical Comedy three years ago, but everyone knew the comforting nature of this Best Actress.

So even though the evaluation of acting skills is not as good as Naomi, she is still a little satisfied. After all, this is the first time that film critics have completely ignored her appearance, and although Naomi also won the Golden Globe Award for Best The nomination of the heroine of the drama, but failed to get it.

But Nicole was also a little worried and irritable at the same time, because she knew that everything she had now was thanks to this person in front of her. If this person hadn't arranged for the media in her hands to report in her favour, if this person hadn't sent someone to snipe the one detective Cruise hired, she wouldn't have won the divorce so easily, and not only had she received a large amount of compensation It also pushed most of the negative news to Cruise. Nicole has been in Hollywood for almost ten years, and she has heard about Anthony Pelicano's ability.

Similarly, if this man hadn't directed "Mulholland Drive" and invited her to star in it, she wouldn't have won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and won the praise that she didn't have before. Moreover, this man was nominated for three Best Director Oscars in the same session, and his two women were nominated for Best Actress Oscar at the same time, which made Nicole very conflicted.

After a complete break with Cruise, her mind was completely focused on her career, and the Oscar for Best Actress is her main goal now. There is a shortcut right in front of her, and she knows exactly what the other party wants. Adrian never hides his strong possessiveness when he looks at her.