Chapter 268 MGM's Repertoire (3-in-1 Chapter)

The filming of "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" ended at the end of the year, and on the New Year of 09, Lin Mingyang was rarely reunited with his family. Grandpa still had a stern face, but there was a little more concern in his tone; Mother Catherine always likes to care about Lin Mingyang's living situation at the dinner table, in order to express her indignation at her son's long time not coming home, she is energetic in addition to talking to add vegetables to Lin Mingyang's plate; 's father occasionally interjected, asking mostly about Lin Mingyang's work.

The feeling of a happy family made Lin Mingyang not only unconsciously find that feeling of attachment, if it wasn't for MGM's New Year's meeting, he would definitely stay at home for a few more days.

At the top of the meeting, everyone had a financial statement in front of them, and the data on it made every participant happy. In the context of the economic crisis, the profits of most Hollywood studios have declined to varying degrees, and MGM's doubling of profits can be said to be unique. This will not only bring a considerable amount of bonuses to the executives present, but also a huge positive for MGM's stock price.

Lin Mingyang sat at the head of the conference room, and the expressions of everyone at the conference table were unobstructed. The executives below were all overjoyed, and Ax, who was sitting on Lin Mingyang's left, was still calm, and did not cheer like his subordinates, but the shallow smile on the corner of his mouth still "betrayed" the pride in his heart.

In the entire conference room, only Katzenberg, who was sitting on Lin Mingyang's right, was able to remain calm enough in the face of the fact that he and his animation company had only recently joined MGM. No matter how high the score on that excellent "report card" is, it has nothing to do with him.

Of course, Katzenberg was actually taken aback by MGM's staggering profit numbers last year. Seeing the excitement and joy of the rest of the office while everyone under him was silent, Katzenberg was secretly determined to come up with one or two blockbuster cartoons this year, and he would be able to raise his eyebrows in front of others this time next year.

With money in hand, everyone is thinking about how to celebrate, only Lin Mingyang is thinking about how to spend the money. After the initial smugness had passed, Ex also noticed the thoughtful expression on Lin Mingyang's face. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and the people below immediately fell silent. Everyone thought he had something to say, but Ex cleared his throat and said something.

"Everyone, be quiet, sir has something to say"

Everyone's eyes turned to Lin Mingyang with his words, and Ex's hand caught Lin Mingyang a little off guard, he was obviously stunned for a moment, and then said stubbornly: "Everyone is very happy to have achieved such a performance, and I am also very happy..."

Everyone didn't expect that the expected wonderful speech would turn into this kind of unnutritious saliva, just when everyone looked at each other, Lin Mingyang suddenly changed his words, "According to my personal judgment that I am not optimistic, it is difficult for the economic situation in the United States to have a fundamental reversal this year, and with the spread of the economic crisis, the global economy will fall into a trough, and we will face a worse competitive environment than last year..."

Lin Mingyang pointed to the financial statement in front of him, "The glory on it is a thing of the past, you are going to start working hard for this year's success... If you have any new plans in your hands, you can take them out and discuss them now."

The people in the conference room collectively fell silent, Lin Mingyang's gaze swept over their faces one by one, and everyone lowered their heads, patronizing and happy just now, where could they care about preparing any new plans in a hurry. When Lin Mingyang asked like this, everyone was collectively dumbfounded.

The atmosphere in the conference room became a little awkward, and Ex was about to say a few other words to ease the atmosphere, when Lin Mingyang suddenly pushed away his chair and stood up.

Lin Mingyang's eyes turned around in the conference room again, and still no one spoke, at this time he leaned forward slightly, propped his hands on the conference table, and looked around at everyone: "Since everyone has no plan, then I'll just say that my plan is good."

After standing up straight, Lin Mingyang clasped his hands and began to talk, "I plan to shoot only one film this year, MGM and Blizzard have reached a cooperation intention, and the filming of the movie version of "Warcraft" will start within the year, with a planned investment of 500 million US dollars."

As soon as these words came out, the conference room immediately exploded, what kind of concept is 500 million US dollars to make a movie, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in a movie in Hollywood is already a big deal, Lin Mingyang's investment in a movie is enough to spend on the people who heard the news for the first time, and their mouths are big.

No one would be stupid enough to think that Lin Mingyang was joking, the extremely serious expression on his face and the solemn expression on the side of Ax were enough to show the truth of this matter. After a brief exchange of words, the room fell silent again.

Unlike the situation just now, the atmosphere in the conference room has become a little strange at this time, everyone didn't know what to say just now, and now everyone doesn't know where to start. Katzenberg had been watching what was happening in the conference room with a cold eye, and he was blown away by the $500 million investment.

James Cameron is working on the "god film", although the specific amount of investment has been kept secret from the outside world, but this is not an unfathomable secret in the industry, Fox initially gave Cameron about $200 million, and then MGM added an additional amount, and the amount is estimated to be not below Fox, which means that Cameron's new film costs at least $400 million.

After Lin Mingyang proposed a $500 million shooting plan, Katzenberg has been thinking that the film that Lin Mingyang is going to shoot should have a great connection with Cameron's new film in production, but what kind of movie can be made with $500 million, he doesn't have an accurate reference in his heart, anyway, Lin Mingyang's plan is a word in his eyes: crazy

Ex, who had been "hanging" beside him, finally coughed, "I would like to add that the investment in this film is carried out in stages, and the entire production process will last for a long time, and it is conservatively estimated that this film will take at least two years to complete." ”

As Ex said this, the rest of the room breathed a sigh of relief. What everyone is most worried about is that after this film siphons out a lot of money in one go, the entire company's capital chain will become very tight, and an accident may lose everything. MGM's crisis before Lin Mingyang became the owner is a lesson from the past, and the old employees who experienced that period still have lingering fears about the debt and bankruptcy crisis at that time.

In the conference room, the previous lively atmosphere was gone, looking at everyone's pitiful appearance, Ex had to wave his hand helplessly, "Since everyone is not ready, then we will leave today's topic for three days to continue to discuss, and then I hope you can come up with a clear plan..."

After speaking, he glanced at Lin Mingyang, whose face was cloudy, and gently exhaled a breath of turbidity, "Disperse"

The company's executives left in twos and threes, and Katzenberg was originally going to stay and talk to Lin Mingyang, but he saw that Ax had no intention of leaving, and he estimated that the two should have something to talk about. Thinking that he was not in a hurry about what was at hand, Katzenberg finally gave up the opportunity to Ex.

After Katzenberg got up and left, only Lin Mingyang and Exx were left in the conference room.

The assistant quickly brought two cups of steaming coffee, Ex picked up one himself, and handed the other to Lin Mingyang. "It's rare to see you have such a serious expression in a meeting, what have you been unhappy about lately?"

"Is there one?" Lin Mingyang unconsciously pinched his chin, and then moved his face. "I guess I didn't sleep well last night, and when I woke up this morning, my expression was a little stiff, and I looked scary just now?"

Ex almost squirted out of the coffee in his mouth, he took out a tissue and wiped his mouth, "I mean, I've never seen you show such aggressiveness, you have calmed the whole room in the room, if you can scare them like this often in the future, the work of the company management will definitely be much smoother"

Lin Mingyang shrugged: "It's just this time, after a while, the filming of "Warcraft" will start, I don't have so much time to participate in company meetings, you should figure it out by yourself when the time comes."

Ex said worriedly: "It took Cameron more than three years to shoot "Avatar", and it has not yet been completed. ”

"Cameron is experimenting with new technologies while shooting, I directly use his mature technology, in the production cycle, it will definitely not take him that long."

Ex looked at Lin Mingyang very seriously, "You are different from Cameron, he can devote himself to the production of the film regardless of it, but you obviously can't do it like him, there are many things on the company's side that need you to decide." ”

Lin Mingyang waved his hand nonchalantly, "You don't have to worry about this, the post-production of this kind of film is the most time-consuming, the pre-shooting time will not be too long, I can finish this film in three months, and I will leave the rest to more professional people to be responsible for completing it." ”

"Okay, I won't intervene in this matter, you can do whatever you want" Ex knew that Lin Mingyang's determination had been made, and he would definitely not listen to Lin Mingyang no matter how much he said, anyway, three months would be an acceptable result.

originally thought that it would take a lot of effort to convince Ex, but he didn't expect the other party to agree so easily, Lin Mingyang always felt that there was a problem in this. In order to further probe him, he immediately made a more "excessive" request: "I hope that this film can start shooting at the end of January..."

"There's no rush for this," Ex's fox tail was finally revealed, "I know this film is important, but I want to discuss with you if I can put the filming of "Warcraft" after March. ”

Lin Mingyang stood up suddenly, "Why?" ”

"Don't get excited, didn't I discuss it with you?" Ex pressed Lin Mingyang back into his chair, ""Warcraft" occupies so much money, and the filming cycle is so long, you can't put your eggs in one basket without me explaining to you, MGM is expected to launch 5-6 big-budget movies in a few years, and there is one waiting to be filmed right now."

"You didn't mention this just now..."Lin Mingyang looked at Ex with a puzzled face, "You have already made a shooting plan for the new film behind my back?" ”

Ex smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that I'm going to carry you, it's that you've never taken the initiative to care about this aspect of things."

As soon as he said that, Ex hit his own death hole, Lin Mingyang sat on his chair and moved his butt quite awkwardly, "Okay, then tell me, what kind of origin does this new film have, and let "Warcraft" make way for it?" ”

"No matter how successful "Warcraft" is, how many sequels can be released?" Ex asked rhetorically, and then said quite proudly: "The film I'm talking about is MGM's repertoire since the beginning of the year, and this series has been launched at an average rate of one episode every two years, and there have been 6 leading actors before and after, and it has been popular to this day..."

"You're talking about 0 Not long after the release of the movie, MGM fell into bankruptcy. After Lin Mingyang became the owner of MGM, the series has been shelved.

Although the 007 film is a product of the Cold War period, it is also a highly stylized product of the Hollywood film industry. A large part of the charm of the 007 movie comes from its repetitive bridge design and character expression. So watching 007 movies has become a habit, once every two years, people sit in the cinema and look forward to the same few things, the chase that enters the ** at the beginning, the fantastic opening and theme song, Dr. Q's fresh weapons, the conspiracy behind the conspiracy, the falling Bond girl, the perverse anti-No. 1... People hypnotize James Bond as he defeats his enemies again and again, and most of these enemies have a very deadly common characteristic, that is, they don't know the British spies that everyone on Earth knows.

From a previous point of view, Lin Mingyang is a little dismissive of this kind of film produced on the assembly line, but ritualized activities also have the advantage of turning meaningless things into meaningful. 007 Films have established their entertainment value in the constant self-repetition, Bond has emerged from the Cold War, his opponents have transformed from his Soviet counterparts into all sorts of terrorists and rich people, and by the end of the last century, he is no longer a spy and more like a counter-terrorism agent.

"So our Bond has a new mission again?" Although Lin Mingyang agreed with Ex's statement, the tone of his voice had obviously excluded himself.

"According to the past practice, 007 movies should be launched in 2 years, and now it has been 2 years since the launch of the last "Casino Royale", if MGM does not want to lose this tradition, it is imminent to shoot a new 007 movie, but now we have no script, no director, no actors..."

Ex leaned forward as he spoke, "The most important thing is that this is the first 007 movie you released after accepting MGM, and it is not only a continuation of tradition, but also a test of your new boss's ability to some extent. ”

"Is it that serious?" Lin Mingyang frowned, a 007 movie, he didn't think about it so much, but Ex did have some truth in what he said, and this matter must be taken seriously.

Ex nodded very seriously, "Not only the audience is looking forward to it, but my other Hollywood studios are also waiting for this movie, either we use this film to stomp them under their feet, or because of this film, they are stomped under their feet."

After realizing the importance of the matter, Lin Mingyang quickly made a decision: "Well, I'll write this script"

"And then?" Ex asked expectantly.

The two stared at each other in the conference room for a long time, and Ex finally couldn't help but ask, "Is this gone?" ”

Lin Mingyang asked very strangely: "Then what else do you want me to do?" ”

"Starring role," Ex said angrily, "haven't you always had an agent complex?" Is there any agent in the world who is more famous and more challenging than James Bond? ”

Lin Mingyang immediately asked rhetorically: "Do you think James Bond can be played by just someone to play?" ”

Ex winked at Lin Mingyang slyly: "So, I picked carefully, considered it, and finally thought you were the most suitable."

Lin Mingyang snorted angrily, he found that he had fallen into the trap of Ex from the beginning. Of course, not everyone can play the 007 series of movies, otherwise in 46 years, there would not be only 6 actors who have interpreted the ups and downs of this legendary agent's career.

Sean Connery impressed audiences around the world as the first generation of 007 intelligence agents, and once set the tone of James Bond's image, so much so that for a long time, Sean Connery and James Bond coexisted in the form of an equal sign. This coexistence is so strong that George Rasimby, who succeeded Connery, said goodbye to the 007 series of movies immediately after starring in "Brave Snow Mountain Castle", and Connery had to return to the screen to play "Diamond Party" again to make people angry.

The reason why Roger Moore was able to successfully replace Sean Connery as the longest-serving Bond spokesperson after that was largely due to his continuation of Connery's Bond image. And starting with Timothy Dalton, the 007 movie has begun to gradually try to change the image of Bond, and Timothy Bond is cold and unrelated and becomes a killing machine for revenge for his friends, which is the first Bond who is forced by hatred to not smile.

It's a pity that Timothy's version of James Bond is in an awkward situation, the 007 series of movies in this era is gradually shifting from the traditional spy war plot to the transition period of action scenes, in the two movies he starred in, the audience can still see the shadow of the old-fashioned storyline on the one hand, and on the other hand, they can see the new hearty action fights, but unfortunately he neither has the style of Sean Connerry, nor the chic of Roger Moore, nor does he have the agility of the contemporaries who are obvious, As a result, Bond fans are getting farther and farther away from the theater, and the shooting interval of 007 is not as frequent as it was during the Connery period.

The appearance of Pierce Brosnan saved the 007 series of movies, the success of "GoldenEye" brought the past Bond fans back to the theater again, from this film, Bond films began to officially develop into an action movie that meets the needs of the market and caters to the taste of the public, it relies on a large number of action scenes and blasting scenes to stimulate the audience's adrenaline, bringing a strong visual impact while not forgetting the melancholy of the traditional 007, between Pierce Brosnan and the Bond girl** The play also successfully surpassed Connery's version of Bond and was recognized by the audience.

Throughout Brosnan's four 007s, they can basically be written into history alongside the classic action movies of the same era, so Brosnan's version of James Bond has swept theaters around the world.

After such a process of development and change, it is not easy for Legendary Agents to seek a new breakthrough. With the advent of the information age, the traditional story script of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union no longer has market appeal, and if according to Ian Fleming's novel, this old agent born in 1922 obviously cannot meet the logic of still being young in the 21st century. At this moment, the subversion of Bond's image and story has become an inevitable and important issue.

The most direct sign of the 007 movie's self-breakthrough from "Casino Royale" is that Daniel Craig is completely different from his predecessor's appearance, temperament and behavior pattern. Judging from the market reaction, "Casino Royale" was very successful in subverting Bond, the former gentle English gentleman became a tender hero with a bloody face, he began to fight for his life, began to lose his mind for love, he no longer showed mercy everywhere as in the past, he became a warrior, a warrior loyal to love.

"For a long time, although we saw Agent Bond on the screen, we could not subconsciously identify that this was a person, and in the eyes of many more people, Bond is a god who has survived more than 40 years of historical changes, and his symbolism is greater than his specific image. This situation continued until "Casino Royale", where screenwriter Martin Campbell reverted to a specific person, and his actions began to have continuity and timelines, and we can finally feel the emotional accumulation of time washed away in his heart. He transformed Bond from an emotional, cold-blooded agent into a temperamental man who travels the world for love, a breakthrough that almost turned into self-denial, and he proved to be successful"

Although he blindly encouraged Lin Mingyang to serve as the new James Bond, Ex was full of praise for the actors and directors of "Casino Royale" in his rhetoric, and this inconsistent attitude just gave Lin Mingyang an excuse to fight back.

"Then let Martin Campbell continue as a director, and Daniel Craig continues as the heroic and resolute Bond... I wrote the script, so wouldn't all the problems be solved? ”

"I spoke to Martin Campbell and he made two requests to me." Ex has been prepared for this, "The first is to replace Daniel Craig, and the second is for you to play the new James Bond"

"Why?" This is the second time Lin Mingyang has asked such a question.

"Martin Campbell actually did an experiment with Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale", and it turned out that his ideas and train of thought were correct. Daniel Craig's performance broke the equivalence between James Bond and Brosnan, but his image has not yet been fully established in the minds of fans, and now Martin Campbell has a better option, and the contrast between you and Daniel Craig is self-evident... What could be more satisfying for a director of the 007 series than James Bond, who holds an Oscar? ”

Ex came up with a lot of evidence to support his claim, but Lin Mingyang noticed something wrong from the light that flickered from time to time in the corner of his eye. As a director, Martin Campbell should not have been arrogant enough to name MGM's chairman for a role.

"Is this really a request from Martin Campbell himself?"

Lin Mingyang's question made Ex's fiery heart suddenly cool down, he knew that his "trick" had been seen through by Lin Mingyang, and he gritted his teeth and simply said his true thoughts.

"Well, Martin Campbell just expressed that idea, and I hope you can play a vital role in this film, but it's not enough to write a screenplay... MGM can accept defeat now, but failure must not happen in the 007 series of movies, you play Bond, at least we won't lose at the box office"

Ex admitted his lies very frankly, and Lin Mingyang did not blame him, but he did not clearly agree with it.

"Martin Campbell is a very thoughtful director, but this is exactly what worries me the most, directors with ideas shoot with imagination, but often do things in a disorderly way, I always feel that "Casino Royale" is just the beginning, if he continues to be the director of the film, in this 007 movie, he is expected to have more out-of-the-ordinary actions. I guess he's not just trying to subvert the image of Bond, but the whole Bond series. ”

The melancholy on Ex's face became more and more heavy, but Lin Mingyang had a different opinion on this, "The same story has made more than 20 movies, if it is not subverted, the directors will have no inspiration to use." ”

"When subversiveness reaches a certain height, the traditional image and model will inevitably die gradually, such a situation is obviously what Bond fans do not want to see, subversiveness does inject a steady stream of vitality into the 007 series of movies, but there is a question here, when Bond is really in love with a woman, is he still Bond? When Bond doesn't say 'I'm Bond, James Bond', is he still Bond? ”

Lin Mingyang's idea is more direct than Ex: "Even if I play Bond, it may not be able to bring about a fundamental change in the film as you expect, and if you can't do it, change the director"

Ex shook his head, "A different director doesn't necessarily make you better than Martin Campbell, the thing in this world that is more terrible than failure is mediocrity, it's like a gamble, I'm worried that Martin Campbell will fail because he is more likely to succeed than others, and if it were you, you should make the same choice." ”

"This is not quite the same as your usual conservative style," although Lin Mingyang said this, he was still seriously pondering what Ex had just said in his heart.

Ex smiled slightly: "If you stay with this crazy guy for a long time, you will inevitably be contaminated with some vices"

"I feel a sense of accomplishment when you say this, but we seem to be far away" Lin Mingyang clasped his hands, "You haven't completely convinced me yet"

"Then let's start with "Casino Royale", the biggest feature of Hollywood action movies in the 21st century is the advent of the era of fast editing, "Casino Royale" attaches great importance to action scenes far beyond the previous Bond movies, and blasting and fast editing have injected new vitality into the new action movies of the 21st century, bringing a strong visual impact while gradually weakening the storytelling of the movie."

"The most fatal weakness of "Casino Royale" is in the narrative, because of the problem of cohesion, the first half of the film is basically in a hurry to explain the plot, and there is no plot in the play where Bond is in a desperate situation. So I want you to write this script. ”

"Okay, I'll write the script, but why do you have to change Bond's people?"

Lin Mingyang's doubts are his own reasoning, because "Casino Royale" still sold $600 million worldwide despite its mixed reputation, and most viewers recognized this rough version of Bond more than they expected.

"Daniel Craig's image is actually far from what people think of as Bond, and out of respect for tradition, I think you're better suited to play Bond than Daniel Craig. As for the action show, that kind of hardcore fighting happens to be what you're good at, I know you didn't have a lot of fun in Pirates of the Caribbean 3, if I'm not mistaken, it's been a long time since you've tried this kind of performance, if you add a good parkour... I mean, you know."

Ex's previous rhetoric was unattractive to Lin Mingyang, but the later ideas made his eyes shine. He hasn't moved his muscles and bones for a long time, and Lin Mingyang does have some itchy hands.

"The plot of the film doesn't have to be connected to the previous episode, right?"

Lin Mingyang asked, and Ex knew that he was already moved, and he nodded quietly, "Since you choose to change the actors, of course the plot has to start again, which is the practice of 007 movies." ”

"And what about Bond Girl?"

With Ex's understanding of Lin Mingyang, once he starts to care about the heroine's problem, then the starring role is very likely to be done.

Lin Mingyang's "bad habit" of picking heroines has long been no secret in Hollywood, and his criteria for taking on the role are first to read the script, followed by caring about the heroine, and finally considering the director's factors. Of course, with the change of status, his "bad habits" have slowly become a kind of natural power.

Lin Mingyang definitely didn't expect that this detail, which he had ignored, would become a breakthrough for Ex to guess his thoughts.

"I'm glad you finally asked this question, in fact I already prepared it for you" Ex grabbed the folder he had placed on the conference table earlier, and Lin Mingyang then remembered that during the entire meeting, Ex had not opened that folder.

When he saw the contents of Ex's folder clearly, Lin Mingyang's big mouth already explained the surprise in his heart at this time. He pointed to the stack of female celebrities in the folder... Sexy photo photo, "So you like to collect this?" ”

Ex glanced at Lin Mingyang angrily, "What are you talking about, these are all for you"

"For me?" Lin Mingyang's fingers almost didn't poke his tongue.

"Didn't you ask about Bond Girl?" Ex picked up the photo in his hand and shook it in front of Lin Mingyang, "This is the top 20 photos of the latest Hollywood sexy actress list, and your partner was born from them"

Lin Mingyang was speechless for a while, "But I haven't written the script yet..."

Ex waved his hand nonchalantly, "I know, according to the general convention, there must be at least two more representative Bond girls in the 007 movie, and the one I remember the most seems to have 4, and the specific roles are of course determined by you, but we can narrow it down now, and you can even tailor the roles for them according to the actresses you like." ”

"What do you mean?" Lin Mingyang always felt that Exx seemed to have something to say.

Ex deliberately pretended not to hear, he pulled out one of the photos, looked at it, and said to himself: "Scarlett Johansson, a first-class beauty, it should be a good fit to be a Bond girl..."

Because his relationship with Scarlett was still hidden from Ex, Lin Mingyang did not say anything at this time.

Ex casually picked up another photo, "Actually, Megan is not bad, but it's a pity that I just finished acting in "Transformers", otherwise..."

Seeing that Lin Mingyang was unmoved, Ex began to patiently introduce the photos in his hand one by one, and when he heard Eva Longoria's name, Lin Mingyang finally couldn't help it.

"Have you ever seen a Bond girl who is less than 1.6 meters tall?"

Ex said with some unfinished words: "But Eva is really good, she is a peerless stunner in the minds of many mature men, but height is indeed a problem, but the identity of the bond girl does not have to be a female agent."

Lin Mingyang interrupted his emotion impatiently, "You better just give me the number one ranking."

Ex gave Lin Mingyang a thumbs up, "Jessica Bell, you really have the right eye"

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