Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 432: Warner Visitors
Over the phone, Zhou Mo was instructing some responsible persons.

"What? You're saying this pace can't be handled quickly without increasing traffic volume?
Why is your brain so inflexible? "

On the other side, Da Tiantian had already found the number and was about to dial it, but when she heard Zhou Mo's words, she locked her phone again.

She also wanted to see how Zhou Mo was going to get himself out.

The next second, Zhou Mo's answer made her mouth twitch.

Zhou Mo said righteously, "Don't suppress the trend. Remember, our company doesn't do things like covering users' mouths. You just need to change my profile picture to someone else... Just Lin Gengxin. I think he's a good fit..."

Da Tiantian: ...

She thought about it for a moment and suddenly realized that this decision... seemed quite appropriate.

the next day.
Just as Zhou Mo and Da Tiantian were preparing to go out for a walk and then plan to go back, De Niro suddenly called.

"Hey, Zhou, where are you now? Have you returned home?"

"no, what happened?"

De Niro, however, deliberately kept the matter in suspense and did not say anything. Instead, he asked Zhou Mo not to leave, saying that he was in a nearby city and could get there in only half a day.

After hanging up the phone, Da Tiantian asked.

"what happened?"

"I didn't say it."

Zhou Mo shook his head.

in the afternoon.

Zhou Mo received a call that De Niro had arrived, and went to greet him with Da Tiantian.

This is proper etiquette. During the period when "GG" was released, De Niro helped Zhou Mo promote the movie.

He had no investment in "GG" and did not play a role, but to be honest, he has been a very friendly person to this extent.

Going downstairs, I saw De Niro from a distance.

And several people around him.

Zhou Mo and Da Tiantian walked in and saw the figure clearly, but Da Tiantian's eyes suddenly widened.

Subconsciously recited the names of several people around De Niro.

"Bell, Freeman, Hathaway?"

That’s right, these three people are the famous creators of “Batman”.

Zhou Mo's eyes flashed, and he almost guessed the purpose of De Niro's visit.

In addition to these two people, there was also a middle-aged man with a slightly bald head.

Hearing Da Tiantian's voice, De Niro and his group turned around, opened their arms first, hugged Zhou Mo, and then greeted Da Tiantian.

"Deni, I haven't seen you for a few months. You look stronger now."

De Niro laughed and said, "Thank you for the compliment. I have been exercising a lot recently."

Then he introduced the identities of both parties.

In addition to Bell and the other three, the last one is the person in charge from Warner.

After being introduced, the bald middle-aged man extended his right hand: "Hello, Zhou, it's an honor to meet you."

Zhou Mo raised his eyebrows.

To be honest, everyone in the industry knows Warner's style. It was indeed beyond his expectations that he was so polite when they met for the first time.

Behind the bald middle-aged man, De Niro winked at Zhou Mo, who nodded and shook hands with the middle-aged man.

"Hi, nice to meet you."

The group found a place to sit down.

Zhou Mo: "Okay, Deni, now you can tell me, what is the reason for being so mysterious this time?"

De Niro snorted, "I brought the people here, and you said you didn't know. How is that possible?"

After hearing this, Zhou Mo smiled.

It seems that he guessed right.

At the end of last year, De Niro asked him if she was interested in making a superhero movie because his grandson liked it very much.

I originally thought it was just a blank check, but I didn't expect that he would actually make it happen.

"It's a superhero movie, right?"

The bald head said bluntly: "To be precise, it is Batman. After further consideration, our company is interested in cooperating with you, Zhou, to create Batman."

Ok?
Zhou Mo was stunned, and then his heart shook violently.

It’s not his fault for this reaction, but the invitation was really too abrupt.

Who is Batman.

DC's father.

The most popular character in all superhero comics.

Yes, all superheroes, not just DC.

Behind Batman is the little bug that believes “with great power comes great responsibility.”

The third one is Dachao who wears red underwear outside.

The current time point is not the early 2000s. Warner chose Nolan, who was not very famous before, because of the failure of "Batman and Robin".

It wasn't that the DCEU completely went bankrupt later, and Warner restarted it again, choosing "The New Batman" starring Matt and Robert Pattinson.

To be honest, although Zhou Mo once conceived the script for Batman, he didn't think that Warner would ask him to shoot Batman at first.

Even though Bell and Hathaway were present today, he never thought about it.

These two people actually acted as intermediaries and bridges for De Niro to contact Warner.

Zhou Mo originally thought it would be a movie about other superheroes.

For example, Wonder Woman or Aquaman. He looked at the bald head and said, "Can I ask why? Why do you want to work with me on Batman? Or, why do you want to make Batman?"

The bald person in charge said bluntly: "The reason is very simple, because Zack Snyder does not plan to shoot "Batman", but he hopes to add Batman elements to the movie.

And he can’t do Batman well.”

Speaking of Zack Snyder's Batman, he complained: "What a gift! Can you believe it? Zack Snyder actually arranged the script from the beginning to make Batman fall in love with Louis!"

After this complaint, everyone except the bald person in charge turned their attention to Bell who was drinking coffee.

Bell was confused.

who I am? Where am I? What am I going to do?
Hathaway smiled and said, "Is that so, Bruce, you are going to fall in love with Lois, Superman's wife."

Bale shrugged helplessly: "Director Nolan never told me that."

Morgans laughed.

Zhou Mo looked at De Niro meaningfully.

De Niro once told him that Zack Snyder had actually had a conflict with Warner executives last year.

And now the reaction of this person in charge proves that there is not only a conflict between the two sides, but it is also very big.

De Niro also nodded and made a hand gesture.

Looking at the person in charge: "It seems that there are some conflicts between you."

Those present were either directors he was going to collaborate with or people he had worked with before, so the bald person in charge had no intention of hiding anything.

"Not just some, but a lot, at some point, Zack Snyder is going to make a movie that's going to lose money, so now we have to think about some things in the future -

The commercial value of the Batman IP will not be affected too much by BVS.

Warner’s current superhero project should be "BVS (Batman v Superman)".

Zhou Mo recalled briefly that in his previous life, the total box office of "BVS" should be more than 800 million US dollars, and the production cost was less than 300 million US dollars.

Roughly calculated based on three times the cost, the movie did not lose money.

Adding in the revenue from various other channels, the film’s final revenue was around $1 million.

It seems that this data is okay.

But that’s not how the accounts are calculated.

"BVS" combines two of DC's superheroes, Superman and Batman. It is a movie that cost more than 2.5 million to produce but only made million in the end. It is undoubtedly a failure.

This is just like when Wu Baige filmed "Red Cliff".

Zhou Mo understood: "Then another question, why did you choose me?"

"Because you haven't failed so far."

The bald leader said, “Zhou, your record is so successful.

Our company has investigated you. Since your debut four years ago until now, you have never failed, and the box office of your movies has been higher and higher, which shows that you have a strong ability to make commercial films.

Including "GG" which is still in theaters, our company predicts that the final box office of the movie will exceed 4 million US dollars, which is a very dazzling result.

Also, you have a good reputation.

When our company was investigating you, many people mentioned you and praised you highly, believing that you are one of the best commercial directors in the world today. "

Zhou Mo said "Oh".

"Can I ask who praised my business skills?"

The bald person in charge said one by one: "Ang Lee, Quentin, Luc Besson, Lin Yibin (Fast and Furious director) and so on..."

Zhou Mo nodded. These people were the network of relationships he had built up over the past few years.

Connections!

Person in charge: “So, instead of letting Zack Snyder ruin Batman, we should start from scratch and directly make a new independent Batman movie.

I wonder what you think of this cooperation invitation?"

At this moment, Zhou Mo's mentality has completely calmed down.

At first, the invitation to play Batman did put a lot of pressure on him.

After all, Nolan's Batman trilogy is a masterpiece, so anyone who takes over this project will have to think twice.

If you are not careful, you will be ridiculed to death.

But Zhou Mo has a great adaptation of "Batman" in his mind——

Batman: Arkham series.

If you remove the cumbersome side quests and that damn Riddler from the game.

This work can be said to be the ceiling of superhero comic adaptations.

With this script, Zhou Mo is confident that he can also produce "Batman" of extremely high quality.

But before that, he asked clearly.

"I want to know how sincere you are. How much autonomy can I have if I shoot the film? What are your plans and arrangements for the film? Do you intend to force the film into other plans?"

The bald person in charge said: "It's the same level of support as when Nolan was filming."

Hey!
Zhou Mo's eyes suddenly widened.

He actually gave him such great support. It seems that the conflict between him and Lao Zha has indeed reached a very intense level.

The bald leader continued, "But we have one more condition."

Zhou Mo knew it wasn't that easy.

Nolan was appointed to the position in a time of crisis, and although Warner and Zack Snyder currently have a lot of conflicts, it has not reached that level.

"You tell me first."

The person in charge said: "Our condition is that we don't give you that much budget. If you want to shoot, it must be within 200 million.

In other words, you have to save money when shooting.”

(End of this chapter)