my movie years

Chapter 152 Interview About Super British Movie

"Our Warner Bros. Pictures was established in 1918, second only to Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, and is the third oldest film company in Hollywood.

Since its establishment, our company has adhered to the principle of commercialization and quality, and has produced countless wonderful movies.

"Harry Potter" series, "Superman" series, "Batman" series, "Matrix" series are all movie series produced by our company. "Jeff Robinoff led Zhang Hao to visit the headquarters of Warner Pictures in Burbank.

"These movies are famous, and I have watched them before. I also have a set of little wizard's magic robe and staff at home, but I don't know if they are genuine or not," Zhang Hao said.

Jeff Robinov smiled and said, "It's okay, if you want, I can give you a set."

"Thank you..." Of course Zhang Hao wanted it, mainly because his cousin Liu Rui was a fan of "Harry Potter". Her birthday was coming up, so I just gave it to her as a birthday present.

After visiting Warner Pictures, Jeff Robinov took Zhang Hao to DC again.

DC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Pictures, and together with Marvel Comics next door, it is the two largest comic companies in North America.

Compared with Marvel Comics, which became famous only from the "Spider-Man" series and "X-Men" series at the beginning of the century, as early as the 80s and [-]s, DC, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Pictures, produced "Superman" and "Superman". Batman series.

In the hands of Marvel Comics, the film copyright of the "Spider-Man" series is in the hands of Sony Columbia Pictures, and the "X-Men" series is in the hands of Twentieth Century Fox.

After the success of the first "Iron Man," Marvel's newly formed Marvel Studios tried unsuccessfully to reclaim the rights to the two popular franchises.

As for Warner's DC, the copyrights of comics and movies are all in their own hands.

But it seems that fate has changed. The DC superhero movie that was brilliant in the last century fell into a slump after the box office failure of "Batman and Robin" starring George Clooney at the end of the century.

Then, it's time for surprises to rise.

In terms of popularity, Superman and Batman are the most popular superstars in North America. Surprisingly, only Little Spider can fight against them.

But now, as the movie hits theaters around the world, many second-tier Marvel superheroes are coming from behind.Iron Man and Captain America have a tendency to gradually catch up with Batman and Superman.

If this continues, DC will soon be fully squeezed by Marvel.

Therefore, Warner Pictures must take action. The restart of "Superman" is named "Superman: Man of Steel", and Warner has found director Zach Schneider.

But the more important "Batman" has not been accepted by anyone.

For this reason, Warner Pictures executives searched for many directors, talked with Spielberg and George Lucas, and also found other outstanding commercial film directors.

But without exception, they were all rejected, and no one wanted to take over this hot potato.

After that, Warner Pictures found James Cameron, and James Cameron also did not agree, but recommended a candidate.

"I have the right director for this project."

"who is it?"

"A Chinese director named Zhang Hao. You can think about it when you go back. So far, I think he has the ability to restart the Batman movie."

It is rare that James Cameron can accurately pronounce Zhang Hao's name, so that Warner Pictures can remember Zhang Hao's name at once.

Therefore, Zhang Hao was invited to visit Warner Pictures as a matter of course, and it was also an interview for Warner Pictures.

As for where James Cameron knew about Zhang Hao, it started at the end of last year.

Invited by China Film, James Cameron was invited to Beijing to participate in the China-US Film Forum.

At the meeting, Sanye introduced Zhang Hao, a young Chinese director, to James Cameron, and invited him to watch Zhang Hao's movie "The Prestige of Death" and comment on Zhang Hao. .

Hearing that he had achieved so much success at such a young age, James Cameron was very curious, and the studio tyrant immediately agreed.

After watching "The Prestige" with the third master, James Cameron felt incredible about this wonderful film. He said to the third master: "This film is different from the films made by your other directors. It has a wide field of vision. Very bold."

Although the final media report only mentioned James Cameron's participation in the China-US Film Forum, he did not mention his evaluation of Zhang Hao.

But the name Zhang Hao was remembered by James Cameron in this way.

As a director who was born as a truck driver, James Cameron has a bad temper and a weird personality. No one knows why he would be interested in a young Chinese director.

Anyway, after he came back, he looked for Zhang Hao's other works, and went to the cinema to watch "The Undertaker".

When voting, James Cameron also mobilized his contacts to ask everyone to vote for "The Undertaker" and help Zhang Hao win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

This series of actions made people around him think that James Cameron's taste has changed and he likes oriental men.

After that, James Cameron recommended Zhang Hao to Warner Pictures.

Zhang Hao is not clear about the joints. He still doesn't understand why James Cameron has taken a fancy to him. Could it be that he is James Cameron's illegitimate son?
When James Cameron came to China and fell in love with his mother at first sight, he had himself. As a result, James Cameron ran away.

Later, James Cameron felt sorry for his children, so he wanted to make up for him?

But Zhang Hao looked at himself in the mirror, and he didn't look like him, so he could only suppress the doubts in his heart, and asked James Cameron himself when he saw him later.

After visiting DC, Zhang Hao followed Jeff Robinov back to the headquarters in Burbank and asked for a meeting room for discussion.

"I believe you also know the reason why we asked you. In fact, many people in the company are against you accepting this project. Even if you won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, this kind of voice still hasn't stopped."

Jeff Robinov didn't have the kind of domestic witty words, so he got straight to the point.

Zhang Hao nodded to express his understanding: "Of course I know. In fact, when Miss Sandra told me the news at first, I thought she was teasing me."

"I would think so too," Jeff Robinov smiled slightly, and continued, "Actually, I don't understand why director James Cameron recommended you to Warner, but the executives are willing to give you such an interview." Opportunity.

You have also learned about the development of the DC movies. What do you think is the current difficulty in restarting Batman? "

Zhang Hao's heart moved, and he understood that the next question and answer would determine whether he could be the director of "Batman".

In fact, what Zhang Hao cares about is not the position of director of "Batman", even if he can't get it, it doesn't matter.What he valued was the relationship with Warner Pictures this time.

As one of the most well-known film companies in the world, Warner Pictures has a wide range of publicity and distribution channels. It can distribute its film business to more than 200 countries and regions around the world, making other film companies drool with envy.

Zhang Hao has always wanted to start a big sci-fi film project, but although the domestic film market is still growing, it cannot support a sci-fi blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions or even billions.

The success of people watching movies and the reputation of the movie's quality are only a small part. The most important thing is to see if they can make money.

The "Tiny Times" series of movies are so bad, even the kind that are recorded in the annals of movie history, but it cannot be said that it is not a successful movie series, because it has made money.

If Zhang Hao hastily launched a big-investment sci-fi film, and then the box office failed, it is conceivable that there will be no domestic sci-fi film in China for a long time.

Zhang Hao and Guo Fan have discussed this issue many times, and the final result of the discussion is that they still need to wait.

But now, Zhang Hao suddenly saw a shortcut.Since the country can't afford it for the time being, let's go out and go to the vast global film market.

It couldn't be simpler to let the global film market support a film.

However, this also faces a big problem.

For a long time, everyone has been focusing on their own development and cultivating domestically. Except for a few top directors, no one can think of going out.

Filmmakers who tried to go out in the last century mainly focused on winning awards and won many awards, but it was useless.

After opening the road of domestic commercial blockbusters, films such as "Kung Fu", "Hero", and "House of Flying Daggers", "The Promise", and "The Banquet" all tried to go out again.

But without exception, all have not achieved great success.

Just opened a small hole, it was quickly closed again.

Now, there is no need to open a small opening, just open the window, or even the opportunity to open the door is in front of Zhang Hao.

Ever since, Zhang Hao, who was ready, seriously answered Jeff Robinov's question: "Actually, after more than ten years, many audiences' bad impressions of Batman movies have been forgotten. I think it is a reboot. good time."

"This point has been discussed at the company's high-level meeting, but what method and how to restart it, everyone is not sure." Jeff Robinov said.

Zhang Hao continued: "I think the key at the moment is not to be in a hurry. We Chinese say that you can't eat hot tofu if you are impatient.

What your company should do now is to make preparations for long-term planning. Many heroes in DC Comics are higher than those in Marvel Comics. This is your advantage.

Use this advantage to build a superhero movie universe bit by bit with movies, episodes, and comics to form a powerful alliance. "

"You mean, Justice League of Legends?" Jeff Robinov became interested in Zhang Hao's suggestion, and finally began to listen carefully.

Before that, he was just doing a perfunctory interview to give director James Cameron a face.But I didn't expect this young Chinese director to be quite insightful, and he made some remarks that surprised him.

"That's right," Zhang Hao continued to add: "Actually, Marvel Studios, which was reorganized by Marvel, is taking this route. I heard that "The Avengers" has already been finalized. Your company may wish to see the effect."

What Zhang Hao said is exactly the route that Marvel has been taking, and they have indeed gone very well, developing very rapidly, and later became a behemoth, accumulating a large number of fans all over the world.

I still remember that later in China, fans of Iron Man and Captain America still quarreled, competing for the C position of the Avengers hero.

That's what Zhang Hao said, Zhang Hao didn't know if people would listen to his outsider's opinion.

After talking about some things about DC superhero movies, the topic turned back to Batman.

Jeff Robin cowardly asked Zhang Hao: "If you were asked to restart Batman, what would you do?"

How to do it?Christopher Nolan has already set an example, so Zhang Hao can just copy it.

"If your company gives me the Batman series, I would like to do a whole new trilogy series.

This Batman story will not be integrated into Justice League of Legends, it is more like a side story, and I will create the entire series of stories in a realistic way. "Zhang Hao said.

In fact, Nolan's "Batman" series has broken away from the scope of the original comics and has risen to a higher dimension.

But as a series of films, its degree of completion is already very high, and it is not suitable as a single superhero movie connected with other movies like Marvel next door.

Zhang Hao is also skillful in saying this. If he came up and talked about how to serialize and how to promote Batman to lead the League of Justice Heroes, he would be eliminated [-]% of the time, and his words would not be taken to heart.

But it is easier for Warner Pictures to accept the rhetoric of shooting extra stories in this way.

He is an outsider. If the movie fails, Warner Pictures can completely push the blame on him and keep the possibility of restarting the Batman movie.

Jeff Robinoff was very interested in how Zhang Hao told a Batman story, and continued to ask: "How to create this film in a realistic way?"

Zhang Hao took a sip of his coffee and frowned, but he still felt that the tea tasted better.

Seeing this, Jeff Robinov told the secretary: "Go and get my tea leaves and exchange them for tea for Mr. Zhang Hao."

The secretary said yes, and replaced Zhang Hao's coffee with tea.Zhang Hao took a sip and raised his eyebrows: "Mingqian Longjing tea, authentic Chinese product."

Jeff Robinov said with a smile: "This is a gift from a friend of mine. He has been to China. It is a beautiful and vast country with an ancient and brilliant civilization."

It's fine to listen to this. It's not good if it's the so-called business bragging.

Zhang Hao took a sip of tea beautifully, and then said: "From the comics, Batman is Batman, but no one has ever thought about why he became Batman and what happened in it.

So, if I took over, it would be the story of his origin, how Bruce Wayne became a crime-fighting superhero. "

Zhang Hao explained his general idea to Jeff Robinov, and Jeff Robinov frowned.

Frankly speaking, Zhang Hao's general story is good, but is this method really suitable for Batman?Jeff Robinoff is skeptical.

In the end, the discussion that was almost an interview ended, and Jeff Robinov did not give any clear promises on the spot.

It is also impossible for him to promise to use Zhang Hao as the director, which requires the approval of the board of directors.

But Jeff Robinov also said that he will talk to the group company about Zhang Hao's thoughts on Batman's restart, as well as his thoughts on the DC superhero movie universe.

After finishing his trip to Warner Bros., Zhang Hao also left North America and returned to China.

Because Zhang Hao stayed in the United States for more than ten days, many preparations for "Butterfly Effect" have not been able to proceed smoothly.

Although Zhang Hao directed the preparatory work through telephone and video, but was not present in person, Zhang Hao could not control many situations.

If the preparatory work of the film is not good, many uncontrollable problems will be encountered during shooting.

As an experienced director, Zhang Hao will try his best to avoid such a situation from happening.

His flight back to China landed in Beijing. Although the enthusiasm for winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film has gradually passed, more than 1000 movie fans still came to pick him up.

When Zhang Hao walked out, all the movie fans gathered around him. Seeing that the situation was not good, the airport security quickly protected Zhang Hao and let Zhang Hao go through the VIP passage first.

Zhang Hao is as good as others, although he also wants to enjoy the feeling of being a star surrounded by fans.But once surrounded by movie fans, according to the nature of Chinese people who love to join in the fun, he would not even think about leaving the airport today.

But Zhang Hao was thinking, go back and arrange for Tang Qianqian to be in charge of contacting the fan group, and contacting the fan group for any activities in the future.

If the fan group can be managed well, it will be very beneficial to Zhang Hao's future career development.

Ye Xiaoyi, Jiang Zhicheng, and Wu Dazhuan were also in the fan pick-up group, looking at Zhang Hao who was escorted away by An's protection.Ye Xiaoyi was disappointed for a while, she still wanted to sign an autograph and take a group photo!
Jiang Zhicheng looked at the back of Zhang Hao leaving in a hurry, and sighed: "Director Zhang Hao is becoming more and more like a film master."

Wu Dazhuan on the side snorted coldly: "Didn't you look down on our domestic director before?"

"My opinion hasn't changed in any way, domestic film directors are indeed a bunch, but Zhang Hao is different.

I never liked it, then I saw it, and then I understood it. Now I have become a fan of director Zhang Hao. "Jiang Zhicheng told about his mental journey.

Although they failed to get an autograph, everyone was very satisfied to see Zhang Hao himself.

After Zhang Hao went home to beat the jet lag, he continued to devote himself to work.

First of all, "A Little Thing of First Love" has officially finished. This is Guo Fan's second film, so Zhang Hao attaches great importance to it.

In the special internal preview screening, "A Little Thing of First Love" received unanimous praise, and the film was officially finalized and officially landed in theaters in May.

Because "The Girl We Chased Together" set off a frenzy of youth films, everyone is unanimously optimistic about the prospect of "A Little Thing of First Love" in theaters.

From now on, Guo Fan will lead the male and female leading actors to start publicity work one after another, and do enough publicity work for the film's release.

In addition, it is the candidate for the hero of "The Butterfly Effect".

This aspect of work is more important to Zhang Hao, and to male stars in the industry who are interested in this, it is the most important job at the moment and none of them.

Hearing that Zhang Hao's new play will start casting, Deng Chao, Huang Xiaoming, Guo Tao, and even Andy Hua, who have worked with Zhang Hao, all came to ask if there is a chance to continue to cooperate.

Actors such as Chen Kun, Lu Yi, Tong Dawei, Wen Zhang, Huang Bo, who have never worked with Zhang Hao, are all interested in participating in his project as a young Oscar director.

Huang Bo said that it doesn't matter how much the film is paid, he just values ​​the opportunity to cooperate with Zhang Hao.

Unknowingly, Zhang Hao has also reached the point where star actors can reduce their salaries to play, which is a considerable improvement.

(End of this chapter)