Legendary Hollywood Director

Nicolas Cage was not at all surprised to hear Lyman on the other end of the phone offer him the role.

That would have made sense, wouldn't it?

It is easy to associate this result when a director asks CAA's partner agent to inquire about the contact information of an actor.

At this moment, he was standing by the bedroom window, looking at the night, and after thinking for a while, he said, Lyman, I am very grateful for your invitation, I have also heard about the film project Fury, but......

Nicolas Cage's voice was low, Oh, you should have heard the news of Wind Whisperer, I'm... a little bad now, I need to rest for a while, think about it, and adjust myself life, so...I'm sorry.

The circle is very large, but in the eyes of people like him, it is very small, and a lot of news will be actively concentrated in his ears.

Cage knows about the replacement of the male lead in Fury, and even knows that Brad Pitt was rejected and out, (oh, but I don't know, what are the negotiated salary conditions, and rarely do they get paid before a formal contract is signed. Some people took the initiative to say that it is a big taboo in the industry) He also has free time, but as he said, recently, his situation is a bit bad.

Lyman on the other end of the phone fell silent, caring about the right actor, forgetting that Nicolas Cage was on the cusp of it all.

The failure of Wind Whisperer is not just the bad luck of the investors and directors. Cage, as the starring role, is also involved.

The film was released on June 14 some time ago, and the cost of shooting alone was more than 110 million US dollars. All the costs of publicity, copying, distribution, media public relations, etc. for the later release did not need to spend money. Zhou only won 36.78 million at the box office, only once sat the North American weekly box office champion, and then fell rapidly after that.

As of today, June 27, the daily box office has barely recorded 1.64 million US dollars, and the total North American box office has reached 43.2356 million US dollars.

Investors are reluctant to let go of even the small money.

Judging from this situation, it is a blessing that the final box office in North America can exceed 50 million US dollars.

And the overseas market, let alone, everyone knows that it is a bad movie, it will hit the street, and no one wants to advertise it. If it is not announced, how can there be any momentum?

Film art, film art, after all, depends on market performance.

The theater chain is not a fool. How could it be possible to show it at a loss and profit? It is better to play an old movie. At least that little box office revenue does not need to be divided by so many people.

The major box office markets in various places are not optimistic, the promotion force is not enough, and the word of mouth of the movie is not good. Although they are still insisting on showing, the box office received is not as much as that in China, plus the distribution in various places. The profit sharing between merchants and theaters will only be less.

The production cost is 110 million, and the total global box office is now less than 70 million. The producer MGM Home Entertainment Pictures must have made a big mistake this time.

If only the market is not optimistic, the movie does not sell well, but the quality and reputation of the movie are not much better.

After the release, there were a lot of bad reviews, and a lot of film critics joined the carnival, and almost everyone was willing to step on it.

The average score of imdb is only 5.7. In this way, the idea of ​​relying on the offline market and surrounding copyrights to operate the capital can only be defeated.

After the arrival of such a blockbuster era, it is not that the box office cannot recover the cost, but relying on the perfect operation of other multi-channels, it can always recover a little blood, and slowly rely on time to complete profits. Even The Shawshank Redemption lost so badly back then. Later, the film's quality reputation began to increase, and it became the king of the offline video tape market.

Did you turn over successfully?

However, the premise of all this requires that the quality of the film is guaranteed, that is, the audience's reputation is better. It's okay to be good or not, but not both.

It's a pity that Wind Whisperer isn't great at either.

Forget about the film critics group, and most of the evaluations given by the audience who have seen it are negative. For example, the film only knows that it is immersed in the world of gunpowder and fighting, but it depicts the characters and the relationship between them. The description is extremely stingy; the literary drama is weak and empty; the background soundtrack of the film lacks new ideas, repeated again and again, quite mediocre...

Anyway, it's a big bad movie, boring.

Since 1981, the jury of the Golden Raspberry Awards, which is held every year, even released words to the media, saying that The Wind Whisperer will definitely enter the list of candidates for the 23rd Best Picture and Best Director next year ( This award is ironic, because of its particularity, it has also become a very popular selection activity. Well, the first worst actor award, they were awarded to the then-president of the United States, but he was an actor. Nader Wilson Reagan.)

Although Nicolas Cage's performance in it is not too bad, but it is a bad movie, and he can't escape the end of being penalized.

So, his recent situation is really bad.

Not only encountered the biggest Waterloo in his acting career, but also a commercial type film with huge investment.

Otherwise, in general, as early as a month or two ago, Nicolas Cage would have planned which movies he would pick up in the movie project plan collected by his agent, so as to avoid any problems of irregular schedules, but now, Not to mention continuing to act, he even rejected a role that he had already taken over.

His agent was right, a failure was nothing, but he needed to pick better projects.

Repeated failure is a precursor to the demise of an actor's career. Many people can attest to this fact.

He needs to calm down and avoid the limelight for a while.

But Lehmann was the first director to invite him after this, and his politeness was largely derived from this.

However, the risk is still too great, and it is another war-themed movie, and Cage is really flustered.

After all, I just failed a war movie, and in a blink of an eye, there is another similar one, and no one is afraid of it.

Lyman can imagine the refusal of Nicolas Cage.

I didn't think about it at first, I just thought that he was suitable.

But forget that those who are deep in the quagmire are afraid of going deeper.

He sighed silently in his heart, and although he was rejected, Lehman still tried to encourage: Cage, although the Windtalker thing is regrettable, the problem is not your role-playing, but It's the film itself that has a big problem.

Thank you, but Lyman... Nicolas Cage rubbed his forehead and said bitterly: It's an indisputable fact that the film failed, I can't escape, and I need to make a choice for this wrong. Come and pay.

I know, Cage, I understand your concerns very well. You don't want to experience the same failure a second time, do you? Lehmann said sincerely: But please believe me, I'm pretty sure I can shoot this well. The movie, it needs a good actor right now, and that's you.

Lehman's praise did not impress Nicolas Cage. He has been in the circle for a long time, and he has long been immune to these. But... I'm still sorry, I'm sorry.

Nicolas Cage's tone was very euphemistic, respecting each other and himself. He didn't want to mess with a director.

Can we meet? Lyman's words were dull for a moment before continuing: I think you can understand what kind of story this is, what it tells, and what are the characters like? Or, listen face to face. As a director, I am thinking about the creative ideas, and I am considering other things. If I still feel that it is not good, I will reject this film project, okay? Give us a chance to deepen communication with each other.”

Layman on the other end of the phone showed his sincerity, and Nicolas Cage couldn't directly reject it again. He nodded and said, Yes, I'm fine. When and where to meet?

The time is three o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow. You can decide the location.

The 'Time' cafe on Sunset Boulevard near the central plaza, okay? We'll meet there.

no problem.

...

The two exchanged a few polite greetings, then hung up the phone.

On this side, after putting down the phone, Nicolas Cage was still standing by the window sill in a trance, wondering what to think...

On the other side, after finishing the call, Lehman breathed a sigh of relief.

What kind of remuneration did he think about originally, but now that he thinks about it, it's really stupid.

Even the candidates have not been determined, so what's the use of talking about them.

If Nigras Cage doesn't want to act, he just says it and refuses it, that's difficult.

It's not bad that he agreed to his request to meet, at least, he can still try hard.

He believes that with his sincerity and complete creative ideas for a film, he can still have many chances to persuade Nicolas Cage to take over the role of Sergeant and join the Fury crew.

He rummaged through the drawers and began to prepare materials.

The rough character script, the drawn draft of the scene, as well as the detailed shooting plan and the scheduled set arrangement...

Anyway, the more detailed the relevant information prepared, the better, which can better show his sincerity as a director and an attitude of invitation.

Lyman knew that Nicolas Cage's biggest concern was that Fury would fail like The Wind Whisperer, so he had to prove his sufficiency and confidence, proving that the movie has a very high possibility of success.

This will convince him to act.

Movies are like gambling, and what he is doing now is to increase his chances of winning.

Nicolas Cage is such a good card, and Lyman would love to have it.

Good actors always make better films, don't they?