This is indeed bad news, there are a lot of war scenes in "The Colonel's Sabre", and there is a lot of military equipment that needs to be used, if the Ministry of Defense does not help and does it all by itself, the cost of the film will rise sharply, and the production cycle will be lengthened!

Zhang Ran exhaled and said, "What is the reason?"

Rob Freman said helplessly: "They think that the image of the US military in the movie is relatively negative, and it is difficult to have the effect of propaganda and education, and they asked us to change the part of the PLA." Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

The U.S. military likes "Transformers", a movie that looks very awesome about the U.S. military, which can show the U.S. military fighting for justice and showing the U.S. military's high technology. Michael Bay said, "Why did the military let us use their equipment? Because they look good in my films." ”

Zhang Ran felt that the image of the US military in "The Colonel's Sabre" was positive enough, and if it was to be filmed according to the requirements of the US Department of Defense, it would completely become a political propaganda film for the US military, and he would definitely not do it; As for deleting the PLA part, it was even more impossible, this was a thread he buried for the sequel, and as soon as this was changed, the sequel would be gone, so he said: "Since this is the case, then we can only shoot it ourselves!"

Rob Freman's voice was serious: "If you use all special effects, the cost of the film will rise dramatically, maybe more than $250 million, or even higher, the risk is very high, do you want to reconsider?"

Zhang Ran's tone was unquestionable: "No, this movie is very important to me, even if it is 300 million US dollars, I will make it." ”

Rob Freman is not worried about losing money, this movie is not an investment by Summit Entertainment, the entire cost is out of Zhang Ran's own pocket, and Summit Entertainment is only assisting in the filming and distribution. Since Zhang Ran made up his mind to shoot, Rob Freman naturally couldn't say more, so he said: "Okay, just do what you ask!"

Hanging up the phone, Zhang Ran took a long breath, but he didn't want to see an old man in his sixties walking towards him, a Chinese, gray-haired, and looking at himself with a hint of surprise. He frowned, realizing that he was recognized.

The old man stood still not far in front of Zhang Ran, showed a warm smile, and asked, "Are you Director Zhang Ran?"

Where is the other party's age, and it is inappropriate to sit and speak, Zhang Ran stood up: "Yes, is there anything I can help you?"

"Don't get up, you sit!" the old man saw Zhang Ran get up and motioned for him to sit down, "I'm fine." I watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games and felt very good, the once unattainable dream finally became a reality, as a Chinese I am really proud and joyful, and I have a feeling of raising my eyebrows. I don't know what to say, so I'll bow to you!"

After speaking, the old man bowed deeply to Zhang Ran, said "excuse me", and turned to leave.

Zhang Ran didn't come back to his senses until the old man's back disappeared, and his heart was filled with an unprecedented pride and relief, he really felt that he and the entire opening ceremony team, the hard work of more than two years was really not in vain.

Two days later, UCLA announced that it had received a $200 million donation, the largest individual gift ever received from the university, which came from Zhang Ran, a graduate of the school. The school said that $20 million of the donation will be used to fund Asian and African-American students in the school's film school, 80 million yuan will be used to build a 15,000-square-meter film school teaching building, and another $100 million will be used to fund the school's other causes.

The university also announced that it would award Zhang Ran an honorary doctorate degree for his outstanding performance at the opening ceremony of the Peking Olympics and his contribution to the renewal of the language of film. In May next year, UCLA will hold a grand degree conferment ceremony, where Zhang Ran will receive the award along with distinguished people from around the world.

Two years ago, Lucas donated $175 million to USC, the largest individual donation USC received, with $75 million spent on the construction of a 12,700-square-meter film school building.

In an exclusive interview with the Los Angeles Times, Zhang Ran replied to this question from reporter Glenn Weipp: "I don't mean to compare with Mr. Lucas, and I can't compare with him, he has built a world that countless people have been intoxicated by for more than 30 years, including me! The reason why I donated to the school is because I met Jason Reitman at the party the other day, and he showed off to me that in recent years, USC has always been the winner in the city battle. I'm very angry, how can I make USC so rampant, I think donating a sum of money to create better conditions for my younger brothers and sisters can give them more opportunities to exercise, so that they can kill USC!"

When Glenn Weipp heard this, he raised his hands and shouted, "Kill USC! Kill USC!" He saw Zhang Ran's expression a little puzzled, and laughed: "I am also a ULCA graduate! I am two years shorter than you, I have seen you fight with USC, it is just cool! You are our hero!"

"It turns out that we are alumni, why didn't you say it earlier!" Zhang Ran suddenly laughed, "But seriously, what I really want to do with my donation is to promote film education and revitalize the film industry, now the development of film is in a bottleneck period, and the entire industry is facing many challenges, in this case, if the film wants to continue to move forward, I think we can only hope for new technologies, and my donations are all in the hope of promoting the development of these two aspects!"

After chatting for a while about donations, Glenn quickly talked about Zhang Ran's new movie, and Glenn seemed very excited: "Robin, tell me about your new movie, after seeing the splendor of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, everyone is looking forward to your new movie." I heard that Robert De Niro and Scarlett Johansson will star in your new movie?"

Zhang Ran smiled lightly and said, "Not only Robert De Niro and Scarlett Johansson, Matt Damon also agreed to play the leading actor after reading the script." It's just that I've been busy with other things in the last few days, and I haven't met him yet. This is a science fiction film that reflects on war, science and technology, and explores why people are human. The preparation period for the film is very long, it will take a year and a half, or even longer before filming can start, and before the official start of filming of this film, I will make a relatively simple feature film, so this feature film is the new film I will make next!"

In between preparations for a blockbuster, it is common to shoot some personal and experimental films, and Glenn can't help but ask, "Can you tell us about this feature film? Is it a more experimental film?"

Zhang Ran nodded and said: "Let's just say that, that sci-fi film is a challenge for me, so there are some things I want to try in this movie, this is a Chinese movie, it is a movie with an airtic temperament." ”

Glenn didn't have much interest in Chinese films, and readers wouldn't care, so after asking two simple questions, the topic returned to sci-fi films: "Let's talk about that sci-fi film, what kind of movie is it?"

Zhang Ran groaned, looked up and said: "More than ten years ago, when "Terminator 2" was released, I went to the cinema for the first time to see it, and the movie began with the future, where humans and robots were at war.

Glenn exclaimed, "Oh God! I've thought about it too, especially since Terminator 3 came out, and I was thinking that it's time not to chase and kill, it's time to shoot Judgment Day." Now that "Terminator 4" has finished production, it doesn't seem to be about Judgment Day. Sorry, I'm a fan of Terminator and I'm excited when it comes to this topic, you go on!"

Zhang Ran chuckled: "It wasn't until I became a director that I realized that filming a war between humans and AI requires high technology and a large amount of money, which is too risky for investors." At the beginning of last year, the editor-in-chief of "Science Fiction World" sent me a novel, and after reading the novel, I was very shocked, the novel is about the war between humans and AI, and the story is very exciting. I was like, this is the story I wanted, the story I've been waiting for years, I'm going to make it!"

Glenn's eyes lit up and he asked, "Can I understand it that way, this movie is the futuristic war version of "The Terminator"!"

"It can be said that the world described in the story is somewhat similar to the Judgment Day in "The Terminator", but the movie has nothing to do with "The Terminator"!" Zhang Ran gave a positive answer, but he was not satisfied with it, "Making this movie, in addition to being influenced by "The Terminator", I also want to pay tribute to "War Apocalypse", if possible, I hope to arrange this movie as a future apocalypse!" His eyes suddenly lit up: "Yes, the name of the movie is "Future Apocalypse"!"

Glenn exclaimed, "This sounds cool, this must be a great movie!"

Next, Zhang Ran talked a lot about his views on movies and art, but he didn't reveal much about the story of the movie "Future Apocalypse".

An interview with the Los Angeles Times was quickly posted, with a somewhat bluffing headline ""Terminator" + "War Apocalypse" = Zhang Ran's new movie". After the article was released, this sci-fi movie called "Future Apocalypse" immediately attracted the attention of fans, especially sci-fi fans.

However, "Terminator" is a classic science fiction film, and "War Apocalypse" is a classic war film, the two are incompatible, and the style is very different, everyone really can't think about what kind of movie "Future Apocalypse" will be.

Critics have also paid great attention to this, and the famous American film theorist David Bordwell wrote in his blog: "Zhang Ran is a director who likes to explore audiovisual language, and his treatment of horizontal movement and backlighting in "The Aviator" makes the whole film produce a shocking artistic effect. He seems to have had some trouble after this, "Three Fools" is mediocre, and the critics don't give high reviews. And in the next "Tangshan Earthquake", we saw his creativity again, and he told Hollywood in an almost realistic way, hey, guys, disaster movies can be made like this!

I think after the success of "The Aviator" and the loss of "Three Fools", Zhang Ran was looking for a new world, or more accurately, a new world. Zhang Ran said that I like to take risks in movies, and it is the motivation for me to make movies. Adventure is always my spark and the reason why my movies are a bit dangerous. This sentence represents Zhang Ran's thoughts, and it can also be understood why he was able to shoot "Aviator", "Tangshan Earthquake" and the masterpieces we can look forward to in the future. ”

At the end of the article, David commented: "Apocalypse of War is a great movie and Coppola's last glory. Now Zhang Ran wants to pay tribute to Coppola and make "Future Apocalypse", will he be like Coppola, and his entire artistic life will be ended? In this era of faster and faster food, Zhang Ran is one of the few directors who insists on exploring the language of film, and I hope he can have good luck!"