In March, preparations for the filming of "Rescue" began.

The investment in this film was only US$60 million, which is Xiang Nan's smallest investment in recent years.

On the one hand, this movie does not require much money; on the other hand, the box office of pure action movies has declined in recent years, forcing the producers to reduce investment.

March is also the day when the Oscars are held.

This year's Oscars belong to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

It has been shortlisted for a total of eleven awards and is very competitive in awards such as Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Visual Effects.

Xiang Nan specially asked January Jones to walk the red carpet with her. The White Queen played by January Jones in "X-Men: First Class" is really stunning.

In fact, after she debuted as a model in 1996, she immediately attracted the attention of the industry. Because her appearance is very similar to Grace Kelly, the popular blonde beauty in Hollywood in the 1950s.

Grace is a legend in Hollywood. I don’t know how many fans have fascinated her. The industry has always wanted to reshape this legend. Therefore, January Jones has been very popular in the industry since her debut. She has appeared in many film and television dramas. Although the box office

Although her reputation is average, she still continues to receive film offers.

Xiang Nan is also preparing to arrange for her to replace Naomi Watts in "King Kong".

On the one hand, Naomi Watts has already become famous, with "Mulholland Drive" and "The Bourne Supremacy". After that, she took over Lionsgate Pictures' "American version of "The Ring", and now her salary is close to 500 yuan.

Ten thousand U.S. dollars. And January Jones is not famous yet, and his salary is only half a million U.S. dollars, which is ten times cheaper.

In the movie "King Kong", the most important character is the gorilla, and everyone else is just its foil, so changing the heroine won't be a big problem.

What's more, January Jones and Naomi Watts are both blond beauties. Their appearance should be said to be comparable, so they were replaced.

On the one hand, Xiang Nan and Naomi Watts have already collaborated on "The Bourne Supremacy". Although Naomi Watts is handsome and smooth, she is already thirty-six years old after all. Although she is well maintained, she looks

She is still pink and young, but the details cannot be hidden from others.

There are wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, her skin is no longer elastic, and her muscles are no longer firm. In comparison, of course the young girl is more attractive.

…

January Jones is also very interested in participating in Xiang Nan's new film. After all, she debuted in 1996 and it has been eight years now and she has not yet become popular.

It seems that we are about to turn thirty, and once we pass thirty, the stardom of actresses gradually declines. This rule applies even to Michelle Pfeiffer, Sophie Marceau, and Monica...

Bellucci, it’s hard to avoid.

So after accepting the invitation, she immediately agreed.

…

After walking through the red carpet and accepting the interview, Xiang Nan and the two entered the awards hall.

After taking their seats, the two waited for the award ceremony to be held.

"Charles, I have a good project, can you listen to me?" Spielberg came over and said.

"Okay, tell me." Xiang Nan nodded.

January looked on, shocked.

Spielberg is one of the most outstanding directors in Hollywood and one of the three giants of DreamWorks. Such a big shot, in front of a young actor like her, is as sacred as a god and cannot be looked at directly.

But I didn't expect that such a heavyweight director would have such a low profile in front of Xiang Nan, even a little humble, which shocked January.

Spielberg then recounted the outline of the story.

His new project tells the story of a group of people living underground in a utopian-like community after the end of the world. They study and work diligently in order to be selected to live on a mysterious island in the future. It is said that it is the only surviving island on earth.

Promised Land.

But I didn't expect that all this was a conspiracy. This is not the end of the world at all, and there is no mysterious island at all. They are all clones, providing organ transplants for rich people.

Therefore, the hero and heroine find ways to escape from the community and go to the surface to find the truth...

The more Xiang Nan listened to it, the more he felt that this movie was the same "Escape from Clone Island" that tricked people into killing people without paying for their lives.

This "Escape from Clone Island", with an investment of 125 million US dollars, invited Ewan McGregor, who became famous with the "Star Wars" series, and "Lost in Translation", "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and

Scarlett Johansson, who became famous in "The Horse Whispers", stars.

The director is Michael Bay, who is famous for his films such as "Bad Boys", "The Island", "Pearl Harbor", and "The Last Day".

No matter how you look at this lineup, it looks like a hit. In fact, DreamWorks also believes that this movie can take at least one billion US dollars at the box office.

The shocking result is that the film only took in US$30 million in box office in the United States, but barely exceeded US$100 million in global box office, causing DreamWorks to lose US$100 million.

As a result, DreamWorks' stock price plummeted, greatly disappointing shareholders, and it was eventually forced to sell to Paramount. "Escape from Clone Island" was also listed among the most profitable movies in Hollywood.

Starring Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor and director Michael Bay were also greatly affected, and it took them several years to recover.

…

The reason why "Escape from Clone Island" failed miserably at the box office is mainly because the concept of human cloning has long been confused.

In 1932, British writer Aldous Huxley imagined a future city staffed by clones in his novel Brave New World.

Later, with the discovery of genetic genes, cloning became more and more popular in science fiction works. A large number of works introduced the concept of human cloning, and movies and TV series are no exception.

Like "Blade Runner" starring Harrison Ford in the 1980s, "The Sixth Day" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2000s, "The Unknown" starring Ethan Hawke, George Lou

"Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" directed by Cass... It can be said that there are countless similar movies, TV series, and novels.

Since "Escape from Clone Island" is a commercial blockbuster and a high-concept movie, it can no longer use such a clichéd story. After all, the key to a high-concept movie is originality. If it is a clichéd story, why should the audience spend money to go to the theater.

Furthermore, the foreshadowing at the beginning of the movie is too cumbersome, and the chase and explosion scenes later are too cliche. Michael Bay has made many commercial blockbusters before, and the endings of the film without exception are all about explosions and car chases, so he is known as [

Explosive Shell].

Although the explosion scenes he shot are indeed wonderful and sensational, he always resorts to this trick and the audience is not willing to buy it.

Therefore, this movie loses mostly in its subject matter and half in the choice of director.
Chapter completed!