hollywood melon man

Chapter 328 Progress is going well
These days, movies with investment of over 100 million US dollars are becoming more and more common.

A film that could be made for $80 million in the 1990s might cost $100 million today.

The same principle applies to "The Adventures of Cheng Long". Because the story itself contains various visual spectacles, a lot of money is spent on special effects.

Including Cheng Long's salary, which has entered the US$2 million club after "Rush Hour 1.05", so the investment in "The Adventures of Cheng Long" has reached the level of US$ million.

Regarding the selection of directors, Gilbert Jr. also put a lot of thought into it.

In fact, James Gunn, who has been trained, is very suitable, but the two parts of "The Matrix" are about to be released, and he has no schedule.

Sofia is not suitable for directing such a big project. Although she has studied with little Gilbert for a long time, she is more suitable for the direction of independent films.

The studio recently signed a new director, a Chinese director named James Wan. What he is best at is the horror film genre, and Gilbert Jr. has given him the "Saw" project.

Such a million-dollar investment is not worth the waste of Gilbert's energy. Just let James Wan play freely.

In fact, as a master of horror films in his previous life, James Wan performed perfectly.

But for a director like Christopher Nolan, he will never leave the early planning of the project.

"You mean "The Adventures of Cheng Long"?" Christopher Nolan certainly understands the studio's recent actions.

"Come, sit down." Little Gilbert asked his secretary to bring him coffee, and he and Christopher Nolan sat on the sofa in the guest room and chatted.

"Are you looking for me?" Christopher Nolan knocked on the door and came in.

"What about my "Insomnia"?"

"Don't worry, this project won't start filming until next year at the earliest. We still have to make a lot of preparations. You can work on "Insomnia" first." Little Gilbert dismissed Christopher Nolan's concerns.

"That's no problem. The director himself must be familiar with the script. As long as it doesn't deviate from the theme and the outline of the script, you can play freely." Little Gilbert agreed.

After some thought, he put forward several conditions: "I want to participate in the creation of the film script."

"That's right," Little Gilbert nodded slightly: "I have already talked with Kane, and he will serve as the producer of the film and be responsible for this project.

Jonathan Nolan is already one of the studio's important screenwriters. Only by working together can the Nolan brothers write better scripts and make better films.

Gilbert Jr. also added: "Jonathan has been working with several screenwriters and is starting to write the script for the film."

It won't be as incomprehensible as "Tenet".

I think it's a good choice for you to partner with him. "

Christopher Nolan said: "It's not bad. Filming will start next month. I want to thank you this time for inviting Al Pacino and Robin Williams."

However, as a fledgling director, it was a bit difficult for James Wan to start a large-scale production worth over 100 million US dollars.

"You're welcome, Chris." Little Gilbert said straight to the point: "I'm here to discuss a major matter with you. Are you interested in directing an adventure-themed commercial masterpiece?"

"How are you preparing for Insomnia?" asked little Gilbert.

Jonathan Nolan is a traditional mainstream screenwriter, with a dash of whimsy. But Christopher Nolan is totally whimsical.

Both of them have their own advantages and disadvantages, but together they complement each other.

Christopher Nolan put forward another condition: "I hope Emma can serve as a producer." Speaking of fearing that little Gilbert would worry about his monopoly, Christopher Nolan explained: "I am not trying to seize the power of the crew. After all, Also busy working on "Insomnia".

I need Emma to help me prepare this project so that I have enough energy to complete the tasks at hand. "

Little Gilbert thought for a while, this was not a big problem, and he was still staring, so he agreed: "This is no problem, what else?"

Christopher Nolan continued: “I heard Jonathan say that this is a story about Chinese culture, and I don’t know much about Chinese culture myself.

I’m not familiar with the story about the zodiac signs either, so it may take me some time. "

"It doesn't matter," little Gilbert said with a smile: "I have arranged a reliable assistant director for you, a director from Hong Kong Island, China."

"who is it?"

"Tang Jili, he is on his way to North America. You can meet and chat then." Little Gilbert replied.

In fact, Tang Jili was recommended by Cheng Long. Since it was a story about Chinese culture, he hoped to find a director who was more affiliated with Chinese culture to film it.

But the problem is that the Hong Kong film production model that Tang Jili is familiar with does not seem to be suitable in Hollywood.

After all, this was a large-scale production with hundreds of millions of dollars of investment. Tang Jili had never had experience in such a large-scale production, and little Gilbert was afraid that he would not be able to handle it.

At that time, little Gilbert will have to help Tang Jili to complete the production of this project. This is no different from directing by himself. The workload is too much.

So Gilbert Jr. agreed to Cheng Long's request, and at the same time found a director who was familiar with the Hollywood production model, and the two co-directed the film.

Of course, little Gilbert definitely trusts Christopher Nolan more than Tang Jili.

The matter was finalized. In the next few days, Tang Jili rushed to Los Angeles to meet with Christopher Nolan, and the two had a pleasant exchange.

At the same time, the script gradually took shape, and preparations were made for series production in the same year.

As for the actors, except for Cheng Long, who has already been decided, all others need to be determined through auditions. As for Xiaoyu, the real female lead in the film, little Gilbert hopes to choose a young Chinese actor.

To be honest, these Chinese actresses in Hollywood are a bit strange. To put it simply, they are Westernized.

Eastern beauties are not as rough as Westerners, but have a refined beauty.

But these Westernized Chinese actresses in Hollywood have lost the charm of Eastern beauty and the appearance of Western beauty, and they appear nondescript.

The role of Xiaoyu is very special and has certain action scenes, which is easy to say. Mainly in terms of personality, he is quirky, naughty and lively.

In addition, in terms of character identification, it must not only have Eastern aesthetics, but also be recognized by Western audiences.

The movie Little Gilbert is not made for Chinese audiences, or rather it is not just made for Chinese audiences, it is aimed at the international market.

How can Xiaoyu, who is not liked by Western audiences, make the movie liked by the audience and contribute his own movie tickets?

For this matter, Gilbert Jr. discussed several times with Christopher Nolan, Tang Jili and others.

Everyone finally decided to go to China to audition and find a suitable actor.

(End of this chapter)