The Best Director

Although the action crime film "Trafficker 2" has a poor reputation (Rotten Tomatoes 51% 48%/68%), it won the North American box office title for the week from September 2 to 8. Double guns and flying cars once again shined on the screen. Seeing that a nearly burnt popcorn movie actually performed well, all the film producers who had failed in the summer with bad movies were naturally envious and envious. They already knew that popcorn is delicious! Then he became even more puzzled by Wang Yang's recent actions. Why should he seek big trouble for himself?

Let Christopher Nolan shoot the popcorn-style "The Dark Knight", and it will probably not be as good as Michael Bay's completely screwed-up "Escape from Clone Island"; let him shoot the "Nolan-style" "The Dark Knight", and Ang Lee's "Escape from Clone Island" Hulk" and Darren Aronofsky's "Batman Begins" are the end...

Ang Lee was nominated for the Oscar for Best Director (73rd, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), and Nolan was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Director (77th, "Mr. Hughes 2"), but As we all know, commercial films are commercial films. Michael Bay, a frequent guest of the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director, could not even be nominated for the "MTV Award for Best Director". If the organizer had set up that award, he failed miserably in "Escape from Clone Island" Today, shockingly, Bang Bei is able to withstand doubts and pressure and continue to helm "Transformers", which has already signed a contract, because he no longer needs to prove his business ability. "Transformers" will either turn around or fall into the dark abyss.

However, the classification labels shown in "Memento" and "Mr. Hughes Part II" point directly to Nolan being a niche director. He has his fans, and he has his fans, but this weird British guy He has not proven that he is the kind of commercial director who can take the world by storm. Even his new film "The Prestige" to be released next year is not expected to be a big hit. He does not have the qualifications! To put it bluntly, he is a person who deals with literature and art, so how can he resurrect Batman?

Can anyone imagine Martin Scorsese and Alfred Hitchcock filming Spider-Man? God knows if it will work, but it doesn’t seem to fit.

"Jonathan, a lot of people say we can't do it... we can do it."

On the bright weekend, the Nolan brothers still took the time to discuss working on the film.

A movie starts from a script. After Flame Films signed a contract with Warner Bros. and Alan F. Horn and others had no choice but to accept the reality, Wang Yang quickly announced the structure of the new screenwriting team, Aronofsky After being kicked out, David S. Goyer was left, and the Nolan brothers joined. They will jointly build the main story framework, and then Jonathan Nolan will be responsible for writing the script, and Wang Yang, who is the final checker, will polish it.

Several people have already had a detailed conversation about the script. Since the story will continue the well-received and unpopular first episode, no matter how dark it is, Wayne has survived the unbearable past night, walked away from the painful memories that tortured him, and transcended. The person you want to be. They had to find something new to continue torturing him, both story-wise and mentally, so the main characters of the sequel added Inspector Harvey Dent and Batman's nemesis the Joker.

Batman Wayne is different from other sunny superheroes.

He is a dark hero who can do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. At the same time, he is like a knight who fights against evil elements and maintains law and order in Gotham City. However, as soon as Batman appears, his surroundings will become chaotic and disorderly, making it difficult to distinguish right from wrong with a clear moral concept. He is an anarchist; An anarchist clown appears. When the righteous anarchist Harvey Dent turns into the evil anarchist Two-Face, how does Batman face it? This is the collision and choice of faith, good and evil, good and evil.

"I want to use a story to really reflect on some issues, that is, starting from realism, no one can be outside the law, not even as a 'vigilante'."

In a bright and quiet study, the Nolan brothers sat around a small round table. No need to say anything, they both knew that "The Dark Knight" must be a black reality-style film. The problem lies in its commercial nature.

Few people know that Christopher Nolan is also a fan of Michael Bay. He has never looked down upon commercial films and popcorn films. From "Following" to "Memento", they can indeed be called niche CULT films; "Mr. Hughes" " once caused him a lot of confusion about how to deal with the relationship between stories, storytellers, and the audience who listen to the stories. Wang Yang's words inspired him, and he felt better and better with "Mr. Hughes 2". He feels that he is getting closer and closer to the balance point that he has been looking for for a long time to balance business and art. Maybe "The Prestige" and "The Dark Knight" can taste that wonderful taste.

"Batman and Two-Face both have to go through choices and tests, and they are created by the Joker..." Jonathan Nolan nodded as he spoke, typing into the laptop on his desk to record his thoughts on the script. Nolan, who was wearing a white shirt across from him, pondered and said: "What will happen to Batman if he loses his power? When the Joker appears for the first time, what kind of shock should his appearance bring? We want to make The audience gets excited...First of all, what personality should our clown have?”

Not all the work of setting the characters belongs to the two brothers. David S. Goyer, who is unparalleled in the original comics, is a key figure in this regard, but he is not at this "family meeting."

"Evil, crazy, destructive, smart, human heart..." Jonathan read these characteristics while tapping. In the previous conversation, Wang Yang gave an intuitive description of the clown, which undoubtedly made everyone's thoughts clear as if the sun was clearing from the clouds. , it became clear very quickly.

Thinking about Wang Yang's words, Nolan looked at the stack of "Batman" comic books on the table with concentration, and said: "Young is right, we must bring back some deeply buried memories, that is, the original comics from history The essence that has been accumulated and precipitated is the most real thing people think about "Batman", and it is also the most exciting and resonant thing. The Joker is not just a criminal, his main motivation is to hope that Gotham City will become That's because of deep-rooted anarchy..."

Both brothers knew that they had to read all the "Batman" comics to find the essence that transcended the comics; but the tacit understanding of the entire team was that they would not be loyal to the comics. For their stories, comic characters could be changed, even the characters. Regarding gender, each comic is like a parts market. They extract the necessary elements to make the characters serve the story. This is one of the biggest differences from "Batman Begins". Their first priority is not to explore the problem, It’s not about recreating comics, it’s about telling stories.

Making the audience feel excited and nervous is a major factor in the success of blockbusters, so the smart and evil clown must shock people's hearts as soon as they appear, and increase the audience's interest and patience to continue watching, so that there is enough flexibility to develop the story.

No matter what the script is like, Nolan needs to find a deeper sense of directing, including watching some classic films for inspiration, and conducting speculation and analysis, such as "Firefly", "Blade Runner", the 1989 version of "Batman", etc. The general theme of "The Dark Knight" is part of "Firefly". Batman VS Joker is a bit like Blue Gloves VS Predator Leader. Topics such as political concepts and good and evil are also discussed in a very touching way. Asking for the throne of God and God's Seal, the most powerful and abandoned boy in the world. The most powerful and abandoned young master of the Great Zhou royal family. Asking for the throne of God and God's seal. The most powerful and abandoned young master of the Nine Heavens. The strongest abandoned young master of the Great Zhou royal family, the God-making general of the Night Kill God, seeks the throne of the demon-proud Nine Heavens, the strongest abandoned young master of the Great Zhou royal family. He also has to think about the grand scene control shown in "Firefly" and "Blade Runner" The style and tone, etc... He needs to slowly accumulate some energy and feeling.

The clock on the wall ticks one second and one minute, and the Nolan brothers' discussions never stop. No matter how the outside world questions or criticizes, the two brothers have only one thought, and that is to seize the opportunity and do their job well. , we must definitely make "The Dark Knight" a well-received and blockbuster classic movie in film history. Don't let down Magic Yang and don't let yourself down! Let the world see their abilities and know that Wang Yang’s decision was not wrong at all!

Although Wang Yang can provide many mature ideas, making movies is a team effort. If one person cannot understand enough, others need to understand. The most intuitive words can only create a hazy and ethereal atmosphere. Everyone needs to understand the state and then reach a consensus. Therefore, Script adjustment will still be a long process; especially Nolan, as a director, will need a period of gradual change. However, no one in Wang Yang or the Nolan family is in a hurry. They must first complete another project "The Magic" that is in the final stage of preparation.

Another new project of Flame Films, "Oldboy," is also plagued by doubts. Wang Yang is not interested in participating in its production. He really does not want to be exposed to some twisted and perverted thoughts when his daughter is about to arrive at the end of the year. Of course, not every FF project will feature Wang Yang. Lin Wei, the newly appointed vice president of the production department, will serve as the executive producer of "Oldboy", managing scripts, casting, production and other matters, focusing on promoting the film. Project development.

Lin Yibin was nicknamed "Popcorn Lin" because of "Rush," a movie that was so popular that it ignored physics and mechanics. He was regarded by media magazines as a commercial director like Michael Bay. Now he has got a coveted director. Lin Yibin is more excited than anyone else about the directing opportunity. He will not be depressed by the doubts from the outside world, they will only give him greater motivation! The producer, Flame Films, is full of encouragement and confidence. This is an exciting working state. He almost wants to drop the microphone of "Rush 2", but of course he will not really do that.

However, when being interviewed by the media, Lin Yibin could not hide his happiness and confidence: "I don't know why people think that I am only a commercial director. In fact, this is not the case. I am a person who makes independent films. I am very interested in independent films." The pursuit of movies has never stopped, and it will never stop. The experience of shooting mainstream commercial films has further improved my thinking about literary films. "Oldboy" is a very complicated story, and I am very grateful to Miyazaki Yang for handing it over to me. Me, now I can make the revenge movie I want."

Justin Lin's words that appeared in the "Los Angeles Times" did not receive much support. Except that "Hot Mochi" did not have the final result, there was no social response and no awards; "Rush" also showed that he was a person who wanted to stimulate the adrenal glands. A director who can always talk nonsense, with such a mentality, where can his art go? Obviously popcorn is the more suitable path for him to go on. As for the end of the road for "Oldboy," people won't know the answer until it is released in 2008.

"Magic Young intends to invite Jon Favreau to direct "Iron Man"" - Yahoo Entertainment

In the past two days, not only has there been fresh news about "TDK" and "Oldboy", the media has also revealed Wang Yang's plans for another production project. When selecting the director of "Iron Man", which is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2007, he is targeting Jon Favreau.

Jon Favreau, who is 39 years old and has not yet celebrated his birthday (1966-10-19), is a New Yorker. After graduating from high school, he started to work in the society. He tried everything from a garage cleaner to an office clerk on Wall Street. After a few years, he finally I discovered that I wanted to be an actor most, so I went to Chicago and then to Hollywood. However, after many years of acting career, apart from some minor roles and supporting roles, such as his biggest screen achievement, which was appearing in 6 episodes in the fourth season of "Friends" as "Peter Baker", he has not made a name for himself. On the contrary, In terms of screenwriting, directing, and producing, he has discovered his own talents.

In 1996, Jon Favreau's debut screenwriter, the bad boy gang comedy "Hustlers", cost 200,000 and achieved a box office of 4.555 million, which made his friend and star Vince Vaughn become popular. With this small commercial miracle, Favreau attracted the attention of independent film producers. In 2001, the new independent production company "Cardiff Giant (ff-ant)" invested 5 million in a crime comedy in which he directed, wrote and starred. "MADE" unexpectedly ended up with a global box office of 5.48 million. The Cardiff Giant has not yet produced a second film.

Because Artisan Films was the distributor of "MADE" back then, and Flame Films acquired Artisan Films, so this loss-making film is a member of Flame Films' library.

Despite this, Favreau, who was not addicted to drugs, still got a chance to direct the fantasy comedy "Christmas Elf" with a production budget of 33 million, which was invested by New Line and six other independent companies. After it was released in November 2003, the film grossed 1.73 100 million in North American box office/222 million in global box office, which not only made Favreau a popular commercial film director, but also one of New Line's few glories in recent years. Next, Jon Favreau will gloriously direct Columbia's science fiction action film "Jumanji 2" with a production cost of 66 million, which will be released on November 11 this year.

Although Favreau's talents outside of comedies have yet to be verified by time and the market, at least for now, this should be Wang Yang's most normal and correct decision recently, so that those who are interested in finding trouble can't say anything. Now, no one knows what "Iron Man" will look like, because there is currently no script, and Favreau seems to be a pretty good candidate. Naturally, "Iron Man" comic fans and movie fans are looking forward to it. reasons.

New Line is also very satisfied with Wang Yang's choice. Chairman Robert Shaye and Michael Lynn repeatedly praised "Favreau is our lucky charm!" Two elderly people in their 60s can finally sleep peacefully. How scared they are Young asked James Wan to direct! Why is the comedy version more popular than the horror version?

In fact, this is not the development that Wang Yang wants to see. It is not about whether the two old people will have nightmares, but about this matter. He originally planned to contact Favreau after "Game of the Brave 2" is released, because this The movie totally screwed up selling tickets...

29.25 million North American box office, 64.32 million global box office! According to the Future Film and Television Information Database, Wang Yang knew that although "Game of the Brave 2" received fresh tomatoes from film critics, it offended the audience. It only had a box office of 13.42 million in 3,223 theaters in the first weekend (an average of 4,166 per theater). After receiving this bad result that caused Colombia to lose its underwear, it doesn't take much thinking to understand that Jon Favreau suddenly went from a hot favorite to a hot potato.

One of the clauses in the contract signed between New Line and Flame is that Wang Yang must at least be the producer and screenwriter of "Iron Man". Flame also added a clause that Wang Yang has absolute say in the production, in other words, he has finalized the director.

Originally, Wang Yang wanted to keep it a secret first, but seeing that Justin Lin was gone, Joss Whedon was not interested, and that Yang's abnormal decision seemed to have damaged his brain, Robert Shaye and Michael Lynn were anxious and kept They took turns asking questions, but the two old men refused to give up if they couldn't get an answer. Even if Wang Yang said that "there is no candidate list yet," they refused to believe it. Wang Yang, who was so annoyed that he almost collapsed, simply stated his plan. The two old men were satisfied, but also felt that there was not enough publicity. Taking advantage of "Game of the Brave 2" to enter the release stage, they might as well give Favreau a ride. So New Line released the news.

"I knew it!" When he learned the news, Wang Yang really felt a headache. He had clearly told them not to talk nonsense because it had not been finalized. Is "Iron Man" short of so many dynamic rumors? He didn't want to say that he didn't want to lower the price for Jon Favreau, but that after "Jumanji 2", he would inevitably be hit by a "mistake". He didn't care. The key was the outside world's perception of Nolan and Lin Yibin's doubts will be even greater, causing unnecessary pressure on them.

Wang Yang could only shake his head because he thought those two old men would keep it secret. His attitude was actually quite casual. He didn't know if Shaye and Lin En would still say "Favreau is ours". Lucky charm?" However, it was a fait accompli. Wang Yang had no idea of ​​changing the candidate, so he contacted Jon Favreau to make a formal invitation. Favreau expressed interest but needed time to think about it. He would wait until "Jumanji 2" is released and read the script of "Iron Man" before making a decision.

The good news this weekend is that the cast that has been on for more than a month can finally be removed. Wang Yang took another X-ray in the hospital, which showed that the broken bone in his right hand has healed, and he can exercise and maintain it from now on. .

"Hoo, ho!" The sun was bright and warm on Sunday morning in early autumn. On the lawn of the back garden of a house in Palo Alto, Wang Yang slightly punched a few times with his right hand. He couldn't help frowning, and there were some bones in his hand. Soreness, but the biggest problem is the same strength, punches are not as fast as before, and there always feels like something is wrong here or there. He has suffered many injuries in many years of practicing martial arts, but this is the first time he has broken a bone. He knows that recovery requires patience and time. If he cannot recover, Woolen cloth?

Thinking of this, he suddenly became violent and couldn't help but punched harder: "Damn!" and kicked the grass on the lawn: "FUсK!"

"Yang..." Jessica, who was standing next to him, called softly, her face full of concern and care. She understood his mood. Danny, who was not far away, tilted his ears in confusion, walked over and touched Wang Yang's calf with his mouth and nose. He bent over and stroked it with his right hand, raised his head and smiled at her: "It's nothing." Jie. Sika also smiled and comforted and encouraged: "Master, take your time, it will be fine."

Wang Yang nodded silently and looked up at the blue sky and white clouds in the sky. The dazzling sunlight made him squint his eyes. The beauty's gentleness calmed his mind. He said: "I shouldn't be like this. Who do I have the right to complain? Think about Kateri Those people in the disaster area, while we are comfortably bathing in the sun." Jessica also looked at the sky: "Yes, we need to be grateful. Hey! Is this good?" She smiled: "I won't hit you anymore, Even if I fight...I'll give you a hand!"

"You reminded me." Wang Yang stood up with a smile, holding his right hand behind his back, bouncing on his feet, and waving his left hand at her randomly: "I can beat you with one hand, it's okay! Win. That's enough for you." Jessica turned around and pointed her bulging belly towards his fist, asking: "Why?" Wang Yang stroked her belly and winked with a wicked smile: "I'll tell you why tonight... Or now!?" Jessica rolled her eyes and was pulled into the house by him. She smiled reluctantly and shouted: "! I said! I'll go in and watch TV."...

Time is passing day by day and night is approaching. After the weekend, the crew of "500 Days of Summer" continues to work, and the 57th Emmy Awards in 2005 are gradually approaching.