The Legendary Actor - Chapter 70

It’s “The Amazing Spider-Man”! This is definitely a project that exceeds expectations.

Renly’s surprise, not “The Amazing Spider-Man” itself, but the Sony Pictures actually made a public casting for such a top-level production, open to all actors. This is definitely a news enough to make the entire Hollywood tremble in sensation, no wonder Lisa behaved so mysteriously just now.

As we all know, the 2002 release of “Spider-Man” is of epochal significance, which was not only the first film in the history with the opening weekend of more than 100 million, but also reawakened the vitality of the comic book adaptation and since then, opened a new era of blockbuster movies.

Over the past few years, the “Spider-Man” trilogy has created many records, and is definitely one of the most successful film series of the twenty-first century, it can be said that now “Spider-Man” is the only one in the market on par with the brand value of the superheroes such as Superman and Batman, and actually among the younger generation, Spider-Man’s appeal is secretly ahead.

Sony Pictures has never given up on the subsequent development of the series of films after the successful conclusion of “Spider-Man 3”, and along with the rise of “Iron Man”, “Spider-Man 4” was logically brought up as a plan. However, Sam Raimi, the director of the series, felt that the series had lost steam and had to be rebooted rather than just to be continued with a sequel.

The result was “The Amazing Spider-Man”.

Generally speaking, the top projects with more than 100 million investment are all in high-profile interest arena, all resources are firmly in the hands of the five major agencies, just like “Thor”, only a really small part of the population can access these projects. The exchange of interests and the use of contacts is the key to determine the cast lineup.

But now, Sony Pictures has generously announced the “The Amazing Spider-Man” project, and more amazingly, it’s still has to pick the male and female leads!

It’s no exaggeration to say that “The Amazing Spider-Man” project is enough to attract any young actor to join it, with a $230 million investment, the success of the series, the support of Sony Pictures, and the attention that it will be paid to …, all of it are enough to make the project a focal point within the sight for all the young actors.

In comparison, the entire scale of “Thor” is one size smaller, both in terms of the amount of money invested and the work itself, which cannot be compared. Not to mention Lisa, even the top agents, who were experienced with the matters of the world, were bound to be in an uproar.

Renly had to admit that Sony Pictures had played this promotional strategy beautifully. “The Amazing Spider-Man” has not yet started shooting, and yet the news of casting the lead actors will inevitably cause major media coverage, helping the film’s publicity to fire the first shot.

As for the final selection of actors, it is expected that they will still be among the newcomers in the hands of big-name agents. For example, it was Andrew Garfield, who had the last laugh in his last life. Sony Pictures had attracted enough eyeballs and benefits to add some advantages to the release.

However, Renly turned down “Thor”, so he naturally had no interest in “The Amazing Spider-Man”.

Firstly, if it were up to Renly to choose a superhero, he would be most interested in Deadpool from the X-Men series, Star-Lord from “Guardians of the Galaxy”, and Ant-Man from “Ant-Man”, which are all unique and flawed superheroes, exactly like Captain Jack Sparrow from “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

Secondly, because “The Amazing Spider-Man” was a complete disappointment, as Sony was too anxious to reboot the series, so the positioning and the main theme were not clear, and the box office returns were not satisfactory, although it did not lose money.

Though the trilogy series only filmed two, Sony Pictures still took the initiative to call it quits, directly cutting, and then re-casting younger high school actors to start a new, more youthful “Spider-Man” series.

So, after giving up “Thor”, Renly has no reason to choose “The Amazing Spider-Man”.

Any normal person looking at Renly will think that he is being absurd. Renly is still just a smidge, a rookie, but he is standing here, picking and choosing, not to mention whether he is willing to play “Thor” or “The Amazing Spider-Man”, in fact, even if he had auditioned, he most likely would not have been chosen. In the current situation, he is the one who should be waiting to be picked, not the one with the right to choose.

Renly pursed his lips. This is great, they don’t like him, and he doesn’t like them.

As his eyes moved away from “The Amazing Spider-Man”, Renly carefully browsed the bulletin board.

There are not only big projects like “The Amazing Spider-Man”, “Super 8” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, but also many independent films that no one never hears about.

In fact, less than 600 movies are released in theaters every year, and in the past year of 2009, for example, only 521 movies were released in theaters, either on demand or in previews.

What about other film projects? Every year, there are over two thousand or more registered film projects, and more than half of them are not released in theaters,. They go either through direct to DVD sales, or stream, or they just sit in the corner collecting dust.

This is the real face of Hollywood. The brightness under the spotlight is just the tip of the iceberg, as the darkness beneath hides a horrifying picture.

Now, Renly is standing in the dark world, probing in blind, and “The Pacific” is just a faint candlelight, but there is still a long road ahead to illuminate the whole world.

Lacking the filter and screening of agents, Renly had to search for a needle in a haystack of unions to find the right project, which was not an easy task. Even if Renly had the advantage of being reborn, the dazzling bulletin board in front of him would still make people’s eyes hurt, let alone those actors who don’t have that advantage. So, Lisa could not help but suggest that Renly should seize the opportunity of “The Pacific” to find the right agent to get his career off the ground.

Seeing the last corner of the bulletin board, a huge amount of information fell through the cracks as quickly as gravel. Another day of futile searching. Renly pursed the corners of his mouth, and every now and then, he would question whether his persistence was in vain, if he accepted Andy Rogers’ invitation to sign, if he accepted “Thor” to audition, if he accepted ….

Wait.

Renly’s pupils shrank, and his eyes fell on the white chalked word in the corner.

The so-called white chalk is the most common type of work in the actors’ union meaning: unidentified investment cost, generally likely to be less than a million dollars for an independent production; unidentified investment company, generally no official registration information, may be a small capital just established recently, may be relying on independent fund-raising projects, may be a small foreign company; unidentified actor’s fee, generally not too high, even for the lead role, 100,000 dollars is probably enough; unidentified shooting cycle, generally from a week to a year is a normality …

As a simple example, a recent film school graduate who has won a $100,000 scholarship from a foundation, wants to make a film in which he writes his own script and directs his own work. Then he successfully goes through the official channels, submits his registration information, passes the official screening by the Actors Union, and then finally he can submit his official hiring information.

Such information is chalked up in white.

This type of work is often the most interesting project for new actors, fourth to eighteenth tier actors that is. If even if they are unlucky, but at least they will be paid a few thousand dollars to afford their rent, and they will get to say, “I’m a bonafide actor who has been on camera! “If you’re lucky, you’ll get a good film and maybe even a trip to Sundance, which is a quantum leap for new actors, regardless of the feedback.

White Chalk is a much more personal project than something as big and unattainable as “The Amazing Spider-Man”.

Of course, a white chalk project is a gamble, and often times they don’t see the script, only a basic concept, and have no way to judge the quality of the work.

Such a gamble can be more exciting than Russian roulette. Most actors don’t want to take the plunge unless they are desperate. Otherwise, it would be a stain that could never be wiped off the face of the earth if they starred in a terrible, restrictive movie like Johnny Galecki, star of “The Big Bang Theory”.

However, when Renly saw this row of white chalk letters, adrenaline began to burst out, and the overwhelming euphoria bubbled in his lungs, as if boiling water had reached its critical point, and large blisters began to surface, which might burst at any moment. Slightly contracted pupils slowly diluted, and the light deep in his eyes grew brighter.

Renly knew that the project he had been searching for had finally appeared again! It’s not because it will be as well-received as “Thor” or because it will be a work with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks like “Pacific War” or because it will be at the end-of-the-year awards ceremony. Rather, it was because this work would fulfill his dream, his dream of being an actor!

The white chalk line reads, “Buried”.