Chapter 1907： Dead pigs are afraid of hot

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Catherine Bigelow is not a rookie director who has just debuted. Since she filmed her first short film "Fighter" in 1978, her directing experience has been for 20 years. Although she is not a prolific director, At present, only nine works have come out, but there are many outstanding works such as "Thunderbolt Blue Angel", "Last Century Storm" and "Devil's Game".

In addition to capital history, Catherine Bigelow's connections in the entertainment industry should not be underestimated. Although her short-lived marriage with James-Cameron dates back to 1991, the divorced couple did not turn against each other. Even if the exchanges are not so frequent, James-Cameron is still very willing to help Catherine-Bigelow. During the filming and release of "Doomsday" in 1995, Kathryn Bigelow got a James-one card. Much help from Mellon.

Therefore, if Catherine Bigelow wants to launch a work, it can be called powerful and well-connected. But this time, "The Hurt Locker." But Catherine Bigelow hit the wall of reality.

Katherine Bigelow's last work "K_19 Widowmaker, released in 2002, this work starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, invested $100 million, but only recovered $65 million At the box office, Paramount Pictures, which was deeply in the quagmire of funds at the time, was directly black-faced. After that, Catherine Bigelow did nothing until the "Bomb Hurt Locker".

When the "Hurt Locker" project was launched, no company was willing to invest, not only because Catherine Bigelow's last work was completely smashed, but also because the subject matter of this work was too sensitive.

The script is based on the memoirs of screenwriter and producer Mark Ball, a former correspondent dispatched to the Iraqi bomb zone, who returned as a critic of current affairs. Mark Ball's The perspective is professional, accurate, credible, and fierce. From the perspective of the script, it is even more serious than "Fahrenheit 9/11". You know, the Weinstein Brothers and Disney broke up for the release of "Fahrenheit 9/11", which shows the sensitivity of similar topics.

The core theme of "The Hurt Locker" is to oppose war according to the day, but it does not carry out positive criticism or political preaching, but through the description of the protagonist, it describes the all-round impact and even destruction of a victory on men from physical to psychological. This kind of red fruit and **** theme will make those politicians who are already vulnerable and sensitive jump straight from the bed in the middle of the night and curse.

On top of that, Kathryn Bigelow insisted that the production be filmed in Baghdad. This idea made all the film companies that had hoped back retreat. Now Iraq is a powder keg, and whoever orders it suffers. What's more, the preparation time for "The Hurt Locker" is the transition period from 2006 to 2007. Everyone knows that Li Bi Nian is the election year. Although the political theme film will attract much attention in the election year, but Throwing a time bomb such as "The Hurt Locker" into the movie market is estimated to be more than 80% likely to set fire to the topic.

After Kathryn Bigelow prepared the script, she spent almost half a year in the process of finding investors and being rejected. Even James-Cameron could provide very limited help. This is social reality! Film companies are profit-driven, not charitable—even if they were, Kathryn Bigelow didn't have the reputation to be a candidate.

In fact, if a proposal such as the "Bomb Hurt Locker" is in the hands of Evan Bell, it is estimated that it will be difficult to find investment. It may be slightly less resistant than Catherine Bigelow, but the situation is not much better. It seems that In the heyday after "Pirates of the Caribbean", Evan Bell took over "Brokeback Mountain." Questions, refutations, and criticisms are still pouring in.

Finally, last summer, Catherine Bigelow, supported by the European Film Capital Fund (EF) in France, received an investment cost of $15 million to get the Hurt Locker project off the ground and in the With the help of the foundation, it was still impossible to obtain permission to shoot on-site in Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq.

From such a process, it can be seen how difficult the shooting process of "The Hurt Locker" is, and due to the habit of the topic, the topic is sensitive and the subject matter is serious, and the publishers who are afraid of detonating landmines will not dare to take over "The Hurt Locker" North American distribution rights.

The original "Brokeback Mountain" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" are actually a truth. Hollywood's unspoken rules cannot be changed by a director or a few actors. The sensitivity of the subject matter determines that the film companies stay away.

What the "Hurt Locker" touches is not only the unspoken rules of Hollywood, but also the sensitive area of ​​the entire American society. In the environment of the election year, any sparks will be magnified into a torch, not to mention the "bomb disposal". For a fire like the "Army", people naturally treat it as a volcano. So even independent film companies are very cautious in handling Katherine Bigelow's work this time.

In the last life, "The Hurt Locker" did not find a distribution company for release until 2009, which is the most direct and ironclad testimonial.

In fact, Catherine Bigelow has been working on the distribution of "The Hurt Locker" since February, from Berlin to Huina to Venice, even in an environment like the film festival. "The Hurt Locker" has very limited living space. Catherine Bigelow knew that only places like the Sundance Film Festival, the Gotham Awards, and the Independent Spirit Awards could accept The Hurt Locker. For most of 2008, Kathryn Bigelow was repeating the trajectory of the previous film, being rejected, rejected again.

Having missed the Sundance Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards at the beginning of the year, Kathryn Bigelow could have pinned her hopes on the Gotham Awards in October, then landed at the Sundance Film Festival early next year to seek out an intentional release. business. But unexpectedly, Venice, which was plagued by the quality of the participating films, extended an olive branch to Catherine Bigelow in a desperate situation. This also made Catherine Bigelow overjoyed. Although she knew that Venice still hopes to use her relationship with James Ten Mellon to hype some topics, as long as the "Bomb Hurt Locker" can get exposure opportunities, Catherine Bigelow is already satisfied. .

So, Catherine Bigelow came to Venice and couldn't wait.

"The Hurt Locker" held its world premiere in Venice, but unfortunately, the premiere situation made Katherine Bigelow completely helpless. The auditorium of the movie theater was completely dissatisfied, and the applause was sparse. Even the film critics were not very interested in the film, and the feedback from the reporters was full of complaints. Catherine Bigelow spent three years before and after the "Hurt Locker". Now she got such a result, even though she was strong and had suffered so many blows, she felt tired.

Catherine Bigelow couldn't be happier to see Evan Bell attend the premiere in the face of disappointment The appearance of the film can attract more attention, even if it is not a discussion of the film, increasing some exposure is a gratifying result. Therefore, although Catherine Bigelow met Evan Bell for the first time, she cheered up and greeted politely, but she never imagined that Evan Bell would actually have the right to distribute "The Hurt Locker" interested!

"Uh, Evan, are you kidding me?" Catherine Bigelow looked incredulous, "You haven't seen my movie before, so I think you should know how much the subject matter of this movie is. How serious is Sensitivity, how could a distribution company be willing to shoulder the heavy responsibility of distribution in North America?" What Catherine Bigelow didn't say is that even film festivals are not very welcome to "The Hurt Locker".

At this time, the staff walked in and said politely, "Please leave, please? We are going to prepare for the next movie." Bell is not interested, but Evan Bell, the highlight of the evening show, "Rachel's Wedding", has been looking forward to it for a long time.

Evan-Bell nodded to the staff, then smiled at Katherine Bigelow and said, "We can go to the outdoor coffee shop on the beach outside, I'm still waiting to watch the movie at the evening show.

"Anne-Heather" Catherine Bigelow naturally knew that too, and nodded with a smile.

"I won't deny that Jonathan Chemi is also one of the attractions Evan Bell blinked, making Katherine Bigelow's smile a little bigger, the two walked in front, Ty Di Yibel then followed, "I'm very interested in 'Break Bullet Force, and I hope Eleven Studio can get the North American distribution rights, so I naturally need to have an understanding of the current distribution of the work, even if the answer to this question is Obviously, but I still have to bring it up, don't I? "

Catherine Bigelow was stunned by what Evan Bell said. She was ten years older than Katherine Bell. Looking at Evan Bell was like looking at her sons, but these simple sentences The conversation made Catherine Bigelow change her mind. She had to look at Evan-Bell with an equal eye. "Eleven Studio?" Catherine Bigelow repeated it and got Evan-Bell. Nodding the answer, "Aren't you worried about the subject matter of this film? This is a very serious problem. At present, no film company dares to take over this work of mine."

Facing Catherine Bigelow's frankness, Evan Bell also said in honest words, "'Worry, of course I'm worried, even, I'm even more afraid than other film companies." It is said that dead pigs are not afraid of boiling water, But now, Studio Eleven, which has become a thorny representative, is actually afraid of the media's different opinions? This made Katherine Bigelow laugh out loud.

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[To be continued [This text is provided by the breaking dawn update team Xiu Xiu@人地秀罗6] If you like this work, you are welcome to ◤First Release◢ to vote for a recommendation ticket and a monthly ticket. Your support is my biggest motivation. 】