Chapter 516: World War

……

"Hello, Mr. Guo!"

Guo Shouyun turned his head to see that it was a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a slender face. Behind him, there stood two people who were no strangers to him, one of whom was still very familiar.

"Mr. Katzenberg, Mr. Geffen, and Mr. Spielberg!"

Guo Shouyun lingered for a moment on David Spielberg, who wore black-rimmed glasses. In the last life, the reputation of this great director in China was not a household name, but it was also widely known. In comparison, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffin, two of the DreamWorks Big Three, are much weaker.

"Can we sit?" said Katzenberg.

The place where they are located is the VIP seat of the Kodak Theater. That is, the vacant seats on both sides of the front of the stands, which are condescending, and the view, safety, and comfort are much better than the positions of the Hollywood stars below. Of course, there are quite a few seats in between.

"Of course, three please!"

After greeting Buddy Morris and Eva Green, the three sat down. After noticing David Geffen sitting beside him, Guo Shouyun's brows wrinkled unconsciously. It's not that he hates each other, it's that this Hollywood celebrity, in addition to his talent in the film and television industry, is also a well-known gay. He doesn't discriminate against homosexuals, but he doesn't know why, and after noticing the other party's eyes looking at him, he always feels very tired in his heart.

Looking at Guo Shouyun, who looked calm and waited for them to speak, after the three of them glanced at each other, Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of the CEOs of DreamWorks, said: "Mr. Guo, DreamWorks and Matrix have always had a good cooperation in the past. Films like "Jurassic Park," "Schindler's List," and "A Beautiful Mind" have all made huge profits for both you and us. ”

In fact, "Jurassic Park", "Schindler's List", and "A Beautiful Mind", these films made by Steven Spielberg are all films cooperated by DreamWorks and Universal. But now that Universal has been acquired by the Matrix, it can be regarded as a kind of nominal cooperation with the Matrix.

“… So, we're really looking forward to working with Matrix again!"

"DreamWorks has always been one of Hollywood's leading studios, and the three gentlemen are well-known film and television elites, so I'm looking forward to working with DreamWorks again. ”

"I don't know about this, has Mr. Guo seen it?"

Jeffrey Katzenberg put the book prepared in advance in front of Guo Shouyun.

"The War of the Worlds by Hee Joe Wells?"

"Not bad!"

Looking at the book in his hand, some memories belonging to Bruce Guo surfaced from the depths of his mind.

"War of the Worlds" is the masterpiece of the British science fiction writer Her Joe Wells at the end of the last century, and the classic science fiction masterpieces "The Invisible Man" and "Time Machine" are also from his pen. In the field of science fiction literature, he is known as the greatest science fiction writer after 'Jules Verne'.

Like "The Invisible Man" and "Time Machine", "War of the Worlds" has also been put on the screen many times. One of the most interesting is that on Halloween in 1938, "War of the Worlds" was adapted into a local story and broadcast on American radio, and because the description was so realistic, listeners thought that there was a real Martian invasion, causing a great panic. This became one of the most bizarre jokes in American history.

"DreamWorks is going to make it into a movie?"

Jeffrey Katzenberg nodded.

Stephen bought the radio script for War of the Worlds early on, and it was originally planned to start filming in '96. But it just so happened that Roland Emmerich's "Independence Day" was released. The original shooting plan has been postponed until now. ”

Glancing at Spielberg, "As far as I know, Mr. Spielberg is filming "Happiness Terminal"?

"I only had this one film for the whole '04 years. At most, it will be completed in half a year. If you start preparing now, the rest of the 04 years can completely complete the production of "War of the Worlds", and then release it in 05. Spielberg replied.

Guo Shouyun nodded clearly, and after a little silence, "If filming starts, what is the budget for this movie?"

"$140 million in production costs!"

Guo Shouyun's brows furrowed slightly. As the boss of the matrix, he is also well aware of the comparison between Hollywood film production fees and box office.

As is Hollywood convention. If it is a large-scale production with an investment of 140 million US dollars, the cost of publicity and distribution must be between 1~150 million US dollars. In other words, "War of the Worlds" produced by DreamWorks and directed by Spielberg is a super production with a total investment of $250 million. It's no wonder that DreamWorks approached the matrix for cooperation. With such a high investment, except for the Big Six, almost no production company in the entire Hollywood dares to invest independently. Once it loses, even MGM can't afford it, let alone DreamWorks.

Moreover, the $250 million investment would require at least $650 million at the box office to recoup the cost. Even if Spielberg's film is relatively high-security, the box office of $650 million is still an unattainable figure. Of course, if the box office is poor, the periphery can also be made up. But it is also unknown how much the surrounding area can sell.

"Can I read the script?" asked Guo Shouyun after a moment of silence.

"Of course!"

Jeffrey Katzenberg handed over the pre-made script.

"The main character is Tom Cruise?"

"Tom is a good actor and he's the perfect person to play Ray Ferrell. Spielberg said.

After glancing at him, Guo Shouyun nodded. Without saying anything, he continued to flip through the script in his hand. After reading the general storyline, memories of the previous "War of the Worlds" came to his mind.

While thinking of this movie, Guo Shouyun also denied the possibility of matrix investment.

Generally speaking, if there is a good predecessor, with the urine of the major Hollywood studios, there will definitely be a sequel. This is true of Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, and more. Even the heavily complained "Pacific Rim" has a second part, but "War of the Worlds" did not hear the news of starting a sequel until he was reborn. It can be seen from this that this movie is 100% lost.

The investment of 250 million US dollars, if it loses, although it cannot be said to be a heavy blow to the current matrix, it is also a big loss. Especially now that there are three new Universal Studios in the matrix, four Universal Studios are expanding, and a large number of ultra-luxury matrix cinemas require a lot of money in the case of investment. So, every money has to be carefully calculated.

"War of the Worlds is a very good story, and we plan to make it into a sci-fi trilogy, and all the scripts are ready. If the first part does well at the box office, the second part will start filming the following year!" said Spielberg.

Guo Shouyun nodded slightly, and after deducting the script and returning it, "The script is indeed excellent." But for a $250 million production, we need some time to think about it!"

"Of course, but you also know that such a big plan needs to be planned as early as possible. So, how long will it take for us to get an accurate response?" asked Jeffrey Katzenberg.

"A week, I'll give you an answer within a week!" Guo Shouyun said after a brief consideration.

"Okay, we'll wait for Mr. Guo's good news in a week!"

Guo Shouyun smiled and nodded.

"Then we won't bother much!"

Jeffrey Katzenberg and his two companions stood up.

"There's time to get back together!"

After sending the three of them out of his box, Guo Shouyun said directly: "Buddy, send them an email in a few days, saying that we are short of funds and give up our investment in "War of the Worlds". ”

"Give up?"

Buddy Morris looked surprised, just now he saw Guo Shouyun chatting so seriously with the three of them, and thought he would agree?

"Hmm... I'm not optimistic about Spielberg's new movie. ”

Saying that, Guo Shouyun sat in his seat and looked at the Oscars that had begun below with great interest. Seeing him like this, Buddy Morris opened his mouth and didn't say anything more.

Although he felt that the films of the great director Spielberg rarely lost money, and "War of the Worlds" might be a good opportunity, the big bosses denied it, and he couldn't say anything more. Moreover, the big boss has always had an accurate eye and rarely misses. Since he denied it, then DreamWorks' new film is really not worth the investment.

The 2003 Oscars are the 75th, and the person who hosted the Academy Awards ceremony was Steve Martin, who played the rugby team owner in Lee ~ Ann's "Billy Lynn Halftime Fight". Although this guy is very shrewd in the play, his hosting style has a natural American humor, and he has been invited to host the Academy Awards and Emmy Awards many times.

"I'm glad to see that the organizers have lowered the bar for this awards gala, even the traditional red carpet has been canceled, and if you don't already know, I'd like to bring this message to you by the way. … Julian Moore had never used a fake nose in previous films, so this time "Far from Heaven" brought her good luck. Julian, your fake nose looks good!"

Listening to the bursts of laughter from the audience, Guo Shouyun couldn't help but sigh. Although he is not interested in American humor, Steve Martin is indeed a great host, and everyone laughs out loud by him.

The Academy Award nominees for Best Supporting Actress are Katherine Zeta-Jones for "Chicago", Kathy Bates for "About Schmidt", Merrill Kettrip for "Adapted Screenplay", Quinn Latifa for "Chicago", and Julian Moore for "All the Time". ”

With the various movie clips shown on the big screen, the Best Supporting Actress at the 75th Academy Awards went to Catherine Zeta-Jones of "Chicago".

Looking at the woman wearing a long black dress under the dazzling lights and gorgeous music in the audience, Guo Shouyun said: "If I'm not mistaken, this time "Chicago" should have won 13 Oscar nominations, right?"

"Yes!"

"Miramax made a good movie. Guo Shouyun nodded slightly, "Do you know its box office?"

"You know, 170 million in North America, $300 million worldwide. ”

In terms of investment in feature films, such a box office must have made a lot of money.

"Are there any awards for the films we have filmed?"

"'Spider-Man' was shortlisted for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects, and '8 Miles' was shortlisted for Best Song. ”

"Gone?"

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress and other heavyweight awards, there is no matrix movie.

"No! Oscar doesn't like our commercial films. Buddy Morris nodded.

Guo Shouyun frowned slightly, and he had also heard of Oscar's urine. Every year's Olympic Awards, there is no Hollywood commercial blockbuster.

"Forget it, if you don't, you won't have it. Making money is the main thing!"

After thinking of this, Guo Shouyun no longer dwelled on these. Concentrate on watching the Academy Awards for the first time in person.