Vol 2 Chapter 578: Sophia's request

The delegation from across the Pacific spent a total of one week in Los Angeles and New York, and then left North America. According to the news from Time Warner and News Corp.’s public relations department, the delegation had learned about Disney’s current situation and added two The work done by big companies is already more biased towards the Warner Fox World.
However, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox have not relaxed, as long as they do not reach a written agreement, there is still the possibility of change in the end.
No one would underestimate the abilities of Walt Disney and Michael Eisner, especially the latter. The development of a film and television company that mainly produces cartoons into the current media group is enough to prove his skill.
As for the meeting with the mountain eagle, Duke believes that with his reputation and influence, and the relatively neutral position of the film, coupled with the friendly attitude shown from time to time, future films should enter that market. It's not a problem, maybe I can get Nicholas Cage's treatment.
Speaking of Nicholas Cage, Duke still doesn't understand why this starring movie can always be introduced by China Film Group, no matter how bad it is.
This situation is indeed very bad now. Even Sophia Coppola, who is in a bad financial situation, is a little worried.
"Although it has not declared bankruptcy %≥, it is not much better."
Sitting under the umbrella of the seaside cafe, Sophia Coppola slowly sipped his coffee and said to Duke, "You should also pay attention, Duke. Nicola was planted in the hands of the agent investor and the accountant. ."
With his hands on the armrests of the wicker chair, Duke said, "You know me, I don't trust others easily."
Sophia turned to look next to Duke, "Where's that Scarlett?"
She was obviously joking, and Scarlett snorted. "Duke trusts you more than trusts me."
Duke didn't answer the words of the two women at all, and took the initiative to change the subject, "The filming of "The Peerless Queen" is over?"
"It's done." Sophia Coppola picked up the coffee pot and filled Duke and Scarlett. "There is only post work left, and it should be in time for this year's Cannes Film Festival."
She suddenly thought of something and asked, "I heard that you rejected the invitation of the chairman of the Cannes Film Festival jury last year?"
"I'm very busy," Duke shrugged indifferently. "Besides, I don't like the films that participate in the competition. Let me be the chairman of the jury. In the end, Palme d’Or’s award list is definitely empty."
"You misunderstood what Sophia meant." Scarlett seemed to understand the inside story. "If you become the chairman of the jury, isn't the Cannes Palme d'Or this year "Queen of Peerless Beauty"?"
After speaking, she and Sophia Coppola both laughed.
Although this is a joke, the judges of all film festivals have personal likes and dislikes. For example, at the Cannes Film Festival where Quentin Tastino was the chairman of the jury, Michael Moore, who had an excellent personal relationship with him, took the gold. palm.
In fact, European film festivals are not fairer than the Oscars, even because of the fact that there are too few judges and the power of the chairman of the judges. It's not as transparent as the Oscar points of pork.
"Are you going to always follow the literary route?"
After a few laughs, Duke turned the topic to business. Ask Sophia Coppola, "Don't consider entering into commercial films?"
Sophia Coppola raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a suitable project?"
"How about superhero movies with women as the absolute protagonist?" Duke turned his head and looked at Scarlett next to him, and said half-seriously and half-jokingly, "For example, a movie about Agent Natasha Normanoff."
Hear what Duke said. Scarlett became interested immediately and said quickly, "Sophia, we have known each other for so many years, and I have always wanted to work with you again."
"Are you sure?" Sophia looked at Duke. A smile came up at the corner of his mouth, "Aren't you afraid that I might screw up? I need at least 100 million dollars."
"But not now." Duke shook his head. "The time is not yet, it will take a few years."
Now making superhero movies with women as the protagonist is really too risky.
"I'm going to the bathroom." Scarlett Johansson stood up and left here temporarily.
Looking at Scarlett's back, Sophia Coppola suddenly asked Duke, "Are you serious? Scarlett is a good girl."
"What kind of person Scarlett is, I know better than you."
Duke also took a look at Scarlett’s departure direction. People grew up in a different environment and had different personalities when they grew up. Scarlett, who was influenced by his mother, was indeed a good girl compared to the black widow before. .
Of course, Duke will not use the idea of ​​a spiritual cleanser to ask women around him. It is already the 21st century.
"I remember when I called last time, I heard you mention it." Sophia would not be so stupid as to interfere with Duke's private life, and asked about other aspects, "You are negotiating with Google, and you are preparing to sell the shares of instant sharing. ?"
"I do have this plan." Duke nodded.
Sophia was a little puzzled and asked in confusion, "Isn't the outside world very optimistic about this company? Although I don't like Ivanka? Trump, she seems to be a qualified operator compared to you. ."
"You don't understand the situation." Duke thought for a while and said concisely, "Wall Street has a very high valuation of this company, but up to now, instant sharing has not produced real profits, and according to my estimation, There will be no profit for a long time in the future."
This is only one aspect. The negotiation between Duke and Google requires a share swap. Although Google shares will not bring dividends, from the perspective of preservation, it is better than the one he and Ivanka Trump have made. The company is less risky.
Besides, if Google completes the acquisition of Instant Sharing, Donald Trump will never have a chance to get involved.
Duke has never been such a generous person.
"What are you talking about?" Scarlett Johansson walked back at this time, sat next to Duke, and said curiously, "Looks very happy."
"The great Rosenberg director..." Sophia Coppola deliberately put on a teasing tone, "is planning a great business plan."
Having said that, she looked at her watch, then stood up and said to Scarlett, "It's almost time, let's go shopping."
"Okay." Scarlett walked over and took Sophia's arm.
When the two were about to leave, Sophia Coppola seemed to have thought of something, and then said to Duke, "If there is a suitable opportunity, pull down Nikolai."
Sophia hardly asked him much, and Duke nodded slowly, "I see."
Watching Scarlett and Sophia leave, Duke sat in a wicker chair, thinking about how to help Sophia's cousin.
The debt owed by Nicholas Cage is not worth mentioning to him, but it is undoubtedly very stupid to pay off the debt.
A former top movie star, no matter how good or bad his acting is, ultimately depends on the market reaction of his works and characters to determine his status. The level of his status in Hollywood means that his salary is different.
Once Nicholas Cage wanted to repay his debts, he no longer considered the quality of projects and characters, and signed contracts randomly. After these works were released, most of the box office and word-of-mouth were extremely poor, while the poor market response of the previous work was a direct result. When his pay has fallen, Nicholas Cage wants to make money and has to accept more works without quality assurance...
As a result, these works continued to fail, and his pay dropped again, thus forming a vicious circle.
For Sophia Coppola’s sake, if you want to pull Nicholas Cage, the best way is to make him stand up. As long as the market response of the film and the role is good enough, how much will he pay in the future. Guaranteed.
Duke can't do more, just work with Nicholas Cage again when the time is right.
In the second half of the year, he is preparing to shoot "Batman: The Dark Knight". If Nicholas Cage can pass the audition and meet his basic requirements, there is a role that suits him better.
The former Oscar actor, when his career was at its most brilliant, had a clear temperament of both righteousness and evil. When playing a decent role, he was simply a natural good person, and playing a negative role made people hate toothache.
"Batman: The Dark Knight" also needs an actor who can play the decent, and finally the villain.
As the post-production of "Iron Man" entered the final stage, Duke naturally considered "Batman: The Dark Knight" to be prepared next, and Charles Rowan's assistant rushed to Australia to meet the vacationer there. Heath Ledger and his agent, the screenwriter team of the Duke Studio, have come up with a clown script. Presumably this crazy role can impress many ambitious actors.
After staying at the beach for a while, Duke greeted his bodyguards to call his car, and returned to Burbank by car. Although today is the weekend, in order to complete the special effects production on time, industrial light and magic, Weta Studio and visual effects The special effects group formed by the studio chose to continue working overtime.
Since there is nothing wrong now, Duke is also visiting Warner Studios.
"Duke, you are here just in time,"
As soon as he walked into the special effects room, Phil Sanders greeted him and said, "Anna just went to the Warner Building. We need someone to decrypt the full electronic copy."
After the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Duke basically gave up film shooting and switched to more convenient digital technology. He would no longer store the film and clips in the bank vault as he did before. The digital copy also has strict security measures. If you want to open it, you need two people with different passwords to decrypt it.
It's not that Duke is too careful, but that Hollywood leaked copies happened many times. (To be continued...)