hollywood melon man

Chapter 681 "Dark Knight", start!

"I Am Legend" performed quite well, with a box office of 7750 million US dollars in North America in its first week, which is enough to rank among the top in this summer's box office.

This movie also saved Nicolas Cage, bringing him back from the brink of collapse.

So when faced with the olive branch thrown by Gilbert Jr., Nicolas Cage had no reason to refuse and directly took on the role of Two-Face.

Christian Bale is no exception, he plays Bruce Wayne, Batman. However, his salary this time has increased to 1500 million US dollars, which is a lot higher than when he first filmed the "Batman" movie.

The Monday after "I Am Legend" was released, Warner Bros. officially announced "Batman: The Dark Knight".

There are rumors that Gilbert Jr. is going to end his partnership with Warner, but Warner Bros. has confirmed that Gilbert Jr. will still be the director.

"Gilbert Jr. is the core of the new Batman trilogy, and without him Batman cannot be redeemed, so we believe that Gilbert Jr. is still the most suitable person to direct the Batman movie.

At the same time, the movie will also meet the audience in the summer of next year."

This answer made Batman fans cheer. Fans couldn't imagine what would happen if the best director in the world didn't direct the Batman movie.

Afterwards, actors from the first film, including Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Jennifer Connelly, announced their return, and Christian Bale also announced that he would continue to play Batman.

Nicolas Cage also revealed a little bit when promoting "I Am Legend": "Yes, I am sure I will star in the "Batman" movie. Director Gilbert and I have talked about it.

I can’t say anything specific yet, I can only say that this is a role that excites me.”

In fact, Nicolas Cage had already received the script of "The Dark Knight". After reading the script, Nicolas Cage immediately called Gilbert Jr.

"Can I play the Joker? The setting of this character is so brilliant, I want to play the Joker."

Little Gilbert was happy: "Nicholas, your role has been arranged. I have another choice for the clown."

"Who do you choose? I'll switch with him. Can I pay more?"

Although Nicolas Cage repeatedly requested to play the Joker, Gilbert Jr. still refused him. The script has been given to Heath Ledger, and he is just waiting for his response.

In an apartment in North Los Angeles, Heath Ledger was reading the script of The Dark Knight with great interest. The character called Joker particularly attracted Heath Ledger.

It is worth mentioning that in 1992 Heath Ledger made his first appearance in an Australian TV movie called "Nonsense", in which he also played the Joker.

But that clown was the kind of clown in the circus, which was very different from the clown in "The Dark Knight".

Heath Ledger's career has been pretty good in recent years. His role in "Brokeback Mountain" earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and made him widely known.

Heath Ledger is a drama fanatic. When he encounters a good role, he will start to think about it, imitate the character's behavior, and even analyze the character's inner thoughts.

There is no doubt that the Joker in "The Dark Knight" was a role that moved him, and without much hesitation, he told his agent that he had taken on the role.

After signing the acting contract, Heath Ledger found Gilbert Jr.

"Director Gilbert, I hope you can give me a month."

Little Gilbert asked in confusion: "Why? What's the matter with you?"

“No, no,” said the somewhat introverted actor, “I hope to spend a month studying the character of the Joker so that I can better play the role of the Joker.”

There was nothing wrong with the actor's self-requirement, and Gilbert Jr. had no reason to refuse, so he agreed. After getting Gilbert Jr.'s consent, Heath Ledger locked himself in the bedroom of his apartment, not leaving the house, studying and playing the Joker, so that he and the character could reach the same frequency.

Michelle Williams, who played Heath Ledger, once went to visit Heath Ledger who was in seclusion and scared her.

Heath Ledger's tone of voice, gait, and range of motion have completely reached the same level as the Joker in "The Dark Knight", and he looks like he came out of Arkham Asylum.

Michelle Williams later recalled: "It was really scary. Matilda and I were both scared. He worked so hard for the role. When I saw him again, he was completely the clown himself."

There is no doubt that Jack Nicholson's interpretation of the Joker is hailed as the best. But what Heath Ledger wants to do is to surpass Jack Nicholson's version of the Joker.

Seeing his current state, I believe no one will say that he will not surpass others.

Returning to the film market after a year, Gilbert Jr. plans to produce a blockbuster movie.

"The Dark Knight" is the only one among so many Batman movies that does not have the Batman prefix. Gilbert Jr. did this in order to weaken the Batman label and make it closer to the essence of a police and gangster film.

At the same time, Gilbert Jr. also emphasized to team members that "The Dark Knight" is a comprehensive upgrade of the first "Batman Begins".

Since it was going to be upgraded, the budget couldn't be reduced either. Warner Bros. waved its hand and a total of $2 million in production funds were transferred to a third-party insurance account.

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In this film, Gilbert Jr. will continue to use IMAX cameras for filming.

The IMAX 70mm film used this time is nine times larger than the ordinary 35mm film, bringing a wider picture scale and picture brightness.

But the result of pursuing the ultimate picture is that the photographer will be exhausted, because the IMAX camera is heavy and large. Director of Photography John Schwartzman must exercise and reserve physical strength, otherwise he will not be able to carry the IMAX camera.

Gilbert Jr. was the first director to use the IMAX format. After him, many films tried IMAX, but many gave up because of the high difficulty of shooting.

However, Gilbert Jr. used the camera in places where action scenes were more difficult to shoot, ensuring that the IMAX format could bring a more extreme viewing experience.

In addition, green screen shooting technology is now quite advanced. Many shots of "Avatar" currently in production are completed using green screen.

But little Gilbert’s requirement was real shooting. He would shoot where it was possible, and find ways to shoot where it was not possible.

Especially for a scene about bombing a hospital, during the preparation meeting, Gilbert Jr. asked Charles Rowan: "Can we find a hospital and blow it up?"

Charles Rowan looked at little Gilbert as if he were a madman: "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. Could you please go and look for it?"

Gilbert Jr. had to talk, and Charles Roven ran his legs off. Finally, they found an abandoned hospital in Billings, Montana. Peter Rock, a local state legislator who was a fan of Batman, helped the crew get a permit to blow up the hospital.

In return, Gilbert Jr. invited Peter Rock to make a cameo appearance in The Dark Knight to satisfy his fan mentality.

The remaining filming locations are mainly concentrated in Chicago and New York.

In addition, we will go to Tokyo to shoot. In the plot, the Chinese who help the gangsters launder money are replaced by Japanese, and some famous landmarks in Tokyo are also filmed.

Although Edison Chen cannot participate in this movie, he appeared in "The Dark Knight" in his previous life, but Gilbert can arrange for Noriko Sakai and others to make a cameo appearance.

(End of this chapter)