When you come to Century City, you can see the sign "Relativity Building" that has just been erected on the roof at a glance. This building with only 26-story buildings is inconspicuous in Manhattan, New York, but in Los Angeles, it is already a taller building.

When Ronan entered the Relativity Entertainment Building, he could see busy workers coming in and out, and various office equipment was continuously transported in.

Fortunately, it is orderly and seems busy but not chaotic.

The property rights transaction for the Relativity Building has been completed long ago, and the administrative department of the head office is working with professional companies to make final preparations for moving here.

Since many professional departments are involved, many department heads will come from time to time and make corresponding requirements with the cooperative company.

Ronan saw Mary, chief financial officer of Relativity Entertainment in the hall.

As one of the veterans and teams of Shahai Entertainment when he started his career, Mary is much more low-key because of her work nature. She only spends most of her time in the company's financial department and has a strong sense of presence.

But when it comes to the criticality of the position, Mary's importance is beyond doubt.

“The Finance Department needs a vault.”

Seeing Ronan, Mary said simply: "I am communicating with Bank of America. They recommend a professional company that builds a bank vault and will build a vault for us."

Ronan pointed to the ceiling: "I'll go upstairs, you can do it first."

Taking the elevator to the tenth floor, looking at the temporary office distribution map, Ronan found Christopher Nolan's office.

The writing room on this floor is spacious, with more than a dozen fully equipped large offices and some small offices. Three crews of Shahai Entertainment were temporarily stationed.

In addition to Christopher Nolan's new film project, there are Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" and "Mr. Smiths" that have just been confirmed.

After Ronan picked out the script library of Yijiang Film, the latter was forwarded to George Clint, and the internal procedures were quickly completed and the project was officially confirmed.

Ronan met the busy Christopher Nolan in a small office.

Seeing Ronan, Christopher Nolan temporarily put down the work at hand and handed over two documents: "This is the pre-plan for the script and project."

Ronan put the plan aside, opened the script and read it roughly. It was not much different from the movie I remembered. It still tells the story of two young magician gay friends who are magical duels.

Christopher Nolan briefly introduced: "Most of the script was completed by Jonathan, and the main storyline comes from Mr. Pirister's name. Mr. Robert Lee has helped me and Jonathan buy the copyright of the original work for the crew. This will be a grand magic show."

Ronan nodded and asked directly: "How much does the project budget need?"

Christopher Nolan clearly calculated it clearly and said: "The $40 million production budget, including the copyright fees that have been spent."

This did not exceed Ronan's expectations and immediately said, "Yes."

Seeing that Ronan did not mean to read the plan, Christopher Nolan continued: "I plan to officially start preparing for "Deadly Magic" after "Batman: The Moment of War" is released in July. Filming will start at the end of this year or early next year. If everything goes well, all productions will be completed in early 2006."

Ronan said: "Then let's put the premiere of the film in 2006, and the Embassy Film will communicate with you later."

Christopher Nolan's filming speed is definitely not as fast as a gunman like Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg. Although he is also a typical commercial film, he is not a popcorn type and pays more attention to slow work and meticulous work.

Under normal circumstances, the movies directed by Christopher Nolan usually take more than two years to go from preparation to shooting to release, or even longer.

Although Christopher Nolan is also the producer, he knows that the real decision-maker of this project is still Ronan, and said: "In terms of actors, I have invited several candidates. Christian Bale has agreed to be the male lead, Michael Kane will be the male supporting role, and I want to retire Jackman..."

Ronan had no objection and said, "Just make a decision if you choose the actor."

The crew's finances are firmly in the hands of the production company. Ronan doesn't need to worry too much, and he is also at ease with Christopher Nolan's ability.

Christopher Nolan said: "Okay, about the cast, I will submit a report to you when the audition is over."

As an extremely smart director, he put his position very straight.

Ronan asked, “Where is the Dark Knight?”

Christopher Nolan said simply: "The script has been written long ago and there is no idea of ​​changing it yet. I communicated with Charles Rowan and Warner Bros. Before the box office of "The War Time" came out, Warner Bros. was not sure if there would be a sequel."

"Let's wait for "War Time to Begin" to be released." Ronan knew that the initiative of this series was completely in the hands of Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Shahai Entertainment is mainly an investor, and it is enough to share investment returns from it.

I talked to Christopher Nolan until I got off work in the afternoon, Ronan went to Ang Lee's office on the same floor, who had just returned from outside.

"Hi, Ronan." Ang Lee quickly called his assistant to pour water for Ronan: "Why have time to come today?"

Ronan took the water cup brought by his assistant, thanked him, and said to Ang Lee, "There is a project that has just begun to be prepared, and some work needs to be determined, so I just come and have a look." He asked, "Is the preparation going smoothly?"

Ang Lee smiled first: "With your strong support, the script adaptation and recruitment of filming teams have been going well. Although I haven't been going well recently, I have worked hard in Hollywood for many years and have a small team working together for many years." He then sighed: "It's just that it's not easy to find actors."

Ronan could roughly guess what Ang Lee would face when he was looking for an actor and asked: "The male lead?"

"Yes, it's hard to find a male lead actor." Ang Lee was also worried: "I found a few good male actors, but when I heard that they were gay characters, they all refused. Originally, I was the most optimistic actor, a male actor named Jack Gillenhill, who went to his home specifically to visit him, trying to earn support from his family, but was kicked out."

The current environment is like this, unlike in the future, whether it is male or female, it is easy to find actors for homosexual characters.

In the future, there are not many potential gay supporting roles in many big productions, and I feel embarrassed to show them to others.

To be honest, Ronan has no good idea: "It is normal for actors to have concerns, and their pay can be appropriately increased. Lee, you can also make more promises. The goal of "Brokeback Mountain" is to win the award next year. You might as well explain it to the actors directly."

Ang Lee nodded: "That's all."

Most actors are not stupid. Even if they don’t know their own minds, they have smart agents who can’t say anything better than letting them see future gains.

Ronan said in advance: "Don't forget, this is a movie produced by Shahai Entertainment."

Ang Lee's eyes lit up. He was a fan of the authorities. The film not only produced Shahai Entertainment, which has a very high success rate in the circle, but also had the name of Ronan Anderson in the producer column!

This is already a gold medal producer in the Hollywood circle who can compete with Jerry Brookheimer.

It's so stupid to have the best and most attractive signboard but don't know how to use it.

Ang Lee was very upset and immediately decided to make an appointment with the two best actors, Heath Ledger and Jack Jaylen Hill, tomorrow and have a good talk.

He still doesn't believe it. Will these two young actors not be moved by the film project initiated by Ronan Anderson?

"The two most optimistic male lead candidates are Heath Ledger from Australia and Jack Gillenhill who just mentioned." Ang Lee has experienced setbacks and is also a mixed-inspired figure. Before doing it, hello to Ronan: "I think they know that the producer is you, and it may change."

Ronan is not a rigid person: "Let's go and do it."

Hearing these two familiar names, Ronan felt that it would be good to continue using them.

As for Heath Ledger...

Forget it, don’t think too much, it will be smooth and natural.

Just like Revan Phoenix and David Carladin, Hollywood stars who commit suicide have a million ways to commit suicide, and they can't stop them even if they want to.

Ang Lee has some plans: "If everything goes well, the filming will be completed this year, the post-production will be completed in the first half of next year, and then go to the Venice Film Festival next year."

"You coordinate with Embassy Films and Sandsea Entertainment." Ronan made the decision: "Let them assist the crew in signing up for the competition unit of the Venice Film Festival."

It seems that "Brokeback Mountain" has won the highest award at one of the three major European film festivals, but Ronan doesn't remember exactly which one it is.

Berlin movies can be ruled out, after all, this is a political film festival, and "Brokeback Mountain" does not conform to its aesthetic.

Before getting off work, Ronan left the Relativity Building, but Ang Lee has been working overtime. No one knows better than him how important this opportunity is. It is not even an exaggeration to say that it was his last chance in Hollywood.

"Brokeback Mountain" is successful and can continue to develop in Hollywood. If it fails, it will not even gain a foothold.

This is a battle of back and forth!

The night was thick, and Ang Lee finished his work and left the office. He met British director Christopher Nolan. The two stayed on the same floor for a while and knew each other. They got into the elevator together while chatting.
Chapter completed!