Chapter 480: Future Plans

Chapter 480: Chapter 480: Future Plans

The morning sunlight streamed diagonally through the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows into Irene’s office in Century City, Los Angeles.

The layout of the entire office was minimalist and restrained.

The bookshelves against the wall were neatly filled with script manuscripts, industry research reports, and thick dossiers of film and television market analysis.

On a corner of the desk were piled a few project files awaiting review for The Pursuit of Happyness and The Devil Wears Prada, and next to them was a stack of preparatory briefs for the battle PK stage of The Voice submitted by Violet from New York.

The secretary had brewed two cups of coffee in advance and placed them on the reception coffee table.

Not long after, the office door was gently knocked, and Adelaide Griffin arrived as promised.

He wore a dark gray custom suit and held a black leather briefcase under his arm, which contained the cost estimation materials for the superhero project organized by Fox.

After yesterday’s premiere of Van Helsing, there was still a hint of emotional sigh in his eyes regarding Universal’s potential crushing defeat.

Pushing the door open, he walked straight to the reception sofa and sat down.

Without redundant pleasantries, the two directly cut into the consultation for the independent film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Prior to this, Fox internally only regarded X-Men Origins: Wolverine as a popular supporting character in the X-Men series, and had never seriously considered developing a solo feature film for him alone.

It was precisely the concept Irene threw out at the premiere earlier that moved Fox’s senior executives to want to strip this character out and build an independent storyline.

"Our internal preliminary calculation is that if we want to make a qualified superhero solo film, the baseline for basic production costs must fall around 75 million US dollars." Adelaide opened the materials in the briefcase, his fingertips pointing across the printed cost estimation form, and looked up at Irene,

"But this is only basic shooting. The post-production special effects expenses of superhero movies are a bottomless pit. If the fight scenes and CG shots increase, it will easily break 90 million or even 100 million.

You are also clear about Fox’s concerns. While the main X-Men series is certainly profitable, derivative solo films belong to a completely new attempt, and the company’s board of directors is unwilling to rashly drop a huge bet of over 100 million."

Irene stroked the rim of her coffee cup with her fingertips and slowly spoke,

"75 million to 85 million is a relatively safe range and cannot be lower. X-Men Origins: Wolverine requires a large amount of close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, special effects makeup, special effects rendering of metal claws, and on-location shooting.

Money cannot be saved in these places. Blindly compressing the budget will only repeat the mistakes of Van Helsing, resulting in cheap special effects and directly ruining the audience’s sense of immersion."

Mentioning Van Helsing, the two fell silent for a brief moment.

With living lessons right before their eyes, some things really could not be economized on.

"The film genre cannot be made into a purely mindless, thrilling superhero blockbuster." Irene continued to sort out her thoughts,

"The core should lean towards action-drama, focusing on Logan’s character—his long, lonely lifespan, lost lover, painful memories of experimental modification, and his struggle with self-identity. The action scenes must be hardcore enough, but the story foundation must be anchored in the character’s destiny rather than simply piling up fight and explosion scenes."

Adelaide quickly recorded the key points in his notebook: "What about the shooting schedule? X-Men 3 will start shooting soon. If things go smoothly, it can be released next year, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine can start filming after X-Men 3 is released, and be released by 2008 at the latest. This way, it will not be too rushed in time, nor will it let the audience forget X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

Irene nodded, approving of this schedule.

"Reserve eight months for the preparation period, and control the official live-action shooting to around 120 days." Irene gave her own judgment,

"A large number of external locations need to be shot elsewhere, coupled with the time consumption of makeup and special effects, the time cannot be compressed any further, and the quality of the rushed finished product will definitely be greatly discounted.

As for the series planning, Warner Bros.’ new Batman series is about to be released. Based on my understanding of Christopher Nolan, I have a hunch that the other party will come out with a hit this time. We can learn from their rhythm.

The first film is an origin story, thoroughly explaining the background of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and establishing the character first.

If the box office and word of mouth of the first film meet the standard, we will then launch the development of the second and third films.

Do not sign a rigid agreement for a trilogy all at once; market feedback is the best ruler."

Talking about the most crucial issue, Adelaide raised his eyes, looking at Irene earnestly: "As for the director’s position, are you willing to take it over personally? The most ideal candidate for everyone inside Fox is you.

Your box office achievements are right there, and your understanding of the character is thorough enough. As long as you are credited as director, the board of directors is willing to make greater concessions on the budget."

Irene gently shook her head: "I will not serve as the director of this film."

This answer was beyond Adelaide’s expectations.

He slightly furrowed his brows: "Are you sure? This is a very potential IP."

Compared with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, of course she wanted to direct Iron Man more, but she would not say this out loud.

"I already have too many projects spread out on my hands." Irene explained methodically,

"The Pursuit of Happyness is still in post-production, auditions for The Devil Wears Prada are about to start, my variety show needs to be followed up remotely, the acquisition negotiations for Lucasfilm are continuing to drag on, Marvel will have new moves in the future, and most importantly, I have another movie project that needs to be completed afterwards.

I can promise you to serve as one of the Producers of this film, participating in the whole process of script polishing, casting, and post-production editing, controlling the overall direction for the team, but to shoulder the heavy burden of director, my energy really cannot manage both.

Forcing myself to concurrently serve as director will only make every project fail to reach perfection."

Adelaide pondered for a moment and had to admit reality.

Today’s Irene was long no longer a director who only focused on one or two works.

A whole entertainment empire in her hands was operating simultaneously, and being unable to be in two places at once was an objective fact.

"Very well." Adelaide closed his notebook, "Then the director candidate will be jointly screened by both of us. I will take your requirements back to Fox, and next we will simultaneously start the refinement and polishing of the script, and continue to coordinate subsequently."

All core issues had been thoroughly discussed, and the materials were put away one by one.

Adelaide closed his briefcase, stood up to take his leave, and when he walked to the office door, his steps paused, and he turned back to look at Irene sitting behind the desk.

"By the way, yesterday’s midnight box office for Universal’s Van Helsing has come out, and the first batch of audience reviews on the internet has also leaked out on a large scale. Have you seen the relevant data?"

Irene was lowering her head to browse through a variety show publicity report.

Hearing this, she raised her eyelids slightly and shook her head indifferently,

"Not yet. The sample base of the midnight screening is too small, and fan-oriented midnight screenings often carry great deceptiveness. Fandoms will rush to support it, so the reference value is limited.

I plan to wait until next Monday, after the complete opening-week box office data is fully publicized, to see the true colors of this movie. A blockbuster with an investment of over 100 million cannot be concluded by the numbers of midnight screenings."

Adelaide nodded in agreement, "That is right, then I will wait for the data to come out on Monday and synchronize with you." Having said that, he pushed the door open and left the office.