"Ladies and gentlemen, please look here, take another picture at the end, smile, one, two, three!"

After the sound of a series of flashing lights ended, there was a polite applause, mixed with a light laugh. More than 200 Oscar nominees stood together to take a family photo, and it was a truly spectacular spectacle, with people leaning close together to form a fan, standing in six rows, and only in this way could everyone be included in the same photo.

Every year, the nominee luncheon takes a photo of this, which readers jokingly refer to as the "spotlight" moment – because the faces are so small that it's almost impossible to tell who's who. But this family portrait has also become the highlight of the Oscars every year, not only because of the star-studded crowd, but also because these are the most high-profile filmmakers of the past year, in addition to the directors and actors, those behind-the-scenes staff are also included, and the significance is naturally more important.

Now, family portraits have become a kind of inheritance of the college.

Lance stood between Cliff Owen and Jamie Fox, with Sharen Davis, the costume designer of "The Soul Singer" in front of him, and Clint Eastwood behind him.

After the photo shoot was over, Cliff smiled and patted Lance on the shoulder, "Long time no see, is everything going well in the post-production of the film?" "Sin City" had just been completed not long ago, but Cliff's role ended relatively early, and the two hadn't seen each other for a while.

Lance's vision caught Clint and Jamie concentrating on their conversation. At the Oscars last year, Clint treated Lance coldly, and after a year, the situation still didn't seem to change.

"Smooth, everything is fine." Lance's gaze just passed by, and then he looked at Cliff, "We're now looking for a distribution company to arrange the right schedule. ”

In fact, the post-production of "Sin City" was done at the same time as the shooting, and due to the special style of the film, all of the shots were shot directly according to the editing ideas. After the finale, Aaron Menke's work is not complicated, it can be completed at most next week, and now only the soundtrack is still in production, as long as it is negotiated with the distribution company, it can be released in theaters.

"Wow, I can't wait, I'm curious to see what kind of effect the movie will look like when it comes out......" Cliff's slightly rigid face showed a look of surprise, but before he could finish speaking, someone next to him walked up, "What effect are you expecting?" ”

Cliff and Lance both looked over, and it was Barry Meyer, Warner Bros. was the biggest winner of this year's awards season, "The Aviator" and "Million Dollar Baby" were both released and produced by them, so Barry also made an exception to attend the nomination luncheon today, obviously hoping to further build momentum for the two works.

Looking at Barry's big smile, Cliff's eyes couldn't help but flash, he couldn't forget that Lance had given a gag order, and no one was allowed to talk about Sin City without being notified. So far, the gag order is still in effect, Cliff doesn't want to get into trouble, and although the movie is now finished, no one knows what unexpected move Lance will make - fire Ben Affleck and adopt Cliff Owen, a decision that made many people fall through their glasses in the first place.

Now, in the face of Barry's question, Cliff was speechless for a while, and he didn't know how to continue. Luckily, Lance didn't pause, "My new movie." "This time I tried something new, and I'm looking forward to the finished product." ”

"Oh!" Barry suddenly realized, "So, it's another 'Murder with a Knife'?" ”

Lance smiled and spread his hands, "I hope so." Barry laughed with a frank and confident look, and Cliff breathed a sigh of relief, quickly excused himself to go over to say hello to Natalie Portman, turned to leave, and left the place with his feet raised.

"You've always been so keen to break the shackles of tradition." Barry shook his head with a sigh as the two of them strolled side by side, weaving through the crowd, many of them looking at each other, curious about what the meeting of the two men meant.

Lance, however, didn't feel the inquiring gaze, "No, I wouldn't say that. Lance chuckled and said, "Sometimes, I choose to be conservative and follow tradition. This refers to "the day after tomorrow": "Sometimes, I choose to innovate and break certain barriers. This refers to "killing with a knife," "but sometimes, I look for the middle ground." Naturally, this is the "City of God", and "the important thing is never the way it is expressed, but the effect that is presented." ”

"Look, that's the difference between you and me. You're a film creator, I'm just a film merchant. Barry didn't shy away from his smile and laughed out loud, complimenting Lance in this way. So, I'm always looking forward to working with you one day and seeing what sparks can burst out. ”

This is clearly a hint that Superman has rebooted the project. Indeed, this is also the time, Disney has already launched a plan, and Warner Bros. naturally cannot remain indifferent. It seems that Barry came prepared today.

Lance raised an eyebrow, "Hopefully this day isn't too far away, I've always had a lot of ideas in my head, but if you want to make it happen, you need some support." The phrase is meaningful, and Lance is implying that Warner Bros. has been approached by Brian Singer and it is clear that Lance is no longer their first choice.

"Oh? Whimsy, you know, I like these wild ideas the most, if you don't mind, you can share them. Perhaps, I can give some advice. Barry's words and diction are well thought out, and he avoids Brian Singer's topic, as if he didn't hear the meaning of Lance's words at all; But then, Barry expressed interest in Lance's idea, which was a positive sign, but in the end Barry chose the word "opinion" instead of "support", and it can be seen that he is now more cautious.

Lance didn't focus his attention on Barry's discourse, and for him, competing with Brian for the guide tube was not the point, but building the entire DC Universe was. Therefore, he must keep a clear mind and not dwell on those delicate things.

"For example, a comic book adaptation of a movie." Unconsciously, Lance and Barry have walked to the balcony, there are still some people around, but they are far from the center of sight, secluded and not too deliberate, which is really good for conversation, "Now we have always been hesitant about comic book adaptations, but I think that thanks to the great progress of computer special effects, the science fiction world built in comics has the possibility of becoming a reality, and comic book adaptations can become a new type of film." ”

Lance did not start the topic directly, but started from the main premise.

Barry looked curious, "However, there is a general perception that comics are niche and the market is limited. Barry could hear the subtext in Lance's words: Comic book adaptations can go mainstream, which also means that Warner Bros., with DC Comics in hand, should make a big adaptation.

Barry only found Lance because of the Superman reboot project, which goes hand in hand with the Batman project reboot. But other than that, he never considered that adapting DC Comics into a series of movies was too risky. As he said, comics are niche otaku stuff that doesn't fit into the mainstream market, and Superman and Batman were chosen only because these two characters have a huge audience base that has a long history.

"People used to think that 'Harry Potter' was a niche children's book." Lance didn't explain, but fired back with examples. Actions speak louder than words.

Barry laughed dumbly, but was unconvinced, "Books and comics are two different things. ”

"No, books and comics are the same thing, both are telling stories, one with words and the other with drawings." After Lance's words fell, this time Barry did not answer quickly, but savored it, and Lance continued, "Just as 'Harry Potter' built a magical wizarding world, the comics built a world of superpowers. Moreover, compared to 'Harry Potter', the comics have a much larger readership and a longer history. The otaku market we thought of, after it was dug up, it would bring everyone a huge surprise. ”

Barry frowned slightly, and said curiously, "If I'm not mistaken, you don't read comics." ”

"That didn't stop me from going into the cinema to watch 'Spider-Man.'" Lance's answer, still with a hint of sly humor, made Barry chuckle and nodded, "Fair enough." ”

Lance knew that the window was coming, "So, I've been wondering lately if we could make the comic book world a huge world like 'Harry Potter' - or even a universe, like the DC Universe." By distilling each hero character individually, we can create a movie for him; And then we can bring all the heroes together, and we can make a big movie again; The most important thing is that these films are separate worlds from each other, but they can be connected into a story in the background, and maybe some heroes can make cameos in movies starring other heroes. ”

For the first time, Lance put the concept of the DC Universe in front of Barry, "as if it were ...... It's like we made a Harry movie, and then a Ron movie, and of course, a Hermione movie, and ended up putting everyone together and making a Harry Potter movie. But the problem is that J.K. Rowling didn't write a story for everyone, but the comics did. This makes the universe of the comic adaptation, independent of each other but connected to each other, forming a huge fan harvester. ”

Barry stared intently at Lance in front of him, and saw a confident glow on that handsome face, "Perhaps, this can become an existence beyond 'Harry Potter'." For example...... "The curvature of Lance's mouth bloomed completely," "Star Wars." (To be continued.) )