Made in Hollywood

"Tom, what do you think of these two characters?"

Sitting in the reception room of Cruise's mansion, Pat Kingsley didn't touch the coffee brought by Nicole Kidman, "Fox also hopes that a star actor with box-office appeal like you can appear in "Indie" day"."

"One of them is a black character." Tom Cruise did not hide his disgust. "There is also that presidential role, which is too small for me to play a supporting role."

"Besides, this is a Duke Rosenberg film!" The last sentence represented his truest thoughts.

""Interview with the Vampire" and "Brave Island" are just normal business competition!"

Pat Kingsley has a headache. Although Cruise is her biggest sponsor, he is also the least worry-free character. "There is no personal conflict between you! Tom, Duke Rosenberg is obviously In a period of rapid growth, and now the hottest director in Hollywood, Paramount and Walt Disney wanted to join the investment ranks of Independence Day, and the North American box office forecast of Warner and Fox is 200 million US dollars!"

"Don't tell me you don't understand what a movie like this can do for you!" Kingsley emphasized, "You haven't made a $200 million North American movie yet! Got the character script and got some support!"

"Maybe he'll miss..." Tom Cruise seemed to be thinking.

Ignoring Cruise muttering, Pat Kingsley turned to look to the other side, "Mary, how about you? What do you think of the script and the characters?"

"This... this White House spokesperson," Nicole Kidman said after thinking for a while, "although there are a lot of scenes, it basically belongs to a vase role."

"Mary, although you have successfully entered Hollywood, you have no work that you can produce." Pat Kingsley simply said, "You need a blockbuster movie to support you to determine your status in Hollywood. ."

"I see."

This smart woman knows how to choose, "Pat, try your best to fight for it."

"Tom, what do you mean?" Pat Kingsley turned her head again, and Cruise nodded unwillingly, "Do what you want."

Although this guy is blindly arrogant and sometimes foolish, he has not reached the point of hopelessness! That's what Pat Kingsley thought as he left Tom Cruise's mansion.

At the beginning of September, with the establishment of Independence Day Studios in Burbank as a shell company of the project, the preparatory work for "Independence Day" officially kicked off, although the producers Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox, using the media of its subordinate and even the group companies behind it, carried out a certain degree of hype report on the $100 million super masterpiece, but Duke declined many public media activities, but devoted all his energy to the pre-production of the film. middle.

He now has the capital to bargain with the producers. Although he can't always start silently like James Cameron, he doesn't want to be distracted by too many outside forces. The director is not a star, and there is no difference in work. On the contrary, in the case of popularity, after all, it depends on excellent production to speak.

"A very interesting news."

Walking in the corridor of the Independence Day studio, accompanied by the sound of high heels, Sofia Coppola said in a monotone nasal voice, "Twentieth Century Fox recommended Tom Cruise and his wife to star in this movie together."

"What?" Duke kept walking, turning to look at Sophia, "CAA wants to pack again?"

"No..." Sophia kept following, "Only Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman."

After she finished speaking, she handed the newly received document to Duke, who slowed down a little, and after having browsed through it, he pushed open the door of the conference room and walked in.

This is the preparatory meeting of the crew. The people who walked into the conference room were basically acquaintances, Jeff Robinoff, the representative of Warner Bros., Tim Fisher of 20th Century Fox, and AIA, a third-party guarantee company. financial supervisor, etc.

There are also the main structure personnel of the crew, the first production manager is still Charles Rowan, the second production manager Robin Grande, the executive producer Jon Landau, the assistant director Zach Snyder , Director of Photography John Schwartzman, Art Director Hannah Serena, Pyrotechnic Head Joss Williams, and Head of Special Effects from Industrial Light \u0026 Magic…

Especially from the special effects team from Industrial Light and Magic, Duke personally hung up the phone with George Lucas, and invited the leading model master in Hollywood, Stan Winston, to make models of alien spaceships and aliens for the film, and asked It's not easy to get to him, it's not just a matter of salary, but also some favors.

As for why he was hired, look at the first two works "Terminator 2" and "Jurassic Park" in which Stan Winston was in charge of special effects modeling, and you can understand Duke's intentions.

Special effects will be the bulk of the investment and the biggest cost of the film. Duke called out $100 million. Although the two companies have only given a budget of $90 million for the time being, it is more than $10 million higher than before. This part of the money Duke just wanted to devote himself to special effects production. The "Independence Day" he watched, because the investment was a little low, used models and in-camera special effects, and did not use enough computer CG technology to modify it. It looks normal.

If you only talk about special effects, "Independence Day", which appeared a few years later, is obviously a grade worse than "Jurassic Park".

So, Duke doesn't plan to spend too much money on actors at all.

"I don't agree to invite Tom Cruise."

When the discussion turned to actors, Duke directly objected to Fox's suggestion, "First, I don't have that much budget for actors, second, Cruise is not suitable for a mature and wise presidential role, and third, another The main character is a black..."

"You can modify the character settings." Tim Fisher's assistant suddenly interjected.

"The settings of other actors in the crew can be adjusted appropriately." Duke glanced over there coldly, "But skin color and ethnicity are definitely not within the scope of modification!"

Some words need not be said too thoroughly. In the setting of "Independence Day", it is Jewish who found alien signals, Latinos who perish with alien spaceships, the hero of the Air Force is a black man, and the president is the most orthodox white man. Others include Asians, Slavs, etc. Duke does not believe that these senior industry insiders cannot see the reasons and benefits of such a setting.

"Of course, I have no problem with Tom Cruise accepting less than $5 million," Duke added.

If Liang Tang is willing to give up the high-paying role, Duke will definitely welcome it with both hands. The funds he strives for are to strengthen special effects production, not to pay some people.

"Duke," said Tim Fisher, frowning, "Tom Cruise's box-office appeal is unquestionable."

"Tim, I think everyone is well aware that the biggest selling point of the film is the special effects and big scenes such as explosions." Duke slowed down his voice a little, and he didn't want to get too stiff with the investors, "The appeal of the stars will actually It was cut to the lowest level! And..."

After thinking about it for a while, Duke continued, "Nicole Kidman is also interested in this film, and the two of them are definitely not suitable for appearing in the same film."

It may not be obvious now, but there is a consensus in Hollywood in the future that producers will try their best to prevent couples and even couples from appearing in the same movie, and such movies will often become box office poison.

To be precise, Duke even Nicole Kidman also wants to refuse directly. He knows that North American audiences have never bought this Australian woman's account. Except for the sympathy caused by that special time period, she can be said to be one of the female stars of the same level. The biggest box office cancer.

However, since he rejected Tom Cruise firmly, Duke didn't want to make Fox's side too ugly, and the big deal was to temporarily issue an audition invitation, and then just brush off Nicole Kidman.

Although Fox did not expressly withdraw Tom Cruise's suggestion, Warner Bros. has always stood in Duke's position, and this matter can only be left unresolved in the end.

Next, the preliminary work such as sets, props, special effects production and intended shooting locations were discussed. Those who had a say in the crew also proposed some favorite candidates for the audition.

Duke specially emphasized Will Smith. Although this black man is a Grammy-winning rapper, he is a fledgling in the film industry. The acting is bad enough, and it's good enough for a film like "Independence Day".

In other respects, Duke basically didn't speak any more except for Naomi Watts, who was recommended by the White House spokesperson. As long as the actor's acting skills reached the baseline, they weren't even too bad. In fact, it wouldn't have much impact. .

"the last point."

At the end of the meeting, Duke realized that he had almost overlooked important aspects, "I need the support of the Pentagon! Please contact the Department of Defense and the White House!"

This type of film, if there is no sponsorship from the White House and the Pentagon, will definitely cost a lot more, and Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox naturally have no reason to refuse.

"Duke, there will be a party after the signing ceremony tomorrow."

When he walked out of the conference room, Charles Rowan chased after him, "This is an important part of the pre-promotion of the film, I believe you will not be absent."

He kept staring at Duke, as if waiting for a promise.

Although the director's contract was officially signed the day before yesterday, in order to promote the film, the producers are preparing to hold a signing ceremony similar to a press conference.

"Don't worry." Duke nodded lightly. "After signing, I will be on time for the party!"

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