When the major Hollywood studios were fighting for life and death in the summer season, Roland Allen had actually left the United States with his daughter-in-law and children to live a sunrise and daily life on a farm in Ontario, Canada.

Cattle and sheep are fed in the morning, fishing by the lake in the afternoon, and food is studied and eaten in the evening.

The life of a rich person is often so unpretentious and boring.

Of course, this doesn't mean that they are far away from the mortal valley to cultivate immortals, normal communication with the outside world, there are still there.

For example, now, while Roland Allen is holding a food tutorial in front of the kitchen to study how to make French onion beef short rib soup, Kate Winslet is also clubbing in front of Apple's Titanium PowerBook G4, reading an email from Evelyn Watson, the president of Warcraft Films, and relaying the content of the other party's report to her husband.

Evelyn Watson said that because of the collision with "Mean Girls", the box office of "Operation Swordfish" did not meet expectations, and the first weekend of 12 million did not match the investment of 100 million at all.

"Well, it's normal, John Travolta can't afford the box office at all, and his highlight moments are "Vulgar", "Broken Arrow", "Changing Face", and other works, so be it......" Roland replied without raising his head.

He had seen the movie "Operation Swordfish" before, but he had long forgotten the content of it.

However, the scene of Halle Berry dedicating herself to art with her mouth is still fresh in his memory.

Evelyn Watson also said that the box office of the movie of the same name adapted from the hit game "Tomb Raider" also did not meet expectations, Angelina Jolie failed to carry the box office, and the investment of 15 million was only 47 million in the first weekend, according to the current rhythm, even if the global box office is counted, the film is likely to not be able to return to its original cost.

"Oh, that's normal, too." Roland still didn't look up, and while cleaning up the two-pound bone-in beef short ribs according to the recipe, he continued: "She is not Julia Roberts, she has never proven herself at the box office, and at the same time, Laura Crawford is not a classic American character, in the case of average IP quality and stars are not top-notch, it would be a surprise if this movie was a big hit." ”

"Tomb Raider" Roland has also seen it before, pure monster fighting upgrades, without a trace of highlights.

The action scenes are average, and the special effects pull the crotch, which can burn more than 100 million in this case, that is really being cheated by the visual effects company.

But it can't be helped, who let George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic offer two sets to the outside world?

Own people, cost price.

"Jurassic Park 2" is only in the early 70 million.

Outsiders, slaughter price.

"Men in Black", which was the same year as "Jurassic Park 2", the production cost ran to 90 million.

As for Angelina Jolie?

The guy who thinks she can afford the box office is really a talent!

Before the release of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", she made more than a dozen films, and none of them did not hit the streets.

To put it mildly, if there is no good father, any Bai Ding with her report card can be hammered to death by capital.

It's a loss!

Her husband's muttering also made Kate glance up at the other party, and after realizing that Roland was really just casually speaking, she continued:

"Maybe it's because there are so many blockbusters this summer, and in the whole of June, it seems that only the movie "Fast and Furious" has achieved great results, and even Steven's "Artificial Intelligence" has lost money."

As soon as these words came out, Roland suddenly gave the opposite opinion.

"No, no, no, that's because since the birth of movies, people have always pursued visual pleasure, rather than a single individual, Steven makes cool films, which will naturally be loved by the public, and when he begins to pursue deep, he who is separated from the mass base will naturally be abandoned by the masses."

Roland will not praise him because of his friendly relationship with the old man, and the reason why "Artificial Intelligence" has a commercial crotch pull is because the movie is made faulty.

As a science fiction film with an investment of 100 million, the core of the whole movie is actually a reflection on human nature generated by the development of artificial intelligence technology.

To put it mildly, before the advent of the mobile Internet era, people's impression of the machine is stuck in the rigid mechanical computing, in the vast majority of the people do not understand the learning ability of the machine at all, only think that artificial intelligence is the tool of the terminator to act in order, the old man said that no matter how much human nature, it is all in vain.

Discuss with the public the personality generated by the machine after deep learning?

Exploring the emotional entanglements after the birth of personality with the public?

In the case that the public perception cannot keep up with the development of technology, all the depth created by the old man is playing the piano to the cow!

Maybe many years later, people will think that "Artificial Intelligence" is an excellent movie, because the old man stood in the past and predicted the future, but in the present, the simple "Fast and Furious" is what people like the most!

Because it—

Cool!

In fact, similar reports have been around since Evelyn Watson took office, summarizing information in the industry every month, pointing out existing problems and opportunities for the boss who controls the overall situation.

It's just that in the past, Roland himself spent ten minutes flipping through it.

After getting married, in order not to make his wife, who has nothing to do, feel that every day is so empty, and think that living is a waste of life, Roland turned the small things of reading the report into a reading work, and asked her to tell herself one by one.

After all, let the wife know that her husband is always paying attention to the trend of assets and has not been deceived by those professional managers, so as to have a sense of security, which is what a qualified husband should do.

And after Roland finished talking about his evaluation of "Artificial Intelligence" and "Fast and Furious", he felt that the time was about the same, and he began to invite the other party to cook dinner with him, however, as soon as the words came out, he was rejected by Kate, "You wait." ”

"What?" Roland was a little strange.

"I haven't finished reading the email." Kate said, pointing to the screen.

“What？” Hearing this, Roland instinctively frowned.

The words of doubt also blurted out, "Aren't these movies in June?" Did she add something? ”

"That's right, she added something." Kate nodded, and while giving an affirmative answer, she also said the notes that were not in the ordinary email, "She said that with the success of "Spider-Man" and "X-Men", Hollywood's major studios have gradually set their sights on the emerging film field of comics, but in the case of Marvel being controlled by us and DC being owned by Warner, the avenues they can choose have become quite limited.

As a result, those second-tier comics on the market have become the object of their competition, and judging from the information she has collected so far, in the next one to two years, there will be at least three movies related to manga on the market.

the first one, called "Hellboy"; the second part is called "Strange Soldiers from the Sky"; The third part, although it is not based on the comics, is closely related to the production team and the comic team, and its name is "Tales of the Night". ”

That's right!

While Roland Allen is making a lot of money, other Hollywood capitals are not sitting still!

Let Roland Allen have this cake to himself?

How can it be!

Chasing profits, that's the nature of capital!

Although the two mountains of American comics are both famous and have flowers, they can also shoot popular characters in second-tier comics!

As long as you control your investment and don't be extravagant and wasteful like Marvel and DC, then it's not a big problem to follow the trend and make money!

So......

The superhero Hellboy under Dark Horse Comics, the group Extraordinary Gentlemen League under the best comic book in the United States, and the story of vampires and werewolves created by the original Men in Black production team have entered the attention of various film companies.

Of course, there are some differences between the situation here and Roland's previous life.

In Roland's previous life, Hellboy was produced by Revolution Film Studios, who later sold the distribution rights to Sony; "Tales of the Night" was co-financed by a bunch of independent film studios, and then invited Makubao Film Company to distribute their own films; Only "Falling from the Sky" was invested by Fox from the beginning.

This situation that is not favored by large companies is actually related to the market environment.

Because at that time, DC's "Superman" and "Batman" were both dead, and although Marvel's "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" rekindled hope in the comic market, the ensuing "Super Daredevil Man" and "Hulk" also made cautious capital see the risks.

Therefore, stopping and watching became the only choice for those capitals at that time.

But now—

"Spider-Man" is a lot of money!

"X-Men" is even more popular with the new generation of actors!

In the situation where the momentum of manga reform is good, if capital is still hesitant, then it is not called capital!

As a result, while those film companies are fighting for the market share of the summer file, they are also laying out the future and throwing an olive branch to the emerging manga superhero project.

"Hellboy" was taken directly by Sony!

It is expected that the production team can be formed by the end of the year to start casting, and it will be filmed within a year at the earliest!

"Fallen from the Sky" was taken into Fox's arms!

A budget of 100 million yuan to start filming within a year is their current goal!

"Tales of the Night" threw itself into the arms of Papa Paramount!

As long as you can get the script within half a year, then everything is easy to say!

Of course, the reason why Sony, Fox and Paramount were able to talk about the project so quickly is actually related to the fact that Warner, Universal and Disney do not fight or scramble, Warner already has DC, Universal is holding a mutant, and Disney -

'Roland Allen is my dad! ’

In the case that they have signed a film outsourcing production agreement with Roland Allen, they put a good Marvel aside, and have to embrace second-tier companies, isn't that just picking sesame seeds and losing watermelons?

But when Roland finished listening to his wife's narration, he wiped his hands with his apron with a look of surprise, stretched his neck as long as a goose, and leaned in front of the screen to scan the words on it, and the affirmative description made the corners of his mouth twitch.

"These guys are really ......"

Halfway through the words, he came to an abrupt end.

Because Roland can't think of the right adjectives to describe the brains of these capitals.

However, while Roland wanted to speak, Kate smiled and said what was in her husband's heart, "What, do you think Sony, Fox, and Paramount are stupid?" Not optimistic about their decision? ”

As soon as these words came out, Roland stopped pretending, nodded in agreement, and said, "That's pretty much it......"

"Why do you say that?" Kate asked curiously.

"Because...... It's unlikely they'll succeed......" Roland shrugged as he propped his hands on the edge of the table.

Be reasonable!

Comic movies are not so easy to make!

The success of a manga movie must have at least three elements.

The first is transmissibility.

Based on physical works, they have their own popularity at the beginning of their creation.

These things, in fact, are the help of publicity.

When the news of the super popular manga being adapted into a movie is released, it will be more topical than other works.

And on this basis, publicity can make the whole movie better promoted to the public.

To take the simplest example –

When the studios mention 'Wonder Woman' to the public, the name 'Diana' pops up in the minds of the vast majority of guys, but when the studios mention the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" to the public, in addition to the core comic book fans, who knows that this is a homo work mixed by "Solomon's Treasure", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "Doctor Avatar", "Vampire Dracula", "The Invisible Man", and "The Portrait of Dowling Gray"?

Propagation is one of the foundations of the success of manga!

Without it, the filmmaker would have to take the time to explain what our role means!

If the filmmakers need to work on this kind of thing, then ......

It's better to open an original innovation pit!

Second, it's actually fit.

Because comics and words are different, they give the reader a clear image from the beginning, in this case, if the studio chooses an actor who fits the role, then it will make the communication tool more handy, but if the actor selected is not accepted by the public, then it will be like George Clooney's version of "Batman", and it will be spurned.

And after these two points are solved, the most important third point also appears.

That's the opponent.

The personal charm of superheroes is actually shaped by defeating one opponent after another, and in this case, how to choose a villain has become something that studios must carefully consider.

Choosing a villain with low recognition is equivalent to shooting an original for the public, but if the villain with high recognition is killed at the beginning, then the sequel will be even more difficult to film, so how to choose has become the biggest problem.

It is precisely because of the existence of the three elements that in Roland's previous life, only DC and Marvel were able to pull the banner of comics.

Because a strong foundation can allow them to make a bunch of routines, and what about the others?

What can Hellboy film?

You know, even the Dark Horse comics never describe its special abilities!

As a protagonist, the ability is unknown?

Who is this Nima for?

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen can't actually be filmed.

A 120-minute movie needs to fit seven characters?

Spread it even, a character hasn't been twenty minutes yet!

In this case, the fans themselves are not happy to watch it, let alone the passers-by who look confused!

Not to mention the legend of the night.

The story of vampires and werewolves has long been told badly, and without jumping out of this box, it is already the top of the sky to make an R-class.

And the R rating, in fact, means detachment from the masses.

But superheroes must not be separated from the public.

As a result—

"I don't think 'Tales of the Night' has as much potential as 'Resident Evil'."

Hearing her husband say this, Kate's face also showed a playful smile.

As she closed the Titanium PowerBook G4, she took a few sips from the glass of water next to her.

"Roland."

"Huh?"

"I think you've been weird lately."

"What's wrong?"

"You don't seem to be interested in any of these film projects anymore?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Aren't the facts right in front of you?" Kate raised her eyebrows and looked at her husband with a smile: "After the release of "Spider-Man 3", you don't care about the projects in the company, if the projects of "X-Men" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" are operated by capable people, you only need to control the overall situation, but what about "Mean Girl"? You don't even go to the premiere of Ashley and Mary's movie.

This......

Isn't that what an older brother should look like? ”

When Kate, who was leaning on the table, leaned forward and stared at Roland with her eyes intended, Roland couldn't help but laugh when she smelled the familiar scent that greeted her.

With his hands around and his waist twisted slightly, Roland also leaned out and looked parallel to him.

"Do you think that after I quit the circle, I lost interest in movies?"

"Isn't it?" Kate reminded, "You've just made your own comments on Operation Swordfish, Tomb Raider, Fast & Furious, and Artificial Intelligence!" And it seems to be ......"

"Disses them in a critical tone?" Before his wife could finish speaking, Roland had already added with a smile.

This situation also made Kate stick out her tongue, "You said it yourself!" I didn't impose it on you! ”

The cute action made Roland turn around and hug the other party from behind.

After rubbing his cheek against the other man's neck twice, Roland continued: "Yes, this is indeed what I said.

Because that's what I really think right now.

In fact, for me, the success of Operation Swordfish, Tomb Raider, Fast & Furious, and Artificial Intelligence doesn't matter at all, and whether Sony, Fox, and Paramount's followers Hellboy, Skyfall, and Tales of the Night are big hits is none of my business, because ......

They will soon be obsolete by the times. ”

When Roland said the most arrogant words at the gentlest speed, Kate, who was hugged by him from behind, suddenly let out a popping sound.

Instead of trying to break free from her husband's arms, she twisted her body to face him, and when Kate held her husband's face and confirmed that the living treasure was not joking, she forced a smile and asked, "Oh, so you think so?" ”

"Yes." Roland nodded.

The corners of Kate's mouth twitched non-stop with her serious appearance, and she was really uncomfortable, "Who gave you the courage?" ”

When Roland finds out that his mother-in-law really doesn't seem to believe in him, he will change the subject and use strong evidence to support everything, "Where are we now?" ”

"Canada!" Kate didn't understand why her husband would ask that.

"I mean, where are we now?"

Roland rolled his eyes, he was very dissatisfied with his daughter-in-law's answer that the tacit understanding was zero.

"Oh, James's farm!" Kate, who understood, immediately said.

"What are we here for?" Roland continued to ask.

"Vacation!" Kate could have answered, but as soon as the words came out, she found that her husband's face had darkened again, so she smiled stupidly and changed her words: "Oh, oh, I see what you mean, we came on vacation at the invitation of James this time." ”

"That's right!" Roland glared at her and continued to guide, "But why did James suddenly invite us on vacation? ”

This question Kate would!

So, she said in a sycophantic tone: "It's not because he has a new project and wants to raise some money from you, a big capitalist!" And that project seems to be a continuation of "Titanic"? The name is called ......

"Ghost of the Abyss"? ”

When Kate finally told the truck driver's new project with great effort, Roland's face also showed a satisfied smile, nodded vigorously, and then said slowly: "That's right, his new project is called "Ghost of the Abyss".

And this ......

It's the future. ”