Made in Hollywood

Today's Duke is not only the major shareholder of Warner Bros., but also the pillar of Warner's film business. Warner Bros. quickly agreed to his investment request of 120 million US dollars. to describe.

By the end of August, the North American box office of "Transformers" had reached 432.25 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office also exceeded 1.1 billion U.S. dollars.

After two months of screenings, the film was released in the Chinese market in early August, and finally earned a box office of 1.41125 billion RMB, becoming the only film in the Chinese film market with a box office of over one billion.

Duke's name, together with Optimus Prime and Megatron, further spread throughout China.

Whether it is investment or distribution in China, China Film Group has made a lot of money from "Transformers", so it naturally wants to invest in his new work.

It's just that China Film Group's representative in Hollywood can't help but hesitate after reading a small part of the script of "Fury Road". This type of film has never been released in the domestic market. Whether there is an audience is a problem. Whether it can pass the review of the big scissors is a more critical issue.

A doomsday world in the future? Does that mean that China also perishes?

Even with their toes, representatives of China Film Group in Hollywood can guess that some of the big scissors would have such an idea.

In the end, China Film Group did not invest in Duke's new work "Fury Road", but instead aimed at the sequel of "Transformers", which is already ready to start.

Yes, Michael Bay took over the series under the persuasion of Nancy Josephson, just as Duke thought, Michael Bay now has too few options.

He needs a successful blockbuster production so that he can return to the ranks of first-line directors, and "Transformers" is undoubtedly an extremely suitable opportunity.

From late August. Duke gradually returned to work. Apart from the fact that "Fury Road" was about to be formally established and the team members were notified to end their vacation, he focused more on editing and reviewing "Transformers".

The theatrical screening of this film has come to an end, and it is time for DVD to be put on the agenda. Now the impact of online on-demand DVDs in North America is very obvious. Dropping every year and every month, Transformers is considered by many in the industry to be the last bash on DVD.

If you want a movie DVD to have a good sales, the box office can be said to be the foundation, and adding different content is an important means. The extras and the different edited versions of the director are the reasons why movie fans are willing to pay for DVDs.

Duke shot hundreds of hours of footage, and it wasn't difficult to add something different.

By the end of August, when Duke had finished reviewing the Transformers DVD release. His team members rushed back to Los Angeles one after another. Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron also formally signed actor contracts. The film has reached the stage where the project can be approved.

On September 1, "Fury Road" held a press conference for its establishment.

As the three most well-known people in the film, Duke, Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron all appeared at the press conference. The cooperation of the three of them is also the focus of Warner Bros. publicity.

The cast of two superstars and a super director is enough to attract the attention of all the media.

In the press hall of the Warner Building, more than 500 reporters squeezed in, and not only all the seats were filled. Even the corridors and aisles are full of people, in order to prevent accidents. The director of security at Warner Bros. had to deny entry to journalists who arrived later.

In addition, at the main entrance of the Warner Building, hundreds of movie fans who got the news rushed over, holding up posters of Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron. to support your idol.

These are part of the capital of superstars, and they are also incomparable to ordinary actors. When a Hollywood actor transforms into a superstar, he can no longer be measured by the standards of ordinary actors.

Duke's use of these two charismatic superstars can also make up for some inherent defects in the subject matter.

To say that a film like "Fury Road" can be as popular as "Transformers" around the world is like saying "The Man From Earth" is a box office hit.

Even if Duke makes appropriate changes, Fury Road will remain a genre film.

When Duke, Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron sat on the stage, the flashing lights completely dazzled people's eyes. In the eyes of reporters, this is definitely the most attractive entertainment in September. news.

The cooperation of the three aroused the enthusiasm of countless reporters, and many of them couldn't wait to ask questions.

However, the first question was left to the "Los Angeles Times", which has a tacit cooperation with Duke. After being named, a young female reporter stood up and asked, "Director Rosenberg, can you tell me about the genre of your new film?" ?"

"This is a sci-fi movie about the future." Duke said simply, "But it is different from the current sci-fi action movies. I hope to use this movie to bring a subversive movie-watching experience to the audience. .”

Subversive viewing experience?

Many reporters are confused. The popular sci-fi action films are deeply influenced by the style of the director on stage. If he subverts the existing sci-fi action films, isn't that subverting his own success model?

Countless reporters raised their hands, but Charles Rowan, who presided over the press conference, still clicked on a reporter in the front row.

"Director Rosenberg, you rarely work with famous superstars."

What this reporter said was the consensus in the industry. Duke seldom cooperates with first-line actors. "This time, we have to cooperate with Mr. Tom Cruise and Ms. Charlize Theron. May I ask why?"

Duke looked at Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron separately, and said, "Because I know how good they are."

This occasion was originally used to flatter each other.

"Can you know what their roles are like?" Another reporter stood up, "What is the relationship between the roles of Tom and Sally in the film?"

"Two interesting characters..."

Now is not the time to talk about this, Duke just made a vague sentence, and said, "They will develop from confrontation to fighting side by side, until they are comrades-in-arms to the death!"

Subsequently, the reporter's question turned to Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron. They are both popular superstars and also attract people's attention.

The reporter asked both of them similar questions—why did you choose to cooperate with Duke?

Tom Cruise replied, "Any actor will be very excited to receive Duke's invitation. Everyone knows that he is a great director. I have co-produced "Chicago" with Duke and co-invested in "Chicago". In the Mission: Impossible series, our cooperation and friendship have been tested for more than ten years, so after he sent out the invitation, even though there was no script at the time, I still agreed without hesitation."

As long as the right person reminds him, Tom Cruise is definitely a smart man.

Compared to Tom Cruise, Charlize Theron has a deeper relationship with Duke, and her words are more sincere.

"My admiration for Duke is the biggest motivation for me to join." She made no secret of her attitude, "From the very beginning when Duke told me about this movie and the heroine, I thought it was a potential work. But Duke Rosenberg's work! After I read the character script..."

She praised Tom Cruise a little, "Knowing that there is a heroine fighting alongside Tom, such a role is a dream opportunity for all actresses."

Charlize Theron turned back to Duke, "Director Rosenberg never disappoints actors. He described the direction and ideas of this movie to me, and I think it can really be realized in the end. , he never deviates from the world he conceived."

After thinking about the wording for a while, Charlize added, "For me personally, being able to show what a woman can do in this film and earn the respect of other women in this world It’s a rare opportunity to use the performance in the story to deliver an authentic message.”

Hearing her words, many reporters looked at each other in blank dismay, and couldn't help thinking, is Duke's new film "Fury Road" a feminist work?

The film does have feminism in it, but it's not too obvious or offensive, and Duke knows it's not a very appropriate time to show feminism too much in the film.

The development of feminist films always requires a process, and it is a rather long process.

Moreover, the connotation, thinking or certain doctrines brought by movies have always been something that Duke doesn't care about, and this movie is no exception.

To put it bluntly, it embodies the purest old-school car chase. There is no electronic technology navigation, no air fire support, and the fight is about numbers, armor, ammunition and horsepower, as well as how high the protagonist can jump, how fast he can run, and how much he can shoot. Accurate, how ruthless a fist can be swung.

Duke's previous car chase scenes would be too embarrassing to see people if he didn't fly in the air for more than ten seconds, and didn't show a few gorgeous steel gymnastics.

This time it was a complete subversion.

He will let the film remove all impurities other than "dressing up and going racing", the protagonist is either on the road or preparing to go on the road, the motivation of the characters is highly simplified, some people want to survive with dignity, for themselves or others; Unwarranted glory, pursued to death or disillusioned in sobriety.

Possession and escape, procreation and birth free, these are the most ancient motives.

According to Duke's vision, each character will not have too many lines. Even if the film is turned into a silent film, without translation, everyone in the world can understand it.

This is a sci-fi film, but it doesn’t have a hint of high-tech. The sci-fi elements are all in the hearts of the characters. They are all surreal, and the barbarism irrigated by the anarchist future continent does not need much The stimulation, can fight to the death, this is also a story that only exists in the science fiction space. (to be continued ~^~)

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