America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 574 Warner Bros.' Mysterious Moves

David Fincher was busy and soon left the studio.

Seeing that no one else was present except Bruce sitting in the corner, Daniel specifically brought up another matter with Martin: "I've seen those three old movies you chose. The production costs are very high. Are you really optimistic about the prospects of remakes?"

Martin said vaguely, "At the moment, I think they have a better outlook." But he didn't rule it out completely: "I'm still looking into the others."

Daniel, much like before, feigned curiosity: "Can you tell me why it's three movies: Peter Pan, Exodus, and The Wizard of Oz?"

Because of personnel changes at Warner Bros., the first batch of names Martin selected were not actually those he favored.

In complicated situations, he habitually kept an extra backup plan.

Upon hearing Daniel's question, Martin casually glanced at him. Perhaps due to his extensive acting experience and spending too much time with top-tier actors like Nicholson, coupled with his deep-seated paranoia, he suddenly felt that Daniel was acting somewhat unnatural.

Daniel kept looking at the documents in his hand.

Martin said with a smile, "Actually, I chose these three films after considering the current and future state of the film market."

Daniel continued, "Oh? Everyone says you're good at choosing films. It seems you have a special talent for it."

"There have been some discoveries, but they're not really anything special." Martin's words were a mix of truth and fiction: "I chose Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz because Disney's newly released Alice in Wonderland live-action fairy tale film grossed $1.16 million in its opening weekend, which indicates that there will be a market for 3D live-action fairy tale films for the next few years."

With Alice in Wonderland just released, there was a ready-made example right in front of him. Daniel couldn't help but nod. To be honest, Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz were more famous and had a greater influence.

Martin still gave a mixed answer, saying, "The Ben-Hur and Exodus films were mainly due to another project that Warner Bros. was heavily promoting."

Daniel thought to himself, "The Hobbit trilogy?"

"Yes, it's because of this fantasy epic series." Martin opened up: "In recent years, ordinary epic movies haven't been doing so well. After the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a wave of fantasy epic films was sparked. Disney's subsequent Chronicles of Narnia series was a huge success. Although there were failures, most of them were due to problems with the film itself, and the original works were also less well-known."

He didn't cite examples of failures: "I'm confident in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy; it's bound to be a billion-dollar fantasy epic, which will definitely generate another wave of interest in this type of film. Exodus, on the other hand, involves fantasy elements and is a well-known story. If we try to ride on the Hobbit's popularity..."

Daniel thought about it and realized that what he said made sense. Investing in movies is risky, while riding the coattails of trending topics is relatively much less risky.

What is Hollywood best at?

Aside from discussing work in hotel rooms, it's just following the trend.

Martin thought for a moment and added, "That's how I see it at this stage, but the specific changes will have to be made in practice. No one can guarantee that a film will be 100% successful."

Daniel nodded and gave a perfunctory instruction: "Of these three films, Exodus is not involved in copyright issues, but the latter two do. You should have someone talk to Warner Bros.."

Martin said, "I'll have someone talk to them."

He had previously seen in Warner Bros.' materials that Exodus comes from the Bible, so there is naturally no issue of film copyright disputes.

Thanks to Disney's persistent efforts, the copyright of works made before 1978 has been further extended under the Copyright Act, and these works have not yet entered the public domain.

The former's film and television rights are held by Warner Bros., while the latter's copyright belongs to a hospital that has licensed the rights to both Disney and Warner Bros. You can negotiate with Warner Bros.

Of course, Martin didn't actually want to talk about it.

Daniel asked a few more questions and then quickly said goodbye and left.

Martin returned after dropping the person off and asked Bruce, who was sitting in the corner, "Didn't you think he seemed a little off?"

"No, I didn't notice." Bruce shook his head, then thought for a moment and said, "He rarely discussed things related to the film market with you in the past."

Martin said, "Here's what we'll do: have Jessica contact Warner Bros. If Warner Bros. is genuinely interested in discussing remake licensing with us, then there shouldn't be much of a problem. But if they're not even willing to talk, then Daniel or Warner Bros. might just be using me as a tool for selecting films."

Bruce said one thing: "Alan Horn has left the company."

"He'll be starting at Disney Studios soon," Martin sighed. "It's a shame it's a production company, not a distribution company."

Bruce said, "I remember you just picked those three movies randomly?"

Martin said, "Warner Bros. is about to enter a turbulent period, and I'm just being cautious."

Daniel returned to the Warner building and called Kevin Tsujihara.

Kevin Tsujihara had just taken office and was full of energy, so he immediately notified Warner Bros. to send a special team to communicate with Daniel and discuss whether Martin's suggestion was feasible.

While The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan received a relatively lukewarm reception from Warner Bros., the idea of ​​remaking Exodus was met with enthusiastic discussion.

Many people in Hollywood have an epic film obsession. Every year, a big-budget epic film is released, and then it flops so badly that no one recognizes it, but new ones keep coming.

Moreover, this time, the pre-release insurance of "The Hobbit" has been added.

With Alan Horn's departure, Warner producers and executives, who had been suppressed by him for a long time but possessed "genius-like creativity," began to unleash their ideas.

Without powerful figures to keep them in check, Warner executives can go wild.

This group not only thought it was feasible to film a fantasy version of Exodus, but also felt that Christian Bale, who had worked with Warner Bros. for many years, was very suitable to play Moses.

They even listed a long list of directors, with Ridley Scott, a specialist in Hollywood epics, at the top.

Martin initially couldn't understand the thought process of this group of people when he heard about it.

But then it dawned on me that this was just Warner Bros.' consistent baffling behavior since 2010.

What others find bizarre is considered normal at Warner.

Jessica's attempts to reach Warner Bros. were stalled for a while before fizzling out.

Subsequently, Peter Pan and the Wizard of Oz were also brought up for discussion by Warner Bros. Because of the huge success of Alice in Wonderland, many Warner executives believed that it could be made into a 3D live-action movie.

The Book of Exodus was the most discussed and received support from Jewish forces behind it. By late January, Warner Bros. had put it on the review committee and successfully obtained the green light.

Warner Bros. has once again contacted Christian Bale.

…………

Warner Bros. Studios, in the soundstage for the film "The Bad Boss".

When Martin visited Aniston on set, Aniston also mentioned this project.

Steven Zilliam, who previously worked as a screenwriter on Mission: Impossible and Gangs of New York, has been hired by Warner Bros. to write the scripts.

Sitting on a bench outside the studio, Aniston handed Martin a bottle of water and said, "Warner Bros. has issued a fundraising plan for Plan B, intending to raise no less than $1.5 million for filming and production."

Martin exclaimed, "$1.5 million, no wonder Warner is such a big company."

Aniston casually remarked, "You, a successful person, could you offer some advice?"

Martin is a man of conscience: "Hollywood throws huge sums of money into epic films every year, but look at me, when I come across one of those, I immediately avoid it."

Aniston understood: "You don't think this type of film is good?"

Martin turned on the water bottle and handed it to her.

Aniston took the water, took a small sip, and said, "I'll avoid epic films from now on."

As the two were talking, a dark-skinned woman suddenly turned around from the photography studio.

When the woman saw Martin and Aniston, she ran up to them like a little fangirl.

When she saw Bruce appear, she quickly said, "Jennifer, I'm Megan, Megan Markle."

Martin asked, "You know him?"

"I don't know her," Aniston shook her head directly.

Megan reminded her, "We both work on the set of 'Bad Boss,' we're colleagues."

Aniston had a vague recollection: "It seems so."

Martin waved his hand at Bruce.

As soon as Bruce stepped aside, Megan opened her bag, pulled out an iPhone, and asked, "Can we take a picture together?"

Martin was always quite friendly towards young actors, and he helped Aniston up, saying, "Okay."

Megan handed the phone to Bruce: "Thanks."

She was clever; she stood on Aniston's side and affectionately took Aniston's arm.

Bruce took three photos in a row.

"Thank you." Megan thanked Martin and Aniston, took the phone back from Bruce, and left.

She walked a short distance away, opened Twitter on her phone, and prepared to post a new tweet.

Megan first selected a photo of herself with Martin and Aniston, and then wrote a caption on it.

"The biggest gain from being in Hollywood these past few years has been making a lot of good friends. Today, I ran into my friend Martin Davis on set, and I chatted with him and another friend, Aniston, for a long time, discussing the development of Hollywood films in the next few years, as well as the situation of this year's Oscars, and so on."

After writing it, Megan sent it out.

One of her tweets was a selfie with Aniston in the background, with the caption: "So much fun co-starring with a friend."

After leaving the studio, Megan drove back to her rented apartment, checked her Twitter account, and saw that she had very few followers.

It's incredibly difficult for ordinary actors to get attention, even on social media.

Meghan returned to her Twitter homepage to see what the hottest news was.

The top-ranked news item is about Harvey Weinstein, with over 120 victims formally suing him.

Megan opened the news page and began to read it carefully, trying to find the characteristics of trending topics.

Images of victims wearing #MeToo collar badges appeared on the news page, and Megan suddenly realized something astonishing: none of the victims were Black!

She had a vague idea of ​​the secret to traffic.

Megan first commented on the news article, then shared a screenshot of Harvey's image and the news link, and then posted her comment as a tweet.

"Harvey Weinstein is not only involved in sexual assault, but he is also a racist; none of his victims are Black!"

The next day, the tweet not only trended on Twitter but was also reposted by many websites and media outlets.

Megan Markle became an overnight sensation.

(End of this chapter)