With director Danny Boyle in place, the project officially entered the preparatory stage, and Warner Bros. passed the routine process and was given the green light to continue to participate in the investment and serve as the distributor of the film.

The Neverending studio was quickly established, with investments coming primarily from Sophia and Vincent's Beast House Entertainment, Gray Films, Pacific Pictures, and Davis Film Studios.

The cost of disclosure is $36 million.

Then came the third weekend of November, "Wanted" lost the top spot at the North American box office, and it was the new Harry Potter that stole the first place.

Martin also attended the premiere of the film and also took a photo with JK Rowling, who has not yet been expelled from Kazakhstan.

As for the famous three white-eyed wolves, they are still little children now.

This weekend, the wanted collected another $14.55 million in North America, and the total North American box office reached $141 million.

Overseas has also appeared in more countries and regions, and the global box office has exceeded 250 million US dollars.

With this strong commercial momentum, Thomas represented Martin in multiple rounds of negotiations with the never-ending crew to finalize Martin's salary.

Martin's salary is divided into two parts, and the crew pays $5 million upfront.

Celebrities maintain a high quality of life, and the expenses are quite high.

And Martin also needs a certain amount of money to continue to buy Apple's fractional shares in the market.

In this regard, he intends to hold shares for the long term.

The remaining $3 million, plus Martin's upfront investment in "Never-Ending," counts as a total investment of $6 million from Davis Studios, which is included in the production costs of "Never-Ending" and enjoys the right to actual investment returns.

In Davis's office, Martin pored over the proposed contract, even the terms of the insurance and the riders.

The latter is mainly the various services provided by the crew to Martin during the filming, such as Bruce must serve as the prop master of the crew, go to shoot outside of California, need a five-star luxury suite and business class air tickets, the type and level of the car, and so on.

This time, a clause was added that the crew would need to cover the cost of two bodyguards.

Martin looked through the contract and asked Thomas, "I thought I could get paid $10 million." ”

Thomas knew that Martin would have such doubts, and he was prepared, explaining: "If the wanted warrant is a movie that the male protagonist carries alone, this time I can help you get a $10 million salary, but it's not." ”

Martin asked, "Because I and Jolie are the two of us holding up this film?" ”

Thomas nodded: "Yes, the wanted warrant is your and Julie's movie, and the appeal of the heroine is also the key, the two of you supported this film and shared the dividends of the film, unlike "Eyes Across the Mountain", which is completely yours alone." ”

He simply gave an example: "When Will Smith filmed "Independence Day", he was paid $5 million, and despite the success of the film, he then starred in "Men in Black", and the salary was still $5 million, because the biggest selling point of Independence Day was special effects, or group scenes, and the scenes were heavily shared. ”

Martin nodded, this was normal.

Thomas added: "'Men in Black' was also a huge success, but Smith's next contract only went up by $2 million, because Tommy Lee Jones was also a key actor in Men in Black. ”

Martin knew more about Will Smith and asked, "So, "Enemy of the Nation" is the key to Smith's skyrocketing salary? ”

"The previous film was also important, allowing Will Smith to complete the initial accumulation." Thomas said: ""The Enemy of the Nation" really made Will Smith's salary exceed 10 million, this film is far lower than Independence Day and Men in Black at the box office, but Smith is a film that Smith carried alone, and the other Johnny Walter and Gene Hackman and others completely helped Smith. ”

Martin understands that monoclonal antibodies and dual protagonists have completely different meanings.

No one can ignore Julie's important role in the success of Wanted.

Thomas added: "If the North American box office of "Neverending" exceeds 100 million again, wait until the next commercial film, I can ask you for a minimum salary of $12 million or more, and even involve post-production." ”

This involves more complex calculations, such as the agreement between the lead actor and the filmmaker, the film's net profit sharing, and the break-even share.

The latter is a contract between the two parties, for example, after a film's North American box office reaches 200 million US dollars, the subsequent box office or profits generated, the leading actor enjoys the right to share.

There's so much to play with.

Fortunately, according to Martin's development model, he will definitely participate in the film project he starred in as one of the producers in the future.

The script of "Neverending" is still being adapted, and the main roles are basically determined, Martin plays Eddie is naturally the absolute protagonist, and the second role in the scene is the heroine.

In addition, there is also an old actor to play the Wall Street boss.

Martin called Nicholson, compared to Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, who were known as the four major actors at the same time, the old bastard was more rigorous in his film selection, and he didn't want to make a reputation for actors who had been operating for decades for millions of dollars.

Ordinary role actors just announce recruitment, and the most important thing in Los Angeles is actors.

As for the heroines, including Louise and Boyle, they tend to choose female stars who have become famous.

The biggest advantage is that female celebrities are easy to hype up topics and promote marketing.

There's no comparison between newcomers.

The male protagonist played by Martin is older than his actual age.

If you are a heroine, your thirties are the most suitable.

The character setting was basically confirmed, and the recruitment announcements related to the crew were sent to the internal platforms of the Screen Actors Guild and WMA.

…………

Century City, the recently completed Death Star Tower.

Aniston's agent, Steve, was busy in his private office when he suddenly received a call from a friend at WMA who wanted to make the switch to CAA.

"Man, didn't you put me on the lookout for Martin Davis and his new project?" The person over there said quickly: "The company's internal platform has just issued an announcement that Martin's new project "Neverending" is recruiting actors, including the heroine, and the requirements must be famous actresses. ”

Steve took it to mind and said, "Thank you for the call, I'll treat you to coffee when you have time." ”

Hanging up the phone, he thought about it a little, dialed Aniston's number, and went through the relevant situation carefully.

In a small cottage in the Coty neighborhood, Aniston spoke into the phone, "I see, wait until I think about it." ”

Buttoning down the phone, Aniston's eyes fell on the coffee table in front of her, on which was a newspaper - "American Rumors", a typical gossip newspaper.

Normally, Aniston doesn't care about the above reports.

But today is different.

Right on the front page, she stands opposite Julie's image, and the two are directly titled.

"Angelina Jolie has defeated Jennifer Aniston again!"

Earlier in the article, the two films in which the two were the heroines, "Wanted" and "Deviant Pursuit", were compared.

The numbers are staggering: $141 million and $21.81 million.

The former belongs to Julie, and the latter belongs to her.

Comparisons outside the box office are even more excessive.

"In May, in the marriage battle, Aniston lost to Julie. Now, in the box office battle of the movie starring the two, Aniston still loses a mess! ”

"Can we draw the conclusion that Aniston is far inferior to Jolie in terms of personal charm, acting skills and charisma?"

Aniston has a strong capital and doesn't care much about momentary gains and losses, but she is often pulled out to compare with Julie, and she is extremely annoyed.

Even if Julie steals the limelight, she robs her husband and sells it, and Aniston can't bear it anymore.

What kind of means should be used to fight back?

Aniston had conceived before, so it was not difficult to make a decision, she just sat silent for a few minutes, and then called her agent back: "Steve, you submit my information to the crew of "Neverending" and tell them that I am interested in playing the heroine in it. “

Steve reminded in advance: "The salary may not be high, after all, your latest movie did not do very well at the box office." ”

Aniston, of course, doesn't do such a stupid job as working for nothing: "No less than $5 million is enough." ”

"I'm going to Warner Studios right now, I'm going to Pacific Pictures to meet Louise Mayer," Steve said. ”

Aniston said directly: "Get this role done as soon as possible." ”

Steve hung up the phone and immediately left the CAA and went to Burbank to hand over Aniston's profile to the Never-Ending crew and meet producer Louise Meyer.

…………

Weinstein Pictures, Los Angeles.

Brad Pitt, a new member of the Foot Gang, was specifically invited by Harvey Weinstein to meet.

"I'm ready to push a project." Harvey actually takes good care of the actors who lean on him, so he also has a large number of supporters in the circle: "The film is a biographical plot type, and the actor is very suitable for you." ”

As soon as Brad Pitt heard it, he thought of the Oscars, who have been the biggest Oscar promoters in the last decade.

He is still not dead set on Oscar, asking, "Whose biography exactly?" ”

Harvey took a large fairy tale book and handed it to Pete: "Have you seen it?" About it. ”

Pete found the book in his hand called "Peter Rabbit" and asked, "A biopic about Miss Potter?" She's a woman. ”

When Harvey got the project, he had some ideas, especially the hype of Martin and Jolie before the wanted release, which led to a bold idea.

"I said, you play the leading role." Harvey said.

Pete immediately asked, "Heroine, who are you going to find?" ”

Harvey uttered an unexpectedly name: "How's Jennifer Aniston?" She stars Miss Potter, you star as the male lead, and you co-star in the same movie. ”

In this case, public opinion will definitely explode!

Pete thought for a while: "I have no opinion, can you please Jen?" ”

Harvey thought the plan was a good idea: "You have to try. He looked at Pete, "You can also help persuade him." ”

After being kicked by Julie, Pete realized that Aniston was good, and nodded in response: "I'll try it." ”

(End of chapter)