"Young, are you really going to invest in Brokeback Mountain? Oh my God, this is a big surprise, a big, big surprise!"

In the spacious and bright café, there are not many customers, a quiet corner table by the window, James Shams lifted his coffee cup and took a sip, suppressing the excitement in his heart with a bitter taste. The 44-year-old middle-aged white man wore a black round-framed glasses, his sparse hair was a little gray, and his tall hooked nose was flushed with joy.

For "Brokeback Mountain", he has been investing for a long time! Except for Focus Films, which has expressed some interest, other film companies have almost avoided it, but Focus is only willing to invest 3 million, what can 3 million be filmed? At least 10 million! He can't help but have to dig out his own pocket to shoot.

It's just that when he gets older, he lacks this urge to put it into practice, so he chose to continue to lobby for companies such as Focus, and now it's okay, Flame Films will take over! And the investment amount is 15 million!

"Yes, I'm sure I'm going to invest, whether gay, heterosexual, you deserve this movie. Wang Yang, who was sitting opposite, also took a sip of coffee and continued to say seriously: ""Brokeback Mountain" is a very touching and excellent story, and it is also an opportunity for everyone to communicate. ”

He said and grinned, looked at James Shams, who nodded in agreement, and said with a smile: "And from the commercial perspective of investment, it will also be a very box office attractive movie, a movie that can win awards, I earned it! Haha, I'm not afraid of those public opinions." ”

"Heh, you are. James Shams couldn't help but laugh, and a few wrinkles appeared on Sven's temperamental face. This young man's "Juno" withstood the taboo pressure of early pregnancy and abortion among teenagers, turning it into a topic that everyone talked about openly, and causing the market to commercialize early pregnancy. "I also believe it's the kind of film that hits the market," Shams laughs. ”

"But I have a strong recommendation. Wang Yang raised his right index finger and said with a smile that both parties would agree on: "Ang Lee will be the director." James Shamston was very happy: "Of course, of course, who else is more suitable besides him?" Wang Yang nodded and smiled: "Yes." ”

In fact, James Shams can be said to be the "other half" of Ang Lee, the two have worked together for many years and have a deep relationship, if they are gay, they must have been openly together. Starting with Ang Lee's feature film debut "Pushing Hands", followed by "The Wedding Banquet", "Eating Men and Women", "Sense and Sensibility", "Ice Storm", "Riding with the Devil", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and "Hulk", James Shams is one of the screenwriters in addition to "Sense and Sensibility".

He is also one of the producers of all eight films in Ang Lee's directing career, well-known producers usually have their own independent production companies, participate in a small part of the investment to dividends, and Shams also owns an independent company "Good Machine", which has participated in the production of a total of 32 films, 8 of which were directed by Ang Lee. So once "Brokeback Mountain" gets investment from any big company or independent film company, Ang Lee is 99% of the directors invited.

But there is still 1%, which is also something that Wang Yang wants to ensure, God knows if James Shams will suddenly go crazy, or fall out with Ang Lee? Not to mention that Shams gave up halfway through the investment, just like several previous producers, and transferred the script of "Brokeback Mountain" to others. Moreover, he can invest in the production of such a classic movie, he really earns it.

"This news is amazing. James Shams breathed a sigh of relief, he was really a little afraid that this amazing young man would suddenly go crazy, participate in the production and then said that he didn't want Ang Lee to direct, unless he Miraculous Young personally went into battle, he would have to consider whether he would accept the investment of the flames. Now Wang Yang has specified that he wants Ang Lee to direct, this young man is really handsome!

He gave a thumbs up and exclaimed: "Invest in "Brokeback Mountain", trust Ann, few people have this courage and vision, magical Yang, I have to say, you are incredible!"

"Thanks, maybe James, don't praise yourself too much. Wang Yang shrugged his shoulders with a smile, James Shams immediately laughed, and Wang Yang laughed again and said: "But if you can get "Brokeback Mountain", the flame movie is the lucky one, let's do it well." ”

James Shams nodded, took a sip of coffee, and said: "The text of this script has a kind of harsh and desolate, I think this kind of temperament is not suitable for the screen, just like the treatment of "Juno", hiding the seriousness in the warmth and delicacy, the audience will like it." He laughed, "But I'm sure Ann will handle it well...... the Hulk thing is really embarrassing, and I persuaded Ann to shoot it in the first place." ”

"It's nothing, I actually think Hulk is good. Looking at Shams with self-deprecation on his face, Wang Yang said seriously: "The second half of the film is really incisive, and it can't have that effect without the foreshadowing in front." He spread his hands and said: "But looking at it now, the exciting points in the plot have not been arranged, superheroes and "Pride and Prejudice" have different audiences, "Hulk" is too alternative, and the public is impatient." ”

James Shams nodded and sighed, having already thought about why "Hulk" failed, and said: "Now it seems that this is indeed the case, the plot is wrong, if there is a battle at the beginning, or some exciting scene shots, it will be much better." ”

"Well, it's good to explode at the beginning, but how to stay excited and not get tired and impatient in the audience has a new problem. ”

Wang Yang pondered for a while, not thinking about "Hulk" but "Firefly", his current movie script, the beginning is the "Battle of Quiet Valley" participated by Captain Marr, one of the defense battles before the independence faction surrendered and lost the war, so as to explain the background of the story clearly. There won't be too many shots of this battle, and then many years later, the Tranquility launched a robbery, and from the battle, it was clear that Mar and several crew members were involved, and the plot development also inadvertently robbed the box containing Reva.

The battle of Tranquility Valley and the robbery will bring a lot of big scenes and big actions, as long as the shots are smooth and the special effects are superb, and cool, the audience will inevitably be stimulated at the beginning and quickly enter the play, but if there is anything dull next, their impatience will be aggravated;

He already has a specific idea, "Firefly" will definitely not be dull, humorous and interesting lines, bursting battles and beautiful pictures will be fascinating. However, whether it can be done and what effect it will have remains to be verified.

After taking a sip of slightly bitter coffee, Wang Yang's train of thought turned back and said: ""Brokeback Mountain" will be handed over to An, as long as it is politically correct." James Shams smiled and nodded: "Cunning political correctness, I always thought that "Juno" should be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. Wang Yang smiled slightly: "Political correctness is just to make more people better accept that movie, and it takes a little bit to change the world; no one watches it, no matter how incorrect the shooting is, it is useless." ”

"I couldn't agree more. James Shams thought that he would be able to make "Brokeback Mountain" soon, and his mood became more and more excited, and he couldn't help but laugh and said, "No, I have to tell Ann the good news now." Wang Yang smiled and lifted the coffee cup: "Feel free." James Shams took out his phone from his pocket, pressed the number, and quickly said happily: "Andy! Good news for you, Young, Amazing Young is going to invest in Brokeback Mountain! ”

Ang Lee was in the backyard of his home in New York at this time, feeding a flock of self-raised hens with corn kernels, and since the fiasco of "Hulk", he has lived a semi-retired life of idle clouds and wild cranes, and has heard some accusations or ridicule from time to time. In the midst of the "clucking" cry, he heard his little cell phone ring, and then James Shams's excited words, and he whispered, "Oh, I'm going to be the director." ”

He had heard Shams talk about this plan for a long time, and he knew what the story was after reading the original book "Brokeback Mountain", but he didn't expect Wang Yanglai to take over now. Magical Young he has known for a long time, the relationship has always been like a gentleman's friendship, there is no contact but it is well maintained, the last contact was when he sent a congratulatory message to Magical Young's marriage proposal, and the last time was Magical Young called for comfort because of "Hulk".

Directed "Brokeback Mountain"? Ang Lee thought about it for a while, then sprinkled another handful of corn and said, "Oh, that's good." Immediately, he heard Wang Yang's voice again: "Hi, Ann." Li An said: "Yang." Wang Yang laughed heartily: "Seriously, have you read the script? I have a few leading actors, Ennis is very suitable for Heath Ledger and Jack to let Jack Gyllenhaal come to ......"

Li An sprinkled another handful of corn, and in a gurgling sound, said, "Oh, that's good." ”

Although Flame Films has confirmed its investment in "Brokeback Mountain", James Shams, Ang Lee, original author Anne Proudx, script writers Larry McMoultrie, and Diana Oshana are all very happy to look forward to it, but Flame Films and they have not announced the news for the time being, everything is going on quietly, and it is not too late to wait for 911, after all, it is a sensitive time, and topics like gay films are handled from a low profile.

Of course, this matter can't be hidden, and there is no need to hide it, there will definitely be news leaks from actor auditions, boot shooting, etc., just look at the timing. But this movie is not suitable for too much pre-publicity, firstly, it is a small cost, and secondly, there is no need to find public opinion pressure from the beginning.

However, the entertainment gossip media has not stopped, and the news that Wang Yang and Jessica are engaged in late September and will be married in January next year has spread. The two did not hide it, and almost everyone said that there were more than hundreds of guests and guests at the wedding, plus there were a lot of things to prepare for the wedding, and it was naturally not surprising that the news leaked and then appeared in the newspaper, but for the news itself, the media and the public were very surprised!

So fast! What about the contradictions that the gossip magazines said before? Could it be that they have already signed an agreement? The fans who don't want to see the two get married are a little sad, and the fans who are happy to see it are happy and blessed, it seems that this pair of childhood sweetheart fairy tale lovers can't blow away even if they can't blow away from the hurricane.

In Beverly Hills, in the elegant and luxurious VIP room of the Mimiso brand store, Wang Yang and Jessica sat next to each other on the white sofa, looking at the atlas and choosing an engagement ring together; There are various rings on the map, and the two of them will write down which one they like, and let the clerk take it for inspection.

"I love this one. With a happy smile on her face, Jessica flipped through a few pages of the atlas and pointed to a small silver ring with some surprise. Wang Yang, who was holding her shoulder, looked at it, nodded and smiled: "OK, I also brought it, you can buy whichever one you like." ”

The two finally chose this silver ring as an engagement ring, said goodbye to Su Meimei in the store, and walked out of the store to the street with a smile, and the warm sunshine was shining in their faces. At the same time, there were seven or eight paparazzi reporters who had been waiting for a long time, and when they saw the two people coming out, the telephoto camera in their hands suddenly flashed brightly, and several photographers carried the camera and carried the microphone pole to record the images of the two.

"That's not fun. Wang Yang shook his head slightly and muttered, ignoring these flashing lights and cameras, and walked straight to the parking space. Jessica, who was following next to her, was happy, her happiness was not ruined by the paparazzi, she raised her left hand generously, and showed the proposal ring on her ring finger with a bright smile, and for a while the snapping sound and dazzling flash overwhelmed her.

The paparazzi hurriedly and quickly pressed the camera and took a few more photos, not to mention that this is a display of the engagement ring, she would not wear such a big diamond when she went out on the street alone before, and when she was alone, she was basically expressionless, cold and indifferent as if she was going to beat someone, it was rare to smile so sweetly, and only when she walked with Magic Yang would she be so happy, the opportunity was rare!

"Jan, Jessica, I heard that you are going to get married in January next year, right?" A middle-aged white paparazzi in a gray fishing suit hurriedly took the opportunity to ask, although the news was flying all over the sky, but the two parties did not respond, maybe while Jessica was in a good mood, he could ask something?

Jessica glanced at Wang Yang sweetly, smiled as she walked, and did not answer. Another fat reporter then laughed and asked, "Can you tell me how Jan proposed?" and share your sweetness!" Jessica laughed and said, "Absolutely romantic!" and without further talking, the white reporter shifted the target and asked, "Jan, can you tell me?" How did you impress Jessica?"

"Man, you have to understand that she can say what she wants, and if she doesn't want to say it, she won't say it, I don't dare to mess around. Wang Yang pursed his lips helplessly, looked at her beautiful smile, and couldn't help laughing: "I'm a person who is afraid of his wife (Hen-pecked), she is the boss." Jessica leaned in playfully leaned over him, took his hand, smiled sweetly on her face, and didn't answer the paparazzi's words.

The flashing lights kept flashing, and the paparazzi reporters followed the two men until they got into the Humvee and left.

"How did Jan propose?", "yes, what was the situation at the time? ”

In the simple living room, which is very feminine, the LCD TV on the wall plays images and makes a low sound, the owner, Roland Andersen, sits on the purple sofa, polishing her fingernails with a nail file, Erin wearing an aloe vera mask leans her head back against the back of the sofa, and Jessica also gently grinds her fingernails with a nail file, and looks at the diamond ring ring on her left ring finger from time to time.

In more than two weeks, Jessica and Wang Yang will get engaged, and there is not much left of the girlfriend party before the engagement, and the three women are laughing and talking about slapstick, while beautifying and skincare, and occasionally paying attention to the TV.

"Absolutely romantic!" Jessica smiled at the corners of her mouth, looking at Eileen, and then at Roland, in front of the best sisters, the sweetness in her heart seemed to be particularly strong. Others asked her that she didn't care, but it was good to share the joy with her sisters, she stopped what she was doing, and said with a smile: "That day, we just went to the sea to dive, a very ordinary diving site...... " She danced and laughed and said: "Then he pretended to say that it was a treasure chest under the sea, and we got on the yacht and opened it, there were lilies, rings, and ......"

The mask didn't cover Erin's eyes, and she looked at Jessica's fascinated appearance, and couldn't help but feel envious, and said, "Oh, that's funny! Jesse, you still got married before me." Roland sighed lightly: "It's also earlier than me." ”

"yes! Thinking of the scene at that time, Jessica was a little distracted, and suddenly exclaimed: "Oh yes, there is also a sapphire necklace! He said that it was a happy version of the Heart of the Ocean, you know, when we met again in the movie theater, we watched "Titanic". She grinned toothily and said to herself, "Wow, I saw that fresh lily at the time, and I thought that treasure chest had the power to keep it fresh for a thousand years, haha." ”

She stared happily at the diamond ring and laughed grinningly, "Then Jan picked up the ring and proposed!" he said Jessica...... No, I can't tell you about his proposal. She clutched her chest and closed her eyes to feel happiness: "That's mine." ”

"It's definitely sensitive. Roland shook his head and laughed as he rubbed his nails, and Erin quipped, "Jan is a master of sweet talk, and the director is good at that." Jessica muttered softly, "That's what he really said." She suddenly opened her eyes wide, and continued to laugh, "The most unbelievable thing is that after the proposal, there are dolphins! They must have been attracted by the shouts of the yacht, me and Jan, but I believe they are here to bless us, singing and dancing......"

Eileen and Roland were immediately surprised, seeing that she was so sweet and soft, Eileen asked, "Wow, really? Is it Flippo? So romantic!" Roland also sighed: "Oh wow, if someone told me that, I would think she was lying, so romantic and dreamy." ”

"yes, I don't know if it's Flippo, who won't swim from Australia to the Bahamas?" Jessica tilted her head in thought, and suddenly fell to the sofa with a smile, touched her hands with her two good sisters, and smiled, "yes! She raised her left hand to look at the ring, laughed loudly, and exclaimed, "I'm getting married soon——!!

"You crazy woman. Roland covered his ears and frowned: "Look at you, look at you, you have completely lost yourself! You can't spoil Yang too much, he won't take you seriously, men are sometimes cheap." Erin agreed: "Yes, make it difficult for him to get what he wants." ”

Jessica laughed indifferently, the words of the two sisters made her feel happier and sweeter, she and Jan were so good, there were no such suspicions. Gently stroking the ring, she smiled, "I know! I'm not an idiot, I've known these things since I was a child." But I can't do anything about it in the face of Jan, it's like I'm addicted, that's what I am. Don't talk about this, you won't understand, I'm willing to do everything for him. ”

She pulled over a sofa pillow and hugged him tightly: "I miss him so much suddenly!" Roland had a dull expression, and the corners of his mouth twitched: "If I get married when I first fall in love, will it be the same?" Eileen shook her head and said, "I've had enough, Jesse, why don't you go home?"

"Shhh

The volume was quickly raised, and the trailer of "Prison Break" was playing on the NBC channel on the TV to the tense soundtrack, and there were a few bangs! Miller, who was dressed in a suit, held his pistol in both hands and pulled the trigger, and the bank hall immediately exclaimed! Employees and customers all squatted down in a panic or stood still...... As the days passed, and soon September 11 arrived, and there were different events to commemorate 911 22 around the world, Qatar's Al Jazeera TV broadcast video footage of Osama bin Laden and Zawahri, the first and second leaders of al-Qaeda, as well as the latest recorded speech, announcing that they would launch a larger attack. George Bush, who has been dragged down by the deterioration of the situation in Iraq's reconstruction, said he had not heard anything about the bin Laden and Zawahiri tapes.

Politics continues, cinema screenings continue, the North American weekly champion from August 29th to September 4th was won by the new film "Amazing Cannibal 2", which won the championship on September 5th to 11th with a total box office of only 86.37 million, and "MIT-21-TEAM" received another 10.25 million in the fifth week and 5.25 million in the sixth week, with a total box office of 189 million in North America and a total global box office of 356 million.

After spending 911 safely, Wang Yang was busy with the preparations for "Firefly" and cooperated with Jessica to arrange the upcoming engagement banquet. But a new weekend is coming sooner, and Monday the 15th is not far behind, and this year's fall screen battlefield is about to add another NBC player, "Prison Break".

On the Internet's drama forums, entertainment websites and other places, the audience is naturally looking forward to this drama, and the discussion has not yet started, and the stills and photo photos of the actors led by Wentworth Miller and Evangeline Lilly have also been widely circulated. The topics discussed varied, but there was one question that almost all fans of the series cared about, as well as the fans of Fantastic Young and NBC, what kind of ratings would "Prison Break" have?

Magical Young's screenwriter and producer of the TV series, his first challenge to the small screen, can it be called magical? This achievement may affect his future screen plans, and fans of the series feel that whether they can see the sitcom without a shadow as soon as possible depends on his mood.

"If "Prison Break" fails, will Wang Yang be unconvinced, and then immediately have another sitcom?" Fields-D initiated such a post, and Sally followed the post: "This is really a stupid assumption, if "Prison Break" fails, it is not a question of whether Miraculous Yang is unconvinced and dares to try a sitcom, but a question of whether the TV series he produced is good or not. ”

So what is the party's outlook for the ratings of "Prison Break"? It may be his relationship with his debut on the small screen, but this time fans of the show did not hear his bold words of confidence.

"Classic question!" In an exclusive interview with TV Drama magazine, Wang Yang was asked by reporter Nadia Reitt about the "ratings outlook", and he only said: "I hope that the premiere will have more than 10 million viewers, and then keep it up." ”

Amazing Jan is so humble. Fans of the show are a little surprised, they only said this, finally Chinese, or is he not confident this time? 10 million people is not a low number or how mediocre ratings, but it can only be regarded as an average good rating, probably ranking 30-40, not the trump card of a public broadcasting channel like NBC, and far from being able to break into the top ten of the weekly list, at least 14 million people are needed!

If "Prison Break" only has 10 million viewers, it is also a good drama, but it is not a magical Yang, fans are wondering, is he modest or cowardly this time?

But what they didn't know was that Wang Yang was indeed modest this time, he just felt that there was no need to talk full, after all, no one knew what chemical changes would happen. The humble statement is that "Prison Break" debuted on FOX on August 29, 2005, and the average viewership of the first episode was about 10.5 million, setting the highest Monday viewership figure on FOX since September 1998.

premiered with 10.5 million people, but the overall average rating at the end of the first season was only 9.2 million, and it did not go up with the plot ** but declined, precisely because the unreasonable defects in the later stage began to be highlighted, and the audience naturally became less and less. And that was in 2005, and now "Lost" has not come out on the market, and the drama pattern on the screen is completely different.

If you want to have high ratings, you must have a clear market positioning and form hardcore fans for a large audience. Sitcoms, detectives, doctors, lawyers and other themes have the advantage that they are suitable for all ages and are suitable for families to watch, while youth idol dramas, or cool dramas like "Lost" and "Prison Break", must attract the attention of young people, housewives like to watch "** City", but "Prison Break" needs the support of young people, so Evangeline Lilly is so important, and the banner of magical Yang is so important.

According to the information, FOX does not pay attention to the original "Prison Break" at all, and broadcasts and shoots while creating, and is so-so in publicity. The biggest difference now is that this set of "Prison Break" is of higher quality, superior in every aspect, plus the viral marketing strategy was developed at the beginning, NBC paid attention to it, and the publicity aspect has been called to the fullest.

Therefore, Wang Yang's real expectation for this "Prison Break" is that the premiere can reach more than 15 million people, and then maintain this average number, or get higher and higher, otherwise it will be a failure, a failure without any excuse.

On the Chinese Internet, netizens are also looking forward to the launch of this set of American dramas, which can be said to be highly anticipated, which naturally benefits from the credit of Magic Young, NBC does not have any overseas publicity actions, but the entertainment section of Sina, NetEase and other websites has spontaneously given Magic Yang and advertisements to "Prison Break", anyway, fans of movie fans have information needs in this regard.

In fact, netizens are not new to American dramas, and TV screens in Chinese mainland have been introducing American dramas since the 80s of the last century. Shortly after U.S. President Richard Nixon's first visit to China in 1979, "The Man from the Bottom of the Atlantic" appeared on the TV screens of Chinese audiences' homes, and then "Garrison's Death Squad", "You have the right to be silent" "Detective Hunter", "Uncle Martin Mars", "The Brave Lion", "The Pretender", "Thunderbolt Ranger", "Growing Pains", ...... Many post-80s young people in Chinese mainland actually grew up watching American dramas, and from the 80s to the end of the 90s, China has caused about 100 American dramas, of which about 20-30 are broadcast on a large scale, which are also eternal classics in the hearts of the audience. However, with the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan at the end of the 80s, Japanese dramas began to gradually replace the screen space of American dramas, and then Japanese dramas were replaced by Korean dramas.

So now young audiences either don't watch American dramas anymore, or download and watch them on the Internet, "Friends", "CSI", "24 Hours", ...... But after all, it's not in the public eye.,No matter the resources、The update speed of subtitles is rarely very slow.。 But it seems to be about to be different, as the fame of "Prison Break" has gradually become louder and louder before it is broadcast, more and more people on the Internet have found the memory of the American drama and are ready.

At the same time, a number of large and small subtitle working groups are also ready, the "young" subtitle group was set up a long time ago by fans of Magic Young, specializing in some of his interviews, TV shows, and translating news reports, and of course, his movies and the latest and hottest Hollywood movies; now that "Prison Break" is about to come out, they naturally take on its Chinese subtitle responsibilities.

There are also many American drama lovers who take this opportunity to establish new subtitle groups, and for these studios that have sprung up like mushrooms, fans of the drama applauded: "Whoever sends the resources first, I will watch whom!", "I am looking forward to this drama so much!", "Everyone can cooperate to launch the best subtitles!"...... On the Chinese Internet, a trend of watching "Prison Break" and watching American dramas is brewing, and it will explode at any time.

(To be continued)