Chapter 307

Give it to me, Emma."

Taking the silver pot from the housekeeper, Tina Fei walked through the garden, towards the side of the sea, and came under a large palm tree, sat on the side of the oak table, and took the teacup opposite Duke. , Filled it up for him, and pushed it back.

"Thank you."

With his eyes slightly away from the laptop screen, Duke nodded to the female assistant, "When did you come here."

"just."

The sea breeze was a bit big, and Tina Fey tucked her long hair back in her head. "After the first week, Sony Columbia has significantly reduced the resources invested in Godzilla, and the criticism of The Matrix has been much smaller. The studio can also be easier."

She looked at Duke, a little hesitant to speak, and finally couldn't help but say, "You just recovered and you started working again."

"Anything in the world can be squandered, because there is always a chance to start all over again."

Looking up, Duke saved the script he had just typed, held up his teacup, and said before drinking, "There is only time, and if you waste it, you can't find it again."

"With a boss like you." Tina Fei joked with Duke, "I don't know if it is lucky or sad."

Seeing Du, Ke smiled and shook her head, Tina Fei changed the subject, pointed to the notebook and asked curiously, "New script?"

"Well, new script." Duke nodded.

"I remember you filed several scripts in the Screenwriter Guild."

After Duke turned the notebook over to her, Tina Fei was not welcome, opened the document, and said while reading, "Those are not finished yet, do you have new ideas?"

"This is an experimental work." Duke took a new teacup. Pour a cup of black tea for Tina Fei and said, "Adapted based on an incident you experienced personally."

"Thank you." Tina Fei scratched her face, "You can see that, no wonder you asked me about the shootings and asked me to collect information from the Los Angeles police. It turned out to be preparing."

Duke was a little sorry, "It would be better if I could get the video shot by abc TV station."

"They refused?" Tina Fei lifted up and asked, "You didn't try Robert Iger?"

"Unless they accept their investment." Duke shook his head directly, "otherwise Walt Disney will not provide it, so I gave up."

He turned his head and looked at the sea, "This is just an adaptation with a small investment, and the content will not exactly match that of the North Hollywood shooting. I just want to use a small multi-line narrative production to practice."

"Practicing?" Tina Fei said of course. "With your current ability, do you still need to practice hands?"

"My dear, don't overestimate my ability." Duke has always been sober-minded. "I can fail if I don't know for sure. But I don't want failure to happen in a big investment like the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. In terms of production, according to my plan, the last two parts of this series will have a lot of multi-line narratives. My narrative ability has always been a weakness. I know this very well, so I have to be adequately prepared..."

Speaking of which. Duke suddenly asked, "Tina, are you interested in acting yourself in this film?"

"Me?" Tina Fei was taken aback for a while, then shook her head, "I don't want to be an actor, I like to do commercial work."

When I first entered Hollywood. She also had a dream of becoming famous, but after seeing the face of this circle more clearly and the fierce competition, she faded this idea. She also knew that her talent was average, if she had Duke's support. It is not too difficult to become a second-rate actress in the future, but she knows which is more important than the senior management of the Duke Studio.

She used her performance to win Duke's trust and respect. As long as anyone in Hollywood knows how much she speaks in front of Duke, even Naomi Watts and Charlize Theron are now popular. Zi's actress, she also needs to show enough respect when she meets her.

To be a little star who is snorting? She is not that stupid.

Of course, Duke didn't want to let his right-hand man leave. He just asked casually, and then forgot the idea.

After discussing a few more sentences about this unfinished script, the topic of the two gradually shifted to the next stage of work.

"Tina, notify the members of the team in advance." Duke said to the female assistant, "return to New Zealand in mid-August."

Humans are not machines after all. Soon after the release of "The Matrix", with the exception of a few guards on shift, Duke took a long vacation for the staff who had been busy in New Zealand for nearly a year, and the vacation lasted nearly three months.

Turning off the laptop, Duke thought for a while and said, "Contact a real estate agent to find a suitable house in Wellington. We will be there in the next few years."

"What about this project?" Tina Fei pointed to the notebook, "also in preparation for New Zealand?"

"Bank of America won't let us shoot a gunfight in front of the door."

Picking up the notebook, Duke walked towards the villa, waited for Tina Fei to follow up with the silver jug ​​and cup, and said, "Find a suitable street in Wellington, and set up the set for the shooting."

Laurel Valley Boulevard is one of the financial centers in the greater Los Angeles area. It has not been a few years since the bank robbery occurred in the Los Angeles branch of Bank of America. Shooting a shootout in front of them might make Bank of America crazy.

This multi-line narrative project has not yet completed the script. Duke intends to start preparations after arriving in New Zealand, and will not spend too much time on filming and production. This will only be a small cost experiment with an investment of less than ten million US dollars. sheet.

Back in the eye-shaped villa, Duke sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking at the sea in the distance, and continued to think about the script. Now the trend of "The Matrix" is stable, and Warner Bros. is pushing behind him. He doesn't need to spend too much thought. , And how to proceed with the content of the new project, it must be carefully considered.

Unlike the past, this project has nothing to learn from memory except for some materials. It can be said to be an original work. According to his plan, the investment is at most US$8-10 million. The type is Realistic shootout.

But after sitting here and thinking for a while, Duke discovered that the script he wrote had problems. Now the classicist gunfight has been declining, and the film is based on the type of real events, which determines that it cannot be a "The Matrix" in the end. Realism is a must-choice of the gun battles, or gun battles with romanticism.

Realism also means lagging behind this era, the future income of the film...

Thinking of this, Duke suddenly took a picture of his head. As a movie studio owner, profit is an instinctive consideration, but such an experimental film seems to be able to let go of the pressure brought by profit and completely follow his ideas. Shooting, even if the film loses money at the end, it is nothing to him.

And he has enough market appeal, and an investment of US$8 million to US$10 million may not necessarily lose much.

After receiving the coffee from Emma, ​​Duke sniffed the aroma of the coffee while thinking back to the profile of several people he wanted to set as the main role, especially the two criminals Larry Eugene Phillips. And Emile Dekbar Matasalinu.

Like most criminals, these two people are not born criminals. Committing such a serious crime can be said to be caused by many reasons, and unfortunate families are an important part of them.

Family... A complete and happy family has a huge impact on a person's growth and even influence.

Family is also the most recognized mainstream value in North America. Why does "Saving Private Ryan" resonate so much with multimedia? Why is it such a huge influence? Apart from the humanistic care in it, maintaining the integrity of the family is also an extremely important reason.

Any film has to elaborate a theme, even the most commercial film is no exception.

Family is undoubtedly a very suitable subject.

Gradually, Duke's thinking became clear. Broken families caused tragedies, happy families...

Thinking of this, drinking the remaining coffee in the cup, Duke picked up the notebook on the coffee table in the living room, went upstairs into the study, and prepared to overhaul some of the completed scripts based on the collected information.

Duke is preparing the script for the new project, and "The Matrix" continues to generate large revenues in the market.

Like last weekend, the biggest rival of "The Matrix" is still Sony Columbia Pictures' "Godzilla", and the rapidly declining reputation of the audience has exposed the side of "Godzilla" that lacks stamina. At the beginning of the week's working day, there was a big plunge in the box office on a single day.

Compared with last Sunday's 8.25 million US dollars, "Godzilla" on Monday's box office fell as much as 37%, a single-day closing of 5.2 million US dollars.

"The Matrix" continued its steady trend. Monday's decline was controlled within 20%, gaining US$8.21 million.

In the following three working days, the single-day box office of "Godzilla" showed a downward trend, with $5.12 million on Tuesday, $4.95 million on Wednesday, and $4.66 million on Thursday.

In the past three days, the box office of "The Matrix" has also been declining, but it has always surpassed "Godzilla". In the same period, it reported receipts of US$8.01 million, US$7.85 million, and US$7.52 million.

When the Memorial Day weekend approached, "The Matrix" North American box office totaled 182.45 million US dollars, and the one-week "Godzilla" received US$46.72 million.

The single-day box office of "World Clash", which was released a week earlier than "The Matrix", has fallen below US$2 million, but it managed to maintain the screening in about 1,000 theaters, and the North American box office reached the figure of US$65.12 million.

The box office and theaters of this film are shrinking rapidly, and the remaining screening time in the North American market will not be too long.

In the strangulation of the three major productions, "The Matrix" has already come to the fore. This new weekend is ushered in "Peerless Tribulation" by Michael Bay. (To be continued...)