Chapter 420： The Lord of the Rings

Compared with completely blocking Brett Ratner, it may be better for Dunn to impose a 5-year "banning period" on him.

If Dunn really blocked all the escape routes of Brett Ratner, even if Barry Mayer and Bob Shea compromised, the next thing would be very troublesome.

The rest of the movie giants and Legendary Pictures are cooperating in the project of "plating investment", which may give Dunn a bit of a thin face.

But Disney will not, and the two companies have already completely torn their faces.

At that time, Brett Ratner will definitely turn to Disney, maybe join forces with Harvey Weinstein and continue to be active in the film market, which is also a blow to Dunn's authority.

The situation is different now. It's only a 5-year ban period, and Barry Mayer is operating in it. Even if Brett Ratner is beaten, he can't jump off the wall.

I can only obediently admit my mistakes, admit my cowardice, and apologize and repent.

Dunn's tough stance and absolute authority in the industry were naturally established.

Tang En was in a good mood. Looking at the vast ocean, he said with a smile, "By the way, "The Lord of the Rings" is about to be released. I heard that there are more than 1,500 special effects shots?"

Bob Shea sighed slightly, "Yeah, it cost $47 million just to make these special effects shots!"

Dunn shook his head and said, "Bob, you should be content. I'm glad you chose New Zealand, where there are no unions, low wages, low tax rates, and unlimited overtime work. If it were in the United States, 1500 computer effects shots would be At least $100 million!"

Bob Shea laughed: "Yeah, it's all thanks to Peter and his Weta Workshop."

The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is legendary, and the status of the film history is no less than that of "Titanic" and "Avatar". Dunn is very interested in this topic.

"I heard that the process of establishing a movie is very complicated, is it convenient to talk about it in detail?"

"It doesn't need to be kept secret, of course." Bob Shea paused. "But it's a long story. It's a long story that could be written in a book."

Barry Mayer said with a smile: "Don't sell it, let's talk about it specifically. I watched the finished film of "The Lord of the Rings", and the effect... was very shocking, and it has the omen of a big sale."

When Bob Shea heard this, he became even more excited, cleared his throat, and then slowly spoke—

"This is from 35 years ago... At that time, United Arts Pictures had not been acquired by MGM. They wanted to make Tolkien's works into a movie, and they spent 10,000 pounds to buy "Magic". The Ring trilogy and the film adaptation of The Hobbit. By the way, it’s not the usual limited-time contract, it’s a permanent buyout.”

"However, the project budget was too large, and United Art Films failed to operate successfully and it has been shelved. Later, there was an animation director Ralph Bakshi who wanted to adapt "The Lord of the Rings" and make it into an animated film. He persuaded MGM After paying $3 million for the rights, he turned to Sal Zaenz, a producer he had previously worked with."

"Sal Zaenz paid $3.5 million for the film adaptation rights of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the film production rights for The Hobbit."

"Wait!" Dunn reached out and interrupted him, "You mean... This producer only got the production rights of "The Hobbit"? "

Bob Shea said: "Yes, the distribution rights of "The Hobbit" are still in the hands of United Art Pictures. Of course, now that United Art has been acquired by MGM, the distribution rights naturally fall into the hands of MGM."

Only then did Dunn understand that it was no wonder that MGM would suddenly participate in the production of the "Hobbit" trilogy in later generations.

Bob Shea continued: "In order to make "The Lord of the Rings" into a cartoon, Sal Zaenz successively bought the trademark rights of all the characters, scenes and objects in the series from Tolkien's descendants, for the Making the film removes the last hurdle."

Barry Mayer nodded and said, "Well, I've seen the animation of The Lord of the Rings. I remember that the box office was very good at the time, but the word of mouth was so bad that there were no plans to shoot a sequel."

"what's next?"

"This is in 1993, Peter Jackson was appreciated by the great director Robert Jimezes and invited him to direct "Ghost of Horrors". Peter Jackson successfully persuaded Jimezes to shoot in New Zealand, and went to Weta, which he founded. The studio made the special effects, and it worked well.”

"You know, "Jurassic Park" only had 50 special effects shots, while "Ghost of Horror" had as many as 570 special effects shots. The computer effects were very smooth and exquisite, which shocked the whole Hollywood at that time. "

"In 1994, after Peter Jackson's "Angel of Sin" was released, the word of mouth was even better. Harvey Weinstein also showed great respect for him and bought the distribution rights of "Angel of Sin". In exchange, he Got the 'first shot' of Peter Jackson's next film."

Dunn's brow wrinkled slightly, he didn't expect Harvey Weinstein to jump out and participate in the production of "The Lord of the Rings".

First film rights, that is, Peter Jackson's next film, no matter what, has to work with Harvey Weinstein.

Bob Shea said: "At this time, Peter Jackson was supported by Robert Jimmies and Harvey Weinstein, and immediately became a Hollywood celebrity. Twentieth Century Fox invited him to direct "Planet of the Apes", Produced by James Cameron; Universal Pictures invited him to direct "King Kong", which is his favorite subject; and Harvey Weinstein, because of a personal exchange, wants to start the "Hobbit" project! "

""Hobbit"?"

Such a big name made Tang En speechless.

Bob Shea had to explain: "Sal Zaenz made a movie, which is very famous, you must have heard of it, called "The English Patient", and the original partner was Fox Searchlight. But because of interest Disagreement, Fox withdrew, Miramax agreed to take over and invest in filming. This time, Sal Zaenz naturally owes Harvey Weinstein a favor."

Tang En's head got big when he heard it, what does it matter? It's too complicated!

It was far from over, and Bob Shea smiled, "Harvey wanted to make The Hobbit, but because MGM had the distribution rights for The Hobbit, it was more complicated. Harvey had to settle for the next best thing and focus on the Lord of the Rings trilogy."

"So... Harvey Weinstein is the biggest contributor to promoting the "Lord of the Rings" project?" Dunn frowned.

Bob Shea said: "From the results, it is true, Peter Jackson is just a small director, he has the passion, the drive, but the lack of connections, and he has no ability to run such a big project."

This Harvey Weinstein really turned his hands into clouds and covered his hands into rain!

Tang En waved his hand rather weakly, "Go ahead, what's next?"

Bob Shea: "At the time, Harvey Weinstein was expected to make 'The Lord of the Rings' in two parts. Peter Jackson didn't want to do 'Planet of the Apes' for fear of being suppressed under Cameron; "King Kong", very interested, he wants to make this film."

"In order to let Peter Jackson delay the filming of "King Kong" and make "The Lord of the Rings" first, Harvey Weinstein and Universal Pictures reached an agreement. Universal transferred the overseas distribution rights of future "King Kong" to Miramac As a result, Miramax transferred the overseas distribution rights of The Lord of the Rings to Universal, forming a gesture of cooperation and mutual assistance."

"But Harvey Weinstein presupposed that "The Lord of the Rings" was two parts, and "King Kong" was only one. Miramax suffered a loss in this copyright exchange, and Universal Pictures had to deal with another project at hand. To Miramax, the famous Shakespeare in Love."

Not to mention Anne Hathaway, a little actor, even Dunn was a little dumbfounded.

This Nima is too pitiful!

Dunn had long regarded Universal Pictures as a possession, but when he heard that "Shakespeare in Love" was a work transferred from Universal to Miramax, he almost vomited blood.

"The English Patient" and "Shakespeare in Love" are two masterpieces that Miramax pointed to Oscar.

One is from 20th Century Fox, the other is from Universal Pictures, is this Harvey Weinstein so lucky? Or is it too capable?

Barry Mayer glanced at him, "You've been talking for so long as if it's nothing to do with New Line Cinema. How on earth did New Line get involved in The Lord of the Rings? No... Another gift from that old friend. Bar?"

"Old friend?" Tang En raised his eyebrows.

Barry Mayer curled his lips and said, "It's Michael Eisner!"

"Rush Hour" was originally a Disney project, but Michael Eisner particularly hated Jack Chen's performance, just as he hated Johnny Depp's performance in "Pirates of the Caribbean", collectively referred to as "the clown-like monkey play" ".

In this way, because of the big boss's dislike, "Rush Hour" fell into the pockets of New Line Cinema.

Bob Shea laughed, "Yes, this time, we have to thank that old friend!"

Tang En also understood now, and couldn't help but laugh.

This Michael Eisner, his vision is really outdated!

Maybe when he was in charge of Paramount in the 1980s, he still had some judgment on movies, but after taking charge of Disney, his aesthetic vision for movies has become seriously deformed.

From "Rush Hour" to "The Lord of the Rings" and later "Christmas Elf", these blockbusters have all fallen into the hands of New Line Cinema. Even after Jerry Bruckheimer finished making Pirates of the Caribbean, he satirized that the movie would be a disgrace to Disney!

Later things were very clear, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series was on the same level as the "Lord of the Rings" series...

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(Sanqi Chinese)