The summer of 2003 was really lively, and the biggest surprise was the "Pirates of the Caribbean" led by Captain Jack Sparrow.

In today's era when pirate movies have completely declined, almost everyone thinks that "Pirates of the Caribbean" will be a disaster, but after the movie was released, although it only won the top of the box office charts for a week, the cumulative box office in just three weeks has approached 180 million US dollars, and the excellence of the table has made North America exclaim, and many experts believe that the final box office is very promising to hit 300 million US dollars.

What's even more rare is that Captain Jack Sparrow played by Johnny Depp became popular and was born as a new-age idol, which made Johnny, who has always been on the edge of gothic, weird, and alternative roles, directly among the top actors.

The success of Pirates of the Caribbean was a shock, sending ripple effects throughout the North American market. Among them is George Clooney.

"Did you insist on investing in this work because you expected it today?" George looked at Lance in front of him and asked a casual question, but the cigarette in his hand couldn't help but stop slightly, revealing the fact that his heart was skipping a beat.

Lance didn't pay attention to the details on George's fingertips, but looked at George carefully, then chuckled playfully and asked rhetorically, "George, are you serious?" This rhetorical question immediately made George laugh a little embarrassed, and he also realized that he had asked a stupid question, "If I could predict the future, I wouldn't be sitting here right now, would I?" ”

George shook the ash of his cigarette with his index finger, "But you seemed determined at the time, and you insisted on continuing negotiations with Disney even when others objected, didn't you?" ”

"You sound a lot like Jason." Lance's words made George's cigarette ash fingers pause, but Lance did not pause and continued, which made George's heart slightly relieved, "Jason also discussed this with me at the beginning. All I can say is that it's a gut feeling and I can't explain it, I just feel that missing 'Pirates of the Caribbean' will make me regret it, as if I missed 'Harry Potter'. But I've always thought of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' as 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' at sea...... Now, it doesn't seem like that's the case. ”

Lance's words made George chuckle as well, "Intuition, like this time you have your intuition about the film adaptation of European mythology?" George didn't go on with Lance's teasing, but went back to the same topic, and it was clear that the recent victory of "Pirates of the Caribean" had made them sit still.

From "Harry Potter" to "Pirates of the Caribbean", Diorama Pictures has missed two godsends, and imagine that if you seize any of these opportunities, Diorama Pictures can not only grow in size now, but also climb the big trees like Warner Bros. or Disney, and the future is bright. But, they all missed.

Are they going to miss a third time? George would never allow such a thing to happen again!

"You seem to be particularly concerned about my work, I thought you were busy promoting 'Very Little Agent 3' lately." Lance didn't wait to continue digging the trap, but looked at George suspiciously. Fishing requires patience and skill.

Although George was a little flustered, he also realized that he was in a hurry, but this made him feel at ease, because Lance was not completely passively led by him, and the back and forth was completely like laughter and scolding between friends. George chuckled, "Even if I don't want to notice." I've been working on a collaboration between Gregory-Jacobs and Steven Soderbergh lately, and it's a strange feeling that when I'm in the office, I hear from you every once in a while, only to be completely confused when people ask me. ”

"Oh, the one with Warner Bros.?" Recently, George was the producer of a work called "Criminal", and Lance also heard about it when Warner Bros. was walking around, "I heard that it was a crime comedy......" Lance talked to George instead, and the two discussed a lot of things about "Criminal", and then Lance took the initiative to come back, "Sure enough, it is the most interesting after putting in the work, and I also hope that before the end of the summer, I can devote myself to the production of the second work of Chaos Pictures." ”

George was originally a little worried that he would take the initiative to mention the new work again and again, which would seem too urgent, but now Lance took the initiative to speak, which made George breathe a sigh of relief, "The second work, now has eyebrows?" He said seemingly casually, "You've been making a lot of moves lately, and it's been dazzling, how did I not know that you had such a close relationship with those big studios?" ”

Paramount, Disney, Warner Bros., ...... Each of them is currently a Hollywood giant, and when Lance was in Diora Pictures before, he didn't see these relationships, but now after leaving Diora Pictures, it is revealed, which is really not normal.

Lance chuckled, "If you have a project in your hand that is worth seeing, they will talk to you, even if you are only a high school student, but there are not many that can really be cooperated." "I just had some ideas and see if they would like to work with Chaos Pictures, but the decision was never in my hands, was it?" ”

"Not a single one?" George knew that what Lance said made sense, so he didn't dwell on it any longer, and changed the subject.

Lance shrugged, noncommittal. George immediately understood, and chuckled, "So, you did succeed." Jesus Christ, I never knew that you were so good at business that you could negotiate such a big project! ”

"So 'Ocean's Eleven' doesn't count?" Reims's counterattack made George laugh dumbly, "Actually, it's not successful yet, it's just entering the final negotiation stage, and the next thing to look at is the specific details." You know, big companies never allow things to get out of their control. ”

"There are pros and cons to everything." George said comfortingly, and Lance nodded in agreement, "Which one?" ”

Lance waved his hand, "It's not settled yet, I'll tell you after I sign it." ”

Although Lance refused, George could tell that Lance always had a smile on his face and was in a very light mood. So, George decided to take it a step closer and take a look, "Paramount? Disney? Or Warner Bros.? I heard some time ago that you and Disney were talking about an adaptation of 'The Chronicles of Narnia', is this to make up for your inner regret about 'Harry Potter'? ”

"It was like this at first, but then things changed a little bit." Lance stopped talking, only revealing a little information, and then stopped. But this confirmed the news that George had heard, which made him even more itchy.

"What's wrong? What has changed? George couldn't help but ask again, but Lance had an expression of "unspeakable" and retreated, George wanted to ask again, but after thinking about it, he retreated instead, "Okay, when your matter is settled, you can tell me again, I'll wait for your good news." The breezy words sounded nothing special, but the gradually cold feelings could feel his dissatisfaction, and George directly snuffed out the cigarette butt that had not been finished in the ashtray.

They were good friends, best friends, and Lance shouldn't hide anything from him, which wasn't the right way to treat a friend.

Sure enough, Lance took the bait. "Please, I just think that everything is not settled right now, don't get carried away too soon, changes in Hollywood are always unpredictable, aren't they?" Lance leaned back to the table and said with some guilt, but seeing that George still didn't react, Lance sighed lightly, "Well, I'm talking to Disney about a project, not 'The Chronicles of Narnia', but another British mythology, and they think I can be the director." ”

George refocused at this time, and couldn't help but feel slightly nervous in his heart, "But I'm not very interested in that project, I'm more optimistic about another project, the project with Warner Bros., Ancient Greek Mythology." cast, script quality, level of investment...... These are clearly better, and most importantly, Warner Bros. places a lot more emphasis on high-investment projects than Disney can match. ”

George had verified everything he had heard, and Lance's real target was "Troy", and that all other works, including "King Arthur", were smoke bombs. Recently, there have been rumors in the circle that Chaos Pictures is about to cooperate with Disney in "Chronicles of Narnia", which seems to be just a cover for Disney.

"Also, there are too many requirements for Disney filming." George didn't ask any more questions, but joked with Lance.

Lance spread his hands and agreed, "You can't ask too much of Mickey Mouse. ”

The two of them looked at each other and laughed heartily, the tacit understanding and casualness that flowed between their best friends, slowly lingering in the aroma of coffee.

"Hey, George?" In the middle of the conversation, a passer-by suddenly stopped, turned and walked back, and greeted him in a puzzled voice.

George raised his head and looked at the person, Erlang's leg was immediately lowered, and he stood up and hugged the other party, "Terrance? How long have we not seen each other? I heard that you went to New York to expand your work, why did you suddenly come back to Los Angeles? ”

"The job in New York has settled down for the time being, and I now need to run all over the North American continent. So, you might see me in any city. The man, Terrance, spoke briskly and neatly, and then looked away, "I'm sorry, I seem to have neglected your friend. He took the initiative to extend his right hand to Lance and said enthusiastically, "Hey, I know you, your previous appearance on 'The Tonight Show' was very good. ”

George laughed and took the initiative to introduce the two of them, "Lance, this is Terence-Cox; Terrance, this is Lancelot-Strello. ”

;