As Helen Herman said, Lao Lei has been a bit unfavorable since "Heavenly Dynasty", and even if the films he shot did not fail, the response was mediocre, not only did he not have a huge influence on the work, but directed "Robin Hood", a blockbuster film that hit the streets.

Thankfully, he's done enough in the past to keep it from sinking.

But repercussions are inevitable.

Ridley Scott sat in the reception room of the Angel Agency, looked at Matthew and Helen Herman opposite, and knew that he currently had two paths, one was that Twentieth Century Fox invited him back to make a new "Alien" movie, and the other was to work with Matthew Horner on this Martian sci-fi film.

He himself prefers the latter, because he is not a director who likes to eat the old book.

Therefore, in the past month or so, he has carefully read the original book and has a general direction for the adaptation, as long as he can reach a consensus with Matthew Horner, he can cooperate.

Matthew said hello to Ridley Scott and didn't say much, and for him and Ridley Scott, the partnership was a two-way street.

"Uncle Scott. Helen Herman said calmly, "Have you read the original?"

"I've seen it. Ridley Scott nodded slightly.

Matthew then asked, "Ridley, I'm not particularly good at screenwriting and filming. He didn't mince words about it, saying, "Can you tell me what you think?"

Although he has the intention to give Ridley Scott a hand when he is facing difficulties, Matthew is well aware that the huge investment in science fiction films determines that you can't do it recklessly, and when it comes to work, it's best to put personal relationships aside first.

Just like with Clint Eastwood before, if Ridley Scott is the right fit, he will give Ridley Scott a lot of power, including giving him some post-editing rights.

Ridley Scott said slowly, "I've read the original book, and I also have some ideas for future adaptations, this is a very exciting, rare hard sci-fi masterpiece in recent years." He coughed and added, "Personally, I think that future adaptations can properly incorporate the style of Westerns." ”

Matthew was a little surprised by this, and looked at Ridley Scott, who explained simply, "There is a style in Westerns, or one of the things that impresses me the most, that matches the main character very well. ”

Matthew listened to Ridley Scott's words, thought back to the impressive westerns he had watched, and thought for a while before asking, "The protagonist is tough and full of fighting spirit, just like a cowboy, no matter how bad and cruel the environment is, you can't take him down, right?"

"That's pretty much it. Ridley Scott said seriously, "Westerns left an indelible impression on me in my early years: I was always alone in the face of countless difficulties, alone against nature, and I always imagined myself as a cowboy. I've never made a Western, but I've always had elements of a Western in my work. ”

Matthew thought back to a few films directed by Ridley Scott, and it seemed that this was indeed the case.

Ridley Scott went on to say, "So, I need a good script, and I'm not good at writing scripts myself. ”

"I can recruit the right screenwriters. Matthew said.

"There are a lot of places that need to be revised. "Ridley Scott doesn't want to go back to the old book of "Alien" just in case, "The theme of the film is best to highlight self-rescue and rescue, there is no need to artificially set a big villain, and no one will prevent the protagonist from surviving and returning to Earth, except for the natural environment of Mars." ”

Matthew nodded, "That's a good idea, I'm in favor of it." ”

Only when the concept is agreed can the cooperation be carried out smoothly.

As a director who has made many sci-fi films, Ridley Scott likes this book that leans towards hard sci-fi, but he has experienced some very bad things, such as the failure of "Heavenly Dynasty", and knows that some things are better explained first, so as not to make an unpleasant fuss later.

Ridley Scott also paid attention to another point, Matthew's reputation in this area is relatively good, and Matthew has promoted his director or producer in the process of becoming famous, and Matthew has helped them when they are in trouble.

Like Sean Daniel.

A lot of information, he has an exact source, and knows that the rumors match the facts, after all, his former assistant Jack is now the producer of the "Twilight" series.

Jack was also the one who helped Matthew back then, and then Matthew let him stand alone......

This is also an important reason why he temporarily hangs Twentieth Century Fox and talks before Matthew.

Even compared to a large company like Twentieth Century Fox, Matthew is more credible.

What's more, the last miserable failure of "Heavenly Dynasty" was with Twentieth Century Fox, and Tom Rothman, who directly bypassed the director and producer to force the film into a released version, despite his opposition, is now the CEO of Twentieth Century Fox, and if Tom Rothman forcibly interferes again, even a director like him can't afford it.

If there were other better options, he didn't want to go the way of Twentieth Century Fox for the time being.

Ridley-Scott continued, "Space is a magnificent platform, but for those of us, it's more of an imaginary level, and we need professional support, preferably NASA. ”

Matthew couldn't help but laugh, "That's something we thought of. ”

The future film is not hard science fiction, but also biased towards hard science fiction, what is Mars like, no one has been to it on the ground, but it must conform to some common sense announced so far.

In this case, the professional guidance of NASA is very necessary.

NASA often cooperates with Hollywood, and it is not difficult to find them as consultants or even borrow a launch site for filming, as long as the money is in place and can do publicity for them, these are minor problems.

The most basic concept was agreed, and both Matthew and Ridley Scott had much fewer questions about each other, and the two talked about the past again, ending the interview in a harmonious atmosphere.

Although Matthew did not promise anything, and Ridley Scott did not directly say that he would direct the project, the initial intention to cooperate is already there, and the rest depends on how to negotiate later.

Ridley Scott is different from Clint Eastwood, who is not too demanding in the negotiations and has a sense of returning the favor.

Working with a big director, there are so many things to negotiate.

Because Helen Herman took the initiative to avoid suspicion, Matthew handed over the negotiation with Ridley Scott to Bella Anderson, and after working with Ridley Scott's director, he recruited a suitable screenwriting team to adapt it into a screenplay.

As for actors and the like, there is no need to rush now, and it is not too late to recruit when the crew is established.

Matthew plans to establish a script for the crew this year, start preparations around the New Year, shoot and post-production next year, and release it at the end of 2012 or in the summer of 2013.

Now there is not even a distributor, and the specific release date cannot be determined.

As a result, his work is full again, filming "American Sniper" in the second half of this year, planning "Fast and Furious 6", and next year "Fast and Furious 6" and the new movie he decided to call "The Martian".

"Fast and Furious 5" was a box office hit, and it is inevitable that "Fast and Furious 6" will continue to be filmed.

Matthew has asked the likes of Paul Walker, Gal Gadot, Jordana Brewster, and Daniel Wu, all of whom are interested in continuing to star.

Coupled with the director Justin Lin, who is confirmed to return, there will not be many changes to the main creative lineup.

Maintaining the stability of the main creative lineup is a big success for the sequel.

However, director Justin Lin greeted Matthew in advance, saying that after filming the last part of the new trilogy "Fast and Furious 6", he wanted to take a break for a while, and if he wanted to continue filming, it was best to find a suitable director in advance.

A good commercial film director is not easy to find.

Matthew communicated with David Ellison, and he was also considering whether to let the "Fast and Furious" series take a break for two years? After all, if it comes out too quickly and too often, it may cause aesthetic fatigue.

And the salaries of actors and directors are also rising rapidly, and if you want to keep the scene big enough, the investment in "Fast and Furious 6" cannot be less than $180 million.

But seeing the new script that Justin Lin and Chris Morgan came up with, Matthew thought about it carefully and dismissed this idea.

Because they came up with two scripts.

"The villain of the fifth part is too weak, which is an obvious flaw. ”

In the office, Justin Lin said to Matthew about his new idea, "So, in the sixth installment, a very strong villain is needed, and this villain also has his team. ”

He raised his voice a little and said, "In the new movie, not only will there be faster speeds and bigger scenes, but also more exciting stories and fight scenes. ”

Matthew nodded lightly as he flipped through the script.

Justin Lim continued, "I hope that there will be a purer car culture in this film, that it will bring that culture into a pure action movie, and that the culture and spirit that this series represents will become a model for future generations of films." ”

After reading it, Matthew closed the script, and Justin Lin added, "To achieve this, we designed a huge story for the film - so big that it would take the capacity of two films to fully accommodate it, so we had to shoot it as a film with an upper and lower parts, which means that episodes 6 and 7 are actually one story." We're going to shoot both films back-to-back. ”

"Yes. Matthew agreed, then added, "I have a few suggestions. First, Justin, you have to finish directing these two films before leaving, so as to ensure the unity of the style of the film. Second, how about the brothers who appeared in the two parts of the series be changed to sisters and brothers?"