Seven Hundred and Twenty-Two - We Don't Have Time to Rest.

It's already early October, and relatively speaking, there isn't much time left for Wayne to shoot "Wonder Woman." All work on the film must be completed by next May at the latest.

In the meantime, he has to take care of the preparation and filming of "Superman" from time to time, as well as the "Lord of the Rings" crew in New Zealand, which has entered the final preparations. He also has no regard for the "King Kong" crew and the "John Wick" crew. It is possible to turn a blind eye and allow these two projects to grow wildly.

Therefore, in order to save time, Wayne had no choice but to abandon the preliminary preparations for "Wonder Woman" and personally took producer Luke Simmons to inspect overseas locations.

There is no doubt that "Wonder Woman" wants to be filmed in Los Angeles or in North America. Just setting up temporary scenes will require a lot of manpower, time, and capital costs. Choosing overseas locations for filming is a helpless move, and it is completely impossible. A better alternative.

In fact, Wayne prefers to shoot locally. Even if North America has very few tax rebates for projects, taking into account various costs, he would also prefer to have the crew's main filming location in North America.

Unfortunately, compared to the complex scenes of "Wonder Woman" and the large number of action scenes and war background shots, the cost of setting everything up from scratch was too high, so high that he and Warner Bros. could not afford it.

Moreover, the various scenes of "Wonder Woman" could not be properly solved even if they were placed in Australia, which has been loved by the industry in the past two years. So Wayne simply prepared to put aside other work at hand and shift the focus of all work to this Project comes up.

There is really no other way. Once the crew is out filming for a long time, he will definitely not be able to take care of other work conveniently. This is a dilemma that has to be made.

After arriving in Italy, they briefly met with the head of Warner Bros. Overseas Company. Wayne, Luke Simon and others immediately changed flights and first went to the small town of Ravello in southern Italy. A long shot of the opening scene of the "Wonder Woman" movie, where he planned to shoot.

French writer André Gide commented on this place: "This is a place closer to the blue sky than to the sea."

The town of Ravello has about 2,500 residents and is located high on the Amalfi Coast, on the Gulf of Salerno. It has two romantic gardens overlooking the sea and excellent beach views. It has been the residence of nobles since the 12th century and is also popular with artists of all ages.

Ravello is located in a remote location, and the group took an hour's drive from Naples through mountain roads to reach it. But it may be precisely because of this mountain road that people realize the vague romantic feeling it brings. Many celebrities are attracted by its magic.

"The famous musician Richard Wagner was deeply fascinated by this beautiful town. He obtained musical inspiration here and created many amazing works."

Wayne looked at the beautiful scenery outside the window, and heard the introduction from the Warner Bros. staff. Before he entered the town, he actually knew that he was in the right place this time. This place simply cannot be described as beautiful, it is exactly like the paradise people imagined.

"You know? Boss."

Several people got off the car and entered the reserved hotel. Nina had a rare mood swing. Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the hotel, she looked out at the intoxicating scenery and sighed: "I have been with you for countless trips over the years. I have seen countless scenery on location, but only this place is as beautiful as the one shot in the movie.”

"That should disappoint you, Nina."

Standing next to the assistant, Wayne glanced at Sergey who was carrying boxes of luggage, then turned to look out the window at the beautiful fairyland-like scenery, and joked: "We won't stay here for too long. We have to set off again after tonight. This time our schedule is very tight, so we probably won’t have time for you to indulge in it.”

"I knew it......"

Pushing up the glasses on her face, Nina had a mesmerized expression on her face and muttered: "Anyway, I have to do it again during the shooting. When I come back next time, I must take a good look at the scenery here."

"Sergey, there's no need to pack your luggage, let's go for a walk."

Wayne smiled and shook his head, then turned and waved to the Russian bear. "Dear Ms. Klein, let's go and go shopping while there is still time. I don't want to leave you with any regrets."

Now that he is here, it is the first time for him to see such a beautiful town, so he simply goes out for a walk now. The reason is very simple. The assistant lady is looking forward to the second arrival. When the crew officially comes here to shoot, it is even less likely to stay too long. It is even possible that he will not come at all.

After all, only the distant views of "Paradise Island" will be shot here, which will be used to intersperse them at the beginning of the movie. After the official shooting begins, there is a high probability that the director of photography, Robert, will bring several photographers to capture the scenery.

The production time of "Wonder Woman" is relatively tight, and some work that does not require Wayne's intervention will definitely be arranged. No matter how beautiful the place is, it is not as important as focusing on the daily shooting work.

Without disturbing the rest of the staff and Luke Simmons, the three Waynes went downstairs and began to stroll through this small town.

"I really hope to live here in the future."

The three of them did not make a deliberate choice, and followed their mood into a weird ceramics store. The goods inside were strangely shaped, but full of weird beauty. Nina was stroking a ceramic rabbit in her hand, with an emotion called happiness shining in her eyes.

She declined Wayne's generous check, took out a few dollars, and bought the weird-shaped ceramic rabbit herself. When he left this weird ceramics shop, he looked at Wayne with a look of pure happiness on his face, gesturing at the porcelain in his hand.

"When we go back, I will tell little Fendi how beautiful this place is. Boss, do you think she will like this gift?"

Shaking his head helplessly, Wayne said: "Yes, it will definitely be..."

He also felt it, or all three of them felt it. This town seemed to have a kind of magic that would naturally make people walking on the street feel better, because there was a joyful atmosphere everywhere.

Whether it’s the quirky pottery shop on the roadside or the tiny specks of hibiscus and bougainvillea, everything looks particularly beautiful.

The layout of the town is very compact, and the three of them did not deliberately speed up, but it still took them less than an hour to visit the entire town. Among them, the place where Wayne stayed the longest was Villa Simponai. The history of this villa can be traced back to the eleventh century. It has not been enclosed by the local government and is completely open to everyone.

"If possible, it would be great if I could buy this villa."

Standing on the observation deck of Villa Simponai, all the intrigues, work arrangements, and even the habitual calculations at any time were temporarily forgotten by Wayne. This is the best place to appreciate the scenery of the Amalfi Coast, and it is also a place where you can forget all your unhappiness.

"Hey, boss!"

Hearing Wayne's praise, Nina rolled her eyes unceremoniously. "Can you please stop raising money from this place?"

After smiling at each other and Sher, Wayne didn't bring up the topic any further. Women are always prone to being emotional about beautiful things, but Nina in this state is even rarer than usual.

Whether it is gardens, fountains, tree-lined avenues or exquisite sculptures, every corner can form a perfect oil painting. The smiles on the faces of the town residents and tourists, the picturesque scenery that has been baptized by countless years, and being in this environment, even two grown men, Wayne and Sergey, deeply felt the impact of emotions. beautiful.

After confirming that there was no problem with this location, Wayne and others only stayed for one night, and then hurriedly drove back to Naples to inspect the next location.

Castle of Monte, Italy, where the Wayne Project will film scenes of Diana's life, horse riding, and training as a child in "Wonder Woman", and even the scene where Diana Prince takes the Excalibur.

The castle is approximately halfway between Melfi Castle and the Royal Palace of Foggia, where Frederick handled political issues and administrative matters at that time. There is an octagonal courtyard inside the castle. Stylistically, Castello del Monte belongs to the early Gothic architecture of southern Italy, although there are Romanesque and Arab-Norman influences.

The castle located on the top of the mountain has a mysterious but perfect octagonal shape. Eight represents infinity or the basis of cosmic power. These statements give the castle a mysterious color. This castle has a long history in Europe. The castle pattern behind the one cent in the euro is this. Because of its wonderful design, it will attract many architecture fans and artists.

No one can deny that the place where Diana Prince of "Wonder Woman" grew up has a strong mythical color, and this castle is just right to show a strong mysterious color. Especially on the hill where the castle is located, there is a Benedictine monastery, which gives the surrounding environment a light religious color.

This trip to Italy for location exploration was more like a perfect trip in Nina’s eyes. Basically every location was very beautiful. The only shortcoming might be that their stay was too short. Basically As long as it is determined that the shooting requirements are met, he will immediately leave for the next location.

For example, the ancient city of Matera is located in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. The scenery here is like being in a magical movie scene.

In Wayne's plan, he will shoot the scenes of Diana Prince's hometown market here. From every aspect, this place perfectly meets his shooting needs. The only headache is that he himself It is considered a relatively niche place, but there are surprisingly many tourists.

"Luke, you're going to have your hands full."

After confirming the filming location, when Wayne and the others rushed to the next location again, he looked at Luke Simmons who was following them all the way. "It is best to communicate well with the local municipal government to ensure that there will not be so many tourists when the crew is filming."

"Mr. Greenberg." Thomas Sandler of Warner Bros.'s Italian branch looked at the bitter producer and reminded him cautiously: "It is difficult for us to get the local city government to agree not to receive tourists, even if the crew is filming It didn’t last long. Receiving tourists who come here is the main source of income for most beautiful towns in Italy.”

"Then tell them that if my movie is successfully completed, it will be equivalent to an advertisement for their hometown in front of movie fans around the world!" Glancing at the company personnel from Warner Bros., Wayne said unceremoniously After giving the instructions, he immediately closed his eyes and rested his mind, not continuing to discuss this topic.

After running around non-stop for several days, Wayne was not in the mood to appreciate the scenery on location no matter how beautiful it was. He was very sure that he did not feel tired physically, but felt extremely tired mentally.

"Boss, I suggest that after this busy year, we go on vacation to Italy together. You need this very much."

Sitting in the car heading to Palinuro Beach, Nina looked at Wayne's face and frowned, and suggested in a low voice: "After working non-stop for many years, you have never taken a long vacation in the true sense. If you go on, even if there are no physical problems, you will be crushed mentally sooner or later."

"Nina, you should know better than anyone that we don't have time to take a long vacation."

Upon hearing the assistant lady's suggestion, Wayne squinted his eyes and shook his head. "My work plan has been theoretically scheduled to two years after the turn of the century, especially the past two years. They are too important to us and cannot be relaxed at all. As for vacation, ha, as long as these two years pass, all plans will be fulfilled. If this goes on smoothly, there will be plenty of time for us to take a vacation in the future.”

"I knew it would be like this..."

Sergey turned around, opened his mouth and said silently to Nina, then turned around helplessly and continued to look at the scenery on the road.

Anyone close to Wayne knew how much mental pressure he was under. Even Nina was sure that if her boss talked to a psychiatrist, he would definitely be able to diagnose some damn disease.

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She always remembered that when she first came to the other party, the other party was still a young man full of sunshine and boundless energy. But as he has become more and more successful in the past few years, Wayne has also matured visibly, which is not necessarily a good thing.

Nina was convinced that he needed a long vacation that could completely relax him, and the town of Ravello, which was as beautiful as an oil painting, was very suitable for healing his tense nerves.

Palinuro Beach on the coast of Cilento, Italy, is an isolated place just like the paradise island in the "Wonder Woman" movie.

Without any time to rest, Wayne and others dropped off their luggage at the hotel and hurried to the beach. In Wayne's plan, the scene in the movie where the beauty Diana Pliss saves the hero, as well as the war scene in the first big scene of the movie, will all be shot on this beach.

This is very important. Why is it said that "Wonder Woman" has a feminist tone? Just because at the beginning of the movie, there is an unconventional play of "hero saves beauty".

In traditional Hollywood commercial movies, or in mainstream commercial movies around the world, women are the ones who are rescued. This point will not change much even if it takes another twenty years. It is caused by people's traditional concepts.

But "Wonder Woman" is different. It can be said that this is the first time that a woman saves a man on the big screen. Let alone this day and age, even if it is more than ten years later in Wayne's memory, a similar film will be released. At that time, the controversy caused was not small at all.

It's just that this kind of controversy cannot be said openly in that environment, but no one can deny the fact that it is difficult for movies with a feminist tone to gain recognition from male audiences.

It is just different from Diana Prince. This character has been subtly influenced by decades of comic book settings. When people look at this female superhero, they will not arouse similar feelings. The innate hero setting can Keep the male audience's wariness to a minimum.

This is why Wayne dared to try to film the story of women saving men in this day and age, and all the stories between Diana Prince and the male protagonist all started on the beach at their feet.

"This is important, Luke."

Bending down to grab a handful of sand, Wayne's eyes wandered back and forth between the sea and the rocky cliff behind him. "The most important and first large-scale war scene in the film will take place here. We must negotiate with the local government in advance. It is best to sign the contract as soon as possible."

"I see."

Luke Simmons shrugged and said seriously: "Don't worry, I will take care of all the locations before the crew officially comes to Italy for filming."

Nodding silently, Wayne turned and walked towards the crowd waiting for them. "That's it. Let's finish the preparations in Los Angeles as soon as possible and rush to Italy for filming."

Without any nostalgia for the beautiful scenery, they only stayed one night at the beach of Palinuro. Early the next morning, the group got on the plane again and flew to the next shooting location. Only this time it’s not Italy, but the equally ancient British Isles, London.

For the project "Wonder Woman", Wayne also needed to use a large number of overseas locations for the first time. In addition to Italy, which has the most shots, there are also London, France, Greece, and the Aegean Sea.

Wanting better shooting effects, and having enough production funds in hand, he had no reason to make do with some places. The standard for this film for him was to shoot it as realistically as possible, and make it as perfect as possible.

After all, he is no longer the impoverished little director he was when he was filming "Happy Death Day", holding multiple positions such as photography, director, producer, screenwriter, etc. Since he can fight for wealth, there is no need to Don't hesitate to choose how to be luxurious.

In less than two weeks, Wayne and his team visited all overseas locations and returned to Los Angeles with their exhausted bodies.

It's just that others can rest, but he can't. He had already made an appointment to discuss the financing plan with Christopher Rockencourt and Steven Spielberg, but it was delayed due to the intensity of his work.

Having just returned to Los Angeles this time, he immediately asked Nina to make an appointment with the wealthy and generous film investor from New York, Christopher Rockencourt.

At the same time, a document bag that had been personally investigated and sorted by Hollywood Eye Anthony Pellicano was placed on Wayne's desk.