Chapter 394: 394 Takeover of Gotham Town (Requesting Monthly Pass!)

In 1954, Gold Medal Books published a new science fiction horror novel by Richard Matheson titled “I Am Legend”. The story is set in Los Angeles, where the protagonist, Robert Neville, is the sole survivor of a vampire-like virus pandemic. He roams during the day and hides at night, while trying to research a vaccine to cure the disease and destroy the social structure of the new human zombies.

“I Am Legend” is hailed as the first modern vampire novel and has had a profound influence on the subsequent zombie genre. Scholars of the field speculated that such an impactful story would inevitably be adapted for the silver screen. Indeed, in 1964, the now-defunct American International Pictures (AIP) adapted it into the film “The Last Man on Earth”. Although it did not achieve box office success, it garnered a lofty reputation and status, pre-dating the 1968 “Night of the Living Dead” by four years.

“Night of the Living Dead” made a fortune, grossing $42 million from a $114,000 budget, equivalent to $200 million when adjusted for inflation, and can be likened to the successful “Paranormal Activity” of its day. It also cemented George A. Romero’s title as “the father of modern zombie films”, despite the meager outcome of his recent “Land of the Dead”. Romero openly acknowledged that “I Am Legend” and “The Last Man on Earth” were the sources of inspiration for “Land of the Dead”, and no fan can deny the legendary status of Robert Neville.

Therefore, in 1971, Warner Bros., having secured the filming rights, adapted it into the movie “The Omega Man”. The story remained in Los Angeles, triggered by a biowarfare-induced bubonic plague virus… “The Omega Man” did not fare well at the box office, even though many cult film enthusiasts regard it as a classic.

In the bright conference room at the Santa Monica headquarters of Flame Film Company, a high-level meeting was taking place.

“The filming rights for ‘I Am Legend’ are still with Warner Bros.” Faced with the youthful boss and the others, Mark Slant adjusted his glasses with an expression of difficulty. One of the topics of today’s meeting was the status of multiple new projects from Flame, and the young boss had new directing plans, but they were faced with this significant obstacle! Seeing Wang Yang pondering, he asked, “Is there a way to buy them?” Pointing to the document on the table, Mark Slant replied with a sense of helplessness, “If someone else but us were buying, with a high enough offer, there would be a great chance; but if we were buying…”

Wang Yang opened the same document in front of him and began to review it. Mark Slant said self-deprecatingly, “Right now, we are Hollywood’s public enemy.” Production Manager Sandy Pax, President Michael Burns, Investment Director Peter Wilkes, and others smiled wryly. Surely they couldn’t intentionally fail several times? There’s a saying in the industry, “Anything that Flame Film wants, if you have it, keep it, if you don’t, go and fight for it.”

This also meant that Flame Film often had to pay a higher price to get what they wanted. Fortunately, the greater the investment, the greater the return, and their cunning and unpredictable tactics repeatedly worked wonders. However, they were ineffective against Warner Bros., who held the initiative.

In fact, Warner Bros. did not value or have high hopes for “I Am Legend”. In the late 1990s, the sci-fi horror style made a comeback, giving rise to movies like “Idle Hands”. Already in 1995, Warner Bros. had begun developing the film project for “I Am Legend”. Mark Protosevich wrote the first draft of the script, setting the story in San Francisco in the year 2000, with many similarities to the original novel.

Then Warner Bros. brought on board Neal H. Moritz as producer and Ridley Scott as director, with big names like Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas, and Mel Gibson on the shortlist to play Neville, but the company favored Arnold Schwarzenegger. After Scott and Schwarzenegger were settled into their contracts, it was already July of 1997. The film was scheduled to start shooting in September of that year, but Warner Bros. suddenly grew concerned about the film’s lack of commercial appeal and sales potential, prompting a reconsideration of the script.

Although Ridley Scott rewrote the script to cut the budget by $20 million, due to the severe blow dealt by Schwarzenegger’s “Batman & Robin” that summer, the $88 million-budgeted “I Am Legend” was shelved.

In August of 1998, director Rob Bowman, who was very fond of “I Am Legend”, hired Mark Protosevich to write a third new draft of the script and pitched it to Warner Bros., but they did not take any notice. Later, Bowman directed the box-office flop “Day of Fire” for Disney in 2002.

In March of 2002, Arnold Schwarzenegger became the producer of “I Am Legend”, advocating strongly for Michael Bay to direct and Will Smith to star. They joined the project and did their best to reduce the budget. However, due to Warner Bros. president Alan F. Horn’s dislike and lack of confidence in the script, the project was once again put on hold. By 2004, Warner Bros. production head Jeff Robinov invited Akiva Goldsman, who had won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for “A Beautiful Mind”, to rewrite the script for “I Am Legend”.

A full decade had passed, and still, there was no definitive news of the project commencing.

Although finding a screenwriter to create a new sci-fi script on a zombie apocalypse theme akin to “I Am Legend” isn’t difficult, and it could either be a masterpiece or a cliché, like “Land of the Dead”, the reputation, status, and fan base of “I Am Legend” make it an undeniable top choice for a zombie movie.

“Warner Brothers would never agree to us; showing interest would only reinforce their confidence in the project,” Mark Slant spoke a truth that everyone understood. Even if Warner Brothers haven’t spent much on ‘I Am Legend’ in the past decade, going from skepticism to approval only needed a magical word from Slant. Mark Slant frowned, sharing more bad news, “And they’re close to locking in a director, with production expected to start next year.” He added, “Of course, it could still end up being shelved at the last minute.”

Recalling the 2007 version of ‘I Am Legend’ in the future film database, Wang Yang shook his head while supporting his chin with his left hand, “I don’t think so, Akiva Goldsman has given them enough confidence.”

“It seems so,” agreed Mark Slant and others, nodding. Clearly, Goldsman was more persuasive than Protosevich, who only had ‘The Cell’ as his debut work. Suddenly, Mark Slant said, “But I can assure you, if you wanted to take over ‘I Am Legend,’ Warner Brothers would definitely agree.” Peter Wilkes from across the table concurred, “Yes, that’s for sure.” Everyone laughed; more than agreeing, Warner Brothers would be ecstatic!

“What I would really like to see is the Firefly Film animation at the start of the film,” said Wang Yang, not joining in the laughter. He closed the document file, his expression serious, “Let’s ask first! We always have to make the first move.”

Mark Slant and others took note while Sandy Pike considered the company’s tradable resources, saying, “We need to prepare a gift.” Michael Burns suggested, “Horn isn’t too fond of this project, but Robinov has more confidence; we should contact Horn first.” Mark Slant nodded in agreement, “Convincing Horn is the breakthrough.” Wang Yang suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, and he tensed up, pressing his forehead; concerned, Slant and the others asked, “Yang, are you okay?” “All right?”…

“Nothing, it’s just reminding me that two days ago, I was still unconscious in a hospital bed.” Wang Yang smiled at everyone, snapped his fingers with a loud click of his left hand, “Let’s continue, I think I know what gift Warner Brothers would want, huh, I guarantee they’d be happy.” He smiled as he opened the new film project list for the company and said, “Next, let’s talk about the dog movie.” Everyone nodded.

This year’s latter half, Firefly Film has plans to release four major new films: ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’ (2005-9-23), ‘Saw III’ (2005-10-28), ‘Brokeback Mountain’ (2005-12-9), and ‘500 Days of Summer’ (2005-12-23). The first two are commercial films; ‘Brokeback Mountain’ is facing distribution challenges, struggling to find theaters in some conservative states, so it will adopt a strategy of starting small and expanding slowly, while ‘500 Days of Summer’ is eagerly anticipated by theater owners.

Firefly Film plans to release a total of 7 major new films throughout the year. There’s no need to elaborate on the rich harvest this summer season; the three films with production costs exceeding 100 million all have excellent reputations. Currently, ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘Firefly’ are confirmed to make a huge profit, adding bricks of gold to Firefly Film’s coffers.

Firefly is so financially robust that the profits from its film library alone are sufficient to cover the company’s daily expenses and salaries; the profits from new film box offices come rolling in like a cage submerged in water. Firefly’s financial strength is increasing at an alarming rate.

Over these years, through careful development, Firefly Films has cultivated good relationships with numerous producers, directors, writers, actors, agents, journalists, etc., and has established its own power base starting from scratch. The vibrant FF company has already risen to be the undisputed leader of independent film production, with the new film schedule for the next two years already full of planned items. Next year, in 2006, they have: ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,’ ‘The Hangover Part III,’ ‘Furious Cars 2,’ ‘Mamma Mia!,’ ‘Saw IV,’ and ‘The Prestige.’

The first four will aim for the summer season, while the latter two are planned for the second half of the year.

The production work for the three big sequels is proceeding smoothly, while whether James Wan will direct ‘Saw IV’ depends on the box office results of ‘Saw III’. ‘Mamma Mia!’ will be adapted by the original stage team, with Judy Craymer producing, Catherine Johnson writing, and Phyllida Lloyd directing, and inviting Meryl Streep among others to star; for ‘The Prestige’, the Nolan couple, with the rights to the novel and funding, have started work, with both films expected to begin shooting early next year.

For the following year 2007, only one summer blockbuster, ‘The Green Hornet’, has been scheduled so far. Firefly Films has been looking for someone who could create a synergy between Stephen Chow and Jim Carrey and also handle production, so they could confidently hand over the directorial reins to Chow. The search seemed futile until Firefly’s production department discovered that man at Blue Sky Studios – ‘Kung Fu Panda’ director Steve Oedekerk!

Oedekerk (born 1961) and Jim Carrey (born 1962) have a great relationship, having worked together on ‘Living Color’ (writer), ‘The Nutty Professor’ (writer + co-producer), ‘Bruce Almighty’ (writer + planner). He also has a passion for Hong Kong martial arts and wuxia films, with profound knowledge and unique insights that match well with Chow’s creative style, avoiding any serious creative conflicts like those that occurred between Chow (born 1962) and Seth Rogen (born 1982), which stemmed from generational and cultural differences.

Steve Oedekerk, Stephen Chow, and Wang Yang will co-develop the script for ‘The Green Hornet’; Chow will direct the film, but he will not have the final cut privilege; Oedekerk will be the lead producer, while Wang Yang will also take on the role of supervisor. The movie is expected to start filming next summer.

Of course, Oedekerk will also be involved in the production of ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ aimed at the 2008 summer season, but the current meeting’s agenda is for 2007. Whether ‘The Assassin’s Creed 2’ can go ahead still depends on the box office results of the first film, while Blue Sky Studios is looking for new animation projects; excluding the still uncertain ‘I Am Legend’, Firefly’s senior executives feel it’s time to add new film projects to the 2007 release schedule.

“Have you guys heard of the classic Japanese dog movie ‘Hachiko Monogatari’? It’s a very touching story; in fact, there’s a statue of Hachiko in Shibuya, Tokyo,” Wang Yang said as he looked around at everyone with a smile, revealing his plan: “I think we can adapt and remake a Hollywood version.”

People started to look through the documents in front of them. Mark Slant, who had known about this plan in advance, said, “The rights for the remake of ‘Hachiko Monogatari’ are still held by Shochiku Co., Ltd. We can purchase them as long as we deal with those who are vying for them.”

Despite great respect for the young BOSS, Peter Wilkes still played his role as the investment director, voicing his opinion, “Yang, what I mean is, this project doesn’t have high commercial appeal. People prefer to watch animal comedies, not ones where the protagonist dies.”

All dog movies starring a dog since 1974 to now, the North American box office champion is 2002’s ‘Scooby-Doo’ ($153 million), the runner-up is 1996’s ‘101 Dalmatians’ ($136 million), and in third place is 2001’s ‘Cats & Dogs’ ($93.38 million), followed by ‘Scooby-Doo 2’, ‘Snow Dogs’, ‘Turner & Hooch’, ‘102 Dalmatians’… These high-grossing dog movies all fall under the “family/comedy/adventure” genre, nothing like the tear-jerking Japanese-style films like ‘Hachiko Monogatari’ or ‘Quill’.

The story of ‘Hachiko Monogatari’ is indeed emotive, but equally heartbreaking. One look at the tenth-ranked ‘K-9’ with only $43.24 million at the North American box office reveals that this type isn’t a gold mine. Therefore, remaking ‘Hachiko’ isn’t looked upon favorably, and supposedly there won’t be anyone fighting over it this time.

“We have many, many dog comedies, yes, they’re more profitable,” Wang Yang said sincerely as he looked at the calm faces of everyone, expressing his heartfelt thoughts: “I also enjoy watching them, they can make you laugh out loud all evening; but I equally enjoy movies about dogs that can move you to cry all night, they have a unique impact.” Seeing everyone nodding, Wang Yang continued, “No matter how we remake ‘Hachiko Monogatari’, it won’t be a big production. A budget of $20-30 million should be sufficient, and even if we give up on the North American market, I believe that just the Asian market alone could make up for the cost.”

Decisively, he knocked on the blue file containing ‘Hachiko’, and told everyone, “I don’t see anything to worry about with this project. We can’t always pursue box office numbers in the hundreds of millions with every movie; sometimes it’s just about wanting to create something. And now I want to.”

“OK.” “You’re right.” “I have no objections.” The top members of Firefly all smiled; this wasn’t a guaranteed losing proposition, and why doubt Wang Yang’s magic touch? With a medium to low budget film, let him do as he pleases! Besides, losing $100-200 million wouldn’t result in anyone blaming him.

“Thank you all,” Wang Yang said with a smile, thanking everyone for their support, before raising his voice, “But! This isn’t our only plan. I said I like dog comedies, and I must repay my good boy Danny for saving my life; my wife would never forgive me otherwise.” The crowd chuckled lightly, and Wang Yang pointed to a red document on the table, saying with a smile, “So we have a second plan, Labradors, ‘Marley & Me’.”

‘Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog’ is a bestselling autobiographical novel that’s recently hit the book market. Its author, John Grogan, a New York Times journalist, tells the story in the first person, spanning over 13 years of life with Marley, a yellow Labrador retriever, characterized by his craziness, high strung nature, excessive activity, endless hunger, often destroying their property (though without any malice), frequently falling short of others’ expectations…

The book was an instant hit upon publication and continues to top The New York Times bestseller list, but despite this, it wasn’t considered suitable for movie adaptation due to the large time span of the book and content that is a series of amusing daily life events with no central theme, appearing more suitable as a television sitcom. How to condense it into a movie script? That task certainly hasn’t been regarded favorably, but as of now, film producers aren’t taking ‘Marley & Me’ seriously.

After reviewing the materials related, Peter Wilkes furrowed his brow, “This subject has its selling points, but I’ll have to read the novel to know how I really feel about it.”

“‘Marley & Me’ is very interesting, some of the events seem exaggerated, but you can find shadows of your dog in them. It’s just that the ending is very sad.” Wang Yang looked towards Sandy Parks and commanded, “Spare no expense in securing the film rights for it, it’s a project with huge market potential!” He said, laughing, “I really like that book! Danny is also a Labrador, there are so many similarities between him and Marley, and now he too is about to welcome the first baby of our family.”

Everyone was more optimistic about ‘Marley & Me’, so naturally, there were no objections.

After discussing the new movie plans within the scope of today’s meeting, they then talked about the DreamWorks acquisition case. Firefly Films’ means of participation was to purchase some of the film rights and script rights from DreamWorks’ library with cash, in other words, shopping at the “DreamWorks supermarket.” Because whether it ends up being NBC Universal or Paramount that acquires DreamWorks, they will sell those non-essential assets to other companies or private equity investors to gather funds needed for the acquisition.

Big Appetite Flame Movies had plenty of cash, and it was eager to continue its style and find some unwanted treasure at the DreamWorks supermarket.

“Wang Yang is interested in ‘I Am Legend’?!”

In the spacious office, Alan F. Horn, the president of Warner Brothers, felt his heart skip a beat when he received Mark Slant’s call. What! That tedious script? That huge nuisance that’s been dragging on for 10 years? The marvelous Yang actually wanted to buy ‘I Am Legend’!? Horn’s first reaction was, “Don’t let him have it, don’t give it to him! Whatever Wang Yang is interested in, if you have it, keep it!” Calm down! Calm down! It’s rare to hear of the marvelous Yang asking favors in this respect. Whether it is sold or not, Warner Brothers could now name their price…

Horn quickly steadied his shocked emotions, swung his legs up leisurely, and asked over the intercom, “Mark, why do you guys want to buy ‘I Am Legend’ now?” Mark Slant on the other end complained, “I don’t know! Yang insists on filming it. He supposedly had a similar dream while he was unconscious, you know directors always have lots of dreams.” Horn twirled his ear leisurely, “Well, he can take it over, we’d be very pleased to see that happen.” Mark Slant seriously said, “He’s a peculiar fellow, likes to invest himself, which means not worrying about any possible mishaps, it’s an idea of a control freak.”

The two chatted back and forth for a while; the cunningly shrewd Horn wasn’t tricked or mislead. He knew clearly there must be something special about ‘I Am Legend’ for Flame to take interest in it; he also knew that this wasn’t anything like ‘Crash,’ it just meant the subject of ‘I Am Legend’ wasn’t trash, but that didn’t guarantee the script Warner has now, nor the future movie would be successful—Wang Yang’s capabilities as producer, director, and writer are what mattered, just like if he were to steer ‘Batman & Robin,’ or ‘Batman Begins’…

After some discussion, Horn made up his mind, and his words became direct, “Mark, give us a reason to agree, will you?” What benefits could Flame offer Warner? If they proposed an exciting deal, everything could be up for negotiation.

“‘Batman,'” Mark Slant uttered crisply, as if the words had the power to penetrate the heart. Horn’s own heart started pounding furiously, ‘Batman’!? The marvelous Yang was willing to take over Gotham Town!? He couldn’t help but take a deep breath, his voice slightly rushed, “I will talk to Yang personally!”

While feeling nearly anxious and tense, Horn soon heard Wang Yang’s voice, heard his laughter, “Warner Brothers will transfer the filming rights of ‘I Am Legend’ to us, North America’s distribution rights will belong to Flame, and we’ll collaborate on overseas distribution; then hand over the ‘Batman’ sequels for me to produce, I’ll find the director, the scriptwriter, the actors… Warner will see a resurrected Wayne, you know, no less than 600 million in global box office.”

Wow—! Horn held his breath, 600 million!! He had seen movies with a 600 million global box office before, but dear God, the ‘Batman’ series had been stuck in the mud for 8 years!! ‘Batman & Robin’ with a production cost of 125 million gained only 107 million in North America and 238 million in global box office. This summer’s ‘Batman Begins,’ costing 135 million to produce, is going to end its run with a mere 151 million global box office!!

No one in Warner Brothers, from top to bottom, knew how to clean up this mess. It wouldn’t be fair to blame Darren Aronofsky, but what about filming the second part of the series? Either wait several years, start the sequel plan if the post-release sales go well, or if not, begin a new cycle. However, if the sequel had the marvelous Yang at the helm and then grossed 600 million globally, that would mean the brand, the series came back to life! It’s not just about a ‘Batman 2,’ it’s about the entire range of Batman-related products, and then ‘Batman 3,’ ‘Batman 4’!

“Hmm,” Horn thought, feeling a bit flustered, and stuttered naturally, “600 million?” On the other end, Wang Yang suddenly said, “If you think that’s too little, 700 million.”

“Oh… What if ‘Batman 2’ doesn’t achieve the success you guarantee?” Horn felt it sounded casual and childish but was inevitably excited—marvelous Yang was someone who never spoke nonsense! On the other side, Wang Yang asked with a laugh, “Then what would you like to do?” Horn thought for a moment and proposed a preliminary plan, “We can write it clearly in the contract, if the box office doesn’t reach 600 million… 700 million! Then you will have to personally direct a summer blockbuster with over 100 million investment for Warner Brothers, no no no, two movies, two movies!”

“Then I’ll also add a new clause, ‘The Dark Knight’ will be entirely under my control, and its promotional budget must be at least 100 million,” Wang Yang’s non-negotiable voice came through the intercom. Horn was confused for a moment, “What? ‘The Dark Knight’? What?” Wang Yang explained, “That’s the title for ‘Batman 2.'” Horn was surprised once again, “You mean… you’re not planning to use ‘Batman’?” Wang Yang laughed, “Yes, clearly, everyone is tired of ‘Batman’ now.”

Horn swore to himself. (