Hollywood Drawing

After "Saving Private Ryan" was released, it grossed more than $6 million at the box office in advance. This result is considered outstanding among R-rated films.

The extremely good audience reputation, the star attraction of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and Warner Bros.'s sparing-out promotion and marketing made "Saving Private Ryan" a hit in its opening weekend. From the beginning, there was a trend that it was hard to get a ticket.

Although this is an R-rated film known as the "18-ban", it was only screened on a large scale on Friday. The bloody and real war scenes in the film are extremely consistent with the theme of mainstream North American values, making it not only win a lot of awards With high professional ratings, word-of-mouth among movie fans is also spreading rapidly.

"War movies are not always bloody and cruel. Before Steven Spielberg's latest masterpiece "Saving Private Ryan," Hollywood war movies generally had reservations about cruel war scenes. " The appearance of "Saving Private Ryan" clearly tells the audience that when we watch these war movies, we really should not just use our eyes!"

After three days of screenings on the first weekend, the media is optimistic about the performance of "Saving Private Ryan". This is the evaluation of the film by Todd McKenzie, a special column film critic of "The Hollywood Reporter".

Not just "Hollywood Reporter", three days after "Saving Private Ryan" was released in North America, almost all media reported on the film.

"Los Angeles Times" columnist film critic Kenneth Turan said in his column. "Some movies can only be used as entertainment before and after dinner, while some movies are destined to become milestones of the times."

If most authoritative entertainment media reports do not have any outstanding new ideas, then an exclusive interview with Steven Spielberg from "Hollywood Daily Entertainment" attracted countless attention as soon as it appeared. The attention of fans and the media.

"Everyone knows that I am actually not very good at this kind of cruel, realistic and bloody scenes. Therefore, at the beginning of the preparation of this World War II epic, I had no intention of directing it myself. As early as I had made this film When I was planning to come out, the first thing that came to my mind was Wayne, yes, Wayne Greenberg.

I have reviewed all the movie directors I know in Hollywood, and Wayne is undoubtedly the one who is best at presenting such films. Unfortunately, I have invited him no less than ten times, but he has ruthlessly rejected them all. At that time, I did consider, damn, I should really break up with Wayne..."

As soon as this seemingly self-ridiculing interview with Steven Spielberg appeared, it immediately attracted the attention of countless ordinary people. Many people only now know that the director originally appointed for "Saving Private Ryan" was Wayne Greenberg.

But looking back and thinking about it carefully, most people nodded secretly and felt that Steven Spielberg's invitation was not wrong. Because just looking at the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan", Wayne is indeed the most suitable director, if not one.

Although Steven Spielberg has done a great job and the film has been widely recognized, many fans and film critics have said that if this film was really directed by Wayne, it would not be a war-scale film. In the depiction, it will definitely be bolder and crueler.

Less than half a day after this interview was published, a large number of reporters rushed to Beverly Hills and blocked the gate of Greenberg Manor, wanting to know Wayne's opinion on this matter. After all, now The matter is very hot.

It was very rare that this time Wayne did not disappoint the reporters. Before lunch time, he walked out of the manor gate and simply accepted the reporter's interview.

And his answer quickly appeared on the pages of various entertainment media. "Life is so fragile, so fragile that when the bullet enters the head, the blood has not yet splashed on the ground. When the sharp blade penetrates the chest, the heart is in diastolic convulsion.

Life has passed away, and the traces left behind evaporate as easily as the water stains remaining on the hands after rain has passed through the fingers. Steven only used the opening scene of just twenty-five minutes to make those of us living in peaceful times feel deeply shocked.

Many people are curious about the director of "Saving Private Ryan". What I want to tell fans is that Steven is better than me in expressing reflections on war. This film is excellent enough. Even if I were to shoot it, it still wouldn't be as good as it is now. Everyone should go into the theater to watch this film. I believe you will be as deeply shocked as me and cherish life even more. of value. "

The media's extensive reports, fans' discussions, and even interviewing Wayne for his comments on the film. The reason for the current situation is actually the first weekend box office performance of "Saving Private Ryan."

"Saving Private Ryan" was officially released in 2,463 mainstream commercial theaters in North America on July 24. Thanks to Warner Bros. and its intensive promotion, it reported a box office of US$56.53 million in the first three days of the weekend!

You know, this is an R-rated film. Due to the film classification, it naturally rejects the mainstream summer movie viewing group: family movie fans.

In fact, no matter whether the intention of this film is to reflect on the war or not, those cruel and bloody scenes have invisibly rejected most parents of children.

But even so, "Saving Private Ryan" grossed more than 56 million US dollars at the box office in its first weekend, which not only gave Warner Bros. and DreamWorks a huge surprise, but also gave the media countless topics to hype.

Starting from Monday, the hottest topic of discussion is undoubtedly whether or not Ryan should be saved. Basically every movie fan with movie-watching habits has participated in this big discussion.

There is no doubt that in terms of North American values, the values ​​shown in the film are the most correct. But there are still a large number of media and movie fans who say, is it really worth spending so many lives in exchange for Private Ryan?

Only when there is discussion can there be box office. This is a marketing method that has been proven countless times by Hollywood film companies. For a time, talk shows, debate shows and talk shows on TV were all discussing this topic. What is Warner Bros. Whether it added fuel to the flames or not is unknown.

As time goes by, the box office of "Saving Private Ryan" is also rising. After a full week, the film's box office has reached 89.07 million US dollars. After the next weekend, the film successfully exceeded 100 million in the North American box office. The pace of the cinema market is gradually converging.

When "Saving Private Ryan" came to the next weekend, Warner Bros. simultaneously released "Charlie's Angels" in theater markets in more than 50 countries and regions overseas. The creative team, who had been promoting the film in major cities in North America, also got on a plane and flew to Europe.

From late June to now, the North American box office of "Charlie's Angels" has exceeded 120 million U.S. dollars. For a commercial film with an investment of 60 million U.S. dollars, this achievement is completely considered a success, and with the film's large-scale overseas Release, Wayne will not only be able to recoup all his investment from the theatrical market, but even make a fortune.

You know, the real profit source of such films has always been the operation of offline copyrights. Peripherals for the production of movie characters, licensing of various products, buying out TV premiere rights, selling and renting video tapes and DVDs, etc. It can be said that the film has not yet been released, and the foreseeable production company Greenberg Studio will You will definitely make a lot of money.

Throughout late July, there was only one voice in North American theaters, and that was "Saving Private Ryan." However, this period is after all the most popular time period for North American movies, and it is the summer season.

On July 31st, 20th Century Fox, which has produced as many films this year as Warner Bros., released the film "Cinderella", Disney's distribution label Buena Vista International released "The Perfect Match", and even Warner Bros. Brothers, also released their own Ace vs. Ace on the same day.

Obviously, the summer melee is still going on. Even if "Saving Private Ryan" has a good reputation with the audience, it will be difficult to face at least two blockbusters that are released every week.

Less than a week later, on the first weekend of August, Paramount Pictures released "Snake Eyes" and Miramax released the film "Ghostbusters". You haven't finished singing yet. I couldn't wait to start appearing. Every weekend there are medium-sized and above-produced projects released, which is an out-and-out movie-watching carnival for every movie fan.

It's just that in the summer season, there will be big winners and losers who will lose their pants. So far this summer, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. are undoubtedly the big winners.

Sony Columbia simply changed its CEO because of its investment of more than 200 million US dollars in "Godzilla". Paramount Pictures did not meet expectations because its head project "Collision" did not meet expectations. The films released subsequently were basically small-scale movies. Make a fuss.

Until now, Universal Pictures has not had a film that has won a single weekly box office title since entering the summer season. The most unexpected thing is that Disney, the fairy tale giant in the midst of civil strife, has frequent dark horses in its distribution label Buena Vista International.

However, as time went by, a masterpiece that was anticipated by countless movie fans started a vigorous pre-release publicity.

"X-Men", as a superhero outside of the DC movie series, is not only looked forward to by movie fans, but also many industry insiders in the Hollywood circle are also closely watching the performance of this film.

And just as the publicity for "X-Men" became more intense and the afternoon before its premiere, a dark black Buick commercial vehicle quietly drove into the Greenberg Manor at the end of Mulholland Drive.

"Mr. Greenberg is waiting for you in front of the garden."

The large Buick commercial vehicle stopped by the small fountain in front of the main building. The housekeeper Hella helped open the door and said to Bruce Rosenblum, who was getting out of the car: "Please follow me."

"thank you."

The Warner Bros. distribution executive had a serious look on his face. He lowered his head and checked his clothes to make sure there were no flaws. Then he silently followed the butler's footsteps and walked towards the pergola in front of the garden.

He knew that Wayne basically didn't have any particularly long vacations. One work plan after another made it impossible for the young director to find time to go on vacation like most practitioners in the industry. Therefore, the awning on the front lawn of the manor has become the other party's favorite resting place.

In fact, the reason for rushing to Greenberg Manor this time was not Bruce Rosenblum's original intention. This morning, he just wanted to use Nina to test Wayne's own thoughts on the opening chapter of "Superman" in the DC series.

Something unexpected happened. Less than an hour after he finished talking about the matter, he received a call from Ms. Nina Klein, clearly stating that Wayne hoped that he could come to the manor to talk in person. Discuss related matters.

In the eyes of Bruce Rosenblum and Jeff Robinoff, this invitation can be described as a mixed blessing. According to everyone's default rules, no matter what Wayne himself has in mind, he should first go through his own Personal Assistant, please talk to him first.

All these two Warner Bros. executives thought that somewhere, or that sentence, or that condition must have touched the young man's red line.

"Hi, Wayne."

After arriving under the awning in front of the garden, the housekeeper Hela nodded politely and turned around quietly to leave. Bruce Rosenblum glanced at Nina, who was flipping through fashion magazines, and his eyes finally focused. It fell on the young man from Hollywood who was lying on the recliner, closing his eyes and concentrating.

"Um, sorry, Bruce, I fell asleep."

Hearing the greeting, Wayne opened his eyes in confusion, turned around and saw Bruce Rosenblum, who was dressed meticulously. "You know, I'm a little exhausted from having to attend 20th Century Fox's promotion of 'X-Men' these days."

"Hmm, happy troubles, isn't it?"

Bruce Rosenblum waved his hand, sat down on his own, and pulled out a bottle of beer from the ice bucket next to him. "Who doesn't know that in order to ask you to take action, Townsend Rothman offered a sky-high producer salary that is unique in Hollywood."

Just from the perspective of making money, this is indeed a happy trouble. A week ago, under the arrangement of the distribution department of 20th Century Fox, Wayne began to appear on major TV programs and accept interviews from various media.

The publicity plan to cooperate with the "X-Men" project was clearly written into the producer's contract from the beginning. Now that he has signed the contract and received the sky-high share of 20th Century Fox, all of this is His obligations.

In fact, most of the publicity plans formulated by 20th Century Fox are centered around him. There is no way, in this "X-Men", he is the biggest name and the biggest breaking point, just one Wayne -Greenberg's reputation as screenwriter and producer can bring countless fans to the film.

"Where's Fundy?"

Seeing Wayne covering his mouth and yawning, Bruce Rosenblum looked around and asked curiously: "Where is our little Princess Greenberg?"

"On my father's farm."

With a kacha sound, Wayne tilted his head, lit a cigarette, and said casually: "You know, there are almost no reporters there to take secret photos. The farm is very big, and the cowboys all like Little Fendi. I think there must be no paparazzi, I was willing to risk being shot by a cowboy to step onto my father's private property for a little money."

In fact, since little Fendi was born, there have been countless paparazzi trying their best to take pictures of the Greenberg princess's face. The reason that motivates them to do this is simple. As long as they can capture their faces, countless entertainment media will spend a lot of money to buy photos.

As we all know, in North America, the children of celebrities don't want to have too much privacy. What's more, for a celebrity like Wayne, too many people are interested in his privacy. After all, his daughter has reached "Rome" as soon as she was born, which others can't reach after a lifetime of hard work.

"After all, she has to face the flashlight of the media. Since she was born into a family like yours, it means that little Fendi has lost a normal childhood." Bruce Rosenblum shook his head slightly and mumbled into the beer bottle. Gudong took a few big gulps.

"It's still early, I believe she can handle it well."

Of course, Wayne knew that in a few years at most, when little Fundy began to receive education, it would be the time when he needed to be exposed to the media's flashlight at all times. As the head of distribution at Warner Bros. said, being born into such a family is basically equivalent to losing a carefree childhood.

Being born into a billionaire family, a well-known billionaire family in the world, it can be said that you have everything from birth. But it also means that every step of a child's growth will be under the watchful eyes of countless people around the world. What he can do now is to protect his daughter for a few more years and let little Fundy spend a few more years of carefree childhood.

"Speak directly, Bruce."

Wayne also took out a bottle of beer and took a few big sips. The cold liquid flowed down his throat, instantly waking up his sleepy mind. Then he turned to look at the man at the table and said seriously: "I don't agree with your plan!"

Seeing Bruce Rosenblum stunned for a moment, he continued: "Listen, I don't agree with your and Jeff's plan, and that's my attitude."

This result was completely unexpected by Warner Bros.'s distribution director. He didn't expect Wayne to refuse so readily and so mercilessly.

"Listen to me, man."

Bruce Rosenblum hurriedly said: "What Jeff and I meant was to film "Wonder Woman" and "Superman" together. I believe you also know the benefits of doing so. It can greatly advance the foreshadowing of the DC series. Progress! Hey, let me finish..."

Halfway through, he noticed that Wayne had frowned slightly, and he quickly put down the beer bottle in his hand, and his upper body sitting on the plastic recliner straightened instantly.

"Zach comes from your team. He has fully proven his ability on "The Matrix". Moreover, Jeff will personally serve as the producer of the opening episode of "Superman", and I will also join the creative team. As one of the producers, you should believe in my and Jeff's abilities. With our control, the opening chapter of "Superman" will never go astray!

As long as "Wonder Woman" and "Superman" are finished together next year, you can start working on "Justice League" a year early. Don’t worry, you will be the center of the “Justice League” project, and only you can control this great project..."

No matter how much Bruce Rosenblum started to talk, Wayne just kept shaking his head. This was obviously inconsistent with his usual personality, and the distribution director of Warner Bros. was also confused. Logically speaking, he should have given face to himself and Jeff. The two of them came forward together, but they did not expect that what they got in exchange was a firmer rejection.

'Just because you and Jeff are joining the creative team, there's no way I can nod. ’

This sentence kept brewing in Wayne's heart, but unfortunately he didn't have the nerve to say it out in the end. There was no way, he knew very well what Warner Bros. executives were like.

If only one person is responsible for a big project, there is no doubt that they are all experts in the business field, and the results of the film will definitely be the same. But looking at the current trend, someone might join the creative team in the future and dictate the production of the film. How could he not be afraid? After all, Warner Bros. executives have criminal records.

It even went beyond fear. After Nina reported the two executives' plans to him, Wayne almost suspected that all his years of work had been in vain and that Warner Brothers would still go down the same path.

"Bruce, the reason why I invited you to come to the manor in person is to tell you seriously to give up this idea!"

Looking into Bruce Rosenblum's eyes, Wayne said very seriously: "Give me two to three weeks. When I finish working on "X-Men", we will call Zach. Let’s sit down and talk about it, but for now, give both you and Jeff a break, okay?”

It was now early August. Bruce Rosenblum secretly calculated the time and nodded helplessly. He believed that the plan he and Jeff had discussed was the safest and most convincing way.

This trip to Greenberg Manor was destined to leave with disappointment. Not to mention what the two Warner Bros. executives discussed afterwards, Wayne fell into deep thought after he left.

In his memory, Warner Bros. is the giant with the most capital among the six major Hollywood studios. Whether it is a series of movie IPs or a tens-billion-scale series such as The Little Wizards, it can be said that there are countless content output assets.

What's more, Warner Bros. owns DC Comics! That's an entire DC Comics company that owns all the superhero copyrights!

The results of it? The one who finally became the leader of Hollywood was Walt Disney, who recovered from the chaos. Under the leadership of smiling Mickey Mouse Robert Iger, Disney has become the world's number one media group, buying up companies that produce important Hollywood content. From Pixar to integrating the copyrights of Marvel Comics, every step is a textbook.

However, one thing cannot be ignored, and that is that this group of brain-dead executives at Warner Bros. are making the worst choices at almost every step, whether it is in terms of content output or the general direction of the company after the millennium. It can be called a mentally retarded fighter.

What is particularly impressive is the unbridled interference of Warner Bros. executives in its major projects. It can be said that this problem runs through the entire history of Warner Bros.'s prodigal family.

Taking a closer look at DC superhero movies, apart from Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, which one has a bad reputation is not because too many executives are directing it? It is enough to have one production center in a crew. If there are too many voices that can make decisions, the film will not be good.

Wayne knew that "Superman" was a completely different project for Warner Bros. because the series had exploded in popularity in the late 1970s.

As early as 1978, Warner Bros. produced the first "Superman", and once it was released, it achieved unexpectedly good results and it can be said to be a hit in North America.

What happened after that was even more annoying. Warner Bros. executives began to use their old-fashioned brain-dead tradition and began to interfere in the heavily invested "Superman" sequel. First, the director Richard Donner was replaced. You know, when the director was replaced, most of the second part of "Superman" had already been filmed...

The result of pushing for reshoots is inevitable. Although the second part of "Superman" is not bloody, it also made the reputation of movie fans plummet! What's even more disgusting is that although the director of "Superman 2" was replaced, due to contract issues, the director's name was still written as Richard Donner.

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This is why Richard Donner has never admitted that he has filmed "Superman 2" so far.

The poor reputation of "Superman 2" finally made Warner Bros. executives realize that they had done something wrong. They then wanted to bring back Richard Donner to urgently produce "Superman 3" to restore the reputation.

It's a pity that Richard Donner is not someone who can be wronged. He is a well-known director, so he directly rejected Warner Brothers' invitation.

As a result, "Superman 3" changed a number of creative teams, and the results were even more disastrous. Both box office and word-of-mouth suffered. This time it directly killed the "Superman" series. Until now, no one at Warner Bros. is willing to mention "Superman" 》The reason why the series died.

If it weren't for Wayne's appearance, the troubled "Superman" series of movies would have been mothballed until the turn of the millennium before being restarted. Of course, the results seemed equally unsatisfactory.

What is worth mentioning here is director Richard Donner. Although this veteran rejected the "Superman" series, he helped Warner Brothers start the "Boom" (Lethal Weapon) series. And because of the lessons learned from the past, Warner Bros. executives did not dare to interfere with his creation, which indirectly contributed to the good results of the "Sky Cannon" series from the first to the current fourth film.

Especially in this year's fourth film, Jet-li only used five minutes of Kongfu scenes to successfully establish himself in Hollywood...