Chapter 594： The 300 Spartans

The news that "Mrs. & Mrs. Smith" broke the 200 million mark in the world returned, making Firefly Films filled with a beaming atmosphere.

After all, the movie is a big sell, and Lehmann is not stingy to take part of the box office profits as a bonus for the behind-the-scenes production. This is the case for every movie, and everyone will be more enthusiastic about their work when they see the bonus.

And in this case, Zach Snyder came.

December 26, around nine in the morning.

Zha Dao carried a shoulder bag, smiled at the girl at the front desk of the company, and then went upstairs and knocked on the door of Lehman's office.

"Come in." Lyman's voice came from inside.

"Hi, Zach." Lyman looked at the person who came and asked with a smile, "Is there any new project?"

"Well, I have a little idea." Zha Dao quickly replied.

In fact, if there is nothing to do, these cooperating directors will not come to Firefly Pictures often.

Zha Dao put down the shoulder bag, took out a book from it, and handed it to Lehman.

"It's something I've been thinking about lately," Zach Snyder mulled his words. "I love this comic so much, I wanted to bring it to the big screen for a long time."

""300 Dead"?"

As soon as he opened the book, Lehmann knew which project it was.

In the future, Zack Snyder can enjoy the reputation of "special effect control" in Hollywood, because this product can make **** violence as elegant and gorgeous as ballet, and the rich and colorful style on the screen is often evaluated by later generations as "oil painting". The cinematic lens" is his most personal characteristic.

In the original time and space, Zha Dao took a break after filming "Dawn of the Living Dead", and then saw the strong and distinct "Sin City" in the cinema. The film's strange black and white comic composition prompted this product to be ordered. Determined to also make a work with a unique visual style.

In the end, he chose another well-known comic book by Frank Miller, "300 Dead."

Lyman still lamented that the "bad taste" of this product seems to be consistent, but Zach Snyder is still happily talking about his ideas about adapting "300 Dead".

Suddenly, he mentioned again: "Mr. Rust, didn't you buy a special effects company? I thought, can you give them priority to prepare this project? I think that special effects can be used to combine war scenes, the sense of picture is absolutely It will shock the audience. As long as you nod, I will immediately go to the author again."

"Wait," Lyman wondered, "hasn't the original author, Frank Miller, licensed it to you?"

Zach smiled brightly, "He said that he didn't see that I had the talent to direct his comics. I was just about to shoot a few scenes and then try to convince him. However, first of all, there must be a foundation for the establishment of the project."

Well, the foundation of the project is of course funding. If no one invests the money, it will not be possible to get the authorization.

Lyman nodded in understanding.

Then he said: "This idea is good, and the company is willing to invest. However, how much budget do you plan to use to bring your comic book adaptation movie to the screen?"

"At least 65 million." Zach obviously thought about the budget issue in detail, and quickly replied: "The movie has many war scenes that cost money, and a lot of special effects work is needed to render the picture. It’s not small, and it can’t be saved.”

"Understood, then how should your studio share and director salary be calculated?"

The problem is the real profit sharing. Lehman wanted to hear what Zhadao had to say.

He is no better than Wen Ziren and Nolan, and Lyman's friendship with him is not that great.

"Uh..." Zach Snyder was stunned, and then followed the quotations from directors invited by other companies after "New York Trip", and after thinking for a while, gave his own psychological expectations, "The division of the studio is based on the rules. , I can invest at least 12 million US dollars proportionally, the copyright of the adaptation belongs to the company, and my director salary is only 8 million."

Americans don't mind the naked talk of interests, and Lehman also thinks that Zhadao's offer is very reasonable, at least he didn't open his mouth once he got the upper hand, and he didn't care about the basis of cooperation, that is, the studio should take the lead. with dominance.

If not, Lyman would rather not invest in 300 Dead.

After all, this movie needs a good and powerful distribution company. After this part of the profit is released, the profit that Firefly can get will not be much.

Of course, this "not much" is compared to the own project that Blue Butterfly Pictures took over. In fact, the project itself still has great market prospects.

It can be produced with a budget of less than 70 million US dollars and won 456 million US dollars worldwide. How to see "Spartan Three Hundred Warriors" is also an explosion.

Later, what surprised Zach Snyder even more was that Lyman planned to personally negotiate with comic book author Frank Miller about the adaptation.

Okay, Zha Dao's heart is like 15 buckets of water - he was absent-minded all morning, thinking about whether Leiman valued himself too much and how he should repay this attention.

In fact, this fellow thinks too much.

Lehman is just curious about Frank Miller, a comic master who has made great achievements. He also made a good relationship for "Batman". When the second part came out, there were too many adaptations, and he abandoned most of the character settings of the comics. Provoked the original author to scold.

People with this temperament do too much creation.

With a strange mood, Zha Dao went to the digital realm and didn't regain his senses. After he almost broke things, he woke up and concentrated on getting the movie clips that he was going to show the author in front of him.

I just wanted to show the style of the adaptation, but it wasn't too complicated. After spending a day to get it done, Lehmann took Zada ​​to contact Frank Miller.

People only got the bonus of "Sin City", and after receiving the invitation from Lehman, they did not refuse.

Inside the box of a private club.

Because of Laiman's deliberate courtesy, this meal was quite comfortable, and the dishes were all made according to the appetite of middle-aged and elderly people.

A fish is slippery, skin, bones, and spines are removed, and only the soft belly meat is minced into a paste, kneaded into small meat balls, and simmered with broth over low heat.

The mouth is smooth and delicious.

From this, it can be seen that Lehmann was thinking about this meal.

Wine has good wine, and feast has good feast.

Even knowing that the boss of a studio would arrange such an arrangement, he would definitely ask for something, which made Frank Miller quite warm, and he had also seen "Mystery of the Shadow" and was deeply influenced by his works. Happy too.

He's 48 this year, and as he puts it himself, "My job is to make comics. My job is to make up bad guys, imagine all kinds of evil people, even demons. Of course, there are also heroic saviors."

But in his world, the savior may not always have a good destination.

Most of Frank Miller's works should be tragic heroes, so he will say that Nolan's version of "Batman" is very good, because it has created a flesh-and-blood Batman, and Bruce Wayne is a hero , but he is not God.

After Leiman waited for the waiter to pack up and go out, he said, "Zha Dao and I came here for "300 Dead", you should have met him."

Frank Miller looked like a western cowboy, and his eyes were always firm.

He put down the coffee, took a tissue and wiped his lips, thinking about everything he knew about Firefly Pictures, "Is your company going to make it?"

"Sir, do you think we can't succeed? Or do we not have the qualifications?" Ryman asked rhetorically I don't actually want my works to be put on the big screen. After all, movies and comics are two carriers, so what? cannot be fully restored. "Frank Miller is indeed a stubborn person, and if the average cartoonist hears that the studio wants to adapt, for the money, or for the reputation, it is rare to say no, but Frank is famous for his refusal.

Whether it is "Sin City" or his other works, the adaptation copyright can be kept until now, and it has been rejected.

You know, some popular ones have basically been hoarded by major studios. Frank Miller's comics have always had a good reputation, and many people have been moved.

That is, even if you don't shoot, it's good to spend a little money to buy the copyright.

However, they all failed to do so.

Frank recalled: "I saw a movie about the battle of Sparta Hot Springs when I was very young, and then I started to create comics. Since the 1990s, I have been collecting information for "300 Dead", wanting to restore the child. That kind of shock, so I can't stand my work being adapted into a Hollywood blockbuster like "Troy" to serve something ridiculous."