Chapter 304： dig deep

The original work of "Dawn of the Living Dead" is the second in the "Death Trilogy" filmed by director George-a-Romilo, and the opening of this walking dead culture comes from "Night of the Living Dead" in 1968, also It's the first of the trilogy.

There is a gap of nearly ten years between the two works. The reason is that when the setting was first launched, the director himself failed to conceive it well, it seemed very rough, and the market did not buy it well.

It was not until 1979 that George made "Dawn of the Living Dead" for US$500,000. After its release, it earned more than 20 million in the United States and a total of more than 50 million at the global box office before it was praised.

However, the director Giorgio-a-Romilo is also a wonderful person. In addition to being able to shoot the walking corpse theme well and sell well, this product is all about shooting other themes, so it has not been on the stage since then. , over time, slowly disappeared.

In the following years, it is not that no one thought about remaking this classic old film, but the problem is that the copyright owner Abraham does not plan to restart.

It wasn't until the appearance of Eric Newman, with a good adaptation of the story and some improved walking dead settings in it, that it moved.

Going around, the director of the project fell to Zach Snyder.

But these few people together did not have enough shooting funds and the required distribution channels, so they thought of cooperating with others.

Firefly Pictures is one option for them.

However, after Lyman read the script, he felt that the plot was too old-fashioned, and he did not agree immediately, but asked Zach Snyder to call the screenwriter of the script.

The next morning, the three met in Schneider's studio.

After greeting each other, Lehman said bluntly: "I think I can invest and help with the distribution is no problem, but the script needs to be changed."

Screenwriter Eric Newman is not a person who values ​​his own creation, or he hopes that his project can run smoothly, otherwise he would not think of remaking an old film. It's not all about money.

So seeing that there is an opportunity for investment, he happily agreed: "Mr. Lehman, you said."

"The style of this film has changed. It doesn't mean that zombie films have to be scary and bloody. Have you ever thought about changing your way of thinking?" Lehman suggested: "Have you seen Resident Evil?"

"I've heard of it." Eric was very honest.

Well, this movie based on the game has only been released, and the market response has not been great. It is based on the reputation that has been slowly accumulated by the sequels.

"That movie also has a similar setting, and the story is very innovative, so if we want to make a zombie movie that takes place in modern society, we can't take the same path, and the protagonist group is not necessarily in danger every time, Overcome the crisis. You know what I mean?"

"The abuser?" Eric Newman looked puzzled.

Lehman simply found a piece of white paper from the desk, took out a pencil from the pen holder on the side, and drew a scene map, similar to a train station, and said as he drew, "Works with zombie themes. , whether it's a comic or a game, or even the "Resident Evil" I mentioned, it has all gone its own way. If you blindly restore "Dawn of the Living Dead", it will only be the old one, without any new ideas, and it will not necessarily be marketed. Accept, so there has to be innovation. I don't see much innovation in your script."

"Then how to design the plot development?"

"Human nature. Do you think, in a society with sudden changes, what will happen to the people when they encounter an infection crisis like the end of the day? Isn't everyone's choice, the choice in the face of disaster, meaningless. Put the perspective from zombies to on humans."

"Will the space be too large, and it is difficult to express it concretely." Eric Newman, the screenwriter, saw the problem at a glance.

Group portraits have always been the most difficult to describe, which is why movies rarely zoom in on the pattern. For example, "The Day After Tomorrow", which is obviously a global natural disaster, only locked the city of New York, a group of suffering people, the same is true.

Lyman nodded, full of approval: "You are right, so we have to take the initiative to narrow the scene to show the story of what happened. You said, on a moving train, what happens when an infected person sneaks in? "

Saying that, hand over the drawn scene map.

In the small carriage, there are infected zombies on one side, and panicked people on the other side...

"It's so creative."

Zach Snyder looked on and couldn't help but say: "Using the moving train as the carrier of the scene directly intensifies the conflict of the drama. It's very interesting."

"Because it happened suddenly, it was a test of how the public would react?"

Eric Newman continued: "A whole station turned into purgatory, and the difficulty of survival is infinitely magnified?"

"That's right, that's it." Lyman nodded and said, "So a movie like this is more of a test for group portraits. It doesn't focus on a single protagonist, and it doesn't have the **** large-scale shots that zombie movies like, but it's just cruel. ."

"Listen, it will be exciting." Zach Snyder was completely aroused by this creative setting.

Eric Newman looked at Lyman, "What about the main line of the story, how to design it?"

Lehman thought for a while, and said, "Let's start from the main perspective of a father and daughter. The father, the hero a, is an office worker. He has a daughter who has just divorced."

"one-parent family?"

"Yes This is the reason for them to go to the train station." Laiman continued: "When my daughter was on vacation, she was clamoring to see her mother, but her father had no choice but to ask for leave to take her there. , the final stop is to go to New York. I have already thought about the name of the movie, so it is called "New York Tour". As for how the virus broke out, you can think about how to bury the clues reasonably, and then, how the infected people get on the station Yes, you can also think about it, so that the audience can see a little abnormal, but they don't know what will happen. Keep a certain sense of mystery."

"Well, I'll have a good idea." Eric Newman took a note.

After speaking, he hesitated: "But in this case, there will be a lot of movie scenes, and I will also have to deal with the New York City government. In terms of cost..."

Originally, the shooting budget of the project they conceived was only 25 million US dollars, or because the expenditure on the group performance was too much, but now, if the concept is based on Lehman's creativity, a rough calculation, without a base of 50 million, may not be able to shoot come out. This is still under the premise of not considering the participation of big-name stars, if first-line actors are invited to participate, it will be a big production of hundreds of millions.

"Don't worry about that."