Hollywood Road

"Everyone, be quiet."

In the large conference room of Stanton's studio, Murphy stood at the forefront of the long conference table and slapped his palms hard. The people in the conference room who had been talking about it before immediately fell silent.

Murphy’s eyes swept across the faces of the people sitting on both sides of the conference table. On the left are Philip Raschel, Michelle Williams, Helena Espola, David Robbie, Joe The heads of the behind-the-scenes departments such as Shey Griffith and Gail Gadot. On the right are actors such as James Franco, Margot Robbie, Henry Cavill and Jonah Hill. Location, sitting with the agent Bill Rossis from CAA who provides packaging services.

These people constitute the basic framework of Murphy's new project production and shooting team.

"Last week, Twentieth Century Fox officially approved the budget for the "Dark City" project." Murphy is no nonsense, and the meeting immediately entered the topic. "The film's production budget is 200 million US dollars, and the announcement cost 100 million. Twentieth Century Fox will raise 30 million US dollars through pre-sales, advertising and financing. American International Assurance Company provides third-party completion guarantees for the project. At present, the project’s first start-up capital of 40 million US dollars, 20th Century Fox It has been hit on the guarantor's account."

The rest are basically listening, and if you have any questions, you can talk to Murphy later.

The preliminary work of the "Dark City" project began after the Oscars was over. Other aspects need to be prepared after the establishment of the crew. However, regarding the salary of everyone present, CAA has completed the cooperation with Twentieth Century Fox. During the negotiation, Murphy, the main member of the team, once again signed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox.

In terms of salary, Murphy is still the highest in the entire crew. Now there is an Oscar for best director, with a basic salary of 20 million US dollars and 25% of the film’s full income share. Even if the actors are included, it is still the best in Hollywood. Top pay.

In terms of actors, the highest paid is James Franco’s $12 million. Henry Cavill’s leading actor is not paid very much. Apart from "City of Chaos", he doesn't have any work that can be achieved. .

In general, the total compensation of the crew of "Dark City" will not exceed the industry average of 35% of the total production cost. This is Murphy's bottom line, otherwise it will affect the filming and production. Expenditure on production.

"Philip, the photography style is similar to "City of Chaos", but to be more realistic on the basis of the dark, I am still letting Kara-Fiss communicate with Twentieth Century Fox. If possible, let the two In the tenth century, Fox will add another 20 million to 30 million US dollars in investment so that we can achieve more than 60% of the lens IMAX. You must be prepared!"

At the meeting, Murphy simply explained the most basic work issues. Seeing Philip Raschel nodded, he said to Michelle Williams, "Misha, you continue to be the optional director. I want a large number of actors who are suitable for acting as a gangster, and a group of beautiful enough models. You know my standards."

"I understand." Michelle Williams wrote it down.

Murphy turned to look at Helena Espola, "Helen, I will shoot all the scenes of the film on-site. After the script is completed, you will immediately go to New York to investigate and design a preliminary plan."

Helena Espola asked, "New York City Hall agrees to shoot?"

"Basically there is no problem." Murphy glanced at Gal Gadot, "Gail has passed, and now there are not many people who occupy Wall Street, and the heat of the incident has basically dissipated."

"David!" Murphy emphatically exhorted, "Prepare skilled and sufficient hard lighting facilities."

"No problem." David Robbie nodded.

Murphy saw Josh Griffier, who had not participated in "Diego Rose" because of family reasons, and said, "Let's study more about the editing of that classical gunfight in Michael Mann's "The Wire of Fire". "

"Realistic shootout?" Josh Griffith thought for a moment, and said, "I see."

Then Murphy turned to the row of actors and said, "Henry, you are a little blessed now."

Henry Cavill smiled embarrassedly, "I have eaten a lot of barbecue recently."

"The crew will hire professional fitness and fighting coaches for you." Murphy said directly, "At the end of July, at the latest, restore the figure from the last filming."

"I will do it." Henry Cavill swore a promise.

Then, Murphy said to Margot Robbie, "The character script has been given to you. The psychological changes of the characters must be expressed in place. This is the aspect you need to focus on preparing."

Margot Robbie smiled slightly, "I have no problem."

Subsequently, Murphy’s gaze fell on James Franco, “In some ways, this film is a bit similar to the type of duel between the two heroes in The Wire. Your villain is directly related to For the final effect of the film, if you have time, you can take a look at Alex in "A Clockwork Orange", um... some of the character traits of rock star Sid Withers can also be used for reference."

James Franco was also not polite with Murphy, saying, "If you have any questions, I will communicate with you."

"In addition, I emphasize one point." Murphy said to everyone, "Even if the 20th century Folkestone is not able to invest heavily in the plan to shoot IMAX lenses, I also use IMAX cameras to shoot all the action scenes in this film. Make relevant preparations."

With the current plan, Murphy intends to use IMAX to shoot the four main action series scenes in the film, as well as many static and dramatic moments, so that even without the 3D effect, the audience's visual system can definitely be enjoyed at the highest level.

After explaining this, Murphy added, "The film will be co-produced by Carla Firth and Gail from Fox, and Gail will be responsible for the daily affairs of the crew."

Murphy looked at Bill Rossis on the opposite side, "Bill, you have seen the script and the role setting. Now there are no suitable actors for those roles. You draw up a suitable list and give it to Gail and Misha."

He said to Gal Gadot and Michelle Williams, "You will be responsible for the specific auditions."

At the end of the meeting, Murphy thought of one more thing, "Weta Studio will be responsible for the special effects part of the film."

This is a long-established thing, and since he took the Weta Workshop, the two sides have kept in touch.

The special effects of "Dark City" are different from "City of Chaos". Murphy has more ideas about this film, so I don't plan to use the green screen shooting, but try to shoot in real scene as much as possible, some of which are not easy to achieve. Cars and explosion scenes should also be shot through reduced scale models.

There is no doubt that Industrial Light and Magic and Weta Studio are the best two choices, but the former is more expensive, and Murphy plans to use the latter.

At the end of the preparatory meeting for the crew, Murphy finally said, "The crew will start formal preparations from now on."

It’s already mid-March now, and the film will be released in time for the summer vacation in early May next year. There is not much time to waste.

"We have five months of preparation time, three months of shooting time and four months of post-production time." Murphy emphasized, "This film must be completed by mid-April next year at the latest. !"

"Are there any questions now?" Murphy asked, seeing that everyone did not say, "Come here today, and if you have any questions, communicate with me in time."

With the formal establishment of the "Dark City" project, a series of preparatory work began one after another.

Although Twentieth Century Fox has provided a third-party guarantee company with an initial start-up capital of 40 million U.S. dollars, this part of the money is a lot more, and a little less. For such a huge film, it will soon After bottoming out, Murphy has always kept in touch with Kara Fess, urging Twentieth Century Fox to raise the remaining funds as soon as possible, and as far as possible through his plan to shoot with IMAX cameras.

For such a dark film, Murphy said nothing will use 3D technology, and IMAX is more beneficial to the film.

On the third day after the project preparation meeting, 20th Century Fox brought a series of advertisers participating in the film, including manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and Hewlett-Packard, as well as Internet companies such as Twitter, which may become sponsors of the film.

Specifically, we have to wait for the negotiations between Fox and them in the 20th century.

In addition, overseas pre-sales of the film have also started. Distributors in many regions including Europe and Latin America have also sent relevant negotiators to Los Angeles to prepare for pre-sale negotiations with Twentieth Century Fox.

These are important sources of film funding. Even companies like 20th Century Fox, with a total investment of more than 300 million U.S. dollars, will overwhelm them, and once the film fails, it may even cause the entire funding chain to break. .

Murphy also cooperated with Twentieth Century Fox and met these people. Although these overseas manufacturers basically come from small markets that Twentieth Century Fox cannot reach, they are not fools. They do not have enough guarantees or recognition, and they will not easily get out. A pen is really gold and silver.

The guarantee of insurance companies and the credibility of Twentieth Century Fox are on the one hand, and the appeal that Murphy has built up through these years is on the other hand because of their prepayment of large expenses.

Through advertising sponsorship and pre-sale funds, Twentieth Century Fox plans to solve the funding pressure of US$40 million to US$50 million. The remaining part, except for its own capital, is financing for financial institutions. Hollywood has a mature operating mechanism in this respect. Murphy doesn't need to worry.

And he also reached an agreement with Twentieth Century Fox to bring a minimum of $50 million into the group, which means that Stanton Studios will occupy a quarter of the film production cost and enjoy the same proportion of the revenue share.