Chapter 435 Finalizing the Lord of the Rings Series

"Boss, Harvey Weinstein just called and said he wants to talk to you about something important."

In the Guess What movie theater, Lewinsky walked up to him and whispered.

"Got it, I'll get back to him later."

Link continued to watch "Primary Fear", a film that has been in production for some time and will be screened at the company today.

After the film screening, he received a systematic review.

[Participation rate is 71.3%, film completion rate is 97.8%, and film-market compatibility is 87%]

[Rewards: 2.4 times the box office subsidy; Director experience +10%; Director physical fitness +10%; Film quality increase +10%]

Compared with films like "Seven Deadly Sins" and "The English Patient", "Primal Fear" has good data on participation, completion and market conformity, but it does not gain much experience and physical fitness.

This shows that after he became a top director, the proportion of experience and physical bonuses he gained from low-cost films has been decreasing. If he wants to get more rewards, he needs to shoot big productions.

"Boss, Primal Fear is suitable for both summer and autumn releases. Which one do you think is better?"

Joe Fillemey and Jon Gordon came over and asked.

When they attended the preview of Link's movies in the past, they would first sincerely praise Link for a few minutes after meeting him, and then talk about work.

It's just that because Link has made so many films, held previews too frequently, and the quality of his films is so high, they have become numb to Link's films.

Sometimes when they want to make a few compliments, they find that they have already said all the beautiful words, even several times, and it would be awkward to say them again, so now they don’t compliment anymore, just talk about the point and get straight to the point.

"Put it in the summer season."

Considering that "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan" will both be released at the end of the year, Link plans to release several commercial films under the company earlier to avoid clashing with these two blockbusters.

“Okay boss!”

After the movie preview, Link came to the office to handle some work and called Harvey back to ask him what was going on.

Harvey excitedly said that he had seen a great movie script, a fantasy movie adapted from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy". He originally wanted to invest in it, but the production cost of the project was too high and Miramax Films did not have that much money.

He heard that Guess What Pictures was going to team up with Disney to create a fantasy movie, and thought that Link might be interested in this project, so he suggested that the screenwriter take the script to Guess What Pictures to try out.

"The Lord of the Rings trilogy?"

Shortly after Harvey called, Link received news from the company's screenwriting department that they had indeed received a script from a director named Peter Jackson.

However, the script is divided into two parts, and the movie involves many special effects scenes. The production cost is extremely high and the investment risk is also great. They are not sure whether to invest and are preparing to submit the script.

Link asked Lewinsky to send the script.

After reading the script, Link determined that this was the famous "Lord of the Rings" series.

Rumor has it that after director Peter Jackson finished writing the script, the first company he submitted it to was Miramax Films.

After reading the script, Harvey thought that dividing "The Lord of the Rings" into two parts would easily lead to losses, and suggested cutting it into one part. However, director Peter Jackson disagreed and insisted on dividing it into two parts.

Harvey also gave up investing because of this.

Out of dissatisfaction with Harvey, Peter Jackson designed the monster leader Gothmog, who has a fat face and a ferocious appearance, based on Harvey when designing the characters in the film.

Peter Jackson later took the script to New Line Cinema. After reading the script, Robert Shea thought it was good and suggested that he change the two films into three.

Peter Jackson was very interested in this suggestion and changed the two parts of "The Lord of the Rings" into three parts.

After the release of "The Lord of the Rings" series, it was a global hit with a total box office of up to 3 billion US dollars. There were also rumors that the box office exceeded 6 billion US dollars, but New Line Cinema was unwilling to pay too much copyright fees, so it deliberately lowered the number.

The author Tolkien's estate management foundation and the publisher of "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" sued New Line Cinema in a Los Angeles court, accusing the company of concealing the profits of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and demanding that New Line pay a share of the 6 billion box office.

Regardless of the actual box office revenue of the "Lord of the Rings" series, it shows that this is a project with great investment value.

Link asked someone to contact Peter Jackson and invite him to visit the company.

That afternoon, Peter Jackson came to Guess What Films, wearing casual clothes, with messy hair and beard like seaweed. He was asked to play a pirate in "Pirates of the Caribbean" without almost any makeup.

This person was also very straightforward when he spoke. "Director Lin, there is one thing I want to make clear in advance. The Lord of the Rings is the final script. No matter what your opinions are, we will never modify the script again."

Link raised his handsome eyebrows, "Not even a single change?"

"Yes, it took our writing team three years to finish the script, and we revised it more than ten times. I am confident that there are no problems with the script, so I will not accept any suggestions for revisions."

After Peter Jackson finished speaking, he felt very regretful. He thought Link called to invest in the movie, but it turned out that Link, like Harvey, was not optimistic about the script they designed and wanted to cut down on it.

As for deleting the script, he would not agree. He is a die-hard fan of "The Lord of the Rings" novel and loves this movie very much. If there is enough funding, he would like to make ten or twenty movies based on the Middle-earth world described by Tolkien.

However, the cost of shooting and producing in this way is too high, the release time is too long, and the probability of box office losses is greater.

“That’s a shame.”

Link patted the script on the table and said, "I like The Lord of the Rings very much, and I also like the script you adapted. However, I think it would be more reasonable to make The Lord of the Rings Trilogy into three parts according to the design of the original book. But since you don't want to modify the script, I can't force you."

"Eh? Director Lin, please wait!"

Peter Jackson suddenly sat up straight, put his arms on the table, and asked in surprise, "You said you wanted to make The Lord of the Rings into three movies?"

"Yes, there is too much content in two films, and the plot is too tight, so many wonderful clips were deleted, which is a waste. If it is made into three films, each telling a complete plot, it will fully show the magic and magnificence of Middle-earth."

"Okay, we can modify it."

Peter Jackson stood up excitedly.

Link looked at him in puzzlement, "Director Jackson, you just said that the script must not be modified."

"Haha, this is not a modification, it is designed according to the original work. We originally planned to design the script into three parts, but Harvey disagreed and asked us to cut it into two parts to adapt to the market. Later, he thought that two parts were too long and asked us to cut it into one."

Director Peter Jackson couldn't help but curse, and then continued, "Director Lin, is what you said about investing in The Lord of the Rings true? We redesigned the script into three parts. Guess whether the film company is really willing to invest?"

"Yes, I said that I like The Lord of the Rings and I hope someone will make this masterpiece into a movie. I am also very satisfied with your script, so we invested."

Link said, shrugging his shoulders.

Peter Jackson couldn't help laughing, and then stopped laughing a few times, saying with a serious expression, "Director Lin, you should know after reading the script that this movie uses a lot of special effects, which also makes the production cost not low.

If it is made into two parts, it will cost at least $180 million. If it is revised into three parts, the production cost will be at least $250 million, or even more than $300 million. This is a huge investment and a risky gamble. Are you sure you will continue to invest until the film is finished? "

Peter Jackson has only been in Hollywood for six years. He has heard that many film companies, such as director James Cameron, have delayed the production funds of the crew in various ways after the filming started in order to reduce costs, resulting in accidents in the filming.

The production cost of "The Lord of the Rings" series is higher than that of "Titanic" and the risk is greater. He doesn't want to be like James Cameron, who ran to the film company to ask for money while making a movie.

"Don't worry, Peter. A project worth two or three hundred million is not a big deal for our company. Since I promised to invest in this project, I will keep my word."

"Haha, that's great, Director Lin. Actually, I'm your fan. I like horror movies just like you. The movies you've made are all great. I've watched them more than ten times. It's my honor to work with you now."

Director Peter Jackson shook his hand vigorously.

Link smiled softly and praised the other party a few words.

After Daniel DeVito and James Schamus arrived, the three began to discuss the preparations for "The Lord of the Rings".

Peter Jackson has promised to submit the script for The Lord of the Rings trilogy by April.

Guess What Pictures started preparations in April.

The biggest difficulty of this project lies in the special effects.

Peter Jackson plans to set up a digital special effects studio to be responsible for the special effects production of this project.

Link thought it was a good idea. Considering that Guess Pictures had obvious shortcomings in special effects production, he agreed to invest to support Peter Jackson in establishing a special effects studio.

He remembered that Weta Digital Studios, founded by Peter Jackson, later became a leader in the field of film special effects and was worth investing in.

When Peter Jackson heard that he was willing to invest, he danced with joy and praised him as absolutely the best film investor in the world.

Link is not modest. He believes that no one can compare to him in the field of film investment, and the title of "the world's best film investor" is well deserved.

"Boss, are you tired?"

After seeing Peter Jackson off, Lewinsky came over and gently massaged his shoulders, with her chest against his back.

"This is nothing."

Link flipped through the folder and asked, "How is the preparation for the 007 crew?"

"After two weeks of rehearsal, the actors are now ready. The set in London has also been prepared. Ms. Barbara Broccoli said on the phone that we can start filming anytime as long as you have time."

"good!"

Link nodded, signed two documents and said, "Monica, you did a good job in the screenwriting department before. How about I go back to be the director and let you manage the screenwriting department in a few years?"

"No! Boss, I just like being your assistant. I don't want to do anything else except this job. Boss, are you tired of me?"

Lewinsky blinked her long eyelashes, looking a little aggrieved.

"No! You've done a great job as an assistant, but being an assistant for a long time is not good for you. You can get more experience and use your strengths if you work in other departments as a manager. For example, Liu Xiaoli and Annie have performed very well after going to the public relations department and MPAA. If you don't want to go to the screenwriter department, you can choose other positions."

Link said as he held the woman in his arms.

Lewinsky blinked and looked at him. "Okay, I'll follow your arrangements. If you want me to go to the screenwriting department, I'll go there. If you want me to go to other departments, I can do a good job. But I also want to be like Lina Liu and ask you out anytime."

"no problem!"

Link patted her big ass.

(End of this chapter)