Chapter 588 Filming and the Expendables 3
The story of "La La Land" takes place in Los Angeles, or more precisely, Hollywood. The male and female protagonists are young people chasing their dreams in Hollywood.
The male protagonist is Sebastian, a jazz pianist. In order to make a living, he works as a pianist in a bar. His dream is to open a jazz restaurant in Los Angeles.
The female protagonist Mia is an amateur actor. She has participated in many role auditions, but she is often interrupted during the auditions and has never succeeded. The female protagonist works in a cafe. Her dream is to succeed in the audition and become a star actor.
The male and female protagonists met in a traffic jam in Los Angeles. There were many misunderstandings in the middle. Later, they became lovers and supported each other's work.
The situation of the two gradually improved. The male protagonist became a musician in a popular orchestra and became famous. However, due to work reasons, the time they spent together decreased, and the differences became greater and greater, so they broke up.
Later, the female protagonist became a popular movie star after filming a movie, and the male protagonist also realized his dream and became the owner of a jazz restaurant.
The two met many years later. The heroine had married and had a daughter. She and her husband met the hero who was performing in the restaurant. The hero also saw the heroine and her husband.
The two smiled at each other with tears in their eyes, and the script ended.
The love story of the hero and heroine is very romantic and touching. It is like a true portrayal of countless dream chasers, and it is also like a poem by Li Shangyin, "This feeling can be recalled, but it was already lost at that time."
In addition to the emotional line, the play also interspersed a large number of music performances and dance performances, including the classic moves of the bullfighting lady in the Latin dance department, the tap dance clip of "Song in the Rain", and a waltz dance in the starry sky of the planetarium, as well as a jazz dance clip.
The director used these dances to express the changes in the emotions of the hero and heroine, which is an innovative fusion of dance and narrative.
These scenes look beautiful, but they are very difficult to shoot.
Link joined the crew in mid-June to rehearse, rehearsing both dance and film clips, similar to a stage play, and the rehearsal was not considered to be over until the end of July.
After the crew started filming at the end of July, Link and Emma Stone still had to rehearse until the famous dance artist David Vasco thought it was "perfect."
"Too tired, I shouldn't have listened to you and accepted this role."
On the set of the crew, Link took off his sweaty white shirt, sat down in a sports vest and drank half a bottle of water.
"Tired? Why don't I feel it at all?"
Emma Stone wore a yellow dress, her tap shoes clacking on the floor, and smiled, "Boss, you are not only a man, but also a world champion, and the most powerful man in the world as the media says. You can't be inferior to me, a little woman."
"It's different. You are an actor, and you just need to shoot a good show every day. I am a boxer and a dad. I work a lot every day and haven't rested recently. Of course I feel tired."
Link slumped on the sofa, and the assistant moved the electric fan over to help him blow the air.
"It sounds like that, do you want me to give you a massage?"
Emma Stone asked with a finger stretched out.
"No, if your fans see it, they will think that I, your boss, am oppressing you and making up a lot of negative information for me out of thin air."
Link waved his hand and asked her to sit down and not to move around in front of him.
"You have so much negative information, what are you afraid of if there is more? And we have been rumored since 2009. Now even if you tell the media that we are innocent, no one will believe it."
Emma Stone smiled slightly, walked behind the sofa, and massaged his shoulders, as obedient as a maid.
But Link knew that this "maid" was not as obedient as he imagined. She massaged him not to care about the health of his boss and colleague. Her purpose was similar to that of Cate Blanchett, aiming for the Oscar winner.
You should know that after the "La La Land" project was established, it was rumored that Damien Charezer would direct a new movie, Link would be the male lead, and there were a large number of Hollywood actresses who wanted to play the female lead. Link alone received calls from more than 20 acquaintances.
But the crew decided to let Emma Stone play the leading role without an audition. On the one hand, director Damien supported it. He used Emma Stone's image when writing the script. On the other hand, Link also agreed. The whole process went very smoothly.
Because of this incident, Emma Stone was envied and hated by many people, but she didn't care. She was very serious in rehearsal and aimed directly at the Oscars.
"Boss, are you comfortable?"
Emma Stone smiled while holding his shoulder.
"Average! There are four senior masseurs in my training team. Compared with them, your technique needs to be improved."
Link said with his eyes closed.
Emma Stone rolled her eyes in annoyance. Link's muscles were as solid as rocks. She pressed a few times and her fingers were about to break, but Link actually said it was average. It was too difficult to serve.
"Boss, the script of La La Land is great. If we shoot better, will we have a chance to get an Oscar nomination, just like Singin' in the Rain, The Wagon Train, and Swingin' Down, which are classic movies nominated for the Academy Awards?"
Emma Stone lowered her head and leaned close to his ear to ask.
"Stop it!"
Link pushed her face away, "Many actresses lose their goals after winning the Oscar for Best Actress, and their acting skills get worse and worse. On the contrary, those who don't win the Oscar will keep improving their performances and keep producing good works. So it's not a good thing to win an Oscar too early, and you don't have to talk about the Oscar every day."
"I am definitely not that kind of actress. My goal is to become an actress like Katharine Hepburn or Ingrid Bergman. As long as I am an actor, I will take every role seriously and ensure that I will not overstep like other actresses." The acting gets worse."
Emma Stone said, squeezing Link's shoulders hard.
Link shrugged his shoulders and just said, "I hope you will keep your word." A burst of rhythmic music sounded on the set. Director Damien called them over and the filming was about to start.
"Let's go to work."
Link stretched his waist and entered the studio with a relaxed look on his face. He didn't look tired at all.
Emma Stone looked at his trembling hands, glared at his back, and walked over.
This scene was shot for the third time the two met. The first time they met was on a traffic jam viaduct. The two had a misunderstanding. The second time was in a bar. The heroine Mia wanted to say hello to the hero. The male protagonist had just been fired by his boss. He was in a bad mood and ignored her, passing her by.
The third time was at a friend's party. The male protagonist Sebastian's band was performing at the party. The heroine deliberately ordered a pop song that the male protagonist didn't like and asked him to play it.
"Prepare all parts!"
"Scene 32, shot 1, action!"
The filming continued. Link was wearing a red jacket and yellow casual trousers, standing in front of the electronic keyboard and playing, while the band members were singing. In order to perfect this piece of music, he had practiced it hundreds of times recently, and he cooperated well with the band.
"Thank you! Does anyone else want to sing? That girl in front."
the band's lead singer shouted, holding a pole microphone.
"cut!"
"Mia enters!"
The photographer focused on Emma Stone wearing a yellow dress.
When Emma Stone saw the actor, she raised her arms high and said, "I Run! I click I Run!"
"Run? What a great offer."
shouted the lead singer.
Link glanced at Emma Stone. He didn't notice it at first, then suddenly turned his head to look at her with a very bad expression.
Emma Stone blinked and looked at him with a proud expression.
The band started playing, and Link was forced to reluctantly follow suit by playing the electric guitar.
Emma Stone stood on the sidelines, twisting her body randomly to the rhythm of the music, performing very interestingly and spiritually.
"cut!"
"Do it again, Emma, you can be more wild and showy, Link, you can be more depressed."
Director Damien shouted.
"OK!"
Link and Emma Stone continued to search for the right emotions to add to the performance. After four takes, the scene was over and the crew continued to film the interaction between the male and female protagonists.
"Okay, I remember you."
Link carried an electric guitar and found Emma Stone who was drinking beer in the corridor. He took off his sunglasses and said, "I admit that my attitude towards you was a little hasty that night." That night, the heroine Mia wanted to say hello to the hero. , but the male protagonist turned a blind eye, making the heroine very embarrassed and unhappy.
"Sloppy?"
Emma Stone isn't happy with that term.
"Okay, I admit I'm a jerk."
Link pointed to the band next door and said, "But point and run, that's too much for a serious musician."
"Oh my God! Did you just talk about a serious musician?"
Emma Stone asked, looking at him critically.
Link shrugged, "Did I?"
"Can I borrow this jacket you're wearing?"
Emma Stone asked, pointing to his coat.
"Why?"
"Because I have an audition next week and I'm going to play a serious firefighter."
Emma Stone laughed.
——
In July, "Maleficent" was released. The film was invested and produced by Lionsgate Pictures and Disney, as well as Angelina Jolie's studio, and distribution in North America was handled by Lionsgate Pictures.
The film was released on the third weekend of July. It grossed US$69.43 million in 3,948 theaters in North America during its first three days. It topped the box office for the week and exceeded 100 million in North American box office within eight days of its release. It is the fifth film released by Lionsgate this year. A movie with a box office of over 100 million in North America.
The film's overseas box office performance was even better, with its overseas box office exceeding US$200 million within ten days of release.
According to the current box office growth, the total box office is expected to be more than 700 million US dollars.
The production cost of this movie is 180 million. If the total box office exceeds 700 million, the producer will make more than 200 million US dollars in box office profits. Adding streaming media and other income, the profit will exceed 300 million.
This is why film companies like to invest in big productions. One big profitable project is sometimes as good as ten profitable small projects, except for box office dark horses.
"Maleficent" was released in North America for 28 days, and the box office exceeded the US$200 million mark, with a total global box office of US$640 million.
The film also has a good reputation, with a comprehensive media review score of 83. It is considered to be Angelina Jolie's most acclaimed film in recent years. Cynthia also guest-starred as a little princess in the film, which also made the little guy gain many fans. Movie fans Everyone praised her for being beautiful and cute, like little Taylor.
By August, the North American box office of "Terminator: Genisys", which was released early, reached 120 million US dollars, and the global box office totaled 482 million US dollars.
"Avengers 2" has a North American box office of 540 million, and the global box office has reached a total of 1.52 billion US dollars, ranking second in the summer season.
"Jurassic World" ranked first, with a North American box office of 640 million and a global box office of 1.65 billion.
Some media reported that Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow and other superheroes competed with Jurassic dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs won. This also shows how great the influence of dinosaurs is worldwide, even a group of top stars cannot compare.
In August, the tenth movie "The Expendables 3" released by Lionsgate was released worldwide, and Link had to adjust his schedule and join the film promotion team.
However, the plot of "La La Land" was filmed in four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. The crew started filming at the beginning of the year and continued until next summer. The shooting cycle was too long, and Link's adjustment of the shooting time did not have much impact.
After more than a month of publicity and warm-up, "The Expendables 3" was released simultaneously in 67 countries and regions around the world on the first weekend of August. Link attended the premiere ceremony in New York, Beijing, Tokyo, London and other places.
The first week box office in North America was 66.85 million US dollars, which was slightly higher than the expected 55 million to 60 million. In China, the box office was 320 million yuan, which is more than 50 million US dollars, not much worse than the North American box office.
The total box office in other regions also reached 140 million US dollars.
The global box office in the first week reached 255 million US dollars, which almost paid back the production cost of 150 million US dollars.
The reputation of this movie is also very good. The freshness of Rotten Tomatoes is 73%, 54 people support it, and 13 people oppose it. It is a good score in commercial movies. The score of Douban in China is 8.1 points, and 135,000 people have rated it. It is considered by many media to be the most exciting action movie in the summer season.
Link's action scenes in the film are sought after by fans and the media, and are considered to be comparable to Tom Cruise's performance in the "Mission Impossible" series.
The love-hate rivalry between Link and Scarlett Johansson in the film is also considered to be very "burning" and passionate. In the United States and China, there are a large number of fans who are crazy about the two of them. They think that one of them has been named the world's sexiest actor many times by People magazine, and the other is considered the world's sexiest actress, and they look like a good match.