บท 158: Chapter 158 Building Bridges of Trust
Both of them were silent, the air seemed tense, and Ecks tried his best to break the silence, purposely trying to find something else to say, but the more anxious his heart became, the less he could think of anything else to say. He was so embarrassed that the sweat oozed out of him, and now he really felt a little hot. If not for Orson Ivey's assistant knocking on the door and walking in, he would have been embarrassed for who knows how long.
Office owner Orson Ai Wei's face is also gloomy terrible, this period of time he did not do anything smooth, naturally not in a good mood. The assistant was afraid of offending his boss, in reporting the situation also had to be careful to lower his voice.
What he brought to Orson Ivey was not good news, Disney sent out more than ten invitation letters of intent, but most of the replies received were refusals. These news heard Orson Ivey upset, he waved his hand, signaling his assistant to go out first.
"I just don't understand what's going on in the heads of those so-called big directors, letting such an excellent subject matter go unproduced, could it be that their heads are caught in the door panels?" Orson Ivey complained to Ecks.
"The more beautiful the bird, the more it likes to cherish its feathers!" Ecks laughed bitterly, he could understand Orson Ivey's current mood, "This is what Felix said, I think those big directors are worried about messing up this movie and having their hard-earned reputation ruined, so they don't dare to try it easily."
"You know, the film's filming investment will not be lower than the Pirates of the Caribbean series, such a huge sum of investment, how can the company be assured that such a movie will be handed over to some generalist, in case he smashes it?" Orson Ivey's concern is also the concern of Disney executives, they have high expectations for the Twilight series, if the movie fails at the box office, the loss will be unbearable for them.
Eckles also felt that this problem was really tricky, "It can't be that all the letters of intent you sent out were rejected, right?"
Orson Ivey was silent for a moment and slowly said, "Maybe there's one more!"
----
In Hollywood, if there was a person whose image and disguise was on par with Einstein's, if not more so, then he was either a madman or an unearthly genius. Just as every coin has two sides, geniuses are destined to have a crazy side, and crazy people are destined to have a genius side. Tim Burton is the perfect combination of genius and madness.
Tim Burton is known as the ghost director of Hollywood, such a nickname is the box office guarantee under the special treatment of the director, today's Hollywood, can get such a name of the person is really few and far between. Uncle Tee's movies, full of black humor of warmth and sadness, self-absorbed and very tense, the interplay of cold and warmth, is gorgeous in the eerie, cruel in the warmth, cozy in the darkness, a very bizarre world.
Tim Burton, dressed in black from head to toe, likes to attract attention with his exaggerated attire and costume. When it comes to Tim Burton himself, one might think of his eccentric hats, hairstyles, costumes, and beards. As for Uncle Tee's facial features and appearance, people hardly have any impression. Because he has been deliberately hiding behind his exaggerated costume since the beginning.
Since receiving the invitation letter from Disney, Tim Burton has been hesitant, the story of Twilight reminds him of Edward Scissorhands, only this time the main character has changed from a robot to a vampire, and the stylistic characteristics of gothic movies are becoming more and more obvious, so it can be said that this kind of theme is Uncle Tee's favorite.
Other directors are tied up in front of the success of the original Twilight novel, but Uncle Tee is confident that he can make his own style based on the plot of the novel, and the only thing he is worried about is the male lead.
Ever since the movie rights to Twilight were acquired by Disney, the question of who would star as the hero and heroine of the novel has been a hot topic of discussion and concern among readers. The choice of the heroine, Bella, was the most controversial, as different readers had different opinions regarding the understanding of this character, but in the choice of the hero, the vampire, Edward, the results obtained from both online votes and newspaper surveys were amazingly consistent. Lin Mingyang created this magical love story, and the role of Edward is like he tailored it for himself.
Uncle Tee loves to use his familiar actors in his movies, and compared to himself, Johnny Depp, who has the face of the world's sexiest man, charmed more general audiences in his movies. Edward Scissorhands" is the first collaboration between Uncle Tee and Johnny Depp. Depp's melancholic and gloomy temperament and unique way of speaking are considered by Uncle Tee as the best gift from God to show his style.
They established a good working relationship through this, and since then Johnny Depp has appeared frequently in Burton's movies. The two of them have formed a golden ghostly duo of worldwide fame, and over the past two decades, Tim Burton has not only taught Johnny Depp the grotesque, but has also acquired it from Depp. This imperial relationship with each other is hard to match in Hollywood.
Received Disney's invitation letter of intent, Uncle Tee first thought of his beloved Johnny Depp, if Depp can be ten years younger, he will not hesitate to enable him to serve as the film's leading man. Although Johnny Depp has been reigning as the most popular actor, it is very difficult to compete with Lin Ming Yang in this movie. The key is that Lin Ming Yang has a large number of loyal readers around the world through his novels, and there is also a large number of teenage fans who fully support him, and all of these people are strong guarantees of the movie's box office. It is impossible for Disney to seek farther away, and the hope of enabling Depp as the male lead is getting slimmer and slimmer.
The hesitation for the male lead made Tim Burton hesitate to make up his mind. Before formally replying to the Disney Company, he decided to give Johnny Depp a call to seek the other party's opinion first.
"Are you ready to take on Twilight?" The two of them often keep in touch with each other on the phone, and there was no longer any need for pleasantries and courtesies between the conversations; Tim Burton went straight to the point, and Johnny Depp's questions were straight to the point.
"It's just an intention at the moment, if I do become the director of that movie, I am prepared to let you take the lead role."
"Me?" Johnny Depp on the other end of the phone was quite surprised, and he suddenly laughed, "You can't be joking, right?"
"But I'm serious!" Tim Burton's tone was serious.
Johnny Depp stopped laughing, was silent for a moment, and quickly made a decision, "That role doesn't suit me, Felix is the most suitable leading man in everyone's mind."
Tim Burton knows Depp's person very well, the other party never talks to himself around the bend, because of this he felt strange: "Even you are optimistic about that boy?"
"You forget, I was always partners with him in Pirates of the Caribbean, this young man is really good, if you are really interested in that movie, you can get in touch with him first, Felix is a very interesting young man, I believe that you will not hold on to your current opinion after meeting him."
Despite Johnny Depp's high opinion of Lin Ming Yang, Uncle Tee was still skeptical, "I've heard that there are quite a few things wrong with that guy!"
"Faults and strengths are like the positive and negative sides of a coin, having a lot of faults just also shows how talented he is, there's always a bit of arrogance in young people, and of course Felix does have enough capital in him to be proud of. He's like an untamed wild horse that no ordinary director can handle."
Johnny Depp knew Tim Burton very well, normal methods if not able to convince the other party, agitation can often have an unexpected effect. Being told by him, Uncle Ti did feel the urge to meet Lin Ming Yang in his heart.
----
Tim Burton, who was in Los Angeles, had learned a lot about Lin Ming Yang from Johnny Depp on the phone, while far away in a cafe in the town of Cambridge in Boston, Lin Ming Yang and his agent, Eckles, were also talking about Tim Burton. Lin Mingyang and Tim Burton, two people who had never met but were concerned about each other, were coincidentally talking about each other at the same moment.
"Those who like Tim Burton's movies are a bunch of loners, I didn't think Disney would like his somber style."
Inwardly, Lin Mingyang did not have much resistance to Tim Burton, and with him as the director of Twilight, Lin Mingyang even had some vague expectations. Tim Burton as long as he can play like "Edward Scissorhands" level, the plot story of "Twilight" will be able to form a very perfect fit with the style of the director, the only thing that makes Lin Ming Yang worried is that Tim Burton will not make this movie too dark.
"Tim Burton and the Disney company's connection is not shallow, he received a scholarship from Disney when he studied at the California Institute of the Arts, and after graduation, he also logically went to the Disney company to work as an animator, the Disney company appreciated his talent and allowed him to create an animated short film "Vincent", which depicts the world of a 7-year-old boy The movie was well received by critics, but was not approved for public release because it was deemed too dark for children by the Disney Company. Tim Burton later created a 29-minute live-action short film based on the Frankenstein legend, which was also not approved for public release for the same reason."
Ecks had gotten all this information from Orson, and before this, Lin Mingyang had never even heard of these two works by Tim Burton.
"So Disney has changed its mind now?"
"Disney rejected Tim Burton that was more than twenty years ago, now the situation has changed a lot, the small painter of yesteryear is now a top Hollywood movie master." Ecks sighed softly, "Whether it's his personal image or his movie style, Tim Burton can be called the most distinctive Hollywood director in this era. He can make white hardened into black, or black hardened into white. But this kind of conversion or subversion is never unreasonable or claptrap. It's not really hard to be distinctive; what's hard is to be distinctive and still be well-received by the audience. It's safe to assume Tim Burton has done that, and done it with aplomb."
"Are these comments your own opinion, and is that now the attitude at Disney?"
"Both, but I think the possibility of Tim Burton taking over this movie is really high, after all, the stylistic themes of this novel of yours are all what he specializes in, of course none of these are actually what Disney needs to seriously consider, the key is that Tim Burton belongs to the kind of director who won't let investors lose money no matter how much he folds."
"Look at his remake of that 'Planet of the Apes' in '01, the film invested more than a hundred million dollars, after the release of the film was criticized by critics, is recognized as Tim Burton's worst standard of the film, almost does not reflect his style, but the box office is still a big seller. And the year before, "Big Fish", he should take the warm route, the film in the United States box office mediocre, and even by some fans who already like his gloomy style of criticism, but by overseas fans of the unanimous praise. And this year he followed it up with two more releases, and both did well."
After citing a large number of examples, Eckles came to this conclusion, "This Tim Burton guy has never been worried about not having anyone to invest in his movies, and once he agrees to do so, I think Disney will be coming to you for advice in no time."
----
Eckels wasn't wrong in his judgment in the general direction, but it wasn't the Disney representatives who came to the door first, but Tim Burton himself.
A head of long, fluffy, soothingly curly personalized hair and weird black-framed glasses, these two things had almost become Tim Burton's proprietary trademarks, and he just suddenly appeared at the door of Lin Ming Yang's dormitory without the slightest hint of forewarning.
When Lin Mingyang opened the door for him, Tim Burton was looking around at the aisles of this Harvard's oldest dormitory building, the dim light here had always been criticized by students, but Tim Burton liked this dark environment, and along with it, his impression of Lin Mingyang got a few points better.
Tim Burton's individualistic hairstyle reminded Lin Ming Yang of a classic comment made by a certain movie critic about Uncle Tee: "He must have stood on the roof of the Empire State Building in New York last night in an ever-changing single pose for an entire all-nighter. Where's the basis for that, you ask? His hair is the best basis." The reality is that Tim Burton is so otherworldly and so paranoid.
"This is a great place you live in!" Tim Burton was the first person to praise this dormitory building in front of Lin Mingyang.
"Your ideas are really different." Lin Ming Yang laughed as he made an inviting gesture towards the room, "Let's talk inside?"
Tim Burton nodded, he left the dark corridor with some fondness and walked into the suite's living room.
"Everyone says I'm a weirdo, and I admit I do stand out. But I think you're weird too, you always like to hide on campus when you clearly don't need to waste time in college, is that your way of proving your low profile?" Tim Burton, who had sat down on the sofa, looked at Lin Mingyang curiously.
"This should be considered a way of life for me personally at this stage!" Lin Mingyang laughed as he made Uncle Ti a cup of coffee.
"Twilight is your work, do you think it's appropriate for me to do it?" Tim Burton's second question made Lin Ming Yang appreciate his directness.
"Among your movies, my favorite is Edward Scissorhands, although the main character Edward has a weird and even a bit scary look, the cheerfulness and romance that the movie exudes is also outstanding. In fact, the storyline of Twilight is somewhat similar to that movie, so I think you are fully capable of handling the entire movie."
Tim Burton held his coffee but didn't rush to drink it, "If I'm the director of the movie now, then do you think it's appropriate if the lead role is taken by you?"
"I wouldn't wear long messy hair, nor would I accept weird and tragic heavy makeup!" Lin Ming Yang was also very direct in his attitude, "Other than that, I feel that I can basically meet your requirements."
Tim Burton raised his head and stared at Lin Ming Yang with a strange look for half a day, before finally grinning, "It seems that Depp was right, you are indeed an interesting fellow! Now it seems that we should be able to try and build a relationship of mutual trust between us. Even though I stubbornly believe that it's impossible for you to replace Depp's position in my movie works, I have to admit that for the male lead of the film 'Twilight', you are indeed a bit more suitable than him."
Lin Ming Yang shrugged, "So I passed?"
"It can be interpreted that way!" Tim Burton nodded, "In terms of character design, I will fully respect your original story, so you don't have to worry about turning into an ugly monster. This is my third time working with Disney, my previous two works were killed by them with the same reason, this time I will try to minimize the dark tone in the footage, which is used to cater to the vulgar tastes of the commercial movie investors and part of the audience."
Tim Burton's promise unloaded the last worry in Lin Ming Yang's heart. If Uncle Ti came here on a whim, Lin Mingyang probably wasn't too willing to believe it, but that was indeed the case. He came suddenly and left suddenly, the coffee in his hand was just a small shallow circle, Tim Burton stood up without warning, but before he left he gave Lin Ming Yang a piece of advice.
"But if you want to portray a classic character in this movie, not just have a bunch of childishly ignorant women screaming around you, then you should at least partially look up to Depp. I don't expect your performance to be a poor imitation, but at the very least you should show something different from those previous roles of yours in this movie."
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