"The Dark Shadow", directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. In the previous life, when people mentioned this movie, what came to mind was "the beginning of Johnny Depp's career collapse".

In 2010, with "Alice in Wonderland", Johnny's career was revitalized, before the failure of works such as "Public Enemy" and "Deadly Companion" made him lose the throne of "Hollywood's first person", and Robert Downey Jr. replaced him with the great success of "Iron Man". But the global box office of "Alice in Wonderland" with one billion dollars successfully turned the tide.

After that, the failure of the small-budget film "The Rum Diary" and the disappointment of the commercial film "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" did not sound the alarm, and people still believed that Johnny had a strong appeal, and major film companies signed contracts with him for at least four commercial works. The first part is Tim's "Black Shadow".

However, this became the beginning of a nightmare. "Dark Shadow", "Lone Ranger", "Transcendental Hacker", "Noble Thief", "Alice in Wonderland 2", five consecutive works failed miserably, a complete collapse fiasco, the highest investment "Lone Ranger" cost 220 million, and the lowest investment "Noble Thief" also cost as much as 60 million, Johnny's career fell into a trough, and there was no hope of recovery, and the title of "box office poison" followed. It all started with the "Black Shadow".

"Black Shadow" invested 150 million, and the final North American box office was only 79 million, and the global box office was 245 million.

People don't seem to remember too many details about the work "Dark Shadow", but they only remember that it was the beginning of Johnny's nightmare.

If this is how it should be, this should be a terrible work, Andy is obviously blindsided, but in fact, on the contrary, in the preparation stage of "Dark Shadow", this work can be said to be in the limelight, and everyone is optimistic that this work can create brilliance.

Warner Bros. showed the courage to swallow mountains and rivers, not only did they make a big investment with a big stroke of the pen - you know, this is a film that didn't involve any visual effects, they allowed Tim to shoot all the scenes on location, just to show the best results, but also in the promotion of the money, from preparation to shooting to post-production, step by step, Warner Bros. expects this work to sweep the box office results of at least 700 million or even 800 million yuan worldwide.

In order to match the super high expectations of the crew, Warner Bros. has been even more generous in terms of salary and has formed a luxurious star lineup.

In addition to Johnny Depp, Eva-Green, Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle-Pfeiffer, Johnny-Lee-Miller, Chloe-Moretz, Christopher-Lee and others have joined.

From the preparation stage to the release stage, "Black Shadow" has always been regarded as a box office giant, and all aspects of director, actor, screenwriter, producer, publicity, and distribution have blossomed in an all-round way. From the schedule arranged by Warner Bros., you can see their strong self-confidence:

Released in the second week of May 2012, the first week was the summer opening masterpiece "The Avengers", and the next week was the "Super Battleship" built by Universal Pictures with huge investment!

It's not blind confidence. In the last life, all the media called the unveiling of the summer file in 2012 the "showdown of the century", believing that the head-to-head confrontation of these three works will be the showdown between Mars and the earth, and the general opinion is that "Black Shadow" is the only work that can compete with the "Avengers", and many media even use the banner of "Johnny Depp VS Robert Downey Jr.", which has attracted countless eyes and focuses.

In other words, not only Andy, not only Warner Bros., but even industry insiders and professional media, everyone is optimistic about the box office prospects of this work, and even thinks that it can compete with the "Avengers".

So, what exactly is happening in reality?

It's simple to say, it's complicated to say it's complicated, the original TV series of "Black Shadow" has a huge content and many adaptation directions, but the crew finally chose the route of a funny soap opera, which leads to a weak script, chaotic narrative, boring characters, and old-fashioned settings; at the same time, the visual effects lack highlights, the colors are dazzling and unfocused, and what's worse, the climax is too boring to watch, making people drowsy.

It can be said that all the vulgar taboos of commercial movies have been committed, and even the popcorn-style light-hearted joy has not been achieved, which is a big disappointment.

In the end, the media comprehensive evaluation was only 55 points, which was at the same level as "Alice in Wonderland", but the fatal blow was that Rotten Tomatoes, Popcorn Index, IMDB scores, and theater scores all fell, and there was an obvious gap with "Alice in Wonderland", which led to a complete collapse of the box office.

To add insult to injury, under the crushing of the "Avengers", the "black shadow" was not able to even come out with a wisp of green smoke, and disappeared in an instant.

However, Lan Li is now speaking lightly, but in fact, it is just an afterthought. If the two works of "Super Battleship" and "Alien Battlefield" have bad signs in the preparation process, mainly because of the sense of unease and confusion brought about by the creation of the script, then the comprehensive collapse of "Black Shadow" is without warning.

One can say that Tim and Johnny have worked together too many times and there is no spark, one can also say that the polishing of the script still lacks substance and connotation, one can also say that the impact of visual effects has not met expectations, and one can say that "The Avengers" is too strong to be born at the right time. But that's an afterthought.

I already know that one of Lan Li's most important advantages is that he knows the success or failure of movies in the next six or seven years, especially commercial films. But if he is only satisfied with this, Lan Li is not Lan Li - the future he can "foresee" is limited, 2017 is the limit, and he has no intention of ending in 2017 for the time being, so he can't always form a habit and always rely on those established facts that already exist.

Not to mention, 2017 will come sooner or later, just to say that Lan Li is now the biggest variable on the road of history, he is trying to change history, create his own history, only by overturning those known facts, he can open up his own world. The tsunami came, and he was the butterfly that flapped its wings in the first place.

Naturally, Lan Li refuses to be blindly led by the nose by habit.

Looking back from the standpoint of "knowing earlier", is there any possibility that "Black Shadow" will succeed? If so, how should it be tried?

Lan Li's personal opinion is that the chances of success are very slim, because in this movie, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are too imprinted, continuing the dark gothic style that the two men have always had, even the comedy effect is not outstanding enough, neither of them has been able to make a breakthrough, constantly repeating themselves, and losing inspiration.

Like the cow that gives a good pail of milk, and then kicks it over. If "Dark Shadow" wants to succeed, then he can break the kettle and replace Tim and Johnny from the root, so as to win a glimmer of life. Now, Warner Bros. is interested in building a young cast lineup, which is a positive sign.

However, Lan Li is just a small role, and he doesn't think that the Warner Brothers will replace the entire creative team for his opinion. What's more, he is now just a small role on the audition list.

Andy didn't say anything, just quietly looked at Lan Li's expression, but as always, nothing was found, the two had been working together for a year, and he gradually began to get used to this situation, so he didn't speculate, but asked directly, "Do you have any special ideas?"

Roy was a little surprised, Lan Li had just started to read the script, and even if he had an idea, he wouldn't be so fast.

But Lan Li showed a shallow smile and shook his head, "No, I'm not interested. ”

"Oh?" said Andy, expressing his doubts.

"I'm not Johnny Depp, and I can't be Johnny Depp. "I'm sure the Warner Bros. producers know this, the problem is, Tim Burton doesn't know that." ”

Johnny will appear unconditionally because of Tim's call, and similarly, Lan Li can also unconditionally refuse Tim's call. He doesn't think that his collaboration with Tim can collide with sparks, nor does he think that his performance can fit Tim's style. This is not a retreat, but Lan Li gradually has a relatively clear understanding of his performance style.

No one can be truly versatile. Not even Gary-Oldman.

Andy didn't respond immediately, but put his hands on his belly, thought seriously for a while, and frowned slightly, "Lan Li, are you willing to think about it after reading the script?"

In Andy's impression, Lan Li is all-round, even if it is a gothic style, there is no problem, he has blind confidence in Lan Li's acting skills, and believes that under Tim's lens, Lan Li can also burst out with powerful energy. What's more, the work "Black Shadow" is indeed highly anticipated, and Warner Bros. is now tilted over, which can be described as the top priority.

So, even though Andy understood what Lan Li meant, he still made a sincere request.

"Of course, I'll finish reading the script. Lan Li said crisply, "Even if you don't ask for it, I'll finish reading it." ”

Andy nodded in approval, "To be honest, Warner Bros. has recently used all the resources at hand for this project, and this project is definitely not trivial. I'm quite optimistic about the future of this work, and it will do us a good job of getting a higher salary. Warner Bros. is the best option against Universal Pictures. ”

"Does this mean that the 'Ring Messenger' is no longer playing?" Lan Li and Andy's observation perspectives are different after all, and he immediately thought of the scripts he read last time, "The Ring Messenger" and "Dragon Tiger Boys" finally stood out, but now "Dragon Tiger Boys" has retreated, and "Ring Messenger" is the work of an independent film company.