Chapter 419 New Image
The comic convention has already been contacted, so the next step is to find a suitable director.
It's not that Su Yun herself didn't want to take part in the filming herself, but unfortunately her schedule didn't allow her to spare any more time for it, so she could only use her usual method of decentralization and hand over the director's post to the person she chose.
Through that group of prop makers, Su Yun got in touch with John Carpenter, the director of "The Thing".
Coincidentally, Carpenter's "The Thing" and Zhao's "Blade Runner", which almost made him bleed from losses, were released on the same day, and both of them suffered terrible box office and reputation failures.
The only difference is that "Blade Runner" was able to fight its way to the second place in the first week because it was known as a big production, and then it started high and ended low, with both the box office and reputation being a mess; while "The Thing" was overly bizarre, bloody, depressing and scary from the beginning, and it was rated R, which required adults to be accompanied, so it only earned 19.6 million at the box office with a budget of 15 million US dollars. Therefore, it was also a rip-off with both the box office and reputation being a mess at this time.
The science fiction film "ET the Extra-Terrestrial" released in the same year was a family-friendly film that looked at the theme of alien visits from a more optimistic perspective. It perfectly met the tastes of the audience who were feeling uneasy during the economic recession. It was a critical and commercial success, with a box office of 619 million US dollars.
It will take some time for people to feel their charm - it's a pity for Su Yun, of course, but there are too many cases where films that don't meet market demand and the environment of the times flop when they are released, and then gradually make a comeback after people's appreciation level improves. In the end, we can only sigh with regret and get used to it.
After all, one was not a work she participated in that year, and the other was a work she did not interfere with in order to preserve her artistic level.
Moreover, even if she had stepped in to help with marketing, it would have been difficult to change the failure of the works due to various factors: they were too "out of touch" and high artistic standards would inevitably lead to commercial limitations.
If you want to make money, the most conservative and safest option is to go for a family-friendly theme like "ET the Extraterrestrial". Take advantage of the summer when the whole family can often go out together and buy it all at once...
Carpenter was a little surprised when Su Yun and Ovitz visited him: the failure of "The Thing" a few years ago was a huge blow to his career.
After The Thing, not only did he lose the opportunity to direct the science fiction film Fire, but Universal Pictures, which had signed him to multiple film contracts, even decided to spend money to cancel the contract with him.
Even though Carpenter is still making movies, his confidence has been almost completely worn away by the continuous failures in the past few years.
"I never expected that anyone would view me this way. They once thought that I was a violent person for making such a movie. This movie was just too advanced. I knew it would be a little advanced, but I didn't expect it to be to this extent..." Carpenter said frustratedly, "Maybe I didn't consider the public taste enough at the time..."
What he could not accept the most was that this movie, which he had put so much effort into, was called trash and a typical idiotic movie by newspapers and magazines, and was also criticized as "trying to make a fortune by taking advantage of the enthusiasm of science fiction audiences." It was the most dissatisfied movie in his career, no doubt about it.
"Making a fortune by taking advantage of the enthusiasm of science fiction audiences? This is not a bad thing. Being able to see the old texts or comics become images on the screen is what many fans hope for." Su Yun herself knows how to make money from others and is often a profiteer herself. She is not only familiar with the situation of cashing in on fans' expectations, but also accepts it well.
But the prerequisite is that the person responsible for the adaptation and filming must really do it with his heart.
Hearing that Su Yun actually wanted to find a "cold-blooded violent maniac" like him to shoot a sci-fi children's movie with a family theme, Carpenter, who had been beaten to a pulp by this type of theme, listened carefully to Su Yun's introduction and his face was both surprised and scared.
What surprised him was that if he could seize this opportunity, he would be able to make a comeback and avenge his past failure. What frightened him was that if he failed this time, he would become a "loser" that would no longer be tolerated by both the mainstream and non-mainstream circles.
"I have always believed that you are a very good director, and that The Thing you shot is also a very good movie." Su Yun shook her head. "Being ahead of its time may be an unbearable disaster now, but once it has gone through the test of time, people will find out - oh, it turns out that I have missed or watched such a great movie."
Perhaps it was Su Yun's persuasion and recognition that encouraged the self-doubting Carpenter, or perhaps it was just that this poor man who was in a state of destitution was in urgent need of a job to make a living, and after some consideration, he finally signed the contract and became the director of this "children's" science fiction film "Galaxy Visitor".
Now that the director has been found, the corresponding actors can be arranged one after another.
According to the original movie's cast list, Su Yun began to search for information: this kind of advance wool-grabbing method can certainly use a small amount of money to win over future big stars who have not yet become famous, but it is precisely because these people are still in the stage of being little-known, it is much more troublesome to find them than to find current big stars.
But these leading actors are really the soul of the film, especially Alan Rickman, one of the two male protagonists. As a typical 2D person, Su Yun was deeply impressed by Professor Snape played by him.
At this time, Alan Rickman had just started to come from faraway England to Hollywood, and the other male lead Tim Allen was just a small actor performing comedy in the comedy castle in Detroit. It was a good time to get good quality and cheap.
It was not easy to find them, but once we contacted them and sent them an invitation, the response to join the team was very quick.
On the contrary, the one who is easy to find but more difficult to invite is the big star who plays the heroine: Sigourney Weaver.
Sigourney Weinstein rose to fame overnight with the "Alien" series, which became popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s and became the first generation of Hollywood blockbuster heroines. Last year, she was nominated for both the Golden Globe and Oscar for "Alien 2", and is currently in great demand.
Moreover, the reason why Sigourney is difficult to invite is not only because of her popularity and high salary, but more importantly, she is a person with her own personality, but she also attaches great importance to family. She can clearly distinguish between work and family and take good care of both.
Apart from the "Alien" series, she has maintained an average output of more than two films per year in recent years, and occasionally makes guest appearances in TV series to keep up with her busy schedule.
If you want to squeeze out time from Sigourney, you can only start from these two aspects.
After drawing the design and asking the two elder sisters of the Zhao family to help turn it into a costume sample overnight, Su Yun knocked on Sigourney's door holding a thick script.
As a fan of science fiction films, it is impossible for Su Yun not to have a strong liking for and a certain understanding of Sigourney, known as the Alien Queen. That is why she made corresponding strategies based on the two major regrets in Sigourney's life.
Unlike those beautiful actresses who complained both on and off the screen that "the audience only wanted to see me in uniform and didn't remember my role at all", Sigourney's natural height of 1.82 meters was considered an obstacle to her career development for a long time when she was young, so she could only play marginal roles such as prostitutes or elderly women.
It wasn't until the huge success of "Alien" that she was closely associated with the labels of "Alien Queen", "Space Hero" and "The Strongest Female Warrior", which changed her acting style and made her a landmark representative of movie heroines.
However, such labeling is an obstacle for a good actor who wants to break through himself. Moreover, Sigourney, who is tired of the special role positioning, also wants to live up to her innate beauty and try the feeling of being a "vase".
Therefore, the beautiful and cool combat costumes that Su Yun brought with her undoubtedly caught Sigourney's attention.
The reason why Su Yun invited her to join this "children's" science fiction film made it difficult for her to refuse.
The reason is simple: the "Alien" series starring Sigourney Weinstein is not suitable for children to watch, but "Guardians of the Galaxy" is quite suitable for adults and children to watch together. In order to be able to watch the movie she starred in with her daughter in the future, how could she refuse this tempting invitation?
The most frightening thing is that Su Yun also deliberately showed her background as a child star: relying on her early twenties and the fact that Orientals look more childish than Westerners, she looked up eagerly. Her pitiful and cute posture at that moment seemed to make Sigourney feel as if she was seeing her own baby daughter grow up into a cute little girl...
"But, did you really choose me just for these reasons?" Sigourney suddenly asked after taking over this beautiful and cool combat costume.
"There are more reasons than that." Su Yun looked at her and said very seriously, "I am still planning a movie about female heroes, but I am dissatisfied with the current concept of 'to show the fighting power of female heroes, their gender and beautiful appearance must be blurred', so I want to create a beautiful and powerful new image for those female heroes who have both strong strength and beautiful appearance——"
Why is it that when it comes to highlighting women's strength and independence, it always conflicts with beauty in an exaggerated way?
Obviously, female audiences pay more attention to visual effects, and the more beautiful and powerful sisters in the play, the better! The more they are filmed, the prettier they are, and the more fun it is to watch!