Chapter 369

On the first day of the two millennia, Warner Bros. and Duke's Studio convened a grand press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, announcing that the sequel to The Matrix has officially entered the preparatory stage for the establishment of the project. The two parts of "Installation" and "Matrix Revolution" will be produced in one shot.

Although the director has changed candidates, the name Zach Schneider is no stranger to hacker fans. The associate director and executive producer of the previous work have his name, and fans who are familiar with Duke know this. His most important deputy.

In the eyes of ordinary movie fans, Duke's ability to continue directing is what they most want to see. If they have to change a director, Zach Schneider is definitely the best choice.

But the media don't think so. In order to pursue news sensation, most of the media are singing bad sequels, and even think that Zach Schneider will completely screw up a milestone in the history of science fiction.

There are also two productions with a total production budget of up to 250 million US dollars, which put Zach Schneider under tremendous pressure.

"Now I really understand why you have insomnia."

Walking on the path of the Fox Studios, Zach Schneider looked haggard and said to Duke walking towards the studio, "The director is under too much pressure during production. Invisible stress is almost everywhere, and I have been suffering from insomnia all night."

"Get used to it."

Taking a picture of Zach Schneider on the shoulder, Duke walked into the huge studio, "If you can't get used to working under tremendous pressure, it will be difficult to succeed in this industry."

He looked far away, "Zach, after you have succeeded in succession, you will find that the tremendous pressure may not be the motivation to drive you forward."

"I'm not as open-minded as you." Zach Schneider smiled.

The two walked all the way to the innermost part of the studio. Then stood on the periphery of a training ground, just like before the first filming, all the actors assembled in Sydney again to begin the devilish **** training.

In the training ground, the expressions of the protagonists are much lighter than they were a few years ago, in the last two parts. Most actors have all returned to their positions.

Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, Lawrence Fishburne, and Duke's Elrond King Hugo Weiwen, with the assistance of several assistants, completed some basic ligament stretching training. .

The change is not without, for example, the person standing in the position of the action guide is no longer Yuan Heping.

The first episode was a big success, and Yuan Heping immediately became the hottest action director in Hollywood. After the sequel was launched, he also had the capital to open his mouth. They directly shouted out the total compensation of 8 million US dollars for the two films, and insisted that they would never let go.

He does have this kind of capital. The successive successes of "The Matrix" and "Rush Hour" have also brought new vitality to Hollywood's old action fighting, and judging from the response of the two films, Western audiences are dazzled by this. The fighting is also very fresh and exciting.

Kung fu has gradually become a buzzword in the North American film industry, and it is also a problem that Hollywood cannot solve temporarily.

Yuan Heping is undoubtedly an extremely rare resource. There are also capital that shouts sky-high prices.

But Duke and Warner Bros. and Zach Schneider didn't want to pay such a high price. On the one hand, the actor's pay for the sequel was already sky-high. On the other hand, the crew also has suitable substitutes.

From the time of filming "The Matrix", Duke has been contacting Jimmy Carter and Robin Grande with Tiger Chen. This is a very thoughtful and ambitious young man. It's just kung fu, it also incorporates many other close combat techniques. More in line with the future development trend of Hollywood.

With only one-third of the price that Yuan Heping called out, Warner Bros. managed Tiger Chen and some of his brothers.

Correspondingly, the fight between "Reloading" and "Matrix Revolution" will also make appropriate changes. Kungfu is a foreign product after all. After the success of "The Matrix", there are many kungfu-related films that have been produced. For example, Drew Barrymore invested in "Girls in the Thunderbolt" and so on. It won't take too long to cause the audience's aesthetic fatigue.

Therefore, according to the plan negotiated by Duke and Zach Schneider, the latter two parts will reduce the overly fancy and flashy things on the basis of maintaining the conflict of Kung Fu presentation procedures, and the action methods will be cooler, sharper and more direct.

Duke's idea is very simple. The life span of Kung Fu in North America is extremely short. It takes a long time for "Reloading" and "Matrix Revolution" to be released. It is necessary to show some different action elements to avoid aesthetic fatigue, and gradually move to Hollywood in the future. Moves closer.

Like the development of technology, if action guidance is conservative, it will only be eliminated by the market.

This can be said to be "Reloaded" and "Matrix Revolution" and the previous fine-tuning, but there have been major changes in the plot, similar to the production of the first part, Duke did not hesitate to remove those too gods Talking about things, the previous "Reloading" can be said to be a big success at the box office, but these in-depth philosophical thinking and mystery have severely compressed the market space of "Matrix Revolution".

Why would the audience buy this series of accounts? Is it really like what the film critics said, because the film brings philosophical thinking to the audience?

Both Duke and Zach Schneider know very well why the film is so popular.

"Hi, Duke."

After the training, Keanu Reeves came over first, took the towel from the assistant and wiped off the sweat from his hands, and shook hands with Duke. "We are working together again. It is a delightful thing. "

"Yeah, Keanu." Duke patted his arm. "It looks like your training is easy."

Keanu Reeves laughed immediately, "Because the most difficult time has passed."

He pointed to the practice clothes on his body that was almost drenched with sweat, "I'll take a shower and change my clothes, and talk later."

In November last year, Zach Schneider came to Sydney. The crew has not officially approved the project until now. A large part of it is Keanu Reeves.

Keanu is now different from what he used to be. Although Neo made him nominated for the worst actor of the Golden Plum, he could not prevent him from entering the ranks of the top actor. In the negotiations with Warner Bros. and the Duke's studio, he also held There are certain advantages.

The sequel of Hollywood commercial films, the actors' pay is undoubtedly the most troublesome thing. It is not a last resort. No production company will risk the audience's disapproval to change the leading actors rashly. This also gives the actors the capital to bid. The production costs of many Hollywood sequels continue to pile up, which is actually spent on the actors' pay.

"Reloading" and "Matrix Revolution" are no exception. The average cost of the two sequels is as high as 125 million U.S. dollars. Except for the special effects that need to be enhanced, the actor's salary is undoubtedly a major expense. Among them, Keanu Reeves The remuneration has reached the top level in Hollywood-20 million US dollars for a single film!

There is also a 10% share of North American box office net profit.

In addition, the heroine Charlize Theron's pay has reached the top 15 million US dollars of first-line actresses!

There is no way to do this, but Duke and Warner Bros. are also using the method of increasing the basic salary to minimize the profit sharing of the actors.

The high commercial pay of first-line actors is unavoidable. Hollywood's A-level and super-a actors are scarce resources of the entire film industry. They themselves represent great value. No one can underestimate their appeal and influence.

They, like Duke, Spielberg and other top directors and major film companies, are part of Hollywood's top-level buildings, otherwise major Hollywood companies in the future will allow top actors to share 25% of their films. Even more profit?

In fact, in this highly commercialized society, anyone who has climbed to the top of a certain industry cannot be ignored.

"Hugo, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."

Saying hello to King Elrond who came by, Duke saw Tiger Chen. He introduced an actor from Hong Kong who would play the guardian angel of the prophet.

Originally, Warner Bros. wanted to invite Jett Lee to play this role. After all, the other party is famous in the West for his kung fu, and there are not many guardian angel roles. Warner also offered a $3 million salary for a single film, but it was unexpected. The thing is, the other party actually asked for a sky-high price of 13 million US dollars!

What kind of price is this? Many first-line male stars are paid for commercial films. Unless the high-level collective heads of Warner Bros. and the Duke's studio are flooded, how can they agree to this offer?

Perhaps Jet Lee and his agent wanted to pay the price on the spot, but after the price was reported, the crew did not hesitate to abandon him and turned to Tiger Chen to find a surname from Hong Kong. Zou's actor paid only $200,000.

This is a multiple-choice question that requires no choice at all.

After greeting the actors, Duke was about to leave, and Charlize Theron, who had finished changing his clothes, hurried over.

"Duke..." She almost trot over here, "Do you have time? It's been a long time since I had dinner together."

"I'm sorry, Sally." Duke sighed and looked at Zach Schneider who was waiting for him. "Zac and Warner representatives are going to meet with the sponsor. We can only wait for the next time."

"It's a pity." Charlize showed a look of regret.

After telling her a few words, Duke walked towards the entrance of the studio. More than a dozen manufacturers were waiting for him. These people paid 30 million US dollars in advertising sponsorship for a single film, and Duke could not miss the appointment.

After meeting with the sponsors, he will fly to North America and go to Los Angeles to participate in the preparatory meeting of another crew. It is also very important and there is no possibility of delay, because the new project is called-"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".

The little wizard is about to start! (To be continued...)