The Best Entertainment Era

It has been more than ten days since the release of Hellboy. The reason why Guillermo del Toro dragged on to find Ronan until now is because he wanted to complete the preliminary design of Romance of Men.

Sometimes, when I look up at the starry sky, I always feel small and lonely, and wonder if there are other beings in the universe.

In the reception room of the Relativity Building, Guillermo del Toro handed several design drawings to Ronan: But after completing this preliminary design, I found that I was completely in the wrong direction.

Ronan listened to Guillermo del Toro's words, and his eyes fell on the sketches in his hand. These are a few sketches, the artistry is average, but they are enough for people to see what the paintings are.

The first picture should be a submarine volcano erupting, and a monster similar to Godzilla emerges from the ground.

Ronan felt an inexplicable familiarity with this scene.

In the next picture, a mech that looks a bit like Megatron stands tall in the city.

Ronan thought of Guillermo del Toro's once widely circulated works.

Sure enough, in the third sketch, the huge mecha arm seems to be a cannon, aimed not far away, fighting a monster that looks like Godzilla.

Mechs, monsters, seabed, battles...

Ronan nodded secretly, this should be Atlantic Rim... No, it should be the preliminary design of Pacific Rim.

The Atlantic Rim I have seen before, like Titanic 2, is a gimmick.

Is this Robot vs. Monster? Ronan asked.

Guillermo del Toro corrected: Mechs and giant beasts.

Ronan put down the sketch and looked at Guillermo del Toro, who explained: These concepts all come from the island country.

I've heard of it. Ronan nodded slowly: For example, Ultraman who beats little monsters.

There used to be a saying that cats eat fish, dogs eat meat, and Ultraman eats little monsters.

Seeing that Ronan understood this, Guillermo del Toro felt relieved, picked up the first sketch, pointed to the seabed above, and said: The seabed plate is broken,

The alien monsters that emerge from this tunnel are bigger, fiercer and more brutal than any threat we have seen before. I call them monsters. To fight them, humanity has pooled all its resources to create the largest, most advanced, and most versatile weapons ever created. They created Project Hunter, a series of robots up to 25 stories tall, the last hope for human survival.

Ronan frowned: Gillmore, is there something wrong with this setting? He pointed to the cannon of the mecha: Why don't you use long-range weapons or aircrafts to load this weapon and launch it instead of using a huge robot to go up to melee? Woolen cloth?

This... Guillermo del Toro didn't think about these things at all, so he couldn't say Mechs are the ultimate romance for men, right?

Ronan is cautious about things that are too strong in these island country elements. After all, the reality of the North American film market lies here.

For example, The Grudge and Midnight Ring, according to his point of view, the original version of the island country is obviously better-looking, but the original version was released in North America without exception. On the contrary, the American version with a lower quality remake is a big hit at the box office. .

North America has a certain audience of island countries, but it is not popular culture.

For example, the well-known Spirited Away has been listed on various best lists including North American mainstream media, but its commercial response in North America is far less than its reputation.

It was screened in North American theaters twice, and the box office in North America was not even a fraction of that overseas.

Ronan is a film company, not an art institution. The first thing to consider must be the market, and market differences must be taken seriously.

Mecha is a concept and cultural product from an island country. Ronan is very cautious. After all, if this project is really going to be done, the investment is not so large: Gillmore, you should have heard of this concept. North America is the largest media culture in the world. Entertainment insulator.

This came as a surprise to Guillermo del Toro, who had expected Ronan to back the project the way he backed Hellboy.

After all, Sandsea Entertainment is also running a similar giant robot project.

Ronan, there are many people in North America who like mechas and monsters and other island cultures like me. Guillermo del Toro didn't want to give up lightly: There are also overseas markets, which are also conducive to peripheral operations.

He tentatively said: It is said that Shahai Entertainment is cooperating with Hasbro on Transformers, so there is no essential difference from mechs, right?

Ronan couldn't help laughing: How do you compare the two? Gilmour, Transformers has been on the market in North America for more than 20 years, and related toys were once popular in North America. How many people have played Transformers for more than 20 years? Toys? Transformers are childhood memories of many people? I don’t know much about other places, but in North America, mechs belong to a small cultural group, right?”

Perhaps with the further opening up of the Internet in the future, the audience of mechas will increase, but that is also the future.

Ronan further said: The culture of the island country has many audiences in North America, such as you, such as James Cameron, but Relativity Entertainment has always had business contacts with the island country, and also owns the copyright of many island country cultural products. market survey.

This is not a lie, but something that has actually been done: Island culture is a minority group in North America, which determines that if the investment is not high, the possibility of recovering the cost is greater, but if the investment is high, the audience is too narrow. How do you make a profit?

It dawned on Guillermo del Toro that Ronan was not just a film producer, but a film businessman!

Even the identity of the latter is above the former!

Ronan simply asked: Gillmore, you are very familiar with special effects production. Now, how much production budget do you need to achieve the effect you planned?

In this era, although cg special effects are much cheaper, they are incomparable with those after 2010.

He is not an outsider, and Guillermo del Toro can't tell lies with his eyes open. He has also considered it: Probably about 200 million US dollars.

Ronan continued: This kind of production investment, plus publicity and distribution, will cost at least 300 million US dollars. For such a theme, the investment risk is too great.

Guillermo del Toro didn't know what to say. Before, he only started from the perspective of director and self-interest, and had no corresponding commercial considerations at all.

I suggest that this project be put on hold for the time being. Ronan was very frank: Gillmore, wait until we look at technological development and changes in the cultural market, and it will not be too late to make a decision in five or six years.

Guillermo del Toro was somewhat disappointed, but felt that what Ronan said was reasonable, but he did not give up on it. The three film director contracts he signed with Shahai Entertainment have expired. Hollywood is so big, it is not necessary Relativity entertains a family.

Well, this project is a little ahead of its time. Guillermo del Toro found himself a step down.

Ronan smiled and said: There are some ideas and ideas, and there is no need to rush.

Indeed. Guillermo del Toro had other plans and took out the script from his briefcase: Mechs and monsters are long-term plans. This is the next movie I want to shoot.

Ronan didn't say anything. He took the script and quickly browsed a part of it. The script was a copied manuscript, not a complete version. What was stapled together at the back was the project proposal.

At the same time, the name Pan's Labyrinth was also marked on the title page of the first draft script.

This is a fairy tale not suitable for children. I wanted to make a Spanish-language film that would become magical realism. When I was bored, I accidentally opened another magic door, and I had to complete three stories of trials.

Ronan was about to find the most critical part for the production company in this sentence: Gillmore, did you just say that you want to shoot a Spanish-language movie?

Guillermo del Toro is Mexican: Yeah, filming this production in my native language.

Ronan put down the script and asked, Have you made a budget?

About $30 million. Guillermo del Toro had a bad feeling: If it's less, I can't guarantee the degree of completion.

Today's Guillermo del Toro is well-known in Hollywood. He is not the kind of mentality of a small Mexican director. Just like the mechs and monsters we talked about before, of course we must strive for the best results in filming.

Guillermo del Toro had a good impression on Ronan in these several cooperations. Although Hellboy has undergone several edits in post-production, the result is good after all.

In general, Guillermo del Toro is a more reliable director.

Ronan thought for a while and said, Sandsea Entertainment can invest in your project. Without waiting for Guillermo del Toro to be happy, he said, But there is a premise that this must be an English film.

With such a large investment, to shoot a foreign language film, Ronan had to consider the risks and benefits.

English movie? Guillermo del Toro shook his head and said seriously: Ronan, I am a Mexican, and Spanish is my mother tongue. It has always been my wish to shoot a Spanish movie in Hollywood. .”

Many directors have their own wishes, such as Spielberg and Schindler's List, but the film company will not pay for each director's wish.

Ronan asked again: Gillmour, are you sure you want to make a Spanish language movie?

Guillermo del Toro sighed secretly, there is no way if the ideas do not agree: Yes, I have always planned it this way.

I can only say sorry. Ronan declined politely.

It's okay. Guillermo del Toro put away the script and shook hands with Ronan: No matter what, I have to say thank you.

Ronan understood what he meant, and said sincerely, Gillmore, I wish you good luck.