Franklin had obvious confusion and concern in his eyes. Although he did not have a clear understanding of Chaos Pictures' situation, the gossip in the circle was inevitably heard. Franklin didn't know Lance's plan, but he knew that the least thing Chaos Pictures needed now was another risky attempt, and it was a cult work.

When the "Mad Max" series was released in the 1980s, it achieved a good box office results in Australia, but it suffered a crushing defeat in the North American market. The first series of the series had a box office of 8.7 million, and the second series of the series had a box office of 36 million. Of course, compared with the low cost of the movie, this result was already very amazing, but it was definitely not a masterpiece that triggered the box office, so that no company was willing to release the third series in North America. This series of works could be passed down from word of mouth among fans, mainly relying on videotape rental, which is also the characteristic of most cult works.

So, after twenty years, George Miller wanted to restart his series. Even though George was already a well-known senior director in Hollywood at this time, major film companies were still unwilling to take risks. It was not that he did not believe in George's ability, but that he did not believe in the box office potential of his works.

"Lance, are you going to shoot this work?"

Franklin's words made Lance raise his eyebrows and show a playful smile, "I think you have selected the works on the blacklist. You all think these works should be put into the shooting, right?"

Franklin couldn't help but choked, but he didn't know how to explain it. He could not say that as a cult work, they naturally hoped to be able to be put on the big screen; but as a commercial box office work, "Mad Max" seemed to be the last straw that crushed Chaos Pictures. He and Lance were still not that familiar with Chaos Pictures, and they involved Chaos Pictures' business problems, so they naturally had no right to speak.

"I think you seem to have fallen into a misunderstanding." Even though Franklin didn't say anything, the meaning was obvious. If it were others, Lance disdained to explain, but Franklin, as the helm of the blacklist, needed Franklin to have a higher understanding. "You think that the works that can be on the blacklist are those that are unwilling to shoot, or that do not meet the requirements of genre films, waiting for small and medium-sized film companies to explore." This is also the original intention of the blacklist's initial establishment, "But do you realize that so-called anti-genre films can often create miracles?"

The concept of anti-genre films is actually not that complicated. The film may have the opposite factors to a certain genre film, such as the most famous anti-hero film, "exhausted"; at the same time, the film may not be the mainstream genre films in North America, such as Chinese martial arts films; in the end the film may have subverted the constituent elements of genre films, and the most typical representative is "Monster Shrek".

The anti-religious "The Passion of Jesus", the anti-Western "Brokeback Mountain", the anti-record type "Fahrenheit 911", the anti-hero "Male and Female Thieves", the anti-terrorism "Zombie Sean", the anti-science fiction "2001 Space Odyssey"... These movies can be called anti-genre films, and even works such as "Forrest Gump", "Unforgivable", and "Pirates of the Caribbean" are considered to be anti-genre in a sense. Simply put, they are not playing according to common sense.

Therefore, the biggest difference between anti-genre movies and cult movies is that the former "anti-" genre is opposed to oppose it, but it does not exclude their own commercial attributes. "Monster Shrek" is to subvert Disney's classic prince and princess fairy tale, and goes the other way, attracting the love of a large number of fans and achieving incredible box office achievements.

On the blacklist, not only cult movies, but also anti-genre movies.

Franklin fell into thinking, "So, you mean... are you going to make an anti-genre film with 'Mad Max'?"

It can be understood that retaining the commercial attributes of the movie will even deliberately increase the high/climax passages for box office victory. However, in order to highlight the series' settings of the wasteland doomsday, breaking the routines of genre movies, implanting personal styles, and substituting personal understanding, taking a different approach and fighting a path.

Lance smiled but said nothing, but the confident expression had already answered Franklin's guess.

"Mad Max 4: The Furious Road" was released in May 2015. This is the most profound work that Lance remembers, feels the most vivid, and shocks the most in the six months before his rebirth. From Lance's point of view, this work is a model for truly combining business and art to the peak!

This sequel, released after more than 30 years, describes a broken wasteland doomsday world, where everyone in the endless desert fights cruelly for survival. The film's majestic pictures, evil temperament, wild and wanton movements, and delicate and accurate characters truly interpret the word "crazy". The visual effects and adrenaline are crazy, and the cult temperament is booming, making people excited. The pure and real extreme viewing experience is no exaggeration to say that "Avatar", "gravity", "Avengers" and other works that cause sensation with visual effects.

Objectively speaking, in order to achieve the ultimate visual effect, George Miller sacrificed a lot of line space and used visual effects to create shock, which then triggered a resurgence of thought. There will be mistakes and gains. The weak script eventually brought about the most unique and surging viewing experience in film history.

However, even so, the script still effectively portrays the characters in a limited space, and deeply explores topics such as feminism and doomsday. The questioning of human nature and the competition for freedom are enough to be the finishing touch, and can definitely be called a model of "the perfect combination of business and art."

In fact, Lance's views coincide with the film critics. The media rating of this work is as high as 90 points, far exceeding the 82 points of "Batman Prequel: The Dark Knight", 62 points of "Avengers", 83 points of "Avatar", and 80 points of "Mars Rescue". Among commercial movies entering the new millennium, it is second only to "gravity". Even the freshness on the rotten tomatoes reaches a height of 97%!

It is no exaggeration to say that "Crazy Max 4" has truly won the confidence of film critics and completely ignited reputation.

Unfortunately, the black punk style of this cult movie has not been able to win the hearts of the audience, or to be more precise, the market foundation of alternative culture is still too weak. Even though it aroused the fandom of a small number of loyal fans - the popcorn index reached 87%, and the fan score of imdb reached 8:1 points, but it was not possible to win public recognition on a large scale like "Star Wars 7".

In the end, the movie was extremely well-known, and the box office of the North American premiere was only 45 million, which was disappointing. The final cumulative box office was only 153 million, which almost exceeded the investment cost threshold of 150 million. Obviously, this result was unsatisfactory. Even on a global scale, the box office of the movie was subject to the heavy taste of R-level ratings. After being combined with the box office of 220 million overseas, it settled at 378 million.

After the statistics were over, "Mad Max 4" caused Warner Bros. to lose more than $80 million.

From this perspective, the six major film companies have always hesitated and kept moving. This is understandable, and Franklin's concerns are also correct. Warner Bros. has been slowing down for more than six years and finally decided to start filming in 2012, but it still ended up losing money.

Fortunately, the reputation of "Crazy Max 4" ushered in an explosive reaction. After the movie was offline, it won widespread love in the Blu-ray rental and sales market. Warner Bros. not only could reduce losses, but also gave the green light to the sequel of the movie with a big stroke under the crazy praise of the film critics.

If Lance's previous requirements were based on Lance's previous requirements, "Crazy Max 4" could not enter the field of vision at all, so it would be more reliable to choose "Hangover". But after careful consideration, Lance still targeted this anti-genre work.

The reason is very simple. This work is truly magnificent and grand. Whether it is visual effects or ideological exploration, it can be regarded as a classic masterpiece. In 2009, "Avatar" emerged, sweeping over 760 million North America and 2.7 billion North Korea, and it also won nine nominations at the Oscars, which is extremely glorious. But in comparison, Lance still likes the work "Crazy Max 4".

Of course, from a commercial perspective, "Avatar" is undoubtedly successful. The relatively simple script is accompanied by just the right visual effects, making watching movies a real enjoyment. The main storyline is also closer to the public and conforms to the aesthetics of more people. This is beyond the reach of "Crazy Max 4". However, from the perspective of business, art, challenge, and exploration, "Crazy Max 4" has a height that is incomparable to "Avatar". This work truly pushes the art of film to the extreme, which is amazing.

So, Lance has seriously thought about the possibility: if he fine-tuned the script and added some ink to the characters, so that the depth of the story can be improved; if he adjusts the rhythm control, the plot will be more compact and the climax will be more turbulent; if the movie is advanced from 2015 to 2006 or 2007, before "Avatar", people have not had an aesthetic fatigue in visual effects, and people do not have such a profound understanding of filming...

So, is it possible for "Crazy Max 4" to copy the box office miracle of "Avatar"? Is it possible for "Crazy Max 4" to reproduce the style of "Titanic" at the Oscars? Is it possible for "Crazy Max 4" to become the starting point for Chaos Pictures to create miracles?
Chapter completed!