"Uncle Zhou, what kind of situation did you say about Hollywood companies taking scripts to the door?"

Zhang Chu's reply was full of questions, he was not a person who gave up from the beginning.

Zhou Kang had probably been waiting for Zhang Chu's response, and at this time, he couldn't say it clearly with a WeChat conversation, so he simply made a phone call.

He laughed and said: "Today the company received a script outline from Universal Pictures, and they have a producer named Chris who said that this is sincerity and intends to spend a lot of money to buy the film and television rights of "The Lord of the Rings", and he asked you if it is convenient for you to talk to him about this movie in Yanjing. ”

"Haven't they all been rejected? Why do companies still want to buy scripts?"

"It's nothing more than not giving up, plus maybe you really want to win the copyright of this series. ”

Zhang Chu thought for a while, and he asked: "Has Universal written all the scripts now?" If it is really written, you can read the script, and as for the copyright, we will talk about it separately." ”

He didn't believe that anyone could get the script out in such a short time, did he really think that everyone had the help of their own savior system?

Even if it is the world's top studio like Universal, no matter how many talented screenwriters it has, it will only take a few days to get the script of "The Lord of the Rings" out, which is completely fantastical!

Sure enough, Zhou Kang emphasized: "It's just the outline of the script, it may be the relevant setting and the arrangement of the plot direction." But don't let their rhetoric fool you, these Hollywood producers do nothing better than making empty promises. ”

"How is it possible, I'm very demanding. If they can't meet this requirement, no company will be able to do it!"

"In that case, then I'll arrange for them, you don't have classes on Wednesday afternoon, right? ”

Zhang Chu calculated the time, and then agreed: "I think this can be had, I hope to give a little surprise at that time, don't waste everyone's time." ”

After all, it is not easy to fly from Los Angeles to Yanjing, at least there must be some basic progress, if it is just a simple meeting, there is no point.

"Then I'll reply to the email first, and their company hopes that we can keep a low profile and not make this meeting public. This is exactly what we thought, the front foot only rejected others, and now we promise to meet with this company, we can't make a big deal about it. ”

Originally, "The Lord of the Rings" has just been released, and if there is news that "Universal Pictures' senior management is only looking for film adaptation rights", it will definitely make many people who eat melons pay attention to this book.

They will wonder what kind of content will impress the famous Universal Pictures, and at the same time, those consumers who originally missed "The Lord of the Rings" because of the subject matter will passively accept the name in the news baptism again and again, and sooner or later become readers!

The book famine is a fate that every book lover can't escape.

When they are short of books, they will subconsciously start with familiar works or writers to see if they have any new works.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Chu seriously considered the meaning of this meeting.

"If the script can't even convince me, then don't talk about the rest!"

……

Malibu Beach is the richest of Los Angeles, and the number of stars here is comparable to that of Beverly Hills.

This is the closest to a few Hollywood studios but a good place to live in the backdrop of mountains and seas, with many mansions, either rich or expensive!

Chris's 500-square-meter mansion is located on the edge of Malibu Beach, where you can enjoy the sunrise and sunset.

He walked out of the room in a white nightgown, and the sun had just risen on the roof terrace in front of him, and the ABK in his hand showed Zhou Kang's reply to the email.

"I finally agreed, and I hope our side is ready. ”

The choice to hand over the project to Universal Pictures President Donna Longray was actually very risky, and she didn't finish the whole book, judging that it would be a promising work just by virtue of sales and critics' word of mouth.

Later, after the news came out from the Cannes Film Festival that old rivals such as Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, and Disney wanted to get the copyright of "The Lord of the Rings", Chris knew that there was nothing wrong with his vision!

It is very difficult to find a gap from the competition, and only with sufficient preparation, strength and sincerity can it be possible to impress the young writer who is far away in the East.

So under the direction of Donna Longray, Chris invited two well-known screenwriters to polish the script.

However, these two screenwriters who have been nominated for an Oscar for screenplay cannot make something out of nothing and conjure up a script. Now we've sorted out some of the main messages.

For example, the world and setting of the story, the main five to eight people in the story (including the decent villains), their respective backstories, and the reasons and processes of their encounters.

The second is the five most important things that the audience needs to know about the main character.

What is the core conflict of the story, the reason for the occurrence of this conflict, the process, where is the scene with the most visual information, and what are the ten most critical lines that can promote the development of the plot and shape the character.

It is difficult to turn an imaginary world constructed from words into an audio-visual world that the audience can see and hear, and their work in the past few days has only captured the complete narrative of "The Lord of the Rings"!

"Kirk, I'm going to China in two days, and you must give me the story before then. Without that story, I wouldn't have been able to convince a writer who actually knows a lot about Hollywood!"

Chris yelled at his phone, thankfully there were no neighbors around, otherwise it would be a bit of trouble.

Kirk on the other end of the line ran his hand at the few remaining hairs on the top of his head, and then yawned, he hadn't closed his eyes in 24 hours, and now he was holding on to coffee.

After hearing Chris's angry voice, Kirk was also a little dissatisfied: "Hey, you guys are giving me too little time! I shouldn't have taken this job at all! God, have you really seen "The Lord of the Rings"? It's hard to get a story. I'll have to take another five days, or I'll end up with a bunch of rubbish!"

It's not easy to be a screenwriter, and you often have to change the script.

This time, I was directly given a deadline, and I didn't read the book carefully, and I didn't understand the content and emotions of the story in it, how can I write a suitable script?

If the writing is wrong, then handing it over to the writer who is going to negotiate is not a self-defeating martial arts?

Chris also realized that something was wrong, Kirk was usually a good old man who was submissive, and today he actually yelled at himself, he paused, lowered his voice and asked, "Hey, old man." Just now I was in a bad mood, so I received an email from there to make an appointment to meet. I need it really, really, really much, and only you can help me!By the way, why didn't I hear Eddie's voice, where did he go?"

Kirk took the phone in his hand and placed it next to the nose of a nearby man, and a loud snoring came to Chris's ears, "You heard me! He was lying on his workbench and sleeping soundly, and I was the only one still cutting the content. I'm too sleepy, so I'll take a nap in the studio later. ”

The general volume is much larger than the script, so deletion has become a necessary action for film adaptation. It's just that no matter how much or how you cut it, it will offend readers and writers, which is not a good job!

has been urged for a long time, but the time is tight and the content is so rich, and the temper of the good man has also deteriorated.

Chris also knows that his request is a bit excessive, and he is not idle these days, but is making simple shooting plans and financial arrangements, and all kinds of budget plans have to be prepared simply.

Although the actual shooting plan is definitely different from the current one, the more formal it is, the more sincerity can be seen.

It was clear that he was the one who was angry, but now he had to hold back his anger and began to appease Kirk, who had entered a period of irritability: "Listen to me, listen to me, now you save what you have in your hands, and then sleep." I'd rather you go slower than give me some half-finished products, that would ruin the whole project. When I arrived in Yanjing, that was the real deadline. You can take a look at what readers on the Internet think about what they want to see if this is going to be made into a movie. ”

The screenwriter has limited time, so let the assistant collect these contents as a reference, maybe it will work wonders.

Truth be told, Kirk doesn't want to miss out on this project, he's been a screenwriter for a long time, has been nominated for multiple Oscars, and is well-known in the industry.

Now I am stumped by a new book by a Chinese author, and of course I want to overcome it and take it down.

Putting aside the sense of accomplishment for the time being, let's just say that Universal Pictures and Chris are paid much more than creating the script of a literary film!

The screenwriters themselves don't make much money, and the position of the screenwriters' union is also the weakest, and every time they want to increase their salary, they have to go through a strong struggle. Now that my daughter is going to a top university, the tuition fee is not a small number.

The script of a literary film has many requirements, and the remuneration is small, and it takes half a year or even longer to polish one often.

The project of "The Lord of the Rings" has not yet taken shape, but Chris has promised to pay the two screenwriters $200,000 each, regardless of whether they get the copyright in the end or not.

For the sake of so many green Franklin, Kirk could only endure and work hard to polish the script.

Chris is bound to "The Lord of the Rings", and he has paid so much to get this copyright, but he is not willing to make a wedding dress for others!

There is also a lot of competition within Universal Pictures, how did this mansion come to be right now?

It was earned by the big hit of "Teddy Bear" that he led in 202, which cost only $50 million to produce but grossed $5.4 billion worldwide, making much more net profit than the top blockbusters.

Now Chris doesn't expect "The Lord of the Rings" to have such a high profit rate, but he also hopes that it can at least bring enough revenue and give himself enough weight in the company's internal voice!

Seeing that the rest of the old rivals are all working on the movie universe one by one, and Universal itself is also working on the dark universe, it's a pity that although the screen monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and Werewolf are classic, the audience doesn't buy it.

The new version of "The Mummy", as the beginning of the dark universe, suffered a box office reputation fiasco, and the follow-up "Frankenstein's Bride" was not as good as before, and then the "Black Lagoon Demon", "The Invisible Man", "Van Helsing", and "The Phantom of the Opera" were directly cut in half, and the entire dark universe ended without a problem.

While the rest of the cinematic universe is in full swing, Universal can only stand still.

Chris sees Zhang Chu's series as an important opportunity, although "The Lord of the Rings" is only planned to have a series of three parts for the time being, but as far as the first part is concerned, Middle-earth is already a very complete world!

So does it have a chance to develop into a cinematic universe and become a new pillar for Universal Pictures as it enters the 21st century?

Zhang Chu's strength is undoubted, and the excitement of the story is enough, but the series is relatively thin.

He planned to wait for Zhang Chu to be pulled into the ship of Universal Pictures, and then tie it up firmly, and when the film began to be made, he would try to convince the young writer to create a different story centered on Middle-earth as much as possible.

Isn't that a new cinematic universe?

Everyone, including Universal President Donna Longray, thought that Chris just wanted to make a movie, but he didn't expect that this producer's heart was so big that he wanted to slowly compile a cinematic universe without saying a word.

Chris doesn't know whether he is right or wrong, and can he afford to put all his hopes on a young man?

"Even if you can't form a cinematic universe, it can be a wonderful enough series!"

Anyway, if you don't lose money, it's a big deal to fail like the rebooted version of "The Mummy", anyway, the money in it is from the company, and he, the producer, will do less damage, and what will be lost is only fame and status.

As long as he doesn't fail all the time, Chris can afford a major failure now.

If you want to create a cinematic universe without a little pressure, apart from Disney, which of the other film companies is not trembling?

Warner's D Universe has failed so many movies, that is, a "Wonder Woman" to save a little face.

Legendary Pictures' monster cinematic universe is slightly better, "Godzilla" is mediocre, "Kong: Skull Island" is a big hit, and then "Godzilla 2" and "Godzilla vs. Kong".

Now Chris needs to think about how to tie Zhang Chu to Universal Pictures, especially since the writer already has close cooperation with two other companies.

"It's hard, it's too hard!"

The early morning breeze made Chris a little cold, and he wrapped his nightgown tightly, looking at the coast in the distance, but his heart had already flown to the other side of the Pacific Ocean.