Made in Hollywood

"how so?"

Looking at the data report in his hand, Charlie Adam, director of 20th Century Fox's distribution department, was a little stunned. Although he had sufficient psychological preparation in advance, he couldn't help being surprised after the film's first weekend box office release.

The film's big sales must have brought ecstasy rather than surprise. Charlie Adam felt that his position had become unstable, with "Chicago", which he strongly opposed and rejected, in front, and "Life and Death Speed", which was a box office failure. 2", even if the real decision maker is CEO Townsend Rothman, I'm afraid the scapegoat...

His eyes fell on the report in his hand again.

"Speed ​​of Life 2" cost $110 million to make, and its first three-day box office grossed $16.15 million, far below the $40 million expected by Twentieth Century Fox!

Why is this happening? The first film of "Speed ​​of Life" was a huge hit. In recent years, the sales and rental of video tapes have been quite good, and they must have accumulated a lot of supporters. Generally speaking, the box office of the film should be a big hit in the first week. That's right.

Is it...

Charlie Adam sighed, was it just because the director changed? Is there such a big difference between a Duke Rosenberg production and a non-Duke Rosenberg production?

Holding the same idea, there is Keanu? Keeves's agent.

"Keanu, you can't go any further." He looked at Reeves, "None of the movies you've made since "Speed ​​of Life" has really sold, and now the safest sequel to "Speed ​​of Life" has basically been If you screw it up, your status will drop further, and if you want to stay in Hollywood, you have to brace yourself."

Just as he liked drugs when he was young, Keanu Reeves likes to live as he pleases, but he is no longer young. The experience in the past few years has told him that if you want to do whatever you want, you must have money and status as capital.

It's just... just in the current situation, most people are afraid to come and step on him, who is willing to help him? Even 20th Century Fox directly interrupted a film project it was negotiating after its first week of box office release.

If "Life and Death 2" can't turn around. Then he is a veritable box office poison, and how much hope is there for a comeback?

After all, this is not a movie directed by Duke Rosenberg. Even if he was left behind so much in the early stage, he could still kill his opponent!

With a sigh in his heart, Keanu Reeves actually understands very well that this box-office poison is a sure thing.

"Go ahead, Vicente. What should I do?"

Hearing Keanu Reeves' question, Vicente put down the coffee cup and looked away from the cafe, "Go back to where the dream started!"

"Where did the dream begin?" Keanu Reeves didn't understand.

"Yes, Keanu." Vicente took out a formal invitation. Handed it over, "Have you forgotten? Whose movie did you star in to become an A-list star?"

Keanu Reeves opened the invitation, "Duke Rosenberg?"

"He invited you to audition!" Vicente's words were full of excitement, "I got the news. You are the candidate he personally named for the audition! Keanu, this is an opportunity! Duke Rosenberg's new work is not Summer science fiction. As long as you can get the male lead, everyone will be crazy about you again next summer!"

If the king of summer can't save Keanu Reeves, who can save Keanu Reeves? Although Vicente thought so, he didn't say it. He knew that Keanu Reeves must have understood that.

For the hacker studio, there is no need to worry about the candidates for the audition. Not only Hugo Weaving and Keanu Reeves invited by Duke have agreed to participate in the audition, but also Will Smith, Leonardo ? DiCaprio, Ewan? McGregor and many other well-known potential rookie agents are actively approaching the door, operating roles for their clients.

Even Tom Cruise, who was filming "Dish in a Dish", called and asked if there was any chance of cooperation between the two parties.

"Tom, if you'll get paid for 'Chicago,' I'll choose you, and you don't need to audition!"

Duke's answer is completely sincere. If Tom Cruise can play Neo for $5 million, what Keanu Reeves will definitely not be considered. He will welcome Tom? Cruise.

It's a pity that Liang Tang can take a pay cut for the Oscar to star in "Chicago", but he won't take a pay cut to star in a commercial movie.

The first round of auditions will be handled by casting director Gray and assistant director Zach Snyder. Duke will not be involved. If the people he invites fail to pass the first round of auditions, they are destined to be eliminated.

In addition to auditions and normal preparatory work, Duke had equally important work to do. In the form of scripts and concept drawings, he showed many manufacturers the scenes that various goods may appear in the film to attract them to put into commercials. .

Placement of advertisements is an indispensable factor in commercial films, and Duke certainly would not be stupid enough to refuse it. As long as the placement method matches the scene of the movie, it is not a big deal.

The content of implanted advertisements mainly comes from windbreakers, sunglasses, mobile phones, computers, TVs, automobiles, beverages and express delivery companies.

Although everyone knew that in such a large-scale commercial film, the placement of advertisements must be expensive, but it still attracted dozens of manufacturers to come to Los Angeles to start business negotiations with the hacker studio.

Perhaps Nokia's representative said the most representative, "Nokia can join the negotiation, just because this is a film directed by Duke Rosenberg!"

After Duke showed the film's ideas and ideas to these manufacturers, the business development team of Hacker Studio immediately started negotiations with them separately. After more than a week of wrangling, more than a dozen manufacturers and the crew signed the implantation agreement. Advertising agreement, the crew can receive extremely terrifying advertising sponsorship fees in the future.

$1 million for Ray-Ban glasses, $3 million for Coca-Cola, $3 million for Dell computers, $4 million for Nokia phones, $4 million for Panasonic TVs, $4 million for Cadillacs, $1 million for FedEx...

The film has not yet started shooting, and the production cost of up to 80 million US dollars has been recovered by 20 million US dollars!

And this is only the basic sponsorship amount. According to the supplementary terms of the sponsorship agreement signed by the two parties, if the global box office of the film exceeds 500 million US dollars. Advertising costs for all manufacturers will increase by another ten percent.

500 million US dollars, if calculated according to the ticket price in North America, the most conservative view will be 100 million people watching the movie, and these manufacturers who often advertise in the movie are very clear that the movie is not only played in theaters, but will also pass through in the future. TV, video, disc, etc. Reach out to more families around the world.

In short, in business, there is no fool who only knows how to pay without expecting anything in return.

Before it was released, the $20 million advertising sponsorship was finalized, which will undoubtedly relieve the pressure on Duke and the entire crew.

On the other hand, the crew's preparations in Los Angeles are gradually coming to an end, only waiting for the audition of the actors to end. You can go to Australia, join the action coaching team directly from Hong Kong, and then start a longer preparation, and Duke reminded that the audition actors invited by Tina Fei all passed the first round of auditions successfully.

Beginning of the second round of auditions. Unlike standard Hollywood-style auditions, there are no character scripts, no lines, or even an actor's acting skills.

Pass the first round of auditions. There is definitely no problem with basic acting skills.

"Mr. Smith, please imagine cool scenarios."

Sit behind the monitor. Duke himself told Will Smith, who auditioned, "and act out your imagination."

Will Smith is standing in front of the camera, with a black trench coat, black sunglasses, and dark skin. It's really cool. If you only look at appearance, he is indeed a good candidate for Neo.

However, this guy is probably doing a lot of comedy, and when he acts cool, like most black people, his performance is full of disdain and exaggerated body movements...

Neo doesn't really need acting skills, but he needs acting style. Will Smith's overly extroverted acting style is obviously inappropriate. The savior not only needs to be cool, but also needs to be cool enough to look deep enough. is both deep and cool.

It is undeniable that "The Matrix" expounds a lot of philosophical things, and the world created is attractive enough, but whether it is lines, costumes, or kung fu, or even the style of the whole film, they are all expounding the word cool. Meaning, the film can be a great success, it can be said to be extremely cool is an extremely important reason.

Will Smith quickly left the audition room. Zach Snyder and Robin Grande, who had already studied the script and characters, shook their heads before Duke said anything.

"It doesn't match Neo's settings."

"Hip-hop-style savior doesn't fit our movie."

Duke nodded to the two of them, and then made a gesture to the casting director Gray. He directly informed the assistant outside the door, and soon Keanu Reeves walked into the audition room.

Black trench coat, black sunglasses, black leather boots, plus a big black split, plus Keanu Reeves is not a talkative character, standing there, like a god stick of some sects in the Los Angeles area. .

This scene is simply Neo's rebirth.

Duke didn't bother to let him do any more, and asked directly, "Keanu, I heard that you have some Chinese blood. Don't worry, I have no other intentions, just want to ask if you know kung fu."

"certainly."

Keanu Reeves pointed to the sunglasses, saw Duke nod, and took them off. "Although I don't know how, I've seen people play them before. It's very fancy."

"If you pass the audition, you need to participate in at least three months of kung fu training!" Duke said as he flipped through his profile. "And it's in Sydney, Australia, which is essential."

Frowning slightly, Keanu Reeves hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "None of this is a problem for me."

"That's good." Duke nodded to him, "If a decision is made, we will notify your agent as soon as possible."

Negotiations with Keanu Reeves will definitely take a little longer. The worse the subsequent box office trend of "Life and Death 2", the more the hacker studio will have the capital to reduce his salary.

Then came the audition for the heroine. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:  I have to help people to work on weekends. I don’t know what the situation is yet. I will try my best to keep it three times a day~~Please also ask for support!