Chapter 543： 1 out of 2

As a director, when choosing actors, he must have a clear understanding of the overall style of the film, the positioning of the film's future market, and the actors themselves. Therefore, in many cases, the director and the producer are always prone to disputes when it comes to the cast, because this is the positioning of the tone of the film, and must be cautious.

Alex Proyas, who has filmed "The Crow" and "Moving the City", is not a rookie director, but he is not a big-name director. He has the weight to speak in front of the producers, but it is not heavy enough. This time, Alex Proyas will take over the director job of "Enemies of the Machine", and there is only one reason for it, that is, because the film is adapted from Isaac Asimov's work "I, Robot".

As the greatest science fiction writer of the last century, Isaac Asimov is also an M.A. and Ph.D. in chemistry. The sci-fi world he builds is vast and huge. By depicting the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire, he discusses the interactive influence of human beings and political, economic, military and other elements of civilization. This macro vision makes his works full of concern and thinking about the future of mankind, which can be said to have influenced many readers' views of the world.

This "Mechanical Enemy (literally translated as: I, Robot can be said to be reverberating to science fiction readers. The novel consists of more than a dozen separate stories, but it contains Isaac Asimov's most famous "Three Laws of Robotics". The first law states that robots must not harm humans, nor do they stand idly by seeing human beings being harmed; the second law states that robots should obey all orders of human beings, but must not violate the first law; the third law states that robots should protect their own safety, but not Violating the first and second laws.

Strictly speaking, "Mechanical Enemy" is no longer the content of the original novel, because its script has undergone four changes in the meantime. This movie should be said to be a story derived from the three laws of robotics. The reason why Alex Proyas took over the director job of this film is because of Isaac Asimov's three laws of robots, which is definitely a good word for science fiction lovers. So, even though he had limited decision-making power as a director because it was a big production, he decided to take over.

"Machine Enemy" was invested and produced by 20th Century Fox. In the selection of the male lead, 20th Century Fox gave two official candidates: Will Smith and Evan Bell. Leonardo DiCaprio was added after the producer consulted with Alex Proyas and was also approved by Twentieth Century Fox.

Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio naturally needless to say, Alex Proyas mainly had a multi-faceted understanding of Evan Bell in the early stage. At first, Alex Proyas was a little surprised to be the official first choice for Twentieth Century Fox, knowing Will Smith and hearing the media comparing Evan Bell to Will Smith. But 20th Century Fox actually put Evan Bell and Will Smith on the same level for consideration, which surprised Alex Proyas.

But in fact, it is not surprising that 20th Century Fox would have this idea. Evan Bell currently has a total of six films released, "White Night" is released by Warner Brothers, "Adaptation" and "Deadly Identity" are released by Columbia Pictures, while "Death Illusion", "Ice Age", "Sniper Phone Booth" is published by Twentieth Century Fox! Among them, "Ice Age" and "Sniper Phone Booth" each brought 200 million US dollars in revenue to Twentieth Century Fox! It's no wonder that 20th Century Fox values ​​Evan Bell so much. Any film company has the same attitude towards cash cows and tries their best to win over him.

In terms of the current relationship between Evan Bell and 20th Century Fox, the two can be said to be in the month period, so in the preparation stage of "Mechanical Public Enemy", 20th Century Fox was the first to include Evan Bell in the film. The preferred list of male protagonists.

As a director, Alex Proyas only has the right to participate in the decision, but he must also have enough knowledge of the actors to be able to make gaps in the process of filming. Through understanding, Alex - Proyas not only understood the idea of ​​20th Century Fox, but also increased his idea of ​​cooperation with Evan Bell. It is definitely a pleasure to be able to work with such a talented young actor.

Just now Alex Proyas and Leonardo DiCaprio had a brief talk, but I didn't expect Leonardo DiCaprio to have no interest in the "mechanical public enemy", so he just refused this proposal. While Alex Proyas doesn't know why, Evan Bale does. Leonardo DiCaprio is currently in talks with Martin Scorsese about a new partnership. It is still in the preparatory stage, and Evan Bell does not know the specific project. However, according to Evan Bell's memory, it is estimated that it is a "pilot".

So, Alex Proyas sent an invitation directly to Evan Bell, "Do you have any ideas of working with me?"

Evan Bell raised his eyebrows unexpectedly. He really didn't expect that Alex Proyas would give up Will Smith and choose himself.

"Enemies of the Machine" is a very good commercial film, and Evan Bell is well aware of it. In the past life, the "Mechanical Enemy", which used Will Smith as the male protagonist, achieved good results at the box office, but it was far from a huge success. With an investment of 100 million US dollars, only 150 million was obtained. Dollar box office results. That's not enough for Twentieth Century Fox to satisfy them.

As a commercial sci-fi film, there is no doubt about the appearance of "Mechanical Enemy" in the scene, and the film's theme of thinking about the crisis of human existence has also won a lot of praise. Overall, critics are more positive than negative. However, "Mechanical Enemy", like most commercial movies, puts the core of the movie on the grandeur of the scene, and is a typical Hollywood blockbuster. However, there is still a lack of excavation in the theme. This also checks and balances the film's further development at the box office and word of mouth.

As far as Evan Bell is concerned, his interest in the script is limited. What's more, "Crash" will be filming soon, and Evan Bell has an unfinished "Mystery Skin" script on hand. Therefore, "Mechanical Public Enemy" is indeed not Evan Bell's first choice.

However, Evan Bell will not deny his respect for Isaac Asimov, as well as the classic three laws of robotics. In fact, if the script is slightly modified, some details are added, and the content of the male protagonist is more elaborated, it does not need a large amount of space, just dig deeper into the corners, and the quality of the film can be improved to a higher level.

So, facing the question of Alex Proyas, Evan Bell smiled lightly, "Mr. Proyas, why do you want to cooperate with me?"

Alex Proyas fell silent. He didn't joke like Evan Bell said, "If I said it was because I liked it, you wouldn't believe it." Instead, he thought about the reason seriously. Yes, he said deliberately, "Because I think you can bring energy to the film." After saying that, Alex Proaston paused, "You know, Will is good, he's all good Well, he has a strong box office appeal, and he has a unique charisma. But it is precisely because of his advantages that other elements of the film are easily overlooked, and thus focus on him alone."

Evan Bell was surprised by Alex Proyas's prediction. In the last life, the "mechanical public enemy" became Will Smith and lost Will Smith. Because of Will Smith's strong appeal, the movie was a success; but because Will Smith was too prominent, he almost stole the limelight of the movie, and also let the dark style in Alex Proyas' bones be rejected. Submerged in the metallic sheen of robots. Will Smith's personal charisma is above the character and the movie, which is also one of the reasons why the character is not full and the theme of the movie is not deep enough.

"But you're different," Alex Proyas knew that what he just said was easy to misunderstand: Evan Bell can be understood as "I'm not as attractive as Will Smith", so he did not give Evan- Bell had a chance to speak, and then continued, "You are willing to change yourself for the movie, for the script, and for the role, which can make the role serve the film and add depth to the film itself. Of course, I'm not saying that Will doesn't I will," Will Smith's acting skills have also been recognized a lot. Last year, he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in "King Ali" I just said, Your personality should be more in tune with me, and it can make the characters and the movie as a whole even better. oh god..."

Alex Proyas found that no matter what he said, it seemed to be demeaning Will Smith, or Evan Bell, and he was a bit clumsy for a while. After struggling, he finally gave up his efforts, "because I like it, I like you as an actor."

Hearing this, Evan Bell all three chuckled lightly.

In fact, the meaning of Alex Proyas is very simple. Will Smith's personal charm is too bright and easy to steal the limelight; although Evan Bell is also a very attractive actor, he has a lot of experience from "chasing the murderer in the white night", Judging from works such as "Sniper Phone Booth" and "Adapted Script", we can see that Evan Bell has the courage to break his own shackles and integrate into the works. It is known through the "fatal identity" that Evan Bell is willing to serve the film and the role, thereby hiding his personal charm and edge.

Furthermore, Alex Proyas himself is a very personable person, as can be seen from "Moving the City", so he hopes to cooperate with a bright actor like Evan Bell. In short, personal preference. ! .