"Welcome to the Marvel family!"

In the office of the Hughes Flyer Studio, Kevin Feige put down the contract he had just signed and shook hands tightly with Jon Favreau, Jon Favreau's chubby face was full of smiles: "It's my honor." ”

"Iron Man", and the future "Iron Man" trilogy, now has a director.

Jon Favreau signed a three-movie directing contract with Marvel Entertainment, not that Ronan and Kevin Feige don't want to sign more, but Jon Favreau has made a name for himself in the directing industry, has many options, and is unwilling to be tied to the same series of movies for many years to come.

Putting down the director's contract, Kevin Feige handed over another contract to Jon Favreau's agent, and the agent briefly looked at it and signaled that Jon Favreau had no problem, and Jon Favreau signed the actor contract again.

This is one of the reasons why Ronan and Kevin Feige didn't bite the bullet on the director's contract, and Jon Favreau signed a six-part actor contract with Marvel Entertainment.

Kevin Feige went with lawyers, directors' and screen actors representatives to deal with the follow-up of his contract, and the conference room, which had been a bit chaotic, fell silent.

Jon Favreau took the initiative to find Ronan, who was sitting on the side of the conference table.

"I didn't expect that Marvel would have such a plan. Jon Favreau thought of the proposal he saw after signing the non-disclosure agreement, and he sighed: "I feel that I am starting an era. ”

Ronan had talked to Jon Favreau many times, and had a good impression of this humorous and talented fat man, and immediately smiled and said, "It's just a plan." ”

Jon Favreau said without a trace: "Such a grand plan, if someone in Hollywood can succeed in realizing it, you are the one with the best chance." ”

"We need to work together. "Ronan is well aware that big-budget commercial films have always been the product of a team.

Jon Favreau suddenly said, "After reading the Avengers plan, I regret it a little. ”

Ronan looked at him suspiciously.

Jon Favreau joked: "'Captain America' is not bad, and I think the tone of this film adaptation is more serious." ”

Ronan could hear that this was a joke and couldn't help but laugh: "Jon, you can participate in the director competition for "Captain America" then." ”

Jon Favreau also laughed, chatted with Ronan a few more words, glanced at the time, and said, "I made an appointment with the screenwriter of Shahai Entertainment to talk about the script......"

Ronan waved his hand: "You go." ”

The script is only finished with the first draft, and there are many things that need to be adjusted, and Jon Favreau has also given a lot of suggestions recently.

In the original comics, the character Tony Stark fought in the Vietnam War, which was later changed to the Gulf War.

Now that the battlefield has to be changed again in a film adaptation, Jon Favreau suggests that the story in the film should not seem too old, so give it a real contemporary look.

The preparation of "Iron Man" has not been smooth sailing, and even with Ronan's golden sign, there are still people who are full of doubts about a lesser-known superhero like the Marvel adaptation.

For example, the heroine Pepper, Ronan has no intention of continuing to use Gwyneth Paltrow, a patient with deep princess disease, and plans to invite Rachel McAdams, who has already collaborated with Shahai Entertainment on two films, "Mean Girls" and "Wedding Guests", to play Potts.

Unexpectedly, the audition invitation sent by the crew was directly rejected by Rachel McAdams.

Ronan was somewhat surprised, because he remembered very well that Rachel McAdams once played a supporting actress in "Doctor Strange".

Compared to that character, Pepper is significantly heavier in the Marvel Universe.

Perhaps "The Notebook" is such a literary and artistic movie, which has made Rachel McAdams, who has always taken the commercial route, change the way he chooses characters and film projects.

It may also be full of doubts about Marvel Entertainment's requirement to sign contracts for multiple movies at one time.

After all, she can be regarded as a famous actress.

In particular, "Wedding Proud" exploded at the box office last month, which made Rachel McAdams's fame and worth skyrocket, and faintly stepped into the threshold of second-tier stars.

"Wedding Guests" was released in North America for five weeks, with a total box office of $195.18 million.

But this quintessential American comedy has received much worse response overseas, appearing in overseas markets two weeks ago, and has been opened in more than 40 countries, with less than $25 million at the overseas box office.

According to the actual response forecast of the overseas market, the overseas box office performance of "Wedding Aoke" is one-third of that of North America.

Rachel McAdams's polite refusal also made Ronan lose his only inclination in the role of Pepper.

He wanted to invite Charlize Theron to play this role, but the Oscar-winning actress, even if the Oscar-winning actress is not particularly high-paid, will not easily sign multiple film contracts with Marvel Entertainment at one time.

If you only sign one, Marvel Entertainment is too passive.

After Ronan and Kevin Feige consulted, they simply asked the crew to hold a public audition for Pepper.

With director Jon Favreau in place, the crew was set up at an accelerated pace, and soon a team was stationed at the Hughes Aircraft Factory to begin scene design for the shooting.

All the interior scenes of the film will be filmed at the Hughes aircraft factory, which also echoes the background of the birth of Iron Man.

Stan Lee, the creator of the comics, has publicly stated more than once that the character of Tony Stark is based on Howard Hughes, because Stan Lee feels that Howard Hughes is one of the most colorful characters of our time, who is both an inventor and an adventurer, a multi-millionaire and a playboy at the same time, only to turn into a madman in the end.

When making a movie, sometimes a little bit of mystery about real-life legends can have a strong publicity effect.

Thanks to the momentum created by the previous embassy films, Ronan is still attracting the attention of many media reporters, and the "Iron Man" project is on the right track, so it is naturally indispensable to take advantage of the momentum to promote it and leave a general impression first.

Outside of the crew, Ronan and Marvel Entertainment pushed Stan Lee in front of the media again.

The old man dreamed of seeing his sons shine in their lifetime and become the hottest heroes in the world.

In some ways, this makes sense of the fact that fathers like to see their sons succeed.

Moreover, Stan Lee is in his eighties, and in the face of such an old man, even if there is something wrong to say, the media and the public will be infinitely tolerant.

In the same way, Marvel Entertainment has no idea of squeezing Stan Lee's last bit of residual value.

Stan Lee made a special trip to Los Angeles to give a joint interview to the media at the Hughes Aircraft Plant.

"The reason I wanted to create Iron Man was because I wanted to create a character that was different from the average superhero. At that time, in 1963, Iron Man was not a character of interest to young readers: he was an entrepreneur and a manufacturer of weapons of war. ”

Facing reporters, Stan Lee seems to return to the high-spirited sixties and seventies of the last century: "I said to myself: I want to create the character of Tony Stark, so that young people can like him, because Tony is rich, handsome, funny, and attractive. At the same time, I deliberately designed his heart to be fragile so that he would not appear too perfect, and the reader would be more concerned about his well-being because of it. ”

After Stan Lee's interview, "Iron Man" attracted a lot of attention in the industry, and even some invisible Iron Man fans jumped out.

Ronan receives a call from Sofia Coppola, who he has worked with, and then agrees to speak with Nicolas Cage once.

"I love the role of Iron Man very much. Nicolas Cage said to Ronan on the phone: "I've been a fan of Iron Man since I was ten years old. Ronan, you have to give me an audition, I'm really interested in playing Iron Man. ”

Ronan was speechless for a while, whether Nicolas Cage was a fan of Iron Man or was interested in the character because the producer had Ronan Anderson's name on it, he couldn't guess.

But he remembers that once Nicolas Cage's favorite superhero was Superman, and more than once wanted to play Superman.

"You can go to auditions. Ronan simply said honestly: "But there is a premise for the selection of actors for this role, which requires signing multiple movie contracts with Marvel Entertainment at one time, and in the next ten years, the actors will be directly tied to the role of Iron Man." ”

As soon as these words came out, Nicolas Cage on the opposite side immediately fell silent.

Today, Nicolas Cage's financial crisis is beginning to show, but it is far from the bad situation that followed.

He also has a lot to choose from.

"I'll talk to my broker. Nicolas Cage replied.

Ronan believes that Nicolas Cage will not mention this again, because it is not only a long-term contract, but also a low salary.

"Actually, Nicolas Cage is not bad. Kevin Feige said: "It's just that the salary is too high, and we prefer actors with relatively low salaries. ”

Ronan nodded lightly and asked a key question, "How's going on our number one target?"

"The first audition was a brilliant and perfect fit. Kevin Feige knew that Ronan was asking Robert Downey Jr. and said, "I have to think about it, he is a star who was once popular after all." ”

Ronan said: "It's not easy to get Robert Downey Jr. to sign a ten-film contract at a time and be willing to work with us. ”

"I'm creating a situation where Robert Downey Jr. feels that it's not easy to get the role of Iron Man. Kevin Feige said simply: "In addition to sending out the audition invitation, I also sent a signal to Robert Downey Jr.'s fiancée in a sideways way that this project is the best opportunity for Robert Downey Jr." ”

He smiled, "Actually, it's pretty much the same. ”

Ronan understands what Kevin Feige means: "The harder it is to get, the more you will cherish it." ”

Kevin Feige smiled, "That's probably it." ”

None of these producers who can mix to the top level are simple characters.

Ronan said again: "Miss Filton and Susan Levine are alumni of the USC Film School, and although they are of different grades, they are facing each other in the dormitory. ”

Once again, he reminded Kevin Feige: "Susan Levine is key. ”

Kevin Feige said: "Rest assured, we've quietly done a lot of work on Susan Levine. ”