Millennium director

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time.

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is still only in the PPT stage. It is only the fourth phase movie planned by Marvel. It is the story after "Avengers 4: Endgame". It will not start preparations for filming until at least 2019.

The reason why he invited Wu Yuan so early was just to settle the cooperation matters first. After all, Wu Yuan is a big director. His schedule is not so easy to arrange. It must be confirmed two or three years in advance.

As for Marvel's current views on this movie, even the script has not started yet. At least Kevin Feige has no idea. He only confirmed that the male lead of this movie must be an Asian, and Shang-Chi's story must be greatly changed.

As a clear-headed businessman, he certainly knows that in the current international environment, "insulting China" is definitely not allowed, and the once notorious villain "Mandarin" in Marvel must never be brought out again.

When filming Iron Man 1 in 2008, they didn't think about creating a superhero universe, so they used the "Mandarin" baggage casually, but now Kevin Feige would not dare to really use "Mandarin" to film even if he had ten guts.

What a joke, the era when this character was born is too sensitive, it must be deeply frozen!

So he actually quite agrees with Wu Yuan's idea, that is, to make a movie that respects and pays tribute to China, pleases Chinese audiences, and makes the influence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in China reach a new level.

He absolutely cannot and does not want to do any racial discrimination in such an important movie.

But this does not mean that Kevin Feige intends to obey Wu Yuan in everything.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been developing for almost ten years now, and has produced and filmed nearly 20 movies.

And the influence of Marvel movies is also the leading IP in the world.

Marvel Pictures is no longer the small company that was in danger and even went bankrupt and was acquired.

Even though Wu Yuan is one of the top directors in Hollywood, it does not mean that he can disrupt Marvel's filming plan at will.

Yes, in Kevin Feige's view, Wu Yuan's request is to disrupt Marvel's filming plan.

Marvel's movies are not independent of each other. Each movie is a part of the entire movie universe, so Marvel's directors basically cannot have too much say in the movie itself, and need producers such as Kevin Feige to direct from the macro perspective of the entire movie universe.

And the directors of Marvel's single movies just need to make the movie according to the script.

As for the choice of actors, the direction of the story of the script, etc., it has nothing to do with the director, and the director cannot be allowed to make decisions.

Because the director only needs to be responsible for one or two movies, while Kevin Feige is responsible for the entire Marvel movie universe.

If a director is allowed to play too much free hand in a single superhero movie, it may cause a chain reaction in the entire Marvel universe because of the "out-of-line" of this movie, and it is not known whether this chain reaction is good or bad, which may put the entire movie universe at great risk.

The current Marvel Studios is no longer the Marvel Studios that was barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes. Kevin Feige's attitude towards the movie universe is to be cautious, and caution overrides everything.

Important movies in the fourth phase, such as Shang-Chi, are important node films that will restart the new generation of superheroes after Avengers 4. Kevin Feige must personally watch them. From the creation of the script to the selection of actors, he must decide according to the entire fourth phase plan.

Let Wu Yuan make the decision and choose actors and write scripts according to his wishes?

Perhaps the former is still negotiable, after all, the choice of actors does not really have much impact on the subsequent development of the movie universe.

But the latter is absolutely non-negotiable. Even Wu Yuan cannot interfere with the plot writing and subsequent development of the Marvel movie universe!

Including the editing rights of the movie, Wu Yuan cannot be given, and Marvel Studios must edit it by itself!

After all, Marvel movies have long had their own editing style and routines, and the most taboo thing is actually to add personal characteristics.

Yes, what Marvel's movies are pursuing now is actually to reduce the presence and personal characteristics of the director. Kevin Feige requires that Marvel's movies can change directors at any time without affecting the development of the movie universe.

In Kevin Feige's view, the core of Marvel movies must be several screenwriters. As for the director, he only needs to be a tool man honestly. There is no need for the director to reflect too many things determined by "personal will" in the movie.

The reason why he found Wu Yuan is to use Wu Yuan's popularity and influence, which has been proved in "Doctor Strange" and is very useful.

But he does not want Wu Yuan's personal style, directing characteristics and other things to be integrated into the movie universe.

Wu Yuan did a good job in "Doctor Strange". In addition to asking Ancient One to respect the original work and replace it with a Chinese male actor, he did not have any other requirements for the script. He filmed completely according to the script given by Marvel and did not participate in any post-editing work. He is a qualified tool man.

It is also because of this cooperation that Kevin Feige is so satisfied that he wants to work with Wu Yuan again.

There are very few Hollywood directors who are popular and influential and can honestly be tools. There may even be only one.

This is also the reason why Marvel has never been able to cooperate with real Hollywood first-line directors.

Which Hollywood first-line director doesn't have a lot of requirements and is crazy about showing his personal style in the movie?

Wu Yuan in the past would not be like this, honest and easy to use, with an attitude of a lazy worker who can do anything as long as you pay enough.

Why are there so many more requirements when inviting him to direct "Shang-Chi" now?

After a period of silence, Kevin Feige finally took out what he thought was the bottom line: "Daniel, you can be given enough autonomy in the selection of actors, so that you can choose your favorite actors, but the script writing and the editing of the film must be the responsibility of Marvel Studios itself."

"You know, Marvel's movies have never been independent. There are very complex connections between each movie. This must be handled by the company's screenwriters. Outsiders cannot interfere at will. This will disrupt the subsequent planning of the entire movie universe."

"As for editing, our Marvel movies have their own editing concepts and styles, and some interlocking foreshadowings also need to be added during editing. It is not a good thing for you to take over the editing work rashly."

"So this is the bottom line?" Wu Yuan interrupted directly.

"Yes." Kevin Feige said firmly: "I can only give the actor the right to choose."

"Then it's a pity." Wu Yuan sighed with pretended regret: "I can only refuse this cooperation invitation. I hope we will have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future."

"For example, "Doctor Strange 2"?

"Oh, it seems that this movie also has some problems."

Kevin Feige did not understand Wu Yuan's last sentence. He did not mean to explain it. He simply said goodbye and hung up the phone.

Listening to the sound of the call ending on the phone, Kevin Feige's eyes flickered and he calmly put away the phone.

It's just a director. Kevin Feige, who is at the peak of his career at the moment, never thinks that Marvel can't turn around without a director. He even sneered and felt that Wu Yuan was a little ungrateful.

In Kevin Feige's mind, Wu Yuan rejected his invitation this time, which means that Marvel will also close the door to Wu Yuan.

Is there a chance to cooperate again?

There will be no chance again.

Kevin Feige pressed the internal telephone line in the office, "Daisy, let the production department look for a new director for Shang-Chi."

"By the way, let's also look for a new director for Doctor Strange 2. Our cooperation with Daniel Wu has ended, and the company needs another excellent director!"

Marvel Pictures, which was at its peak, finally took the original track. After the upcoming glory, it will take a steep downhill road that Kevin Feige did not expect.

Start from the fourth stage. (End of this chapter)