Chapter 152 The Interview About the Super British Movie
Chapter 152 Interviews about superhero movies
Author: Box and Orange
Chapter 152 Interviews about superhero movies
"Warner Bros. Pictures was founded in 1918, and is the third oldest film company in Hollywood after Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures.
Since its establishment, our company has adhered to the principle of commercialization and quality production and has produced countless wonderful movies.
The "Harry Potter" series, "Superman" series, "Batman" series, and "The Matrix" series are all movie series produced by our company." Jeff Robinoff led Zhang Hao to visit Warner Pictures'
Headquarters in Burbank.
"These movies are all famous, and I have watched them before. I also have a set of the little wizard's magic robe and staff at home, but I don't know if they are genuine." Zhang Hao said.
Jeff Robinoff smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, if you want, I can give you a set."
"Thank you..." Of course Zhang Hao wanted to do it, mainly because his cousin Liu Rui is a fan of "Harry Potter" and her birthday is coming soon, so he just wanted to give it to her as a birthday present.
After visiting Warner Pictures, Jeff Robinoff took Zhang Hao to DC.
DC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Pictures, and together with Marvel Comics next door, it is the two largest comic companies in North America.
Unlike Marvel Comics, which only became famous with the "Spider-Man" series and "X-Men" series at the beginning of the century, DC, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Pictures, produced "Superman" as early as the 1970s and 1980s.
and "Batman" series.
In the hands of Marvel Comics, the movie rights of the "Spider-Man" series are in the hands of Sony Columbia Pictures, and the "X-Men" series is in the hands of 20th Century Fox.
After the success of the first "Iron Man", Marvel's newly established Marvel Studios wanted to take back the copyrights to these two popular series of movies, but failed.
DC, owned by Warner, owns all the copyrights for comic books and movies.
But it seems that fate has changed. The DC superhero movies, which had been brilliant in the last century, collapsed at the end of the century after the box office failure of "Batman and Robin" starring George Clooney.
Then, comes the moment of surprise.
In terms of popularity, Superman and Batman are the most popular super movie stars in North America. Only Spider-Man can compete with Marvel.
But now, with the popularity of movies around the world, many second-tier Marvel superheroes are catching up. Iron Man and Captain America are gradually catching up with Batman and Superman.
If this continues, DC will soon be completely squeezed out of the market by Marvel.
Therefore, Warner Pictures must take action. The reboot of "Superman" is named "Superman: Man of Steel", and Warner has found Zack Snyder to direct it.
But the more important "Batman" has yet to find acceptance.
To this end, Warner Pictures executives searched for many directors. They talked with famous directors such as Spielberg and George Lucas, and also found other outstanding commercial film directors.
But without exception, they were all rejected, and no one wanted to take over this hot potato.
Later, Warner Pictures found James Cameron, who also did not agree, but recommended a candidate.
"I have the right director for this project."
"who is it?"
"There is a Chinese director named Zhang Hao. You can consider it when he gets back. So far, I think he has the ability to restart the Batman movie."
It's rare that James Cameron can pronounce Zhang Hao's name accurately, allowing Warner Pictures to remember Zhang Hao's name in no time.
Therefore, Zhang Hao was naturally invited to visit Warner Pictures, which was also an interview for him by Warner Pictures.
As for how James Cameron knew about Zhang Hao, this started at the end of last year.
At the invitation of China Film Corporation, James Cameron was invited to Beijing to attend the China-US Film Forum.
At the meeting, Mr. San introduced Zhang Hao, a young Chinese director, to James Cameron, and invited him to watch Zhang Hao's movie "The Prestige" and comment on Zhang Hao.
James Cameron was very curious when he heard that he had achieved so much success at such a young age, and the tyrant on the set immediately agreed.
After watching "The Prestige" with Mr. San, James Cameron felt incredible about this wonderful film. He said to Mr. San: "This film is different from the films shot by other directors like you. It has a broad vision." Very bold.”
Although the final media report only mentioned James Cameron's participation in the China-US Film Forum, his evaluation of Zhang Hao was not mentioned.
But the name Zhang Hao was remembered by James Cameron.
As a truck driver-turned-director, James Cameron has a bad temper and an eccentric personality. No one knows why he is interested in a young Chinese director.
Anyway, after he came back, he looked for Zhang Hao's other works and also went to the cinema to watch "The Embalmer".
During the voting, James Cameron also mobilized his network and asked everyone to vote for "The Embalmer" to help Zhang Hao win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
This series of actions made people around him think that James Cameron's taste has changed and he likes oriental men.
After that, James Cameron recommended Zhang Hao to Warner Pictures.
Zhang Hao didn't know the details of this. He still didn't understand why he was attracted by James Cameron. Could it be that he was James Cameron's illegitimate son?
When James Cameron came to China and fell in love with his mother at first sight, he had his own child, but James Cameron ran away.
Later, James Cameron felt sorry for his children, so he wanted to compensate him?
But Zhang Hao looked at himself in the mirror and found that he didn't look like him at all. He could only suppress his doubts and wait until he saw James Cameron to ask him in person.
After visiting DC, Zhang Hao followed Jeff Robinoff back to the headquarters in Burbank and asked for a conference room for discussion.
"I believe you also know the reason why we came to you. In fact, many people within the company are opposed to your acceptance of this project. Even if you won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, these voices still did not stop."
Jeff Robinov doesn't have the kind of talkative skills in China, he just gets straight to the point.
Zhang Hao nodded to express his understanding: "Of course I know. In fact, when Miss Sandra told me the news at first, I thought she was teasing me."
"I would think the same thing if it were me," Jeff Robinoff smiled softly, and then said: "Actually, I don't understand why Director James Cameron recommended you to Warner, but the senior management is willing to give you such an interview. Opportunity.
You also understand the development of DC movies, what do you think is the current difficulty in restarting Batman?"
Zhang Hao's heart moved, and he understood that the next question and answer would determine whether he could serve as the director of "Batman".
In fact, what Zhang Hao cares about is not the position of director of "Batman". It doesn't matter even if he can't get it. What he values is this time is the relationship with Warner Pictures.
As one of the most well-known film companies in the world, Warner Pictures has extensive distribution channel resources and can distribute its film business to more than 200 countries and regions around the world, making other film companies drool with envy.
Zhang Hao has always wanted to make a big science fiction film project, but the domestic film market, although still growing, cannot support science fiction blockbusters with investments of hundreds of millions or even billions.
The success of people watching a movie depends only on its quality and reputation. The most important thing is whether it can make money.
The "Tiny Times" series of movies is so bad, even the kind of bad that will be recorded in the history of movies, but it cannot be said that it is not a successful movie series because it makes money.
If Zhang Hao hastily launched a science fiction film with a large investment, and then failed at the box office, it is conceivable that for a long time there will never be another domestic science fiction film in China.
Zhang Hao and Guo Fan discussed this issue many times, and the final result of the discussion was that we still need to wait.
But now, Zhang Hao suddenly saw a shortcut. Since the country can't support it for the time being, then go out and go to the vast global film market.
It couldn't be easier for the global film market to support a movie.
However, this also faces big problems.
For a long time, everyone has been focusing on developing themselves and working hard at home. Except for a few top directors, no one can even think of going abroad.
Filmmakers who tried to go global mainly focused on winning awards in the last century and won many awards, but to no avail.
After starting the road of domestic commercial blockbusters, films such as "Kung Fu", "Hero", "House of Flying Daggers", "The Promise", and "The Banquet" all tried to go out again.
But without exception, they have not achieved great success.
A small opening was opened, but it was quickly closed again.
Now, there is no need to make a small opening, the window can be opened directly, or even the opportunity to open the door is right in front of Zhang Hao.
Ever since, Zhang Hao, who was well prepared, answered Jeff Robinoff's question seriously: "In fact, after more than ten years, many viewers' bad impression of the Batman movie has been forgotten. I think it is a reboot.
good time."
"This has been discussed at the company's high-level meeting, but no one can make up their mind about what method and how to restart," said Jeff Robinov.
Zhang Hao continued: "I think the key now is not to be in a hurry. As an old Chinese saying goes, you can't eat hot tofu if you are anxious.
What your company should do now is to prepare for long-term planning. Many DC Comics heroes are higher than those of Marvel Comics. This is your advantage.
Use this advantage to build a superhero movie universe bit by bit with movies, TV series, and comics to form a powerful alliance."
"You mean, the League of Justice Heroes?" Jeff Robinoff became interested in Zhang Hao's suggestion and finally began to listen carefully.
Previously, he only gave a perfunctory interview to give director James Cameron a face. But he didn't expect that this young Chinese director was actually quite insightful and made some remarks that impressed him.
"That's right," Zhang Hao continued to add: "In fact, the reorganized Marvel Studios is following this route. I heard that "Avengers" has been finalized. Your company might as well take a look at the results."
What Zhang Hao was talking about is exactly the route that Marvel has been taking. It has indeed gone very well and developed very rapidly. Later it became a behemoth and has accumulated a large number of fans all over the world.
I still remember that later in China, Iron Man fans and Captain America fans were quarreling over the C position of the Avengers hero.
That's what Zhang Hao said. Zhang Hao didn't know whether people would listen to his opinions as an outsider.
After talking about some things about DC superhero movies, the topic turned back to Batman.
Jeff Robin cowardly asked Zhang Hao: "If you were asked to reboot Batman, what would you do?"
How to do it? Christopher Nolan has already set an example, and Zhang Hao just needs to copy it.
"If your company gives me the Batman series, I hope to create a new trilogy series.
This Batman story will not be integrated into the League of Justice Heroes, it will be more like a side story, and I will create the entire series of stories in a realistic way," Zhang Hao said.
In fact, Nolan's "Batman" series has broken away from the scope of the original comics and risen to a higher dimension.
But as a series of films, its degree of completion is already very high, and it is not suitable to be used as a stand-alone superhero movie in series with other movies like Marvel next door.
Zhang Hao said this with skill. If he came up and talked about how to serialize and how to promote Batman to lead the League of Justice Heroes, he would definitely be eliminated, and his words would not be taken to heart.
But this rhetoric of filming extra stories is easier for Warner Pictures to accept.
He is an outsider. If the movie fails, Warner Pictures can completely blame him and preserve the possibility of restarting the Batman movie.
Jeff Robinoff was very interested in how Zhang Hao told a Batman extra story, and continued to ask: "How to create this film in a realistic way?"
Zhang Hao took a sip of coffee and frowned. He still felt that tea tasted better.
Seeing this, Jeff Robinov told his secretary: "Go get my tea leaves and exchange them for Mr. Zhang Hao's tea."
The secretary said yes and replaced Zhang Hao's coffee with tea. Zhang Hao took a sip and raised his eyebrows: "Mingqian Longjing tea, authentic Chinese product."
Jeff Robinov smiled and said: "This is a gift from a friend of mine. He has been to China. It is a beautiful and vast country with an ancient and glorious civilization."
It’s okay to just listen to this. It’s commonly known as business bragging, but it would be bad if taken seriously.
Zhang Hao took a sip of tea and then said: "Batman is Batman in the comics, but no one has ever thought about why he became Batman and what happened.
So, if I took over, I would tell his origin story and how Bruce Wayne became a crime-fighting superhero."
Zhang Hao told Jeff Robinov his general idea, and Jeff Robinov frowned.
Frankly speaking, the general story told by Zhang Hao is good, but is this approach really suitable for Batman? Jeff Robinoff expressed doubts.
At the end of this discussion, which was almost like an interview, Jeff Robinov did not make any clear commitment on the spot.
It is also impossible for him to promise to use Zhang Hao as director, which requires the approval of the board of directors.
However, Jeff Robinoff also said that he would discuss Zhang Hao's thoughts on the reboot of Batman and his thoughts on the DC superhero movie universe with the group company.
After finishing his time at Warner Pictures, Zhang Hao also left North America and returned to China.
Because Zhang Hao stayed in the United States for almost ten days, many preparations for "The Butterfly Effect" have not been able to proceed smoothly.
Although Zhang Hao directed the preparatory work through telephone and video calls, he was not present in person, and there were many situations that Zhang Hao was unable to control.
If the preparatory work of the film is not good, many uncontrollable problems will be encountered during filming.
As an experienced director, Zhang Hao will try his best to avoid such a situation.
His flight back to China landed in Beijing. Although the excitement of winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film had gradually faded away, more than a thousand movie fans still came to pick him up.
When Zhang Hao walked out, all the movie fans gathered around him. Seeing that something was not going well, the airport security quickly protected Zhang Hao and let Zhang Hao go through the VIP channel first.
Zhang Hao is a good person, although he also wants to enjoy the feeling of being a star and being surrounded by fans. But once he is surrounded by movie fans, according to the nature of Chinese people who love to join in the fun, he will not even think about leaving the airport today.
However, Zhang Hao was thinking that he would arrange for Tang Qianqian to be responsible for contacting the movie fan groups when he went back, so that he would be in contact with the movie fan groups for any future events.
If the fan group can be managed well, it will be very beneficial to Zhang Hao's future career development.
Ye Xiaoyi, Jiang Zhicheng, and Wu Dazhuan were also in the group of movie fans picking up the movie. They watched Zhang Hao walk away under the escort of security. Ye Xiaoyi was disappointed for a while, she was still thinking about getting autographs and taking photos!
Jiang Zhicheng looked at Zhang Hao's hurried away figure and sighed: "Director Zhang Hao is becoming more and more like a film master."
Wu Dazhuan on the side snorted coldly: "Didn't you look down on our domestic directors before?"
"My opinion has not changed at all. Domestic film directors are indeed a mess, but Zhang Hao is different.
I never liked it, then saw it, then understood it, and now I have become a fan of director Zhang Hao." Jiang Zhicheng told his own journey.
Although they couldn't get an autograph, everyone was very satisfied to see Zhang Hao in person.
After Zhang Hao returned home to catch up on the jet lag, he continued to devote himself to work.
First of all, "A Little Thing About First Love" is officially finished. This is Guo Fan's second film, so Zhang Hao attaches great importance to it.
In a specially held internal preview, "A Little Thing About First Love" received unanimous praise, and the film has been officially scheduled to be released in theaters in May.
Because of the craze for youth films set off by "The Girl We Chased Together", everyone is still optimistic about the prospects of "A Little Thing About First Love" in theaters.
From now on, Guo Fan will lead the male and female protagonists to start publicity work one after another to do enough publicity work for the release of the film.
Apart from that, he is the candidate for the male lead of "The Butterfly Effect".
This aspect of work is more important to Zhang Hao, and for male stars in the industry who are interested in this, it is the most important job at the moment.
Hearing that Zhang Hao's new play was about to start casting, Deng Chao, Huang Xiaoming, Guo Tao, and even Hua Tsai, who had worked with Zhang Hao, all came to ask if there were any opportunities to continue working together.
Chen Kun, Lu Yi, Tong Dawei, Wen Zhang, Huang Bo and other male stars who have not worked with Zhang Hao are interested in participating in his project as a new Oscar-winning director.
Huang Bo said that it doesn't matter how much the salary is, he just values the opportunity to cooperate with Zhang Hao.
Unknowingly, Zhang Hao has reached the point where he can allow star actors to star in films for a reduced salary, which is a considerable improvement.