Chapter 783 Original Elf
This weekend, the box office fiasco of "Cloud Atlas" quickly spread throughout Hollywood. Matthew has been waiting for the result. The Wachowskis are just as he vaguely remembered, running on the road of philosophical speculation and never looking back. .
The fiasco of "Cloud Atlas" also made him a little worried. Of course, he was not worried about the situation of Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman and the Wachowskis, but about the just-concluded "Inception". part film.
Christopher Nolan said that "Inception" will not be obscure, he is not worried about this, what is really worried about is the promotion of Warner Bros.
If Warner Bros. deliberately made "Inception" an obscure, so-called high-IQ film in its publicity, would it exclude many audiences?
However, Matthew's worries soon disappeared.
"Cloud Atlas" has always portrayed itself as a film that can only be understood by smart people during its promotion. Now the box office has failed miserably. For Hollywood, who is good at summarizing, he can draw too many lessons from "Cloud Atlas".
As a nominal producer, when Matthew attended a meeting of Warner Bros., he learned that Warner Bros. fully absorbed the lessons of the failure of "Cloud Atlas" and adjusted the promotion strategy of "Inception" in time.
Today is an era when simple and popular commercial movies can be really popular. "Inception" is far from being as simple as shooting with high quality and quantity, except that the films produced by Christopher Nolan have always performed well. In addition to the market appeal of actors such as Xiu, the cultural transformation caused by the rise of the Internet and video game culture is also a factor that cannot be ignored.
This is also the focus of Warner Bros.'s revised publicity strategy, using Internet terminals to develop some ingenious publicity methods to induce the audience's attitude toward the film toward the participants.
That is to say, it is easy for audiences who have been baptized by online virtual society and role-playing video games to involve themselves in the story of the film as a participant, and let them be very involved in the film-specifically, "Inception" ", it is shown that after the release, the fans were enthusiastic to interpret the plot of the film based on me, and the gathering of like-minded communities and fan cultures made the momentum of "Inception" higher than waves.
Compared with the connotation or decryption, this is the real killer of "Inception" - to let the audience participate, it can't be too difficult or elegant, nor too simple or rude, just like Cobb Jean in the film. Like the scene where Adene designed the labyrinth, the addition and subtraction needed to be just right.
As for video games, this is better understood. If the audience sees it for two hours, and some viewers say, "This is a video game," Christopher Nolan believes that the film will basically be a great success.
Matthew also communicated with Christopher Nolan,
Christopher Nolan's post-production schedule has also been adjusted appropriately.
In Nolan's words, he borrowed from the Wachowskis' "The Matrix" to a certain extent in post-production.
In some ways, Dom Cobb, like Neo, is caught in the Matrix Empire. Once you enter the realm of dreams and virtual reality, it will always be an endless loop. Whatever you say, the film becomes full of Fake time and no-nonsense black party.
Because it is a dream, you can do whatever you want, which also provides an excellent opportunity for the film to create a visual spectacle.
Never underestimate the importance of visual oddity in attracting audiences to commercial films.
Only Matthew knows that there will soon be a film with visual spectacle as its main selling point that will surpass the success of Titanic.
The popularity of video games has made this change in publicity strategy, which can make fans more interesting to accept the story of "Inception".
It's not that Hollywood hasn't had movies about dreams in the past. It's like turning a seemingly boring dream game into an action blockbuster. This is the focus of "Inception".
As for the "last minute trick" that the top is still spinning, it's just standard Hollywood routine.
And there are too many dreams in dreams, and in the end, there is no need to explain it clearly. How did Dom Cobb wake up in the cabin? Is he still in a dream? Is his dead wife's theory that reality and dreams are indistinguishable correct? These question marks are also good for creating publicity when the screenings are over.
"For the audience, the biggest significance of these questions is that they will tirelessly pursue the truth after watching the film." Christopher Nolan said to Matthew before he left, "and then want to use their truth to convince others, they will Watch the movie over and over again to find evidence that your truth is the truth."
After seeing Christopher Nolan, Matthew went to the project department of the Warner Building and met Peter Jackson, the New Zealand director who had made an appointment two days ago, in a reception room.
"Hello, Peter." Matthew shook hands with Peter Jackson. "The Lord of the Rings trilogy has always been my favorite."
Peter Jackson, noticeably thinner than in previous years, said with a smile, "I love your movies too."
The two talked politely and sat together to chat about the "Hobbit" trilogy, which was the main reason why Matthew met Peter Jackson.
Whether the Hobbit shoots two films or makes a trilogy like The Lord of the Rings, the investment amount will be astronomical. Even if he only accounts for 20% of the investment share, it is still a lot of money. Funding, definitely talk to Peter Jackson, who leads the series.
"My studio has reached an agreement with Warner Bros." Matthew said directly, "The last 20% of the funding gap for this project will be made up by my studio."
Peter Jackson nodded slightly, he was okay with that.
Matthew added, "Peter, how long do you expect this film to be released?"
"It's just starting to plan." Peter Jackson said honestly, "It will be 2012 or 2013 at the earliest."
He glanced at Matthew and said tentatively, "The premise is that there can be no copyright disputes."
Matthew talked to Kevin Tesuhara on the phone before and was very sure, "The copyright dispute has been resolved, and my 20% investment will soon be on the written contract."
Warner Bros. has dealt with the dispute with Harvey Weinstein, and Harvey Weinstein backed out.
"That's good." Peter Jackson obviously hasn't gotten the news yet, "That way I can rest assured."
Some time ago, Warner Bros. offered a generous offer that he could not refuse. He has decided to put aside his previous unhappiness with Warner Bros. subsidiary New Line Pictures and direct the "The Hobbit" series.
After all, after Warner Bros. intervened, New Line Pictures quickly reached an out-of-court settlement with him, paying him the benefits he deserved.
Then there is no need to entangle in this aspect any more, and you can't get along with the excellent director's salary.
The two chatted for a while, and Matthew asked the most concerned question, "Peter, how many films do you plan to shoot? Two or three? Are you sure now? Always make me mentally prepared to raise and distribute funds. "
Peter Jackson considered it for a while and said, "I want to shoot a trilogy."
The trilogy means more investment and greater risk. Matthew's 20% investment share is the largest investor outside Warner Bros. If you want the trilogy plan to go smoothly, of course, you must fight for Matthew. support.
So, he added, "only a complete trilogy can tell the story."
Matthew didn't interrupt, waiting for Peter Jackson to continue.
Peter-Jackson further said, "The Hobbit is lighter in weight than The Lord of the Rings. But in this film, many of the details and origins of the Lord of the Rings stories are explained. and interpretation, this fantastical journey will continue to unfold.”
Having said this, he smiled, "I also want to show the past and present of Gulu and Aragorn."
Matthew nodded, and he could hear that after the success of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Peter Jackson had bigger ambitions for Middle-earth.
However, he also raised a question, "Peter, if I remember correctly, the original book of "The Hobbit" has very little space, right? The main text seems to have only a dozen chapters, right?"
"Yeah." Peter Jackson clearly had a plan, "I'm going to look for more details from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, with limited material, to evoke a sense of the Lord of the Rings. Memories, which are then used to enrich the story and plot of The Hobbit.”
He is confident, "The information I have at hand is completely capable of shooting a trilogy. And the trilogy is very necessary. After the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, there are still many stories to be told. I use the personnel on hand. And the material, it is completely possible to shoot a trilogy."
Matthew thought for a while and said, "Peter, when I sign a formal contract with Warner Bros., I hope you can give me a project proposal, and I will reply to you after I read it."
"Okay." Peter Jackson responded, then laughed, "Just now, I thought of a good idea, related to you."
Matthew pointed to himself, "It has something to do with me?"
Peter Jackson said seriously, "In the original book "The Hobbit", there are limited characters, especially those with full images, so I have been planning to design an original elf. For the time being, I just have this idea, the gender of this elf , background and background have no idea, until we meet today."
He gestured and said, "I think you can serve as a reference for this elf character."
Matthew scratched his chin, "Aren't elves all slender and elegant? Is there a strong elves like me?"
"Your whole body line is very smooth." Peter - Jackson did not give up, "not the type of Schwarzenegger or Stallone."
He sincerely invited, "Matthew, join this series."
"You'd better design the character first." Matthew didn't respond directly, "It's better to finish off Gandalf in combat power, more attractive than Legolas, and more popular with female characters than Aragorn..."