The opening of the North American painting is 42.75 million US dollars, which is not bad at first glance, but compared with the production budget of 200 million US dollars and the publicity and marketing expenses of 100 million+, it is really not ideal.

What's even more terrifying is that the reputation of "Green Lantern" collapsed directly.

The cinemascore, which is the most representative of the audience's reputation, has a live audience score of only B-, a freshness score of 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 5.4 on IMDB.

With such an audience reputation, the film's box office fell by as much as 70% in the second weekend, accumulating $61.78 million at the North American box office in ten days of release.

Even the most optimistic statistical agencies believe that it is very difficult for "Green Lantern" to break 100 million at the North American box office.

The huge amount of money invested by the filmmaker wants to recover the cost, it will take at least ten or twenty years or even longer.

The failure of a single film is not terrible, and the investment of a film project of this scale will not come from just one, and with the size of Warner Bros., the failure of a $200 million project is far from the end of the world.

But the ambitious new management of Warner was hit in the head, and the DC superhero cinematic universe was facing bankruptcy before it even began.

Warner Building, in the large conference room of the head office.

On either side of the long conference table sat one executive after another, including Hamada and Jon Berg, who looked unusually serious and kept their mouths tightly shut.

"What's the problem? In the past month or so, our film business has suffered two fiascos. Kevin Tsujihara stood at the top of the conference table: "The Green Lantern, the last thing to fail, failed. “

He looked at Hamada: "The entire DC Cinematic Universe project is going to be interrupted because of this!" ”

Hamada stood up and bowed the standard ninety degrees: "I'm sorry!" I apologize for this failure! ”

The others all turned their eyes and waited for Hamada to resign voluntarily.

Hamada straightened up and bowed ninety degrees again: "I'm sorry!" ”

The apology was very sincere, but there was no mention of responsibility and resignation.

Kevin Tsujihara looked at Hamada and did not force him to resign, which was his cronies after all.

But it's also impossible for him to abandon the DC Super Hero Cinematic Universe project, which is one of the main business projects he has been pushing since he took over Warner Bros.

Kevin Tsujihara told Hamada: "Abandon the plan to start with 'Green Lantern' and make a new cinematic universe plan as soon as possible, this time we have to make sure that success is left with little time left for us to catch up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe." ”

Hamada vowed that "I will definitely make a new plan as quickly as possible to ensure that we can catch up with Marvel." ”

The failure of "Green Lantern" seems to be a thing of the past, and both Kevin Tsujiwara and Hamada emphasize the key to speed.

Kevin Tsujihara thought for a moment and said, "If you have any thoughts about the DC Cinematic Universe, you can give your opinions. ”

A lot of people are silent, what will be the consequences if the suggestions put forward are taken and the film ends up failing like "Green Lantern"?

From the two commercial fiascos of "Pharaoh and the Gods" and "Green Lantern", it is not difficult for them to see that Kevin Tsujihara is very protective of his cronies, and if they give random opinions, they may be like Christian Bale, who will carry the black cauldron of failure and be expelled by Warner.

Compared with others, Daniel, a legacy of Warner's management, is more reliable.

He thought about it for a while, and then said: "The successive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe project is directly related to Disney's use of Kevin Feige to coordinate production, and I think the DC Universe should also hire a director or producer who has successfully produced superhero movies to coordinate our superhero movie universe." ”

Hamada's face is not very good-looking, doesn't this mean that he is not capable? He was indeed responsible for the failure of "Green Lantern", but he bowed and apologized.

Kevin Tsujihara didn't think about it so much, but instead felt it made sense and asked, "Who do you think is suitable?" ”

"Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas!" Daniel recommends heavyweights: "No one is a better fit for our current collaborators, who know DC superheroes and have directed two hugely successful Batman films, with a third being filmed ......"

As soon as this person was proposed, even Hamada was powerless to refute it.

Daniel added: "If we handed over the DC Cinematic Universe to the Nolans to produce it together, would it be as successful as 'The Dark Knight'? ”

In some ways, Jon Berg has a tacit understanding with Daniel, and he answers: "It's a great suggestion, Nolan has taken superhero movies to heights that have never been seen before. ”

Kevin Tsujihara nodded slowly: "Nolan is indeed very suitable, Hamada, you personally talk to Nolan and ask him what he thinks." ”

The unhappiness in Hamada's heart disappeared, and the immediate boss gave him the job of contacting Nolan, with a very clear meaning, even if Nolan joined the DC Cinematic Universe project, he would work under his leadership.

This ended the meeting, and Kevin Tsujihara then gathered his cronies and went to the small conference room for a small meeting.

Nolan has worked with Warner Bros. for many years, so naturally someone leaked what happened at the meeting just now.

…………

Beverly Hills, Century City.

The Escalade, driven by Bruce, stopped in front of a café.

Martin got out of the car, his feet not fully on the ground, and the flashing lights were on next to him.

Several paparazzi were shooting at him.

Martin was used to this, so he didn't see it, so he went straight into the café, observed for a while, saw where Nolan was, and walked straight over.

Nolan waited until he sat down and asked, "How does the spaceflight feel to be filmed?" ”

Martin told the truth: "It's like a farmer, in addition to shoveling soil, you're fertilizing, watering and planting potatoes. ”

"It's good to have a little more planting experience." Nolan was clearly not joking: "Don't forget, the male protagonist of my next movie is also a farmer." ”

Martin nodded: "Don't worry, I have planted corn." ”

In his previous life, when he planted corn, it was not a mechanized operation, and he needed to dig a pit with a hoe in the middle of the ridge of the wheat field and manually light the corn seeds.

At harvest time, it is also a manual operation, hand-breaking off the sticks, putting them into cement or fertilizer woven bags, and carrying them to the ground.

Which is like later, the combine harvester swept over.

Nolan knew that Martin was a highly professional actor, and asked, "Specifically to experience life?" ”

Martin said half-truthfully: "This drama needs to plant potatoes, and yours needs to plant corn, so let's just do it together." ”

Nolan's creative juice exploded, and a promotional tidbit automatically popped into his mind: Martin Davis returned to Atlanta to work on the farm for two months as a corn farmer, participating in potato and corn planting......

Martin saw Nolan suddenly lose his mind and asked, "Chris?" ”

Nolan came back to his senses, smiled embarrassedly, and changed the subject: "I just received a message and want to hear your opinion." ”

That's the real purpose of his appointment with Martin today: "You and I have both worked with Warner Bros. and have been in the management of Warner Bros. for two generations. ”

Martin asked, "What's the news?" ”

Nolan roughly said: "Warner Bros. canceled the DC Super Hero Cinematic Universe project after the failure of 'Green Lantern' and wanted to ask me to be a producer and make a new related plan for them. ”

Martin understood: "Similar to Kevin Feige to Marvel Studios? ”

"It shouldn't be as powerful as Kevin Feige." Nolan smiled and shook his head: "The person I talked to about this is not Kevin Tsujihara, but Hamada of DC Pictures, that is, I am under the management of Hamada." ”

Martin has always had a good relationship with Nolan, and the other party is also a first-line guide that he finally got along, of course he doesn't want Nolan to do anything DC, which is also not good for him.

Nolan is a commercial director, and he is not averse to superhero movies, and he is somewhat moved by Warner's invitation.

Martin thought about it for a moment and asked, "Chris, I don't know if you have watched "Green Lantern" and what do you think of this film?" ”

Nolan didn't need to beat around the bush in the face of Martin, and said directly: "To call this movie a piece of shit, I think it's all insulting shit." ”

"The producer of 'Green Lantern' is Hamada and the post-production is led by Hamada, and this film shows his level and ability, and if he has a higher priority than you, he wants to meddle in your project......

This is also the main reason why Nolan is tempted, but hesitant.

"I also got the news that Warner Pictures, the second largest shareholder involved in the investment and production of 'Green Lantern,' has six producers each edit a ......movie," Martin elaborated on what Louise said about Jon Berg, the master of micro-manipulation.

Even if Nolan is well-informed, he is dumbfounded at this moment.

The head of Warner Pictures really set a precedent in the industry, and it will inevitably go down in Hollywood history.

Nolan said: "What director or producer can stand such torture? ”

Martin added: "The director of that film, Brian Singh, had a heart attack and was hospitalized. ”

It is not difficult for Nolan to imagine that if he accepted the invitation of Warner Bros., even if they gave a promise or signed a contract, there would be all kinds of chaos in the future, and then the internal friction alone would make him crazy.

It's horrible!

Nolan didn't want to go to the hospital and wanted to live a few more years, saying, "No wonder you're far away from Warner Bros. ”

Martin shrugged: "I don't want to, but these people, I really don't know what to say." ”

Nolan has already made a decision: "I'm going to turn down the invitation of Warner Bros. for a DC superhero movie...... That's the end of The Dark Knight Rise! ”

While the two were talking, Blake Lively came out of his agent's small office in the nearby WMA's office and joined up with his assistant who was waiting here to go upstairs.

The assistant clicked on his phone and handed it to Blake: "You asked me to follow Martin's whereabouts, he is now in a nearby coffee shop, this is the real-time news sent by the paparazzi twenty minutes ago." ”

Blake glanced at it, made sure that the person in the photo was Martin, and rightly so, took out his phone and tried to send a text message first: "Do you have time to talk?" ”

They quickly replied, "Yes." ”

(End of chapter)