No matter how Flame Movies and Wen Ziren & Ray Warner "broke up peacefully" and how "we are still best friends", from the outside world's point of view, the two switching to Universal is definitely a sign of discord!

At the same time, most of FF's new film projects in the next two years are strange, and Wang Yang has used several of his ace producers and directors indiscriminately, after winning the double annual championship and reaching the unprecedented peak of independent film companies, what will FF perform in the next few years? This question is really more confusing than this year's awards season, and it is starting to go downhill? Or will it maintain its miraculous strength and continue to overturn mainstream blockbusters such as Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, and Universal?

Being able to dig the foot of the FF wall and usher in the two fathers of chainsaws in their prime, Universal is inevitably a little proud, as if it has gotten half a magical Yang! Universal spokesperson Cindy Gardner said: "With the proof of the "SA" series, what reason do we have not to look forward to "Dead Silence"?

In the same period, there must be no shortage of horror films, "Torture Room", "Harvest", ...... At that time, the flame movie also had a release plan, and Wang Yang single-handedly initiated, supervised and wrote the action comedy "The Green Hornet", which was likely to stage a scene of personally cleaning up the "traitor".

If you want to say why FF always attracts doubts, because its projects are always so unusual, for example, "The Green Hornet" wants to be a superhero comedy, and it also brings together the "king of comedy" Jim Carrey and Stephen Chow of Hollywood and Hong Kong, two old guys who are 88 years old and nearly 100 years old this year. But in fact, the pre-publicity of this project has been very good, and comedy-loving fans and audiences think it is very interesting, and the two leading actors are the kind of kings who can laugh at you without speaking, and they can't wait to see its face and have a good laugh.

"It's hard to imagine the chemistry they had when they were funny together. More than one fan who knows both Jim Carrey and loves Stephen Chow said that compared to the plot story of "The Green Hornet", this is the most expected, and even film critic Roger Ebert expressed his expectations when talking about the movies in the next few years: "Carrey + Zhou + Odelcock + Fantastic Young, God knows what kind of comedic effect these guys will bring." ”

Since the addition of Steve O'Decock, the progress of "The Green Hornet" has quickly made a big breakthrough, in the fourth season of last year, the three completed the script adaptation, and now the film is still in the preparation stage, it will start filming in May this year, and it will be completed by August, directed by Stephen Chow.

Stephen Chow's rise to fame in North America is due to last year's release of "Kung Fu," an action film that grossed $17.1 million at the North American box office, with 2,503 theaters in North America at its widest screening, and $100.9 million worldwide.

Don't look at the box office of 17.1 million, it seems to be very small, it is already in the eighth place in the box office list of foreign language films in North America (1980-present), the highest is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (Taiwan, China) with 128 million, the second is "Life is Beautiful" (Italy) with 57.56 million, and the third is "Hero" (China) with 53.71 million...... The tenth place is 14.69 million "Iron Horse Grenade" (Hong Kong, China).

As a person who loves movies and is "erudite and multilingual" since childhood, it is difficult for Wang Yang to understand why most North American audiences are so narrow-minded and not interested in watching foreign language films with subtitles, thus missing countless classic movies, such as his beloved "Paradise Cinema" only had 12.39 million North American box office that year, and the market has not changed for more than ten years, but this is the status quo, after all, there are too many popular English films on the poster wall of the theater at any time.

However, although "Kung Fu" can rank eighth, Wang Yang and the Flame Distribution Department feel very sorry for it, if it is released by FF, they are confident that the box office of "Kung Fu" will reach more than 50 million.

Not to mention the issue of schedule selection, even in April, the current publisher Sony Classics still made a big mistake, it did not have the patience when it treated "Kung Fu" when it released "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", or the huge success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" made them think things simple.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" lasted for 5 weeks in 16 theaters in the first week, with less than 200 theaters, 8 weeks under 1,000, and 2027 in the 16th week, and finally screened for 32 weeks before the whole film was screened.

"Kung Fu" ended its journey in a hurry in 19 weeks, and only tested in 7 theaters in the first two weeks, with an average single theater of $53,577 and $51,308 respectively, while the results of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" were $41,450 and $34,798, but the beautiful reputation of "Kung Fu" on Rotten Tomatoes has not spread or formed an influence, and Sony Classics has not increased publicity, and it has quickly increased to 2503 stores (+2496) in the third week, and the average single library has also slid sharply to $3,436, typical of seedling pulling.

The ninth-place "Motorcycle Diaries" (2004-9-24), which grossed 16.78 million, was screened for 21 weeks, with a maximum of 272 theaters (week 11), "Life is Beautiful" was 35 weeks, with a maximum of 1,136 theaters (week 25), and Miramax's release of "Hero" (2004-8-27) had 2,031 theaters in its first week, with an average of $11,680 per theater, because it was a belated release, and it had already hit the Golden Globe Awards before that. The Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, although the last two awards were lost, has a certain reputation.

Now "Kung Fu" is also impacting the awards season, it was shortlisted for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but judging from its FYC advertising volume and other promotional aspects, Sony/Columbia has no intention of making a big noise for it, especially Stephen Zhou's new film "The Green Hornet" belongs to FF, even if it wins the trophy, it is just a wedding dress for others. If it is operated by FF, there is no doubt that it will spend a lot of money on publicity and help it compete for the best foreign language film to its maximum potential.

It's a pity that this can only be a pity, Sony/Columbia themselves are not nervous, and it is impossible for the flame to point fingers, so let's think about how to do a good job of "The Green Hornet".

Of course, now "Kung Fu" still has a chance to be crowned a Golden Globe Award, although Wang Yang knew in advance that it would lose to Palestine's "Heaven at This Time", but who knows if anything will change?

In addition to "The Green Hornet", other projects of the flame film are also moving forward on their own tracks, and Luc Jacques, the director of "The Emperor Penguin Diaries", has agreed to take over the director's microphone for "The Tale of Hachiko", and he will work with Robert Sgurley ("The Lion King 2", "Superman High School", etc.) to adapt the screenplay, with the assistance of producers Todd Rayboman and Robert Scurly, among others, Luc Jacques has made up for his shortcomings without losing his merits, FF does not doubt "Hachi" can become a touching film with a super high reputation.

After many months, "Marley and Me" was adapted by two screenwriters, Scott Frank and Don Rose, and producer Jill Nate invited David Francole ("Rhapsody of Love", "** City" 6 episodes, "Band of Brothers" 2 episodes, etc.) to pick up the microphone, which is currently in the casting and preparation stage.

Although these two dog movies are scheduled to be released in 2007, because they are not special effects blockbusters, they do not require much post-production time, and the publicity gap has many adverse effects, so these two projects are not in a hurry, giving the crew and creators sufficient preparation time;

"The Story of Hachiko the Loyal Dog" is scheduled to start filming in the fourth quarter of the year, while "Marley and I" is likely to start filming in the first quarter of next year.

"League of Assassins 2", which will be released at the end of next summer, will no longer be directed by John Woo, this is indeed a "peaceful breakup", John Woo's emotions and thoughts are all put in "League of Assassins", this is like a person who has been holding back for a long time and finally breathes a sigh of relief, but after he is relieved, he can no longer raise that momentum, so short for him to shoot a second part, the flame movie is not optimistic about being able to "double the box office and word of mouth", and according to market research, the audience hopes to have some new excitement.

On the other hand, John Woo once again proved that his "King of Guns" is not in vain, and there is no need to prove anything, after Hollywood is accustomed to seeing people's warmth, he wants to return to Asia, and cooperate with China Film and other companies to produce Chinese-language films, the historical war film "Red Cliff" with the story of the Battle of Red Cliff in the Three Kingdoms Era.

So the two sides are happy despite breaking up, Flame Films has sent a directing invitation to the 44-year-old "Russian John Woo" Timo Bekman Betov, and received a reply from YES; in addition, the sequel script directed by Chris Morgan is about to be completed, and then the original cast is recalled, and the preparation ...... "League of Assassins 2" is expected to start filming in the third quarter of this year at the earliest, and it must be launched in the fourth quarter at the latest, otherwise it will be too bad to meet the release date.

As for whether to participate in the investment of "Red Cliff" and serve as its North American distributor, Flame Film Productions believes that it is still up for debate.

"Iron Man" and "I Am Legend" seem to be a lot busier, and they have always had a "magical style". Jon Favreau has completed his vacation and has devoted himself to the work of the crew, and the screenwriting team led by Mark Fergus and Hawk Osterby has also shaped the characters, written lines, story details, etc. in accordance with the framework ideas given by Wang Yang, from October last year to the present, the script has been nearly completed, and it has also determined Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams The two starring candidates, "Iron Man" is expected to start in August, and it will be released in the early summer vacation of 07.

At present, the script of "I Am Legend" has not been handed over to all departments of the crew, and even the crew has not been formed, but Wang Yang's production preparations have always been very fast and smooth, "I Am Legend" is different from "Firefly" so huge, it has only one starring role, and there is no need for martial arts training, etc., Wang Yang's plan is to officially start construction in February, and it is expected to start filming after 5-7 months of preparation, and it will be released in the middle of the summer vacation of 07.

In addition, the production progress of films such as "Mamma Mia" and "Deadly Magic" is in line with expectations, and "Saw 4" has entered the preparatory stage, and FF has decided to use 27-year-old newcomer Darren Lynn Bausman, who is the director of Lionsgate's version of "SA" 2, 3, and 4, and Bousman's insight and enthusiasm for "SA" is enough to support him to create a good sequel after the story of the first trilogy, and start a new horror.

Nancy Lino will also be the planning producer and assistant director of "SA4", having worked as an assistant to the crew back in "SA1", and her performance in "500 Days with Sammo" last year was a good reason to earn her trust. So when she expressed great interest in "SA4", the FF production department and Wang Yang agreed without much thought that if she had excellent results this time and Bausman lacked energy, the director's microphone of "SA5" would be given priority to her, the third female director of FF.

It's just compared to Sarah Schugman, Anne Fletcher's youth, song and dance, comedy...... Nancy Reno makes an R-rated bloody horror film?It seems very weird, even weirder than the old man in jigsaw, especially since she is so beautiful, the first impression is that she faints at the sight of blood, screams at the sight of the ghost, and then is stubborn and confident.

Who doesn't scream when they see a ghost? Maybe it's just James Win. Although he knew that this senior sister or senior sister had a very strong personality, Wang Yang was still surprised: "This is not "SE" (sewing, needlework), it is "SA", have you seen it? Are you sure? Saw and ......sawed at the calf" Nancy was quite disdainful: "In the past few years, I have thought of a lot of interesting killing games, each of which is compared to the shin sawing and sawing horror, and there are also SE uses, do you want to listen?"

"Okay, just appreciate your character!" What else can Wang Yang say, isn't she interested in youth campuses, romantic comedies, or whatever? Nancy said calmly: "You know that my idol is you, yes, I want to follow in your footsteps and make my debut in horror films, anyway, I'm really interested, let's talk about the rest later." ”

However, Mark Slunt has not forgotten the agent's set, he thinks that FF can unite Nancy's agent and agency to work together to build her into an "idol director", a beautiful director who is both talented and sexy...... A few days ago, because of the Rose Bowl competition, she followed Wang Yang to appear on the ABC channel of the national live broadcast many times, and then many people on the Internet asked "Who is that woman?", "The one wearing a ball cap next to Magic Young!", "Has she acted in any movies?", you know, absolutely ork!

If she wants to take this development route, she can't touch the terrible things like "SA", and romantic things such as the "Dance Out of My Life" series and "Twilight" are suitable for her. And now "Twilight" is selling more and more popularly, and it has been on the New York Times bestseller list for many weeks, becoming a super bestseller, "idol director" + "idol starring", a wonderful publicity stunt.

"I'm going to be a director, not a Playboy cover girl, otherwise what would I do at USC? To be a highly educated cover girl?" was rejected by Nancy mercilessly, and she was very angry because she didn't like people to associate her appearance with her talents.

Wang Yang remembers that he also said the same thing at the beginning, "I don't want to be a star", and today, his popularity is not inferior to any star, although he still doesn't feel like a star, but as the saying goes, "What does an animal look like, what does it sound like, and what does it look like when it walks, then it is what it is", in the eyes of the outside world, there is no difference between him and a star, only he knows whether it is not, making movies, participating in publicity, participating in the awards season, and then what?

When Nancy began to take over the director's microphone alone, how could she not be present in the whole film promotion from beginning to end? Naturally, she did a few interviews, took a few sets of photos of ordinary entertainment and fashion magazines, and as long as there was attention, the media and paparazzi would stare at her, and when the movie was successful, then even if Nancy didn't want to be an "idol director", she would slowly become yes, and "beautiful director" might be her nickname.

"What do you think? I'm not lying to you. Wang Yang told her all the experiences of the people who came over the years, and said: "Actually, it's nothing, the most important thing is to keep your own mentality, don't know what you're doing in those flashes and flashiness." When Nancy heard that this was indeed the case, she was immediately very annoyed: "Now I actually envy Harry George a little!" She was also very annoyed: "No, the nickname 'beautiful director' is too silly, 'hot director', 'sexy director'...... I don't want it!, I'm going to give myself a nickname first, huh...... What is your opinion?"

Wang Yang couldn't help but sigh: "Sure enough, it's still a girl." During the phone call, Nancy suddenly laughed: "It's too early for us to talk about this, isn't it? Laughing to death! As if I'm going to walk the red carpet of the Golden Globes, who is it?" Wang Yang said: "Your idol, a muscular director." ”

The first two met in Park City, the host of the Sundance Film Festival, both 6 years ago in 2000, this year's Sundance Film Festival will open on the 19th, the Flame Film Buying Department, the Distribution Department is ready to go, hoping to have any major gains, such as the kind of film that can be used as the main force to impact the next awards season, but everyone knows that such a movie is hard to find, not every year there is a "Crash", let alone every "Crash" can be easily recognized.

Before that, the 63rd Golden Globe Awards ceremony held on the evening of the 16th came earlier.

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(To be continued)