In the conference room of Legendary Pictures, a series of crew producers, including Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, are convening a meeting to discuss the next focus of work.
As an integral part of the Hollywood film industry and even every crew, Howard, a representative of Firefighter Fund Insurance Company, also attended the meeting.
This company served as the film's completion guarantee for the crew.
Hollywood can attract investors from all over the world. The completion guarantee system is the key. Insurance companies provide insurance to investors to ensure that the film can be completed. Once an accident occurs to the crew, the insurance company even has the right to take over the crew and recruit people to complete the film. Filming and production.
Once the production fails, the insurance company will pay a heavy price.
Therefore, in the early preparation stage of the crew, the guarantor will eliminate all negative factors.
The work was discussed one by one, and Howard did not interrupt. The guarantee for the completion of the film was to ensure the smooth operation of the crew, not to interfere with the work.
Charles Rowan, who chaired the meeting, quickly talked about an extremely important aspect of the film: the audition for the Joker actor.
"The film is similar to a duel between two pirates, and the role of the clown is very critical." Charles Rowan stood at the front of the conference table and said, "Currently, many actors have passed our initial selection."
He introduced one by one: "Martin Davis, the most popular young actor in recent years, has a strong commercial appeal; Robin Williams, an Oscar winner, can control many types of roles; Adri Ann Brody, the Oscar winner for Best Actor in the past few years; Heath Ledger, a representative of the acting school among young actors, has ten years of experience in the industry..."
One by one, the actors who passed the initial selection appeared on the projection screen.
"The crew will send out audition invitations to these actors," Charles Rowan said.
Nolan responded: "The specific results will be decided after the audition with makeup."
Warner Bros. and DC Comics support Nolan.
Another producer expressed doubts: "Heath Ledger is not suitable. He..."
"Heath Ledger is a good actor." Alan Horn of Warner Pictures interrupted him directly: "His gloomy temperament is very suitable for the role. Life and work in Hollywood have always been separate. As long as the character is portrayed The character is good enough, the movie is good, and the little things in private life are nothing."
Louise did not speak, but looked at her watch. She had just received a text message with only a few words.
"nailed it."
She knew before that that bastard Martin planned to kill the most threatening opponent before he got into the boxing ring for a duel.
In the lounge next to the conference room, Howard's assistant Phil received a call from someone claiming to be an employee of the Firefighters Fund.
The other party on the phone asked him to go watch TMZ immediately, which was related to the success or failure of the company's cooperation with Warner.
Phil opened the laptop he carried with him, connected it to the network cable next to him, logged into the TMZ website, and saw the news and videos at the top of the homepage.
After browsing through it quickly and confirming that it was significantly related to the company's projects, he hurried out of the lounge and knocked gently on the conference room door.
The company has regulations that when encountering similar situations, the relevant person in charge must be notified as soon as possible.
The conference room door opened, and the interrupted meeting was temporarily suspended.
Phil said sorry, quickly came to Howard's side, leaned close and whispered: "Something happened, the casting of the crew, TMZ..."
He spoke quickly and succinctly.
Howard nodded, motioned for him to find a place to sit temporarily, straightened his tie, put his arms on the conference table, and said: "Something has happened. I suggest that the meeting be temporarily suspended and take a look at the report on TMZ.
He had not seen relevant reports and would not express his position easily. He simply said: "It is directly related to the subsequent work of the crew."
"Put it on the screen," Charles Rowan told an assistant.
The assistant immediately performed relevant operations, and TMZ's website homepage soon appeared on the screen.
Everyone in the conference room saw Heath Ledger's name.
Alan Horn frowned slightly, feeling not very good.
Nolan mused.
Emma Thomas immediately recalled all the shit Heath Ledger had done before.
The success or failure of this movie is crucial to the couple's career.
Once you fail, you may never be able to make a comeback.
Charles Rowan said: "Open it."
The news opens and three videos are played one by one. There is only one person in them, Heath Ledger!
The most recent video, recorded today.
The people present in the conference room were all practitioners in Hollywood. They were no strangers to certain things. Just by taking a quick look, they understood what was going on.
Howard's job is to control risks. He was thinking about it while watching the video. After the video was played, he directly said: "Heath Ledger once endangered the lives of others because of his personal behavior on the Brooklyn set in New York. I didn't object before, thinking that He has changed his ways, but at present, the situation is not optimistic."
He concluded: "From the perspective of crew safety, I have reason to suspect that Heath Ledger may endanger the safety of other actors. If the crew uses Heath Ledger, it will jeopardize the filming and completion of the film."
Charles Rowan looked at Alan Horn, who was in the same company, and he hoped that Alan would not do something stupid.
Alan Horn said nothing, as if this had nothing to do with him.
Because of Bell's request, by the way, Allen Horn is fine, but he is never willing to take too many risks for this.
Charles Rowan exchanged glances with Orlin, the director of DC Comics, and quickly reached an agreement, saying: "Cancel Heath Ledger's audition invitation. He is not suitable for this crew."
Emma Thomas immediately followed and said: "I agree."
Nolan didn't speak. Bell had promised him, but this promise was obviously unreliable.
No one objected, and Heath Ledger was removed from the audition invitation list.
At the end of the meeting, Howard found Charles Rowan alone and had a brief communication.
"In this matter, the crew did not work rigorously enough." Charles Rowan gave the proper attitude: "I promise that something similar will not happen again."
Howard reminded: "Charles, we have worked together many times, but this time the budget is too high, the production cost is 180 million US dollars. If an accident occurs midway, even if the actors are replaced, the loss will be as high as tens of millions of dollars. By then we will Both will be ruined."
Charles said: "Don't worry, the crew will definitely choose the most suitable actor."
Howard really felt the pressure this time: "I hope the actors selected by the crew will not only have excellent acting skills, but also be not too bad in terms of dedication and work ethics."
Charles agreed.
Howard immediately left Legendary Pictures. After returning to the company, he immediately communicated with his superiors about the matter and proposed that Heath Ledger be temporarily blacklisted by the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.
This insurance company underwrites the completion guarantee for nearly 80% of Hollywood film projects!
…………
The news that Heath Ledger was not invited to audition for the film reached Martin immediately.
In the suite of the Four Seasons Hotel, Martin put down his mobile phone, picked up a glass of wine, and poured it into his mouth. The wine flowed out from the corners of his mouth, bright red like blood.
A playing card fell from his hand.
Martin dug out a few holes in the poker with his nails and landed on the carpet. The holes reflected the dark color of the carpet against the white playing cards, like the face of a devil.
Blood-red wine dripped down the corner of Martin's mouth.
Tick tock! Tick-tock——
It fell on the devil's face, staining a blood-red mouth.
Bruce suddenly took a step back, thinking to himself, what was in this bastard's head was not stinky dog shit, but human blood?
"Ha..." Martin wiped the wine stain casually and opened his blood-red lips: "Old Bu, we have achieved the first goal, and we have defeated the biggest threat in a dignified way!"
Bruce couldn't help but said: "We are too upright and upright, and everything we do is like justice from heaven."
Martin smiled happily and unscrupulously. All the things that were holding him down were thrown away. He said: "We didn't do anything, we just gave them a small push behind their backs."
Bruce said: "Yes, if Heath Ledger didn't have serious problems himself, how could he be kicked out of the audition list."
"But this result makes me very happy." Martin stood up and danced: "That kind of heartfelt comfort is something I have never experienced before."
Hearing this, Bruce suddenly put away his smile and asked tentatively: "You won't get too involved in the drama and really become a pervert, right?"
Martin laughed: "How is that possible? I'm just enjoying it all. This feeling of taking off all the baggage and truly relaxing mentally and physically feels very charming."
Bruce's cell phone rang and he picked it up, but it was Thomas calling.
The two chatted for a while and talked about the film project.
Bruce hung up the phone and said quickly: "David Fincher personally called Thomas and claimed that the audition for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" will not be until the second half of the year. He hopes that you can wait for the crew for a while and go to the audition then. .”
Martin responded: "No problem."
Recently, I have let go of my restraints, and some words came out naturally: "Tell the crew that I don't like Cate Blanchett."
It was recently reported that the crew of "Benjamin" wants to invite Cate Blanchett to audition for the heroine.
Bruce wrote it down and would inform Thomas later. Thomas would be responsible for wording it.
He added: "The name of Rory's first kiss was changed, and it was officially named "The Dark Knight." Three weeks later, an audition for the Joker was held, and the crew sent you a formal invitation."
"Very good." Martin said: "Follow my requirements and find a stylist and costumer, one that is absolutely reliable."
Bruce responded: "Thomas is looking."
Martin said: "Time flies so fast, it's time to make the next step. Remember to remind Leo that idiot next week."
Bruce understood what was going on: "Can your efforts be seen by everyone on the crew?"
(End of chapter)
