Burbank, Warner Studios.

On the first day of February, Studio 1 was temporarily transformed into a press center, with huge posters of famous characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Joker hanging at the door.

Most of them used makeup shots of the actors.

For example, Superman is the Henry Cavill in Martin's previous life memory, Batman still uses Christian Bale's appearance in The Dark Knight, and the Joker is naturally Martin himself.

Then there's Wonder Woman, the poster of Wonder Woman who has given up the traditional star-striped outfit and replaced it with an ancient Greek-style armor, and the actor is the Jewish actress Gal Gadot, who has just finished a makeup shoot.

In addition to Christian Bale's absence, the cast and directors involved in the DC film project, including Martin and Nolan, appeared at the joint press conference hosted by DC and Warner Pictures.

Martin, dressed in formal attire, entered the lounge through the side door of the studio, and the crew of "Man of Steel", which had been set up and prepared, came three people, namely director Zack Snyder, actor Henry Cavill and actress Amy Adams.

Martin met Zack Schneider at a party at Nolan's house, and the other party took the initiative to come over to say hello, immediately shook hands with him, exchanged a few words, and met the two heroes and heroines under the introduction of Zack Schneider.

The rest door opened, and Gal Gadot, who was wearing a long trench coat outside, opened the door and came in, and after greeting Zack Schneider and the three, he found Martin again.

She is very tall and much stronger than in "Fast and Furious", and she has gained muscle significantly in order to play Wonder Woman.

"We met at Vin Diesel's funeral." Gal Gadot reminded Martin: "I was standing two people away from you that time, but it's not good to greet you on that occasion." ”

Martin recalled: "I remember, there were directors Emma and Nolan between us. ”

Hearing Christopher Nolan's name, Gal Gadot automatically changed the subject and asked, "I wonder if Wonder Woman will appear in the Joker's independent movie." ”

"The two are not in the same world," Martin said. ”

Gal Gadot said: "These parallel universes are too easy to confuse people. ”

Martin nodded casually: "I haven't studied much of the comics, in fact, except for Superman, Batman and Joker, I'm not very familiar with other characters." ”

Mr. and Mrs. Nolan and several other actors entered the lounge at this time.

Martin suddenly noticed that Gal Gadot had greeted everyone, except Mr. and Mrs. Nolan.

Soon, he sat down with Nolan and asked, "Are you still being pulled?" ”

Nolan nodded: "I will be the producer of "Man of Steel", control the first part of the series, and I will completely let go later." ”

Martin turned his gaze to Gal Gadot and asked, "Wonder Woman actors are all chosen, DC is ready to go steadily, one by one?" ”

Nolan glanced at Gal Gadot's Jewish face and whispered, "That woman was not chosen by me, Zach recommended it to me, and I vetoed it, but DC enabled her, considering that the Joker project needs DC's green light, I didn't say anything." ”

He added: "The woman was not only a Jew, but also an Israeli, and was persuaded to serve. ”

Martin immediately remembered the things about filming in Morocco and said, "No way, there are too many of them in this circle." ”

This is not to say these places, he took the initiative to change the subject: "What are DC's plans now?" ”

"I agree with Zach and follow the path that Marvel has taken, making independent films of several giants of the Justice League first." Nolan put aside the feud with the Jews first: "But Hamada, the co-chairman of DC, and the top of Warner Bros. disagreed, believing that it was too slow to catch up with the old rivals. ”

Speaking of this, Nolan only felt tired: "They feel that if they don't speed up, the superhero movie market, which was originally dominated by DC, will be completely occupied by Marvel, and they must speed up." ”

Martin thought of those movies from his previous life, and then looked at Zack Snyder.

It is true that the ability to guide is limited, and it is not necessary to tell a story at all, but the existence of the Warner Heavenly Group is simply invincible.

Nolan's words continued: "Warner Bros. executives have reached an agreement with DC, and it is useless for me and Daniel to oppose it, after "Man of Steel", Superman and Batman will appear in the same movie, and then go directly to the Justice League, taking a completely different path from "The Avengers", the Justice League Big Six will fight in groups first, and then make independent films. ”

discussed privately with Nolan, and Martin didn't have to hide it: "Warner Bros. management is too anxious, the mistakes made during "Green Lantern", haven't they learned any lessons?" ”

Nolan said: "Hamada and Kevin Tsujihara believe that compared to those second- and third-tier comic book characters in the Avengers, the Justice Six, led by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, have huge popularity in the United States, and there are countless fans who will pay for it without a personal movie." ”

Martin still said: "Comic fans alone can't support a commercial blockbuster of this size." ”

Nolan agreed: "But Warner's top brass thinks it can. He shook his head: "When this Man of Steel ends, I'll be completely out of the DC series." ”

Martin said: "Break away from DC's Justice League universe plan, don't forget "Joker", you still have to be a producer, if you can, you are best to direct." ”

Nolan said: "The producer is fine, the directing depends on the situation. ”

The D.C. staff entered the break room and invited the crowd to the press room to take a seat on the podium.

Martin and Nolan sat together, silent most of the time.

Because DC and Warner Bros. focused on the Justice League Universe project, "Joker" was put aside and not particularly taken seriously.

Hamada, who hosted the press conference, always talked about the Big Six of the Justice League.

On the press room side, there is the second floor, which was originally used for overhead shots, and Kevin Tsujihara and Charles Rowan are standing in front of the shooting window of a room, watching the press conference take place.

Charles Rowan is Warner's oldest producer and doesn't belong to any faction of Warner Bros. management, and he asked softly, "Are we a little marginalized by 'Joker'?" Martin's version of the Joker is almost a god among fans, and the popularity is very high. ”

Kevin Tsujihara shook his head: "Nolan's "Batman" trilogy has come to an end, there will be no fourth, no matter how popular the Joker is, he is also a villain, without Batman, his attention will decline, how can the villain's movie become a film alone with the Justice League Universe plan that we are about to promote?" ”

He said unhurriedly: "Once the Justice League is successful, there will be ten or even more movies in the series, how much box office can these reap, and how much peripheral profit will they generate?" ”

"It's true that a single clown can't compare to the Justice Six." Charles Rowan also thinks Kevin Tsujihara has a point.

As long as the Justice League is successful, Nolan's Batman trilogy will not be able to compare together.

Kevin Tsujihara added: "If it weren't for the relationship with Nolan, the Joker also has a certain profit prospect, and Warner Bros. would not have advanced another parallel universe Joker independent film." ”

In Charles Rowan's understanding, this means something else.

Warner's top brass wants both the Justice League universe and the Joker's low-hanging fruit.

Martin's version of the Joker, the popularity is clearly visible, and as long as the independent film is not too bad, the box office will definitely not be low.

At the end of the press conference, the topic finally came to the clown.

Hamada announced: "Martin's role as the Joker, which has caused a strong reaction, countless fans have petitioned on the Internet to make an independent film about the Joker, Warner and DC have decided to launch the independent film "Joker" project after careful consideration, and the Joker will still be played by Martin, and directed by Nolan and Martin as the project producer." ”

He stretched out his hand and gestured to Martin and Nolan, "You can ask questions." ”

A reporter from Entertainment Weekly asked, "Is this clown independent film a successor to The Dark Knight?" Or is it the same universe as the Justice League? ”

Nolan glanced at Martin, who was the initiator of the project, and said, "This 'Joker' is independent of the Justice League universe and is set in the world of The Dark Knight. ”

The Hollywood Reporter then asked, "Is it the story after The Dark Knight?" ”

Martin tried to put it as simply as possible: "The Joker doesn't appear out of nowhere, he's a person, and this independent film will tell the story of why a person becomes a clown and becomes an agent of chaos." ”

Subsequently, more reporters asked questions one after another, and Martin also answered as much as he could.

Of course, there are some questions that cannot be answered, after all, the project is only confirmed, and there is a basic idea, and there is not even a script.

In Nolan's words, this "Joker" can start filming within a year and a half, which is considered fast.

After the press conference, D.C. and Warner held a reception dinner at the Burbank Hotel, where Martin and Nolan also went to make an appearance and have a brief exchange with Charles Rowan.

As for Kevin Tsujihara, he nodded with Martin.

For the sake of Warner's performance, he can tolerate the promising "Joker" project, but he doesn't want to have more intersection with Martin.

Kevin Tsujihara's sister, the wife of former Warner Pictures president Jon Berg, complained a lot about accusing Martin.

The personal relationship between the two parties has long since broken down.

In the afternoon of the same day, the news of the establishment of the "Joker" project spread on the Internet, attracting the attention of many clowns.

"God forbid, the clown indie movie is finally here."

"In the past few years, Martin and Warner Bros. have had a complicated relationship, and I thought it would become a lifetime series, but I didn't expect it to be successfully established!"

"'Joker' will definitely become the benchmark for anti-hero films!"

Not only fans, but also countless passers-by and viewers are also paying attention to this film, "The Dark Knight" and last year's clown gods have brought too much impact.

(End of chapter)