America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 800 The Warner Bros. Team Strikes Again

Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios.

On the first day of February, Studio One was temporarily transformed into a news center, with huge posters of famous characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Joker hanging at the entrance.

Most of them used the actors' official costume photos.

For example, Superman is Henry Cavill from Martin's past life memories, Batman still uses Christian Bale's look from The Dark Knight, and the Joker is naturally Martin himself.

Then there's Wonder Woman. The Wonder Woman on the poster has abandoned the traditional star-spangled outfit and instead donned armor with an ancient Greek style. The actress is Gal Gadot, a Jewish actress who recently finished shooting her costume photos.

Apart from Christian Bale's absence due to other commitments, all the actors and directors involved in the DC film projects, including Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan, were present at the joint press conference hosted by DC and Warner Bros.

Martin, dressed in a suit, entered the dressing room through the side door of the studio. The crew of "Man of Steel," which had already been approved for production, consisted of three people: director Zack Snyder, lead actor Henry Cavill, and lead actress Amy Adams.

Martin met Zack Snyder at a party at Nolan's house. Snyder came over to greet him, shook hands, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then introduced Martin to the two main characters.

The door to the lounge opened, and Gal Gadot, wearing a long trench coat, came in. After greeting Zack Snyder and the other two, she found Martin.

She is much taller and more muscular than in "Fast & Furious," having clearly gained muscle to play Wonder Woman.

"We met at Vin Diesel's funeral," Gal Gadot reminded Martin. "I was standing two people behind you then, but it wasn't appropriate to greet you in that situation."

Martin recalled briefly: "I remember now, we were separated by Emma and director Nolan."

Upon hearing Christopher Nolan's name, Gal Gadot automatically changed the subject, asking, "I wonder if Wonder Woman will appear in a Joker solo movie?"

Martin said, "They are not in the same world."

Gal Gadot said, "These parallel universes are so confusing."

Martin nodded casually: "I haven't studied comics much. In fact, apart from Superman, Batman, and the Joker, I'm not very familiar with the other characters."

The Nolans and their husbands, along with several other actors, then entered the dressing room.

Martin suddenly noticed that Gal Gadot greeted everyone except the Nolans.

He quickly sat down next to Nolan and asked, "You were still dragged here?"

Nolan nodded: "I will serve as the producer of Man of Steel, overseeing the first film in the series, and then I will completely relinquish control."

Martin turned his gaze to Gal Gadot and asked, "The actress for Wonder Woman has been chosen. Is DC planning to take a steady, incremental approach, releasing one film after another?"

Nolan glanced at Gal Gadot's Jewish face and said in a low voice, "That woman wasn't my choice. Zack recommended her to me, but I rejected her. However, DC used her. Considering that the Joker project needed DC's green light, I didn't say anything."

He added, "The woman was not only Jewish, but also Israeli, and reportedly had served in the military."

Martin immediately recalled the mess he made while filming in Morocco and said, "There's just too much of them in this industry."

This isn't about those places; he proactively changed the subject: "What are DC's plans right now?"

"Zack and I agree that we should follow the path Marvel took and start by making solo films for the Justice League's key figures." Nolan put aside his past grievances with the Jewish community: "But DC's co-chairman Hamada, and the top executives at Warner Bros. disagreed. They thought it was too slow and they couldn't catch up with their old rivals."

At this point, Nolan felt utterly exhausted: "They felt that if they didn't speed things up, the superhero movie market, which DC previously dominated, would be completely taken over by Marvel, so they had to accelerate."

Martin thought of those movies from his past life, and then looked at Zack Snyder.

Indeed, Zack Snyder's abilities are limited; without an extremely long film, he simply cannot tell a complete story. But the existence of the Warner Bros. team is simply invincible.

Nolan continued: "Warner Bros. executives have reached an agreement with DC, and Daniel and I can't object. After Man of Steel, Superman and Batman will appear in the same movie, and then we'll go straight to Justice League, taking a completely different path from Avengers. The six Justice League members will fight as a group first, and then make individual movies."

In a private discussion with Nolan, Martin didn't mince words: "Warner Bros. management is too hasty. Haven't they learned anything from the mistakes they made with Green Lantern?"

Nolan said, "Hamada and Kevin Tsujihara believe that compared to the second and third-tier comic book characters in the Avengers, the Big Six of Justice, led by Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, have huge popularity in the United States and would have countless fans willing to pay for their films even without their own solo movies."

Martin reiterated: "Comic book fans alone cannot support a commercial blockbuster of this scale."

Nolan agreed: "But Warner Bros. executives think it's possible." He shook his head: "After Man of Steel, I will completely leave the DC franchise."

Martin, however, said, "Don't forget about Joker; you're going to be a producer, and if possible, you should direct it."

Nolan said, "The producers are fine, but directing depends on the situation."

DC staff entered the lounge and invited everyone to the press room, where they took their seats on the stage.

Martin and the Nolans sat together, remaining silent for most of the time.

Because DC and Warner Bros. focused on promoting the Justice League universe, Joker was sidelined and not given much attention.

Hamada, who hosted the press conference, consistently focused on the six key figures of the Justice League.

On one side of the press room, on the second floor, which was originally used for overhead photography, Kevin Tsujihara and Charles Rowan were standing in front of a camera window in a room, watching the press conference.

Charles Roven, Warner Bros.' most senior producer, earned his living through his own abilities and didn't belong to any faction within the Warner Bros. management. He asked softly, "Have we been a bit marginalizing Joker? Martin Scorsese's Joker is practically a god among movie fans, and it's incredibly popular."

Kevin Tsujihara shook his head: "Nolan's Batman trilogy has come to an end, there won't be a fourth one. No matter how popular the Joker is, he's still a villain. Without Batman as his nemesis, his popularity will decline. How can a movie with a villain as his own compare to our upcoming Justice League universe?"

He calmly replied, "If Justice League succeeds, there will be ten or even more movies in the series. How much box office revenue and merchandise profits will those generate?"

"A single Joker simply cannot compare to the Justice Six." Charles Rowan also agrees with Kevin Tsujihara's point.

If the Justice League succeeds, it will surpass even Nolan's entire Batman trilogy combined.

Kevin Tsujihara added, "If it weren't for the relationship with Nolan and the fact that the Joker has a certain profit potential, Warner Bros. wouldn't have pushed forward with another Joker standalone film in a parallel universe."

Charles Rowan interpreted these words differently.

Warner Bros. executives wanted the Justice League universe, but they didn't want to give up the Joker's readily available profits.

Martin Scorsese's Joker is clearly a hot film, and as long as it's not too bad, its box office performance will definitely be high.

Towards the end of the press conference, the topic finally turned to the Joker, which is a standalone film.

Hamada announced: "Martin's portrayal of the Joker caused a strong reaction, with countless fans petitioning online for a standalone Joker movie. After careful consideration, Warner Bros. and DC decided to launch a standalone Joker movie project. Martin will still play the Joker, and Nolan will direct and Martin will serve as the project's producer."

He gestured towards Martin and Nolan, saying, "You can ask your questions now."

A reporter from Entertainment Weekly asked, "Is this Joker solo film a sequel to The Dark Knight, or part of the Justice League universe?"

Nolan glanced at Martin, the project's initiator, and said, "This Joker movie is independent of the Justice League universe and is set in the Dark Knight universe."

A reporter from The Hollywood Reporter then asked, "Is this a story after The Dark Knight?"

Martin kept it simple: "The Joker didn't appear out of thin air; he's a person. This standalone film will tell the story of why a person becomes the Joker, the agent of chaos."

Subsequently, more reporters asked questions, and Martin answered them as much as he could.

There are some questions that, of course, cannot be answered, since the project has only been officially approved and has a basic idea, but there isn't even a script yet.

In Nolan's words, the fact that Joker could start filming within a year and a half is considered fast.

After the press conference, DC and Warner held a reception dinner at the Burbank Hotel, where Martin and Nolan also made an appearance and had a brief chat with Charles Rowan.

As for Kevin Tsujihara, he simply nodded to Martin.

For the sake of Warner Bros.' performance, he could tolerate the promising Joker project being approved, but he didn't want to have any more dealings with Martin.

Kevin Tsujihara's sister, who is also the wife of former Warner Bros. president Jon Berg, has complained and criticized Martin quite a bit.

Their personal relationship had long since broken down.

That afternoon, news of the Joker project spread across the internet, attracting the attention of many Joker fans.

"God bless, the Joker solo movie is finally coming."

"Martin's relationship with Warner Bros. has been complicated these past few years, and I thought it would be a project I'd never see in my lifetime, but I didn't expect it to be approved so smoothly!"

"Joker will definitely become the benchmark for anti-hero movies!"

Not only are fans paying attention, but countless casual viewers are also very interested in this film. The impact of "The Dark Knight" and the Joker's legendary status last year is too great.

(End of this chapter)