Back in Los Angeles, Simon has to juggle the entire Daenerys Entertainment film business, but the attention of the circle is still firmly locked in "Batman: Time to War" and the upcoming DC Cinematic Universe project.

From January 19th to January 25th, in the fifth week of the release of "Batman: Time to Go to War", the film collected another $31.63 million with a 23% box office decline, and the cumulative box office reached $300.336 million, officially surpassing "The Sixth Sense" and becoming the annual box office champion of the previous year.

In the words of some media, the profit brought to Daenerys Entertainment by the movie "Batman: Time to War" alone is equivalent to the annual film business income of most Hollywood studios.

This is basically the same thing.

Most people can only blush in the face of the crazy revenue of "Batman: Time to War", but Warner Bros. Pictures can get a piece of the follow-up plan.

As a result, Simon is back in Los Angeles these days, hoping to move forward with follow-up plans as soon as possible, Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Terry Semel keeps in touch with Simon almost every day, either by phone or directly to Santa Monica.

Daenerys Entertainment and Time Warner's negotiations on some details of the DC Cinematic Universe's follow-up partnership plan have also begun to accelerate in this eagerness.

Santa Monica.

It's Friday, January 26th.

After seeing a news item in The Hollywood Reporter in the morning, Terry Semel arrived early this morning.

Some details of the DC Cinematic Universe plan are still being negotiated, however, because Simon has fully prepared in advance, in addition to Adam Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Tommy Lee Jones and other fixed actors, even the villain Two-Face actor of the second part has been finalized in advance, and now, the only problem is the director.

As long as this problem is solved, the film will be able to start filming in the middle of this year and be released in the summer next year.

Since Simon confirmed that he will no longer be the director of the second part, many people in the circle have been tempted, including many first-line directors, Warner will participate in half of the investment in the second part, and for its own interests, it has also recommended some candidates to Simon.

However, Simon's confirmation of the director has surprised those in the know.

Jane de Bont.

If it were Simon's time and space, hearing this name, many people would immediately think of "Speed of Life and Death".

However, Jane de Bonther is still just a photographer.

Although he debuted in the sixties and has made more than 20 films so far, Jane de Bont has not been a director at all.

Following the successful experience of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his memory, selecting suitable candidates from among the new directors to direct the DC Cinematic Universe project is Simon's plan from the beginning, and he has indeed identified a lot of 'potential stocks', Jane de Bont is one of them.

In the original time and space, "The Speed of Life and Death", which made Jane de Bont one of the first-line directors in one fell swoop, was actually the first film he directed after turning directing, and his subsequent second work "Tornado" was also a global hit, which is enough to prove that Jane de Bont has the potential to directly switch to directing.

Compared with other rookie directors who only have two or three directorial works, Jane de Bont has accumulated more experience in more than 20 consecutive works after her debut in the 60s. Moreover, as a 'rookie director', Daenerys Entertainment can easily negotiate a long-term packaging contract with Jane de Bonthe.

However, when Simon returned to Los Angeles last week to formally inform Warners of his decision, he was immediately opposed.

In Warner's view, Simon's use of a cinematographer who doesn't even have a single directorial work as the director of "Batman: The Dark Knight" is a complete mess.

The two sides were still negotiating in private, but Terry Semel didn't expect the Hollywood Reporter to suddenly publish the news.

Perhaps, many people are now wondering who Jane de Bont really is, right?

After Daenerys Entertainment's announcement, Warner investigated the details of Jane de Bonthe, a photographer who had participated in the filming of well-known films such as "Die Hard", but had not even received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. How can such a person be the director of a heavyweight film with high hopes from both Hollywood studios?

Arriving at Santa Monica Daenerys Entertainment headquarters, Terry Semel is told that Simon is not here, and after inquiring, Semel hurries to Daenerys' special effects headquarters in a nearby neighborhood.

Simon was there, and Jane de Bonthe, who had become the focus of a lot of attention, was there, and a few people were watching something around a computer.

Speaking of which, Jane de Bont has debuted for so many years, and of course she has also cooperated with Warner, such as the most recent one, "Who Is That Girl", which gave Madonna the worst actress two years ago.

No sooner had Terry Semel said hello to Simon than Jane de Bont's mobile phone rang.

Saying sorry to everyone, Jane de Bont left to answer the phone.

Simon waited for De Bont to leave, and without waiting for Semel to speak, he said, "Daenerys Entertainment has signed a three-film contract with Bonthe, Terry, this matter is not negotiable." ”

Terry Semel had a choked expression, paused for a moment, and then said helplessly: "So, Simon, will you follow up the whole process when the film is filmed in the second half of the year?"

"Of course, Terry, I value the DC Cinematic Universe project more than you do, so I hope you can trust my judgment as well. Simon said, leaning over to Semel and explaining, "Also, Terry, Mark Silvis, you should have seen it. Plus, this is Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell, who will be working together as assistant directors for Batman: The Dark Knight, and then they will direct Superman and Wonder Woman, respectively. ”

Roland Emmerich, the name hardly needs much introduction, from "Alone Day" to "2012", Emmerich can be described as the godfather of Hollywood disaster movies.

Speaking of which, Roland Emmerich is a German, in 1984, Emmerich produced his first science fiction film "Noah's Ark Guidelines", and quickly became famous in the German film industry, and recently just tried to enter Hollywood, fell into the hands of Simon.

Although Roland Emmerich began to decline after 2000 and failed in the 1998 version of Godzilla, the 34-year-old Emmerich is in the prime of his creative career.

Moreover, although Emmerich's most famous film is a series of disaster films, he actually started out directing science fiction films, and the most recent films starting with "Noah's Ark Guidelines" are science fiction films.

Simon has roughly seen Emmerich's work in recent years, and the director's increasingly scattered multi-line narrative style has not yet been determined, and it is still very appropriate for him to direct "Superman" with a little polishing.

As for Martin Campbell, the director has made his debut in the seventies and has also a wealth of experience in film and television production, but he has never created a blockbuster work.

Martin Campbell's famous work in the original time and space was "007: GoldenEye", and he later directed another classic "007: Casino Royale", both of which were very successful. This is also the reason why Simon chose the other party as the director of "Wonder Woman", "007: Golden Eye" and "007: Casino Royale" both proved Martin Campbell's ability to control the big scene, which is very much needed in "Wonder Woman".

In addition, Martin Campbell is actually the director of the 2011 box office fiasco "Green Lantern".

In Simon's memory, Ryan Reynolds' version of "Green Lantern" burned a budget of $200 million, and the global box office was only a little over $200 million, which caused Warner to fall into a huge loss and delayed the development of the DC Cinematic Universe for a time.

However, the failure of "Green Lantern", like many later DC projects, is not to blame the director, but the result of Warner's hasty launch without even finalizing the script in order to compete with Marvel. In addition to the fact that the plot is a mess due to insufficient preparation in advance, the technical details such as the film's special effects and soundtrack are excellent.

And, at the end of the day, Simon is behind the DC Cinematic Universe plans.

Jane der Bont, Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell were chosen as directors, mainly because it would ensure Simon's absolute control over the series, in addition to their own potential. As with the Marvel Cinematic Universe project, Simon doesn't give these directors much freedom to play.

Therefore, although Simon can afford to hire an A-list director with the current momentum of the DC Cinematic Universe, he does not intend to do so in order to completely implement his will.

Simon introduced, and Jane de Bonthe, who had just finished the call, also returned.

Everyone gathered again in front of the computer they had just had.

Only then did Terry Semel find out that Simon and the others were watching the new features recently developed by the Maya software that Daenerys Effects Studio had integrated, which could simulate special effects such as the explosion and collapse of physical buildings.

Seeing a building shatter on a tiny computer screen, Terry Semel put aside his curiosity about Roland Emmerich and Martin Campbell for a moment, and asked Mark Sylvis, president of the special effects studio, "Can this be done on the big screen?"

Mark Silvers said: "Some of the technical details of CG graphics and live-action compositing are still being perfected, and it will be fine by this time next year. ”

Terry Semel understands why Mark Silvers said that.

The planned DC Cinematic Universe project will have a gap this year.

Beginning in 1991, the big screen production will be released at the rate of two films per year.

The projects that were already confirmed in 1991 were Batman: The Dark Knight and The Flash.

The 1992 project was "Wonder Woman" and the reboot "Superman", and the current technology developed by Daenerys's special effects will probably be used in "Superman" or "Wonder Woman".

Simon said to the staff in front of the computer at this time: "By the way, show Terry the special effects of the Flash." ”

The staff nodded, and quickly pulled up a set of experimental shots.

Terry Semel immediately perked up.

On the computer screen, a staff member involved in the test is running in a room, his body is wrapped in a faint electric light, and a faint thunderclap can be heard from the open stereo.

A total of five heroes have been confirmed to participate in the first phase of the DC Cinematic Universe project, namely Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Cyborg.

The choice of these five is mainly because of the technical limitations of special effects in this era.

"Aquaman" and "Green Lantern" simply can't be done with the current technology.

Comparatively, "The Flash" and "Cyborg" are easier.

In order to reflect the speed of the Flash, the main use of high-speed photography technology is used in the production of the "Flash" movie, which has appeared in the 50s, although at this stage it is far from reaching the high-speed shooting of 3000 frames per second after many years, but the existing technology plus CG special effects is enough to reach the level of Wumao special effects far beyond the previous stage of the "Superman" series.

As for "Cyborg", it will roughly use a combination of model special effects and CG special effects.

In this regard, the liquid metal robot of "Terminator 2" and Schwarzenegger's robot endoskeleton in the original time and space are good references, such technology can be realized in 1991, Simon believes that after two to three years of technical research, very good steel bone special effects can be achieved on the big screen.

In order to improve the technical details of the special effects as much as possible, compared with the three superheroes of "Wonder Woman", "Superman" and "The Flash", which will be launched in the past two years, the production of "Cyborg" will be relatively late, roughly starting filming in 1994 and being released next to "Justice League" in 1995.

Everyone stayed in Daenerys special effects studio until noon, and after lunch together, Jane de Bont and others said goodbye and left, but Terry Semel continued to stay, of course he would not be so idle, but the DC Cinematic Universe project is probably the most important work at hand. As the media said, if this series is done well, Warner will 'not have to worry about eating and drinking' in the next few years.

Since Simon has a resolute attitude towards the director of "Batman: The Dark Knight", and has also chosen the directors of "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" in advance, Terry Semel will not say more. He also believes that Simon won't mess around with this promising series.

Now, Terry Semel is more concerned about Warner's "The Flash" and "Cyborg".

In order to maintain control of his plans in the DC Cinematic Universe, Simon previously made a proposal to exchange half of the investment rights in "Superman" and "Wonder Woman" for half of the investment rights in follow-up DC superhero projects such as "The Flash" and "Cyborg".

If it's two for two, Warner hesitates a little and maybe agrees.

"Superman" and "Wonder Woman" are more popular than "The Flash" and "Cyborg", but Warner can't accept half of the investment rights of all other DC superheroes anyway. The box office explosion of "Batman: Time to War" has already made Warner regret losing the DC Big Three, and doing so again is equivalent to selling half of DC to Daenerys Entertainment.

However, although he did not agree with Daenerys Entertainment's plan, Simon still has a strong say in the DC Cinematic Universe plan.

Not to mention, "The Flash" and "Cyborg", although Daenerys Entertainment does not participate in the investment, if you want these two superheroes to join the DC Cinematic Universe plan, such as movie scripts and director starring, etc., you still have to be approved by Simon.

Daenerys Entertainment has also made it very clear that if "The Flash" and "Cybor" mess up, these two superheroes will likely be excluded from the DC Cinematic Universe plan, and Daenerys Entertainment would rather only have Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in the future "Justice League".

Although he has not yet experienced the benefits of plot linkage, Warner also knows that without the support of Daenerys Entertainment, he may not be able to play these superheroes.