At Warner Bros. headquarters in Burbank, in a meeting room on the top floor of the office building, Ronan and Christopher Nolan met with several Warner Bros. and DC Comics executives.

Among them, there are two key figures in the heavyweight division.

Edward Davis, senior president of Warner Bros. Productions, is the first person in charge of content production for the entire group of companies.

David Bird is the executive vice president of DC Comics, overseeing the film and television adaptation of DC Comics.

Relativity Entertainment and Warner Bros. have always cooperated, and the first choice for most of the crews of Shahai Entertainment is Warner Studios, and Ronan didn't spend much effort to get on the line with these two.

In fact, the fact that these two appeared in the reception room at the same time also shows the importance of the Batman movie to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

But it's not easy for Warner Bros. and DC Comics to break the seal on the Batman franchise.

Ronan had already done a lot of work beforehand, and Christopher Nolan came up with a first draft of the script and a project plan for it.

"Mr. Anderson, we meet again. ”

Since he had had made initial contact with Ronan before, after the two sides said hello, Edward Davis quickly got to the point, "I heard Brian Lord say that you are interested in the Batman series. ”

He looked at Christopher Nolan, who had worked with Warner Bros. once: "And wrote a new script with Chris?"

"The script was written by Chris. Ronan laughed and said, "I just thought now was a good time to reboot Batman." ”

Christopher Nolan opened his briefcase and handed the project template and proposal to Edward Davis and David Bird.

Finally, another handful was given to Ronan.

He is a smart man, and he knows that he is not enough as a director, and today he is completely dominated by Ronan.

After the initial contact between Warner Bros. and DC Comics, there was also psychological preparation.

Edward Davis and David Bird took the information and quickly flipped through it.

Ronan was not in a hurry, but waited for them to read the information first, and in the initial contact, he also learned about the attitude of Warner Bros. and DC Comics, in the context of the crazy sales of "Spider-Man", the two companies very much hope that their superheroes can keep up and compete for the corresponding market share.

It is no exaggeration to say that a "Spider-Man" has completely reversed the situation of Marvel and DC superhero movies.

Before the arrival of the new century, DC Comics, which was included in Warner's ownership, developed smoothly, and when people mentioned superheroes, the first thing that came to mind was Superman and Batman, and when it came to superhero movies, they were exclusive to these two.

Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne's scenery on the big screen is definitely not comparable to the Avengers under Marvel Comics.

But now, Marvel superhero movies have risen exponentially.

DC Comics' "Superman 4" with Warner Bros. almost buried Superman's film series, and Joe Schumacher's two super drag shows also brought the "Batman" movie to a dead end, leaving Warner Bros. to refrigerate Master Bruce Wayne.

Marvel has changed its decline, and after "X-Men" and "Spider-Man", it has completely become the mainstream of comic book movies on the big screen, and "Spider-Man" has even become the first movie in North America to grossing more than $100 million in its first weekend.

Edward Davis took the lead in putting down the information in his hand, glanced at David Bird, and said: "Mr. Anderson, as far as I know, you got a lot of superhero movie adaptation rights from Marvel Comics, why did you choose Batman?"

Ronan was very calm and calm, and said without hesitation: "Even in the comics, those are small characters in the second and third lines, how can they be compared to Batman?"

He deliberately said: "The success of "Spider-Man" has made more people pay attention to comic book superheroes, but what really interests people is actually those first-line characters, such as Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Batman and Superman, etc. The copyrights I bought, even if the most famous is Iron Man, have limited popularity, and I just want to wait for the first-line heroes to be adapted into movies to further expand this market, and then I can follow the trend to make a few medium-budget superhero movies and drink some soup. ”

David Bird himself is a person in the comic book circle, and he knows some things in more detail, and he glanced at Edward Davis without a trace, indicating that this statement is extremely credible.

Because he knows that Shahai Entertainment has all the small characters in the comics.

The next door sold out the really influential sons back in the nineties.

Ronan continued: "It just so happens that my crew has been working with Warner for two years, and I met Chris at Warner Studios, talked about the movie at first sight, and then came to an agreement on Batman. ”

Christopher Nolan added: "Ronan and I coincided with Ronan's thoughts about the Batman movie, which is why we met today. ”

Everyone has seen the big sale of "Spider-Man", and seeing that the depressed neighbors next door have surpassed themselves, Warner Bros. and DC Comics must have an idea.

Otherwise, there would be no Superman Returns and Catwoman in operation.

But Batman's new movie does make them suspicious.

Edward Davis said directly: "After 'Batman and Robin', we have no plans to make another Batman movie for the time being. ”

Ronan was prepared for this, saying: "Actually, fans have gradually forgotten about "Batman and Robin", and I think it's time to reboot the series. ”

He looked at a few people across from him and continued, "The Superman series and the Batman series are the works that really brought superhero movies into the mainstream, and now that your company is preparing for Superman Returns, the new Batman can echo Superman." ”

David Bird asked, "Batman can't afford the next failure, otherwise the consequences are very serious, and I wonder, how are you going to continue the series?"

"It's not a continuation!" Ronan shook his head slightly, "It's a reversal!"

Edward Davis frowned, "To overthrow and start over?"

"Yes, I think to save the Batman franchise, you have to overturn it. Ronan said unceremoniously, "Neither Tim Burton's gothic style nor Joe Schumacher's drag show are suitable for the current market, and the latter almost killed Bruce Wayne ......"

David Bird and Edward Davis nodded slowly, they have experienced the fall of the "Batman" series from peak to trough, and they still remember the box office and word-of-mouth failure of "Batman and Robin", if the series starts again, and it will be tantamount to a super disaster if the style is continued.

"What do you think?" Edward Davis asked, looking at Ronan and Christopher Nolan, "We can launch a reboot proposal, but we can see hope of success." ”

Warner Bros. and DC Comics certainly want to bring Batman to life, and that's a big asset.

Ronan pointed to the project book made by Christopher Nolan and said: "Based on Frank Milan's "The Dark Knight Returns", it was filmed and produced in a dark realistic style. ”

Tim Burton was the first director to adapt the Batman comics into a movie, and his style is cold and gothic, absurd and exaggerated. After the success of the two films, director Joe Schumacher continued the Batman series, but the style continuation failed, making the Batman series in a weak state, and the last part of the series, "Batman and Robin", was rotten to the extreme, which can be said to have reduced the Batman series to an all-time low.

"The Dark Knight Returns" is one of Batman's highest-rated comics, and both David Bird and Edward Davis are thinking about it, but there is no problem with such a style expressed in comics, is the movie appropriate?

Ronan could see the hesitation of these two people, and knew that if he wanted to achieve his goal, he had to fight for it himself, and said, "Chris and my philosophy, Batman is no longer a superhero, but an ordinary person with stronger body and fighting skills, and if you want to get this series out of the predicament, you have to pull Bruce Wayne off the altar and make him an ordinary person." ”

"An ordinary person?" said David Byrd, with suspicion in his eyes.

Ronan looked at Christopher Nolan, who said, "I wanted to create a fairly realistic atmosphere that made the audience feel like Gotham City was the American metropolis they lived in. The city is thriving on the surface, but secretly it has already begun to decay slowly, all levels of society are broken and fighting each other, various interest groups are intertwined, corruption is eroding the city little by little like opium, and even the system has become an accomplice to evil......"

Both Edward Davis and David Bird are listening, as this concept was not brought up by Christopher Nolan either, and is shown in The Dark Knight Returns.

And the comic book of The Dark Knight Returns was a huge success.

"I think Batman becomes a normal person, and that's exactly what is most likely to attract the audience," Ronan said in the wake of Christopher Nolan's words: "Bruce Wayne is no longer on top, he has the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, he can be sad, he will be afraid, he will be weak, he will fail, he will lose his way, and even he will have problems mentally. These emotions that ordinary people have, appearing on him, can resonate with the audience!"

"But the audience wants to see a superhero who can save the world," another Warner executive seems to be less in line with Ronan's view, "rather than wanting to see a ...... of waste."

Edward Davis interrupted with a raised hand and motioned for Ronan to continue.

"Everyone has their own journey, and superheroes are no exception, and it is difficult for tall heroes to resonate with the audience when they are separated from the market and the audience, which is why Spider-Man is more popular. "Ronan has been well prepared," Bruce Wayne is not born a hero, he will also wander and be lost, and after being lost, he also needs to find himself, complete self-knowledge and self-redemption. ”