American fame and fortune.

Chapter 899 DC Conflict Breaks Out
Disney Studios, post-production studio.

Standing in front of a multi-screen monitor, Martin put on headphones and listened carefully to the soundtrack he had just added.

In the video, the male protagonist dressed as a clown was running wildly like a madman.

"Stop!" Martin shouted.

Sound editor Dawson immediately hit the pause button.

Martin took off his headphones, looked at the assistant director Steve Downton next to him, and said, "There seems to be something wrong with the soundtrack here."

Steve Downton put it simply: "It's pretty standard."

Not bad, but not outstanding either.

Martin whispered, "The clowns here are just professional clowns, living at the bottom of society, trapped in a cage, facing a cruel social environment..."

Steve Downton said, "Do you want to go back and redo it? Or change the song?"

The experienced Dawson interrupted at this time: "Director, how about adding a background song here? One that fits the situation."

Martin was receptive to suggestions, especially those experienced professionals hired by Qianli, and immediately asked, "Do you have any suitable options?"

This was not the first time Dawson had worked with Martin. He knew his style and said directly, "There are a few clown scenes that are very suitable for using "Bohemian Rhapsody" as background music."

Hearing the name, Martin recalled briefly and asked, "Queen?"

"Yes," Dawson responded, "Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen."

The song automatically sounded in Steve Downton's mind, and he looked at the paused Joker screen and said, "Shall we give it a try?"

Martin responded: "Let's try it first."

Trying it privately without having to worry about copyright authorization for the time being, Dawson downloaded a song called "Bohemian Rhapsody" and re-edited the music and sound effects for this section.

Martin and Steve Downton waited for a while and put their headsets back on.

Dawson pressed play again.

It’s still the same clip as before, where the clown is being bullied on the street and he runs away wildly, trying to escape from this terrible society.

The background music changed completely and became the singing style of "Bohemian Rhapsody".

“Is this real life or just a nightmare? I am trapped under a mountain and I want to escape from this cage of reality.”

The clown was beaten down by the crowd and lay on the ground struggling in pain.

"Open your eyes and look up at the sky. I am just a child in misery..."

When the segment came to an end, Martin took off his headphones and said, "I feel better."

Steve Downton responded: "It's much better than the previous soundtrack."

Martin looked towards Dawson and said, "The tone should be lower."

"Low? Okay." Dawson wrote it down and said, "There's another one."

Martin put on his headset again: "Continue."

Dawson plays another clip.

This is a scene where the Joker falls into his own spiritual world and communicates with his mother after his first murder. The original soundtrack is replaced by a singing voice.

When he returned to his old apartment and saw his mother, a version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" began to play, singing with sadness and soaring voices.

"Mom, I just killed someone. I put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger, and now he's dead! Mom, life had just begun, but I just threw it away in the wind..."

Martin nodded slightly. The song matched the plot scenes and the character's emotions very well.

Moreover, the song has a strong nostalgic style, which may evoke the emotions of a group of audiences.

Last year, Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" was a huge success, and several nostalgic classic songs played a significant role.

The temporarily replaced music and sound effects were not perfect. Martin said to Dawson, "Please improve these music pieces and re-edit the sound effects. Once they are completely completed, we will see how they turn out."

Dawson responded, and then reminded: "If you want to use it publicly, you need to get authorization."

This is not difficult. By paying a fee, the copyright of these old songs can be used. Martin told Steve Downton: "Go back and ask someone to get the authorization for "Bohemian Rhapsody"."

Steve Downton said, "Let Michael take a run."

The work here was finished, and Martin left the studio and returned to his office.

Soon, Louise pushed the door open, pulled out a chair and sat opposite him, saying, "I just got the news that DC has officially contacted Joss Whedon."

Martin immediately became interested when he heard this: "Invite Joss Whedon to join the Justice League project?"

Louise said: "The two sides held a closed-door meeting. It is not certain what they discussed, but it is likely that Joss Whedon will replace Zack Snyder."

Martin thought for a moment and asked, "Is Zack Snyder willing to withdraw?"

Louise said: "No director is willing to quit at this time. Once Joss Whedon replaces Zack Snyder, not only will the film be re-edited, but there may also be large-scale reshoots, and Zack Snyder may even lose his director's signature."

She added: "If Warner and DC make huge compensation, it is not impossible for Zack Snyder to withdraw."

Martin said: "If the film fails, these will become Warner Bros.' decision-making mistakes."

Louise smiled and said, "Only if Justice League fails."

"Changing the director at this time, and almost completely overturning the tone of the film, what are the chances of success?" Martin has been in touch with Daniel and learned about the recent high-level meetings of Warner: "If it's not chaotic enough, how about we add more fuel to the fire?"

Louise said, "You know, I'm always on your side."

She knew that the conflict between Martin and the Warner Bros. group had come to an end with Jon Berg's resignation, but Kevin Tsujihara brought another woman out. It was only because Martin was highly vigilant on a daily basis, or his persecution complex had reached an advanced stage, that the consequences would be disastrous.

"First of all, we can't let Zack Snyder withdraw easily. We must make a fuss." Martin hesitated for a moment and called Thomas.

Thomas happened to be at Disney Studios discussing business and rushed over quickly.

After hearing what Martin said, he said, "It's easy. I'll find a way. I know Zack Snyder's agent very well."

Martin said: "You don't have to do much, just remind them."

Thomas understands: "This is their own legitimate interest. Warner and DC are doing this, and they will not give up."

…………

The circle of top Hollywood agents is not large. Because Martin has participated in many DC events, Thomas knew Zack Snyder's agent Fisher a long time ago. Thomas also knew about the relationship between Warner Bros. and Martin. As a qualified agent, he had established a close relationship with Fisher as early as after the release of "Man of Steel".

At that time, he just thought that it might be useful in the future, but he didn't expect that it would actually be used now.

In a coffee shop in Century City Plaza, Fisher added sugar to his coffee and asked with a smile: "Why are you suddenly free to ask me out for coffee?"

Thomas said directly: "I just got a message about your number one client Zack Snyder."

Fisher looked up at him and asked, "Isn't it between Zach and Warner?"

"To be precise, it's related to DC," Thomas said. "Geoff Jones of DC contacted Joss Whedon. If I remember correctly, Jeff Jones was the representative of DC stationed in Justice League?"

Fisher knew exactly who Joss Whedon was and what he had done. After hearing these words, combined with a series of recent conflicts between DC and Zack Snyder over the movie, he immediately had a guess.

Is DC going to change the director of "Justice League"?

Fisher stopped adding sugar, took out two dollars, put them on the table, and said, "Thank you for the news. I have to leave first."

Thomas nodded: "Just go ahead and get busy."

Fisher came out of the coffee shop, took out his cell phone and dialed Zack Snyder's number: "Where are you? In the studio of Warner Studios. OK! Don't leave yet, I'll be there right away. It's very important. Ask Deborah to come along."

He got in his car and headed quickly to Warner Studios.

Along the way, Fisher was thinking about how to respond. If Zack Snyder's commercial appeal and status in Hollywood could be comparable to Thomas' client Martin Davis, all these problems would not be a problem.

But Zack Snyder is too far away from Martin Davis. Not only did "Batman v Superman" return all the support Warner won for "Man of Steel", but it also went from bad to worse, and even his directorial ability was questioned.

Fisher knew very well that if Warner and DC really wanted to change the director, neither Zack Snyder and his wife nor the agency would be able to resist.

Warner Bros. isn't as big as it was in previous years, but it's still a behemoth.

But it is impossible to just pack up and leave.

When Fisher arrived at Warner Studios, he called out Zack Snyder and his wife and informed them of the news.

Zack Snyder was not very surprised: "I have been feeling this way for the past month."

Fisher said, "What do you think?"

Zack Snyder thought for a moment and said, "I'm just a director."

His wife, Deborah Snyder, who has been working with him as a producer, said: "Since 300, Zack has brought Warner at least a billion dollars in profits, but now they want to kick Zack out!"

Zack Snyder stared at his agent: "What do you think?"

"If Warner and DC really do this, we can't stop them." Fisher was very rational: "But they have to do it according to the contract!"

Zack Snyder remained silent for the time being.

Fisher's meaning was very clear: "Our interests must be protected!"

Deborah shook her husband's hand and said, "You take care of the directing part, and Fisher and I will take care of the rest."

Zack Snyder nodded: "Let's do it."

Fisher said: "Whatever happens, be sure to notify me immediately."

While they were discussing countermeasures, Bruce and Jody had just finished a date.

Although the former suffered pain in his pelvis, he still informed Jody of the news clues about Warner, DC and Zack Snyder.

Jody immediately called his most reliable team.

That evening, TMZ got the exact news and published it on the front page of its website, shocking the entire North American entertainment industry.

"Breaking news! Justice League is about to change its director!"

"After two internal previews, Warner and DC were extremely dissatisfied with Zack Snyder's Justice League. They have sent people to formally contact Joss Whedon, the director of The Avengers, and plan to replace Zack Snyder with Joss Whedon to complete the final production of Justice League."

If this news happened to other major Hollywood companies, movie fans might just treat it as rumor.

But no one was surprised by what happened to Warner Bros.

Warner's outrageous actions have spread throughout North America in the past two years.

As soon as the news was exposed, the top executives of Warner and DC were extremely angry. According to their idea, they wanted to complete the change of director as little as possible.

TMZ's exposure ruined their plans.

Kevin Tsujihara decided to cut the Gordian knot and instructed Hamada to speed up the replacement and complete the director change as soon as possible so that "Justice League" could be released this year as originally planned.

Hamada asked the crew to activate the director's exit mechanism, but unlike what they expected, Zack Snyder himself refused to have a direct interview and asked the crew to negotiate with the agent and Deborah Snyder.

The latter two took an extremely tough stance. They said that the Snyders could withdraw from the "Justice League" project, but DC had to pay the full amount of liquidated damages, not a dollar less.

What's worse is that the six leading actors in the crew have privately expressed their support for Zack Snyder.

Among them, the black, lesbian and Jewish actresses relied on their special identities to say a few words in public.

Joss Whedon, who is about to take charge of the "Justice League" project, saw it all and kept it in mind.

With two "Avengers" films as capital, Joss Whedon certainly didn't want to copy others. He almost completely denied Zack Snyder's style and editing, and proposed conditions for reshoots to Warner and DC.

The expected investment for the reshoots was as high as 6000 million US dollars. Almost all of the original creative and shooting teams were dismissed, and Joss Whedon's team was re-hired to complete the remaining work of the project.

The internal conflicts of the "Justice League" project were thoroughly aroused.

For a time, the entire project was in turmoil.

Although the Warner group always comes up with brilliant ideas and plans, their decisiveness and execution are impeccable. When they saw that the project was about to get out of control, they immediately accelerated their actions, paid the Schneider couple and the original team the penalty in full, and cleared them out of the group.

Then, they agreed to all the conditions proposed by Joss Whedon and paid a large sum of money to invite Joss Whedon's team to take charge of the project.

With the reshoots, the penalty for breach of contract for the old team, and the pay for the new team, DC's spending on "Justice League" increased by $100 million!
The whole of Hollywood was stunned. The determination of Warner management was jaw-dropping.

At the signing ceremony of the new team, Joss Whedon announced that the film will undergo extensive reshoots, with a more relaxed and entertaining style and content.

Fans who had originally accepted the dark style of DC automatically blocked this "Justice League".

Passersby think they should wait and see how the film is received.

(End of this chapter)