Chapter 313： Work in hand

It has never been easy to put a grand epic on the big screen, and it will require a substantial adaptation.

Peter Jackson's adaptation of the original work can be described drastically, but it is generally quite successful.

For Boromir, for example, Peter Jackson made an almost subversive adaptation, turning the betrayer in the original book into a hero in the movie.

The horn to welcome the return of the king did not sound, the flying flag had never been inserted into the white city, the withered holy white tree had not yet blossomed, the silver horn had been cut in half, and Boromir had come to the end of his life.

"I am willing to follow you, my brother, my leader, my king..."

Boromir’s deathbed oath is undoubtedly a sensational weapon. The film also used the mouth of Aragon to affirm him: "Rest in peace, son of Gondor."

"Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Team" was a huge success. The film was so popular that the box office was excellent, even Ronan was envious.

This is a trilogy series with a total value of more than five billion US dollars.

Also kicked off the prelude to the explosion of Hollywood magic movies.

Coupled with the hugely successful "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which was also released this year, in Hollywood, which is seriously following the trend, a wave of magic movies will inevitably be set off in the next few years.

A large number of high-investment fantasy films and epic films have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, but there are very few that can really succeed.

Not only in the past few years, but in the following ten years, most of the fantasy films and epic films were black holes, with few successful ones, and even contributed to most of the typical Hollywood fiasco cases during this time period.

There is a saying that if you see a director or a film company that is not pleasing to the eye, encourage them to make a magical epic film. More than 90% of them may be on the street.

And this type requires high investment, once you hit the street, it is a super big hit.

For Ronan, there are several obvious pits in Hollywood that cannot be easily stepped into, such as the magical epic pits outside of the "Harry Potter", "Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, such as Knight-Samalan and Co. Lin-Farrell pit, such as the island country comics adapted live-action movie pit.

Once these pits fall in, 90% of them will fall miserably.

In particular, Hollywood’s island cartoons are adapted to live-action movies. The previous life Hollywood walked through was a bumpy ride. Just like the island market is the tomb of Hollywood superhero movies, the island’s cartoons are also seriously inconsistent in North America. James Huang’s " Needless to say, "Dragon Ball", even the masterpiece of the truck company's mechanical film that has always been market-secured is seriously below expectations.

The adaptation of Japanese comics to live-action movies is risky, and you still need to be cautious when entering the pit.

In his previous life, Ronan also heard that Lionsgate has obtained the rights to the live-action film adaptations of "One Piece" and "Naruto". Fans of comics can look forward to the appearance of live-action movies.

Think about it all lost a layer of goose bumps.

To be honest, instead of adapting Japanese comics, it is better to buy Japanese horror films and adapt them to the US version.

Hollywood companies in the past have purchased the right to adapt the island’s comics and movies. Of course, it is not without reason. On the one hand, the right to adapt the island’s comics and movies is much cheaper than that of North American works. On the other hand, the right to adapt the comics in North America is too concentrated. , Causing many companies that are eager to get a share of the pie can only find other sources.

After all, in some respects, the characters in the island comics are very similar to the superheroes in the comics.

Moreover, cultural differences seem to be shrinking over time.

But Ronan’s more memories tell him clearly that North America has always been the most exclusive movie market in the world.

The time has come to December 2001. A new awards season in North America has kicked off. Ronan will not participate in this Oscar game this year. No matter whether it is produced by Shahai Entertainment or released by Embassy Pictures, there will be nothing. Movies of the award-winning type.

Ronan's energies are still on the company's own development, and he is also planning to go out, preparing to rush to the other side of the Pacific before the New Year, so as to raise funds for the Pacific Film Investment Fund.

Scott has already booked the flight tickets. When Ronan finishes the work at hand, he will set off in about a week. The main destinations of this trip are the island countries and South Korea that the Embassy Pictures has already contacted.

If it doesn't go well, Ronan will consider going to other countries to raise funds as appropriate.

With the passage of time, many countries on the other side of the Pacific are now getting richer, and the hot money among them is ready to move.

Taking advantage of this free time, Ronan roughly handled the work at hand.

The preparations for "Pirates of the Caribbean" are generally quite smooth, with the four main protagonists Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Christian Bell and Jeffrey Rush, plus other action scenes. The actors have already entered the crew in advance to start professional training.

A large crew of the film crew, led by George Clint’s deputy, went to Rosario in Baja California to set up ships including the artificial lake set by James Cameron and the Rosario dock area. The background suitable for shooting.

Car and boat props designer Matt O’Connor found a replacement for the Interceptor. He contacted the Grace Harbor Historical Administration in Seattle and leased a replica of the "Mrs. Washington" from them. 18th century brig, used to film the "Interceptor" scene.

The "Mrs. Washington" is a replica of the first American ship discovered on the Pacific Northwest in 1789. This type of sailing vessel has simple handling and fast speed, and is very similar to the "Interceptor".

But this part of the scene is to be filmed in Rosario, and the crew needs to drag the "Mrs. Washington", which has no voyage capability, to Rosario.

This is also a big project.

However, compared to rebuilding a brig, the cost of shooting with the "Mrs. Washington" can save the crew two-thirds.

As for the other "Intrepid", neither Ronan nor Matt O’Connor can find a second antique brig, and can only rebuild a prop ship in the Rosario dock area. .

According to Matt O’Connor’s design, the “Dreadnought” will be built on the basis of the Victory ship in the British fleet that year. The designed hull is 170 feet long and 34 feet wide. It may use nearly 40,000 pounds of steel and 1,000 square feet of canvas.

At present, the crew has recruited 150 craftsmen, who will be completed on a floating barge in Rosario Wharf. The construction period is expected to be three months.

The cost of the two prop ships "Black Pearl" and "Intrepid" alone is as high as 15 million US dollars.

The first expenditure of this part of the money was borrowed by Shahai Entertainment from Relativity Entertainment. It is the work that needs to be completed as soon as possible in the next few months to get other investments.

If the financing amount is large enough, it can also solve the budget of "Hurricane Rescue".

Ronan knows very well that Netflix will be a big moneymaker in the next few years, and Shahai Entertainment's production funds will rely more on external financing.

With the funding of the Film Foundation, Ronan will further implement the model of borrowing chickens to lay eggs.

The script of "Hurricane Rescue" has been officially finalized after several changes. Ronan has also hired an experienced production manager to coordinate the daily affairs of the crew. At present, the staff officially determined by the crew is the heroine in addition to the production manager. Amanda Seyfried.

After several rounds of negotiations between the legal department of Shahai Entertainment and Mrs. Seyfried, the contract between the two parties was finalized. Amanda Seyfried signed a trilogy agreement at one time, and the first film's salary reached the highest since her career. Fifty thousand dollars.

The actor has almost talked with Liam Neeson, and only waits for Liam Neeson to sign with him after he has dealt with the chores at home.

In terms of film remuneration, because it is the actor's relationship, he is more than half a million dollars more than Liam Neeson in "Star Wars: The Threat of Ghosts", which is a remuneration of 2 million US dollars without any post-production.

As a result, the film’s production budget was initially set at $16 million.

The biggest problem with this project at present is that there is no suitable director. Ronan has already issued recruitment notices in newspapers and directors’ unions, but several candidates interviewed are not satisfied, especially in terms of sharp lens style and fast editing rhythm. Very bad at it.

Ronan also greeted several major agencies, including CAA and William Morris, and invited them to recommend suitable director candidates to Shahai Entertainment.

Brian Lord of CAA is very caring. He called Ronan specifically for this. Now he is counting the company's second and third line directors and their specialties and style characteristics for Shahai Entertainment to choose from.

In contrast, the response of brokerage firms such as William Morris was average.

A few days later, Ronan saw a familiar name on the list of third-line directors provided by Brian Lord -Jeffery Abrams.

This is a veteran Hollywood practitioner and a veteran screenwriter. Since 1990, he has been in the industry as a TV drama screenwriter. He has also served as a producer and an actor.

Just two years ago, Jeffrey Abrams served as the screenwriter of Michael Bay’s "Peerless Tribulation" and became one of the signature screenwriters, which also guaranteed him to win the Golden Raspberry Award for the worst screenwriter of the year. Awards.

Like all senior screenwriters, because of the natural poor living environment of the screenwriters, Jeffrey Abrams transformed into a director after "Peerless Tribulation" and directed five episodes of the TV series "The Double Spy" .

This is also the only directorship of Jeffrey Abrams.

Ronan took the time to meet with Jeffrey Abrams. After the interview, he gave him a script and asked Jeffrey Abrams to provide a filming plan and decide whether he is suitable according to the plan. Direct this film.

Later, Ronan met Liam Neeson, who had come back from Europe, and signed a contract with him for the actor.