Most of the crew is composed of old members. Compared with the just-concluded Lord of the Rings trilogy, "Hurricane Rescue" is really only a small project. According to the project plan, the crew will go to Paris for location, but all the indoor scenes. , Duke does not plan to go to Paris to shoot. There are no tax incentives in France. The labor cost in Paris is higher than that in Los Angeles. The film will be shot at the Warner Studios in Burbank.
In less than a week, Charles Rowan settled the negotiations with Liam Neeson, and the other party became the first actor officially confirmed by the crew.
As in the past, Duke will participate in the preparation and control the progress of the entire project, and Charles Rowan, Anna Prinz and Wallace Lee will be responsible for the specific work.
There are not many main actors needed for the film. The two roles that Duke attaches most importance to are undoubtedly the father and daughter of the agent. The former finalized Liam Neeson, while the latter did not want to use the one in memory.
For one thing, he couldn't remember the other party's name; secondly, as an important vase, the appearance should be beautiful enough.
Duke never minded that his film appeared as a vase actor who played a role of foil and decoration.
However, his requirements for vases are also relatively high. The vases also have the style of vases. Finding a vase that doesn’t match the movie will not help.
For example, for the role of a daughter, Duke asked the crew to issue a notice to select through auditions. Although there is no explanation, all Latino, African and Asian actors will not be considered.
The identity of Liam Neeson as a father has determined that it is impossible for a daughter to draw a vase casually.
Due to the characteristics of white people, Duke decided the age of the actor candidates at the age of 16 to 21. This daughter's role is not very good, and it is impossible to attract the best actresses of this age.
The first audition Duke was completely thrown to Anna Prinz and Wallace Lee, he was enough to make the final check.
The preparation period of the project is four months. It’s just beginning now, so don’t be too anxious. With Duke’s status and appeal in Hollywood, you don’t have to worry about finding a suitable actor. From mid-July to the end of the month, Wallace Lee auditioned Nearly sixty young actresses. Also confirmed some candidates for the second audition.
In addition to reviewing the work of various departments, Duke pays more attention to the commercial development of the film. This is an action film closely connected with modern society. It will be frequent from mobile phones to players to cars. Appeared in large numbers.
Choosing the right brand sponsorship, Duke has no psychological pressure at all, and faces the new work of a director who has earned three consecutive films with a global box office of over one billion dollars, even if the production cost is only 40 million US dollars. The price of any kind of product placement advertising starts from $3 million.
And the mobile phone as the focus will be the top priority.
Although camera phones are not as popular as they will be in the future, they have become a must for many high-end mobile phone manufacturers. Many manufacturers, including Nokia, Philips, Siemens, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, all want to win video phones. Advertising placement.
Duke has been cooperating with Nokia since the beginning of The Matrix, and this time there is no exception. Nokia is priced at 6 million US dollars. After getting the placement ads for four mobile phones, Sony Electronics packaged all the broadcast electronic products that appeared in the film for $5 million. Audi got the car advertisement for US$4 million.
If the film's global box office exceeds 500 million US dollars, the advertiser will also add 20% of the advertising costs.
Filming has not yet started, and it has been determined that 15 million US dollars can be recovered.
In addition, there are several advertisements placed in the negotiation, and after the advertisers are finalized, the conservative can recover 20 million US dollars.
Duke now. No longer the little director who used to run into a wall, he has become one of the hottest people in Hollywood and even the United States.
By the beginning of August, preparations for the new project were progressing smoothly, and "The Return of the King", which was still in theaters, received nearly 40 million U.S. dollars in box office throughout July, and the North American box office totaled 554.25 million U.S. dollars.
The overseas sector is also slowing down. At the same time, nearly 50 million US dollars were collected, and the film’s global box office totaled US$1.442.18 million.
Another Duke-related work, "Matrix Revolution" has a North American box office of 262.74 million U.S. dollars, and a global box office of over 500 million U.S. dollars. It is definitely a success.
So, when August arrived, Warner Bros. once again held a huge celebration party. Duke and Zach Schneider were still the protagonists of the party.
Of course, it is not just people who have developed in Hollywood, but also people who want to develop into Hollywood.
"James, are you familiar with him?"
In the corner of the banquet hall, a young man about twenty years old asked the actor standing beside him, "When will you introduce me?"
The young man's rebellion on this man's jealous face has not disappeared. The short golden brown hair standing on his head is just like his words, full of confidence, as if the whole world is in his hands.
Even though James Franco is much older, he respects young people very much. He looked at Duke who was surrounded by many people and said, "I only met him on the set of "Spider-Man" once. Very familiar. David, there are too many people now, not when we are talking about things, we will wait a while before going over."
The young man named David frowned. Although he was tainted with the arrogance of his father, he also understood what to do on occasion. He asked the waiter for two glasses of champagne, while sipping champagne, and James Franco chatted.
"David, if you want to invest in Hollywood, or want to invest in Hollywood projects," James Franco is obviously doing his best. "The projects of famous directors are the first choice, which means more possibilities for success, even in movies. If you can’t sell big, or even fail at the box office, you can often recover your investment through the surrounding markets.”
"I understand this," David nodded, "Don't forget, I am now a student at the USC Film School, and I still know something about this circle."
His words are full of confidence.
James Franco smiled helplessly, and had to remind him slightly, "Hollywood investors all divide directors into different levels and determine the reliability of their investment based on their achievements in the past few years. Duke Rosenberg is undoubtedly one of the highest quality."
"Indeed!" David nodded in approval.
"Now what you need to do the most, David..." James Franco touched him a wine glass, "How do you impress Duke Rosenberg so that he can agree to your investment."
"Isn't his new film budget only 40 million U.S. dollars?" David said for granted, "As long as I accept my investment, I can completely increase the production budget to 80 million U.S. dollars, and his director and producer remuneration can also be increased. Times!"
Hearing this, James Frank rolled his eyes without a trace, and then said, "Investing in movies is more than just a financial issue. Duke Rosenberg and Warner Bros. are not short of money..."
"That's a personal problem?" David raised his lips and smiled. "Limited-edition sports cars, luxury yachts, seaside holiday villas, beautiful models, and even business jets. What does he like? These are not problems!"
Having said this, he raised his chin slightly, "The most important thing is that if you cooperate with me, he will win the friendship of David Ellison!"
James Franco closed his mouth. He doesn't know what to say anymore. The other party has a super-rich father who can rank in the top five in the world. He has lived a smooth life since he was a child, and his personality is still contaminated. With some of the self-confidence and arrogance of that super old man, it is not something others can easily change with a few words.
Rich, inexperienced, self-confident, or the most competitive age, James Franco is not an idiot. He is sure that the other party will not listen to him, so he simply stops persuading him.
David Ellison looked at Duke over there, Duke was still socializing.
This is a celebration party. The invited guests are naturally carefully selected candidates from Duke and Warner Bros. Most of them are members of the academy. There are also some very influential invitations from Duke using his Jewish identity. Strong character.
Although these people are all a lot of age and have reached the age for retirement, they firmly hold the status of senior members of the college and will never give up until the day they die. As they age, their thinking It has become more and more conservative. In recent years, the college seems to be showing an attitude of change to the outside world and has absorbed many young members. However, the average age of the members of the college has been increasing, even approaching 55 years old.
In this respect, the reform of the academy is basically ineffective, and those who truly control the power of the academy do not want this reform to be effective.
The reason is actually very simple. Compared with the booming and progressive younger generation in Hollywood, these dull old men, in addition to showing their authority in the academy, have no sense of existence at other times. Many of them have been famous and How can you easily give up the last fame and fortune when Lizhong has been successful?
These college cores composed of people in their 60s or even 70s can no longer develop a career in directing, filming, or acting, and the so-called rapid retreat in which industry is basically too idealistic.
"Hi Duke,"
Just when there were fewer people around, George Lucas came over, "Good job!"
"Thank you." Duke raised his glass and touched him, and said unceremoniously, "I need your help, George."
"I know what to do." George Lucas had a drink with Duke, and said before leaving, "Although most of them don't like me, I can still talk to some people."
As soon as George Lucas left, Duke was reminded by Ivanka, turned around to look, and saw the little green goblin in Spider-Man and another young man approaching. (To be continued...)
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