Since living together in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, Leonardo and Gisele Bonchen have moved here from time to time.

Tonight, Leonardo specially put the dinner here.

Because this mansion was bought by Leonardo with Jack Dawson's money, and the people who came to visit were James Cameron and Susie Amis.

Banqueting the director of the year in such a house where James Cameron knows the origin is full of nostalgia.

So, after Gisele Bonson invited Susie Amis to take a walk in the courtyard after dinner, Leonardo and James Cameron, who stayed in the living room, naturally chatted about what happened during the filming of "Titanic".

"I still remember that the first choice for the leading actor in the film was Matthew McConaughey. Leonardo handed James Cameron a cup of coffee and said, "Twentieth Century Fox is desperately demanding to use Matthew McConaughey for the leading actor, and if you hadn't insisted on using me, I wouldn't have been able to star in this movie." ”

James Cameron adjusted his sitting position: "Those requests of Twentieth Century Fox turned out to be completely wrong. ”

Leonardo said without a trace: "Looking back now, how many stupid tricks and mistakes Fox made in the twentieth century, fortunately you withstood the pressure. Otherwise, the movie would have been finished long ago. ”

"Haha......" James Cameron laughed, "I almost got replaced." ”

Leonardo agreed: "yes, I thought you were leaving the crew. He half-jokingly said, "What did the CEO of Fox say then? We were forced by James Cameron to sell our ass." ”

For James Cameron, filming "Titanic" is a beautiful memory that will never be forgotten, but there are also many unbearable memories in the past.

After chatting with Leonardo for a while, James Cameron once again discovered that those unpleasant memories were basically related to Twentieth Century Fox.

James Cameron said: "In any case, Titanic would not have been completed without the financial support of Twentieth Century Fox. ”

Leonardo said, "The funds are all you and Jon Landau who went to Twentieth Century Fox again and again to ask for it." How did we get through the most nervous time for the crew?"

James Cameron smiled: "It was hard, but I finally got through it." ”

Leonardo said: "It was not easy. Due to a lack of funds and inadequate protections, Kate almost drowned, and as a result, she contracted pneumonia. Originally, you wanted Enya to sing the theme song, but because of lack of funds, you had to choose Celine Dion, what did Kate say, as soon as she heard the theme song sung by Celine Dion, she was annoyed, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes, I remember you said after the release, that song is simply ghostly. Also, the crew owed the assistant team a salary, and the assistant was angry and poisoned the crew's meal, fortunately I didn't eat that day, I remember that your director team all went to the hospital, and Brian Beckman, who was in the most dangerous situation, also had stomach lavage. ……”

"It was a really dangerous situation. James Cameron took a sip of his coffee cup: "Kate...... Hey, so Kate swore she would never work with me again. ”

Leonardo laughed: "I don't want to work with you anymore. ”

James Cameron shrugged: "Actually, you know better than Kate, a lot of the situation at that time, a lot of trouble, was caused by a shortage of funds. ”

Leonardo shook his head: "That time, Twentieth Century Fox left a bad impression on me, so until now, I don't want to work with Twentieth Century Fox." ”

Those unpleasant things seem to be just yesterday, and James Cameron said: "If it weren't for Jon Landau, that fat man, who has been matchmaking, I wouldn't want to contact Twentieth Century Fox again since "Titanic". ”

"All the memories of that shoot are good. Leonardo said, "Except for the part related to Twentieth Century Fox. ”

James Cameron laughed: "I agree. ”

Leonardo said again: "That's what Kate thinks too. ”

Actually, Susie thought the same thing. James Cameron said.

The two chatted for more than half an hour, and the topic always revolved around the accidents and interesting things that happened during the filming of "Titanic", because of the things that actually happened and experienced together, Twentieth Century Fox naturally became the villain in the topic of Leonardo and James Cameron, and the object of the common crusade and complaint.

In fact, once there is a problem with the crew's capital budget, all kinds of troubles will inevitably follow, which is annoying.

"Titanic" has encountered any problems with funding, after media reports, most people around the world who pay attention to this film have heard of it.

Just after nine o'clock in the evening, James Cameron and Susie Amis said goodbye and left.

A few days later, James Cameron appeared at Embassy Pictures to discuss the release of "Alien of the Deep", and Ronan chatted with him for a while, during which he also talked about James Cameron's new film.

"You're almost ready for the new project, aren't you?" asked Ronan.

James Cameron replied: "I've been in the studio and in the lab all this time, and the combination of 3D and IMAX technology has basically solved several shortcomings in the filming of "Alien of the Deep". ”

Ronan looked very interested: "So, the project is ready to start." ”

"Not so fast. James Cameron has dealt with Ronan many times and has a good impression of him: "I have already written the script, but the technical preparation has only just completed the first stage. ”

Ronan knew what the script was about, but said, "Can I read the script?"

Cooperation is a two-way choice, and it requires a lot of money, James Cameron only thought about it for a while, and said: "Yes, I'll have someone send it to your office when I go back, but keep it secret." ”

"Rest assured. Ronan assured: "There will be no second person but me who will see it." ”

He said directly: "James, how are you thinking about it? We will cooperate with your new project, and I have the funds ready." ”

The last time Ronan focused on cooperation, James Cameron was also thinking about the fact that Hollywood can make such a big investment, in addition to the traditional Big Six, is relativistic entertainment.

Despite a one-time conversation about investment and budgeting, James Cameron said, "The production budget is more than $200 million. Probably having the experience of "Titanic", the director has some control: "The maximum will not exceed 250 million US dollars." ”

"It's within the limits of what relativistic entertainment can afford," Ronan said. ”

James Cameron's words did not end: "In the past two years, in addition to film technology, I have also been studying the film market, and the importance of publicity and distribution has gone far beyond the film itself. Ronan, my request is that the production and distribution must be done by the same company to avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble. Therefore, in addition to production, there is also publicity, and the publicity and distribution cost cannot be lower than the production budget. ”

Ronan thought about it for a moment and said, "That's fine. ”

The film used to cost more than $500 million, but half of it was actually publicity and distribution.

James Cameron Ken talked to him like this, indicating that there is already an intention to cooperate, at least inclined to cooperate with Relativity Entertainment.

"It's a science fiction film. "James Cameron has actually been letting people observe and evaluate Relativity Entertainment, whether it is investment or distribution and promotion, Relativity Entertainment's ability in the film business is at the level of Hollywood's first line, so he does not exclude cooperating with Relativity Entertainment. But in order to avoid some troubles in the later stage, there are some things he has to say to Ronan in the front: "From now on, the production cycle may be about four years. ”

Ronan nodded lightly: "This bit of financial pressure can be borne by Relativity Entertainment." ”

Film investment has never been to smash all the investments in it at once, but to invest in planned installments one after another.

This also does not take up the cash flow of Relativity Entertainment, and the investment in new projects can be solved with the financing of the Pacific Investment Fund.

Beginning with the acceptance of Israeli investment, the Pacific Investment Foundation has made a succession in terms of personal investment, including the investment of Israelis, and the actual personal investment in the last month exceeded 110 million US dollars.

The reputation of the Pacific Investment Fund has grown, and while it is far less profitable than those of venture capital, it is better than stability.

Not everyone and companies are going to shell out huge sums of money and go crazy to gamble on high-risk investments.

In this world, there are also many conservative investors.

As long as there is no financial pressure, it will not be a problem to run such a big production with the current production and publicity capabilities of Relativity Entertainment.

It's not the first time Relativity Entertainment has run a big-budget project.

Ronan discussed investment with James Cameron for a while, and James Cameron decided to cooperate with Relativity Entertainment due to a number of factors.

"We won't talk about how to cooperate and what terms are needed. Ronan said directly: "We will determine the general direction, and let the people below talk about the specific things." ”

James Cameron thought for a moment and said, "I'm going to say hello to Jon Landau today, and you guys are officially negotiating with Jon Landau about project cooperation starting next Monday." ”

Ronan nodded and said, "I'll let George Clint of Shahai Entertainment personally go and negotiate with Jon Landau." ”

James Cameron took the initiative to shake Ronan's hand: "I wish we can reach a cooperation. ”

Ronan smiled and shook his hand vigorously: "Happy cooperation." ”

At this meeting, Ronan and James Cameron basically agreed on the general direction of cooperation, and in the afternoon, James Cameron's people sent the script to Ronan, which was consistent with James Cameron's description, and the project was called "Avatar".