Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 535: Directing a Superman movie?
On the morning of March 6, Warner and his team arrived at the Sina Building.

This time they seemed quite sincere in visiting Liu Zhou, and were led by Kevin Channer, senior vice president of Warner Pictures.

It would stand to reason that since it was just a collaboration on a movie, there was no need for Warner to be so serious. Not only did they personally arrange for people to come to China, they also called over the second-in-command of Warner Pictures.

Although Liu Zhou has some fame as a director in Hollywood, he is obviously not worthy of Warner's attention.

The purpose of their coming here this time should not be as simple as collaborating on a movie.

After both parties sat down, Kevin Channer spoke first:

"Mr. Liu, I'm very sorry to bother you so suddenly. It's mainly because we had finalized the cooperation but there has been no news for a long time. We at Warner are very much looking forward to working with you.

So this time the board of directors specially arranged for me to come to Huaxia to negotiate with Mr. Liu and finalize the cooperation project. "

Liu Zhou did not comment on Kevin Chandler's words. He knew too well the nature of these powerful people in Hollywood. When they need something from you or when it is profitable, they will say anything nice.

Liu Zhou didn't believe every word he said, but he still replied with a smile:
"Really? It's such an honor. It's always been my dream to work with Warner. Unfortunately, I've been very busy here recently and can't get away.

Otherwise, I would have flown to Warner headquarters to discuss cooperation. In fact, even if you don’t come, I will be heading to Hollywood in a few days.”

"That's a coincidence. Director Liu, do you have a suitable project? If the script you provide passes our internal review at Warner, we will pay you a satisfactory salary."

Kevin Channer knew that Liu Zhou was not only a director, but also an excellent screenwriter. He wrote the scripts for both of the films he shot in Hollywood.

It also provided a lot of scripts to Summit Entertainment, and the movies they made also achieved very good box office results.

If Liu Zhou provided the script himself, he would certainly be happy to do so, but he saw the other party shook his head and said:
"No, I just got some free time recently and don't have time to write a script. And I think Warner, as one of the seven major Hollywood studios, should have a rich library of copyrights and scripts. I want to choose a suitable one from them."

Hearing Liu Zhou's words, Kevin Channer was not disappointed. Instead, he put away his smile and said solemnly:

"Director Liu, do you know Superman?"

"Of course, as the most well-known and influential superhero in North America, I believe that there are very few people around the world who don't know Superman."

Superman is the top star of DC Comics. Even Batman, another giant of DC, is slightly less famous than him, not to mention the superheroes of Marvel.

Even Marvel's most famous superhero Spider-Man is not as famous as Batman.

Before the release of the Marvel Universe series of movies, the most well-known superheroes in North America were DC's Superman and Batman. Although Marvel is as famous as DC, Marvel's heroes can only be considered second-tier superheroes in North America. Heroes like the Hulk, Thor, and the X-Men are not even second-tier.

Later, because of the global success of Marvel superhero movies, Marvel heroes became more famous thanks to the popularity of the movies.

But Kevin Chandler suddenly asked such a meaningless question. Could it be that he wanted to collaborate with me on a Superman movie?

"Director Liu, are you interested in directing a Superman movie?"

It really is!
Liu Zhou couldn't help but ask in surprise:
"Kevin, I am a Chinese. Are you confident in handing over your most famous superhero to me?
You know, there are cultural differences between us after all, and I may not be able to make a Superman movie that will be liked by North American audiences."

"Of course I know." Kevin Channer sighed and said, "We discussed inviting you to direct the Superman movie internally, and we think Director Liu is quite suitable.

Although you are Chinese, the two movies you wrote and directed in Hollywood are both in line with the tastes of North American audiences. I think what you just said is not a problem. "

"So you came to China in person, not just to invite me to direct a Superman movie, right?"

"That's right. Strictly speaking, we at Warner Bros. are planning to reboot the Superman movie and make a Superman movie that is completely different from the previous ones."

"Are you trying to replicate Batman's success?"

"Yes, Superman's situation is similar to Batman's. Now Batman has been resurrected and achieved huge success. I believe that the more famous Superman should be able to do the same." Kevin Channer said confidently.

Seeing the other party's confident look, Liu Zhou couldn't help but smile. They obviously thought the matter was too simple. Batman could succeed, but Superman might not be able to succeed.

The first superhero movie in North America was "Batman", which was released in 1966. However, this movie was adapted from the TV series of the same name in the s. At that time, Warner had not yet acquired DC Comics.

So strictly speaking, this Batman movie cannot be considered the first superhero movie. After all, its plot can almost be said to be a condensed version of the TV series.

After DC was acquired by Warner in the 1970s, the first "Batman" movie was released in 1989, and then Warner Pictures began to produce a series of Batman movies.

However, Superman movies were released even earlier. The first movie was released in 1978, and the second one was released the following year in 1980.

Among all Superman movies, only the first two were considered successful, while the subsequent ones all flopped at the box office.

Batman's situation was even worse. Except for the first one, most of the subsequent ones were flops. However, it was lucky that it met Christopher Nolan, and the "Batman" trilogy achieved unprecedented success.

However, Nolan's trilogy is too successful, and the trilogy is a complete story. This not only makes it completely separated from previous Batman movies, but also makes later ones not know how to continue filming.

Unless you are sure that you can make a better Batman movie than Nolan's trilogy, it will be difficult to start another Batman movie.

After the trilogy, Warner never made another superhero movie about Batman, except in the DC Universe or in conjunction with Superman.

So it is not clear whether Nolan is lucky or unlucky for Batman.

But looking at what happened to Superman later, Batman should be lucky.

Because except for the first two Superman movies which were considered successful, the rest have been losses.

Why does Warner continue to make Superman and Batman even though it's losing money?

Just like TVB in the 1980s, once their ratings were not good or they were at a disadvantage in competition with ATV, TVB would use their magic weapon, the Golden Yong dramas.

Whenever a Jin Yong drama comes out, TVB's ratings will explode.

These two superhero movies are similar for Warner, but they are not box office hits, but they have a great influence.

Whenever Warner Bros.' performance is not good, they will make a superhero movie. Although there will be some losses, the box office is not bad, but it is lost because of the large investment. Don't look at the new century, Warner Bros. has been very impressive with "Harry Potter" on one hand and DC superhero movies on the other, and its performance is often among the top three.

But in the 1970s, 1980s and early to mid-1990s, Warner did not have a good time. At that time, the powerful ones were Paramount, Universal and 20th Century Fox.

Therefore, Warner needs Batman and Superman movies to take a breather, otherwise it will be difficult to explain to shareholders and investors.

Later, in the new century, technology became more advanced, but production costs also rose sharply, and the box office of the two superhero movies did not increase much, which means that the movies suffered even greater losses.

However, Batman met Nolan and succeeded, and was a huge success, while Superman continued to sink.

In the end, even Warner couldn't bear it anymore, and because they already had the "Harry Potter" series and were relatively successful in original movies, they temporarily put Superman aside.

Now that Warner has seen Batman come back to life, it certainly has ideas about Superman and is very confident. After all, Superman's status in the hearts of the North American people is unparalleled.

So they wanted to invite a new director to reboot the Superman movie, and Liu Zhou was one of their choices.

"Kevin, since Batman has been a huge success in the hands of Director Nolan, why don't you give Superman to him as well?"

"Christopher is unwilling to direct superhero movies anymore. He wants to make his own original movies with his team, and he is quite persistent about it."

"I see."

Nolan really has this kind of personality, or it can be said that this is his persistence in making movies. After "Batman", he has never touched a superhero movie again, not even an adapted movie, and all the scripts are original.

What’s even more amazing is that each of his original films subsequently achieved very good box office results, which was unique in Hollywood, which was full of superhero movies and adapted movies at the time.

This is also an important reason why he can attract so many fans. At that time, his box office appeal was only comparable to that of James Cameron, and even Spielberg could not compare with him.

"Then Director Liu, are you interested?"

"This is so sudden that I can't make a decision right away. I need to think about it."

To be honest, Liu Zhou was really tempted to direct a Superman movie.

After all, this opportunity is quite rare, and with the perspective of future generations, he thinks he can give it a try.

But later "Superman" movies were a bit disappointing. Warner rebooted Superman in an attempt to replicate the success of "Batman" and made a trilogy, including "Man of Steel", "Batman v Superman" and "Justice League".

All three movies flopped.

Originally, Warner was looking for Zack Snyder, who was originally a famous advertising director and later came to prominence with his debut zombie movie "Dawn of the Dead".

He then became famous with "300 Spartans" and was later chosen by Warner to direct the Superman trilogy.

Zack Snyder also made a subversive transformation to the image of Superman, changing the previous image of greatness, glory and sainthood, making him look like a human being with emotions, anger, sorrow, and even a little evil.

However, his transformation of Superman is obviously not as successful as Nolan's transformation of Batman. Nolan also made Batman's image down to earth, made him look like a human being, and also reflected on human nature.

This is why Nolan's Batman trilogy is so highly praised. Other superhero movies are just for fun, but only his superhero movies are able to incorporate thoughts about human nature.

Therefore, Christopher Nolan's vision and level are much higher than Zack Snyder's.

However, historically, Warner was very optimistic about Zack Snyder's transformation of Superman and gave him great support.

The production cost of "Man of Steel" was as high as 300 million US dollars, which can be said to be the most expensive superhero movie. The subsequent publicity and promotion cost more than 100 million to nearly 200 million.

In other words, the total investment of this movie is as high as 500 million US dollars, which is almost comparable to "Avatar".

But the box office between the two is not comparable at all. Not to mention "Avatar", "Man of Steel" only made 3.9 million US dollars in North America and 6.8 million US dollars worldwide.

All in all, "Man of Steel" suffered a huge loss. Even if it could get 60% to 70% of the North American box office share, it would still be a failure.

But Superman is the number one superhero in North America after all, and he has many fans. Although it failed at the box office, it made a lot of money through the operation of other copyrights and the distribution of video tapes.

Overall, the film also brought Warner more than 40 million US dollars in revenue.

For a big IP like Superman and an investment of $500 million, a profit of more than $40 million can be considered a failure.

There is no turning back once work has started, and the nearly 400 million box office of Man of Steel in North America is actually pretty good, so the next two films can be started.

But the next two films also flopped. The second one, Batman v Superman, was the only commercial blockbuster in film history that did not have twice the box office momentum in North America, and it also won the Golden Raspberry Award for Bad Picture.

Not to mention "Justice League", which was a huge flop, a real flop, with an overall loss of more than 100 million US dollars.

Moreover, Zack Snyder was fired from the "Justice League" project halfway through, and it was obvious that Warner had lost patience with him.

Warner has high hopes for the "Superman" movie, not only because it wants to revive Superman, but it is also the most important part of Warner's launch of the DC Universe.

Because Nolan's Batman was so artistic and cohesive that it seemed out of place in the DC universe.

Therefore, Superman became Warner's only hope. Obviously, the failure of the "Superman" trilogy also made the formation of the DC universe difficult.

Then seeing that the Marvel Universe next door was becoming more and more popular, especially "The Avengers" which was a box office bomb, it would be strange if Warner was not anxious.

Marvel used to be a latecomer and younger brother of DC, but now it has completely stolen the limelight from DC. People only know Marvel but not DC.

So the DC universe was in a mess, and Snyder naturally became the scapegoat.

If Liu Zhou accepts the Superman movie, in order to avoid becoming a scapegoat and having his reputation ruined, he must make the Superman movie a success.

But there is no successful example, so he can only rely on himself.

(End of this chapter)