Staying in the hilltop mansion in the small town of Cannes, Simon has gradually sorted out his shooting ideas for "Batman" these days.

In the preliminary plan, a trilogy of "Batman" single-player films will be produced first, with the names following Nolan's "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight" and "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises." However,

, in terms of content, Simon plans to adopt a completely different plot setting and pave the way for the entire DC movie universe through appropriate interplay with the "Superman" series.

If we want to realize the movie universe plan, the beginning of the first episode of "Batman" is crucial.

Simon actually has a shortcut that is sure to succeed, which is to make the Joker the villain of the first film. As Batman’s greatest enemy, and also the most popular villain in the Batman series, in the original time and space, Tim Burton and Christopher

·The two pinnacle works of Nolan's two major versions of the "Batman" series both feature the Joker as the antagonist. The Joker, Batman's lifelong enemy, indeed has irreplaceable popularity and status both in comics and in reality.

However, after repeated consideration, Simon gave up this idea.

When the Joker is used, the first film must have a matching atmospheric pattern. If the starting point of the story is too high, it will be difficult for the sequel to satisfy the audience's appetite, and repeatedly saving Gotham and the world can easily cause aesthetic fatigue. Therefore, Simon plans to

Put the Joker as the final boss of the trilogy in the last episode.

As for the current opening chapter, Simon does not intend to spend too much time telling the story of Bruce Wayne's transformation into Batman. Instead, it starts with the process of Batman getting along with the entire city after he started to do heroic deeds.

The sudden appearance of a vigilante in Sin City, the reaction and response of various classes such as the people, media, officials, criminals, etc. At the same time, these branches will revolve around the main story line of a high-concept model of justice defeating evil. The villain appears, Bat

The hero defeated the villain and began to gain recognition from the city, and the story ended.

Simon is hiding in Cannes to write the script of "Batman". In North America, this year's summer movie season will officially start in May.

On May 13, Paramount launched the seventh sequel of the classic horror film series "Friday the 13th". It opened on 1,796 screens that Simon envied, and earned US$9.8 million in the first week. Although the box office was far from the production volume

However, compared to the ultra-low production cost of the film of only US$2.8 million, Paramount recouped most of its production and publicity budget in the first week.

Apart from "Friday the 13th: 7", the other two new films from independent producers did not make any waves. The second-ranked film was "When Harry Met Sally", which is also "When Harry Met Sally".

Eight weeks after its large-scale opening, it has officially been squeezed into the top spot at the box office next week.

In its tenth week of release, "When Harry Met Sally" collected another US$6.13 million, with a cumulative box office of US$90.12 million, and it continues to move towards the 100 million yuan mark without any suspense.

Although Hollywood has always been envious of Daenerys Pictures for producing the first film to break $100 million in box office in 1988, Simon was not satisfied with this achievement. Paramount can provide a horror film with a production cost of only $2.8 million.

The film is scheduled to open on nearly 1,800 screens. During the entire release process of "When Harry Met Sally," the number of screens failed to exceed 1,500. In the first few weeks of the golden box office harvest period, the number of screening screens for the film was only

With just over 1,000 yuan, Simon felt strongly that the traditional forces of Hollywood were deeply wary and restrictive of late comers.

If "When Harry Met Sally" can get enough screen resources, the movie's box office will definitely have exceeded the 100 million yuan threshold, instead of being stuck at the current embarrassing figure of 90 million U.S. dollars. Although it will not be difficult to exceed 100 million U.S. dollars in the future

, but with the arrival of a series of new movies in the summer, the release scale and subsequent box office of "When Harry Met Sally" are destined to shrink rapidly.

Immediately afterwards.

On May 20, the first big-budget movie of the summer season "The Gathering" hit theaters. This medieval fantasy film based on Western mythology was jointly produced by MGM and Lucasfilm and used a large number of industrial materials.

The most advanced special effects technology from Light and Magic Studios.

However, the reputation of this big-budget film, which cost 35 million U.S. dollars, was not satisfactory. "Variety" magazine commented that it was "a medieval version of "Star Wars" mixed with a lot of myths and fables. The story is old-fashioned and lacks innovation."

Due to the negative outlook on the film's prospects, the distributor MGM only arranged 1,024 opening screens for "The Gathering", which is not even as good as "Friday the 13th: 7", let alone the upcoming "Crocodile Dundee"

2" and "Rabo 3", according to the publisher's public data, these two heavyweight new films are expected to open on 2,800 and 2,500 screens respectively. Such opening scale once again shows that full distribution

The era has finally come.

Unfortunately, as the most watched new film this summer, "Pulp Fiction" is expected to open on only 1,500 screens. Simon has nothing to do about this, because this is already the limit of the screens that Orion Pictures can use.

.

Moreover, the critical reputation of "Pulp Fiction" has been constantly changing in the period since its premiere in Cannes. The change in media trends in North America has been particularly obvious. Many well-known film critics have criticized the film's excessive violence and Simon's use of various

Plagiarism of classic films.

The reason for this situation is actually obvious. Too many people don't want to see "Pulp Fiction" be too successful.

Simon also had no way of finding out which party was causing the obstruction.

The release date of "Pulp Fiction" is June 3. The week before, Paramount Pictures' "Crocodile Dundee 2" and "Rambo 3" produced by Columbia Pictures' Tristar label were released at the same time.

There will be Fox's "Future" and Warner's "Farm", followed by Disney's "Four Girls, Two Moms" in the following week, Paramount's "Private Base", and MGM's "The Haunted 3"

.

In the past three weeks, only six of the seven major film companies have released new films. Even in the most popular schedules, the total box office in a single week is actually fixed. If you get more, others will naturally get less.

In this case, "Pulp Fiction" happens to be the most eye-catching among a bunch of new films. Even Simon himself will not hesitate to beat the competition if possible.

Realizing this situation, Simon is no longer so optimistic about the awards results of this film festival. Neither Simon himself nor Orion can compete with the entire Hollywood Seven in terms of network resources. Others may just make a phone call, and the awards may

There is no more.

It was not until May 22, the day before the closing ceremony of the film festival, that the organizer officially sent an application to retain the winning crew. It was not until he actually received the notice from the organizer that Simon felt completely relieved.

Monday, May 23rd.

On the last day of the film festival, the main activity during the day was the re-screening of all the films nominated in the main competition. At the same time, information about the retained crew also appeared in the local Cannes media.

Among the 21 films in the main competition, the crews of 5 films have been retained, namely Simon's "Pulp Fiction", Clint Eastwood's "Parker", and Kieslowski's "The Killing".

"Short Film", Fernando Solanas' "South" and Chris Menges' "The World of Quarantine".

Among the five films, the one with the highest demand for the Palme d'Or is Kieslowski's "Killer". Prior to this, this film had already won the FIPRESCI Award in the main competition, which was awarded by the International Association of Film Critics.

An award that is completely independent of the film festival organizers and acts like a weathervane.

As for the six major awards of "Pulp Fiction", the Palme d'Or, the Jury Prize, the Jury Prize, the Best Actor, the Best Actress and the Best Director, the outside world generally believes that the possibility of the Palme d'Or is unlikely, and the acting awards are even more

No chance, the jury is unlikely to award the best director to Simon, a young man who is just twenty years old.

Then, the final result will probably only be the Jury Prize or the Jury Prize.

It's approaching seven o'clock in the afternoon.

Outside the Palais des Cinemas on the seaside of Cannes, compared to the bright stars at the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony was much deserted.

The crew of "Pulp Fiction" received a retention notice yesterday, and John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Nicole Kidman, who had already left Cannes, flew over from the United States again. Others such as Robert De

Nile, Robert Redford, Madonna and Sean Penn did not attend the closing ceremony for various reasons.

Speaking of which, the fundamental purpose of this trip is to promote the movie, and Orion will definitely have to bear the expenses. Simon's private jet bill will also be sent to Orion in the future. Of course, the mountaintop mansion in Le Canet is not something Orion can afford.

get up.

Simon and his entourage rushed outside the Cinema Palace. The closing red carpet ceremony was coming to an end. Everyone quickly passed through the media channel and entered the Rubiel Hall in the Cinema Palace.

Perhaps it was a deliberate arrangement by the organizers that the seats of the crew of "Pulp Fiction" are adjacent to the crew of "The Gathering". This special effects film led by Lucasfilm will be the closing film of this film festival.

However, Simon did not see George Lucas. Only Ron Howard, the director of "The Gathering" and the leading actors and actresses Val Kilmer and Joni Whalley attended the closing ceremony.

After opening last Friday, due to poor word-of-mouth reviews, "The Gathering" only received US$8.3 million at the box office in the first three days of the weekend, far below the producer's expectations. The film can only look forward to subsequent distribution through various channels to recover the expensive production and publicity costs.

cost.

Simon has actually been paying attention to "The Gathering". Such a movie that uses the most advanced special effects technology of this era can provide him with a lot of reference for making "Batman".

Moreover, Simon was also very interested in Ron Howard, a commercial film director who was a level below Spielberg but very diverse. The two took advantage of the short leisure before the ceremony to chat for a while and even exchanged business cards.

At seven o'clock in the evening.

The closing ceremony of the 41st Cannes Film Festival officially begins.

The host was still Matilda May at the opening ceremony, and the atmosphere of the awards ceremony was as meticulous as the opening ceremony.

After Matilda May's emotional speech, the guests came to the stage and were first awarded the 'Technical Grand Prize'. Yes, the name of the award is called the Technical Grand Prize (technical-grand-prize). This is also one of the most prestigious awards at the Cannes Film Festival.

There are not many technical awards.

This marginal technical award did not come with a result envelope or trophy, only a certificate. While waiting for the actress named Jane Birkin to announce the result, Simon's heart couldn't help but lift a little.

If "Pulp Fiction" won such an award, it would be a bit of a joke. This kind of technical award is actually equivalent to a consolation prize, telling the main creator in advance that nothing will happen to you next.

Fortunately.

Jane Birkin quickly announced the results. Clint Eastwood's "Rookie Parker" was lucky enough to win this award, which was actually expected by many people. Watching the old cowboy force a smile

When he walked onto the stage, Simon applauded vigorously with everyone without hesitation.

After continuing to award the Golden Camera, Best Short Film and other awards, after a song and dance performance, Matilda May began to introduce the judges of the main competition unit to the stage. Many people in the hall also cheered up, because what was coming next was

The most important six major awards in the main competition unit.

The judges sat on the stage, and the first one announced was the best actress. This time the result of the best actress award is the rare "three-yolk egg", three stars in Chris Mengers' "Quarantine"

Two heroines shared this honor.

The Best Actor award went to Forest Whitaker, the black movie star in "Rookie Parker". Simon remembered that he was one of the few black people to win the Best Actor Oscar. However, Forest Whitaker was in

The presence in Hollywood has never been strong. Although his acting skills are very good, in most cases he can only play some inconspicuous supporting roles.

The organizers of Cannes obviously have no idea of ​​arranging and combining the awards to control the pace. After awarding the best actor and actress, the best director will be awarded immediately. After Argentinian director Fernando Solanas won this award for "South", this time

The ceremony only left the three most critical awards: the Palme d'Or, the Grand Prix of the Jury and the Grand Prix of the Jury.

Among the five works that were retained in the main competition, "Rookie Parker" and "Southern" have both been passed. The final three awards are destined to only go to "Pulp Fiction", "Murder Short Film" and "Quarantined World"

Three movies.

The guest of honor for the Jury Prize is the famous French director Louis Malle.

Watching the old man on the stage slowly introducing the awards, Simon felt a small hand reach out and press on the back of his hand, so he grabbed the woman's small hand and shook it, and asked Janet next to him in a low voice: "It can't be
To be continued...