Best of Hollywood - Chapter 217

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Before Sofia Coppola asked who was invited, two people walked in one after the other from the entrance of the restaurant. One of them was Peter Jackson whom he had just met, and the other was a little strange.

Ryan got up and said hello, and invited the two to sit across from each other, “Director Peter, please sit down first.”

Peter Jackson sat down in a daze. If it was for the shares of Weta Studios, it seemed that there was no need for private contact at all.

“Mr. Saul, I’m very sorry, I asked you to meet in New Zealand.” Ryan said to another person.

Saul Zaentz, a producer and record label executive, loves adapting the rights to best-selling novels.

As early as 1976, he had already obtained the film adaptation rights of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and produced an animated version of The Lord of the Rings.

Until Peter Jackson proposed to Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films to buy the copyright of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

For Peter Jackson’s proposal, Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films were very interested in bringing The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to the screen, but they encountered a lot of trouble in their previous lives.

Saul Zaentz only owned the film and television adaptation rights of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit at the time.

The film distribution rights are in the hands of Lianyi, and Lianyi has been acquired by another giant, MGM, so Miramax Pictures has been negotiating with MGM for a while.

“Mr. Saul, I think I made it very clear last time.”

“Orion Pictures is willing to cooperate on “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit.” Ryan has already had someone contact Saul Zaentz.

It’s just that Saul Zaentz is interested in working with Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films, not Orion Films.

“The original “Lord of the Rings” requires at least three film adaptations to tell the story of the entire book.”

“For such a large-scale epic film, the cost of each shooting will exceed 100 million U.S. dollars. With the funds of Miramax Films, it is simply impossible to afford such a large-scale investment.”

“Orion Films and I don’t lack funds, what we lack is the adaptation copyright.” Ryan just told a fact.

Harvey-Weinstein and Miramax Films can make a difference in the independent film circle, but in the commercial film circle, with the scale and capital of Miramax Films, they are still far behind.

Saul Zaentz showed a hint of hesitation. Just as Ryan said, with the global box office success of “Terminator 3”, Orion Pictures has sufficient funds to support the shooting plan of “Lord of the Rings”.

However, on “The English Patient”, Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films helped him, otherwise he would not easily agree to transfer the copyright.

“Then what can I get!” Sol-Zaenz said slowly.

“Benefits.” Ryan nodded, “at least 15 million US dollars in transfer fees.”

“Orion Pictures never treats friends badly.”

“What’s more, even if you look at the whole of Hollywood, I am afraid that only the Orion business family is willing to take risks and invest, and they can also spend hundreds of millions of dollars.”

In the previous life, New Line Cinema bought the project from Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films for US$16 million.

There was no surprise on Sofia Coppola’s face at what the two said.

The contact between Orion Films and Saul Zaentz is no secret to her, she just didn’t recognize Saul Zaentz just now.

But Peter Jackson on the side was stunned, his face full of disbelief, they were talking about filming “Lord of the Rings”!

As a senior “Lord of the Rings” book fan, Peter Jackson is very aware of the influence of “The Lord of the Rings”, and even fantasized about adapting this epic masterpiece himself.

However, the scene in front of him made him unbelievable.

Orion Pictures is preparing to adapt the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy!

If this news gets out, it will definitely cause a sensation in the entire Western world.

“What’s more, for Orion Films, “Lord of the Rings” is just the beginning, and “The Hobbit” will be established next.”

Ryan said very directly: “As long as you agree to transfer the copyright, Orion Films can sign the transfer agreement as soon as possible and pay all the fees in one lump sum.”

Whether it is “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit”, for any film company, it is a project full of risks.

But for Ryan, there is no such worry.

As for New Line Cinema!

Right now, New Line Cinema has nothing to do with this matter.

When Peter Jackson was directing The Lord of the Rings in his previous life, Miramax was only planning to make two films, not three.

Even so, Miramax Films still didn’t have enough funds, so it could only ask Disney for help, but was eventually rejected by the parent company Disney.

In desperation, Harvey Weinstein simply cut the budget of the series and turned it into one film, and the whole film only lasted 2 hours.

It is said that when he got the news, the director of the film, Peter Jackson, was completely dumbfounded. First, two films became one, and after the end, it changed from four hours to two hours.

Can the film shot in this way still be called “Lord of the Rings”?

Facing Peter Jackson’s questioning, Harvey Weinstein quickly gave him a second option, asking him to find a new investment company within three weeks.

However, it is well known that the adaptation of “The Lord of the Rings” itself is very difficult, but the investment of each film has to be as high as 100 million US dollars, so Peter-Jackson was rejected by several film companies one after another.

Only Robert Shea, president of New Line Pictures, expressed his willingness to invest, and not to shoot one or two films, but the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Even, directly bought the whole project.

As for the arrears of Peter Jackson’s director’s salary, that’s already in the future.

“Hobbit”!

Saul Zaentz is a little tempted. If Orion Pictures intends to put “The Hobbit” on the screen together, he can obviously get more benefits, and Ryan Gosling’s reputation has always been good in Hollywood.

According to the plan of Orion Films, both “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” will be trilogy, while Miramax Films only plans to shoot three, the first is “Lord of the Rings”, the second is “Lord of the Rings” and the third is The Hobbit.

“Even if I agree to transfer the copyright to Orion Pictures, I still need to face a difficult problem, the distribution rights of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit.” Saul Zaentz was also a little speechless.

Some time ago, MGM directly rejected the request of Miramax Films. Without the right to distribute the film, Miramax Films could only stare blankly.

We can’t spend huge sums of money to shoot “Lord of the Rings” and hand it over to MGM for distribution!

Not to mention that Miramax Films itself has distribution channels in North America, and the current MGM is a mess. Who knows how much distribution capacity it has, especially global distribution capabilities.

Miramax Films will certainly not take this risk and buy the copyright of the two novels, and the same is true for Orion Films.

“The issue of distribution rights can be handed over to Orion Pictures.” Ryan showed a smile on his face.

In the previous life, MGM was not the distribution company of “Lord of the Rings”, but got the rights to the TV adaptation. It was probably a deal between New Line Pictures, Warner Bros. and MGM.

Next, Saul Zaentz didn’t say anything more. Regarding the specific transfer agreement, it is natural for professionals to discuss it.

After staying for a while, Saul Zaentz said goodbye and left. He needs to return to the United States to deal with this matter.

For a while, only Ryan, Sofia-Coppola~www.mtlnovel.com~ and Peter-Jackson were left on the dining table.

Ryan was not in a hurry, he ate his hearty lunch slowly, picked up the napkin and wiped the corners of his mouth, and then looked up at Peter Jackson who was hesitating to speak.

“Director Peter, I wonder if you are interested in directing “Lord of the Rings”!” Ryan looked at him and asked with a half-smile.

The acquisition of a stake in Weta Studios, as well as the decision to film Mr. and Mrs. Smith in New Zealand, are part of Ryan’s plans.

Let’s get in touch with the New Zealand government first, and take a look at the environment in New Zealand by the way.

The reason why Peter-Jackson in his previous life set the filming location in New Zealand was that Weta Studio was located in New Zealand, and New Zealand was also Peter-Jackson’s homeland, so by the way, he advertised for New Zealand.

The reason why Ryan chose New Zealand is much simpler. In the face of projects with a budget of more than 300 million US dollars, the New Zealand government will definitely give the most preferential policies.

Of course, if a country can give better preferential policies, Ryan can also change the shooting location.

As for the other side of the Pacific Ocean!

It’s not that Ryan doesn’t want to shoot on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, but it’s somewhat difficult to shoot a Western epic masterpiece in the Eastern world.

Secondly, the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean may not be able to offer any preferential policies, and the language barrier will increase the difficulty of filming on the contrary.

Of course, if there is a suitable opportunity, Ryan would not mind going to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to shoot.

It is nothing new for a Hollywood crew to go to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to film a scene in a previous life.

For now, some scenes in “Rush Hour” are likely to be filmed in Xiangjiang, and there will even be many Chinese actors in the film.

Among them, Jackie Chan, the leading actor in the film, played a big factor.