1450 delicate balance
2000In 2016, Thomas Tull founded Legendary Pictures with a private equity fund of approximately US$50 million, and officially signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Warner Bros., subsequently attracting investment from many well-known investment banks and angel investors. , now has a market value of over $2 billion.
However, they are more of an investment platform than a film production company. They invest in Warner Bros. projects, provide flexible funds, and then wait for returns, but many times they will not participate in the film production process, but the specific projects selected will be Determined by Legendary Pictures.
Legendary Pictures relies on Thomas's vision and mind. Wall Street bosses never interfere in the company's choice of whom to cooperate with and what projects to produce, giving Thomas 100% trust..
Previously, Warner Bros. actually approached Legendary Pictures to collaborate on "Green Lantern", but Thomas rejected it outright and expressed his views in vicious words, "If a random person walks in and throws me a script, I'll be fine." When it comes to filming, I can only say that this is too far-fetched." It was later confirmed that Thomas had a vicious vision, and "Green Lantern" lost more than 150 million US dollars..
It was this kind of Thomas who took advantage of the internal strife at Warner Bros., hoping to gain more power and interests; and then quickly left after failure..
For Warner Bros., this is obviously adding insult to injury.
In fact, Thomas has never concealed his ambitions and intentions. He not only wants to get more returns, but also tries to be "more vocal" in the projects he invests in and move up a level in the Hollywood pyramid..
Simply put, Thomas Tull and Kevin Tsujihara are the same type of people. They both want to keep power in their hands, not just for profit, but for control - former Disney CEO Michael Ice The same is true for Na. There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, so between Thomas and Tsujihara, one person must leave..
An insider revealed that Thomas is not willing to be just an investor. He wants to play more of a producer role and have more decision-making power over the film. Warner Bros. does rely on venture capital from Legendary Pictures, but Tsujihara is even more reluctant. We need a nagging financial sponsor. Parting of ways is the inevitable result..
This split is actually the epitome of the game between Wall Street and Hollywood: Warner is the first partner that Pass Pictures gave up, but it will definitely not be the last.
Things got chaotic after that..
A brief explanation of the result is: Warner Bros. has reached a cooperation agreement with Dune Entertainment. Dune Entertainment has previously cooperated with 20th Century Fox for a long time and jointly created works such as "Avatar", "Prometheus", and "Wolverine 2"; then in July At the Comic-Con, Warner Bros. officially announced the establishment of the "Batman v Superman" project, launching the official development plan of DC Comics..
Rosenbaum, who was originally in charge of Warner Bros.'s television department, joined Legendary Pictures to create a new television and digital department. Immediately afterwards, Legendary Pictures announced that it would join forces with Universal Pictures to reach a formal cooperation. They will jointly develop the first film The project is a reboot of "Jurassic Park".
Robinov, who was originally in charge of the film department, was not in a hurry to find a new home. According to rumors, he seemed to be preparing for his own production company. More than half a year later, Studio-8 was officially established and reached an agreement with Sony Columbia Pictures. Cooperation agreement, targeting the Chinese market.
So, we came to the current chaos.
On the one hand, Warner Bros. is quickly sorting out the situation and developing DC projects intensively. The original conversation between Renly and Barry about "moving too hastily may have negative consequences" has now come to nothing, and history is still moving quickly according to its original trajectory. Facing the behemoth of Time Warner, Renly, a little butterfly, is still too insignificant..
By the way, Barry Meyer, who is 66 years old this year, has begun to enjoy his retirement life after stepping down as CEO. The major film companies in the Hollywood industry have never mentioned this figure again..
On the other hand, Universal Pictures is racing to catch up. Amidst the turmoil, Diesel wisely chose to bow his head and give in. "Fast and Furious 7" immediately went into filming; "Jurassic Park" "The project encountered Thomas Tull, who rolled up his sleeves and was ready to do something big, and temporarily reached a deadlock..
It can be simply said that Legendary Pictures used to be just an investment platform and a production company in name; but now it has truly transformed into a production company, and is conducting more related business with Universal Pictures in a cooperative manner..
A storm is sweeping across the entire Hollywood, not just Warner Bros., but 20th Century Fox, Disney, Universal Pictures, etc. are also involved. Even Paramount and Sony Columbia cannot completely stand by and watch. All forces are reshuffling.
For Renly, he is a playing card in this game. Or, in other words, a pawn. Although it is too cruel and cold-blooded to say so, the fact is that he is not strong enough to shake him yet. Regarding the entire Hollywood situation, it is impossible for Warner Bros. to change its strategy for him, and it is impossible for Universal Pictures to offend Legendary Pictures for him..
As a result, things temporarily fell into a delicate balance amidst chaos.——
“"Jurassic Park" restart project, the negotiations between Andy Rogers and Thomas Tull are still in a tug of war. Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall can only exert indirect pressure and cannot intervene directly. Ron May Instead, Ye took a stand-and-see attitude..
“"Fast and Furious" project, Ron Meyer neither moves forward nor retreats. Although the filming of the seventh part has started, he has not said whether he will continue to cooperate with Renly in the sequels and sequels. Vin Diesel's problem has arisen again. How should we solve it and maintain the relationship neither far nor near?.
No wonder Andy found Renly in person, his expression was unpredictable, neither optimistic nor pessimistic, positive nor negative..
After briefly understanding the ins and outs, Renly gently retracted his chin and asked seriously, "So... does this mean that I may not be able to find a job in the near future?"？”
Although the content of the words expressed concern, the way he spoke was still an understatement. After finishing the question, Renly picked up the tea cup and began to enjoy the afternoon tea. He looked slow and content, without any sign of worry.？
Andy had expected it and couldn't help but chuckled, "Honestly, are you happy? Now you don't have to worry about filming opportunities for commercial movies.？”
“Of course not." Renly replied seriously, "I have been waiting for the opportunity to star in commercial movies. It is still necessary to maintain the rhythm of one film a year. It has been a long time since 'Edge of Tomorrow'. I'm really looking forward to 'Gravity' becoming a commercial film. In addition, I'm also happy to participate in more commercial films..”
If it were someone else, he might just believe Renly, because Renly is so sincere that people can't help but want to believe him..
But Andy knew Renly, how could he be easily fooled, "Why did you forget about the dubbing work of 'Power Rangers'?"？”
“Oh, is animation also considered a commercial film? I don't know." Renly thought seriously, "I think the box office prospects of 'Big Hero 6' should be pretty good, but obviously, Disney won't thank me, and they won't pay me any dividends. I'm very disappointed. choke.”
The robot-like answer made Andy laugh happily, "If that's the case, it would be a pity. I originally thought that the recent affairs of Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures would be turbulent for a while. It is estimated that the progress of related cooperation negotiations will not be too fast, and commercial movies can only be put aside for the time being. Therefore, I have found another black independent work specifically for you. I think you will definitely like it very, very much..”
With that said, Andy took out a script from his briefcase and placed it on the coffee table..
“But now, are you no longer interested? "Andy looked at Renly with confidence, as if he was sure that Renly would change his mind after reading the script..
But Renly was still not in a hurry. He put down the teacup in his hand slowly, wiped the water stains on his fingers, and then picked up the script..
When he saw the title of the cover, Renly raised his eyebrows slightly. He raised his head again and looked at Andy, only to find that Andy cast a confident look and gestured to the script with his eyes, as if He said, "Read it first, and then we'll talk in detail." The confidence bursting from the inside out, and the pride hidden in it, were fully revealed..
“Nightcrawler”.
This is the title of the script Andy brought. To be honest, Renly can understand Andy's pride, because this is indeed a wonderful and stunning work..
“"Nightcrawler" tells the story of a real industry in Los Angeles called "Nightcrawler". These freelance reporters and photographers go around photographing the impact of violent crimes and sell them to relevant television program groups to earn high returns..
In an age where entertainment is the ultimate goal and profit is paramount, the media needs hot spots and gimmicks. Explosions, gore and even murder, etc., all become their sources of income, so this gives the Nightcrawlers the soil to thrive, and gradually started to lose control.
In fact, in a way, this is the same behavior as the paparazzi did not long ago outside the Juilliard School.——
This is the case with today's night stalkers. In order to find news, they break into houses and use all means, and finally become obsessed. As long as it is crime or violence, they can smell blood like hyenas, and even target the bystanders and ordinary people. Even when people witness crimes such as murder, their first reaction is not to seek justice, but to record news material.
The bottom line of morality, the boundary between justice and evil, is crumbling bit by bit..
“"Nightcrawler" tells such a story.
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