Best Movie Star

He started his film career in 2000 and didn't make a name for himself until 2004. James Wen knows very well that the road to stardom in Hollywood is not easy, and the road to directing is even more difficult.

Not to mention how bad the situation is for the uncountable director who is full of talent but has no chance, even if he is a director who has been famous for a long time, he also lacks good opportunities to go further.

The "Chainsaw" he led brought continuous high profits to Lionsgate, but Lionsgate restricted him to the "Chainsaw" series.

Lionsgate has stated that as long as he participates in the production of another "Chainsaw" after "Chainsaw 2", it will support him in shooting new works. As a result, "Chainsaw" has now filmed the sixth film. , Lionsgate's promise has not been fulfilled.

During the period, "Dead Silence" he filmed was still an investment from other companies.

Perhaps it was also because "Dead Silence" was not very successful, which made Lionsgate Pictures have concerns.

One after another, the bad checks eventually fell through. James Wing fully understood one thing. Lionsgate was just extracting his residual value and had no plans to support him in shooting new works.

Therefore, just after the New Year, he made a decision to completely say goodbye to Lionsgate after fulfilling his last contract with Lionsgate.

For new works, we still need to find new and sincere collaborators.

At a party, he shared his thoughts with his friend Justin Lin, and then Justin Lin solemnly recommended Matthew to him, one of which made James Wen particularly tempted: Matthew treats Chinese directors and has nothing to do with white directors. the difference.

As an outsider, James Wen has no place to complain about how much unfair treatment he has encountered over the years.

If there is a relatively fair platform, his ideas can be turned into actual movies, which is more important than other aspects.

Justin Lim worked on a movie with Matthew and has tangible feelings about it, and he can't be wrong about what he says.

Moreover, James Wen has also been in contact with Matthew, and he has specially asked someone to contact Daniel Wu before, and everything is as Justin Lin said.

Looking at Matthew on the opposite side, James Wing could not feel the strange look that Hollywood often has when looking at people like them, nor did he notice a deliberate approach, as if Matthew was sitting with him, as if he was in Chinatown, with him. Other Chinese people sit and chat together.

It seems that their appearance is not so different, they are the same people.

"Matthew, I'm going to leave the Chainsaw series."

Justin Lin had already done the opening for him before he left, and James Wing stopped talking nonsense, "I'm going to shoot a new horror movie."

Matthew nodded, "This idea is correct. A director who stays on only one series for a long time will only limit his own development."

James-Wen smiled, "I think so too." He pondered for a while, and then said, "But Lionsgate doesn't support me, so I'm going to wait for this year's "Chainsaw" to be released before ending my relationship with Lions. cooperation with Door Films.”

"Have new ideas?" Matthew asked directly.

"Well." James Wen said directly, "I'm going to change my mind."

Afterwards, he said specifically, "I don't want to continue shooting slasher movies like "The Saw", remember the topic we talked about last time?"

After his reminder, Matthew remembered. At that time, the two talked about the topic of Eastern and Western horror culture. James Wen said that he wanted to integrate the oriental supernatural horror into the traditional Western horror movies. .

Seeing Matthew nodding lightly, James Wing continued, "The horror of the East gave me a new idea, and Ray Warner and I turned that idea into a script."

Speaking of which, he took out a thin script from his bag and pushed it to Matthew, "This one is more orthodox in mode than the films I made before."

Matthew opened the script and read it quickly. The script is very thin, it should be only the first draft, but it is only fifty or sixty pages, and the content is concise and to the point. Alien attack.

This kind of haunted house plot doesn't seem to have anything new to pay attention to.

However, Matthew has never been very interested in creative films.

Innovation may indeed bring unexpected gains, but for commercial films, it is more likely to lose money. There are too many similar lessons in Hollywood.

Seeing Matthew read through the script, James Wen said, "What I want to make is a classic western horror movie that properly integrates the advantages of the East, and there won't be too many oriental elements."

Matthew nodded lightly, this is North America, the most exclusive film and media market in the world, no one.

James Wing can think this way, which shows that he is a director who understands the market, not the kind of fool who thinks that if he pulls classic European or Eastern movies over, he can sell them in North America.

It is not easy for a foreign Hollywood director to be moderate in this regard.

Matthew looked at James Wing and said, "Go on."

With his encouragement, James Wen said, "The film I made is a bit like "Haunted House", "The Innocence" and "The Exorcist".

He thought about it, "The Exorcist was shot in a very imaginative way, it was shot like a documentary, and that's what made it really scary. I really imagined it too. Shoot a movie and do it in a controlled but documentary style."

"Will this have a sense of reality?" Matthew understood the meaning behind James Wing.

James Wing nodded vigorously and further said, "It seems to me that making a film like this is very difficult, much more difficult than making a film with a frighteningly fast edit in form."

Speaking of which, he took out a binding book thicker than the script and pushed it over, "This is my plan."

Matthew took it over, flipped through the outline at the front, and then asked with a frown, "The production budget is only $500,000?"

"Yes." James Wen, of course, would not say that he was too high and worried that no one would invest, and said with a smile, "$500,000 is enough."

Matthew roughly flipped through the plan, then tapped lightly on the armrest of the chair, falling into thought.

There's no question that James Wing's Saw franchise has brought Lionsgate a goldmine of steady profits every year.

In this respect, James Wen's value is not low.

But there's no denying the fact that "Dead Silence" is a relatively commercial horror film.

Perhaps it was the film that didn't live up to expectations that led to the current situation between James Wing and Lionsgate.

The speed of Matthew's fingers tapping on the armrest of the chair was getting slower and slower, and he gradually made a decision. Since there was once a horror movie universe that had something to do with the director of the "Chainsaw" series, he would pull James Wing into his camp. , it should be the right decision, right?

Last time he had an in-depth chat with James Wing, who is indeed a very thoughtful horror director.

If you have an idea, you may not succeed, but if you don't have an idea, you may not even succeed.

Besides, this was an experiment, and it was an experiment with an investment of only $1.5 million.

One and a half million dollars is very high for ordinary people, but it is not even less than one-tenth of his salary. Even if he fails, it will not have any effect on him. At that time, he will give up James Wen and no longer have him. That's it for cooperation.

But what if it was as successful as "The Chainsaw"? How much does Chainsaw cost? How much is the box office? How many tapes and DVDs were sold later? How much is the TV copyright fee?

Those large film companies and even small and medium-sized film companies with multiple shareholders have a strict project approval review system. The project approval of a movie is never before E or other executives with a script. Those who think the script is good can directly Shot on a clapboard.

But Studio No. 13 is different. Although there is a second shareholder, David Ellison, after the cross-shareholding with Sky Dance, the film business is his only word.

Small companies also have the flexibility of small companies.

Matthew thought for a while and made up his mind.

"James, I'll follow this project." He rarely made investment decisions so casually, mainly because the films he invested in in the past were not so small~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Studio No. 13 will invest in this project . "

"That, Matthew, I can't sign immediately..." James Wen was relieved first, then smiled embarrassedly, "I have a contract with Lionsgate, and I can't shoot other films for the time being. It didn't end until Chainsaw came out."

Matthew asked directly, "When?"

James Wing quickly replied, "It will be released before Halloween this year."

"Okay!" Matthew made a decision without hesitation, "I'll wait for you."

These words were very solemn, and James Wen instantly felt that Matthew attached great importance to his project.

Since Matthew has shown that he attaches great importance to the director James Wen, he doesn't care to deepen it, "James, you are working on this project with the work of No. 13, I can guarantee two points."

He raised a finger, "First, you are the director and producer, you have absolute power over this project, including me, no one will interfere with your production."

Then, Matthew raised his second finger, "Second, I have a long-term and stable cooperative relationship with Walt Disney and Warner Bros. I can push your film into the distribution channels of the six major companies!"

With these two points in mind, James Wenzhi feels that he has found the right person, and the director and producer will be less constrained, and the distribution channels of the six major companies can win more theaters for future films.

Afterwards, the two chatted for a long time, appearing to be very speculative, and they were not ready to leave until after get off work in the afternoon.

"James, shall I invite you and Justin to dinner?" Matthew invited.

"Sorry, Matthew." James Wing showed an embarrassed smile again, "I have something to do tonight, Ray Warner made an appointment with a friend, I want to go there, and I agreed two days ago."

Matthew did not force himself and left alone.