Chapter 439: R rated movie

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Walking into the coffee shop of the hotel where the crew stayed, Paul Anderson looked a little nervous. This was the first time he met a top Hollywood figure alone.

Especially thinking of the box office of "The Lord of the Rings: The Knight of the Two Towers", he couldn't help but feel a lot more nervous.

After all, the box office of "The Lord of the Rings: The Knight of the Two Towers", which is currently in theaters, is extremely terrifying.

Even the box office results on weekdays make people feel dumbfounded.

On the first working day of the film, the box office of "The Lord of the Rings: The Trooper of the Two Towers" fell sharply, and it only earned 15.24 million US dollars in a single day on Monday.

On Tuesday, it dropped sharply again, falling directly below 10 million U.S. dollars, and the single-day box office earned 9.56 million U.S. dollars.

But what is surprising is that on Wednesday, the box office of "The Lord of the Rings: The Trooper of the Two Towers" did not fall but rose, with a single-day box office of 14.59 million US dollars.

It again earned $12.63 million at the box office on Thursday.

After four working days, a total of 52.02 million US dollars was earned at the box office.

The accumulated box office in North America reached 152 million US dollars.

By the end of May, the North American box office of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" had reached more than 270 million U.S. dollars.

Within three weeks of its release, the box office in North America exceeded 270 million US dollars.

Orion Films can recover the cost of filming and make a lot of money based on North American box office revenue alone.

Even, this film may surpass the global box office performance of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring".

Paul Anderson watched in disbelief.

"Hello, Mr. Paul!"

Ryan took the initiative to shake hands with Paul Anderson and invited him to sit down, "How is the script preparation going?"

Paul Anderson sat down and replied nervously: "The main line of the script can be completed in a few days, but the details still need some time to be revised."

"It doesn't matter, you have enough time to perfect the script." Ryan knew he was worried about time.

In fact, the shooting plan of "Resident Evil" was not very urgent, and Ryan did not plan to write the script himself, he chose to hand it over to Paul Anderson.

Paul Anderson was not only the director of the original "Resident Evil", but also the crew producer and screenwriter.

Of course, in the original film, he has another identity, that is, the husband of the heroine Milla Jovovich.

As for what he said in his previous life, Paul Anderson filmed "Resident Evil" to pursue Milla Jovovich, which is not reliable at all.

Not to mention, the production company of the original film is Constantine Films, not Paul Anderson himself, and it is impossible to spend more than 30 million US dollars to chase Milla Jovovich.

In that case, it is estimated that Constantine Film Company will be the first to stand up and quit.

In addition, the two of them met while filming "Resident Evil", not Milla Jovovich who met first, and later "Resident Evil".

"Great."

Paul Anderson breathed a sigh of relief, "I want to chat with the people from the game company about the original idea of ​​"Resident Evil."

Then he hesitated and said, "Also, can you increase the budget a little bit!"

"This film requires a lot of action shots and makeup. With a budget of 30 million US dollars, it is estimated that it will be difficult to achieve the expected shooting effect."

Ryan thought for a moment and said, "It can be increased to $33 million."

The budget for the original Resident Evil was also $33 million.

"It's an R-rated movie, and with a budget of $33 million, you can make a great movie."

Ryan felt that it needed to be straightforward. This is an R-rated film, not a large-scale commercial film, and the budget cannot be too high.

With a budget of $33 million, it's not the most expensive project Paul Anderson has ever directed, but it's enough to make an R-rated film.

"With the popularity of the "Resident Evil" game, it's a little pity to shoot an R-rated movie." Paul Anderson felt a little pity.

The last game copyright film "Tomb Raider" adapted by Orion Films not only cost much more than 33 million U.S. dollars, but it was also a large-scale commercial film, not an R-rated film.

The investment in Hollywood R-rated movies has never been too high.

R-rated movies are inherently restricted. Some relatively conservative overseas countries do not allow R-rated movies to be released.

Even in North America, the number of viewers of an R-rated film is limited.

"Paul, you have to understand one thing."

Ryan shook his head helplessly, and said, "This is a project based on a zombie-themed game, and there will inevitably be a lot of violence in the film."

"Even for Orion Pictures, it is very difficult to change the rating of the film."

He changed his voice and continued: "Of course, when grading films in the future, Orion Pictures will try to get PG-13 as much as possible."

The production company and the North American distribution company of the original version of "Resident Evil" are Constantine Films, an old large film company from Germany, not a Hollywood film company in the United States.

Of course, Constantine Films did not choose to release it alone, but cooperated with a Hollywood film company called Mubao Films to release it.

Mubao Films is a subsidiary of Columbia Tristar Film Group, mainly engaged in theatrical short film series.

In terms of film classification, it is impossible for Sony Pictures to invest too many resources.

"Don't worry, Ryan, I will pay attention."

"Within the scope of not affecting the rhythm of the film, try to reduce the **** scenes in the film." Paul Anderson said with a smile.

Hollywood is not without its violent films, which are released with a PG-13 rating, almost every year.

But some attention should be paid, the appearance of eating should not be too ugly.

Ryan nodded and said, "Even if it's an R-rated movie, it doesn't matter. After all, when the project was first approved, this movie was positioned as an R-rated movie."

The original "Resident Evil" was an R-rated movie, and it was not the same success.

Of course, it can be rated as PG-13, which is naturally the best.

At least one PG-13-rated film has a certain chance of being imported across the Pacific Ocean. If it is an R-rated film, there is no hope of being introduced in the next few years.

The original version of the first "Resident Evil" was released in 2002, and it was not until the fourth "Resident Evil 4" released in 2010 that it was introduced across the Pacific.

It's also an R-rated film.

It has to be said that the film market on the other side of the Pacific Ocean has gradually become more and more open.

This is definitely a good thing for Hollywood.

Paul-Anderson looked at Ryan's tentativeness and asked, "Among the candidates for the heroine..."

Ryan smiled and said, "Orion Films is negotiating with Milla Jovovich's agent. If there is no accident, Milla Jovovich will play the leading role in this film."

Milla Jovovich!

Paul Anderson looked surprised, "Is it Milla Jovovich, the heroine in "The Fifth Element"?"

Milla Jovovich, she still has a lot of fame, especially the "Fifth Element" she starred in, with a global box office of 263 million U.S. dollars, while the production cost of the film was only 80 million U.S. dollars.

Enough to be considered a blockbuster film.

"Yes." Ryan nodded.

"A great candidate." Paul Anderson said happily: "Milla Jovovich, she has a lot of popularity in the box office market in many countries and regions, which will be very helpful for the film's future promotion and release. .”

Most directors like to cooperate with some well-known actors, which can bring a lot of exposure to the film and box office.

An actress like Milla Jovovich who has starred in blockbuster movies and is not very paid is indeed a good choice.

The two chatted in detail for a while, and Paul Anderson left in a hurry, rushing back to complete the outline of the script.

After Paul Anderson left, Ryan continued to lead the crew to shoot scenes, and took time to pay attention to the progress of other projects.

In addition to "Resident Evil", Orion Pictures is also preparing for the crews of "Charlie's Angels" and "Grey's Anatomy".

Among them, "Grey's Anatomy" is relatively simple, and almost all of it is handed over to Shonda Rhimes, and Orion Pictures is more about assisting.

"Charlie's Angels" is one of the key projects of Orion Films, with a budget of about US$90 million to US$100 million The preliminary decision is made by Charlize-Theron, Maggie Lee, and Hillary- Swank starred.

In addition to Li Meiqi directly signing a film contract with Orion Films, the total of the three films is only less than 300,000 US dollars, and the remuneration of Charlize Theron and Hillary Swank is still under negotiation.

Compared to the unknown Li Maggie, Charlize Theron, as a first-line actress in Hollywood, will naturally not be cheap, and Helen even wants to get a basic salary of 20 million US dollars.

Hillary Swank's agent didn't care too much about the pay, but wanted to win more shots for the role.

For these matters, Ryan did not ask, but handed over to other people to be responsible for the negotiation.

He is considering serializing "Charlie's Angels" in this way.

The original "Charlie's Angels" was filmed in two parts.

The first "Charlie's Angels" sold well at the global box office, but the second "Charlie's Angels" was much worse, resulting in the termination of the third filming plan by Sony Pictures.