As a typical female author, Matthew did consider the choice of director, and the best choice for similar female works is undoubtedly a female director.

So, when he returned to Los Angeles, he called Sofia Coppola and made an appointment to meet and talk about it.

In the reception room of Horner Manor, Sofia Coppola put down the book in her hand and said in a nasal voice, "You want me to direct this?"

Matthew didn't go around in circles, saying, "This is a typical female work, and it will be a film that is completely based on love in the future, female directors are the first choice, and among today's Hollywood female directors, I can't find a more suitable candidate than you." ”

"Is there a script?" asked Sofia Coppola.

"Not yet. Matthew told the truth, "At present, my agency team is negotiating with the original author, and it is estimated that the contract will be signed in about a week." ”

After he got Stephanie Mayer, the negotiations on Phoenix's side went very well.

"Why are you looking for me?" said Sofia Coppola.

Matthew thought for a moment and said, "Because 'Lost in Translation', this romance film is very unique, and you can see that you are very familiar with the routine of romance films, and the impact of cultural conflict on people's hearts in 'Lost in Translation' is somewhat similar to the impact of racial differences on people's hearts in this film, and you are very good at dealing with that." ”

Sofia Coppola glanced at him, "You seem to know me well. ”

Matthew shrugged slightly, "We've had an in-depth exchange, have you forgotten?"

"I'll take it first. Sofia Coppola stood up and said goodbye, picked up the copy of "Twilight" and shook it at Matthew, "The rest of them will wait until you get the rights and have the script." ”

Before leaving, she said, "I will tell you one thing in advance, the premise of my directing is to participate in the writing of the script. ”

"Yes. Matthew casually agreed, "We'll talk about that later." ”

After meeting Sophia Coppola, he drove to Burbank's post-production studio not far from Marvel Studios, and now that "Iron Man" has been filmed, the crew has moved into post-production, but Marvel Comics is still embarrassed, and Marvel Studios, like many small studios, can only rent studios for post-production.

In the post-production room, Matthew meets Jon Favreau and Kevin Feige, two very busy people who will decide the fate of the entire Marvel Comics future, and they know this very well and almost live in the post-production room.

Matthew just looked at the post-production progress and had a brief exchange with the two of them, and he didn't stay long, let alone disturb the normal work of the crew.

"Iron Man" is a project with his $40 million investment, and he shares Marvel Comics' hopes that the film will be a big success.

In addition, he learned from Kevin Feige that Marvel Studios is preparing a new Hulk film, because the film is mainly invested and distributed by Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures does not want to introduce funds and companies other than Marvel, and Marvel is testing through Kevin Feige whether the number of films for which the two sides have signed an investment agreement can be postponed by one later.

Matthew has no objection in principle, and when Helen Herman returns, he will consult with Marvel.

The superhero movies of the Marvel Universe, he doesn't remember what the box office of each one is, and he hasn't specifically checked it before, only that the entire series is very successful.

And the most famous of them is undoubtedly Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr., it is not difficult to see from the "Avengers" movie that the core of the Avengers is Iron Man and Captain America.

If possible, let Helen Herman take the opportunity to negotiate with Marvel Comics to modify some supplementary terms of the agreement, changing the investment rights in the original memorandum clause to giving priority to films with important scenes in Iron Man.

Now "Iron Man" is still busy with post-production, let alone release, and the film is still a long time away from completion, let Helen Herman talk about it first, if not, then maintain the original contract.

"Iron Man" has been negotiated for distribution by Paramount Pictures, and is scheduled for the first weekend of the summer season next May, and if all goes well, the era of Marvel superhero movies will begin, and such movies will gradually turn into giant TV series.

Every era has a type of film that suits that era, like the revues of the seventies and eighties, the romantic comedies and tough-guy action movies of the nineties, and perhaps this is the era when superhero movies are really rampant.

Of course, just as the song and dance film is completely in decline and romantic comedies and tough-guy action movies are marginalized, superhero movies will have an outdated day.

It has nothing to do with the artistic content.

The traditional song and dance films, which are recognized as having a high artistic content, have not yet declined completely, even if the old men of the academy have nostalgically given some little gold figures in recent years, the song and dance films still have not improved.

Those who are not suitable for the development of the times will eventually be eliminated.

Therefore, even teen idol love has to be covered with a layer of vampires and werewolves in order to attract people.

For the next two days, Matthew was basically at Skydance Pictures discussing the filming and production of "Fast and Furious 4" with David Ellison, Bearded Jack and Justin Lin.

After determining the main characters as the framework, the screenwriting team filled in the appropriate content, and several revisions, the script creation has reached the final stage, Matthew and Bearded Jack are basically satisfied with the script, the script is only the foundation, and does not determine the success or failure of a movie, shooting and production are more important.

Matthew discussed several times with Bearded Jack and Justin Lin, demanding that the pace of the whole film be fast, with a dozen dozen in ten minutes and a big dozen in twenty minutes.

In this era, if the rhythm of a film is like "The Line of Fire", even if the plot is very exciting, I am afraid that the commercial income will not be much better.

Investing in this type of film is not only about the box office and commercial theory, but also about the head.

During this period, Matthew and David Ellison also went to meet Andrew Stanton together and talked with Andrew Stanton about the possibility of investing in Alien Battlefield.

"At present, the production of the animated feature film "Wall-E the Robot" directed by me is in the final stage. ”

In an open-air bar near Smoker's studio in Emoryville, California, Andrew Stanton sat under a giant umbrella and told Matthew and David Ellison, "As soon as WALL-E is finished, I'll move on to Alien Battlegrounds." ”

David Ellison asked with concern, "When do you plan this film to be released?"

"If all goes well, it will be released in the summer of 2010. Andrew Stanton replied, "No later than the summer of 2011." ”

He looked at Matthew, "In my imagination, this is a sci-fi action theme, and Matthew is the most suitable candidate for the leading actor." ”

Seeing that the topic was on him, Matthew asked, "Andrew, how much does Disney support your new film?"

Andrew Stanton smiled, "Walt Disney has just acquired Pixar Studios, and there is a bit of a tight budget in terms of funding, and I talked to people at Disney Studios, Disney Studios is still working on Pirates of the Caribbean 4, which has a production budget of up to $200 million......"

He looked a little helpless, "Disney Studios' resources definitely give priority to this sequel film, and I have to rely on external financing to cover most of the production budget." ”

Matthew nodded slightly, and David Ellison took over the topic, "If we can reach a cooperation, I can solve some of your funding problems." ”

But then he said, "You should know that Matthew and I have just jointly invested in a big project, and we don't have much liquidity in hand, so we can help you solve it limitedly." ”

"That's right. Andrew Stanton frowned slightly, then said with a smile, "We can talk about this slowly in the future." ”

He had heard Matthew talk about David Ellison before, and he had expected this super-rich second generation to help with most of the budget problems, but now the results are a bit disappointing.

However, as long as you can bring Matthew to play the leading role, are you still worried about not being able to find funds?

As long as the production funding problem can be solved, the rest is easy to say.

Matthew and David Ellison chatted with Andrew Stanton for nearly an hour before leaving Emeryville, who then walked towards the Pixar studio headquarters as well.

Just as he walked out of the open bar, a guest sitting at a table not far away got up and followed.

Andrew Stanton entered the Pixar gate and noticed that someone was following him, but he didn't care, as a Pixar cadre and Oscar winner, he occasionally had paparazzi come to take pictures secretly.

Seeing Andrew Stanton returning to Pixar, the man immediately picked up the car and went straight to Burbank, where he soon came to the office building where Plan B was located.

Matthew has gotten word from David Ellison that Brad Pitt's men are snooping on a Disney project called Princess Mars, and although the two sides have not been officially contacted, the fish seems to have taken the bait.

David Ellison's people have been paying attention to this.

The day after meeting Andrew Stanton, Matthew returned to Phoenix to sign the rights deal with Stephanie Mayer for Twilight, New Moon and Lunar Eclipse, as well as the fourth Dawn being worked on on behalf of the newly incorporated Thirteen Film Studio.

In addition to the standards set by industry associations, Thirteenth Film Studio will pay Stephanie Mayer a one-time fee of $12 million for the rights of these four films, and three percent of the post-production profits of each film adapted will be used as a share of the original author.

Helen Herman appropriately increased the pre-transfer fee according to Matthew's request, so as to reduce the post-share, Matthew knows very well that after the first film is released, Stephanie Mayer's agency will definitely ask for an increase in the proportion of the post-production share as he and Depp did in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3".

This also leaves some room for negotiation.