American fame and fortune

"What? Warner Bros. wasn't happy with Ridley's cut?"

Martin was not too surprised to hear the news brought by Thomas. It is a common situation in the industry for production companies to use scissors on the director's cut version, and in most cases it is the key to the success of the film.

He asked: "What exactly happened?"

Thomas asked someone to inquire: "Warner Pictures President Jon Berg believed that the length of the director's cut version was too long. The nearly three-hour length was not conducive to scheduling the film. He asked the crew to edit and control it himself, and planned to shorten the length of the film to Within 130 minutes.”

These words reminded Martin of "Kingdom of Heaven", exactly the same.

But he also knows that similar situations continue to happen in Hollywood. "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Pharaohs and Gods" are just typical examples of the hundreds of director's cuts that are revised every year.

Ridley's epic films and science fiction films are like being produced by two directors with completely different levels of skill. The latter is very familiar with them, while the former always needs a long film length to tell a story well.

In order to avoid this situation, Martin specifically called producer Louise and asked her to find an appropriate time to communicate with Ridley in advance that the length of the director's cut of "The Martian" should not exceed 130 minutes.

Video content other than subtitles is best kept at around 120 minutes.

"Green Lantern" will hold a preview screening in May. Martin has already paid attention to the situation. The leading actor is still Ryan Reynolds. It is said that most of the shots will be shot in the studio, using a large number of green screen scenes.

He heard an old friend from Warner mention that even Ryan Reynolds' uniform was generated using CGI.

With such a large-scale use of special effects, you can imagine the money burned. The production cost of the film was as high as 200 million US dollars.

Martin then went to the studio to meet with Ridley to discuss preparations for the film.

Regarding the situation of "Pharaohs and Gods", Martin pretended that he didn't know anything about it and didn't even ask.

The preparations for "The Martian" also encountered many situations.

First of all, the spacesuits in reality are very large and bulky. Not only was it difficult for the actors to film the walking scenes, but it was also very ugly when shot. Ridley sent it back and asked the costume team to redesign it to make it more beautiful and easier for the actors to wear. ‘

Ridley originally wanted to shoot in Australia, which has both studios and desert terrain, but no one knows what the Australian government thinks. It may also be related to Martin's long-term relationship with Australia. The local government cited environmental protection as an excuse. , without giving approval to the crew.

The alternative is a studio in Morocco and the Rose Desert in Jordan. However, the situation in the Middle East has been unstable recently, especially since Jordan is adjacent to Israel. Not only the security expenditure is high, but the security is not guaranteed.

The crew had no choice but to choose the last option, which was to shoot in California.

All interior scenes were built at Disney Studios. According to Ridley's plan, only 20 scenes needed to be built, which was much less than in ordinary movies.

The exterior scenes can be selected within California, including the Gobi Desert, deserts and deserts.

No matter where it is, the exterior scenes must be set up with green screens and combined with CGI to generate them.

According to Ridley's plan, $120 million is enough to make this film.

This veteran director can continue to serve as a director of first-line big-budget films after screwing up so many big-budget movies. On the one hand, he continues to use science fiction films to restore the blood shed by epic films. On the other hand, he is not as difficult as some directors. They ask the film studio to increase the budget at every turn, but they will rationally use every fund within the scope allowed by the budget.

Since then, the crew held auditions for multiple roles. With Martin's recommendation, Jessica Chastain passed the third round of auditions as expected and got the role of spaceship commander.

Mene will also play an important supporting role on the ground.

In addition, the crew also attracted veteran supporting actors in the industry such as Jeff Daniels and Sean Bean.

After Sean Bean received the invitation to audition, the first thing he asked when he came to the set was: "Can anyone tell me how my character will die in the end?"

Martin understood what he meant and told him very seriously: "Don't worry, your character won't die this time."

Sean Bean was actually a little excited: "I finally got a role with a good ending."

There is no way, too many roles he played were killed in the movie: "Does this character have a good ending?"

"Well, it's a hundred times better than death." Martin could only say: "I just took a scapegoat and resigned from my senior position in NASA for this."

Sean Bean has died nearly twenty times in important supporting roles since his earliest death as 006.

Although he has appeared in supporting roles of various types, his image has not been fixed, and his acting options are very wide, his development in Hollywood is still restricted. Most of the roles presented to him by his crew will end with death in the first scene.

Sean Bean sometimes wants to ask, can I live until the end of the movie?

He said: "The ending is not bad. It is not easy to survive to the end of the movie."

Martin was deeply sympathetic and very curious, asking: "Which character's death is the most memorable for you? 006?"

"No, it's not 006, it's Boromir." Sean Bean said seriously: "I think Boromir's death is heroic and inspiring. He is a hero."

He sighed: "No need to say anything else."

After signing the contract, Jessica Chastain and her agent came out of the studio and met Martin in the lobby.

The agent stepped forward and shook hands with Martin: "Thank you for giving Jesse this opportunity."

"I just recommended Jess, and she was good enough to pass the audition," Martin said.

Jessica Chastain said: "You didn't help me out that day. I was in trouble. Megan Ellison was too domineering. Later, she didn't know where to get my phone number. She called me several times and was not allowed to do so. I cooperate with you, God Jesus, how can such a person exist.”

Martin said: "Just ignore her."

Maybe it's a natural relationship, Jessica Chastain's skin color is particularly similar, and with her red hair, she looks like Nicole Kidman back then, giving her a radiant white look.

She added: "The next few times Megan Ellison called me, I hung up all the time."

Martin reminded: "Don't mess with her."

"I will try to stay away from her." Jessica patted the fitness advice book provided by the crew in her hand: "I made an appointment with a professional fitness coach and we will talk another day."

Martin watched her leave, still waiting in the front hall. After a few minutes, the person he was waiting for finally arrived.

Alan Horn accompanied Robert Egger into the studio.

Martin went up to him, and after Alan Horn introduced him, he shook hands with Robert Egger and took the two of them to visit the studio.

Robert Iger said: "I participated in Disney's internal test screening of "John Wick 2". The film was very exciting and made up for Disney's shortcomings in this type of film."

Martin specifically thanked Alan Horn: "Alan gave me a helping hand when I was in trouble and gave me the opportunity to cooperate with Disney."

The three of them entered the studio's design area together. The props team, art director team, and technicians sent by NASA worked together to draw many design drawings and concept drawings, as well as some manufactured rover and barrack models.

Hollywood's big production crews have always strived for excellence in this aspect, and the appearance of all models is enough to look real.

In the studio adjacent to the studio where the scenery is being set up, potatoes have already been planted.

Alan Horn is very optimistic about Martin's project and said: "This film will show a lonely man struggling to survive on Mars using limited conditions. If the film responds well, can we launch related films in Disneyland?" What about the new tourist area? Mars life experience!”

Robert Egger said: "This is a good proposal. After the film is released, we can do a market survey on this."

This kind of thing is just a proposal now, and it is impossible to make a decision. Martin pointed to the newly designed spacesuit: "These can be used to make peripheral toys and figures. They will be different from the images of past astronauts and more distinctive. "

The space suit uses orange and beige as the main colors, and is not as bulky as the real space suit.

Robert Egger looked at it carefully and said: "Other areas must also be developed. The tax rate for human areas is much higher than other types."

Martin somewhat knew that the tax rate on human toys was 12%, while other types were only 6.8%.

Alan Horn said: "My side and Marvel's side have been thinking about how to get around this issue. Human toys occupy a considerable part of the next Marvel movie and related peripherals released by Disney Pictures. quantity."

Martin suddenly thought of the news he had seen in his previous life, and he didn't know whether it was true or not. He said, "I have an idea, but I'm not familiar with the law in this area, so I'm not sure if it's feasible."

Robert Egger has long heard that Martin has many ideas and can always come up with many special ideas in publicity and marketing.

He looked at Martin: "It doesn't matter, let's talk about it."

Martin sorted out his thoughts for a while and said: "Take Thor, the God of Thunder, which will be released this year, as an example. He is not a human, he is a god. How can he be classified as a human toy? By analogy, those who have been exposed to cosmic rays and have been Superheroes who are bitten by bugs or hit by cars should be out of the category of human beings, and the X-Men should not be considered human beings, right?"

Allen Horn found that this method seemed to be feasible.

Robert Egger was inspired. What Martin said was very one-sided, but the idea was correct.

"No wonder many people say you are a genius." He said: "Martin, you opened my mind right away!"

Martin smiled: "I can only say that Disney needs to verify whether it is feasible."

"Sorry, I'll make a call first." Robert Egger couldn't wait any longer. He took out his mobile phone and called his assistant directly. When he was connected, he said directly: "Summon the person in charge of the legal department immediately. I will be there in an hour. Meet them in the small conference room."

Disney’s legal department is very powerful. Martin had a saying in his previous life: How should a person get out of trouble when he is stranded on a desert island? Draw Mickey Mouse on the ground.

A thought suddenly popped into his head. If Disney really did it, would it ruin Professor X's lifelong efforts and Magneto win easily?