Chapter 567: Filming

"Damn Lion Gate, damn Link, damn the Six, damn them all!"

Weinstein Films, Harvey was furious after seeing the news that Lionsgate Pictures successfully joined the MPAA.

Since the year before last, he had heard that Lionsgate Pictures was applying to join the MPAA. However, due to interference from the Big Six, Lionsgate Pictures' plan fell through.

He was very happy at the time and felt that Lionsgate Pictures would never be able to join the MPAA due to the pressure from the big six.

But just over a year ago, the six major film studios let Lionsgate join the Motion Picture Association of America and become a member of the organization.

This made him very unhappy.

Although the MPAA is not an official organization, it has a strong say in the film industry. If a movie is recognized as restricted by the MPAA, it will not be able to attract audiences of all ages when it is released. It has a great impact.

When Harvey first became a film producer in the 1970s and 1980s, he was often forced by the MPAA to cut many scenes in order to attract more audiences to watch his films.

These things also taught him the importance of power.

Later, Miramax Pictures developed well, often ranking eighth among its peers, and often winning Oscars.

He also tried to apply to join the MPAA, applying seven times without success.

After Miramax was acquired by Disney in 1993, Disney took advantage of its influence in the MPAA.

After leaving Disney in 2005, I applied to join the MPAA many times, but still failed.

But now that the six major film studios have accepted Lions Gate to join the MPAA, he feels that he has been severely discriminated against.

At the same time, he was also dissatisfied with the executives of Warner and Disney. He originally agreed to cooperate with Warner Pictures to make movies, but he wanted to follow Warner to suppress Lionsgate, and it would be best to destroy Lionsgate.

As a result, the six major film studios saw that Lionsgate's movies were making money, and one after another they came to cooperate with Lionsgate, and even allowed Lionsgate to join the MPAA.

If this situation continues, Lionsgate will definitely become stronger and stronger, and it will become more difficult for Weinstein Pictures to catch up with Lionsgate.

This situation not only made him angry, but also desperate.

"Stop complaining. Lionsgate has been in the top three at the box office for two consecutive years. This year's box office data is even better. It doesn't matter if the six major film studios don't agree. Lionsgate joined the MPAA based on its strength."

Bob shook his head and said.

Harvey snorted unhappily. He also knew that Bob was right. Lionsgate Pictures has been a hit at the box office for two consecutive years and has a market value of more than 7 billion. It is stronger than MGM and DreamWorks before bankruptcy. It produces more movies every year. The number of movies is no less than that of the Six Major Movies.

According to the rules, Lionsgate is eligible to join the MPAA. If the Big Six continue to refuse, they will be questioned by public opinion.

But he still felt very uncomfortable. If he had not interfered with Jennifer Lawrence's casting in "The Hunger Games", Link would not have impulsively acquired Lionsgate Pictures.

Without the acquisition of Lionsgate, Lionsgate would not be as powerful as it is now, and Link would still be a small actor in Hollywood.

It can be said that Lions Gate is able to achieve its current scale thanks to his intervention, but Link has never been grateful.

snort!

"Harvey, the current situation is that Lionsgate has become a Hollywood giant. We have no power to destroy it, and there is no way to surpass Lionsgate at the box office. However, we also have an advantage. In terms of Oscar public relations, we are more Skilled, if you want to embarrass Link, there is only one way now, make more Oscar-level movies and beat him in awards.”

Bob said.

Harvey thought for a moment and nodded silently.

In terms of market value and box office, Weinstein Pictures cannot compare with Lionsgate, but when it comes to Oscar public relations, Weinstein Pictures will never admit defeat. This year, Weinstein Pictures and Warner Bros. collaborated to produce a number of high-quality literary films.

He believes that Lionsgate will not win so many awards at next year's Oscars.

Seeing Harvey nodding, Bob breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Harvey concentrates on making movies and doesn't think about bringing down Lionsgate all day long, with his ability, he can definitely make some good movies and help the company earn some money. money.

——

In the four weeks since its release, "Neighbors" has grossed a total of US$152 million in North American box office and US$124 million in overseas areas. The total box office is ranked in the top eight in the summer season, and it is also the movie with the highest revenue ratio in the summer season.

Lionsgate will earn more than $100 million from the film.

This week, Lionsgate's ninth film "So You Think You Can Dance" was released, produced by Summit Entertainment.

Since the first film produced by Summit Entertainment was a hit in 2006, four sequels have been filmed in succession. The first few films performed well at the box office. Although not as popular as the first film, they will still generate some profits.

The production cost of the film was US$15 million. In its first week of release in North America, the film grossed US$12.18 million at the box office, ranking fifth at the weekly box office, with an estimated box office of US$30 to 40 million.

In comparison, the overseas box office results were higher, with a box office of 32.61 million US dollars in the first week, and the overseas box office exceeded 50 million on the 16th day, which is not bad.

The best box office performance during the same period was "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction" produced by Paramount Pictures. It was released in mid-June. The North American box office exceeded 100 million in three days over the weekend. After 16 days of release, the North American box office exceeded 200 million.

Overseas box office sales exceeded US$400 million in three weeks.

The total box office is expected to exceed US$1 billion.

However, the production cost of the film was 210 million US dollars, and the publicity and distribution cost was more than 100 million US dollars.

Although the box office is high, the producer will not make much profit.

When competition in the North American film market became fierce, "American Sniper" ended filming in Southern California. The crew moved to Morocco for filming, and Link also followed the crew.

——

"Hold on!"

On a building on the outskirts of Rabat, the capital of Morocco, Link was carrying an M40A3 sniper rifle, his chin on the gun body, eyes fixed on the scope, and said into the microphone, "I saw a man two hundred yards away. The woman and a child walked towards the convoy. The woman’s arms did not move, as if she was hiding something.”

On the street not far away, a woman wearing a black robe and a black headscarf stopped, took out an anti-tank grenade from her arms and handed it to the child.

Link reported the situation through the microphone again, his tone very calm.

"You mean a woman and a child?"

The commander asked on the phone.

"Yes, have you seen it, can you be sure?"

Link asked.

"No, you know according to the rules of engagement, everything is up to you to decide."

The person on the phone said.

"Man, be careful, if you get it wrong, they're going to fire you and kick you back to Leavenworth."

The shooting assistant reminded from the side.

Link held the sniper rifle and continued to stare at the street. After the woman in black robe handed the anti-tank grenade to the little boy, the little boy ran towards the US tank with the grenade.

Link looked at the running little boy through the scope, and then pulled the trigger.

"cut!"

"No Good!"

Director Clint Eastwood took off the headphones and came over and said, "Link, your emotions are still not in place, and you have not shown the calmness and determination of a real sniper. Snipers are great weapons on the battlefield. When executing Even if there is some hesitation during the task, he will quickly enter the state. ”

"Clint, I understand, I'm adjusting."

Link exhaled and said.

Director Clint said nothing more, patted him on the shoulder and asked the crew to prepare.

Link took a deep breath through his nose, feeling a little complicated.

At the beginning of filming, everything went smoothly. Whether it was an emotional scene, a friendship scene, or a role as a nanny, he could handle it very accurately. However, when filming such a highly realistic war scene, he The acting was a bit choppy.

The main reason is still a mental issue.

The protagonist of the movie, Chris Kyle, is a sharpshooter who has killed more than 200 targets on the battlefield in Iraq, including Iraqi soldiers, civilians, terrorists, and even women and children.

Link is a boxer. Although he has killed people, he has never killed anyone intentionally.

When filming this kind of scene, he not only needs to step in and show the psychological burden of killing people, but he also needs to jump out and show calmness and decisiveness. This seems simple, but it is not easy to truly express such complex emotions. .

Just like in the scene just now, the hero's target is a five or six-year-old boy.

During the performance, although it was a simulated shooting, when I pulled the trigger, I still felt a little awkward. I felt like I was really killing someone, and I was still a child.

Link shook his head, breathed in through his nose, and hinted in his mind that he was filming a movie, playing Chris Kyle, and killing the target was to protect his comrades, not to kill innocent people indiscriminately.

"Scene 74, 4 shots and 3 shots, Action!"

The shooting continued. After seeing the target, Link reported to the commander, then took aim at the target and calmly pulled the trigger. Two times, the little boy and the woman in black robe fell one after another.

"This evil bitch."

The shooting assistant cursed after seeing the black-robed woman fall.

"Well done, Texan. Really awesome."

The commander said into the microphone.

"Copy that! You did a good job too."

Link replied.

"Fuck, man, do you hear that?"

The shooting assistant patted his shoulder excitedly and laughed.

"Get out! Stay away from me."

Link said with a cold face.

"Cut!"

After this one was passed, in order to improve the quality of the shot, Director Clint shot another one.

This scene took one day to complete.

After filming, Link continued to read the script and prepare for tomorrow's filming task.

During the filming in Morocco, Chris Liu, Emma Watson, Nozomi Sasaki, Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Taeyeon and others came to visit the crew one after another and stayed with him for three or four days. Link's life on the set was pretty good.

He and the crew spent more than 20 days filming in Morocco, and then returned to Santa Clarita, Southern California.

It wasn't until mid-July that all his scenes were completed.

After filming this movie, because he was deeply involved, his emotions were also affected to some extent, similar to PTSD and post-traumatic stress disorder.

At Evaca's suggestion, the family flew to Brazil to watch the World Cup. Since the World Cup was held in scattered venues, he and Ivaca did not travel too far and only stayed in Rio de Janeiro to appreciate the Brazilian customs.

Finally, we watched the World Cup final at the Maracana Stadium. In the end, the German team defeated the Argentina team led by Messi 1:0 and won the World Cup championship.

He made bets with the little guys and won several hundred dollars.

When the World Cup ended in late July, Link and Iwaka returned to Los Angeles with their unfinished children.