Because they had to film Whoopi Goldberg's scenes, the crew came to the Bronx in New York. If Manhattan is the rich area of New York, then this is the slums of New York.
This is also the area with the highest crime rate in New York. Of course, all this is related to the residents here, who are a gathering place for black people.
But even so, there is still a stadium here that New Yorkers like very much, which is the home of the New York Yankees of the Major League Baseball League.
There are four major professional sports leagues in North America, namely the American Football League, the American Professional Baseball League, the American Professional Basketball League, and the National Hockey League.
For domestic audiences, the most familiar one is the NBA, but in North America, the NBA actually only ranks third among the four major professional leagues, behind the American Football League NFL and the American Professional Baseball League MLB.
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The NFL's Super Bowl is the most grand event for Americans. At the same time, the Super Bowl is also known as the "American Spring Festival Gala".
So many friends will see that whenever the Super Bowl is held, countless celebrities will go to watch it. At the same time, the singers who can sing at the Super Bowl are also the most popular singers in North America that year. However, this tradition has not always existed.
Before the 1990s, there were actually very few celebrities participating in the Super Bowl halftime show. Most of them were performances by performing arts organizations and lacked attention. However, with the development of the Super Bowl, the halftime show has begun to focus more on inviting popular singers to appear.
Michael Jackson performed at the 1993 Super Bowl halftime show, causing a huge sensation.
Later, the Super Bowl halftime show also became a stage for many production companies to release trailers for their new movies, and many blockbusters will release trailers for their new movies here.
But even so, the salary of NBA players is the highest among the four major professional leagues. This is why many players are both basketball players and rugby players in college, but finally choose to join the NBA.
The most famous among them is Allen Iverson. In high school, Allen Iverson was definitely a double superstar in football and basketball. He first led his high school football team to win the Virginia high school championship as a quarterback, and then
He also led the school basketball team to win the same honor.
When the crew comes here to shoot, they naturally have to strengthen some security measures, so during filming, you will see a dozen big men in black standing outside the studio to guard the safety and equipment of the crew.
The presence of these big men is enough to intimidate some young people here.
Fortunately, all the exterior scenes were shot here this time. As for the interior scenes, we still had to go back to the studio in Los Angeles to shoot them.
It was a huge challenge for the crew to shoot outdoor scenes here, but for Whoopi Goldberg, it felt like returning to her own home.
During the filming break, Whoopi Goldberg smiled and said to Wu Jianye: "Director Wu, don't worry, the people here are actually very friendly."
Wu Jianye laughed and said nothing. If the people here were friendly, there would probably be no unfriendly people in the entire United States.
But of course it was impossible to say these words to Whoopi Goldberg, otherwise no matter how much she admired Wu Jianye, she would probably have to label Wu Jianye as racist.
There are some pitfalls that you are not allowed to enter in the United States, such as the so-called racial discrimination, sexism, various animal protection associations, etc.
As one of the largest racial groups in the United States, black people take the so-called racial discrimination very seriously. If they get involved in these things, no matter who they are, they will lose their skin!
Why were the Los Angeles Clippers sold to Ballmer in later generations? Wasn't it because the previous owner made such remarks in private and then was exposed? Then they were boycotted by the entire North America. There was no choice but to sell the Clippers.
Fleet sold to Ballmer.
In fact, this also illustrates in another aspect how serious a problem racial discrimination is in North America. If it is not serious, it will not be resisted by these people.
Sometimes Wu Jianye wonders how these ethnic groups who are discriminated against outside become honored guests in China.
Maybe it's because they are discriminated against by black people here. In America, yellow people are not treated as well as black people...
Even though Wu Jianye mobilized a large number of security guards, in the end the crew still lost one piece of equipment, which gave Wu Jianye a headache.
"How come the camera was lost? What do you do for food?" Wu Jianye looked at the security guard responsible for guarding the equipment angrily.
The security guard also looked aggrieved: "Director Wu, we don't know either. We just went to the toilet and lost it when we came back."
Fortunately, the lost camera was only a backup and did not affect the shooting.
"Director Wu, why don't we call the police?" the security guard continued.
Wu Jianye looked at him as if he were an idiot and said, "Is it useful?"
The security guard stopped talking.
There are dozens of cases like this happening almost every day in the Bronx, and it is estimated that not even one or two cases can be solved.
Whoopi Goldberg walked over with a smile and said, "Director Wu, why not leave this matter to me."
Wu Jianye glanced at Whoopi Goldberg, and then said: "Forget it, don't take any risks!"
Whoopi Goldberg said: "Don't worry, there will be no problem!"
After saying that, Whoopi Goldberg walked out. From far away, Wu Jianye saw Whoopi Goldberg playing a hand gesture exclusive to black people with several black people on the street. After a while, Whoopi Goldberg
DePauw came back smiling.
"Director Wu, we've negotiated and someone will send it over in a moment!"
Wu Jianye nodded and didn't ask Whoopi Goldberg how he did it. He just asked someone to bring some money and said, "Here they come, give the money to the other party!"
When Whoopi Goldberg saw Wu Jianye doing this, the smile on his face became even more enthusiastic.
"Thank you, Director Wu."
Director Wu chuckled. The filming in the Bronx would take two days. Wu Jianye did this just because he didn't want such a problem to happen again.
After a while, a few black people came over and brought a video camera to them. After they got the money, they happily talked to Whoopi Goldberg before leaving.
After these people left, Whoopi Goldberg found Wu Jianye with a smile: "Director Wu, the matter has been settled. There will be no more trouble with our crew in the past two days!"
Wu Jianye nodded.
At this time, Wu Jianye suddenly saw a car driving over. After stopping outside the set, an old white man in his sixties wearing glasses got out. He was a little thin, but his steps were steady.
"Why is he here?" Wu Jianye said curiously after seeing the old man, but still walked over.
"Lee! Welcome, welcome!"
The person who came was none other than Stan Lee, the soul of Marvel.
When Stan Lee saw Wu Jianye, he also smiled and said: "I've wanted to meet Director Wu for a long time, so I naturally came over quickly when I got the chance!"
Although at the beginning of this year, Wall Street capitalist Ronald Perelman bought Marvel Entertainment Group from New World Pictures for US$82.5 million.
But within Marvel, Stan Lee still has a strong influence. Stan Lee joined Marvel at the age of 16. According to statistics, more than half of the superheroes were born in the hands of Stan Lee, including "The Fantastic Four"
, "Hulk", "Spider-Man", "Iron Man" and other classic superhero comic characters.
Moreover, Stan Lee is still the publisher and chairman of Marvel. Even though Ronald Perelman is now the actual controller of Marvel, Stan Lee must be given some face within Marvel.
As for the later years when the Marvel Universe was rampant in the film industry, Stan Lee was actually no longer the chairman of Marvel. In 1998, he had resigned from all his positions at Marvel and founded Stan Lee Media Company.
Wu Jianye glanced at the time and said: "The crew will still need some time to shoot. If you are not in a hurry, Li, you might as well wait for a while!"
As mentioned before, Wu Jianye will not be disturbed by external events when filming, so even if Stan Lee shows up in advance, Wu Jianye will not change his rules for him.
Stan Lee smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I just want to see Director Wu filming the movie!"
Wu Jianye nodded, and asked Stan Lee to sit aside to rest, and then started the rest of today's filming. The filming in the Bronx will be completed within these two days, so many scenes were shot while dancing, but this time
This kind of thing is nothing new for the crew, and everyone is filming in an orderly manner.
In the middle of the filming, Wu Jianye came to Stan Lee and said with a smile: "Li, you have a supporting role, are you interested in trying it?"
Upon hearing this, Stan Lee showed an interested smile: "Is that okay?"
Wu Jianye smiled and said: "Of course, it's just a shot of a few seconds."
Stan Lee, who is known as the cameo maniac, doesn't care about the importance of the role at all, he just likes this feeling, so when Wu Jianye said that it was just a shot of a few seconds, he was not unhappy and immediately laughed: "No
Question, then I’ll change my clothes now!”
Wu Jianye smiled and asked the costume designer of the crew to bring over the costumes that had been prepared for Stan Lee. Stan Lee excitedly put on the costumes and came to the camera at Wu Jianye's request.
This scene was actually improvised, and the character played by Stan Lee was actually a ghost who had a brief meeting and a line with Sam, played by Mel Gibson.
The shots were shot quickly. Although Stan Lee is not a professional actor, this kind of thing is not difficult for him, as long as he performs his true character.
After shooting this scene, today's filming is basically over. However, a large part of the filming in the Bronx was in the evening scenes. These shooting times were written in the contract, so there was no talk on stage or behind the scenes.
What, when the shooting was over, everyone started getting ready to go back to the hotel.
Wu Jianye returned to Manhattan with Stan Lee. The two found a cafe. After sitting down, Stan Lee talked about Marvel.
"Director Wu, I heard that Phantom Entertainment is very interested in Marvel superheroes recently!" Stan Lee said straightforwardly.
It is no longer news that Phantom Entertainment has bought the copyrights of "Fantastic Four" and "Spider-Man", but now the copyrights of Marvel's superheroes are not important news in Hollywood, plus Phantom Entertainment
The big news is the cooperation with Fengge Media.
Naturally, this piece of news did not attract other people's attention.
"Yes, in fact, Phantom Entertainment is not only interested in Marvel's superheroes, but also very interested in Marvel as a whole. If possible, Phantom Entertainment hopes to buy the entire Marvel!" Wu Jianye also said.
Without any courtesy, he directly explained his plan to Stan Lee.
In fact, in the United States, DC Comics has always been the one that stabilizes Marvel, but it is a pity that DC is now in the hands of Warner. Warner has great wealth and has always regarded DC as its strategic reserve, and it is impossible to sell it.
Marvel is different. Although their copyrights are chaotic, it is precisely because of the chaos that they are internally unstable and more conducive to acquisitions.
From the perspective of future generations, the Marvel Universe is indeed powerful enough, but it is precisely because the Marvel Universe started to build its own Marvel Universe in a desperate manner when it was first founded.
When it comes to comic book adaptation, DC has always gone their own way. In addition, Nolan's "Batman" trilogy is so successful that DC wants to film in accordance with the dark style of "Batman" and also
Wanting to imitate the comic style of the Marvel universe ended up being different. In addition, DC was eager for success and did not have a complete plan like Marvel, which kept DC lagging behind Marvel.
If the DC Universe starts to be laid out in this era, it is very likely that it will surpass the Marvel Universe in the future.
But all this can only be a fantasy, unless Wu Jianye acquires Warner now, but this is basically impossible.
Stan Lee was very surprised when he heard Wu Jianye say that Phantom Entertainment wanted to acquire the entire Marvel, but then he showed a helpless expression.
The surprise is because Phantom Entertainment is a popular player among Hollywood production companies. If Marvel is acquired by it, there will be real hope for bringing Marvel heroes to the big screen that I have always dreamed of.
In fact, Stan Lee has been working toward such a goal. Marvel's first wave of selling heroes was completed under his leadership.
At that time, stimulated by the box office of "Superman" 1 and 2, how could Marvel not be jealous. However, at that time, DC had been acquired by Warner. With the backing of big mountains, they had deep pockets and naturally had no worries about making movies. But Marvel
Marvel Studios is just a subsidiary of New World Pictures, an independent production company. At most, it helps Marvel build publicity and marketing, and builds connections in the film industry. It doesn't have the funds to make movies.
Therefore, if Marvel wants to make a movie, it can only discuss it with other movie companies. If the latter has the intention to make a movie, then the characters must be licensed to the other party. This is the origin of "selling heroes."
Now that Phantom Entertainment is interested in Marvel, he is naturally happy.
But what worries me is that Marvel just changed owners at the beginning of the year, and now even if he wants to buy it, he can't make the decision!