The Godfather of Football

"Hey, Jonathan, do you have time? Come to the VIP box at Wembley Stadium, and I'll introduce someone to you!"

Two days before the League Cup final, Ye Qiu called Jonathan Wilson. At that time, Jonathan Wilson was writing his column, so he smiled and asked, "Are you... Do you want me to say more good things for you in my column? You know, many people don’t think highly of you now!”

It is true that Tottenham Hotspur has not been in very good shape in the past half month, but their fame and influence are there.

"Please, believe it or not, I will take down your column and turn it into a page three girl advertisement!" Ye Qiu threatened over the phone.

It doesn't seem to be difficult to get Jonathan Wilson's column, for example, just buy the entire advertisement on the page he occupies.

"Okay, okay, you rich people just like to mess around like this!" Jonathan Wilson admitted defeat with a smile.

"I'll introduce you to someone, and I'll introduce you to a part-time job!" Ye Qiu said with a smile on the phone.

When Jonathan Wilson heard this, he shook his head and said, "You know, I'm not short of money!"

This guy's royalties can make him a fortune, so where can he be short of money?

"Anyway, you will know when you come, otherwise you will regret it!" After saying that, Ye Qiu hung up the phone.

As a result, there was no news at all after that. It was not until the day of the League Cup final that Ye Qiu asked the club staff to call Jonathan Wilson again, telling him the number of the box and asking him to go directly to the box by himself. Peter? Kenyon and Ron Gurley would be waiting for him there.

This has always made Jonathan Wilson curious. Who is it that he wants to introduce to him, and he is actually accompanied by two powerful people from Tottenham Hotspur? Of course, this may be more because of the League Cup final. for the sake of.

With such doubts, Jonathan Wilson arrived at Wembley Stadium and went to the box with a familiar touch. After knocking on the door, the person who opened the door was Tottenham Hotspur's head of press department, old friend Robert Milson. .

"Hey, Jonathan, you're late!" Milson smiled and pulled Jonathan Wilson in.

"Traffic jam!" Jonathan Wilson used a time-worn excuse.

After entering this box, Jonathan Wilson was a little surprised, because he originally thought that this box should be quite empty, but he did not expect that the entire box was almost full of people, and many people were sitting in the seats, facing He walked onto the court with his back to Jonathan Wilson who came through the door.

Except for Peter Kenyon and Ron Gurley, no one else, including Jonathan Wilson, could see who it was. He only saw a back figure and even a head. Who knew who it was?

"Let me introduce you!" Robert Milson brought Jonathan Wilson to the seats, "Oliver Stone, the famous Hollywood director!"

During Robert Milson's introduction, Jonathan Wilson was surprised to find that the man who stood up and turned around was really the famous Hollywood actor Oliver Stone, who is famous in Hollywood and world film circles. He is such an incredible person, how could he appear here?

Just when Jonathan Wilson was surprised, a person stood up next to him and said with a smile: "Oh, come on, Jonathan, you were shocked when you saw Oliver, right?"

Looking sideways, the person who said this was obviously the one that all Tottenham Hotspur fans around the world are talking about. The famous Hollywood movie star Jude Nod is a die-hard Tottenham Hotspur fan. Tratford Stadium has its own dedicated business seat, and he must go to every game. Even during the filming of the movie, he had to take time to come back to watch it.

Also because of Tottenham Hotspur's relationship and both living in London, Judenault is very familiar with Jonathan Wilson.

"Matt, this is Britain's most famous football reporter, Jonathan Wilson!"

Under the introduction of Judno, Jonathan Wilson saw another Hollywood movie star, Matt Damon.

Jonathan Wilson was really confused at this time. He had no idea what was going on. Isn't this a League Cup final? Why are so many Hollywood stars suddenly here?

"Hello, Jonathan!" Oliver Stone took the initiative to shake hands with Jonathan Wilson, "Nice to meet you. I heard that you are a very good football reporter and football tactics analysis expert!"

"Thank you!" Jonathan Wilson responded politely.

"We plan to make a football movie about Tottenham Hotspur!" Oliver Stone said very straightforwardly.

filming? Hollywood? football?

Jonathan Wilson quickly flashed these three words in his mind, but he never thought that these three words could be integrated into one, because in the past many, many years, football has been taboo in Hollywood. .

When it comes to football movies, the most famous one is "One Goal to Fame", but even this movie was actually shot after receiving strong sponsorship from Adidas, and only two movies were made, and the box office was low. It wasn’t great, so the third part wasn’t released.

Arsenal has a very famous novelist and fan named Nick Hornby. He wrote a novel about football called "Extreme Fever". This novel was favored by many people, such as Johnny Depp, but in When adapting it into a movie, the team at 20th Century Fox changed the sport from football to baseball.

Therefore, what Arsenal fans were originally talking about very much, in the end, they were reminded that in this movie, football has become baseball, Arsenal has become the Boston Red Sox, and they have nothing to do with them at all. , so happy for nothing.

Jonathan Wilson once mentioned this to Judno, and that's why football doesn't work in Hollywood.

Judno quoted the famous director Ken Loach, who is also a British fan but works as a director in Hollywood. He believes that the narrative style and rhythm of the two are different.

In Hollywood, all movies focus on star power, especially if you want to make a movie that sells well at the box office, you need some big stars, but often big stars have no foundation in football. In this case, how do you make these How about the big stars bringing various skills on the football field to life in movies?

In fact, in the United States, the number of fans is increasing. Even in Hollywood, there are many people who like football. Especially with the strong rise of Tottenham Hotspur in recent years, it has attracted countless Hollywood fans. Celebrities are chasing after them. For example, the famous Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron mentioned more than once that she likes Tottenham Hotspur and its head coach Ye Qiu very much.

There are also many film company executives, famous directors, and big-name actors who are all avid football fans, but they just cannot create excellent football movies, which has caused more and more filmmakers to stay away from football.

"You are planning to make a movie with Tottenham Hotspur as the theme?" Jonathan Wilson still couldn't believe it.

Oliver Stone chuckled, and Peter Kenyon nodded: "Yes, Jonathan, this has been basically confirmed, and including Judno and Matt Damon, they are all willing to join this project." movie, Adele is also willing to sing the theme song for the movie and reinterpret Tottenham Hotspur’s team anthem and fan song!”

Adele is a world-famous female pop singer, the Grammy's Best Pop Singer. She was born in North London. She is an absolute die-hard supporter of Tottenham Hotspur. You can see her and her in the stands in almost every game. Judno's figure.

"This is how it started!" Robert Milson introduced what happened to Jonathan Wilson.

Ye Qiu once played Oliver Stone's "Challenge Sunday" to encourage and stimulate the players. This incident was widely spread by the outside media. Later, when Oliver Stone learned about this incident, he also remembered it. The names of Tottenham Hotspur and Ye Qiu, especially in recent years, Tottenham Hotspur are at the peak of their popularity in North America.

During the trip to China with Tottenham Hotspur this summer, Oliver Stone also happened to be in China. By chance, he met Ye Qiu, and the two started talking, and Ye Qiu smiled and suggested, Maybe a movie should be made.

"Football is described as a battlefield without gunpowder. A football match is worth hundreds of millions, or even over a billion euros, and attracts the attention of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Such a war can simply be said to be a war." A world war!"

"Those people can't shoot football well because they don't really understand football!"

It was this time that Oliver Stone was full of interest in the football described by Ye Qiu, so he began to have a concept. He often communicated with Ye Qiu on the Internet and through emails. The more they talked, the more interested they became, especially in the past. In the past few years, Tottenham Hotspur's legendary journey has so much material that can be filmed that it cannot even be summarized in one movie.

This time Oliver Stone came to London. In addition to experiencing the League Cup final in person, he also planned to watch the Tottenham Hotspur game live and start preparing a script.

"Using war to shoot football?" Jonathan Wilson was a little surprised.

War movies, in Hollywood movies, almost represent commercial blockbusters.

But Oliver Stone became famous by making war movies. His famous work is the movie "Platoon" that describes the Vietnam War. He himself is a veteran who has personally experienced the Vietnam War, so he always has a way of understanding war that others cannot understand. a feeling of.

This is clearly reflected in his filming of "Challenge Sunday". The emphasis on teamwork and the tacit understanding of putting lives in each other's hands are actually the same as war, isn't it?

"Football is a very subtle sport, with gorgeous individual performances, but it also places great emphasis on teamwork. This is the same as war. However, a very important reason why football is difficult to put on the big screen is that, The entire structure of a football game is simply impossible to adapt to the requirements of a movie, which is the biggest difference from war."

"So, when shooting a football movie, the most important thing is to strike a balance, to capture the essence of football and its most fascinating aspects, to reflect the spirit and core of the sport, to emphasize its most similar aspects to war, and then through this Emotionally resonant and entertaining, all viewers can understand why football is the greatest sport on the planet!"

Oliver Stone expressed his feelings about football movies. These were actually the conclusions he came to after an in-depth conversation with Ye Qiu, combining Ye Qiu's professionalism in football and Oliver Stone's own understanding of movies.

That is, if sports movies want to be successful, they should not be too obsessed with the sport itself, but should integrate it into the whole society, turning sports and games into a metaphorical way, and then arouse the audience's emotional resonance.

In other words, this movie will interpret the charm of football in a new way and angle.

Oliver Stone even thought about it. The movie was taken from Ye Qiu's first season as coach of Tottenham Hotspur. It was a typical material for a competitive movie. The movie started with a tragic life-and-death battle, but Tottenham Hotspur was defeated and ranked in the relegation zone. All media, reporters and fans were bombarding and accusing crazily, and the team's situation was precarious.

Then it cuts back to when he just took over the team half a year ago, and everything that happened afterwards, and then slowly connects to the beginning. Finally, after a long period of preparation and brewing, the second half of the movie ushers in a big explosion of emotions, games and results.

This is also the model of a typical Hollywood commercial film. As long as it is well grasped, the rhythm and narrative mode of a commercial film can be completely arranged.

After Oliver Stone said this, Jonathan Wilson was a little surprised, "Aren't you going to make a biographical film about Tottenham Hotspur? Why does it feel like it's going to be a series?"

Oliver Stone and Peter Kenyon laughed after hearing this, and the latter said, "If the first movie sells well, then we will launch a sequel, at least two or three, right?"

With Tottenham Hotspur as the material in the past few years, it is indeed possible to shoot several films. The key is to look at the director and screenwriter, as well as the effect of the filming and the box office results.

"Then... you asked me to do it..." Jonathan Wilson was a little confused.

"We hope to invite you to be the technical director!" Oliver Stone said.

The so-called technical director is actually to give some professional opinions on some details of football games or tactical layouts. Jonathan Wilson is a tactical analysis expert, and he has watched football for so many years and has a deep understanding of this sport.

"Why not invite Ye Qiu? He is more professional than me!" Jonathan Wilson asked curiously.

Oliver Stone and Peter Kenyon looked at each other and smiled helplessly. Originally, they also thought that Ye Qiu was the most suitable. After all, many creative ideas were discussed by Ye Qiu and Oliver Stone, but Ye Qiu planned to travel around the world with his wife and had no time to participate in such things, so he recommended Jonathan Wilson.

However, Ye Qiu is one of the investors of this movie. At present, Huangtian Group is the largest cinema chain owner in China. It has also acquired AMC, the second largest cinema chain in the United States, and has also established a film investment company. It is already one of the best film investors in China.

With such a background, and the fact that the film tells the story of Tottenham Hotspur and Ye Qiu, with Tottenham Hotspur's current influence in North America and around the world, plus Oliver Stone's directing ability, and the market appeal of Matt Damon, Jude Norris and Tottenham Hotspur's stars, I believe this film is still quite marketable.

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While Jonathan Wilson and Oliver Stone and others were enthusiastically exchanging film details and ideas in the VIP box, the game on the court was not delayed because they lost their attention, and it still started in full swing amid the cheers of tens of thousands of fans.

Tottenham Hotspur still did not show the strong strength of the invincible Tottenham Hotspur in the first half of the game. The slightly weak Tottenham Hotspur used the passive scene to confirm why some people thought that Tottenham Hotspur would be defeated by Pellegrini's Manchester City before the game.

Especially in the first 20 minutes, Tottenham played very hard. Ye Qiu shouted almost every minute on the sidelines, constantly reminding the players to be careful of this and that, and commanded very frequently. It can be seen that he was also very dissatisfied with the team's performance.

With the league basically secured, Ye Qiu obviously hoped to continue to make breakthroughs in the cup and the Champions League, especially the League Cup, which had already reached the final. There was no reason to let go of such a trophy, right?

Yaya Toure and De Rossi, two big men, jointly restricted Tottenham's midfield. They played quite well after the opening, especially Yaya Toure. The energetic Ivorian was very active in this game. Tottenham paid the price for their sluggish state in the 30th minute. Aguero received an assist from Yaya Toure and opened the scoring for Manchester City.

This made everyone worried about Tottenham Hotspur, because from the first half, Tottenham Hotspur continued the team's recent slump. If facing a weak team like Norwich, Tottenham Hotspur could still rely on the team's strong strength to overwhelm the opponent, but now they are facing Manchester City.

In terms of player strength and lineup depth, Manchester City is not inferior to Tottenham Hotspur at all, and even surpasses Tottenham Hotspur. Therefore, the outside world is not very optimistic about Tottenham Hotspur in this game.

After Manchester City scored a goal, Ye Qiu simply gave up walking around on the sidelines and pointing and commanding. He simply crossed his arms and stood there, looking coldly at the players on the field without saying a word.

Strangely enough, after Manchester City scored a goal, Tottenham Hotspur's performance improved somewhat, especially after entering the 40th minute, Tottenham Hotspur had a threatening attack, but failed to break Manchester City's goal, but this was already a very good start.

So Pellegrini became passionate, and he also walked to the sidelines to command the game vigorously. Obviously, he also felt that Tottenham Hotspur, the sleeping lion, had been awakened.