Chapter 117: 300

"Feeling good!" Charles lay in the bathtub with a look of complete enjoyment.

Scarlett Johansson poured two glasses of champagne, sat down next to the bathtub, handed one to Charles, and playfully grabbed at him, "Nice muscles!"

"Want to join me?" Charles took a sip and suggested with a smile.

Scarlett shook her head, "How much longer are you planning to soak? Isn't Brokeback Mountain about to be released? Aren't you worried?"

"It's releasing in North America next month, so there's still more than half a month left. Focus Features is handling distribution, so what do I need to worry about?" Charles shrugged.

"The movie is great. I've watched it. It's a very healing film, the visuals are beautiful, and the emotions are sincere and somewhat tear-jerking!" Scarlett gave her opinion.

Charles took another sip of champagne before explaining, "Director Ang Lee was in a career slump after Hulk failed both critically and at the box office. He was physically and mentally exhausted. The touching script and sincere emotions of Brokeback Mountain provided him with healing. The movie's outcome also reflects his state of mind."

"Why did you decide to make a film with this kind of subject matter?" Scarlett asked, voicing a question many had.

Given Charles Capet's age and experience, he didn't have any personal experiences in this area. So why buy a script about homosexuality?

"My God, don't you know I have friends in that community? Designer Tom Ford, for instance. It just popped into my mind, it's quite normal," Charles explained again, having mentioned his acquaintance with Tom Ford before.

"Just treat it like any regular movie. I produce it and then get Focus to distribute it!" Charles suggested.

Scarlett smiled, watching Charles get out of the bathtub. She handed him a towel, "How can Brokeback Mountain be just a regular movie? The Passion of the Christ had a lot of support from conservatives, and you were an investor in that too."

"And now you've made a gay-themed movie, Brokeback Mountain, which those same conservatives oppose. Many predict that Brokeback Mountain will fail at the box office due to this opposition!"

Charles scoffed, "How many times have they been right with their predictions?"

After saying that, he wrapped his arm around Scarlett's shoulder, and they returned to the bedroom. 

...

Thanksgiving in America is from the fourth Thursday to Sunday in November. Ironically, Thanksgiving is a day filled with guilt.

The Mayflower crossed the ocean to North America. The Native Americans helped them establish a foothold, and the first Thanksgiving was a celebration of the harvest, inviting Native Americans to thank God for the abundance.

Soon after, these butchers raised their knives against the same Native Americans. Isn't Thanksgiving ironic enough?

The 300 comic was published in 1998 by Dark Horse Comics, a war history comic created by Frank Miller, inspired by the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC between Greece and Persia.

Charles had Capet Pictures reach out to Frank Miller for the movie adaptation rights. Dark Horse Comics, unlike DC or Marvel, allows creators to retain ownership of their works.

Frank Miller once worked with both DC and Marvel, contributing to stories of Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and Daredevil.

The major American comic giants, DC and Marvel, impose various restrictions on creators, and the rights belong to the companies. Many comics creators, including Frank Miller, switched to the more lenient Dark Horse.

Charles specifically brought Zack Snyder and Frank Miller together to discuss the movie adaptation.

"The film style needs to be cinematic, requiring a lot of digital background technology," digital backgrounds, meaning shooting mostly with green screen. "Real sets are too expensive," Snyder said.

Frank Miller nodded, "The recently finished comic adaptation Sin City was also mostly shot with green screen, and post-production gave it the dark tone we wanted!"

"The movie needs to be grand and epic, and the actors need to have fresh and impressive physiques. We need real warriors," Snyder added.

"Real warriors?" Charles was puzzled.

"It means the actors will need extensive training to develop good physical shapes," Snyder explained.

Charles was flabbergasted. Did they really need those bulky muscles? Some visual effects could enhance it, but yes, they needed several physically fit, muscular men to join.

By December, Capet Pictures had set a $65 million budget for this adaptation film.

With such a budget, they couldn't afford famous actors due to heavy spending on special effects.

Snyder and Miller would first collaborate on script adaptation and casting, among other pre-production activities.

"Charles, we've advanced $2 million to Zack Snyder for pre-production. If everything goes as planned, filming could start by late next year," Henry Winster reminded Charles. "With all the special effects, post-production will take over six months, so it'll likely be completed by the second half of the following year."

"That means 300 might not get released until 2007!" Winster concluded.

Charles nodded and smiled, "We'll support them a bit more, speed up pre-production, then focus on filming. The post-production will be the main focus afterward. We should aim for a 2006 end-year release. As long as funding is adequate, producing seven to ten films a year for Capet Pictures won't be too stressful."

By the next year, Charles believed Capet Pictures' North American distribution network would be even more perfected.

"By the way, how's the Atlantis Films acquisition in Canada going?" Capet Pictures spent $9.6 million to acquire this small independent distributor.

Henry Winster nodded, "Phillip has already started the integration plan, incorporating it into Capet Pictures' North American distribution network."

"They seem to have a video division, which will complement our home entertainment business," Charles was somewhat pleased.

In the future, the Atlantis Films label would be directly abandoned.

*****

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