"Not a good trend?" Ronan asked, "what?"

Tom Cruise said: "I was notified that the Screen Actors Guild was already preparing for a strike. ”

Will Smith then said, "I've been notified, too. ”

Ronan is not surprised by this, the initial negotiations between the Producers Alliance and the three major unions of actors, directors and screenwriters have not gone well, and in order to increase their bargaining chips, whether it is a real strike or a fake strike, the three major union organizations will put on a posture of going on strike.

"Negotiations for a new contract are not going well. Ronan said slowly: "The differences between labor and management are relatively large. ”

Tom Cruise asked, "It's not going to really be a strike, is it?"

Strictly speaking, neither the employer nor the employee wants to see a strike.

Ronan said honestly: "I'm not sure that negotiation is an art of compromise, and it requires mutual compromise between labor and management, and it depends on whether the balance of interests can be found in the next two months." ”

Will Smith said: "Hopefully there won't be a strike. ”

Ronan said, "It's not something we can decide alone, you two need to be careful. ”

"Understood. Tom Cruise said: "Although Will and I also have production companies, we are actors first and foremost, and if there is a situation, we will definitely stand with the Screen Actors Guild. ”

Both men are smart people, and Will Smith said, "Tom and I are labor, and you are management. Ronan, we'll be on the opposite side of the story. ”

Ronan waved his hand and joked, "Don't worry, I won't let people kill you two." ”

Tom Cruise and Will Smith both laughed, and they both knew that since they enjoyed the benefits and protections of the union, they must have corresponding responsibilities.

Ronan reminded: "In the projects you have invested, if there is a script that has not been completed, hurry up in these two months." ”

Tom Cruise heard something and asked, "There's going to be a problem on the writers' union's side." ”

"Nobody in the league cares too much about the Writers Guild. Ronan doesn't have to hide it, because it's a well-known thing in Hollywood: "Writers Guild conditions, including me, won't easily agree to the conditions of the Writers Guild, they want to fight for the same treatment as the Screen Actors Guild, is that possible? The differences are too big to reconcile." ”

Will Smith understood: "Like in 1988." ”

Ronan nodded slightly: "It's very likely." He added: "Although the management will also face some difficulties, it is not that there are no screenwriters to use. You should know that the entry threshold for the screenwriters union is high, there are too many screenwriters in the industry who are not members of the union, and there are screenwriters who come to Hollywood from overseas to develop and rarely join the screenwriters union. ”

Tom Cruise said: "The producer has a certain confidence, and he will not compromise with the writers' union, so ......"

Ronan said: "It's just a possibility, and how it develops depends on the negotiations in the next two months." ”

Both Will Smith and Tom Cruise know that Ronan is a core member of the Producers' League, and since he says so, the future may not be good.

They should also make some preparations in advance to avoid being caught off guard.

The three of them then had dinner together before the weekend party ended and they left the Beverly Clubhouse.

Ronan also reminded his two friends to prepare for the chaos that will ensue in Hollywood.

This weekend, Relativity Entertainment's "Zombie Paradise" was officially released, this zombie movie full of joyful atmosphere, is quite popular, and it got $32.1 million in the opening weekend in North America, and the final North American box office is very promising to hit $100 million.

In the past two years, zombie films have begun to recover, and the number of zombie movies on the market has increased significantly, and there are more and more commercial success cases.

Zombie movies have a tendency to rush from the niche to the more popular.

The genre of comedy plus zombies seems to be very interesting.

After confirming that director Edgar Wright will continue directing, Shahai Entertainment also plans to continue to promote the second installment.

The film was a huge success, and it was a complete waste not to serialize.

Waste is extremely shameful in all walks of life.

Regardless of whether the economic crisis occurs, whether there will be a general strike in Hollywood, Relativity Entertainment is still developing rapidly, steadily advancing one project after another.

Although the proportion of Relativity Entertainment's revenue directly from movies is shrinking, and the proportion of various derivatives around it exceeds 80%, the basis for all of this is popular content.

As a result, content production remains a top priority for Relatalistic Entertainment.

Also that week, "Pharaohs and the Gods" ended all screenings worldwide, and the global box office finally accumulated $113.56 million.

Even if there is DVD and various peripheral copyright income in the follow-up, this epic blockbuster of Twentieth Century Fox still fails commercially, and it will take an extremely long time to accumulate if it wants to recover the total investment of nearly 200 million US dollars.

First "Heavenly Dynasty", then "Pharaoh and the Gods", two consecutive first-line blockbuster production fiascos, Ridley Scott faced a situation that can be imagined.

If the failure of "Heavenly Dynasty" can be pushed to the high-control filmmakers of Twentieth Century Fox, Ridley Scott has almost all the power to watch in "Pharaoh and the Gods", and the film is still messed up......

With great power comes great responsibility, and Ridley Scott is rightfully on the blacklist of Twentieth Century Fox's cooperation.

It's terrible to mess up two big-budget movies in a row, not only Twentieth Century Fox, but many Hollywood studios have blacklisted Ridley Scott.

At least a blacklist of big-budget film projects.

It was at a time when the industry was in a downturn that Ridley Scott received an offer to cooperate with Relativity Entertainment.

What Relativity Entertainment sent to Ridley Scott was a science fiction script.

"Relativity Entertainment is very sincere. The agent said to Ridley Scott: "They think you're a great fit to direct this sci-fi project. ”

Ridley Scott was surprised: "Other companies can't wait to never work with me again, but Relativity Entertainment took the initiative to come to the door and invite me to ......"

"It was said to be Ronan Anderson's proposal," the agent said. ”

Ridley Scott, who has never worked with Relativity Entertainment, looked at the script in his hand and said, "I'll take a look first, and I'll talk about it tomorrow." ”

For Ridley Scott, science fiction projects are no stranger, and he has directed many science fiction films in the past, such as "Alien" and "Blade Runner".

But Ridley Scott quickly spotted a difference in this script, and while surviving on Mars may seem, it's clearly a technology stream that belongs to the genre of hard sci-fi.

Such a film, from the preparation period to the shooting, requires a high degree of professional knowledge and technical guidance from a professional department, which is much more difficult to shoot than an ordinary science fiction film.

Hard sci-fi films are very energetic to make, but Ridley Scott also has doubts.

Nowadays, hard science fiction movies have long been in decline, and gradually faded out of the sequence of mainstream Hollywood commercial films, and it is difficult to see the hard science fiction genre in the top ten of the North American box office list every year, and even with hard science fiction is not very popular, and there has been no very good hard science fiction publication in recent years.

Many people are also afraid of watching science fiction, especially hard science fiction, mainly because they feel that there are too many scientific terms, scientific concepts are too profound, and they can't understand it completely.

This script is different.

Ridley Scott is not only easy to understand, but also more interested the more he watches, a bit like the feeling of encountering "Alien" back then.

The script supercleverly solves this problem, and points out the background and theme of the story very early: the astronaut male protagonist who has an accident needs to survive alone on Mars for a year and a half.

And the time point set in the whole story, as well as the scientific and technological means used in Mars exploration, looks very much like it is based on various versions of NASA's Mars program in reality, and all the solutions in the hero's survival are also calculated step by step.

Every time the actor encounters a problem, it is basically the same development routine - analyzing the problem, making assumptions, verifying on a small scale, determining the plan, and implementing it......

In this way, even he, the reader, feels that every detail is incredibly real.

This palpable realism is probably the most fascinating thing about this script.

Some people say that the biggest praise for the hard sci-fi genre is that it is "written as if it were real".

There is also the setting of the male protagonist, which is not the kind of high-cold pretending to be a criminal, but extremely down-to-earth.

No matter how difficult the environment the actor faces, even if it is desperate, the spirit of humor and optimism can still shine in his lines.

Although from the bottom of his heart, he thinks that this is a space wilderness to be upgraded, Ridley Scott is somewhat moved from the director's point of view.

Coupled with the invitation of Relativity Entertainment and Ronan Anderson's golden sign, Ridley Scott thought maybe he could give it a try?

In the past two years, Ridley Scott has had too much trouble and has messed up several films in succession, causing the media and the industry to doubt him.

Even, even he himself was a little suspicious of himself, after the fiasco of "Pharaoh and the Gods", there was a thought of disappearing.

Ridley Scott read the script and solemnly put it away: Maybe you can go to Mars to plant potatoes?

The director, unlike the producer, is attracted to a good enough script, he reads the script, there is such a good script, good material - it has been written, it's on paper, all that's left is to shoot it......

Ridley Scott has a wealth of experience in science fiction and space films, and space fantasy is an alternative reality in his eyes, a magnificent platform, a form of drama in which anything can happen.

Starting with "Gladiator", counting "Black Hawk Down", followed by "Heavenly Dynasty" and "Pharaoh and the Gods", Ridley Scott has filmed four war epics in a row, and the final result is not ideal.

Perhaps, it is time to try a different genre.

Ridley Scott picked up the phone and dialed the agent's number: "Can you put me in touch for me, I'd like to meet with Ronan Anderson." ”