Chapter 861: The Machine God
I was deeply shocked by James' performance.
Walking out of the gate of the Warner Building, Duke stood with James Franco, and when the reporters surrounded him, he said a few words, Indeed, we have rehearsed, but it was the first time I saw James in It was only when I was in the scene of the movie that I realized that James' performance was amazing, which I had never seen before.
It's all for publicity, and Duke also has a good impression of the witty and humorous James Franco, I worked with him on Inception and I know he's talented. When casting, I immediately thought of him.
When the reporter turned to James Franco, he was very cooperative and said, Working with Duke is very inspiring. I am very happy that he can find me to cooperate again, let alone let me participate in Batman. I have always been a big fan of Batman, and I have seen all the past Batman works.
James, I heard that you are shooting a new work? The reporter turned to Duke, It is said that it came from your recommendation.
Yes, said James Franco first, a comedy with me and Seth Rogen.
Duke said in a slightly formulaic way, James is not only an actor, but also full of creative talent. I like his talent in this aspect very much. I just recommend it to Warner Bros.
Standing in front of the Warner Building and saying these words, more and more reporters surrounded him. Several bodyguards of Duke immediately stepped forward and separated the crowd of reporters into a corridor. Duke asked James Fran Ke made a look, broke through the reporters' siege first, and got into the car waiting here. James Franco had no intention of leaving, and the shooting of his new work had already started. It will be released at the end of the year, and it needs publicity and hype.
As soon as the car started, Scarlett, who was sitting next to her, complained, Honey, why do you support James Franco's plan?
As a political activist, it was natural for Scarlett Johansson to see the impact of a project called The Interview.
Tina Fey on the co-pilot also turned her head. It's really not like your style of doing things.
In a film, with the so-called standpoint of justice, openly assassinating the leader of a country, even a country like North Korea that is cast aside by the whole world, will inevitably bring about a storm.
Duke is well aware of this, but he chose to support James? Franco.
Of course I did this after careful consideration. Duke's eyes showed a bit of thinking, If the advantages do not outweigh the disadvantages, how could I possibly support this project?
Scarlett understands what kind of person her boyfriend is. Apart from treating people around her very well, he is definitely a complete profit-oriented person. In her opinion, it is exactly this kind of philosophy. That's how Duke got to where it is today.
Looking at the successful people in the United States, which one is not a self-interested person?
It's just that this matter is still ill-considered in her opinion, I can't see where the profit point is, such a comedy that sells shit and fart. Even if it is a big hit, the profit cannot exceed 100 million US dollars.
Tina Fey added. It would be nice to have 50 million US dollars, and you are only the major shareholder of Warner Bros., and the dividends that can be distributed to you in the end are at most 10 million US dollars.
Not to mention Duke, even Tina Fey thinks this little money is nothing special.
Duke looked at Scarlett first. He looked at Tina Fey again, and slowly spit out a word, China.
China?
Both Tina Fey and Scarlett frowned. The difference was that the latter had always been actively involved in political activities and had a more sensitive sense of politics.
Scarlett asked tentatively, Are you expressing your position?
Duke nodded slightly, but Tina Fey looked at Scarlett suspiciously.
He has been to China too many times, and he is too close to the official media and certain departments there. After Duke's reminder, Scarlett has figured it out, Actually, there are already some people in politics and high society. A lot of people are talking about Duke...
Tina Fey also turned her head around that corner, Duke is now the most representative figure in American culture, and if he gets too close to China, there will indeed be some problems.
Politics has never been far away from Hollywood. Unlike James Cameron, Duke was born in California and grew up in Los Angeles. In some people's eyes, he is a standard native-born American. The box office has exceeded tens of billions of dollars, and its influence in the world can be said to be unparalleled.
If such a person is a person who sympathizes with or approves of certain things, problems will inevitably arise, and it is not too much to say that the entire United States is in an uproar.
True, society is more open today than it was before, but ideology has always been as big an issue as religion, race, etc.
In some ways, Duke's putting his name on the credits of Interview is also showing his position to the mainstream society in the United States.
Of course, these are mainly concentrated on North Korea, and he does not want to give up the Chinese market.
After all, Interview is a low-investment work, and it is not easy to create a sensational effect. Back in the villa of the Duke's manor, Duke called Tina Fey to the study room, and solemnly explained some things to her. Talk to Doug Walter and Jamie Johnson in person.
Wait, Tina.
When Tina Fey was about to leave the study, Duke stopped her again, Remember to notify the people at Warner Bros. to strengthen the security for the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises.
He vaguely remembered that there had been a serious accident during the screening of this film.
However, the film will be shown in more than 4,400 theaters in North America. These theaters are all independent companies, and even if he wants to do something, he has nowhere to start.
How could a theater company allow an outsider to interfere with the normal operation of its own company?
All Duke can do is to strengthen the security of the premiere. He really can't remember whether the accident happened at the premiere or in other theaters.
As long as there are no problems with the premiere, everything else is fine.
Tina Fey nodded lightly, Warner Bros. has hired two professional security companies, and I will communicate with Jamie Johnson.
The door of the study was opened and then closed gently. Scarlett Johansson, who had been sitting silently on the side, couldn't help asking curiously, Honey, what are you worried about?
It's just a precautionary measure. Duke sighed softly.
The death of Heath Ledger undoubtedly made the clown a myth, and also created a large number of crazy fans. He was really worried that some people were too crazy. If they followed the clown's actions...
The consequences can only be described as unimaginable.
There are so many moviegoers in the United States. Apart from doing some proper precautionary work, Duke has no good solution. They can't censor every audience who buys The Dark Knight Rises movie tickets, right? Then The Dark Knight Rises will definitely hit the street to death.
Shaking his head, Duke let go of the thoughts in his head, stood up and said, Let's go down for dinner.
Scarlett shrugged, came to hold his arm, left the study and walked down the stairs, walking slowly towards the dining room.
In the past year, Duke has been strictly adhering to the recipes formulated by the nutritionist. I don't know if it is a psychological effect or the effect of the renewed fitness. He feels that his body is much better than before, especially the quality of sleep has been greatly improved. Big improvement.
Dinner was basically vegetarian food with fish. Duke and Scarlett didn’t eat much. After eating, Duke went back to the study to check the latest Star Wars restart plan sent by Lucasfilm.
Today, Katherine Kennedy flew to China for the second time to promote and popularize the Star Wars series in the world's second largest film market. After more than a year of adjustments, Lucasfilm has also begun to formulate specific plans for the new Star Wars. The script outline written for the first time was rejected by Duke.
These script outlines are very creative and innovative, but they cannot be recognized by Duke. He is very clear that the first restarted Star Wars is of great importance, directly related to a series of subsequent plans. The so-called creativity and novelty are almost risky. Synonymous, the new Star Wars first part is not about these, but safe and conservative.
The newly sent plan was vetoed by Duke again, and he planned to talk to the relevant person in charge of Lucasfilm before the release of The Dark Knight Rises, telling them to directly learn from the characters and settings of the first film, and use the nostalgic style Create an outline and character settings.
The influence of the Star Wars series in North America and even the entire Western world can only be described as unbelievable. Duke is very aware of this. The first part of the new Star Wars must first take into account the North American market and North American audiences, and then other overseas market.
As for the Chinese market, we can only say that we should do our best to lay the groundwork. Duke has no confidence in whether films such as Transformers or Avatar can explode like this.
However, he will not change the concept and direction of the first new Star Wars because of this. North America is the world's largest film market in terms of market size and share.
There are also peripherals. From the current point of view, the previous generation of cute god R2D2 is undoubtedly a bit old. Although it can make many people nostalgic, but if the peripherals want to have a good harvest, they must have new growth points and add a new generation of cute machine gods. Undoubtedly the most suitable choice.
Thinking of this, Duke picked up a pen, and in his reply letter to Lucasfilm, he drew the appearance of two superimposed robots, one large and one small.
However, Duke's painting skills are very average, and he can only make some conceptual things. The specific review and design work must be handed over to the professional engineers of Lucasfilm.
After a busy half of the night, Duke went to the lounge and chatted for a while with Scarlett Johansson, who was studying Luc Besson's new delivery, and the ordinary day passed.
As the release time approaches, the pre-sales of The Dark Knight Rises have also started one after another, and after nearly a year of screenings, The Avengers has basically ended its journey to theaters in North America and overseas. (to be continued ^)
PS: Ask for monthly and recommendation tickets!