1772 A strange combination of circumstances
Based on the Oscar faction works of the previous life, Renly selected ten works, but he also found unexpected surprises among them - in addition to "The Big Short", "Spotlight" and "The Revenant" are the other two surprises.
“"The Revenant" is so famous that even if Renly wants to ignore it, it is very difficult, because this work helped Leonardo DiCaprio bring a perfect end to his more than ten-year journey to compete for the Oscar. Just like "The Departed" is to Martin Scorsese, he finally won his first statuette..
From the perspective of project preparation, "The Revenant" is adapted from the novel of the same name. Michael Punke used the legendary real-life Revenant Hugh-Glass as the prototype of the story to complete the entire fiction. The creation of the story - by the way, Michael Punk is the official ambassador of the United States to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and he completed the creation of the novel in his spare time.
Although this is not a personal biography, but a reinterpretation of a story based on folklore, it can also be called a personal epic, and it presents the most primitive and roughest personal battle. It can be regarded as a type that academics like quite a lot; but Surprisingly, this work has never been favored, mainly because it is too difficult to shoot, and the style and connotation presented have too many uncertainties, which has always made the project shelved..
The novel was published in 2001. At that time, the copyright had been bought by producer Akiva-Goldsman. However, after many years of trying, they still could not find a suitable production company and production team. Even Akiva himself gave up and sold the copyright. In more than ten years, the copyright changed hands several times, the director changed hands several times, and even the leading actor changed several times, but still nothing Able to form.
Until the second half of last year, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu had just finished filming "Birdman", saw the potential of the project, and officially took over; but Alejandro also There were no difficulties that could change the progress of the project. Within a few months, the leading actor and supporting actor changed hands several times, and the arduous filming work made many actors shy away.——
Because Alejandro hopes that the entire movie will be shot with natural light, which means that the actors need to stay in the ice and snow for more than half a year; at the same time, Alejandro hopes to present as natural a sense of reality as possible, and the makeup factor The weakening will be minimized, which also means that the actors must be around forty years old, which poses a new problem to the ability of middle-aged actors to challenge the cold..
To make matters worse, New Regent Pictures, which now owns the copyright to adapt the original novel, has encountered financial difficulties. Although they have invested in the production of works such as "12 Years a Slave", "Birdman", and "Gone Girl", " The box-office failure of "The Time Planner" and "Ace of Ace" has put their cash flow in a dilemma, so that all projects currently in hand have been suspended. "The Revenant" is just one of them, and "Assassin's Creed" has also been temporarily shelved..
reason？
Or Alejandro. Because he insists on using natural light to complete the shooting, this means that the entire shooting cycle is lengthened and all shootings are more difficult. From equipment to staff, all expenses have doubled and doubled. Now the shooting budget has It exceeded 100 million US dollars, and it still couldn’t stop the car..
New Regent Pictures also has a lot of headaches.
Although before the Golden Globe Awards, Alejandro persuaded Leonardo to join "The Revenant", and Leonardo persuaded Tom Hardy to join the movie; but... they still could not convince the injection of Wall Street funds - —No one will invest $100 million for an Oscar-based film, even for an Oscar-winning Best Picture winner. Win the box office first and then win awards. This is the order of consideration for Wall Street investments..
As a result, New Regent Pictures had to start looking for help - this was a project that Andre got through his personal relationship, not the news from the agency..
In Andre's original words, "I think they are crazy. But I am not an expert, and it is not my turn to judge; maybe you can see the potential that I can't see.".”
“"Focus" is another situation. This is a biography, a work of justice, a work that reflects the dark reality of society. This should be a typical academic department's work; but no production company dares to Take it over, because this is a hot potato - even a hot durian. Even if you get rid of it, it will probably still be fishy..
The movie tells the story of a reporting team column in the "Boston Globe" called Focus, which is responsible for focusing on some special cases and in-depth social reporting. They began to report on a long-hidden case, a Catholic priest/sex/sex/ It was just a small task at first to harass the children in the parish, but after getting involved, a huge and terrifying inside story was discovered, involving hundreds of victims. Moreover, the church had privately compensated these victims and sent people to cover up the crime..
As the investigation deepened, they discovered that the conspiracy was even more terrifying, not just in Boston, but around the world; not just church personnel, but also local officials, consortiums, underworld and other forces, all of whom were colluding. together, burying the whole thing for their own benefit.
Before understanding this case and this movie, it is necessary to understand the special characteristics of the Boston area.
The history can be traced back to the European pioneering - or the initial history of the invasion of North America. New York and Boston are the main port locations, but there are still slight differences between the two regions. Going to New England, where Boston is located, is mainly to escape. British Protestants who were persecuted for their religion; those who stayed in New York were more diverse, including speculators, blue-collar workers, people at the bottom, etc..
It is precisely because of this difference that the New England region gradually developed more rapidly. In the mid-20th century, they transferred most of their traditional industries to other states in the United States or overseas where labor costs were lower, while Boston was the center. High-tech areas have begun to emerge, including biotechnology, education, finance, services, pharmaceuticals, etc..
Slowly, this area has become the richest and most high-end area in the United States. Yale University, Harvard University, MIT, etc. are all located in this area; law, economics, politics, finance, etc. are also all located in this area. occupies a unique leading position in this region.
Naturally, people living in this area actively or passively distinguish themselves from other areas, and distinct class levels begin to penetrate every corner of society.：
From economy to politics, from education to law, from news to gangs, from language to culture, all of these, this area seems to be an area independent of the United States. They have their own pride and dignity. Refusing to be compared to other states.
When people talk about the North American continent, the West Coast headed by Los Angeles and the East Coast headed by New York are in tit-for-tat opposition due to geographical and historical reasons; but among them, the New England region headed by Boston stands aloof and stays out of the matter. They even look down on New York, showing a kind of arrogance and arrogance..
It can be said that New England is its own system！
The Boston Gang in Hollywood has always been a unique existence. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and others are the core figures of the entire faction..
It is precisely because of this that in the story of "Focus", Boston can form an iron barrel to hinder the column reporting team from revealing the truth of the matter in all aspects; but in the real world, the movie "Focus" clearly has academic characteristics. , but could never find a film company willing to take over.——
Everyone is afraid of reopening the scars of Massachusetts. If you are not careful, you may lose your wife and lose your army..
Tom McCarthy is an actor by training. He entered the industry in 1997 and has been playing small roles for many years. In 2003, he tried his hand at screenwriting and directing for the first time, filming "Spiritual Station", which became a blockbuster at the Sundance Film Festival the following year. It was highly praised and won the Audience Choice Award and the Special Jury Award. This also officially changed his career and the transformation was successful. He was even officially invited by the government to participate in projects beyond cultural exchange and went to the Middle East to promote Development of different cultural projects.
Then in 2007, he wrote and directed "The Uninvited" again, successfully winning the first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in his career for the leading actor Richard-Jenkins. After that, Tom successively worked for "The Uninvited". He wrote scripts for works such as "Up" and "Millions of Golden Arms", and his career gradually stabilized..
“"Focus" is Tom's latest project. From collecting information in the early stage, to in-depth exploration of each prototype of the reporting team, to studying all the reporting materials and the ins and outs of the incident, he spent nearly a year and overturned it several times. A rough draft, and then it finally took shape..
But now, he can't find a production company that dares to invest - not to mention the production process, even if it is successfully released, the film's academy public relations will definitely be difficult. It is hard to imagine how serious obstacles it will encounter. No one willing to take risks.
The awards season trend of subsequent works also proved this point. Although "Spotlight" won the Oscar for Best Picture, it only had one trophy for Best Original Screenplay. It can be called one of the weakest best films in the decade..
From the movie to reality, from the case told in the movie to the difficulties of the film project in reality, this is the most ironic thing..
No matter what, the three projects of "The Big Short", "The Revenant" and "Spotlight" finally came to Renly..
Andy noticed a special five-pointed star symbol behind the "Focus" project, which was not found in other projects. He couldn't help but raised his head and looked at Renly, "Pentagram, what does this mean?"？”
Andre was also slightly stunned. The memories of his previous high school years were indeed a bit blurry now. He turned his head towards Matthew and cast a look for help..
“Absolute caution,” said Matthew..
Renly nodded in affirmation, but did not explain why..
Because he is a journalist, he is always very tolerant and partial to news-themed movies. This is just his personal preference, and there is no special reason..
Comments