บท 224: Chapter 224: Reinventing a Classic
Vanity Fair magazine had canceled this year's Oscar party, but the Oscar organizing committee still held a celebratory reception of their own. Lin Mingyang, who was holding a small gold man in each hand, stepped into the reception with Eckles after fulfilling the reporters' requests to take pictures.
Although the threshold of entry was not as high as the Vanity Fair reception, those who were able to receive invitations to the reception were either this evening's Oscar winners or the Hollywood entertainment industry's dignitaries. The scene of socializing Lin Mingyang still habitually want to throw to Eckles, but now his identity is not what it used to be. MGM Studios chairman's identity is there, at the reception, no matter where he went, surrounded by a circle of deliberately complimentary or intentionally close to the people, everyone wants to get along with the new generation of Hollywood's powerful figures. The attitude of these people was either cautious or curt, so the conversation made Lin Ming Yang feel uncomfortable.
In the cocktail party surrounded him, even to go to the bathroom, there is a "ghost head" guy quietly followed behind. Discovering that someone is following, Lin Mingyang quickly dodged into the bathroom, the man hurriedly followed in, but pushed open the door, but found that it was empty, where there is still Lin Mingyang's silhouette.
"Are you looking for me?" A voice rang out from behind the guy, startling him.
Lin Ming Yang, who had been hiding behind the door just now, came out, holding his hands and staring at the guy who was following him.
"Mr. Felix...what a coincidence, I didn't expect to run into you here!" The speed with which that guy changed his face was beyond Lin Ming Yang's imagination, the embarrassed look on his face flashed by and was immediately replaced with an expression of surprise.
"So it wasn't looking for me...then excuse me!"
Lin Mingyang shrugged helplessly and turned around, ready to leave. Seeing that the momentum was wrong, the guy hurriedly and quickly stepped forward, stopping Lin Ming Yang's path. He followed up with an explanation, "Mr. Felix... well, I admit that I did look for you for something, but the reception was crowded and it wasn't very convenient to talk about it. I saw that you were about to go to the restroom, so I followed you!"
Lin Ming Yang didn't have the time to beat around the bush with him, "There's only the two of us here, so if there's something you can just say it!"
"My name is Steven Cannell, I used to be a producer for Fox TV before..."
Lin Ming Yang noticed that he used the past tense tense when he introduced his profession, he asked curiously, "What do you mean by used to be?"
Stephen Cannell laughed bitterly, "Because I've resigned now!"
"I'm sorry to hear that...but is there anything I can do to help you?" Lin Mingyang's first sentence was purely polite, but the latter one was sincere. He knew that the other party wouldn't come to his door at this time for no reason.
Stephen Cannell spoke bluntly, "After leaving Fox, I became an independent producer, and I'm here to see you this time, mainly because I want to have a collaboration with MGM...I have a good script in my hands, but I lack the funds to shoot it."
Upon hearing that the other party wanted to make a movie with him, Lin Ming Yang immediately became interested, "I wonder what kind of story that would be?"
"I don't know if you've seen a TV series called 'The-A-Team' aired by NBC in 1983? I was the producer of that TV show and own the rights to it, and now I want to adapt it into a movie..."
In the middle of Stephen Cannell's introduction, Lin Mingyang gently interjected, "In 1983, at that time, both of my parents were still in love..."
Cannell froze, cursing himself for being confused in his mind, he had considered every aspect of the issue, only omitting the issue of the age of the MGM chairman in front of him. Lin Mingyang was now less than 22 years old, a point that was often overlooked.
Seeing Stephen Cannell at a loss for words, the corner of Lin Ming Yang's mouth suddenly revealed a smile when he had gotten away with his mischief.
"Mr. Cannell, I'm sorry for joking with you just now, I hope you don't mind,... It's true that I wasn't even born when The-A-Team aired, but I've since watched this classic TV series, Mudbud, Little White, Odd Head, and Tsunami Wolf, these are all familiar names that accompanied me in my childhood growing up."
One of the most iconic TV episodes in the history of American television, The -A-Team premiered on January 23, 1983 on NBC, and on December 30, 1986 the entire series was broadcast. It is a classic because the series pioneered two firsts in American television history: the first television series to be broadcast in a unit format and the first to be produced on a high budget.
Cannell didn't mind Lin Ming Yang's joke, in fact he was relieved in his heart. Listening to Lin Mingyang's tone, this chairman of MGM had not only seen this TV series, but his appreciation was overflowing. Lin Mingyang's reaction gave Cannell more confidence in the prospects of this cooperation.
"The plan to make a movie version of 'Sky Dragon Troopers' actually matured in the mid-1990s, but after several screenwriters' rewrites and incorporating the ideas of several directors, the movie version of 'Sky Dragon Troopers' never got off the ground, and a large part of the reason for this was that Fox and I never reached a consensus...I don't want the movie version of SKYFALL to be a sloppy, boring production, I want it to show the essence of the TV series, and the kind of qualities that make TV entertaining, exciting, tense, and funny."
The TV series follows a group of Vietnam War veteran heroes who are court-martialed for allegedly disobeying military orders. The trial is in fact unfair, so the four men take advantage of the opportunity to escape from prison and hide out in Los Angeles. They aspire to a life of freedom and adventure, not wanting to be constrained, they risk their lives to solve problems, and for the right price, anyone can hire them to sell their lives, but they also often fight for justice at no cost, which is why they have formed - the Sky Dragon Task Force.
As envisioned by Stephen Cannell, the movie version of the Skrulls was to have a similar vibe and atmosphere as the TV series. This is because with such a classic as well as popular TV series, any drastic changes would ruin the image of the TV series in the minds of the audience.
"I think that in order to remake a TV series into a movie, we have to follow the plot of the TV series, if we have to completely rewrite a script that is totally different from what we have seen in the past, then there is no need to remake the TV series into a movie, wouldn't it be better to just produce an original movie? So, since we're remaking a TV series into a movie, then we should restore the essence and feel of the TV series!"
Lin Mingyang clasped his hands and listened carefully to Stephen Cannell's thoughts. If it was before, he would have agreed to collaborate with the other party without hesitation, but now his status and position and insightful experience dictated that it was impossible for him to agree to the other party so rashly, not to mention that in his opinion, Cannell's ideas were still a bit too conservative.
"Your vision does fascinate me, but it's impossible for 'Sky Dragon Troopers' to be made into a movie with complete and utter respect for the original. The TV series is, after all, 25 years old, and whether it's the backstory of the Vietnam War or all the weaponry used in the show, how much of a market do you think there would still be for it if it were put into today's commercial movies?"
A confused expression appeared on Cannell's face, "What do you mean..."
"Let me put it to you this way, the essence of the movie's plot can be retained, but the presentation must undergo a complete replacement!" Lin Mingyang didn't rush Stephen Cannell into making a decision, "You can think about it... if you can accept such a revised program, you're always welcome to come see me at MGM!"
----
A large number of gunfights, flying car chases, helicopter chases... powerful action scenes refracted dappled light and shadow on the screen, reflecting on the two faces with varying expressions as Lin Ming Yang and Eckles sat in a small screening room at MGM's headquarters, having just watched an episode of Sky Dragon Troopers in its entirety.
After the reflection was over, Ecks was the first to stand up, he looked at Lin Ming Yang who was still sitting in his seat, unwilling to get up, and said, "If we're talking about scenes alone, this TV series is probably even more spectacular than the hot '24' of recent years, and adapting it into a movie should be wonderful... the problem is, can you guarantee that Cannell will definitely come to you? "
Lin Ming Yang bristled, "The truth is that I can't guarantee this either, but my intuition tells me that he should come to me!"
Ecks' eyes widened, "With that kind of inexplicable intuition, you dragged me here to accompany you and waste an afternoon?"
"Just think of it as revisiting a classic then!" Lin Ming Yang's disinterested look made Ecks look at him with itchy teeth, he was about to have a fit when his assistant, Cord, came in hurriedly at this time and attached himself to his ear and whispered a few words.
For a moment, Ecks' face blushed several times, and after Cord left he glanced helplessly towards Lin Ming Yang before saying word for word, "Congratulations on that so-called intuition of yours finally coming true, Cannell, he's here!"
Lin Ming Yang smiled and stood up, "Since the fish has taken the bait, let's go back and reel it in here!"
----
Cannell accepted Lin Ming Yang's earlier suggestion that in the new version of "Dragon Squad", the identities of the protagonists as "Vietnam veterans" would be replaced by the identities of "Iraqi war veterans". After he made such a "concession", Lin Mingyang and Eckles looked at each other, since the other party showed such sincerity, it seems that they should also show something.
Lin Mingyang continued to read the script, while Eckles chatted with Cannell: "I was still a teenager when 'Dragon Squad' was shown on TV, so of course I wouldn't miss such a heated drama. As long as it was showtime, I would sit in front of the TV and honestly watch those four members of the Skylanders take to the skies...I never thought that I would now have the opportunity to make a movie version of Skylanders...I think that you have made a very good choice, and that MGM won't mess this up...we want more than anyone to be able to make the feel of the TV show as it was at the time. "
Cannell looked at Lin Ming Yang who was flipping through the script next to him with some confusion, "Is this also Mr. Felix's idea?"
"Of course!" Ecks secretly despised himself in his heart, but on the surface, he still wore a sincere smile, "Felix has been talking to me for the past few days about various ideas about adapting this TV series into a movie... we've even started discussing the issue of casting the movie's characters."
As soon as Lin Ming Yang heard this, he knew that Ecks was full of it again, Ecks was making things up, but Cannell took it seriously. He had always hoped to find actors with a similar temperament and image to the actors of the TV series to star in the movie, so he was very interested in this question and asked after it.
Seeing that he could not get away with it, Eckles could only ask Lin Mingyang for help.
"Felix, what did we just say?"
Eckles was acting confused at this time, so Lin Mingyang had to step forward to wipe his ass. He closed the script, nodded at Cannell, and said fervently, "I do already have some ideas for a few of the characters in the show...first is that godly pilot Murdoch, what do you think of him?"
Lin Mingyang's laptop was on Ecks' desk at this time, he clicked open the web browser, quickly typed a name into the search item, pulled up the person's public profile directly from the internet, clicked on a character's headshot, and then turned the laptop around, with the screen directly aimed at Cannell, who was sitting on the opposite side of the desk.
Seeing the actor's high-definition headshot on the computer screen, Cannell froze for a moment, "That's not..."
Ecks, who had haphazardly kicked the ball to Lin Ming Yang, also curiously came over at this time, and then he froze along with him. Luckily, Cannell's attention was focused on the laptop screen at this time, and he didn't notice Ecks' strange expression at this time.
"Having seen District 9, you probably won't believe that Sharlto Copley has no prior experience in film or television acting... This South African actor is extremely talented in acting, and is especially suited to the kind of comedic roles with a bit of neurosis. He can definitely turn heads with his performances!" Lin Mingyang did not mince his words of praise for this actor he had worked with before.
Cannell stared at Sharlto Copley's picture for a long time before he hesitantly nodded his head, reluctantly recognizing Lin Mingyang's statement. Then he followed up by asking, "What about other roles, such as Templeton Pike, Mr. Felix are you considering casting this role?"
In the play Templeton Pike is a master of picking up women, no matter where he is, he is able to easily capture a woman's heart with his handsome appearance and fancy sweet words. It's not that difficult to play this role well, as long as you are handsome and charming enough. Such actors were a dime a dozen in Hollywood, so from the beginning this role was not Lin Ming Yang's main consideration. At this time Cannell asked, Lin Ming Yang had to shake his head.
Cannell didn't answer, but looked at Lin Ming Yang with a strange look, and Lin Ming Yang's inexplicably realized that Ecks had the same show on his face. "What's wrong with you guys, is there something wrong with what I said?"
Ecks saw the expression on Cannell's face and knew that the other party's thoughts should coincide with his. He laughed, "Felix, in fact, you are the most suitable person to play this role, Mr. Cannell, am I right?"
Cannell nodded cooperatively, "Mr. Eckles and I thought of the same thing. In fact, a big part of the reason I was considering working with MGM in the first place had to do with this...in my opinion, you are the perfect person to play this role of Pike!"
"Me?" Lin Ming Yang pointed at himself with a stunned expression, "You're not kidding, right?"
Cannell said with a serious face, "Do you think this looks like I'm looking at a joke with you?"
Ecks also chimed in, "Felix, I think it's a good offer, it's more than appropriate for you to star as Pike in the movie!"
Lin Ming Yang glared at Eckles in a bad mood, his little mind was not clear to others, but Lin Ming Yang's heart was like a mirror. Eckers is calculated that the movie by MGM investment shooting, Lin Mingyang can not be out of their own pockets out of money to pay their own salaries, right? By Lin Mingyang to play the role of Pike, the investment of the movie can save a large amount of payroll expenses.
Not waiting for Lin Ming Yang to make a decision, Eckles jumped the gun and said, "I think it's a good idea to settle this beforehand... Felix is playing Pike, so it's a good idea to cast Pike's ex-girlfriend in the movie... It seems like Kate has plenty of time on her hands... why don't we just let her play the role?"
Lin Ming Yang didn't say anything, Ecks' proposal obviously made him a bit tempted, while Cannell asked curiously, "Is the Kate you're talking about the female lead in Legend of Darkness, Ms. Kate Beckinsale?"
"As a matter of fact we know that one Kate!" Ecks squeezed his eyebrows and smiled at Lin Ming Yang, "Felix, what do you think?"
Lin Ming Yang coughed softly, he didn't answer directly but took the opportunity to change the subject.
"The most critical issue right now is the casting of the role of Hannibal, he's the 'head' of the Sky Dragon Troopers, and the most important role in the movie, we have to find an actor with enough weight to play this role!"
Regarding this role, Cannell originally favored Liam Neeson, no matter as a person or acting skills, Neeson in the industry are reputable, many actors and directors have appreciated him, the fans also ten minutes to love this polite temperament type Irish actor.
Neeson's outstanding performance in Schindler's List once earned him an Oscar nomination, but that was more than a decade ago, while Lin Mingyang is a real Oscar winner. The two appeared in a movie at the same time, and if Neeson couldn't overpower Lin Mingyang in terms of his aura, then there was no way to show the central leadership qualities of Hannibal's character, an outcome that Cannell obviously didn't want to see.
Lin Mingyang obviously did not think of a suitable candidate, Cannell was also at a loss, Ecks suddenly popped up at this time.
"What do you guys think of Al Pacino?"
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