Chapter 1996 1998 [Escape from Clone Island]

  In March, the filming of "Rage Rescue" began.

  The investment of this film is only 60 million US dollars, which is considered to be the film with the smallest investment by Xiang Nan in recent years.

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

  March is also the day when the Oscars are held.

   This year's Oscars is dominated by "The Return of the King of the Rings".

  It has been shortlisted for eleven awards in total, and it is very competitive in awards such as best film, best director, and best visual effects.

  Senant asked January Jones to walk the red carpet together. January Jones played the White Queen in "X-Men: First Class", which is really amazing.

  In fact, after she debuted as a model in 1996, she immediately attracted the attention of the industry. Because of her appearance, she resembled Grace Kelly, the golden-haired beauty in Hollywood in the 1950s.

  Grace is a Hollywood legend, who has fascinated many fans, and the industry has always wanted to reshape this legend. Therefore, after January Jones made his debut, he was very popular in the industry. She has acted in many film and television dramas successively. Although the box office and word-of-mouth are average, she can still receive film appointments.

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

On the one hand, Naomi Watts has become famous, "Mulholland Drive", "Bourne Shadow 3", and then she took on Lionsgate's "American version of Midnight Bell", and now the salary is almost 500 Ten thousand U.S. dollars. And January Jones is not yet famous, and the film salary is only 500,000 US 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 will not be a big problem.

   What's more, January Jones and Naomi Watts are both blond beauties. The appearance of the two should be said to be comparable, so the replacement is also a replacement.

   On the one hand, Xiang Nan and Naomi Watts have already cooperated in "Bourne Shadow 3". Naomi Watts is thirty-six years old, although she looks pretty. Although it is properly maintained, it still looks pink and young, but the details cannot be hidden from others.

  There are wrinkles around her eyes, her skin is no longer elastic, and her muscles are no longer firm. In comparison, of course, young girls are 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 since she became popular.

  Seeing that they are going to be thirty years old, and once they are over thirty years old, the stardom of actresses will gradually decline. This rule, even Michelle Pfeiffer, Sophie Marceau, and Monica Bellucci, are hard to avoid.

  So after accepting the invitation, she immediately agreed.

  …

  Walking through the red carpet, after the interview, Xiang Nan and the two entered the awards hall.

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

   "Charles, I have a good project, can you listen to me?" Spielberg approached.

   "Okay, tell me." Xiang Nan nodded.

  January watched, shocked.

    Spielberg is one of the most outstanding directors in Hollywood, but also one of the Big Three of DreamWorks. Such a great person, in front of a small actor like her, is almost 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 deeply.

  Spielberg then told the outline of the story.

  His new project is about a post-apocalyptic, utopian community of people living underground. They study and work conscientiously, just to be selected to live on the mysterious island in the future. It is said that it is the only surviving paradise on earth.

  But I didn't expect that all this was actually a conspiracy. It's not the end of the world at all, and there's no Mystery at all. They're all clones, and they're doing organ transplants for the rich.

  So, the hero and heroine tried every means to escape from the community and went to the surface to find the truth...

  Xian Nanyue felt more and more that this movie was the "Escape from Clone Island" that killed many people.

This "Escape from Clone Island", with an investment of 125 million US dollars, invited Ewan McGregor, who became popular with the "Star Wars" series, and "Lost in Translation", "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and Starring Scarlett Johansson, who became popular in "Ma Yu Zhe".

  The director is Michael Bay, who has become popular with "Bad Boys", "Into the Deadly Island", "Pearl Harbor", and "Peerless Heist".

  No matter how you look at such a lineup, it looks like a blockbuster. In fact, DreamWorks also thought the movie would make at least a billion dollars at the box office.

  The shocking result is that the movie only grossed 30 million U.S. dollars at the box office in the U.S., and the global box office barely exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars, causing DreamWorks to lose 100 million U.S. dollars.

   As a result, DreamWorks' stock price plummeted, disappointing shareholders, and was eventually forced to sell to Paramount, and "Escape from Clone Island" was also listed among Hollywood's most money-losing movies.

   Starring Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor and director Michael Bay were also hit hard, and it took several years of decadence 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, the British writer Adulce Huxley conceived a scene where clones would work in the future city 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 have introduced the concept of human cloning, and film and television dramas are no exception.

Like "Blade Runner" starring Harrison Ford in the 1980s, "The Sixth Day" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2000, "Mutants" starring Ethan Hawke, George Lew "Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones" directed by Cass... It can be said that there are too many 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, a high-concept film requires originality. If they are all clichéd stories, why should the audience spend money to enter the theater.

  Furthermore, the foreshadowing in the front of the movie is too cumbersome, while the chase and explosion scenes in the back are really too routine. Michael Bay has made many commercial blockbusters before, and the endings are all explosions and car chases without exception, so he is called "Explosion Bay".

  Although the explosion scenes he shot were really exciting and sensational, the audience didn’t want to buy them when he always played this routine.

   Therefore, most of this movie is lost in the subject matter, and the lesser half is lost in the director's choice.

   Xiang Nan was naturally unwilling to invest in this loss-making movie.

  (end of this chapter)