Chapter Nine Hundred and Eighty Eighth

Firefly Studios, the lobby on the ground floor of an office building in the administrative district was temporarily transformed into a press conference room at Stark Industrial Headquarters.

Surrounded by several cameras, Eric stood on the podium and was skillfully speaking the last line before the film was finished: "To be clear, I'm not a superhero, I have so many character flaws, It's causing so much trouble for everyone."

Don Cheadle, who played Colonel Roddy, leaned over helplessly and said in a low voice, "Read it according to the manuscript."

Eric nodded knowingly, raised his hand to look at the card in his hand, glanced at everyone, and said slowly: "The actual situation is that I am Iron Man."

Under the stage, all the media reporters were stunned for a moment, then got up and asked questions together.

Natasha Henstridge, who was sitting in the front row, also slowly put down her long raised legs, the original questioning look on her face was put away, and she showed a just right look of shock.

Outside the field, Joss Whedon behind the monitor called to stop at the right time: "ok, good!"

Eric stepped off the stage, came to Joss Whedon, and replayed the scene just now with him.

Speaking of which, it has just been the seventh reshoot of this set of shots, and as the end draws to a close, the creators have also shown more excellence, from Eric's subtle expressions to Natasha Henstridge's hearing of Eric's words. The action and reaction after the line that I am Iron Man has been released, have been discussed and adjusted in detail, and this has achieved the current satisfactory effect.

After confirming that everything was correct, Joss Whedon stood up and shouted to everyone: "I announce that "Iron Man" is officially finished."

wow wow wow-

All the crew members in the hall clapped.

After being busy for three months, Eric would naturally not be stingy, and immediately announced that a closing party would be held in the banquet hall of the Titanic tonight, and naturally there was another burst of cheers.

Joss Whedon and others are responsible for the finishing touches on the crew. Eric greeted several main creators and went to remove his makeup. He has other things to do next.

Today is Wednesday, May 27th.

"Lethal Weapon 4", which was released last week, finally made only $49.15 million at the box office in its first week. This week, due to the release of Sony Pictures' "Patriot", the box office of "Lethal Weapon 4" was inevitably affected. 46%, compared with the $34.05 million in the first weekend, the box office in the second weekend was only $18.38 million, and the film's ten-day box office totaled $67.53 million, which was not even as good as last month's "Ace Power 2" first week box office.

By comparison, if Sony Pictures' Patriot has any advantage over Lethal Weapon 4, it's that the film cost only $110 million to make.

In this film based on the American War of Solitude, the original actor should still be Mel Gibson, but due to the need to participate in "Lethal Weapon 4", the actor finally fell on Kevin Costner.

In the first three days of the first weekend, the box office of "Patriot" was only 32.19 million US dollars, which still did not reflect the explosive power of any blockbuster film.

The box office performance of these two summer blockbusters also indirectly highlights how rare the $360 million total North American revenue generated by the three films in the Easter period. The production cost of "Lethal Weapon 4" is only 140 million US dollars, which is equivalent to the investment of three films, not to mention that Warners also invested a lot of marketing costs for "Lethal Weapon 4".

However, the weak performance of the two blockbusters did not reduce fans' expectations for this summer season.

Because most people's eyes are actually not on these two movies.

Firefly Pictures' special effects sci-fi blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow", MGM's "Charlie's Angels 3", Universal Pictures' "Scorpion King" and "The Matrix 2" released by Amberlin Pictures are the highlights of this summer. The heaviest.

These four blockbusters, except "Charlie's Angels 3", are all special effects blockbusters, which is actually the reason why many fans are looking forward to it.

The market for special effects blockbusters is actually far from saturated.

However, because it is the first super-big film after the big crossover of the Secret Service Cinematic Universe series, last year's "007 Casino Royale" has made more than 1.1 billion US dollars at the global box office, even if it is not a special effects blockbuster, but "Charlie's Angels 3" ", is undoubtedly the most watched film this summer, and the audience's expectations are even higher than "The Matrix 2". Many media have also predicted that if there will be a billion-dollar film at the global box office this summer, "Charlie's Angels 3" is undoubtedly the most promising one.

After Eric took off his makeup and walked out of the dressing room, he saw Natasha Henstridge, who had also changed into a very casual t-shirt and trousers, waiting slenderly outside the dressing room.

Seeing Eric coming out, Natasha Henstridge quickly said hello: "Hey, Eric."

Eric smiled at her and said, "Is something wrong?"

Natasha Henstridge walked out with Eric and said, "No, I have already found an apartment in Santa Monica and I am planning to go home, Eric, you can send me?"

At other times, Eric would definitely not refuse this invitation, but now he can only shake his head and say, "Sorry, Nata, I still have work to do."

"It's okay," Natasha Henstridge said, not disappointed, "you're going to the party tonight, right?"

"Of course, I will definitely pass," Eric nodded, and the two walked out of the office building together to the corridor in the park. Looking at the girl beside him, Eric thought about it and said, "You will be next in the afternoon. Is there anything else in time?"

Natasha's eyes lit up, she shook her head, and said, "No."

Eric said: "Then go to the movie with me. It's an internal preview of a horror movie."

"No problem at all."

"However, this horror movie may be a little different, um, that is, very scary, you have to be mentally prepared."

Natasha blinked her eyes mischievously and said, "If I'm scared, can I throw myself in your arms?"

"Uh," Eric looked up with a smile and said, "You're so big, it's not cute at all when you throw yourself into a man's arms."

The two laughed and walked into another office building nearby.

New Line Cinema's CEO Kenneth Horn and "Midnight Bell" director Gore Verbinski were already waiting here. When they saw Eric and Natasha Henstridge walking over, they hurried forward. greet.

What Eric is going to watch today is the brand-new American version of "Midnight Bell".

"Midnight Bell" has been in preparation since the end of last year. In fact, it was basically completed in mid-April. However, Eric was very dissatisfied with the finished film and had been asking Gore Verbinski to revise it for the Some additional shots were also taken.

The film's schedule has been set for July 24, which is not too late for this crowded summer schedule.

Although it has been revised, the publicity work has also been launched one after another since last month. The horror film has gotten a lot of attention now thanks to the addition of Johnny Depp. However, before "Pirates of the Caribbean", Johnny Depp was actually not a commercial coffee. The packaged remuneration of "Midnight" and "Sleepy Hollow" was only $14 million, with an average of 7 million per movie. Dollar.

Eric was persuaded by Gore Verbinski to release the budget of "Midnight Bell", but since Depp's salary is not too high, the final production cost of this horror film has just reached 3000 $10,000, a lot less than what Gore Verbinski asked for.

This preview was something Eric particularly wanted to see, so with Natasha Henstridge, who was temporarily dragged by Eric, there were only four people.

Coming to the small screening room in the office building, Kenneth Horn sent the staff to start preparing to play the film, and the four sat down in the screening room.

After waiting, thinking of Johnny Depp, Eric looked at Gore Verbinski next to him and asked, "Gore, how does it feel to work with Johnny this time?"

Due to Eric's series of revision opinions, Gore Verbinski has been tossed a little nervously during this time. However, everyone is very satisfied with the current result of the film, and he has to admire Eric in his heart. aspect perspective.

Hearing Eric's question, Gore Verbinski, who was sitting next to Kenneth Horn, leaned forward slightly and was about to answer when Kenneth Horn smiled and got up and said, "Gore, you Come and sit here, it will be easier for you to exchange videos with Eric."

Eric watched with a smile as the two humbly changed positions. He applauded in his heart that Kenneth Horne has managed New Line Pictures to be thriving in recent years. It's not without reason. He obviously saw it too. Gore Verbinski's growth potential, want to win some. At this time, just making this small detail along the way can get Gore Verbinski's great favor.

Gore Verbinski sat down next to Eric, and nodded gratefully to Kenneth Horn before turning to Eric. He didn't know what Eric wanted to know. I can only say in general: "Drew is a very good actor, very thoughtful, and very proactive when performing."

Eric nodded and asked again, "How are you getting along? Are there any plans to cooperate again?"

Gore Verbinski realized something and nodded: "If there is a chance, of course."

After a few chats, the screening of the film officially started.

The plot begins with the mysterious deaths of four girls. The mother of one of the girls thinks that her daughter's death is too strange, and entrusts her sister Keller, who is a reporter, to investigate the truth of the matter. A videotape was found at a holiday cottage where the four girls lived.

The original American version of "Midnight Bell" is more of a thriller and suspense film. The main line of the story mainly focuses on the heroine's step by step to unravel the truth of the causes of several girls' deaths.

The reason for this is also because the Japanese version of "Midnight Bell", which has already played psychological horror to the extreme, is in front, and the American version is naturally impossible to work as it is. Therefore, although the American version is better in various details, it is far from comparable to the Japanese version in terms of horror.

Right now, because the Japanese version of "Midnight Bell" was cut off by Eric before the shooting started, naturally he did not need to worry about repeating and deliberately using other shooting methods. Eric combined the elements of the Japanese version and the American version in his memory this time. Moreover, strictly speaking, this version is more inclined to the Japanese version in terms of picture and soundtrack style, and the theme of the whole film is also very straightforward, just to scare people and scare people to death. Therefore, Eric will naturally not let go of the most classic scene in the Japanese version, that is, the scene where Sadako slowly climbs out of the TV.

Gore Verbinski's original film, what Eric was most dissatisfied with was the creation of a terrifying atmosphere, which was also the focus of his major revisions this month.

Now, the effect is undoubtedly immediate.

When the resentful girl named Samara in the film slowly crawled out of the TV screen, not only did Eric's hair stand up all over his body, but Natasha Henstridge, who was sitting beside him, was even more frightened. He closed his eyes directly, and stretched out a small hand as if calling for help, clutching Eric's arm tightly.

Until the film was over and the lights came on, Natasha's face was still pale.

Eric patted the back of the girl's hand soothingly and looked at the other two. Although it was the film he directed, Gore Verbinski's expression was also not very good. Kenneth Horne said directly: "The current version is indeed much better than the original. Although the whole film does not have any traditional bloody scenes, the terrifying feeling even reminds me of the movie" The Exorcist. Gore, congratulations, this is sure to become another Hollywood horror classic.”

"Thank you," Gore Verbinski nodded to Kenneth Horn, then looked at Eric, and Kenneth Horn followed.

Eric nodded and said, "Very good, it can be sent to the Film Association for grading. In addition, have you made a publicity strategy for the next two months?"

"Yes, in terms of popularity, Depp is the main focus, and it is mainly aimed at young people under the age of 26. Eric, we have edited two different trailers, which will be played on TV platforms and theaters respectively. You Do you want to take a look first?"

"No," Eric shook his head and said, "You can do these things. I only have one request. Add a reminder to the movie trailer and poster: Heart patients watch with caution."

Gore Verbinski was stunned for a moment, but Kenneth Horn, who was well versed in film marketing and distribution, nodded immediately and said: "This marketing point is very good, the more prohibited things tend to be, the more interested the audience is. Well, however, this method may only be used once in a short period of time, which is a pity."

Eric nodded, shook his head again, and said, "Ken, I'm not giving you marketing advice, I'm serious."

The previous "Midnight Bell" series was really frightening. Adding such a prompt in advance is equivalent to getting a disclaimer. If something goes wrong in the future, the trouble will be much less. Of course, on the other hand, adding such a prompt can really have a marketing effect.