[US Entertainment] Actor

At the beginning of June, I quietly entered the crew of "Batman: The Dark Knight" after training a body of hard muscles, and started the 6-month filming work.

Leonardo joined the filming of "Road to Revolution" a few days earlier than him, and the two simply took advantage of the extra time before to discuss the script with each other and thoroughly studied some difficulties in the script.

It is undoubtedly a pleasure to work with acquaintances. Of course, in addition to the Nolan couples that Ebert is familiar with, the crew has also joined several new actors.After Katie Holmes quit, Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced her as Rachel, and "Two-Face" Harvey Dent was played by Aaron Eckhart. The supporting role "Joker" is played by Heath Ledger.

It is worth mentioning that there are three villains in this "Dark Knight", namely "Scarecrow", "Two-faced Man" who is both good and evil, and "Joker" who regards death as a game.

"Oh, Ebert, I'm so glad to see you again." As soon as Ebert appeared on the set, Gary Oldman ran over and gave him a big hug. This guy smiled brightly, just like in the movie There was no resemblance to the serious and upright Officer Gordon. Ebert was worried that he would utter a few words of experience in the next second, so he hurriedly backed away by more than half a meter.

"Oh, Ebert, my good partner, you have the heart to do this to me?"

Ebert made a pause gesture: "I'm just worried that something will come out of your mouth that will poison my ears, so I'd rather not listen."

"Tch, boring young man, life is so good, it's really meaningless to waste energy on some boring things." Gary Oldman laughed, "Anyway, congratulations on getting your first small golden seat." Man, I saw it on TV, it was good."

"Thank you." Ebert took a step forward and hugged him back, "I am willing to hear this, so I don't mind giving you a hug."

After catching up with Gary Oldman, Ebert turned to his best co-star on the show, Michael Caine, who plays Alfred.In the previous film, Ebert and Michael Caine cooperated very happily. He has a great temper, is willing to guide the younger generation, and has his own unique understanding of the film. For Ebert, Michael Caine outside the play Kane is as trustworthy as Alfred in the play.

Cillian Murphy, who played "Scarecrow", also arrived on the set early. In the last film, he and Duka played by Liam Neeson were the two most important villains, but this time Liam Neeson did not participate , Xilian's role has also been weakened a lot.However, after "The Mystery of Shadow" set a box office of more than 3 million US dollars, the value and popularity of several main actors in the film have been improved to varying degrees, although Ebert and Katie Hull have benefited the most James, but for an actor like Cillian Murphy who is eager to develop more in Hollywood, a movie with enough exposure is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity.

Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine also congratulated Ebert.

In fact, the higher Ebert's profile is, the better it will be for The Dark Knight.Although the previous work has achieved quite excellent results, Warner Bros. has therefore released more investment and greater authority to Nolan to let him play freely. Emma Thomas has an increasing right to speak among producers, and Jonathan Nolan also added polish to the screenplay, and overall, The Dark Knight is a more Nolan-inspired film than its predecessor.

However, the distinctive style of the director does not mean that the film will be successful. There is no doubt that "Mystery of the Shadow" has opened up a new model of commercial blockbusters. This is a style unique to Nolan and cannot be imitated by others. Whether the second part can continue the excellence of the previous one is still unknown.

With the news that Ebert won the Oscar statuette, as his first work after winning the award, "Batman: The Dark Knight" naturally received far more attention than before, especially for Maggie Ji For newcomers like Lenhal and Heath Ledger, the news of working with Ebert could be a huge boost to their profile.

Of course, the price negotiated between Lynn and Warner Bros. also made the rich and powerful Warner Bros. feel heartbroken, but "Batman: The Dark Knight" is the third movie that Ebert has cooperated with Warner Bros. as the leading role. The cumulative box office of "The Mystery of Shadow" and "The Departed" has exceeded 5 million US dollars. in the bag.Due to the excellence of the first film, Warner Bros. has greater hopes for "The Dark Knight". What's more, Ebert's box office appeal has been confirmed by the first two works, especially "The Departed". After Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, the film that had fallen into silence turned into the top ten box office of the weekend after the Oscars, firmly dominating the list of new films with a box office of more than 5000 million US dollars. .

It can be said that Warner Bros. has earned both word of mouth and box office. In front of an actor with outstanding talent and box office appeal like Ebert, it seems that it is not interesting to go back and forth for millions of dollars.

The invitation of "Vanity Fair" can be described as a divine assist. Through that invitation, the Hollywood people were keenly aware of the attitude of the film company executives and the group behind them towards Ebert. There is no doubt that Ebert will become People like Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, if they have goodwill towards him, they will be able to gain far more than this in the future.

These external blessings may be important. The most important thing is the good reputation that Ebert has accumulated through Oscar nominations one after another and his unmissable box office results.At the moment when Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey will suffer from box office Waterloo, the films that Ebert starred in can always attract piles of audiences to enter the cinema to contribute to the box office. His word of mouth and box office appeal are his The most valuable part of the body.

Some professionals in the film industry believe that Ebert has grasped the pulse of audiences in the 21st century. After all, judging from the box office development in recent years, Steven Spielberg, who can be said to be a panacea for the box office in the 7s and 80s, seems to have Some of them can no longer be sold. The image of Tom Hanks being honest and willing to work was once one of the representatives of the American middle class. The total box office of "The Da Vinci Code" last year was only passable, and the box office performance was not even as good as the Oscars "The Departed Walker".

So when Lynn proposed a salary of 2500 million plus 8% box office dividends, the person in charge of Warner Bros. just frowned, and after negotiating with the Warner board of directors, the figure was reduced to 6%. Under the Immortal Tongue, the proportion of box office dividends was finally fixed at 7%.

Being able to come up with this number, Lynn is still very optimistic about the prospects of "The Dark Knight".

"Nolan's movie quality is already good, and with the help of Batman's image, I don't think this movie will do worse than the first one, so -- even if it's only 7% of the box office, it may make You earn $3500 million or more." Lynn crossed his legs and said proudly, "Remember, Ebert, you are an Oscar winner, but that's not enough, you have to make them realize that you are the best actor at the box office. You also have absolute control.”

"If you get all the salary and dividends, and the overall score of the film is very good, you will have no problem occupying the first place in the income list this year. You know? Hollywood has always been a place that only adds to the icing on the cake and never gives the charcoal in the snow. The higher your income, the more people will ask you to make movies, because they are not fools, an actor who has not made any achievements at the box office, no one will spend extra money to push him to the top of the grossing list Yes. It is also very important that your return ratio is very high, they only need a small investment, and you can bring them huge returns, whether it is in movie box office or commercial endorsements, so you only need Sit there quietly, watching me raise your worth from 2000 million to 2500 million, the price difference is 500 million, did you get 500 million for the filming of "Pirates of the Caribbean", no wonder so many people say you are the top of Hollywood Fastest actor."

"Superior doesn't sound like a good word."

"It doesn't matter where the hero comes from, whether it's high, middle or low, as long as you can make money, as long as you can attract audiences, no one cares whether your previous career was a street prostitute or a pig butcher in a slaughterhouse."

Well, no matter how straight-forward Lynn's theory is, Ebert will not refuse the remuneration his agent is striving for, and no one would like too many dollars.

With more dollars, it is easier for Ebert to implement his future plans.

After greeting his old friends, Ebert began to get to know the new actors who joined the crew one by one.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, born in a Hollywood acting family, her parents are very famous performers, who have won Oscars and Golden Globe awards, Maggie and her younger brother Jake Gyllenhaal are currently active As an actor in Hollywood, Jake Gyllenhaal has gained widespread attention for his roles in films such as "Death Illusion" and "Brokeback Mountain". award nominations.

"Seeing you is like seeing my brother, you are all outstanding."

"Thank you." Maggie Gyllenhaal is not the kind of actress with outstanding looks, but her background in acting, her experience at Columbia University and her acting skills at the Royal Academy of Drama have given her a unique temperament.Perhaps because she has a younger brother who is the same age as Ebert, Maggie Gyllenhaal treats Ebert with a gentle tone, like an older female elder.

She and Katie Holmes don't belong in the same style at all, but Ebert thinks he prefers Maggie's type of Rachel.