Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 212 Private Ryan
The script is called "The Legendary Life of Fritz Nilan".

It tells the story of Fritz Niland, a soldier in Company E of the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army during World War II. After Company E captured Carentan Bay, he learned that his brother Bob, who was in the 82nd Airborne Division, had been killed. At the same time, his other brother, who was in the 4th Infantry Division, was also killed on the beach in Utah. Not long after, his third brother, a pilot, was shot down by the Japanese army while performing a mission on the China-Burma-India border and was reported missing.

On the same day, Mrs. Nilan received three telegrams saying that her sons had been killed in action. Fritz was the only surviving son in the family. After receiving the news, the army commander-in-chief ordered a task force to go to the front line and send Fritz back to the country.

This story is based on a true story from World War II and looks very similar to "Saving Private Ryan", but it is also more than 60% different.

The protagonist of the script is Fritz. He receives the news of the death of his three brothers at the front line and falls into grief. He vows to fight the enemy to the end. The army commander does not want to see him sacrifice, so he arranges people to find him at the front line and bring him back to the country.

After the task force found Fritz, Fritz was still unwilling to leave and led the task force to stay on the front line, creating a huge victory.

The theme of this play is about sacrifice and dedication.

The theme is rather old-fashioned and not profound enough, like a superhero movie.

The protagonists of Spielberg's version of "Saving Private Ryan" are a group of people. It tells the story of Captain Miller who received an order from his superiors when the US military landed in Normandy and led a small team deep behind enemy lines to find Ryan, a soldier whose three brothers had died within a week.

This version mainly explores the brilliance and fragility of human nature, as well as the impact of war on individuals and families. It is an anti-war film.

In comparison, the latter version has a deeper theme and a significantly higher artistic level.

Link read the script twice, thought about it for a while, and decided to take it down.

The original producer of "Saving Private Ryan" was DreamWorks Film Studios, which has not yet been established and Spielberg probably hasn't received the script.

Link bought the copyright in advance, wrote the script, and planned to make this movie after finishing several scripts he had.

In addition, "Saving Private Ryan" is also the founding work of DreamWorks. Without the success of this movie, DreamWorks would have developed much more slowly, and guess what, the film industry would have one less competitor, which would have brought many benefits.

When he arrived at the company the next day, Link first handed the script of "The Groom Running Backwards" to the production department for study. At the same time, he asked the copyright department to obtain the rights to adapt the story of "Saving Private Ryan" and make this film a key project of the company.

In fact, after seeing "Saving Private Ryan", Link also considered shooting "Titanic" at the same time.

I just heard from James Cameron that he had started preparing for this movie in 92, and was going to start filming "Titanic" after the release of "True Lies".

It's too late to intercept now.

"Link, the rights to the movie adaptation of Hachiko have been acquired. When are you going to start this project?"

Daniel DeVito asked.

"How much money is left in the company's account?"

去年公司赚了6.2亿美元，公司分红5亿美金，留下1.2亿资金以及1亿贷款共2.2亿来制作和宣发电影。

The seven films currently invested by the company are all small and medium-sized projects with low production costs.

The Mask had a budget of $2000 million.

"Before Sunrise" 150 million.

"Sense and Sensibility" 1600 million.

"The Butterfly Effect" grossed $1200 million and was co-produced with Miramax.

"Good Will Hunting" $1000 million.

"Rumble in the Bronx" $1050 million, in collaboration with Golden Harvest.

"The Man from Earth," $2.

The total cost is about 7000 million, and there is about 5000 million in reserve funds left, which can be used to invest in one or two more films.

It’s just that the company produced too many projects in the first half of the year, and the production department was operating at full capacity, with no extra staff to produce other projects. The new film project will have to wait until the second half of the year, when other films are completed.

"Don't worry about Hachiko, we can shoot next year. How about casting for The Butterfly Effect?"

Link asked.

"Not bad. The four main characters have been chosen. We are currently selecting actors to play the roles of the 7-year-old and 13-year-old actors based on their looks. It will probably take another week."

"Don't be in a hurry, take your time."

The film is scheduled to be shot after April, which leaves more than a month, plenty of time for preparation.

"Pulp Fiction" was released on Friday and held its premiere at the Hollywood Highland Cinema. Link, Steven Soderbergh and Robert Rodriguez also came to support Quentin.

Quentin was very nervous before the movie was released. When he saw them, he didn't say anything cute. He sat on the chair with a frown on his face, as if he was waiting for a nurse to give him an injection.

"Is there any need to be so nervous? This isn't your first movie release."

Link laughed. "I'm not nervous, it's just that the movie theater is too stuffy and I'm not feeling well."

Quentin took a deep breath.

"What are you going to do if the movie becomes a hit?"

Link talked to help him relax.

"I'm going to have a three-day party and invite a hundred beautiful girls to come to my house and do striptease."

"100 beauties? Remember to call me."

Robert Rodriguez next door said drooling.

"One hundred is too many. You need to buy a big villa first."

"Of course, if the global box office of Pulp Fiction exceeds $400 million, I will buy the largest villa in the Hollywood Hills. If it exceeds $500 million, I will buy the top floor of the tallest apartment in Manhattan. If it exceeds $600 million, I will..."

"Wait! Are you crazy?"

Rodriguez interrupted him, "Don't you see what kind of movie this is? A dark, violent movie, a niche movie. Do you think you can get 400 to 500 million at the box office for this kind of movie?"

"Why not? Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project are also niche films, one with over 600 million worldwide, and the other with over 300 million worldwide. Is Pulp Fiction worse than them? Absolutely not. Since these two films can also get such high box office, why can't Pulp Fiction do the same?" Quentin said seriously.

"Link, what do you think?" Rodriguez asked.

Link smiled and said, "Pulp Fiction is very well made and has the potential to be a big hit. If we're lucky, it might be able to make 400 to 500 million at the box office."

Quentin nodded in approval.

clap clap clap!
When the movie ended, there was a burst of warm applause and cheers at the scene. Many people were cheering for the movie, and this movie was indeed good, including the film structure, plot design, camera processing, actors' performances, etc., all of which were of extremely high level.

This movie borrows plots from many old movies. After Pulp Fiction became a hit, its plots were borrowed by many other movies.

Thanks to the popularity of his movies, Quentin has become a world-renowned director and a representative figure in the independent film field.

However, it is difficult for this movie to be a big hit. First, Quentin has no system. Second, this movie is composed of three stories, using non-linear narrative and no unified protagonist. It looks rather obscure and ordinary audiences cannot understand it. It seems as if they did not see it after watching it.

Unlike "Paranormal Activity" and "The Blair Witch Project", which are easy to understand, even illiterate people know that the movie tells a ghost story.

Clap clap clap!

The audience was still applauding.

"Link, have you ever heard applause that lasted this long?"

Quentin shouted triumphantly.

"no!"

"Haha, I bet the box office performance of Pulp Fiction won't be worse than those of yours."

"I hope you're right."

If this movie can get more than 600 million at the box office, guess the film studio can also get more than 100 million. He is more looking forward to the movie selling well than Quentin.

Amid the applause of the audience, Quentin led the main creative team to the front to accept everyone's cheers. Quentin went on stage to give a speech, talked about some things about the filming of the movie, and hoped that everyone would support this movie.

"Link, congratulations on playing another great role."

Tim Robbins came over clapping his hands.

"Are you talking about that perverted policeman?"

"Yes, I didn't expect you to star in this movie. You acted very well. If you weren't a director, you would also be a good actor."

"Thanks, that role was a prank by Quentin. How's your new movie going? When will it be finished?"

Tim Robbins' new movie is "The Shawshank Redemption", which is scheduled to start shooting at the beginning of the year. Morgan Freeman said that after finishing "Seven", he went to the crew of "The Shawshank Redemption" to shoot, and there was no time to rest in between.

"It's terrible. The director and the production team had serious disagreements on the plot arrangement, which led to the crew's suspension. When the filming will start depends on the production team's arrangement."

“I hope you finish filming soon.”

After chatting for a while, Link and Tim Robbins came to the front to congratulate the main creators of "Pulp Fiction", and Quentin gradually lost himself in the cheers.

In its first week, Pulp Fiction grossed 1334 million in 933 theaters, becoming the weekly box office champion.

(End of this chapter)