In May, Charlize Theron was the first to leave the crew after filming the heroine's role, and she will fly directly to South Africa to participate in a series of activities before the opening ceremony of the World Cup.

Subsequently, Martin received an invitation from the World Cup Organizing Committee.

But the timing of the World Cup in South Africa coincided with the promotional release of "Inception", and Martin did not have time to pass.

Pre-screening promotion for "Inception" has begun, but Martin won't be joined up with the crew until filming here is over.

On the first weekend of May, Elizabeth, Lily and Thomas traveled to the Giraldo in Cape Gas.

Inside the hotel, after kissing Elizabeth, Martin turned to look at Lily and said to Bruce, "What about the gift I prepared for Lily?" ”

Bruce scolded Martin for being inappropriate, dragged a small box out, and when he opened it, it was full of orange herring stones.

He bought them all through the Fishing and Hunting Club.

Lily, now well-known and well-informed, asked, "What kind of stone is this I haven't seen before?" ”

Martin said: "Give it to you, take the time to make it all for me to make a heart, and by the way, with a white gold necklace, I will give it to you when the cost is returned." ”

Lily pursed her lips, but didn't refuse, and took out a few and looked at them carefully, thinking about what she could carve into them.

Thomas gave Martin a look.

Elizabeth knew they had something to talk about, and went with Lily to see the stones.

Martin called Thomas into the study.

Thomas said directly: "Gillian Flynn's new work was signed directly with Warner Pictures, and the adaptation rights fell into Warner's hands. ”

Martin nodded slightly: "I know, she found me first, and the part of the work that has not yet been written has not been completed, I feel average, and I didn't give her a clear answer." ”

"I see." Thomas thought that Warner Pictures had robbed it with its financial resources.

"I have no problem with Gillian working with Warners, it's her freedom." There's no way Martin could stop it, after all, Gillian was the first to bring the work to him and let him see it.

Thomas asked, "The news got to Warner Pictures so quickly?" ”

Martin isn't so surprised: "The crew is a lot of talkers, and a lot of people have worked with Warner. He remembered: "The day Gillian came to me, I was in the cafeteria, and it was normal for someone to hear Gillian's words. ”

"I thought Warner was targeting us." Thomas added another thing: "Warner Bros. has completed the acquisition of Castle Rock Pictures, gaining absolute control, and Castle Rock has become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. ”

Martin understood what he meant: "Do you think Warners wanted to put some special pressure on me to sell the studio?" ”

Thomas explained: "Not only that, Warner Bros. officially sent a letter to the WMA that the account sharing period of the two films "Fast Pursuit" and "Benjamin" needs to be extended due to overseas channels and bank settlements. ”

Martin asked, "How long are they going to extend?" ”

"They range from three months to six months." Thomas roughly said: "The account period of each share is different, and the meaning of Warner's side is very clear, all the shares involving Davis's studio will be paid at the end of the account period." ”

He added: "That way, they can squeeze the Davis studio's funding without defaulting." ”

There was already a time frame for Hollywood's account period, with Martin first using Louise's long-term relationship with Warner Bros., and later he had market appeal as a support, and Warner Bros. would mostly pay him and the studio's share in the middle of the period.

Martin asked, "Just for me and Davis Studios?" “

Thomas replied: "No, mainly works that are not part of Warner Bros. subsidiaries. ”

Martin could only sigh: "Warner is no longer the Warner it used to be." ”

"With Hollywood's number one performance for many years in a row, Warner's new management is confident that Hollywood will continue to be Warner Bros. in the next decade," said Thomas. ”

Martin stood up, turned around, and said, "When it comes to our share, it's all tens of millions of dollars, and interest alone is a lot of income. ”

Bruce, who had been silent, remembered his responsibilities as a manager and interjected: "Warner Bros. is not a good fit, let's change publishers." ”

Thomas reminded: "As far as Hollywood is concerned, Warner Bros. is the label with the strongest comprehensive distribution capabilities. “

"There's another one that's catching up," Martin said. ”

Thomas understood what Martin meant: "You mean Walt Disney? ”

"That's right, Disney." Martin said simply: "Disney acquired Pixar, acquired Marvel, I got the exact news from Catherine Kennedy, and their next target is Lucasfilm. ”

Bruce continued: "There's going to be a new Star Wars movie again?" ”

Martin ignored him and continued: "The most important point is that Alan Horn's Disney Pictures not only merged production companies such as Hollywood Studios and Touchstone Pictures, but also integrated Disney's distribution channels. ”

"We're going to work with Warner Bros. next?" After Thomas asked, he quickly said: "Louise's negotiations with Warner Bros. for "Fast and Furious 2" are not going well, Warner has just raised the distribution commission and account period, and will not make concessions. ”

This is also within Martin's expectations, as soon as Warner Bros.'s policies were announced, they made concessions to people, and these policies naturally exist in name only, and even Kevin Tsujihara, the CEO, will lose his majesty.

Martin has largely lost hope in Warner Bros.

But Warner Bros. was expecting him, and Thomas said, "Kevin Tsujihara contacted me and told you to meet him at the Warner Building when you return to Los Angeles. ”

Bruce could tell it wasn't right: "What did he say?" ”

Thomas took out his phone and played the recording directly.

"You tell Martin to come and see me at Warner as soon as he gets back to Los Angeles, understand?"

Although the other party's tone seemed to be treating his subordinates, Martin didn't say anything, and thought about it slightly: "I'll talk about it when I go back to Los Angeles." ”

He turned elsewhere: "Jessica is negotiating with Disney Studios on behalf of the studio, and you will help her when you go back, and Louise will join the negotiations later." ”

Thomas replied, "I'll go back tomorrow." ”

There was a brief silence in the study, and it was clear to all three of them that they were drifting apart from Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.'s high-level changes this time have affected all levels of the industrial chain.

Hollywood, like many business circles, likes to follow the winners, and according to Thomas, even if Warner Bros. raises the distribution commission and extends the share period, most of the original collaborators still choose to work with Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. has been the first in the industry for many years, which is the best persuasion.

The three chatted for a while, and Thomas took the lead in saying goodbye and leaving.

Bruce asked, "You heard that Warner Bros. is going to take the rights to Darkland, why don't you do it?" ”

"If you don't do things now, you can do big things in the future." Martin didn't say much, only mentioned one point: "Warner Bros. sent someone over to negotiate the copyright of the adaptation so quickly, why?" ”

Bruce thought for a moment and said, "Because Gillian talked to you?" No, that's not all. Also, Gillian is now the best-selling author, and Gone Girl is being adapted by you and David Fincher and is likely to become a hit. ”

Martin said: "The more popular 'Gone Girl' is, the greater the value of Gillian's adaptation. ”

Bruce has figured it out: "This is most likely the last film that the studio will release with Warner Bros. “

Martin nodded: "If you can see the potentially huge benefits, Warner Bros. will have enough motivation." “

Gillian Flynn's two works are bundled together.

…………

Burbank, Warner Building.

As soon as he got to work in the morning, MacDonald came to his office and waited for his immediate boss, Jon Berg.

Although he went back to Los Angeles last night, he deliberately stayed up all night.

Thick bags under the eyes, sunken eye sockets, and bloodshot eyes.

Just like this time, in order to achieve the goal, paid a terrible price.

MacDonald knows Jon Berg to some extent, not only to do a good job, but also to show the boss that he is working hard and desperate.

Hearing a knock on Jon Berg's office door, MacDonald hurried over with the manuscript.

"Done?" Jon Berg asked.

MacDonald put the copy manuscript on his desk and said, "It's called 'Dark Lands.' Gillian Flynn is only half-written so far, and I followed your instructions and quietly took the rights to the film adaptation as quickly as possible." ”

Jon Berg took the manuscript and flipped through a few pages, but it didn't really matter to him about Warner: "'Gone Girl' has topped the New York bestseller list for four weeks in a row, and Gillian Flynn is in hot demand, and it's easy for her new book to get attention. ”

"There's also the Martin Davis and David Fincher films," MacDonald said. ”

Jon Berg nodded: "As long as "Gone Girl" is successful, the new work we bought back at a large price and the adaptation will naturally attract market attention." ”

MacDonald said no more.

Jon-Byrne waved his hand, "Go back and rest for two days." ”

Waiting for the subordinates to leave, Jon Berg went upstairs and went to the small conference room for a meeting.

There weren't many people involved in this meeting, except for Kevin Tsujiwara, and the rest were all bigwigs from the core subsidiaries.

DC's Hamada, Warner Pictures' Jon, and Warner Distribution's Daniel.

At the beginning of the meeting, Jon said: "First of all, I have good news for everyone, the film company has obtained the film and television adaptation rights of Gillian Flynn's new work "Dark Places". ”

Daniel didn't know and asked, "Isn't she working with Martin?" ”

Jon said: "Warner Pictures is more sincere than Martin. ”

"Well done." Kevin Tsujiwara nodded at his brother-in-law Jon and asked Daniel, "Is it going well on your side?" ”

"We could lose the rights to the Fast and Furious 2," Daniel said. ”

(End of chapter)