Chapter 331: Three Directors

Returning to Los Angeles, Simon Westeros had to manage the entire film business of Daenerys Entertainment, but Hollywood's attention was still firmly captured by "Batman: The Battle Begins" and the upcoming plans for the DC cinematic universe.

From January 19 to January 25, in its fifth week of release, "Batman: The Battle Begins" saw a 23% drop in box office revenues, earning $31.63 million and bringing its total to $303.36 million, surpassing "The Sixth Sense" to become the box office champion of the previous year.

As some media put it, the profit from just one movie, "Batman: The Battle Begins," was comparable to the annual film revenues of most Hollywood studios.

This was essentially true.

Other studios could only envy the wild profits of "Batman: The Battle Begins," while Warner Bros was able to share in the ongoing revenue thanks to their future plans.

Thus, during Simon's days back in Los Angeles, the CEO of Warner Bros, Terry Semel, almost daily maintained contact with Simon, either by phone or by coming directly to Santa Monica.

Negotiations over the details of the collaboration plan for the DC cinematic universe with Time Warner also began to accelerate in this urgent atmosphere.

It was January 26, a Friday.

After seeing a piece of news in "The Hollywood Reporter" that morning, Terry Semel rushed over early in the day.

The details of the DC cinematic universe plan were still under discussion, but thanks to Simon's thorough preparation, the cast for the second Batman movie, including Adam Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Tommy Lee Jones, and the actor for the new villain Two-Face, had already been decided. Now, the only issue was the director.

As long as this was resolved, the film could start shooting mid-year and be ready for a summer release next year.

Since Simon had confirmed he would not direct the second part, many in Hollywood who were hoping to take over had made inquiries, including several top-tier directors. Warner was involved in funding half of the second part and, for their own interests, also recommended some candidates to Simon.

However, Simon's choice of director took everyone by surprise.

Jane de Bont.

If it were Simon's own timeline, many would immediately think of "Speed."

However, at present, Jane de Bont was still just a cinematographer.

Although she had debuted in the 1960s and shot over twenty films to date, Jane de Bont had never directed before.

Following the successful experience of the Marvel cinematic universe by picking suitable candidates from among new directors for the DC cinematic universe projects was Simon's plan from the start. He had indeed scouted several promising talents, and Jane de Bont was one of them.

In the original timeline, the film that made Jane de Bont a top-tier director, "Speed," was actually her directorial debut. De Bont's second work, "Twister," also sold well globally, proving her potential to transition directly to directing.

Compared to other novice directors with only two or three directorial works, Jane de Bont's experience from over two decades of films since the 1960s was much more extensive. Moreover, as a 'new director,' Daenerys Entertainment could more easily negotiate a long-term contract with her.

However, when Simon officially informed Warner of his decision last week, he immediately faced opposition.

In Warner's view, appointing a cinematographer who had never directed a film as the director of "Batman: The Dark Knight" was utterly reckless.

The two parties were originally negotiating privately when "The Hollywood Reporter" suddenly published the news.

Perhaps many people are now curious about who Jane de Bont is?

After Daenerys Entertainment's announcement, Warner investigated Jane de Bont's detailed profile. Although the cinematographer had worked on well-known films like "Die Hard," she had never received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. How could such a person be entrusted with directing a major film that both Hollywood studios had high hopes for?

Arriving at Daenerys Entertainment's headquarters in Santa Monica, Terry Semel was informed that Simon was not there. After inquiring, Semel hurried to the nearby Daenerys special effects headquarters.

Simon was indeed there, along with the now much-discussed Jane de Bont and several others, all gathered around a computer watching something.

Speaking of which, Jane de Bont had been in the industry for many years and had previously worked with Warner on a recent film, "Who's That Girl," which had won Madonna a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress two years ago.

Just as Terry Semel greeted Simon, Jane de Bont's mobile phone rang.

The 'new director' was obviously very busy today.

After apologizing to everyone, Jane de Bont left to take the call.

As de Bont left, Simon, without waiting for Semel to speak, said, "Daenerys Entertainment has already signed a three-picture deal with de Bont, Terry, and there's no room for negotiation."

Terry Semel, looking as if he had been choked, paused for a moment before reluctantly saying, "So, Simon, will you be closely involved with the filming later this year?"

"Of course, Terry," Simon replied. "I value the DC cinematic universe plan even more than you do, so I hope you can trust my judgment." Turning to Semel, he continued, "Also, Terry, you should have met Mark Silverman. And these are Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell, who will serve as assistant directors for 'Batman: The Dark Knight' and will then direct 'Superman' and 'Wonder Woman' respectively."

Roland Emmerich was a name that hardly needed introduction. From "Independence Day" to "2012," Emmerich was considered the godfather of Hollywood disaster films.

Interestingly, Roland Emmerich was actually German. Having made his first sci-fi film, "The Noah's Ark Principle," in 1984, he quickly made a name for himself in the German film scene and had recently attempted to break into Hollywood, landing in Simon's hands.

Although Emmerich's career trajectory in the original timeline had begun to decline after 2000, including the 1998 "Godzilla" debacle, the 34-year-old Emmerich was at the peak of his creative career this year.

Moreover, although Emmerich was best known for a series of disaster films, he actually started his career directing sci-fi movies, with his most recent films also being in the sci-fi genre.

Simon had reviewed Emmerich's recent works, and the director's increasingly scattered multi-narrative style had not yet solidified. With a bit of refinement, letting him direct "Superman" was highly suitable.

As for Martin Campbell, this director had debuted in the 1970s and also had extensive experience in film and television production, though he had not yet created any blockbuster hits.

In the original timeline, Martin Campbell's claim to fame was "GoldenEye," and he later directed another classic, "Casino Royale," both of which were highly successful. This was why Simon chose him to direct "Wonder Woman."

"GoldenEye" and "Casino Royale" had both demonstrated Campbell's ability to handle large-scale scenes, a skill that "Wonder Woman" would greatly need.

Additionally, Martin Campbell had also directed the financially disastrous "Green Lantern" in 2011.

In Simon's memory, the Ryan Reynolds version of "

Green Lantern" had burned through a $200 million budget and only grossed just over $200 million globally, leading Warner to suffer huge losses and causing a delay in the development of the DC cinematic universe.

However, the failure of "Green Lantern," like many later DC projects, was not the fault of the director but rather the result of Warner rushing into production to compete with Marvel, even without a finalized script. Aside from the plot being a mess due to inadequate preparation, the film's technical details like special effects and soundtrack were actually quite impressive.

Ultimately, Simon was the mastermind behind the DC cinematic universe plan.

Choosing Jane de Bont, Roland Emmerich, and Martin Campbell as directors was not just about their individual talents but also because it ensured Simon's absolute control over the series. Like the Marvel cinematic universe plan, Simon did not intend to give these directors much freedom to innovate.

Thus, even though the current momentum of the DC cinematic universe could easily afford top-tier directors, Simon chose not to do so in order to fully implement his own vision.

After Simon's introduction, Jane de Bont returned after finishing her phone call.

Everyone gathered again around the computer they had been watching earlier.

Terry Semel then realized that what Simon and the others were watching was the newly developed functionality of Maya special effects software at the Daenerys special effects studio, capable of simulating the explosion and collapse of physical structures.

Watching a building crumble on the small computer screen, Terry Semel temporarily set aside his curiosity about Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell and asked Mark Silverman, president of the special effects studio, "Can these be implemented on the big screen?"

Mark Silverman nodded, "Some technical details for integrating CG images with live-action are still being perfected, but by this time next year, it won't be a problem."

Terry Semel understood why Mark Silverman said this.

The DC cinematic universe plan had a gap this year.

Starting next year, they planned to release two major films per year.

The projects confirmed for 1991 were "Batman: The Dark Knight" and "The Flash."

The 1992 projects were "Wonder Woman" and a reboot of "Superman," with the new technology developed by Daenerys special effects likely to be used in either "Superman" or "Wonder Woman."

Simon then said to the computer staff, "Show Terry the special effects for The Flash."

The staff nodded and quickly pulled up a series of experimental shots.

Terry Semel perked up immediately.

On the computer screen, a test subject was running in a room, wrapped in barely visible electrical sparks, with the sound of thunder coming faintly from the speakers.

Five heroes had been confirmed to participate in the first phase of the DC cinematic universe plan: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Cyborg.

Choosing these five was mainly due to the limitations of special effects technology of the era.

"Aquaman" and "Green Lantern," with the current level of special effects, were simply not feasible.

Compared to them, "The Flash" and "Cyborg" were somewhat easier.

To depict The Flash's speed, the main requirement for making "The Flash" movie was high-speed photography, a technology that had been around since the 1950s. Although current capabilities were far from reaching the thousands of frames per second seen in later years, the existing technology combined with CG effects was enough to significantly exceed the rudimentary effects seen in the earlier "Superman" series.

As for "Cyborg," the plan was to combine model effects with CG effects.

In this regard, the liquid metal Terminator and Arnold Schwarzenegger's robotic endoskeleton from "Terminator 2" in the original timeline were excellent references. This level of technology was achievable by 1991, and Simon believed that after two to three years of technical development, they could produce highly impressive Cyborg effects on the big screen.

To refine the special effects details as much as possible, compared to the "Wonder Woman," "Superman," and "The Flash" superhero films that were set to start production in the next two years, "Cyborg" would be produced later, likely starting in 1994 and following closely after "Justice League" in 1995.

Everyone stayed at the Daenerys special effects studio until lunchtime, after which Jane de Bont and others said their goodbyes and left, but Terry Semel stayed on. Of course, he was not at leisure, but the DC cinematic universe plan was essentially the most important task at hand.

As the media had said, if this series was done well, Warner wouldn't have to worry about their future for years.

Since Simon was adamant about the directorial choice for "Batman: The Dark Knight" and had already selected the directors for "Superman" and "Wonder Woman," Terry Semel no longer protested. He also believed that Simon would not jeopardize this promising series.

Now, Terry Semel was more concerned about Warner's "The Flash" and "Cyborg."

To maintain his control over the DC cinematic universe plan, Simon had previously proposed a suggestion: in exchange for half the investment rights to "Superman," he wanted half the investment rights for the superhero characters of "The Flash" and "Cyborg."

Although "Superman" was more popular than "The Flash" and "Cyborg," if Warner agreed, it would essentially mean transferring the rights to two more superheroes to Daenerys Entertainment.

With the increasing success of "Batman: The Battle Begins," losing the DC big three had already become a major regret for Warner.

Now, a two-for-one trade was something Warner was reluctant to agree to.

However, although they had not accepted Daenerys Entertainment's proposal, Simon still held considerable sway over the DC cinematic universe plan.

Regardless, for "The Flash" and "Cyborg," even if Daenerys Entertainment did not invest, Warner still needed Simon's approval for aspects like the film scripts and casting if they wanted these superheroes to join the DC cinematic universe plan.

Daenerys Entertainment had also clearly stated that if "The Flash" and "Cyborg" were botched, these superheroes might be excluded from the DC cinematic universe plan altogether. Daenerys would rather have a future "Justice League" that only included Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

Although Warner had not yet experienced the benefits of interconnected plotlines, they knew that without Daenerys Entertainment's support, they might not be able to manage these superheroes effectively.

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