"How so?"

Looking at the number of reports in his hand, Charlie, the director of the distribution department of Twentieth Century Fox? Adam was a little stunned, although he had enough psychological preparation in advance, he couldn't help but be surprised after the box office of the film came out on the first weekend.

The film's big hit must have been ecstasy rather than surprise, Charlie? Adam feels that his position is no longer secure, with "Chicago", which he strongly opposed and vetoed, and "Life and Death 2", which failed at the box office, even if the real decision-maker is CEO Townsend? Rothman, but I'm afraid to be a scapegoat......

His eyes fell on the report in his hand again.

"Life and Death 2" cost $110 million to produce and grossed $16.15 million in the first three days, far below the $40 million expected by Twentieth Century Fox!

Why is this happening? The first part of "Speed of Life and Death" is a super hit, and the sales and rental performance of videotapes in recent years have also been excellent|excellent|small|say|more|new|fast|WWW.UUXS.CC|good, and must have accumulated a lot of supporters, according to general reasoning, the box office of the film should be a big hit in the first week.

Don't......

Charlie? Adam sighed, was it just because of the change of director? Duke? Rosenberg zuò and non-Duke? Is there such a big difference between Rosenberg and zuò?

With the same idea, and Keanu? Kieves's agent.

"Keanu, you can't go down at will." He looked at Reeves, "None of the movies you've made since "Life and Death" have really been a big hit, and now the safest sequel to "Life and Death" has basically been messed up, your status will decline even further, and if you still want to stay in Hollywood, you have to cheer up." ”

It's like sucking when you're younger. Poisonous, Keanu? Reeves likes to live life as he pleases, but he is no longer young. The experience of the past few years has told him that if you want to do whatever you want, you must have money and status as capital.

It's just that...... It's just that in the current situation, most people probably want to come over and step on him a few times, who is willing to help him? Even Twentieth Century Fox directly interrupted a film project that was originally being negotiated after the box office came out in the first week.

If "Speed of Life and Death 2" can't be turned over later. Then he is a veritable box office poison, and what hope is there for a comeback?

Isn't this Duke after all? The movie directed by Rosenberg can still kill the opponent when it is left behind so much in the early stage!

Sigh in your heart, Keanu? Reeves actually understands very well that he is a sure box office poison.

"Say, Vicente, what am I going to do?"

Hear Keanu? Reeves asked, and Vicente put down his coffee cup. His gaze also retracted from the outside of the café, "Back to the place where the dream began!" ”

"Where do dreams begin?" Keanu? Reeves didn't understand.

"Yes, Keanu." Vicente took out a formal invitation and handed it over, "Have you forgotten?" Whose movie did you star in? ”

Keanu? Reeves opened the invitation, "Duke? Rosenberg? ”

"He invited you to an audition!" Vicente's words were full of excitement, "I got the news that you are the candidate he personally invited to audition!" Keanu. Here's your chance! Duke? Rosenberg's new work is a summer sci-fi film, as long as you can get the leading actor. Everyone will be crazy about you again next summer! ”

What if the king of the summer file can't save Keanu? Reeves, so who else can save Keanu? Reeves? Although Vicente was thinking so, he didn't say it, he knew Keanu? Reeves certainly understands this.

For Hacker Studios, there is no need to worry about the candidates for actor auditions, not only Hugo invited by Duke? Vivian and Keanu? Reeves and others successively agreed to participate in the audition. Even Will? Smith, Leonardo? DiCaprio, Ivan? Brokers such as McGregor and many other well-known potential stars have come to the door to operate roles for their clients.

Even, even filming Tom in "Mission"? Cruise called and asked if there was a chance for the two sides to work together again.

"Tom, if you're willing to get paid in Chicago. I'll definitely choose you, and you don't need to audition! ”

Duke's answer was entirely sincere, if Tom? Can Cruise play Neo for $5 million, what Keanu? Reeves, definitely not out of the picture, will he raise his hands to welcome Tom? Cruise.

It's a pity that Liang Tang can take a salary cut for the Oscars to star in "Chicago", but he will not take a salary cut to star in commercial movies.

The first round of auditions will be conducted by casting director Gray and assistant director Zack? Schneider is in charge, Duke won't be involved, and if the people he invites can't even pass the first round of auditions, they're doomed to be eliminated.

In addition to the auditions and normal preparations, Duke had an equally important job to do, using the script and concept art to show the various manufacturers the various possible scenarios where the merchandise might appear in the film in order to entice them to invest in the advertisement.

Product placement is an essential factor in commercial films, and Duke is certainly not stupid enough to refuse, as long as the way and method of product placement coincides with the movie scene, it is not a big deal.

The content of the product placement is mainly from trench coats, sunglasses, mobile phones, computers, televisions, cars, beverages, and courier companies.

Although everyone knows that product placement must have cost a lot of money in such a big-budget commercial film, it attracted dozens of vendors to Los Angeles to negotiate business with hacker studios.

Perhaps Nokia's representative said the most representative of the word, "Nokia can join the negotiations just because this is Duke?" A film directed by Rosenberg! ”

After Duke showed these manufacturers the concept and idea of the film, the business development team of the hacker studio immediately began negotiations with them, and after more than a week of bargaining, more than a dozen manufacturers signed an agreement with the crew to place ads, and the crew can receive extremely terrifying advertising sponsorship fees in the future.

$1 million for Ray-Ban Glasses, $3 million for Coca-Cola, $3 million for Dell Computers, $4 million for Nokia phones, $4 million for Panasonic TV, $4 million for Cadillac, $1 million for FedEx......

The film has not yet started filming, and the production cost of up to $80 million has already recovered $20 million!

And that's just the base sponsorship, according to the terms of the sponsorship agreement signed by both parties, if the film grosses more than $500 million worldwide. Advertising costs for all manufacturers will increase by another 10 percent.

500 million US dollars, if calculated according to the ticket price in North America, the most conservative will be 100 million people to watch the movie, and these manufacturers who often advertise in movies know very well that the film is not only shown in theaters, but will also be used in various ways such as TV, video, and disc. Reach out to more families around the world.

In short, in business, there is no fool who only knows how to pay without expecting anything in return.

Before it was released, finalizing a $20 million advertising sponsorship would undoubtedly ease the pressure on Duke and the entire crew.

On the other hand, the crew's preparations in Los Angeles are gradually coming to an end, and after the actors' auditions, they can go to Australia to join the action director team who have passed directly from Hong Kong. Then begins a more lengthy preparation, and Duke reminds Tina? The auditioning actors invited by the Philippines all passed the first round of auditions.

The second round of auditions, which begins, is different from standard Hollywood-style auditions, has no character scripts, no lines, and doesn't even require actors to play their acting skills.

can pass the first round of auditions, and there is definitely no problem with basic acting skills.

"Mr. Smith. Imagine the cool scene. ”

Sitting behind the monitor, Duke personally spoke to Will, who was auditioning? Smith said. "And act out your imagination."

Will? Smith stood in front of the camera, with a black trench coat, black sunglasses and black skin, he was simply cool, and if he only talked about his appearance, he was indeed a very suitable candidate for Neo.

However, this guy probably played too much comedy. When the performance is cool, like most black people, the disdainful performance is combined with exaggerated body movements......

Neo really doesn't need acting skills, but he needs acting style, Will? Smith's overly outstretched acting style was clearly inappropriate. The savior doesn't just need to be cool, it also needs to look deep enough, that is, to be able to pretend, to be deep and cool.

It is undeniable that there are a lot of philosophical things expounded in "The Matrix", and the world of creating zào is attractive enough, but whether it is the lines, or the costume, or the kung fu, or even the style of the whole film, they are all explaining the meaning of the word cool, and the film can be a great success, and it is extremely important to be extremely cool.

Will? Smith soon left the audition room, Zach? Schneider and Robin? Grande and the others had already studied the script and the characters, and before Duke could say anything, they shook their heads first.

"It's not in line with Neo's setting."

"A hip-hop savior doesn't fit into our films."

Duke nodded to the two of them, and then made a gesture to the casting director Gray, and he directly notified the assistant outside the door, and soon Keanu? Reeves walked into the audition room.

Black trench coat, black sunglasses, black leather boots, plus a black split head, plus Keanu? Reeves himself was not a man of many words, and he stood there as deep as a stick of some sect in the Los Angeles area.

This scene is simply Neo's rebirth.

Duke didn't bother to let him do anything more, and asked directly, "Keanu, I heard that you have some Chinese ancestry." Don't worry, I don't mean anything else, I just want to ask if you know kung fu. ”

"Of course."

Keanu? Reeves pointed to his sunglasses, saw Duke nod, and took them off, "Although I can't, I've seen people play with it, it's fancy." ”

"If you audition, you'll need to take at least three months of kung fu training!" Duke flipped through his profile and said, "And in Sydney, Australia, it's essential." ”

A slight frown, Keanu? Reeves hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "None of this is a problem for me. ”

"That's good." Duke nodded at him, "If a decision is made, we will notify your agent as soon as possible." ”

With Keanu? Reeves's negotiations will definitely drag on a little longer, and the worse the follow-up box office trend of "Life and Death 2", the more capital the hacker studio will have to lower his salary.

Then, it's time for the heroine's audition. (To be continued......)

ps: I have to help people work on weekends, I don't know what the situation is, I will try my best to keep three shifts a day~~ Ask for support! R1292