You Made Me a Superstar - Chapter 492
Chapter 492 Frustrated?
The sky in Los Angeles was a little overcast.
After Zhou Yang came to SKY company, he couldn’t help wrapping his coat.
With the popularity of “Chainsaw”, “Struggling”, “Men in Black”, and “Jaws” in Europe and the United States, SKY, as a distribution company, is no longer unknown in Hollywood.
In addition, after Christian followed the black congressmen to speeches all over the United States, calling for peace, calling for racial equality and environmental protection and other things, SKY company’s status among Hollywood production companies has risen. A large group of reporters squatted and asked this and that.
“Mr. Zhou, this group of reporters are like this every day, especially after the concert is over, these reporters think you are crazy, and give up the palace-level music works and don’t create them. I understand superhero movies, these days, I have received dozens of interviews about you in the crew…”
Zhou Yang’s SKY company.
Zheng Jun pushed the door and came in. After pushing the door in, Zheng Jun complained silently for the first time.
These days, Zheng Jun wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses, grows a small beard, and has small dreadlocks, which has a literary sense of the old American hippies of the last century.
As the screenwriter of the first edition of “The Bottom of the Mine”, Zheng Jun has been directing his own screenwriter, “The History of American Gangsters” revised by Zhou Yang.
“Okay, how did “American Gangster History” go?”
“The dailies were filmed, but I didn’t know how to edit them later. I was just going to talk to you about this.”
In addition to the change in appearance, Zheng Jun’s overall temperament seems to have also changed a lot. He no longer has the humble and disheartened Zhou Yang when he first met him. On the contrary, his eyes are very bright, standing in front of Zhou Yang. With Zhou Yangping standing up straight, speaking like an old friend who has been familiar with him for many years, he subconsciously pulled a chair and sat down while talking.
“Don’t know how to edit?”
“Yes, I feel that every scene I filmed is an indispensable part of the entire “American Gangster History”. With the sample film, I watched it for a long time and didn’t know how to cut it, and I couldn’t start…”
“How long is the sample?”
“Seven hours.”
“How many?”
“Seven hours…”
“a movie?”
“Uh, yes.”
When Zheng Jun handed Zhou Yang a USB flash drive, Zhou Yang subconsciously opened the USB flash drive and entered it into the computer. After opening the sample material of “History of American Gangsters”, after watching the 420-minute sample, he was beyond astonished.
The film “American Gangster History” was written by Zheng Jun himself, while Zhou Yang’s revision was based on the four-hour movie “Once Upon a Time in America”, which was based on the original time and space.
Before the filming of “American Gangster History”, Zhou Yang felt that the film would be completed in about four hours, but he never dreamed that after more than two months, Zheng Jun actually took a seven-hour sample and handed it over to himself. Longer than the original Once Upon a Time in America!
Zhou Yang was astonished, but he didn’t say much, but opened “History of American Gangsters” for the first time and began to read it.
He still trusts Zheng Jun’s talent. After seeing the script and sketch of the film “Mining Bottom” for the first time two years ago, Zhou Yang was subconsciously impressed by his amazing imagination. The movie “Adventure in the Inner World” is similar, but the plot and frame structure in it seem to be more complete and reasonable than “Adventure in the Inner World”, and there are more races…
“Mr. Zhou, this “History of American Gangsters” may not be a lucrative movie, but it is definitely a good movie…”
Watching Zhou Yang is seriously opening the demo of “History of American Gangsters”, Zheng Jun couldn’t help but reminded him.
Zhou Yang didn’t say anything, but continued to watch seriously.
The seven-hour movie made Zhou Yang watch it from the early morning of October 18th to around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. After watching it, Zhou Yang silently turned off the sample and rubbed his eyes.
No matter how good a movie is, if you watch it continuously for seven hours, anyone will feel tired.
Perhaps it is because of the shallow understanding of the history of the old beauty. Zhou Yang does not have much sense of substitution for the plot, but I have to say that Zheng Jun’s portrayal of the characters is very meticulous and meticulous to the core, especially the protagonist peeks at the heroine dancing. In that part, Zhou Yang felt astonished as never before, and the final ending was also regrettable. There was a gloomy feeling in his throat that he couldn’t spit out for a long time.
After a long delay, Zhou Yang sighed: “Director Zheng, I don’t know what to say about this movie… From a commercial point of view, it may be difficult to achieve the expected box office, but from a film art perspective Look…”
Zhou Yang suddenly couldn’t speak for a long time.
“History of American Gangsters” is so meticulously filmed that every small object in every scene tells the audience the changes of every era. With the profound transformation of the protagonist, it is clear that Zhou Yang understands that Zheng Jun hopes to convey an interpretation of the world of old beauty in every era to all fans through this film…
Zhou Yang had thought about editing, but every detail seemed to have Zheng Jun’s intentions. After a long while, Zhou Yang didn’t know how to edit, and finally he could only shake his head.
“What’s the matter?” Zheng Jun asked subconsciously after seeing that Zhou Yang had not spoken.
“No…it’s good, the release of the movie is a problem…” Zhou Yang finally nodded after a while.
From a commercial point of view, this movie is probably going to be a tragedy. It is too long. Although the full text has lows, highs, and expectations, it is shown in a seven-hour movie. Zhou Yang can basically be sure It is impossible for a theater chain to show such a long movie. A seven-hour screening hall can completely arrange three movies, three movies. Isn’t this more fragrant than a seven-hour literary film? Even if the theater chain is willing to show it, fans are unlikely to be willing to walk into the theater chain and watch such a long movie…
Except for a small number of filmmakers in the true sense, ordinary movie fans are relatively indifferent to words such as “art” and “deep film art”.
“Mr. Zhou, I just need a chance…” After seeing Zhou Yang’s expression, Zheng Jun suddenly became a little anxious: “Mr. Zhou, I don’t need to make money for this movie, I don’t want a penny, I promise to make the next movie. Let me help you earn it back. I still keep the script of “The Bottom of the Mine” that I wrote before. The copyright belongs to our company. I believe this movie will definitely make a lot of money… I need a chance to prove me now… Make a commercial and profitable movie, It’s really not difficult for me, President Zhou, please believe me, this movie will definitely create an unprecedented sensation in Laomei…”
In the office.
Zheng Jun stood up, leaned in front of Zhou Yang and kept saying what was in his heart, his face flushed with anxiety.
“Well, don’t worry, I’ll call Christian first, and you should take care of the post-production and soundtrack of this movie. If it is really going to be released, the seven-hour movie will probably have to be split into three parts, top, middle, and bottom. You’d better make up some of the plot points, and each movie adds something to whet the audience’s appetite… However, it seems quite difficult.”
“I’ll try, give me three days!”
“Um?”
After listening to Zhou Yang’s words, Zheng Jun turned around and left the office without saying a word.
Looking at the empty office, Zhou Yang picked up his mobile phone and called Christian.
When first received the call, Christian was quite happy. He was filming a documentary called “The President’s Road” with Congressman Olsen in California.
However, when he learned that Zheng Jun made a seven-hour literary film with the crew of “Lamb”, he was stunned.
“God, what did you say, seven hours? FUCK, how do I find a theater release? God, let’s divide it into three parts, I look for a familiar theater, but the time for the film is to eat at midnight or noon. Ineffective scheduling time, it is difficult for such a movie to get the golden schedule…”
After he paused for a long time, he finally said these words with a wry smile.
Zhou Yang nodded naturally and knew how difficult these things were.
After all, Laomei is not Huaxia, Zhou Yang does not have his own related theater chain, and it is unrealistic to bring the movie “History of American Gangsters” to Huaxia. On the one hand, Huaxia’s theater line is very full in the second half of the year Killing all kinds of relationships, on the other hand, this movie was not acclimatized to China in the past, and it is estimated that it will be more ruthless…
“Mr. Zhou Yang, God, don’t make any more superhero movies. If you want to make them, you have to make some better superheroes. “Lizardman” is too rushed, and this movie still has a background in the old beauty. The Waterloo I encountered under the circumstances… “Spider-Man”, although I haven’t read the movie script, I can probably think that this is definitely another biochemical mutation type movie, and this movie has no comic background, Mr. Zhou Yang, Superhero movies are really not as simple as you think…” After talking about “American Gangster History”, Zhou Yang chatted with Christian for a while about “Spider-Man”. After Christian heard it, he was immediately excited. When he got up, he persuaded Zhou Yang at the first time like everyone else.
After listening to Christian’s persuasion, Zhou Yang had no other reaction, but hung up the phone after chatting with Christian casually.
As soon as the call was hung up, Zhou Yang’s cell phone rang again.
The call was from Roddy.
Roddy used to be Christian’s assistant, and helped to film “The Chainsaw” and “The Departed”. Zhou Yang and Roddy had a good relationship. Later, because of Christian’s unreliability, he could only shoot with Zheng Jun. “American Gangster History”, and now the crew of “Spider-Man”, Zhou Yang plans to invite Roddy to be the assistant director to shoot “Spider-Man” together, thinking that “Spider-Man” will give Roddy a little bit of box office share, after all, he is diligent and conscientious. I’ve done so much to help myself.
but…
When Zhou Yang received the call, he heard Roddy burst into a wry smile.
“Sorry, Mr. Zhou Yang, “Spider-Man”, let me forget it, Mr. Zhou Yang, I have read the script, there are bright spots in the script, but not many, of course, this is insignificant, after all, the script needs to see the person who shoots And special effects, superhero movies, just eat this piece, Mr. Zhou Yang, we are friends, I’ll tell you the truth, I’m not very optimistic about the “Spider-Man” project, especially the special effects of the Huaxia Trailblazers you mentioned… Tian talked to Zheng and Mr. Zheng, although Miss Sarina of [Digital Domain] will participate in the guidance work, but, sorry, I really don’t like this project, and most importantly, I took over from Midland Pictures. A big-budget movie, “Cleopatra” with an investment of nearly $350 million, this is a big-budget movie, directed by my teacher, I have to help him… I’m sorry, Mr. Zhou Yang…”
On the phone, Roddy explained a series of reasons very candidly.
Zhou Yang was silent for a while after listening, and then sighed: “That’s a pity, Mr. Roddy, can you help contact the corresponding actor?”
“Mr. Zhou Yang, in fact, last month you asked me to help with the introduction. I have always been in contact, but since “Lizardman” hit the street, when I heard that a Chinese person wanted to make a superhero movie, and it was “Spiderman” “Man”, those actors are hiding far away, there are a few actors who are willing to participate, but they offer unacceptable prices…”
“what price?”
“Thirty million dollars in salary!”
“What? How much?”
“$30 million salary…”
“…”
When Zhou Yang heard this sentence, the whole person was stunned.
The salary of 30 million US dollars is equivalent to 200 million RMB in RMB!
The investment in the entire “Spider-Man” is also at most higher than this…
Such an amazing salary, Zhou Yang will naturally not pay.
“Mr. Zhou Yang… Our “Chainsaw” has indeed achieved great success in Europe and the United States, but that is the past tense… You may be powerful in China, but in the United States, sorry, Mr. Zhou Yang, your influence, There is really no way to compare with other directors, some Hollywood stars, um, in your Chinese idiom, it is to watch the dishes, you go to social platforms, Twitter or YouTube to see, “Spider-Man” is still there. No filming, a lot of people have already said that this is a bad film, and many people say you are crazy…Mr. Zhou Yang, let’s take it slow, or let’s make “The Departed 2″, I may still I can take a photo…”
“I see… What about some second-tier stars?”
“Mr. Zhou Yang, let me put it more bluntly. Although many Hollywood artists are second-tier in the European and American markets, many people are born with a natural sense of superiority… Although they are not like other first-tier artists, they are always in the third tier. The quotation of ten million dollars, but the remuneration is also reported to the side of ten million… The price/performance ratio is really not high, Mr. Zhou Yang, I will send a quotation to your mailbox later. This quotation is basically based on their feedback real data…”
Zhou Yang showed a helpless smile on his face after chatting with Roddy on the phone.
“The Lizardman” hit the streets, which may be a good thing for Chinese films, at least let Chinese directors know that Hollywood films will also have “industrial bad films”.
But the influence of this movie on the street was too great, which directly affected the filming of “Spider-Man”.
At first, Zhou Yang wanted to invite some slightly more well-known Hollywood actors to shoot, but when Zhou Yang opened the quotation list and saw that these second- and third-tier stars had quoted more than ten million dollars for “Spider-Man”, Zhou Yang’s whole Everyone is numb.
Then, Zhou Yang began to think about how he should make the movie “Spider-Man” in the future.
After about three hours, when the sun went down, the phone rang again.
The call was from Christian.
Christian’s phone call didn’t bring good news, but bad news.
“Mr. Zhou Yang, I originally thought that “American Gangster History” could at least be played at midnight or noon, but… Now it seems that no theater chain is willing to play this movie… Although Mr. Zheng Jun filmed along with him The film “The Departed” is somewhat famous, but after all, the United States is a capital society, and everyone only sees it for profit. After reading the introduction of “American Gangster History”, they feel that this film has no commercial value…”
Zhou Yang closed his eyes.
He was high-spirited in China, but he was frustrated one after another on the first day he came to Laomeicai.
Even after the storm, Zhou Yang, who was used to it, still felt a little gloomy in his heart.
After chatting with Christian, Zhou Yang subconsciously appeared on Laomei’s Twitter and YouTube. He didn’t expect that the tenth most popular title was himself.
【Music creator Zhou Yang is crazy! 】
Zhou Yang clicked on Twitter, and after watching it for a long time, he found that the following are all in English mocking him.
When he looked more closely, Zhou Yang saw many Chinese netizens, and even used idioms such as “overestimating one’s ability”, “sitting on the well and watching the sky”, and “blindly arrogant”.
Zhou Yang turned off this twitter title, and then saw another twitter content.
Another tweet was from “Lizardman” director Colo Paige.
The following content on Zhou Yang’s Twitter is mainly ridiculed, while the Twitter content about “Lizardman” director Ke Luo Peiqi is a large amount of abuse and all kinds of sarcastic voices.
All kinds of ugly words filled Ke Luo Peiqi’s Twitter, and Zhou Yang was shocked to see it.
Just as Zhou Yang was reading these messages and feeling more and more sympathetic to Ke Luo Peiqi, there was a knock on the door in the office.
Zhou Yang turned off the computer: “Come in.”
Then, Zhou Yang saw Xu Mei walk in, with a tangled expression on his face, as if he was holding something back.
“Mr. Zhou, there is an American director who wants to see you…”
“Who?”
“Korro Peggy is the director of “Lizardman”, and now he has a very bad reputation in the United States, and it seems that he has a bad relationship with DV company…”
“Huh?” Zhou Yang was stunned after hearing this.
“He came in person and is waiting at the door now. Are you going to see him?”
“Huh? Let’s meet.” Although Zhou Yang didn’t know why this director Ke Luo Peiqi came here, he still nodded.
Meeting is not a bad thing, maybe there are some opportunities.
(end of this chapter)