It has been more than ten days since "Hellboy" was released. The reason why Guilmo del Toro has been delayed until now to find Ronan is to complete the preliminary design of "men's romance".

"Sometimes, when I look up at the stars, I always feel my insignificance and loneliness, and I am curious whether there are other lives in the universe."

In the reception room of the Relativity Building, Gilmo del Toro handed over several design drawings to Ronan: "But after completing this preliminary design, I found that I was completely wrong."

Ronan listened to Gilmo del Toro's words and his eyes fell on the drawing in his hand. These were a few sketches. The painting skills were very average, but they were enough to let people see what was being drawn.

The first picture should be an eruption of an undersea volcano, with a monster similar to Godzilla emerging from the ground.

Ronan felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity in this picture.

Next, a mecha that looks a bit like Megatron stands tall in the city.

Ronan thought of the works that Gilmo del Toro had been widely circulated.

Sure enough, in the third sketch, the huge mecha arm seemed to become a cannon, aiming at a distance, fighting a monster that resembles Godzilla.

Mecha, monster, under the sea, war...

Ronan nodded secretly, this should be "Ring of the Atlantic"... No, it should be the preliminary design of "Ring of the Pacific".

The movie "Atlantic" I once watched is like "Titanic 2", which sells dog meat under the guise of sheep.

"Is this a robot vs. monster?" Ronan asked.

Gilmo del Toro corrected: "It's the mecha and the huge beast."

Ronan put down his sketch and looked at Guilmo del Toro, who explained: "These concepts all come from the island nation."

"I've heard of it." Ronan nodded slowly: "For example, Ultraman who fights the little monster."

There was once a saying: Cats eat fish, dogs eat meat, Ultraman eats small monsters.

Seeing Ronan knowing this, Gilmo del Toro calmed down, picked up the first sketch, pointed to the seabed above, and said, "The undersea section broke, and the alien monsters that emerged from this passage were greater, fiercer and more brutal than any threat we had seen before. I call them monsters. In order to fight them, humans gathered all resources to create the largest, most advanced and most functional weapons ever. They created the Hunter Project to create a series of robots up to 25 floors, which is the last hope for human survival."

Ronan frowned: "Gilmo, is there a problem with this setting?" He pointed to the cannon of the mecha: "Why don't you use long-range weapons or aircraft to carry this weapon to launch, instead of using huge robots to fight hand-to-hand?"

"This..." Gilmo del Toro had never considered these things at all. He could not say that "the mecha is the ultimate romance of men"?

Ronan is cautious about these things with too strong island elements. After all, the reality of the North American film market is here.

For example, "The Curse" and "Midnight Bell", according to his point of view, it is obvious that the original version of the Island Country is better, but the original version was all unsuccessful in North America. Instead, the remake of the American version with a worse quality was sold at the box office.

North America has a certain island-based audience, but it is not popular culture.

For example, the famous "Spirited Away" has been on the best list including mainstream media in North America, but its commercial response in North America is far less than that of its reputation.

It has been released in North American theaters twice, and the box office in North America is less than a fraction of the overseas ones.

What Ronan is a film company, not an art institution. The first thing he needs to consider is the market, and market differences must be paid attention to.

"Mech is a concept and cultural product from the island country." Ronan was very cautious. After all, if this project is really going to be done, the investment is not very large: "Gilmore, you should have heard of this concept. North America is the largest media, cultural and entertainment insulator in the world."

This was beyond Gilmo del Toro's expectations, and he always thought Ronan would support this project, just like he supported Hellboy.

After all, Shahai Entertainment is also operating similar giant robot projects.

"Ronan, there are many people in North America who like me who like island cultures such as mechas and monsters." Gilmo del Toro did not want to give up easily: "There is also an overseas market, which is also conducive to peripheral operations."

He tentatively said: "It is said that Shahai Entertainment is working with Hasbro on Transformers, so there is no essential difference with mechas, right?"

Ronan couldn't help laughing: "How do you compare these two? Gilmore, Transformers have been on the market in North America for more than 20 years, and related toys were once popular in North America. In the past 20 years, how many people have played Transformers toys? How many people's childhood memories are Transformers? I don't know much about other places, but in North America, mechas belong to a niche cultural group, right?"

Perhaps with the further opening of the Internet in the future, the audience of mechas will increase, but that will be the future.

Ronan further said: "The culture of the island country has many audiences in North America, such as you, James Cameron, but Relativity Entertainment has always had business with island countries and has the copyright of many island countries' cultural products, and has conducted market research on this."

This is not a lie, but a real thing: "The culture of the island country belongs to a niche group in North America, which determines that if the investment is not high, the possibility of recovering costs is greater, but if the investment is high, the audience will be too small, how can we generate profits?"

Gilmo del Toro suddenly realized that Ronan was not just a film producer, but also a film businessman!

Even the latter's identity is above the former!

Ronan simply asked: "Gilmore, you know a lot about special effects production. Now, to achieve the results you plan, how much production budget is required?"

In this era, although the cg special effects are much cheaper, they are incomparable to those after 2010.

None of them are outsiders, and Gilmore Del Toro can't tell lies with his eyes open. He also considered it in fact: "It's about $200 million."

Ronan continued: "This kind of production investment, coupled with the promotion and distribution, will cost at least US$300 million. For such a subject, investment risk is too great."

Gilmo del Toro didn't know what to say. Before, he only started from the perspective of director and his own interests and had no corresponding business considerations.

"I suggest that this project be put on hold for the time being." Ronan was very frank: "Gilmore, it's not too late to make a decision after five or six years."

Gilmo del Toro was a little disappointed, but he felt that what Ronan said made sense, but he did not give up. The three film director contracts he signed with Shahai Entertainment have expired. Hollywood is so big, it is not necessary to have a relative entertainment company.

"Okay, this project is a bit ahead of the way." Gilmo del Toro found a way out for himself.

Ronan smiled and said, "Some ideas and ideas don't have to hurry up."

"It's true." Gilmo del Toro had other plans and took out the script from his briefcase: "The mecha and the monster are long-term plans, and this is the next movie I want to shoot."

Ronan didn't say anything, took the script and quickly browsed part of it. The script was a copy of the manuscript, not a complete version, and the one nailed together at the back was the project plan.

At the same time, the title page of this first draft script is also marked with the name - "The Maze of Pan Shen".

"This is a fairy tale that is not suitable for children. I want to shoot a Spanish-language film that becomes magical realism." Gilmo del Toro said: "In the background of Spain during World War II in 1944, it tells the story of the 12-year-old heroine accidentally opened another magic door and completing three tests when she was bored."

Ronan is about to find the most critical part of this statement for the production company: "Gilmore, you just said, are you going to shoot a Spanish movie?"

Gilmo del Toro is a Mexican: "Yeah, I'm shooting this work in my native language."

Ronan put down the script and asked, "Have you made a budget?"

"About $30 million." Gilmo del Toro felt a bad feeling: "If there is less, I will find it difficult to guarantee the completion."

Today's Gilmo del Toro is also well-known in Hollywood, and is not the mentality of a young Mexican director. Just like the mechas and monsters I talked about before, of course, you have to strive for the best results when shooting movies.

Gilmore Del Toro left Ronan with a good impression on these collaborations. Although "Hellboy" has undergone several edits in post-production, the result is still good.

In general, Gilmore Del Toro is a relatively reliable director.

Ronan thought for a while and said, "Shahai Entertainment can invest in your project." Without waiting for Guilmo del Toro to be happy, he said, "But there is a premise, this must be an English movie."

With such a big investment, Ronan had to consider risks and benefits when filming a foreign language film.

"English movie?" Gilmo del Toro shook his head and said seriously: "Ronan, I am a Mexican, Spanish is my native language. It has always been my wish to shoot a Spanish movie in Hollywood."

Many directors have their own wishes, such as Spielberg and Schindler's List, but the film company will not pay for the wishes of each director.

Ronan asked again: "Gilmore, are you sure you want to shoot a Spanish movie?"

Gilmo del Toro sighed inwardly, there was no way to do it if the concept was not consistent: "Yes, I have always planned this way."

"I can only say sorry." Ronan politely refused.

"It's okay." Gilmo del Toro put away the script and shook hands with Ronan: "No matter what, I'll say thank you."
Chapter completed!