As Helen Herman said, Lao Lei has been a bit unfavorable since "The Dynasty of Heaven". Even if the films he made have not failed, they have received mediocre responses. Not only did he not have a huge work, he directed a blockbuster such as "Robin Hood".

Fortunately, he has created enough glory in the past to avoid falling into despair.

But being affected is inevitable.

Ridley Scott sat in the reception room of Angels Agency, looking at Matthew and Helen Herman opposite, and knew that he had two ways at present. One was that Twentieth Century Fox invited him back to film the new "Alien" movie, and the other was to collaborate with Matthew Horner on this Mars science fiction film.

He himself prefers the latter because he is not a director who likes to be a good person.

So, over the past month, he has carefully read the original work and has a general direction for adaptation. As long as he can reach a consensus with Matthew Horner, he can fully cooperate.

Matthew greeted Ridley Scott without saying much. For him and Ridley Scott, cooperation is a two-way choice.

"Uncle Scott." Helen Hermann said calmly, "Have you read the original book?"

"See it." Ridley Scott nodded slightly.

Matthew then asked, "Ridley, I'm not particularly good at screenwriters and filming." He said without hesitation, "Can you tell me what you think?"

Although he was determined to pull Ridley Scott when facing difficulties, Matthew knew very well that the huge investment in science fiction films made it impossible to do it randomly. When it comes to work, it is best to put aside your personal relationship first.

Just like before with Clint Eastwood, if Ridley Scott is right, he will give Ridley Scott a lot of power, including giving him a certain post-production right.

Ridley Scott said slowly, "I have read the original work and have some ideas for future adaptations. This novel is very exciting and a rare hard science fiction masterpiece in recent years." He coughed and said, "I personally think that future adaptations can appropriately integrate the style of westerns."

Matthew was a little surprised and looked at Ridley Scott. Ridley Scott briefly explained, "There is a style in the western film, or the point that left the most impressive thing to me, which matches the protagonist in the novel very well."

Matthew listened to Ridley Scott's words, recalled the impressive westerns he had watched, and thought for a while before asking, "The protagonist is tough and full of fighting spirit, just like a cowboy. No matter how harsh and cruel the environment is, he can't beat him, right?"

"It's basically that." Ridley Scott said seriously. "Westerns left an indelible impression on me in my early years: it's always a person who faces countless difficulties and fights against nature. I always think of myself as a cowboy. I've never made Westerns, but there are always western elements in my works."

Matthew recalled several films directed by Ridley Scott, and it seemed that it was indeed the case.

Ridley Scott continued, "So, I need a good script, I'm not good at writing scripts."

"I can recruit the right screenwriter," said Matthew.

"There are many places in the novel that require large-scale adaptation." Ridley Scott did not want to go back to eat the old money of "Alien". "The theme of the film is best to highlight self-rescue and rescue. There is no need to artificially set up a big villain. No one will prevent the protagonist from surviving and returning to Earth, except for the natural environment of Mars."

Matthew nodded, "This idea is good, I agree."

Only by reaching an agreement on concept can the cooperation be carried out smoothly.

As a director who has filmed many science fiction films, Ridley Scott likes this novel that tends to be hard science fiction, but he has experienced some very bad things, such as the failure of "The Heavenly Kingdom". He knows that some things are best explained first to avoid unpleasant things later.

Ridley Scott also paid attention to another point. Matthew's reputation in this area is relatively good. In addition, Matthew once promoted his director or producer during his fame. Later, when he encountered difficulties, Matthew helped them.

For example, Sean Daniel.

He has a certain source of news, knowing that the rumors match the facts, after all, his former assistant Jack is now the producer of the "Twilight" series.

Jack was a man who helped Matthew back then, and Matthew asked him to stand alone...

This is also an important reason why he temporarily talked about Twentieth Century Fox before Matthew.

Even compared to large companies like Twentieth Century Fox, Matthew has a higher reputation.

What's more, the last miserable "Dynasty of Heaven" was a collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox. At that time, despite his opposition, he directly crossed the director and producer to force the film to be edited into a release version of Tom Rossman. He is now the CEO of Twentieth Century Fox. If Tom Rossman forces another forceful interference, even a director like him will not be able to bear it.

If there are other better roads to go, he doesn't want to take the 20th Century Fox for the time being.

Ridley Scott continued, "Space is a magnificent platform, but for those of us, we can only stay at the level of imagination. We need professional support, and it is best to win the support of Nasa."

Matthew couldn't help laughing, "We thought of this one."

The future of films is not only hard science fiction, but also tends to be hard science fiction. No one has visited Mars on the spot, but it must be in line with some common sense announced so far.

In this case, NASA's professional guidance is very necessary.

NASA often cooperates with Hollywood, and it is not difficult to find them as consultants or even borrow the launch site to shoot. As long as the money is in place, they can promote them, these are all small problems.

The most basic concept was reached, both Matthew and Ridley Scott had much smaller questions about each other. The two talked about the past and ended the interview in a harmonious atmosphere.

Although Matthew didn't promise anything and Ridley Scott did not directly say that he would direct the project, the preliminary cooperation intention was already available, and the rest depends on how to negotiate later.

Ridley Scott is different from Clint Eastwood, who did not ask for high demands during negotiations, and it means to return favors.

There are so many things to negotiate when working with a big director.

Because Helen Hermann took the initiative to avoid suspicion, Matthew handed over the negotiations with Ridley Scott to Bella Anderson. After working with Ridley Scott's director, he recruited a suitable screenwriter team to adapt the novel into a script.

As for actors and the like, there is no need to worry now, and it is not too late to recruit the crew after they are established.

Matthew plans to set up a confirmed script this year, and prepare for the new year, filming and post-production will be released next year at the end of 2012 or in the summer of 2013.

Now there is no publisher, so the specific release date cannot be determined.

In this way, his work is full again. He will shoot "American Sniper" in the second half of this year, plan "Fast and Furious 6", next year, and a new movie he decided to name "Mars Rescue".

"Fast and Furious 5" has been a big hit at the box office, and it is inevitable that "Fast and Furious 6" will continue to be filmed.

Matthew has asked Paul Walker, Gal Gadot, Jordanna Brewster, Daniel Wu and others, and they are all interested in continuing to star in the show.

With the director Justin Lin, who has been confirmed to return, there will not be much change in the creative lineup.

Maintaining the stability of the creative lineup is a great success for the sequel.

However, director Justin Lin greeted Matthew in advance, saying that he wanted to take a break after filming the last part of the new trilogy "Fast and Furious 6". If he had to continue filming, it would be best to find a suitable director in advance.

A good commercial director is not easy to find either.

Matthew communicated with David Ellison and was also considering whether to let the "Fast and Furious" series stop for a short period of two years? After all, if it is released too quickly and too frequently, it may cause aesthetic fatigue.

Moreover, the pay of actors and directors is also rising rapidly. To keep the scene big enough, the investment in "Fast and Furious 6" cannot be less than $180 million.

But after seeing the new script taken out by Justin Lin and Chris Morgan, Matthew gave up this idea after careful consideration.

Because they came up with two scripts.

"The villain in the fifth part is too weak, which is an obvious flaw."

In the office, Justin Lin said his new idea to Matthew, "So, in the sixth part, there is a very strong villain, and this villain also has his team."

He raised his voice a little, saying, "In the new movie, there must be not only faster speeds and bigger scenes, but also more exciting stories and fighting scenes."

Matthew nodded slightly while looking through the script.

Justin Lin continued, “I hope there will be a purer automotive culture in this movie, bringing this culture into pure action movies, and making the culture and spirit represented by this series a role model for later films.”

After watching it, Matthew closed the script and Justin Lin said, "To achieve this goal, we designed a huge story for the film - so big that it requires the capacity of two movies to fully accommodate it, so we had to shoot it as an upper and lower movie, which means that the sixth and seventh episodes are actually the same story. We will use a back-to-back method to complete the shooting of these two movies."
Chapter completed!