Made in Hollywood

On the first day of the 2000s, Warner Bros. and Duke Studios convened a grand press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, announcing that the sequel to The Matrix had officially entered the preparatory stage of the project, which was named "The Matrix". The two episodes "Loaded" and "The Matrix Revolution" will be produced in one shot.

Although the director has changed candidates, the name Zack Snyder is not unfamiliar to hacker fans. The assistant director and executive producer of the previous work have his name, and fans who are familiar with Duke know that this is His most important lieutenant.

In the minds of ordinary movie fans, Duke can continue to direct is what they most want to see. If they have to change a director, then Zach Snyder is definitely the best choice.

But the media don't see it that way. In pursuit of a sensational news, most of the media are bad-mouthing the sequel, and even think that Zach Snyder will completely screw up the landmark work in the history of science fiction.

There are also two films with a total production budget of up to 250 million US dollars, which has put Zach Snyder under enormous pressure.

"Now I really understand why you have insomnia."

Walking on the path of the Fox studio, Zach Snyder looked haggard and said to Duke, who was walking towards the studio, "The director is under too much pressure during a production, and the invisible Stress is almost everywhere and I've been losing sleep all night lately."

"Just get used to it."

Taking a pat on Zach Snyder's shoulder, Duke walked into the huge studio. "If you can't get used to working under huge pressure, it's hard to be successful in this industry."

He looked into the distance and said, "Zach, when you have continuous success, you will find that the huge pressure is not the driving force that drives you forward."

"I'm not as open-minded as you are." Zach Snyder smiled.

The two walked all the way to the innermost part of the studio. Then stood on the periphery of a training ground, as before the first filming, all the actors once again assembled in Sydney to start the devil's hell training.

In the training ground, the expressions of the leading actors were much lighter than they were a few years ago, in the last two episodes. Most of the actors are back in place.

Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, Lawrence Fishburne, and Duke's Elrond King Hugo Weaving, with the assistance of several assistants, completed some basic stretch ligament training. .

Changes are not absent. For example, the person standing in the position of action guidance is no longer Yuan Heping.

The first episode was a huge success, and Yuan Heping instantly became Hollywood's hottest action director. After the sequel was launched, it also had the cost of the lion's big mouth, and directly shouted out a total of 8 million US dollars in compensation for the two films, and insisted that it would not let go at all.

He does have such capital, "The Matrix" and "Rush Hour" succeed one after another. It also brings new vitality to Hollywood's old action fights, and from the response of the two films, Western audiences also feel very fresh and exciting for this dazzling fight.

Kung fu has gradually become a hot word in the North American film industry. It is also a problem that Hollywood cannot solve for the time being.

Yuan Heping is undoubtedly an extremely rare resource, and he also has capital that is priced at a high price.

But Duke and Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder didn't want to pay such a high price. On the one hand, the remuneration of the actors in the sequel is already sky-high, and on the other hand, the crew also has suitable replacement candidates.

Duke has been putting Jimmy Carter and Robin Grande in touch with Tiger Chen since the time of "The Matrix," which is a great idea. The young people who are also very ambitious, not only have kung fu, but also incorporate many other melee combat techniques, which are more in line with the future development trend of Hollywood.

With only one-third of the price that Yuan Heping shouted, Warner Bros. got Tiger Chen and some of his fellow apprentices.

Correspondingly, the fights of "Reloaded" and "Matrix Revolution" will also make appropriate changes. After all, kung fu is a foreign product. After the success of "The Matrix", there are not a few kung fu-related films, such as Drew. ? "Charlie's Angels" invested by Barrymore, etc., it will not take too long, it will cause the audience's aesthetic fatigue.

Therefore, according to the plan negotiated by Duke and Zach Snyder, the latter two films will reduce those too fancy and flashy things on the basis of maintaining the procedural conflict of kung fu display, and the action methods will be cooler, sharper and more direct.

Duke's idea is very simple. Kung Fu has an extremely short lifespan in North America. "Reloaded" and "Matrix Revolution" will take a long time to complete the release. Some different action elements must be displayed to avoid aesthetic fatigue, and gradually move towards future Hollywood. move closer.

Just like the development of technology, action guidance will only be eliminated by the market if it is conservative.

This can be said to be the fine-tuning of "Reloaded" and "Matrix Revolution" from the past, and there have been major changes in the plot. Similar to the production of the first movie, Duke did not hesitate to remove those too divine. For the nagging things, the former "Reloaded" can be said to be a great success at the box office, but these in-depth philosophical thinking and mysteries have seriously compressed the market space of "Matrix Revolution".

Why did the audience buy this series of accounts? Is it really like the critics said, because the film brings the audience philosophical thinking?

Duke and Zach Snyder both know exactly why the film is so popular.

"Hi, Duke."

At the end of the training, Keanu Reeves came over first, took the towel from his assistant to wipe off the sweat on his hands, and shook hands with Duke, "We are working together again, which is really a happy thing. "

"Yeah, Keanu." Duke patted him on the arm. "Looks like your workouts are easy."

Keanu Reeves laughed immediately, "Because the worst time is over."

He pointed to the practice clothes that were almost soaked with sweat, "I'll take a shower and change clothes first, and we'll talk later."

In November last year, Zach Snyder came to Sydney, and the crew dragged on until now to formally approve the project, and a large part of it was because of Keanu Reeves.

The current Keanu is not what it used to be. Although Neo made him nominated for the worst actor in the golden raspberry, he could not prevent him from entering the ranks of top male stars. In the negotiations with Warner Bros. and Duke Studio, he also held There are certain advantages.

In a Hollywood commercial sequel, the actor's remuneration is undoubtedly the most troublesome thing. Unless it is a last resort, no production company will take the huge risk of the audience's disapproval of rashly changing the starring role, which also gives the actor the capital to bid, which is quite The production costs of many Hollywood sequels continue to pile up, which is actually spent on the actors' salaries.

"Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolution" are no exception. The average cost of the two sequels is as high as 125 million US dollars. Except for the special effects that need to be strengthened, the actors' remuneration is undoubtedly a major expense. Among them, Keanu Reeves The remuneration has reached the top level in Hollywood - 20 million US dollars for a single film!

There is also a 10% share of the North American box office net profit.

In addition, the actress Charlize Theron's remuneration has also reached the top 15 million US dollars for first-line actresses!

There is no way to do this, but Duke and Warner Bros. are also trying to compress the actor's profit share by raising the base salary.

The high commercial remuneration of first-line actors is unavoidable. Hollywood A-level and super-A actors are a scarce resource in the entire film industry, and they represent great value in themselves. No one can underestimate their appeal and influence.

Like top directors such as Duke and Spielberg, as well as major film companies, they form part of the top building in Hollywood. Otherwise, major Hollywood companies in the future will allow top actors to share 25% of the film. Even more profitable?

In fact, in this highly commercialized society, anyone who has climbed to the top of a certain industry cannot be ignored.

"Hugo, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."

After greeting King Elrond who came over, Duke saw Tiger Chen. He introduced an actor from Hong Kong who would play the guardian angel of the prophet.

Originally, Warner Bros. wanted to invite Jett Lee to play the role. After all, the other party is famous for kung fu in the West, and the role of guardian angel is not much. Warner Bros also offered a single film salary of 3 million US dollars, but it was unexpected. The thing is, the other party actually asked for a astronomical price of 13 million US dollars!

What kind of price is this? The commercial remuneration of many first-line male stars is just like this. Unless the high-level collective heads of Warner Bros. and Duke Studios are flooded, how can they agree to such an offer.

Maybe Jet Li and his agent wanted to pay back the money on the spot, but after the price was quoted, the crew gave up him without hesitation, and turned to Tiger Chen to find a surname from Hong Kong. Zou's actor, the price paid is only 200,000 US dollars.

This is a multiple choice question that requires no choice at all.

After greeting the actors, Duke was about to leave, and Charlize Theron hurried over after changing his clothes.

"Duke..." She almost trotted to this side, "Do you have time? It's been a long time since we ate together."

"I'm sorry, Sally." Duke sighed and looked at Zach Snyder who was waiting for him. "Zach and I, as well as the Warners representative, are going to meet with sponsors, and we will have to wait until next time."

"What a pity." Charlize showed a look of pity.

After a few words with her, Duke walked towards the door of the studio. More than a dozen manufacturers were waiting for him. These people paid $30 million in advertising sponsorship for a single film, and Duke could not fail to make an appointment.

After meeting with the sponsors, he will fly to North America and go to Los Angeles to participate in the preparatory meeting of another crew, which is also very important and cannot be delayed, because the new project is called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

Little Wizard is about to start! (To be continued ~^~)

PS:  We have to go out for two days on weekends, so we can only update it automatically, continue to ask for monthly and recommended tickets!