The Best Director

Chapter 246 I took over

"Fantastic Young returns to sci-fi."

"Magical Yang teamed up with Joss Whedon to announce the plan for the mysterious new science fiction work "Firefly"!"

According to the news from the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, according to Rotten Tomatoes, Yahoo Entertainment and other media reports, Wang Yang revealed his new plan "Firefly" at the event site yesterday. When interviewed by reporters afterwards, both he and Joss Whedon laughed and said that they can't disclose too much information now, because the film is still in its infancy, but it will be a very surprising film.

Talking about the scale of the production, Miracle Yang said that there is no clear budget yet, but it will be what people call a "big production".

Sure enough, as expected by the reporters, the official website of "Firefly" was launched quietly that night. There is not much content. The exquisite pages only include official news reports, photos of Wang Yang and Joss Whedon, etc., which were released at the science fiction conference. to the surprise of sci-fi movie fans, there are two public concept maps.

In addition to the "cliff spaceship" reported by the media, in another picture, there is only a wildfire burning wasteland, with many soldiers wearing different styles of uniforms standing a few meters apart, standing majestically. The uniform of the soldier on the right is clean and tidy. It has the streamlined military uniform style of traditional interstellar sci-fi; the one on the left is dilapidated and old, like a western cowboy. The few officers standing at the front of the two camps are involved in something.

The official website of "Firefly" belongs to the account-integrated Flame Entertainment Network. Once the news of its launch spread, the message boards kept adding new messages from movie mís: "It's so exciting!", "This is really a Good news!", "I saw two concept maps, is the story about the interstellar army? I hate war now.", "I just heard the news from my friend, we can look forward to it!"...

User hubbard-f said calmly: "Joss Whedon is very talented as a screenwriter, and his dramas are great; but the fact is that his directing and production skills are much worse. In "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ", "Angel", his episodes are not the best, I don't think he can give Magic Yang much help on the big screen." Curtis-h said: "Joss Whedon is a newcomer to the screen, Miracle Yang is not, the director is the real soul of the film."

Augustine, whose head is a cat, said: "Judging from the two concept drawings, the scene of "Firefly" is very large, and there are many different scenes and many characters. This is a new test for Yang."

Since "Firefly" doesn't have any information other than the name and concept art, the online media simply reported it. It seems that the success of the marriage proposal didn't slow him down. "The Devil Wears Prada" has just ended. It's time for a new film.

However, Yahoo Entertainment pointed out that it is worth noting that,

With Mi Yang's past experience, this special effects blockbuster is likely to be released in the summer vacation of 5 years, which means that it will hit "Star Wars Episode 3", a head-on collision of the same type of science fiction film! Fantastic Young vs George Lucas.

Of course, it is not ruled out that Wang Yang's filming is slow this time, or he may avoid "Star Wars Episode 3" from the schedule and put it in the 5-year Christmas file, or even the 6-year summer vacation file. If that happens, Yahoo editor Allison said, "I'm going to be disappointed, that's not Magic Young's style."

"What I'm worried about now is that everyone will have high expectations for this movie! It's as unbearable as "The Matrix 2." Gabriela's message, I don't know if it's really called this name or " A fan of Song and Dance Youth net, she wrote: "There is no doubt that Fantastic Yang is facing a huge challenge, and if he makes even the slightest mistake, he will face huge accusations."

This can also be regarded as a kind of differential treatment of skin color. The mainstream media always treats white idols with high patience and tolerance, and praises them for a little achievement; other ethnic groups are relatively strict, and even try to vilify and defame them. Such as Michael Jackson, and more recently Indian director M-Nate Shyamalan.

When "The Sixth Sense" was born, he became a "genius director" for a while, a hot young star in Hollywood, and the media public did not hesitate to praise him. However, "Undead Tribulation" in the next year and "Signs of the Sky" in the next two years seemed to be quite satisfactory and there were no surprises. Although the audience's popularity was still on the passing line, he has already been criticized by many media: "It will be like that twice", " Rotten poet.", "lost talent."  …

If he was even worse, the Golden Razzie Award would fall on him at any time.

From 18 years old to "7 consecutive victories" to now 23 years old, and won the youngest Oscar for best director, Wang Yang's reputation in Hollywood in the film industry is already very solid, but American culture regards him as popular One of the symbols, the proud American dream... Just like LeBron James, the new champion of the nba this year, he has been named "ng" before he has played an nba game, and he is expected to surpass Michael Jordan in the future.

People's expectations for Miracle Yang have accumulated up to now, and they have already reached a critical point, and they will explode at any time.

"I hope everyone will look at "Firefly" with a normal mind! It may be an ordinary and wonderful entertainment movie, don't put too much pressure on it, I don't want to see "The Matrix 2." User Jill-e on the official website After posting a message, he was immediately sprayed by the latecomers. Frey-1 said: "You treat Fantastic Young with a normal attitude, maybe he is very upset!" Courtney-c said: "Don't worry! Let us down!" Jenny said: "I want to see him say 'I'm going to get an Oscar for 6 years!'"

Bliss-j said: "I was in the event hall of the science fiction convention at the time, and an unpublished ending of "District 9" was played live, which was really uncomfortable! But Fantastic Young is getting married soon, He said that he has undergone tremendous changes and is full of optimism. So at least we don’t have to worry about "Firefly" being depressing and miserable!" Kelly continued: "I think it must not be that simple, otherwise why should I be nominated for an Oscar?"...

In the August issue, the 3rd annual Hugo Awards Ceremony was held. Under the host of science fiction novelist Speed ​​Robinson, the awards were awarded one by one. " won, the best short video product award was awarded to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Conversations with the Dead", Joss Whedon lost to his own; "District 9" Take it.

Following the Golden Globe nominations, Oscar nominations, the 29th Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film, etc., it has added another heavyweight award, which can be said to have completed the grand slam, taking all the praise a science fiction film can get All won.

Sci-fi movie fans are looking forward to "Firefly" even more, why not? Rotten Tomatoes' poll "What do you think of Young's new work "Firefly"?" showed that 75% of people chose the highest level of "Exceeding the Upper Limit of Expectation", the second level of "Very Anticipated", and only 5% of non-fans who joined in the fun voted for the lowest level of "don't care", and the remaining 3% voted for "treat with a normal mentality".

"Mark, this must be a big production."

In Santa Monica on Sunny Beach, in the office of the chairman of Flame Films, the computer screen on the table displayed lines of script text. Wang Yang gently turned his chair and looked at Mark, who was sitting across from him in a suit. - Slante, thinking about it: "I thought about the final production cost budget...it should be between 150 million and 200 million yuan! The initial 10,000 yuan is enough."

There is only one general idea, and he doesn't know what the final budget will be, because the shooting plan has not been finalized yet, the script, crew, cast... everything is blank.

It's hard to say whether some new technology will be used for shooting. Robert Zemeckis' "The Polar Express" is the first imax-3d feature film this year, a live-action animation produced using "motion performance capture" technology. But now there are very few real 3D screens and IMAX large screens, there are only a few in the world, and the 3D camera technology is not yet mature. Wang Yang does not think that the time is now to pursue 3D.

But during some initial discussions between him and Wally-Pfister on Firefly, Walley suggested trying to shoot some scenes with a 65mm imax film camera, naturally for the high part of the film, which is the highest quality image available today With the capture system, many big action scenes can be shot in this way, because the traditional film is only 35mm; and because of the high quality of imax film, the picture quality will be particularly textured.

In post-processing, the screen shots of 65mm film can be printed on MM film; the rest of the shots shot with 35mm "anamorphic" widescreen cameras allow technicians to change the aspect ratio of the screen, and in this form print MM imax big screen. On the contrary, ordinary projection theaters compress 65mm into 35mm, but the unimaginably huge scene will also bring new visual shock.

However, the result of this is a sharp increase in production costs. The shooting cost of 65mm imax film is four times that of 35mm ordinary film;

Now Sony and other companies are developing digital cameras. Once they come out, many producers will definitely choose low-resolution digital shooting in order to save costs. Now, except for Robert Zemeckis, no one will use imax film for documentaries. filming. However, Wang Yang wants to have better picture quality and better show high-end scenes, and imax film is also a promotional highlight to attract audiences, so he has already agreed to Valeri Pfister's suggestion.

"200 million, the company's finances can bear it." Mark Slanter nodded when he heard the words. After all, 200 million was not invested in all at once, and there was a lot of room for turnover in funds, but he still frowned and asked: "We invest independently?"

Last time, the 10,000 yuan production cost of "t-21-team" was finally fully invested by Flame, but in some overseas countries, they chose to cooperate with big companies, which can be regarded as sharing part of the benefits in order to obtain marketing and publicity benefits. good relationship.

"I took a look at the financial situation just now, and there is no need to attract investment for the time being." Wang Yang sat up straight, picked up the mouse and clicked it, looked at the screen and smiled, "I believe that there is no problem in recovering the cost of "Firefly". And I'm confident it's going to make a lot of money. It won't be Windtalker, will it? No."

"Boss, the risk is almost all in your account, you can figure it out." Mark Slante spread his hands without any objection. Now he really has no need or reason to persuade him. This young boss has proved himself many times. Unbelievable ability to absorb money, as long as you give him money, you can double it! Any big company would dare to swallow this 200 million yuan; even some independent companies would join forces to invest, let alone Flame Movie.

However, every investment has risks, and you have to be cautious. Mark sat down with his arms around ng, and said with a smile: "From my point of view, 200 million investment is a lot, and it would not be bad to bring together 3-4 independent production companies to invest."

"It happens that I have money, maybe I register several Flame Movie 2, Flame Movie 3, and Flame Movie 4, and then invest together, make money and lose money together." Wang Yang said with a smile and pressed the keyboard a few times, Mark Slanter shrugged :"good idea."

Recently, the company has entered the fourth quarter. With the end of the summer vacation, funds have been withdrawn and supplemented; and the main project "Furious Speed" directed by Justin Lin has finished filming in May, and the post-production is almost completed , is scheduled to be released in May 4, "Dancing Out of My Life" directed by Anne Fletcher will be released in May, "Saw" will be released in November, and "The Devil Wears Prada" will be released in December.

The company will soon launch several new films with large investment, "Mr. Hughes 2" and "The Hangover 2" are both on the agenda.

Christopher Nolan just turned down Warner Bros.' Batman directing mic. Some time ago, Warner Bros. decided to reshape the "Batman" series, and immediately set off a massive selection of directors. At the beginning, there was only one candidate, Wang Yang. Warner Bros. spokesman Scott Lowe claimed: "We are in The warm invitation to Fantastic Young to take the helm of Batman is endlessly close to completion!"

This really excited movie fans, they have been looking forward to the magical pop hero for a long time! It's just that the news was not hot yet, Wang Yang's spokesperson clarified the rumors, Warner Bros. did invite Wang Yang to direct, but his work schedule is over, and he didn't consider taking over "Batman".

Turns out it was just a Warner Bros. hype! When movie fans were disappointed, Warner also continued to select directors for "Batman". Ding Campbell, Darren Aronofsky, Christopher Nolan and others were all included in the shortlist, and Nolan I'm planning "Mr. Hughes 2".

Regarding this matter, Wang Yang did not express any opinion. He had watched the "Batman" series directed by Nolan in his mind, and "The Dark Knight" is a great classic. - In the hands of Nolan, the screenwriter of "The Dark Knight" will definitely not be Jonathan Nolan. What will happen to "Time to War" first? He doesn't know that Ding Campbell may make it into a 7-style cool movie, and Darren Aronofsky may also make it into a darker style than the Nolan brothers.

It's not necessarily a bad movie for someone else to make; but what is certain is that "Batman" will lose a classic series. This is a pity, but on the other hand, when Christopher Nolan went to film "Mr. Hughes 2", he also had the opportunity to create a classic.

Because from the "Mr. Hughes" film itself and from the chat and discussion with Nolan, Wang Yang can see that the first "Hughes: The Secret Life" is brewing and trying, just like "Time to War"; The first "Hughes: Power, Money and Madness" is likely to usher in a big hit. So it makes sense, he hopes that Nolan will make "Batman", and he wants to see Nolan make "Mr. Hughes 2".

Nolan did not ask Flame to postpone "Mr. Hughes 2" in the end, or to give the microphone to others. He declined the invitation from Warner Bros. to direct the blockbuster film and did not participate in the competition for "Batman". Mr. Hughes 2". So this sequel has been put on the production schedule. If it is completed as scheduled, it will be released on the Christmas file in 4 years and hit the Oscars again.

"Yang, to be honest, it's a pity that I missed "Batman". I also want to try such a big production; but if I mess up "Mr. Hughes 2", I will regret it even more." Nolan told Wang Yang on the phone , There was a firmness in the faint voice. Wang Yang had an idea and said: "Flame welcomes your big production plan; and if there are any superheroes who want to be put on the screen, we will fight for you." Nolan just said: "I know."

"Is there a script called "Brokeback Mountain" looking for investment?" In the office, Wang Yang pointed to a document on the desktop. While picking up the file to read, Mark Slanter wondered, ""Brokeback Mountain"? I seem to have heard of it..." He glanced at the file, and suddenly frowned: "Brokeback Mountain is the western The theme of cowboy homosexuality!" Wang Yang nodded, and Mark became even more suspicious: "Yes, it has been looking for investment for a long time. What's wrong? Wait! Are you interested?"

On March 13, 1997, the Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Proulx's short story "Brokeback Mountain" appeared in the "New Yorker" for the first time, followed by the famous writer Larry? Diana Ossana adapted it into a movie script, and then almost always looked for investment to put it on the screen, but no one was willing to invest in such a low-cost movie.

It's like a hornet's nest, or a hot potato. Firstly, investors are afraid of losing money. After all, the market for gay movies is huge. What's more fatal is that many theaters will not show them at all, and audiences can't watch them even if they want to; secondly, I am afraid of public opinion. This is a good script, but the more successful "Brokeback Mountain" will be, the greater the social reaction will be, and conservatives, religious groups and other people will make noise.

But Flame Films has never been afraid of these two things. Its investment philosophy is to invest rationally and boldly, and to dig out shining unpopularities, and it is also an action to implement. That's why fm company has repeatedly achieved success in independent films, making many film companies envious.

"Yes, I'm interested." Wang Yang nodded with a smile. This movie is very suitable for Ang Lee to direct. Only he can make such a bang with tender and delicate emotions, just like a glass of warm boiling water. Now that "Brokeback Mountain" is still seeking investment, Wang Yang doesn't want any butterfly effect to occur, so that the director of "Brokeback Mountain" will be given to other people, and the classics will be missed, which will also cause losses to the Chinese director group.

Unlike Nolan's "Mr. Hughes 2" which is likely to explode, Ang Lee is in a bad situation now, so he wants to be an investor in "Brokeback Mountain" to ensure that Ang Lee takes over the microphone. Thinking of this, Wang Yang said: "I'm very interested, let James Shams contact me, and I'll take over!" people.

"What? Why are you interested in gay-themed movies?" Mark Slanter was suddenly curious, with a look of incomprehension, he spread his hands and smiled, "You're getting married soon!" Wang Yang pursed his lips Shaking his head emphatically, he said seriously: "I'm not, but I respect other people's sexuality. I think heterosexuality, homosexuality... There is no difference in love. But to be honest, I can't stand bisexuality. , Too greedy." He said with a smile.

Mark Slanter realized that his words were wrong, and shrugged: "I have many gay friends. I mean, you are going to get married for honeymoon and film "Firefly". Do you have time?"

"I'm just investing, maybe there's a producer?" Wang Yang raised his eyebrows with interest. In addition to appointing Ang Lee to direct, he also hopes that the cast will be the original cast in the future, Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway... If you want to participate in these tasks, you have the right to invite auditions and have the right to speak, and you are the producer. He laughed: "I am going to invite Ang Lee to direct this movie."

"Ann Lee? Wow." Mark Slanter was stunned, more surprised than just now when he heard that he was going to take over "Brokeback Mountain". After the fiasco of "Hulk", Ang Lee is now the most annoying person Boy, no one will give him candy.

Miracle Yang, who is also Chinese, is not included, and...Mark thought about it seriously, "Hulk" can only show that Ang Lee is not suitable for commercial blockbusters, "Pushing Hands", "Sense and Sensibility", "Ice Storm" are all It proves that this Chinese director is brilliant, delicate and profound in dealing with emotions, conceptual conflicts and other themes. Mark Srante nodded, "OK, I'll tell James Shams."

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ps: Wow, keep asking for votes, thank you everyone!