"At the time, many people in the industry believed that Westar Pictures was making the craziest gamble in the history of human cinema on Cameron, and my father was ridiculed by these people as the stupidest and most reckless investor in the whole of Hollywood because he made the decision to shoot the film himself."

"At that time, there were almost no media outlets that continued to sing the film down, especially the competitors of the Westar Group, and the newspapers were full of statements such as 'The Titanic sank because humans were too arrogant, and Cameron will follow in his footsteps.'"

Sif saw Jamie walk back into the living room, sat down beside Serena, shrugged and continued:

"During that time, my father and Westar Pictures were really under a lot of pressure, and thankfully we survived."

Jamie feigned curiosity and asked:

"I remember once reading an interesting story in the newspaper about "Titanic" before its release, and I don't know if it's true."

When Sif heard this, she immediately looked interested and asked Jamie what was the matter.

"The report said that before the release of "Titanic", the pressure cost of Westar was too great, and the filmmaker went to the set to investigate, Cameron was worried that Westar would give up the movie, so he proposed to reduce his salary and give up box office dividends, and only asked Weistar to support him to finish the film."

Sif continued:

"And then?"

Both Jamie and Serena were a little surprised.

Judging by Sif's reaction, is this true?

Sif nodded, acknowledging it.

"You can't guess who was sent to the set to investigate."

Jamie blurted out:

"It can't be your brother Kendall, right?"

Now it was Sif who was surprised.

She covered her mouth with her hand and looked at Jamie with a look of disbelief as she guessed the correct answer.

Originally, Sif wanted to ask Jamie how she guessed, but when the words came to her lips, she suddenly changed her mind.

"So you can guess that the investigator is Kendall because of what the report says?"

Jamie shrugged, acknowledging it.

This made Sif even more curious to know what was said later in that report.

At her urging, Jamie had no choice but to tell the truth.

"The reason why the investigator questioned Cameron's willingness to reduce his salary and give up dividends was because Cameron himself had no confidence in the box office of "Titanic", and Cameron was so angry that Cameron asked him to get out on the spot!"

Sif held her forehead in embarrassment.

Although this incident is not as exaggerated as Jamie said, it is indeed the work of her stupid second brother Kendall.

The newspaper did not name names, and it definitely took into account the face of the Roy family.

"Kendall went back and complained to his father, only to be scolded by his father again, and then that night, my father received a call from Cameron, who apologized to my father for not treating Kendall so harshly, after all, he was still just a student who hadn't even graduated from college."

When Sif said this, Jamie and Serena, who were present, knew in their hearts that this was nothing more than Cameron's excuse.

If you haven't graduated from college, aren't you an adult?

The main reason why Cameron can call to apologize in person is because Kendall is the second son of the Roy family.

Fighting a dog depends on the owner, not to mention a rich second generation.

Sif 's voice continued.

"On the phone, Cameron again proposed to my father to reduce his salary and give up part of the box office dividends, but my father refused."

The result is known to everyone.

"Titanic" made Cameron a god, and the box office dividends made him completely financially free.

Cameron said goodbye to Hollywood, and in the years since, he has been seen in the newspapers about him diving somewhere, or exploring somewhere.

In short, it has nothing to do with movies.

There is even speculation that Cameron is ready to retire.

After all, the achievements and box office of "Titanic" are too high, even Cameron himself estimates that it will be difficult to surpass.

It is also human nature to accept it when it is good.

Just now, Serena mentioned it because she was curious about it.

Sif is also very interesting.

"No, no, it's all fake news about Cameron's retirement, in fact, he signed an agreement with Weststar Pictures for priority investment in his next film before filming "Titanic", and if nothing else, his next film will still work with Weststar Films."

Serena immediately asked curiously.

"What is he going to shoot?"

Sif suddenly grimaced.

Serena thought that it was inconvenient to disclose the confidentiality clause of the contract, so she voluntarily gave up the issue.

However, the truth is not what Serena thinks.

Sif told Serena that until now, almost four years have passed since the release of Cameron's last movie, "Titanic", and Cameron still has not given Westar Pictures a clear answer about what he plans to make in his next movie.

Jamie knew the answer, but he certainly wouldn't have announced it in advance.

According to Cameron's memoirs from his previous life, he really hadn't figured out what movie he wanted to make at this time.

"And what has he been doing for the past four years?"

Serena asked.

Sif shrugged.

He plans to raise $30 million to make a space documentary on the International Space Station, for which he has already begun to prepare for various things, including physical training, and of course has to wait for NASA to approve his plan.

Serena had a shocked look on her face.

But Jamie seemed calm, as if he had known about it.

This immediately aroused Sif Shif's curiosity.

Under Sif's questioning, Jamie explained the reason.

"That's normal, isn't it? Cameron has done the ultimate directing, regardless of the Oscar or the box office, at least in the next ten years, there will be no new films to break it, you have no objection to this, right? ”

Sif nodded with Serena.

There are indeed too many factors in the success of "Titanic" that cannot be replicated, which is best known to Weststar Pictures as the producer.

Jamie went on to say:

"For people like Cameron, since there is no higher pursuit, of course, we have to seek some breakthroughs in other aspects, he is tired of deep-sea exploration, I thought his next goal was to climb Mount Everest in person, but I didn't expect him to be more ambitious, and he actually wanted to go to space to play a circle."

At this time, Sif suddenly spoke in surprise.

"Actually, WestarPictures didn't want Cameron to do that at all, even though we knew that he was probably preparing for a new film when he made the documentary."

According to Cameron's plan, he will have to go to space as soon as 2003 to 2004, and it will take at least a year to two years when he returns and makes the documentary.

After that, Cameron will start preparing for a new movie, and God knows how long he plans to take to finish the new movie this time.

Serena immediately asked:

"So Cameron's new film is preparing to shoot a space theme?"

Sif nodded.

Cameron originally had the idea of filming "Titanic" because he watched a documentary about the sinking of the Titanic.

At that time, Cameron told the author of the documentary that he would definitely make this into a movie.

After that, Cameron followed the scientific expedition team to the deep sea of 3,800 meters 11 times to observe the wreckage of the Titanic up close.

The reason why Sif knows this matter so clearly is because the more than $4 million spent on Cameron's expedition was paid by Wester Pictures.

But Cameron didn't even have a script, he just said that he wanted to shoot a story of "Romeo and Juliet on the Titanic", and he got the money from Westa Pictures.

Hearing this, Jamie couldn't help but interrupt curiously:

So what kind of reason did he use to convince Weststar Pictures to sponsor his space trip this time? What about the preferential investment agreement? ”

Sif replied helplessly:

Cameron himself will bear the bulk of the cost of this space documentary, but even so, he hopes to get $10 million in travel sponsorship from Westar.

So this time there is not even a story?

Jamie couldn't help but smack his lips.

In order to go to the sky, the truck driver is preparing empty gloves for the white wolf.

Sif also knew that such a move by Westar was a proper wronged act in the eyes of outsiders, and immediately explained:

"Westar's sponsorship fee is certainly not given to Cameron for nothing, and in order to get this signing, he has promised us that he will be ready to shoot space in the next film."

Jamie nodded.

He knew that Cameron really wasn't lying.

At the same time, Jamie also knew that Cameron's dream of heaven still didn't come to fruition in the end.

The crash of the space shuttle Columbia on the way back to Earth in '03 not only dealt a heavy blow to the American space industry, but also ruined Cameron's space documentary program.

Even Jamie wondered if Cameron's plot of arranging the protagonist to be a "human rape" in "Avatar" was affected by the crash of the space shuttle Columbia.

Because according to later declassified reports, the NASA ground command center knew that there was a high probability that the spacecraft would have an accident before the Columbia spacecraft returned to the atmosphere, but they not only hid it from the astronauts on the spacecraft, but also did not prevent the spacecraft from returning to the plan.

The person in charge later justified that even if the Columbia spacecraft did not return to Earth and remained in space, the final outcome would not change in any way.

In this case, it is better to let the astronauts die without knowing it, which is more or less humanitarian.

Cameron may have been touched by this incident, humans are unreliable, and it is better to be an alien.

Just as Jamie's thoughts drifted away, Sif pulled Jamie's attention back to him with a word.

"Westar Pictures are willing to fund Cameron's space adventures, but we had enough of his grind the last time we filmed Titanic, so we had to speed up the progress of his new film this time."

Jamie joked on the spot:

"What, are you going to get through NASA and send Cameron into space ahead of schedule?"

It would have been a lot of fun if Cameron had been sent directly to the Columbia spacecraft.

Fortunately, Westar Pictures has no plans to do so.

Their plan is to find someone to write a space-related script first to see if they can impress Cameron.

And the screenwriter chosen by Westar is none other than Jamie.

Without giving Jamie any chance to speak, Sif preemptively explained:

"I know you're going to ask why, because Westar Pictures has come to the conclusion after a serious discussion that you're probably the screenwriter in Hollywood right now who is most likely to impress Cameron."

Jamie was shocked.

This time, the expression was definitely not faked.

When did he get in touch with the truck driver, and how did he not know?

Sif explained eloquently:

"First of all, of course, because you're famous enough, and secondly, of course, because you share a hobby with Cameron."

What?

Jamie had a question mark on his face.

Sif gave a direct answer:

"You're an avid superhero comic book fan, like Cameron."

To prove that this wasn't a joke, Sif went on to explain:

"A lot of people know that Cameron worked as a truck driver for a while, but few people know that he once had the idea to draw a sci-fi comic and once tried to pitch it to Marvel, but of course it was rejected."

"Then before filming "Titanic", Cameron's initial plan was to shoot "Spider-Man", but he was eventually sold to Sony Pictures by Marvel because of the copyright, and finally had to give up."

Before he could finish speaking, Jamie couldn't help but interrupt:

"So you think he's interested in making superhero movies?"

Sif nodded with a look of course on his face.

Isn't it?

Jamie wanted to say something back to Sif on the spot.

It's a fart!

Whether Cameron has contributed to Marvel or not, Jamie doesn't know, anyway, he hasn't heard of it in his previous life.

But Cameron's attitude towards superhero movies isn't as friendly as Sif and Westar Pictures think.

In his previous life, when "Avatar 2" was released, Cameron publicly criticized Marvel movies.

Although this is a little bit of an intention to rub off on the hype of Marvel movies, it also shows that Cameron is indeed not interested in superhero movies.

However, Cameron once thought about filming a "Spider-Man", but it is true.

But the reason is not as Sif said, because Cameron is an avid fan of superhero comics.

The fundamental reason is that Cameron is a technical maniac, and in Hollywood at that time, there was no more challenging special effects technology than shooting a superhero movie, so Cameron set his sights on "Spider-Man".

I can't shoot the little spider, so I immediately aim at the big ship.

Jamie made it very clear to Sif that both she and Westa Pictures were thinking too much about the problem.

It's actually very simple to come up with a script that appeals to Cameron, as long as the script is difficult enough to film.

That's why Cameron wants to go to heaven.

Because there's really nothing more difficult to achieve right now than shooting a movie on location in space.

But Sif laughed.

She tells Jamie that she is not looking for the wrong person.

Since Jamie can accurately guess Cameron's mind, he must be sure to write a difficult script that even Cameron will be amazed by.

It's definitely not "Avatar", that would be too old-fashioned, sell it first, and the answer will be revealed in the next chapter.

(End of chapter)