Chapter 233 232. MGM's 2004 sniper project

"Frozen" has been underway for a year since it was handed over to DreamWorks. MGM has invested $110 million in total.

There is no need to say much about its name. It was the box office champion in 2013, grossing 1.28 billion US dollars worldwide.

Since it was released in late November, Frozen was still in theaters at the end of December, and its box office at that time did not exceed Iron Man 3's $1.21 billion.

Many people thought that the annual championship title would go to "Iron Man 3".

Who knew that "Frozen" would keep on making huge profits at the box office in 2014, even surpassing Tony Stark on New Year's Eve, and finally Princess Elsa defeated Tony Stark.

Eric's task for Spielberg was to catch up with the summer season. DreamWorks has been working overtime over the past year, but the average production cycle of animated films has always been longer than that of live-action films, so it remains to be seen whether this goal can be achieved.

If it really can't make it in time for the summer season, it can only be moved to the Christmas season.

But he still has several blockbusters expected to be released during the Christmas season, such as "The Hunger Games", "Inception", "Transformers 2", etc.

It is definitely not a good idea to crowd together. Fighting against each other will only result in mutual losses. If the schedule cannot be adjusted, it can only be arranged until 2005.

Production plans for Captain America and Iron Man have also been announced.

Among them, "Captain America" ​​was directed by the Russo brothers. "Captain America 2" and "Captain America 3", which were the ceiling of Marvel's ratings in later generations, were directed by these two brothers. "Avengers 3" and "Avengers 4" were also directed by them.

Last year Eric asked them to direct "Happy Death Day", so this time he might as well hand over the entire Captain America series to them.

As for the script, Eric wrote the outline, which was then improved and revised by the Russo brothers and Stan Lee.

The original "Captain America 1" can't be said to be a complete failure, but it is at least a mediocre work, a very bland and unremarkable movie.

If you only pay attention to Douban, you may be surprised by the score of more than 7 points and think it is not bad, but this score is the result of the superposition of various factors.

First of all, that was in 2011, the Chinese film market had just begun to enter a period of rapid growth, and a new generation of moviegoers had just become the main force.

This group of young people have not experienced the baptism of excellent superhero movies. When they suddenly see "Captain America", they are naturally attracted by the serum, magic cube, super soldiers and other elements in it, and think that superhero movies should be like this.

Then, the overall appreciation level of movie fans is indeed relatively low. Any kind of bad movie can become popular and make a lot of money. The representative work is the "Tiny Times" series.

Feng Xiaogang's statement that there are so many bad movies in China because there are so many bad audiences has to make sense.

The bottom line is that I have never seen anything good, my vision is too low, and I get excited when I see something new.

This situation lasted for about ten years before it improved. The overall level of the movie-watching group improved, and it became less easy to make money with bad movies, which is why masterpieces such as "Dying to Survive" and "The Wandering Earth" appeared.

But looking back at European and American audiences in 2011, economic advantages made watching movies a daily pastime.

Superheroes such as "X-Men", "Spider-Man" and "Fantastic Four" are frequent visitors to movie theaters, and everyone has seen too many of them.

Especially Nolan's version of "Batman", which brought superhero movies to the ceiling level, and "The Dark Knight" directly ranked among the top 250.

They have already tasted all kinds of delicacies from land and sea, so it would be a miracle if they thought the borscht served by Marvel was delicious.

There are also many aspects that have been criticized, such as the dragged out plot and many literary scenes in the early stages are completely unnecessary and can be deleted.

You, Marvel, are not following the profound path of DC, so why do you have so many literary dramas? Having fun and playing around is the path you should take.

Don’t ever learn from Batman, anyone who does will die!

The war scenes are too trifling, probably due to the lack of funds. Most of the war scenes are skipped. How can you say it is World War II without any big scenes? Compared with the war scenes in "Wonder Woman", it is far inferior, and it can't be compared with professional World War II-themed movies.

The action scenes are also very bad. I don’t ask you to fight beautifully, but at least the fight between Captain America and the Red Skull doesn’t look like a fight between street thugs.

Agent Smith, you have at least starred in "The Matrix". Think about the fighting scenes in "The Matrix" and compare them with the fighting scenes in "Captain America". Even without a martial arts instructor, it shouldn't be so lame.

Speaking of villains, the Red Skull, as Captain America's most classic opponent, is portrayed as too weak in the movie and is also disliked by the audience.

Due to the combination of various factors, the global box office of "Captain America 1" did not exceed US$400 million. Compared with the production and publicity costs of nearly US$200 million, there is no doubt that Marvel lost money.

This is also one of the few movies that made Marvel lose money. Another movie that lost money was "Thor 1" released in the same year, which had the same terrible plot and was even worse than "Captain America 1".

But maybe because his popularity is higher than Captain America, and the Protoss is indeed more attractive to the audience than the human race, so the final box office reached 440 million US dollars.

If the plot of this mediocre work is not changed, it will definitely fail miserably when competing with "Batman" next year.

So Eric made a lot of changes. In response to the audience's complaints at the time, he reduced the amount of literary scenes, expanded the war scenes, and made the war scenes more realistic, shooting them according to the shots of "Wonder Woman".

The ending of the villain Red Skull was also changed. He was killed and taken offline directly. Screw the space teleportation.

Marvel may have wanted to lay a foreshadowing back then, keeping Red Skull alive in case he might come in handy someday.

But I later forgot about it, and when I was filming "Avengers 3" seven or eight years later, I suddenly remembered that there was such a character, so why not bring him out for a walk, at least to attract some nostalgia and make a few more cents at the box office.

This approach is pure recycling of waste. There is no logic or preparation at all. There is no need to arrange this plot abruptly. It is so awkward.

Eric changed all the boring plots like this and just told an exciting, action-packed hero origin story to ensure that the film would not lose money at the box office.

Chris Evans plays the male protagonist Steve Rogers, and the villain Red Skull continues to be played by the Elf King Smith Hugo Weaving.

Eliza Dushku successfully auditioned for Agent Carter, but the character's popularity and commercial potential were too low, and Marvel only produced one season of the TV series before giving up, so it didn't matter who gave it to her.

Eliza Dushku is beautiful and has rich acting experience. She has participated in some popular TV series and movies such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "New Boys", and "Wrong Turn". She has no problem playing this role.

As for whether she experienced any unspoken rules in the process of getting the role, Eric didn't bother to care.

Another important supporting role, Bucky the Winter Soldier, was played by Luke Evans. The original actor of the Winter Soldier has not made his debut yet, so there is no place to find him even if you want to.

Eric didn't pay attention to other characters with smaller roles. It didn't matter who he loved, they were just cannon fodder with few roles.

After the cast list was announced, it received a lot of praise. The most controversial point was Chris Evans' figure.

He lost weight and muscle to play Sam, but now some people think he is too thin and doesn't look like a super soldier when he plays Captain America.

In response to this, Chris Evans and his fans posted stills of his previous roles as a campus hunk, expressing his confidence in playing Captain America well, which served to shut these people up.

The script of "Iron Man" does not need to be changed. It presents the growth arc of Tony Stark, which is already excellent.

But it's hard to imagine that this script was actually written on the spur of the moment by the director and screenwriter.

As Marvel's last ditch effort, "Iron Man" should have been fully prepared before filming, but for some reason, the huge investment of 140 million yuan ended up in a mess in the early stages.

Every day when we arrived at the set, the first thing we did was to wait for the director and screenwriter to communicate, look for inspiration in comic books, and then write two pages of script.

After the temporary script comes out, the director gives the order and everyone starts filming.

This blockbuster that opened the prelude to the superhero era would have been a 100% flop if it weren't for director Jon Favreau's excellent ability to control the overall situation and Robert Downey Jr.'s strong ability to act on the spot.

If "Captain America 1" and "Thor 1" fail, Marvel will be in the grave early and the subsequent DCEU will not appear.

So it’s not unfair that Robert Downey Jr. can get hundreds of millions of dollars in salary from Marvel.

However, "Iron Man 2", still directed by Jon Favreau, was a poor performance, with both fans and passers-by failing to get good reviews. The direction of "Iron Man 3" was also given to someone else.

Unfortunately, the filming of "Iron Man 3" was also mediocre, and the fan reputation was worse than the second one, but the reputation among the general public did improve.

The "Iron Man" series reached its peak right from the start, all supported by the first film and several "Avengers" films. Fortunately, all the "Avengers" films except the second one were pretty good, otherwise this superhero would have collapsed.

Tony Stark is played by Robert Downey Jr. He has been constantly apologizing and repenting since his comeback in "The Shakers". Although there are still many people who doubt him, Downey's public image has improved a lot.

Pepper chose Jennifer Lopez, a beautiful woman with both popularity and acting skills.

Samuel Jackson is still hired to play Nick Fury, and the villain Iron Monger is still played by veteran actor Jeff Bridges.

Apart from Robert Downey Jr., who was criticized by some people, the overall casting was satisfactory to fans.

In "The Hunger Games", Gadot took the leading role, and the role of the little fox in District 5 was given to Liu Yifei.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

This character is very smart, and Eric added that he is also a very good fighter. Chinese stars who want to gain a foothold in Hollywood must be able to fight well, so Liu Yifei's one year of kung fu training will come in handy.

The male lead was chosen to be Andrew Garfield, who was originally Eric's ideal candidate for Sam. Unfortunately, he did not participate in the "Transformers" audition at that time. He finally made his debut this year.

The British trio also each arranged a blockbuster. Needless to say, Tom Hardy is filming "Inception". The moment the cast list was announced, this movie attracted great attention from the outside world.

Christian Bale, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Heath Ledger, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Morgan Freeman Except for Tom Hardy and Heath Ledger who are a little immature, the others are either Oscar winners or nominees, and the worst is Best Supporting Actor.

Coupled with Eric, a director who is both commercially and artistically capable and also the best screenwriter, the Oscar-level lineup is so intimidating and dazzling that it has been labeled a must-see by many people.

James Yimei also got the male lead this time, and MGM planned to start filming "Wanted".

Or another more famous name, "Assassin's Alliance", the movie where the bullets can turn corners and contributed to the famous scene of Star-Lord's teeth flying off.

In the original time and space, it was through this drama that he really came to the fore. This time, I give it back to him, and I hope he can soar to success.

In addition to "Assassins' Alliance", he has also been cast as the leading actor in a low-budget thriller "Split".

The racing movie that stole the idea of ​​"Fast and Furious" is about to start shooting. The masterpiece that truly promoted the series to a first-tier IP was "Fast and Furious 5".

You have Vin Diesel, and I’ll invite Dwayne Johnson to fight you.

If you don't have Paul Walker, I'll choose Michael Fassbender with a beard.

Anyway, all the features that "Fast and Furious" has, I also have in "Drive", with luxury cars and beautiful women speeding at lightning speed.

The story of a group of car thieves racing around Rio de Janeiro is definitely much better than last year's "Fast and Furious 3: Tokyo Drift".

After a year, it’s time for a new 007 series to be launched. The previous film, “No Time to Die”, was sold to Universal Studios due to poor management of MGM itself, which made them a lot of money.

Eric certainly wouldn't give in this time. Since Bruce Pierce had stepped down as 007, global auditions had already begun, and finally British actor Daniel Craig was finalized.

After getting used to seeing him play 007, it turns out that no one is more suitable than Craig.

Then this movie was naturally confirmed, and the filming of "Casino Royale" has started.

MGM has also acquired the film and television adaptation rights from the Queen Copyright Management Association and is about to launch the musical biographical film "Bohemian Rhapsody".

This film is an absolute example of the high integration of commercial art. It grossed over $900 million worldwide, received multiple Oscar nominations, and won the Best Actor trophy.

Eric personally invited Joaquin Phoenix, who readily agreed after reading the script, but it would take at least three months of preparation as he needed to learn the singing style of Queen in depth.

Eric naturally agreed to this dedicated actor's request.

If Eric hadn't traveled through time, Joaquin Phoenix should have been filming "Walk the Walk" next year, which is also a music biographical film and has won numerous awards, so he is the only one who can play the leading role in "Bohemian Rhapsody".

In addition, the casting for "Twilight" has also begun. The male lead Robert Pattinson was not found, but superhero Henry Cavill was found.

He has just debuted for a year, and his body is not yet as muscular and strong as it was during his Superman days, but he can play a vampire with just some makeup, and his age of 20 also fits the character.

It's even more impossible to cast Kristen Stewart as the heroine, as she is only 14 years old and hasn't grown up yet.

Blake Lively was lucky to get the role. The 17-year-old was very suitable for the role with her proud face and temperament.

These are just part of MGM's 2004 plan. In addition to big productions, there are also many small and medium-budget movies.

"Million Dollar Baby", "Mean Girls", "A Quiet Place", "The Conjuring", "Paranormal Activity", "Napoleon Boss", "Juno", "Wedding Crashers", "Brokeback Mountain", "Barbershop 2", "Saw 3", "Happy Death Day 2", and "Don't Breathe 2". In addition to "Sharknado" and "The Purge", AK Films is preparing to start filming the "Machete" series.

The newly established BK Films, temporarily led by Bemahadi, will focus on low-budget horror films in the future.

This year I plan to shoot "Hostel", "The Human Centipede", "The Invisible Man", "Pearl" and so on.

These are just movies, not including TV series and variety shows.

Compared with last year, this year's production density has increased significantly.

The reason for shooting so many videos is, on the one hand, to attract traffic to Lionheart Network, and on the other hand, to snipe other companies.

The day when Lionheart goes online is getting closer, and the time when MGM becomes the target of public criticism is getting closer.

The most common means of competition among film and television companies is movie sniping, targeting your film schedule and using blockbusters to suppress your box office.

As long as several companies join together, you will do it this month, I will do it next month, and he will do it the month after next.

They may lose money, but the targeted companies will definitely die miserably.

There is only one exception, that is, all my movies are very competitive. Even if you use a blockbuster to suppress me, at most we will both suffer losses and no one will benefit.

Only when these guys are hurt and scared, and when they lose money to the point of heartache and their stock prices plummet, will they finally admit defeat and recognize the status of streaming media.

That was Eric's plan, so he approached Peter Jackson and booked him a contract for 30 films, and 30 was a conservative number.

You should know that special effects are not only used in blockbuster movies, but also in low-budget movies. The only difference is the amount of special effects.

(End of this chapter)