Made in Hollywood

A transaction involving billions of dollars like Lucasfilm is definitely not something that can be negotiated in a short period of time. The team formed by Duke and Time Warner is very patient and is also waiting for opportunities, and Lucas There are also some voices from the film industry, such as the director issue after the launch of the new "Star Wars" series.

These Dukes have all given certain promises, and his commercial success in science fiction films over the years is also the best guarantee for this kind of promise.

For example, in mid-September, the global box office of "Inception" passed the $1 billion mark, and the cumulative box office in North America reached 342.54 million U.S. dollars, which is second only to "Toy Story 3" in North America so far this year. Blockbusters.

The North American box office of the latter has exceeded 350 million US dollars. This series has accumulated a huge audience base and excellent reputation in 15 years.

However, in overseas markets, the box office and response of "Toy Story 3" are not as good as "Inception", or even "Alice in Wonderland" at the beginning of the year. Weakness is an indisputable fact.

In emerging and fast-growing markets such as China, the films of Pixar Animation Studios are not very popular. The animation market in emerging markets is basically the market for children under the age of ten, and Pixar's animations have never been filmed. It is for this group of people, and it is impossible for children of this age to understand it.

The production style of Pixar Studios determines the audience, and it also needs to slowly cultivate its own audience in emerging markets.

Fortunately, even without the high box office in emerging markets, the revenue brought by Pixar's films is high enough.

"Inception" is definitely one of the most successful movies this year, while "Robin Hood", which also invested heavily in big production, has become one of the most failed movies this year.

This film was forced to match by the North American Theater Alliance very early, and it only got a box office of just over 40 million US dollars in North America. Counting all overseas markets up to now, it has only received a box office figure of a little over 100 million US dollars from the world.

The production cost of "Robin Hood" is as high as 200 million U.S. dollars, plus more than 100 million U.S. dollars in publicity and marketing expenses, and expensive distribution costs, the total investment of the film is definitely more than 350 million U.S. dollars, an investment of this scale. It also means that it will take an extremely long time to recover the cost.

"You won't get back this investment when I die!"

In a mansion in San Francisco, a loud voice was blowing fiercely at David Ellison like a hair dryer. David Ellison, who used to be rebellious in the past, lowered his head slightly at this moment, and could only stop, "You have done it How many times have you smashed it?"

Hearing his father's words, David Ellison raised his head. With a bit of stubbornness, he said, "I have also succeeded, and I have also produced such a blockbuster film as "I Am Legend"!"

Larry Ellison sneered twice, stepped back and sat on the sofa, and said sharply. "How many money-making movies does your company make? How many like Robin Hood?"

Originally, he had high hopes for this son, thinking that he was as good as anyone else, and he could make a name for himself even in Hollywood. Unexpectedly, he lost in a mess.

David Ellison was silent and slowly lowered his head. After a while, he raised his head again and looked at his father firmly, "My Sky Film Studio also has four films: "Tron Warfare", "Super Battleship", "Alien Battlefield" and "Fast and Furious 5". As long as Two of them can be sold like "I Am Legend", and the previous losses can be recovered..."

"I hope so!" cut him off, Larry Ellison said bluntly, "if these films fail, I'll recoup your investment in Sky Film Studios!"

David Ellison's face changed. Without his father's financial support, how could he continue to maintain the operation of Sky Film Studio?

However, thinking of those four movies, David Ellison regained some confidence. It is impossible for all four of them to fail, right?

Especially "Fast and Furious 5", which is about to start filming, the whole series has already accumulated huge popularity. As long as there are no major accidents, the film will almost inevitably sell well.

In David Ellison's view, it is normal for "Fast and Furious 5" to earn a box office of US$500 million to US$600 million worldwide, but it is very difficult to reach more than US$1 billion.

How can this film explode completely and earn $1 billion+?

This is a question that David Ellison was still thinking about when he left San Francisco. Nowadays, there are very few films and directors in Hollywood that can achieve a single film box office of 1 billion. It can be said that except for James Cameron and Duke Rowe Almost no one else has done it except Senberg.

Especially Duke? Rosenberg, how many films have the global box office of more than 1 billion US dollars? The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Dark Knight...

Thinking of "The Dark Knight", David Ellison's heart moved. If there was no death of the clown, the box office of this film might not have exploded like this?

A vague idea gradually appeared in his mind, but he couldn't grasp it for a while, so he had to give up these temporarily and turn to the reality in front of him.

It is said that Duke Rosenberg's new film is about to finish shooting. This is obviously a film aimed at the Oscars. David Ellison really wants to do something, but he can't do it. The production style of the other party is not good. The academy welcomes him, but he himself is not welcomed by those traditional forces in Hollywood.

As David Ellison knew, the filming of "Gravity" has come to the end. Due to the resolution of many technical problems during the pre-production, the filming process was relatively simple. After forty-five days The filming was intense, and only the last shot remained of the planned 90-minute film.

In the studio of Warner Studios, Duke commanded the crew to arrange the last long shot. This is the end scene of the whole film, and it is also an important scene for Scarlett’s heroine to return to the earth to gain a new life. Gravity "Different from any of Duke's previous films, it will use a lot of long shots, and the scene at the end is no exception.

On the left side of the studio, a huge water tank has been erected long ago. The water tank is surrounded by green screens. The water inside is simulated like a real lake, and there are enough aquatic plants growing in it. As for other zooplankton Things like that have to be added during post-production.

The scene of the heroine falling into the water in Shenzhou has been shot before, and the remaining long shot will be the scene where Scarlett takes off her sky suit and swims back to land.

Two camera assistants had already put on diving suits and were about to capture Scarlett's performance underwater. Duke checked the preparations of the crew and then called Scarlett to the side of the water tank.

This is right in front of the water tank. Except for the camera position, green screens are set up all around. Duke stood in the open space by the water, pointed to the wet soil and said, "Remember, you must grab a handful of soil when you go ashore!"

"I know!" Scarlett nodded seriously.

The two had had enough exchanges before, and Duke didn't need to say anything more about these scenes, but he still warned, "Be sure to pay attention to safety. If you can't hold your breath, just swim up."

Scarlett gave Duke a relieved look, "I've practiced it many times."

After reminding Scarlett, Duke looked to the other side. Three lifeguards were already in place. If any accident happened to the underwater actors and photographers, they would be able to go into the water to rescue them immediately.

In terms of security measures, Duke has never been sloppy, let alone Scarlett Johansson.

"Every department is ready!"

Walking up to the high platform, Duke stood behind the director's monitor, "The last scene, now begins!"

Although Duke called to start, the filming did not start immediately, but had to wait for Scarlett Johansson to be in place. She jumped into the pool, swam slowly to the middle position, took a deep breath and sank to the bottom of the water. Deep, many effects are added in post-production. After ten seconds, Scarlett was in place. She made an OK gesture, and the shooting began immediately.

As a non-professional, Scarlett can't hold her breath for a long time. Originally, Duke wanted divers to carry diving equipment to assist Scarlett in shooting, but after seeing that she could stay underwater for nearly a minute, Just give up these tedious preparations.

The underwater scene was relatively simple. Scarlett made a few moves to take off her space suit, then she got rid of all the shackles and swam upwards. She passed through a clump of aquatic plants and soon approached the water surface.

The whole process took only ten seconds, and the underwater shooting used high-speed slow motion. At the moment when Scarlett Johansson was about to come out of the water, the main camera controlled by John Schwartzman immediately turned over, clearly Capturing Scarlett's every move.

Duke kept staring at the director's monitor. Scarlett struggled to climb up to the shore of the lake, unable to stand up. She just pressed her face to the soil on the shore, feeling the earth, the rest of her life, and her own rebirth. ...

She slowly grabbed a handful of soil and stared at it closely. This extremely familiar land seemed so precious at the moment, as if only those who survived from space could understand that this seemingly ordinary soil meant nothing to her. What it means to be human.

Scarlett struggled to stand up. At this moment, no one or force could stop her from standing up. Although she kept falling during the standing up process, she finally stood firm on the dirt under her feet.

The shot of the boom extending over first gave a close-up of her feet and the soil, then slowly moved upwards, and finally stopped next to Scarlett's face, until she slowly moved her steps...

"Cut!" Duke shouted, "This one is over!"

There was a sigh of relief in the studio. Although the shooting only lasted forty days, the level of tension and intensity was unprecedented. (to be continued ~^~)

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