"What surprised me was that Warner easily accepted Zach's shooting idea of ​​not using a top star to produce "Watchmen"?"

"This is the reality they have to face. "Watchmen" is a group comic, Night Owl, Silk Ghost, Laughing, Rorschach, Pharaoh, Dr. Manhattan, etc. Each character has its own position. Moreover, this is not a traditional superhero movie. It cannot be clearly divided into two groups for simplification. It can only be filmed according to the group drama idea. Since it is a group drama, considering the balance of characters and of course, there are cost factors, Warner is only willing to give 100 million US dollars, so he can only abandon the first-line stars and adopt second- and third-line actors in a unified manner."

Shuving through a Lincoln luxury car in Beverly Hills Road, Lena Kane and Annika Settle are discussing the "Watchmen" project that has just been finalized at noon.

It was around six o'clock in the afternoon.

The sun sets.

The evening was the premiere of "The Conjuring 4". It started at seven o'clock, and the red carpet ceremony was one hour ahead of time. Lina finished her day's work and rushed to another residence in Beverly Hills. She made a simple preparation with Annika, who also returned, and set off again to the Hollywood Chinese Theater.

I planned to join in the fun of the red carpet and specially prepared an extended Lincoln.

After taking the waitress and eating it in the platter of cut fruits in the carriage, Annika continued, "It's the length of time. Actually, I occasionally think that it might be better to make "Watcher" into a TV series?"

Lina also ate the fruit that the waitress held with a toothpick, shook her head and said, "Even if HBO is at a disadvantage in the competition with DHO, Warner will not be willing to waste such a super-English brand to make TV series. After all, it is the first superhero comic to win the Hugo Award. However, the duration is to be determined. After all, Zach only has one general idea now, and the script has not yet been written."

Lina didn't say it clearly, but Annika could guess some of the spring and autumn styles of the two sides when they negotiated.

According to Zach Schneider's idea, the duration of "Watchman" will be basically determined for about 3 hours, which is a point that major studios are difficult to accept. Therefore, we will not be so stupid that we just told Warner that I want to make the 3-hour theater version.

This is how Hollywood is. The producers and filmmakers often fool each other and make trouble.

Without too much trouble with this, Annika quickly smiled and said, "In any case, you can bring some people into such a large group drama project that has a high attention."

Lina also smiled: "I can't eat it myself. I talked to Joe in the afternoon. WMA will hold a special party on weekends. He also asked his assistant to buy 100 copies of "Watchmen" and post them everywhere."

The ‘Joe’ that Lena mentioned is naturally the current WMA leader Jonathan Friedman.

When Annika heard Lena say this, she nodded, and remembered another thing: "After so many years, hasn't Jonathan ever thought about becoming an executive in a big studio? He has such a great advantage?"

Hollywood's pyramid of power, in the 1980s, CAA, which created a new model, temporarily gained the upper hand, but in the 1990s, with the arrival of the wave of media group integration, it returned to the leading position of studios.

Speaking of which, in the capital society, how to judge who is at the top of the Hollywood pyramid only needs to look at one indicator: income!

Whether you make more money, you actually have greater hidden power. Therefore, in the original time and space, Steven Spielberg, who earned billions of dollars in net worth purely through movies, has always been the leader of Hollywood, and his status is unshakable.

At present, after the media group completed the major integration, it entered the studio as an executive. Compared with the 1980s and even earlier, through multiple channels such as basic salary, project sharing and equity incentives, as long as the results are acceptable, the annual income of studio executives of tens of millions of dollars is easy, so it is more than that of most first-tier stars whose income is not stable.

The status rose accordingly.

Compared to the past when studio executives could only play service roles behind big stars, current studio executives, backed by big capital groups, have increased their initiative more than a little.

Besides, Jonathan Friedman is moving towards a high place. With the other party’s accumulation over the years, he continues to stay at the head of the WMA. Even the world’s largest brokerage company seems a little less motivated.

Lina obviously considered this issue and knew that her best friend would not understand it at all. She just said, "The timing is wrong and there is no suitable place."

Jonathan Friedman's biggest reliance is the private friendship he established with Simon.

If you want to maintain this connection, you can actually choose only three companies. Well, after the merger of Fox and MGM, there are only two companies left, Daenerys and Fox, and the others, jump over and become competitors immediately.

Even if a man has a broad mind and doesn't mind Jonathan as an executive at other studios, it's certainly limited to "not minding" this, and it's impossible to do so any more.

Without Westeros' connections and even becoming a de facto competitor, it is hard to say that Jonathan Friedman will make any big contributions at that time.

In this case, staying in your current position is the best choice.

The two girls chatted casually, lengthening Lincoln and winding down the mountain, unconsciously sailing into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

A huge movie poster flashed across the roadside building.

Under the gloomy dark tones, the shadow of the God of Reaper holding a sickle enveloped the Warrens and the other supporting characters in the series. At the bottom is the complete movie title under the Blood Drop Effect font, "Soul Conjuring 4: Death".

The two girls looked over together, and when the poster passed by and looked back, the topic naturally turned to the next topic. Annika said: "This time the production cost is 65 million, and the total cost is 90 million US dollars. It is really amazing for a horror film. Our "Horror Cruise" is, well, so pitiful."

The $65 million production cost of "Soul Conjuring 4" has become a marketing point for the film in advance. Compared with the genre, the bombshell level expenses are too high.

This is the result of the negotiations between Daenerys and a group of creators after the tug-of-war.

After all, the global box office of "Soul Conjuring 3" reached US$398 million. Even though the total investment in production and promotion of the third part has reached a very high US$75 million, not to mention the subsequent rich peripheral channel revenue, it only brought Daenerys a return of more than US$90 million in theaters during the release stage.

Therefore, Matthew Modion and Julian Moore, who originally played the Warrens, both hoped to receive a maximum salary of $15 million. If an agreement was reached, the pay for only two people would cost $30 million.

Compared with the "Soul Conjuring" series, the benefits are actually not high.

Simon did not approve it.

Because once the two people pay 30 million, considering the overall increase in the production specifications of other production members and even the film production specifications, it means that the budget for this sequel project will be pushed to more than 70 million US dollars, and the total investment in production and promotion in the future will definitely exceed 100 million US dollars.

According to the box office level of the third part, even if Daenerys is still profitable, a horror film with limited market size after all is to be precisely difficult to break through the global box office ceiling of 500 million to reach such a budget level, which is really not in line with Simon's cost control concept.

Since the boss doesn't agree, the maximum salary will certainly not be achieved.

Moreover, with Daenerys Entertainment's current status in Hollywood and the confidence to have many other high-quality projects without having to bother with one or two movies, it is not polite to refuse.

In the end, the two protagonists who hope to get more profits from this series make concessions.

The two did not take risks between the 8 million basic salary given by Daenerys and the global box office gross profit share and another fixed pay of 12 million yuan. Instead, they chose the latter to make a profit. Because of the concessions from the two main creators, the budget of the entire project was successfully reduced to less than $70 million that Simon could barely accept, reaching 65 million.

Moreover, there is another condition for this pay, that is, the two main creators signed two packaged film contracts at one time under the same conditions, so Daenerys could finalize "Soul Conjuring 5" in advance.

This mainly stems from Daenerys' follow-up plan for the Soul Conjuring Series.

The fourth part of this time is the full name "Soul Conjuring 4: Death", and the fifth part is "Soul Conjuring 5: Hell".

Then, the Warrens will exit the Conjuring Movie Universe series.

Considering the cost, reputation, and distribution resources, we will no longer imagine the sixth part. After all, breaking through the Hollywood trilogy curse is already very rare for this series. If you forcefully continue, the comprehensive cost and risk will only get higher and higher, and the gain will not be worth the loss.

Besides, "Horror Cruise", led by two girls and starring Kate Beckinsale, one of the "Charlie's Angels", started painting last Friday. The results can only be said to be expected, with no surprises or disappointments.

As for the crushing "Soul Conjuring 4: Death", there is no idea of ​​targeting it.

Lina was not worried: "The size difference is so big and the type is different, so there will not be too obvious impact, and the impact will only be earlier old films. In turn, I think the movie viewing craze driven by "Soul Conjuring 4: Death" can stimulate the box office of "Horror Cruise" to a certain extent, so that we can follow behind and get some small advantages."

"I hope," Annika agreed in a prayer letter, and said, "Do you think this local box office of the soul-summoning sequel can reach 200 million?"

Lina shook her head: "To be honest, I think the third part is already the pinnacle of the soul-summoning movie universe and is difficult to surpass. Since the third part fails to break through the local 200 million, this sequel... well, we can only expect it to bring surprises."

Annika, however, did not have the pessimism of Lena, and said, "Simon personally checked it, and this time the god of death appeared, I believe it will definitely be more exciting."

As soon as he arrived at his destination, Lina took the wipes handed over by the waitress and wiped her fingers. She hesitated a little and said, "I think the problem happens to be here. Regarding the element of death, specific, well, I have been thinking about it recently, but I can't catch some key points..."

Annika was even more confused: "What?"

"Maybe we will know after it is released," Lina shrugged: "Anyway, about the box office, like Schrödinger's cat, no one can tell it clearly before the box is opened."

Lina couldn't even understand, and Annika followed her and thoughts, of course there was no result, so she could only temporarily press down on her thoughts.

Lincoln was lengthened to approach the Chinese Theater, and there were more and more people on both sides of the road.

A voice came.

The two of them looked at one side of the road at the same time, and a group of people shouting slogans were clearly holding various signs. The more eye-catching were some of the posters and related stills of "Soul Conjuring 3: Blood Moon". The signs were "Anti-abortion", "Abortion angered gods", "Don't let your child cry under the Blood Moon" and other words.

The two girls didn't know how to comment for a while.

Obviously, this is another continuation of the influence of "Soul Conjuring 3: Blood Moon". Because of the plot at that time, the film became an anti-abortion propaganda film that was publicly supported by major anti-abortion organizations and even churches around the world.

According to statistics from all aspects at that time, for a long time after the release of "Soul Conjuring 3: Blood Moon", abortion cases in all countries and regions where the movie was released showed a very significant decline.

It's really scary.

Speaking of which, why are similar videos prohibited across the ocean?

In addition to the conceptual factors, there is another most important reason, which is that many ordinary people will take things in film and television dramas seriously, and thus have many unpredictable social impacts.

Actually, it's the same everywhere.

The result is that no one wants a miscarriage to turn into a ghost baby to find him, and naturally he becomes very cautious about something.

As for the fact that "Soul Conjuring 3: Blood Moon" has become an anti-abortion promotional video, Daenerys doesn't really want to see it.

Too easy to cause controversy.

Therefore, after Daenerys communicated with the main creators, both the two protagonists, Matthew Modion and Julian Moore, some other main supporting roles, and even the main creators behind the scenes, they all rejected various invitations from relevant anti-abortion organizations, and at the public level, they also avoided similar topics as much as possible.

Lincoln luxury car began to slow down, slowly sliding through the dense crowd of moviegoers, approaching the red carpet area.

The two maids in the car stepped forward to help Lina do the final dress check. Annika remembered the crowd just now, and she had another thought and smiled and said, "I guess the two presidential candidates are going to be asked about abortion recently. I wonder how they will express their opinions?"

Today is October 25th, and there are exactly two weeks left before the election vote on November 7th.

Lina raised her foot and put on the high heels given by the waitress, stepped on her and said, "The attitude is certain. However, it may be detrimental to Gore if he really raises the topic."

The final sprint of the election was relatively tug-of-war and was basically inclined to conservative states in the central and southern regions.

The attitudes of these states and counties towards abortion are self-evident.

Therefore, the relevant topics really need to be picked up, which will only allow more conservative residents in these states and counties to participate in the voting, and it will inevitably be the Republican Party that tends to ban abortions.

The two girls are actually not the kind of people who care too much about politics. When Lincoln is mentioned casually, they will cheer up when they are extended.

The driver opened the car door and the two women got out of the car. In the lively atmosphere brought by the fans on both sides, he stepped side by side on the red carpet ceremony that had begun for some time.

The final creator of the Soul Conjuring Series has not yet appeared, and two groups of guests are walking on the red carpet.

Beside is Brad Pitt, the superman actor of the DC Cinema Universe, and another girlfriend. The first "Justice League" will be released next month's Thanksgiving period, and the frequency of appearances of the DC series' superhero actors has increased significantly in the recent past.

Then came one of the former judges of the reality show "American Idol", the Latin female singer Jennifer Lopez, whose popularity has dropped rapidly since the fourth season was removed. The other party was wearing a big red floor-drag dress today, which looked very solemn, which also caused the fans on both sides to cheer after "Superman".

Lina and Annika, who were wearing light-weight dresses, kept a distance on the red carpet. Seeing Lopez stopping in the media area and taking photos, she could only slow down and couldn't help but communicate with her eyes.

Lina thinks that this Latin female singer performed quite well in "American Idol". She was obviously chosen as a vase, but she still attracted a lot of attention. Unfortunately, she was the only judge who was replaced in the fourth season, and the two young male and female singers under Daenerys Records were replaced.
To be continued...