Movie Tycoon 7

Rayelek · May 6, 2018

In the interest of making an affordable movie, Drakestooth Studios is putting HOLMES on hold and releasing all potential roles with our sincerest apologies. We hope our forthcoming project, BLACKOUT, a horror film, will be more simple to produce. Casting will be coming shortly.

cappyboy · May 6, 2018

In the interest of making an affordable movie, Drakestooth Studios is putting HOLMES on hold and releasing all potential roles with our sincerest apologies. We hope our forthcoming project, BLACKOUT, a horror film, will be more simple to produce. Casting will be coming shortly.

Good luck with that. That's one genre I don't know I could ever really pull off. The sum total of what I know first hand about horror movies would probably fit inside a thimble.

HRTVAndrew · May 6, 2018

BREAKING NEWS: Trying to write a movie the second-busiest week of the year at work is a BAD idea.

Should have it up within a few days.

Valkyria · May 7, 2018

OK, the good news are that i am like 70-75 percent done writing the movie.

The bad news are that i had to add another figure to the film

Adam "The Artillery" Archer (Minor Role)

Old friend of Meathook and also a former Boxer himself, now the owner of the Electronic Store in which Meathook works. When the Hero decides to step into te Ring once again he help him wherever he can

Pulling DYLAN WELSH and VINNIE JONES from the role of David Wilson and offering them this part instead.

QFresh · May 7, 2018

Mad Grease Distribution's NOT SO ROUGH Negotiations
Jay Chandrasekhar & Kevin Heffernan: $850K each to share the director duty. - Accepted
Steve Lemme: $1M - Accepted
Paul Soter: $800K - Accepted
(LEAD) Eric Stolhanske: $800K
Kevin Heffernan: $150K more, so $1M in total.
Patrick Warburton: He enjoyed the script proposal, so is willing to cut down to $500K. - Accepted
Jay Chandrasekhar: $200K more, so $1.05M in total. - Accepted
(SUPP) Eric Stolhanske: $300K - Accepted
Jay Baruchel: $800K - Accepted
Quinton Jackson: $300K - Accepted
Daniel Cormier: He is busy preparing for one of the biggest fights of his career against Stipe Miocic.
Ken Jeong: $900K
Bobby Lee: $280K - Accepted
Mr. T: $50K - Accepted

Beauty! I'm hoping to have something together by the end of week.

As for...

Production Budget: 2.05 Million

Marketing Budget: 2.05 Million

cappyboy · May 7, 2018

OK, the good news are that i am like 70-75 percent done writing the movie.

The bad news are that i had to add another figure to the film

Adam "The Artillery" Archer (Minor Role)
Old friend of Meathook and also a former Boxer himself, now the owner of the Electronic Store in which Meathook works. When the Hero decides to step into te Ring once again he help him wherever he can

Pulling DYLAN WELSH and VINNIE JONES from the role of David Wilson and offering them this part instead.

Funny. Seems I also find myself needing to add a role to my picture.

Mrs. Brock (Minor Role): A tough but fair teacher whose greatest lesson to Trudy comes outside the classroom.

And I'd like to send offers out Leah Remini and Amy Hathaway.

merrykieran2 · May 12, 2018

I'm hoping to get my movie out by the end of next week but I have exams so the movie ofc takes the backburner rn

HRTVAndrew · May 13, 2018

OK, folks, it took long enough, but "The Midnight Riders" is now ready for launch!

- - - - -

TITLE: “The Midnight Riders”

GENRE: Buddy Comedy

DURATION: 1 hour, 34 minutes

RATING: PG-13 (language, violence)

PRODUCTION BUDGET: $1.15 million

TALENT BUDGET: $6.85 million

MARKETING BUDGET: $2 million

DISTRIBUTION SIZE: 0

DIRECTED BY: Penny Marshall

STARRING: Gary Oldman (Roger Lewis), Bob Saget (Eric Woods)

WITH A SUPPORTING CAST OF: John Stamos (Luke Petros), Dan Aykroyd (Tom Howard)

ALSO MAKING AN APPEARANCE: Laura Linney (Leanne Woods), Ariel Winter (Lily Woods), and Nick Offerman (Craig Davidson)

PLOT: Our film opens with a flashback to the days of Prohibition in the 1930’s. We see bootleggers identified as Roger Lewis, Eric Woods, and Craig Davidson all leaving a safehouse in cars loaded with booze. Using a sequence of light signals along back roads, they navigate the twists and turns before several cop cars are drawn to them. Acting as though they’ve done this many times before, the three cars split up along various forks, outdriving the cops so badly that the squad cars go off the road into various trees and ditches. Ultimately, the trio of Roger, Eric, and Craig all come back onto the same road, laughing hysterically as they speed off into the night.

Flash-forward to the early-1960’s. Roger Lewis is sitting in a modest suburban house and hears a knock on his door. He’s older, so he shuffles a bit as he goes to the entrance of his home, where Eric Woods is standing. The two haven’t seen each other in a while, but Woods comes with bad news: Craig has died due to a massive heart attack. Lewis quickly gets a bag together as Woods gets him up to speed on his desired arrangements, namely a cremation and a will-reading with his family and closest friends present.

The two make their way to the proceedings, located several hours away. Eric shows Roger a picture of his wife Leanne and daughter Lily, revealing himself to be completely at peace with his retirement. Roger, meanwhile, confides that he misses the old days, and that he feels like he’s sitting at home, alone in his big house, just waiting to die.

Eventually, they arrive, and the will-reading commences, with Craig on film reading off what is to take place after his death. In hysterical fashion, Craig confesses to a number of crimes he committed in his youth, while carefully making sure he does not implicate Roger and Eric. He says his last wish is for his ashes to be scattered along Bourbon Street in New Orleans, and that he will only entrust Roger and Eric to do it, as they’ll know exactly where he’s referring to.

Sure enough, a few days later, Roger and Eric show up outside a long-closed strip club in the seediest part of town. They begin scattering Craig’s ashes, but suddenly, the two hear gunshots very close by. They see a body fall, and dash to their car, high-tailing it away from the scene without realizing that they left Craig’s ashes on top of the car, thus scattering their friend all over the highway behind them.

The two breathe sighs of relief, but are flagged down by police officers. Initially, they believe they’re being summoned for speeding, but quickly, the cops get forceful, dragging the duo into their car. Their allegiance is revealed quickly, as they present Roger and Eric to a man who introduces himself as Luke Petros. Petros immediately recognizes Roger and Eric when their names are revealed, and in a show of respect, tells the full story of what happened: The shooting was the result of a business deal gone bad. Roger asks what Luke’s business is, and Luke calls himself a venture capitalist, “not unlike what you two used to be.”

Roger and Eric attempt to leave, but Luke stops them. He remarks that they now know too much, and that they can’t leave the building without some sort of deal being struck. Luke proposes an assignment running weapons to an event in Birmingham, Alabama, and hints that there would be serious consequences if they were to refuse. Roger quickly accepts, though Eric is a bit reluctant. Before leaving, Eric calls his wife and daughter, inventing a ridiculous story about why his trip has to be extended that makes both Roger and Luke roll their eyes and stifle laughter.

Roger and Eric get in the car and take the trip to Birmingham, where it’s quickly discovered that Luke’s client is, in fact, the KKK. Neither Roger nor Eric want anything to do with them, so they park the car on the other side of the block, drop off a note, and bolt to the nearby bus station. Unfortunately for them, they’ve been tailed by FBI agent Tom Howard, who brings them to the local police precinct.

Eric violates the smuggler’s code and quickly gives up the nature of their business as Roger looks on, shocked. Howard offers the two immunity in exchange for Petros’s capture, as he’s wanted for selling weapons to both sides of the civil rights conflicts in the south. Eric violently shakes his head yes, while Roger feels as though he’s been pushed into doing something that rocks him to his core. However, he’s backed into a corner, and has no other choice but to agree to work for both sides.

The two leave the office and immediately get into a huge fight. However, as it escalates, a firefight commences between white supremacists and black protesters, and the two rush for cover. As they find a safe place in the basement of an abandoned bar, they’re confronted by Craig’s ghost, who chastises both men in equal measure (Eric for abandoning the code of smugglers, Roger for not supporting his friend’s desire to be loyal to his family). After a round of chop-busting, Craig reminds them that the best way to handle this is to bring the two sides to the same place at the same time, ideally by using some of their old tricks with help from some newer allies. Craig’s ghost then disappears as the police arrive to break up the riot, thus creating time for Roger and Eric to escape (with Eric saying he’s got a plan).

Eric gets to a pay phone outside of town, and he comes clean to his wife about what’s happened. Leanne begins to yell at him, but Lily overhears her father’s quandary and, as a pre-law student in college, offers a solution that will lure Luke into taking his guard down. She informs him that Alabama’s gun laws are among the most lax in the country, and that they could conceivably buy firearms cheap enough to think Petros can resell them for a large profit. Eric remarks that no state could be stupid enough to have vague gun laws, and Lily closes the conversation by saying that it’ll take time to push through anything that has some common sense to it.

Roger and Eric inform Tom of their plan, and he quickly provides the money for the purchase. Luke agrees to the terms, the duo buys the guns, and they head back to New Orleans, knowing that if anything goes south, they’ll likely die. The FBI arrives just as Luke buys the weapons from Roger and Eric, and this results in a firefight with the corrupt local police. However, even with the new weapons they’ve “bought,” Petros’s bunch is no match for the FBI, and the boss ultimately surrenders. Naturally, when Howard looks around to thank Roger and Eric for their work, the duo is long gone, having stolen one of the police cars.

A few days later, Eric and his family are at home when the doorbell rings. It’s Howard, and he has Roger with him. Howard says he never got a chance to thank them, but he has a way to do that. A search of Luke’s property revealed a box labeled “CRAIG DAVIDSON,” who turned up as an associate of theirs. Roger and Eric open the box, which contains hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. Howard remarks that there’s no proof of Craig obtaining this money illegally, since the tape shown at the will-reading was immediately destroyed. He had no immediate family, so Howard felt it best to leave it with his two best friends. In return, all Howard asks for is the stolen police car, which Lily (who had been using it) begrudgingly gives up. Howard leaves, and the film ends with Roger, Eric, Leanne, and Lily sitting down to dinner, with the box getting its own chair at the head of the table.

cappyboy · May 13, 2018

Man, with losing Russel from the game, thank heaven we still have Andrew. Wonderful movie, my brudda. Wish the real industry would release gems like this more consistently. Maybe I'd know modern stars better if they did.

HRTVAndrew · May 14, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="cappyboy" data-cite="cappyboy" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45321" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Man, with losing Russel from the game, thank heaven we still have Andrew. Wonderful movie, my brudda. Wish the real industry would release gems like this more consistently. Maybe I'd know modern stars better if they did. <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote> Much obliged! I feel bad it took as long as it did. Alas, I work in the horse racing business, and I could only hack out a couple of paragraphs during Kentucky Derby week. Thankfully, I had some time over the past few nights to finish it and smooth it out. Hopefully, the Movie Tycoon gods are kind to it.

cappyboy · May 14, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="HRTVAndrew" data-cite="HRTVAndrew" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45321" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Much obliged! I feel bad it took as long as it did. Alas, I work in the horse racing business, and I could only hack out a couple of paragraphs during Kentucky Derby week. Thankfully, I had some time over the past few nights to finish it and smooth it out. Hopefully, the Movie Tycoon gods are kind to it.</div></blockquote> I hear you. I've been work busy too. Albeit not in anywhere near as cool an industry. And like you I look for things to slacken up this week. Got a nice chunk of To Be A Friend done yesterday and hope to have it ready later this week.

Rayelek · May 15, 2018

Drakestooth Studios has hired a new casting director who thinks he can get Holmes off the ground. (I talked with a buddy who threw out some good ideas for other actors to fill the roles so I can afford it.) Here's a refresher on the film and roles:

TITLE: Holmes

GENRE: Action/Comedy

PLOT SUMMARY: James Holmes is a file room clerk at Los Angeles's largest detective agency, but uses the fact that he works there and his last name to pick up women. Wanting to be an actual detective, he hires an out of work actor he meets at a bar to become his nemesis, the Moriarty to his Holmes. But the actor actually does a brilliant job as a villain, and James and his boss need to work together to catch the villain before he ruins James' life.

RATING: PG-13

DISTRIBUTION SIZE: Local

--

LEAD(S):

James Holmes - A cocky, underemployed file clerk at the detective/PI agency. He likes to party and doesn't take much of life seriously. His last name isn't actually Holmes; he lied because it sounded more detective-y.

William Dawson - A former cop, he runs the detective agency with something of an iron fist. He's no nonsense at work, and plays the straight-man to most of Holmes's antics in the film. Understandably peeved at Holmes' mistake that sets up the story, he agrees to help because James can pay.

Evil Patrick Stewart - Patrick Stewart as a washed up drunk version of himself, who happens to easily perform the role of diabolical villain, after being approached by James to be his Moriarty.

MINOR/CAMEO:

Stephanie Colton - A girl James picks up in a bar in the first act. They interact a little bit throughout the the film (maybe not even directly, just shots of James texting?), then she gets to be the damsel in distress in the climax of the movie.

Henchmen (1-3) - Former co-stars of Patrick Stewart who act as his henchmen.

Casting

We're hoping James Franco will return to play lead role James Holmes and also direct.

The role of William Dawson will no longer be played by Keanu Reeves, as he priced himself out. We'd like quotes from Gary Oldman, Jon Hamm and Sebastian Stan.

For Evil Patrick Stewart, we'd like to bring back Patrick Stewart.

For Stephanie Colton, we'd like to bring back Emily VanCamp if she's available.

For the Henchmen, we'd like quotes from Wil Wheaton, Brent Spiner, Levar Burton, and Jonathan Frakes

FlameSnoopy · May 15, 2018

No worries guys, been hella busy myself with work and some unfortunate real life stuff. But we shall proceed!

Bourbon Street Productions' MEATHOOK Negotiations

Julian McMahon: $1.7M

John Travolta: $2.8M

Antonio Banderas: He likes the script, so is willing to cut down to $1.7M

Nicolas Cage: $4.8M

Jason Statham: $3.3M

Emma Watson: As her show of faith for the studio, she is willing to cut down to $2.3M

Emma Stone: $3.4M

Amanda Seyfried: $2.5M

Saoirse Ronan: $1.7M

Jennifer Lawrence: She thinks she is far too big for a production this size.

Margot Robbie: $2.6M

(SUPP) Christopher Walken: $1.2M

Christoph Waltz: $1.1M

Dustin Hoffman: $1.9M

Willem Dafoe: $1.5M

Malina Weissman: She thinks this would be good for her career, $240K

Peyton Kennedy: $300K

Ashley Gerasimovich: She likewise thinks this would boost her career, $240K

Millie Bobby Brown: $400K

(MINOR) Laura Linney: $300K

Patricia Arquette: $220K

Lisa Edelstein: $140K

Melora Hardin: $150K

Michael B. Jordan: He thinks he is far too big for a minor role in a production this size.

Winston Duke: $80K

Stu Bennett: $120K

Arnold Schwarzenegger: He thinks he is far too big for a minor role in a production this size.

Sylvester Stallone: He thinks he is far too big for a minor role in a production this size.

Dylan Welsh: $210K

Vinnie Jones: $130K

The boxing organizations don't want to do business with a mere Startup studio.

Valkyria · May 16, 2018

Bourbon Street Productions would like to announce the first casted actors for their upcomming Movie „Meathook“

Ryan Coogler as the Director ($1,76 Mio.)

Supporting

Christoph Waltz as Ian Mondy ($1.1 Mio.)

Malina Weissman as Jessica McNamara ($240K)

Minor

Patricia Arquette as Vanessa McNamara ($220K)

Stu Bennett as Chadwick Lee - Name will be changed to Oliver „The Cavalier“ Preston ($120K)

Dylan Welsh as David „Dynamite“ Wilson ($210K) (if he accepts)

Vinnie Jones as Adam „The Artillery“ Archer ($130K)

Since Bourbon Street Productions is financially in kind of a tough spot, we would like to offer the Role of Meathook also to Liev Schreiber, Ewan McGregor and Jon Hamm.

Now to the Female Lead: Additionally to the already asked actresses we would also talk to Ann Hathaway, Kirsten Dunst and Keira Knightley

FlameSnoopy · May 18, 2018

Rayelek, you can just use the previous negotiated prices for the same talent you want (as it's the same movie). Doing this chronologically, so the negotations will come later as it's time for a movie report...

--

SOPHIE'S REPORT

THE MIDNIGHT RIDERS

MOVIE QUALITY

PUBLIC RECEPTION: 93%

PRODUCTION SCORE: 40%

- There wasn't anything to fault or praise on the production done, the budget was sufficient.

STORY SCORE: 80%

- Like most of the time, there were a few haters on the critics side, who thought the plot was too dark for light-hearted fun, but the rest didn't expect to see an Adam Sandler movie. Though everyone agreed that the screenwriting was top notch, especially the pacing, which can be ever so difficult to nail down in a feature film.

ACTING SCORE: 66%

- With the exception of Bob Saget's dragging performance on the dramatic sides of things, the acting was really great. There was little doubt how Gary Oldman would do as the lead, but Saget on the comedy was superb as well. Perhaps the most surprisingly good performance, though still not on Oldman's level, came from John Stamos who many critics thought shined through in every scene he was in. Penny Marshall delivered a good performance behind the camera, she managed to stay on top of things.

CASTING SCORE: 90%

- The critics thought the casting was superb, though Bob Saget's lacking dramatic ability made him look slightly foolish alongside a world-renowned talent like Gary Oldman.

ENDING SCORE: 100%

- Buddy comedies are usually more about the journey rather than the ending, but this one was perfect. Quite literally the best possible ending one could muster up, which got the screenwriting even more of a thumbs up.

--

CRITICAL ACCLAIM: 80%

FINANCES

BOX OFFICE REVENUE GENERATED: $8.33M

INCOME FROM BOX OFFICE: $7.5M

REVENUE FROM PHYSICAL COPIES: $2.84M

TOTAL INCOME: $10.34M

TOTAL BUDGET: $10M

--

PROFIT / LOSS: +$340K

STUDIO EFFECTS

STUDIO FUNDS PREVIOUSLY: $10M

STUDIO FUNDS NOW: $10.34M

HYPE: +8%

PRESTIGE: +5%

TALENT EFFECTS

- Penny Marshall was better than expected. Her Reputation has improved to 27%; Her Direction has improved to 43%

- Bob Saget's Comedy has improved to 71%

- John Stamos surprised many with his superb performance that really stood out. His Reputation has improved to 37%; His Draw has risen to 22%

SOPHIE'S NOTES

- Sophie thought the box office revenue didn't quite match her projection. She put it down as a bit of bad luck.

- Bob Saget was quite vocal about critics calling his dramatic performance flat as while 'average', his performance wasn't bad at all.

- Sophie's overall view is that this was a very succesful debut and she didn't have any big issues to comment on.

HRTVAndrew · May 19, 2018

Pretty happy with that! Hoping to have a new movie pitch up within the next few days.

FlameSnoopy · May 21, 2018

POTENTIAL BIDDING WAR!

Drakestooth Studios and Bourbon Street Productions have both offered lead roles to Jon Hamm and thus there's a possible bidding war. As Drakestooth Studios were the first to make contact, they can have the opening bid. If there's no bid from Drakestooth until May 25th, Bourbon Street Productions are free to make an offer.

Opening bid: $2.5M

Turn: Drakestooth Studios

Current bid: (none)

- -

Drakestooth Studios' HOLMES Negotiations

Like I said earlier, for the returning talent, just use the previous prices from the earlier negotiations.

Gary Oldman: $2.0M

Jon Hamm: See above!

Sebastian Stan: He would love to have a go at the role, so is willing to drop down to $900K

Wil Wheaton: $140K

Brent Spiner: $90K

LeVar Burton: $170K

Jonathan Frakes: $90K

Bourbon Street Productions' MEATHOOK Negotiations

Liev Schreiber: $1.5M

Ewan McGregor: $2.7M

Jon Hamm: See above!

Anne Hathaway: $5M

Kirsten Dunst: $2.1M

Keira Knightley: $3M

Oh.. I completely forgot to post the negotations for cappy's role addition! Sorry about that..

Amalgamated Artists' TO BE A FRIEND Negotiations

Leah Remini: $200K

Amy Hathaway: $120K

With this we should be all caught up.

Rayelek · May 21, 2018

POTENTIAL BIDDING WAR!

Drakestooth Studios and Bourbon Street Productions have both offered lead roles to Jon Hamm and thus there's a possible bidding war. As Drakestooth Studios were the first to make contact, they can have the opening bid. If there's no bid from Drakestooth until May 25th, Bourbon Street Productions are free to make an offer.

Opening bid: $2.5M
Turn: Drakestooth Studios
Current bid: (none)

- -

Drakestooth Studios' HOLMES Negotiations
Like I said earlier, for the returning talent, just use the previous prices from the earlier negotiations.
Gary Oldman: $2.0M
Jon Hamm: See above!
Sebastian Stan: He would love to have a go at the role, so is willing to drop down to $900K
Wil Wheaton: $140K
Brent Spiner: $90K
LeVar Burton: $170K
Jonathan Frakes: $90K

I hate to ruin the fun, but Jon Hamm's number pushes him $50k above affordable, so I'll drop out of the bidding war. That said, at this point casting for HOLMES is finished.

Directing and Lead Role (James Holmes): James Franco $4.1m

Lead Role (William Dawson): Sebastian Stan $900k

Lead Role (Evil Patrick Stewart): Patrick Stewart $1.9k

Minor Role (Stephanie Colton): Emily VanCamp $150k

Minor Role (Henchman #1 aka Evil LeVar Burton): LeVar Burton $170k

Minor Role (Henchman #2 aka Evil Wil Wheaton): Wil Wheaton $140k

Minor Role (Henchman #3 aka Evil Brent Spiner): Brent Spiner $90k

Total Contracts: $7.45m.

Film & Final Marketing & Production Budget should all be up by Thursday.

cappyboy · May 21, 2018

Oh.. I completely forgot to post the negotations for cappy's role addition! Sorry about that..

Amalgamated Artists' TO BE A FRIEND Negotiations
Leah Remini: $200K
Amy Hathaway: $120K

With this we should be all caught up.

Thank heaven you finally found them. I was coming on here prepared to put in a call to the Movie Tycoon Police and file missing persons reports on their agents.

We'll go with Remini. We like both women but she feels like the more natural fit.

Valkyria · May 21, 2018

Bourbon Street Production is happy to announce the following Actor has been casted for the Male Lead Role of their Upcomming Movie:

Liev Schreiber as Andrew "Meathook" McNamara (€1.5 Mio.)

Now to the difficult part, after some thinking Bourbon Street Production can't really affort any of the contacted actresses without making huge cuts in the Production department. BSP has learned from his mistakes in Dixie's Garden and wants to increase the Production Budget. So here is the thing. Bourbon Street Productions wants to contact the following 4 actresses again and ask if one of them is willing to work with a paycut in exchange for one of the Lead Roles in the Movie after Meathook. If that is not an Option, we are also available to futher Negotiations. The afore mentioned actresses are Emma Watson, Amanda Seyfried, Margot Robbie and Kirsten Dunst.

cappyboy · May 22, 2018

Since I'm getting close to having To Be A Friend ready, I'd like to get the budgeting counters out of the way now. As I have things figured, the breakdown should be.

CAST: $5.4 million

PRODUCTION: $1.6 million

MARKETING: $3 million

Really want the families of America knowing this one's out there.

HRTVAndrew · May 23, 2018

Todos Santos Studios has announced the planning of its second production, "The Duke of Oakland!" Here's the casting information.

TITLE: The Duke of Oakland

GENRE: Drama

PLOT SUMMARY: A present-day, current events-inspired take on the classic novel “The Count of Monte Cristo,” this tale focuses on Marcus Jackson, a self-made black man from the projects of Oakland, California. His rise to the upper crust of the area, complete with a pending marriage to a white heiress to a local fortune, has ruffled many feathers among the elitists. Soon, he’s framed and put in jail for crimes he did not commit, and once he gets out, he actively seeks revenge against those he was wronged by.

RATING: PG-13 (intense situations, language, violence, racism)

DISTRIBUTION SIZE: TBD (likely 0)

DIRECTOR: Our top three choices are Ryan Coogler, Jordan Peele, and Spike Lee.

LEAD: Marcus Jackson

Jackson is the protagonist of the film (a la Edmond Dantes in the book), and his story is told over a stretch of several years. A son of a single mother, he makes something of himself despite all odds, only to see everything come crashing down around him. With time, his focus changes from bettering the lives of those he loves to ending the lives of those who wronged him.

We’re interested in Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, and Daniel Kaluuya.

SUPPORT: Amanda Smith

Amanda Smith is Jackson’s fiancee. Unlike many things in the upper-class society, the love they have is true, real, and pure. Smith and Jackson are set to marry before things go awry, and the wedding being forced off sets in motion a turn of events Jackson seeks to reverse once he leaves jail.

We’re approaching Hayden Panettiere, Emilia Clarke, Brie Larson, and Ellen Page.

SUPPORT: Jared Henderson

Henderson is the primary antagonist of the movie. A rival lawyer, he views Jackson’s rise as a reason he himself has not achieved much, and is incredibly jealous of him. Add in that he’s Amanda Smith’s ex-boyfriend from many years ago and still harbors feelings for her, and suddenly we’ve got a recipe for disaster.

We’d like to speak with Jeremy Renner, Jared Leto, James Franco, and Bradley Cooper.

SUPPORT: Patrick Loman

Loman is Jackson’s second-in-command at his firm. When the firm’s longtime top partner retired, it was widely assumed that Loman was next in line for the position. However, Jackson was tapped for the promotion instead, and that drove a gigantic wedge between the two. While Henderson’s anger is motivated by lust, Loman’s is motivated by greed.

We’re in talks with Ewan McGregor, Jon Hamm, and Liev Schreiber.

SUPPORT: Walt Masters

This right here is the potential scene-stealing role of the entire movie. Here we have the man representing Abbe Faria, Edmond Dantes’s chief ally in the book. Masters is an older man that was imprisoned after Jackson began his term, and he provides insight into the outside world as well as an eventual way out. For several reasons, Jackson’s pursuit of revenge is not possible without Masters, and it can be argued that this is the most important role in the movie.

We’ve got a lot of people we’re interested in for this role, and it could take various shapes depending on who we cast. Here’s the list: Will Smith, Peter Dinklage, Gary Oldman, Patrick Stewart, Christoph Waltz, LeVar Burton, and Bill Murray.

MINOR: Gary Porter

Gary Porter is Jackson’s closest friend, and was in line to be the best man at his wedding. A journalist by trade, he works to attempt to exonerate Jackson following his conviction, and serves as a trusted confidant following his escape from jail. He’s also the source of most of the movie’s comic relief, which is needed given the heavy material we’re working with here.

We’re interested in Jason Segel, James Franco (yes, for both this role and Jared Henderson), Anthony Mackie, and Nathan Fillion.

Valkyria · May 23, 2018

HRTVAndrew: Just wanted to let you know that Ryan Coogler, Liev Schreiber and Christoph Waltz are at the Moment working for me.

HRTVAndrew · May 23, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Valkyria" data-cite="Valkyria" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45321" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>HRTVAndrew: Just wanted to let you know that Ryan Coogler, Liev Schreiber and Christoph Waltz are at the Moment working for me.</div></blockquote> Yeah, I saw that after I posted. I'm still getting used to the practice of people not being available while on other projects. If nothing else, we've got similar tastes! <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

cappyboy · May 23, 2018

And now Amalgamated Artist prooudly presents:

Sabrina Carpenter, Sofia Carson and Jennifer Jason Leigh in:

TO BE A FRIEND

As the opening credits fade and the film begins, we are treated to an establishing shot of Jimmy Carter High somewhere in the suburbs of Atlanta. It is mid afternoon and parents are arriving to pick their kids up from school. A long receiving line sits along the curb outside the front door while other parents park in a student reception lot overlooking the receiving line. Out on the street in the front of the school we see a buttercream Buick Regal arrive and take its place in the reception lot. Inside single mom and novelist Trudy Gold (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is dictating plot notes into a micro cassette recorder as she waits for her daughter to get out.

Just as Trudy finishes recording, the school bell blares out and students coming flooding through the doors. Those who still have the courage to have gotten driver's licenses race to the side of the building to reach the student parking lot while the rest make beelines toward their rides. In the midst of this crowd we see a young blonde (Olivia Rose Keegan) power walking through the crowd being frantically pursued by another (Yara Shahidi) addressing her as Darcy. Darcy stops and turns to the girl, addresses her as Felicia and demands to know why should bother. Felicia is confused. She doesn't understand what she did or why Darcy's suddenly acting this way. They've been friends as long as she can remember and she's not going to let Darcy throw that away so easily. But Darcy is unmoved. She indicates her friend should talk to the hand, gives her a sharp "Bye, Felicia" and continues walking away. Felicia still in hot pursuit.

But movement within the receiving line as those parents leave creates separation between the two girls which allows Darcy to reach her mom's car. The younger Gold kissing her mom on the cheek through the open window and hopping in the back seat. Trudy asks where Felicia is and all Darcy will say is that Felicia won't be riding home with them any more.

While Trudy's trying to make sense of this development, Felicia walks past the car, shakes her head sadly and starts heading out of the parking lot. But Trudy won't accept that. She jumps out of the car and chases Felicia down. She gets Felicia to explain what's wrong and gives her head a knowing shake at the response.

Trudy assures her that Darcy can do and think what she wants. But Trudy's the one who's driving. And she's inviting Felicia to keep riding home with them. She's known Felicia since the girl was little and Trudy thinks of her as the sister she's always wished she'd been able to give Darcy. Whether Darcy wants Felicia to join the ride home or not, Trudy wants her and that is final. Felicia smiles and a big hug later, she's in the Buick riding shotgun on the trip home. Darcy's not thrilled about this and attempts to object but Trudy shuts her down. Trudy's made her decision and Darcy can be sure they'll talk about this when they get home.

Shortly thereafter we see Felicia dropped off and the Gold women arrive home. Darcy quick to flee to the kitchen for a snack while Trudy leaves her notes in her writing room. When Trudy reaches the kitchen, Darcy's pulling a Hot Pocket out of the microwave and just sitting down to eat it. Trudy leaning over the little side table, both hands firmly planted on its surface, telling Darcy in no uncertain terms that she wants to know why her daughter is doing something so foolish as casting Felicia aside. Darcy full mouth mumbles that she doesn't see what the big deal is. She just feels the bond with Felicia has run its course. So Trudy tells her she'll explain what the big deal is.

From there we cut to another establishing shot of Jimmy Carter High. But this one is different. Instead of the weatherbeaten facade we saw at the beginning of the movie, this one makes the building look freshly built all shiny and new. Which in fact it likely is as a time stamp reads January 16, 1988.

Now we cut inside to the halls where students are milling around. Exchanging books in lockers and making their way to ensuing classes. Amid this bustle we find the younger Trudy (Sabrina Carpenter) and her best friend Olivia (Sofia Carson) hanging out at her open locker. The door festooned with surgically clipped magazine photos of Chad Allen, George Michael, and the New Kids On The Block. The two busily chatting about boys and anxious to get the school day over with. The bell rings to signal the start of the next period and most of the other students start scurrying toward classrooms so as not to be late.

Trudy and Olivia are the exception. Just ambling along still more focused on guy talk than coursework when they finally arrive at their homeroom for English class. Arriving just late enough that their teacher, Mrs Brock (Leah Remini) is in the middle of calling roll and has already reached the M's. Seeing the girls walk in just as she's reaching their names, Mrs. Brock ribs Ms. Marshall and Ms. Mason about how glad she is they could both join the class and shoos them to their seats. Noting that she's still considering separating the two girls' adjoining seats if they don't start focusing more. The girls act appropriately cowed and start laying their desks out for class as the teacher continues the roll.

This leads to a series of scenes of Trudy and Olivia hanging out together to establish how deep their friendship runs. Things like study sesssions. Checking out guys at the mall. The video arcade. Pizza shop. A classmate's birthday party.

But all is not as perfect as it might seem as we also see Trudy dangling upside down from her bed, Dweezil Zappa poster on the wall above her feet, talking on a lip shaped phone to another friend and putting the badmouth to Olivia behind her back.

A few weeks after we join the flashback, we see Trudy and Olivia hanging out at Trudy's locker when one of the guys on the basketball team passes by.Olivia checking him out hard. Trudy teases her friend that it looks like Olivia has quite the crush on Mr. Point Guard. Olivia confesses that she does but makes Trudy promise to keep quiet.

Only the promise doesn't last long. The following weekend Trudy's at the mall shopping with her parents. But when they hit the food court for lunch, she spots another girl from class flirting her socks off with the dreamy basketball player. So Trudy storms over and gets in the girl's face. Not giving a moment's thought to Olivia's privacy and telling the girl to back off because that's her friend's big crush. Which neither the flirt or Olivia's dream guy takes well. Trudy's parents having to peel the other girl off her while the guy laughs at Olivia's pathetic affections.

Come Monday morning, news of Trudy's little scuffle at the mall is all over school. Which to Olivia's dismay includes the reason behind it. Making her the target of every bully and amateur comedian in the entire class. And making things quite heated between the two friends.

Not that Trudy has any idea how badly she screwed up until Olivia gets in her face and gives her both barrels for breaking the confidence. Trudy tries to explain but Olivia will have none of it. So Trudy fires back that if Olivia can't appreciate that her friend was trying to stick up for her, maybe they just shouldn't be friends anymore. Olivia gives Trudy the chance to say she doesn't mean that. But Trudy doubles down and declares their friendship done. Sending Olivia running to homeroom crying to Mrs Brock and requesting the classroom separation the teacher had so often been threatening.

The next morning and Mrs Brock's class is abuzz about another tardy. But this time it's not Trudy. Or Olivia. Or any other student but the teacher herself. As the class chatters about this uncharacteristic behavior, Mrs Brock enters the room with another girl (Rowan Blanchard) in tow. Once she's able to get the class' attention, the teacher introduces the new girl as Natalie Corbett and the whole class greets her with artifical glee. The teacher informs Natalie where the empty seat is and Trudy stands to give further indication. As Natalie approaches, she stops and gushes to Trudy about shiny and luminous her hair is this morning. Beaming at the compliment, Trudy presents Olivia's old desk to Natalie with a flourish and everyone settles in for the daily lecture.

After class, Trudy is only too happy to show Natalie around the school. Natalie has a bright, charismatic personality that's charming the socks right off of Trudy and making them fast friends. However, that's not the only new relationship of Natalie's born that day. Just before lunch, Natalie ducks into the bathroom to check her hair and make sure everything's in place. When who should step out of a nearby but Olivia. Olivia tries to be friendly and introduce herself to the new girl. But for some inexplicable reason, Natalie takes an instant, visceral dislike to Olivia and starts shading her in the extreme. Smiling cruelly as Olivia flees the rest room. But expertly hiding her shameful behavior before joining her new friend Trudy in the cafeteria for lunch.

As we hear adult Trudy via voiceover inform Darcy that this was Natalie's true nature, we follow the double-faced shrew for a bit. When she's with Trudy, she's all sugar and spice. But the moment Natalie steps away from her new buddy, the devil wears Jordache. Taunting other girls. Arguing with teachers in the halls. Mocking the school's veteran janitor. Absolute hell in junior heels.

Obliviious to this, Trudy invites her new friend to the mall the following weekend looking to introduce Natalie to her new community. And this will be the first time Natalie puts her negative nature on display in front of Trudy. Not that Trudy notices right away as Murphy's Law takes effect the moment they walk through the door. By the time the two girls have gotten to Trudy's favorite stores, enough little things have gone wrong that both girls are kind of salty. So when Natalie starts verbally abusing shopgirls and waitstaff, Trudy doesn't think much of it because her patience with the world in pretty thin in its own right. The shopworkers do though. As the ones who know Trudy best are all griping about why did she drop the nice girl in favor of this witch.

Back at home after the dicey shopping trip, Trudy starts to thinking about Olivia and jumps on her lip phone to call her old buddy. But the moment Olivia picks up, she shuts Trudy's attempt to reconcile down cold. Olivia can't see what they even have to talk about and hangs up.

Next day at school, Trudy and Natalie walking out of history class joking about Civil War era fashion when Olivia breaks up the gabfest and goes nose to nose with Natalie, fully intent on standing up to the school's latest bully. Only Natalie turns on the smarm and pretends she has no clue what Olivia is talking about. Fully snowed, Trudy sticks up for her new friend. Telling Olivia that she's better than telling tales that aren't true about people. Exasperated, Olivia throws up her hands and stomps off.

Natalie thanks her new buddy for the support. She's rarely had friends who had her back so fully. Trudy smiles and assures her that's what a friend's for. So encouraged, Natalie asks Trudy for a favor. The favor of never speaking to Olivia again. Olivia, she claims, has been jealous ever since Natalie arrived at Carter High and has been all kinds of outlandish stories about her because of it. A request Trudy shamefully agrees to. Because as adult Trudy acknowledges in voiceover, she'd already tried to repair that bridge and failed.

Shortly thereafter, Natalie corners Olivia and backs the girl against her own locker. Natalie threatening Olivia if she ever blabs in front of Trudy again the warfare won't just be psychological. She'll start getting physical with the ugly dweeb.

From that moment, the shunning is on. Every time we see Olivia and either Trudy or Natalie on screen at the same time, she's getting the silent treatment from them. Doesn't matter whether she's trying to address the abusive relationship, classwork or the weather, neither girl will give her the time of day. Leaving Olivia totally confused. A feeling we hear about when she addresses it in the cafeteria to her new lunchmate. Who tries to reassure Olivia she's better off without either Trudy or Natalie in her life.

But the more Trudy thinks about it, the harder it is to follow through. We see her at home under her Dweezil poster telling friends not named Natalie how much she misses Olivia. Yet she's stuck now because of the promise she made which seemed so reasonable in the moment.

Cut to history class the next morning and Trudy's making jokes about the Elizabethan ruff to herself during the lecture. Her new buddy, Natalie is out sick so she has no one to share them with. But the fashion humor has her so privately amused she's still cracking jokes at her locker. When a voice comes from behind her to ask if she can remember when they made those jokes. Trudy turns and there's Olivia, Trudy's confused and Olivia tells her she hates what's going on between them. She misses her friend. Trudy agrees and the old friends appear to be back together.

They are even back at the mall together. Laughing and shopping like nothing had ever happened between them. The employees we saw secretly slamming Natalie earlier all happy to see Trudy and Olivia together again. But one person isn't happy. Unbeknowst to the two longtime friends, Natalie spies them together as she's coming out of Spencer Gifts. She starts to approach but thinks better of it. A better idea jumps in her head and we watch Natalie sneak away plotting under her breath.

A couple days later everyone's in the school library looking for material to use in a book report Mrs Brock assigned them. Knowing that Olivia looking at books the next aisle over, Natalie chooses that moment to confront Trudy about having seen her shopping with Olivia. She blasts Trudy for being disloyal and violating her pledge to shun her old friend. Trudy tries to plead her case but it does no good. The shouting gets just gets louder and stronger between them. Leading the librarian and surrounding students to try in vain to shush them. Finally to try and defuse the situation, Trudy tells Natalie she's right, apologizes and promises to break up with Olivia again.

But wouldn't you know Olivia would choose that moment to round the stacks and enter Trudy and Natalie's aisle? Trudy sees Olivia and tries to backpedal away from what she just said. Olivia however has had enough of being jerked around and tells Trudy off. If this is the kind of friend Trudy is, Olivia never wants to speak to her again.

As Olivia's stomping away, Trudy turns to complain to Natalie. Only to get a second barrel. Natalie turns on Trudy saying that if Trudy can speak out of both sides of her mouth so quickly, she has no use for the girl either. Olivia may always have been an ugly dweeb but one thing they can agree on is Trudy is completely worthless.

That revelation sends Trudy racing out of library crying like everything she ever loved lay dead at her feet. She goes dashes to the girl's room practically plowing Mrs Brock over in the process. Seeing the young girl in distress, the teacher pulls her into the restroom and makes an offhand remark about Trudy looking like she lost her best friend. To which TRudy says she lost two and tells Mrs Brock the whole awful tale.

The teacher's reply coming as quite a shock. Instead of being all concilatory and tiptoeing around the pieces of Trudy's broken heart, Mrs Brock shoots straight from the hip. She's not at all surprised the girl's disintegrated like this. Trudy's been behaving terribly to her friends, Olivia especially, and this personal nightmare has been coming Trudy's way for months. The worst part is that if Trudy doesn't straighten up and treat friends better, she'll soon find herself never having any at all.

Back in the present, the adult Trudy looks Darcy in her eyes and tells her daughter what her younger self struggled to appreciate. That while Mrs Brock's words were blunt and harsh, they were also a 100% right. She was a horrible friend in those days and it still hurts her heart when she thinks about the bond she and Olivia could have had. The one her own thoughtlessness prevented them from having.

Darcy asks what became of Olivia and Trudy explains that they only started speaking again within the last year. That Trudy's been mentoring this young girl named Laurel whose right about Darcy's age on one of her Facebook groups geared toward writers. And as luck with it, Olivia is her mother. Olivia's also a loan officer at a bank in Phoenix and quite happy out there.

While Natalie never grew up at all. She has remained the same sneaky, underhanded person she always was and they had just seen Natalie on the nightly news the previous week. Natalie had been on trial for stealing money from a children's cancer charity and was likely to be spending many years in jail because of her dishonesty.

Darcy hugs her mom and thanks her for the story. She gets the point just the way Trudy said she would. Her issue with Felicia was just as unnecessary as Trudy and Olivia's had been all those years ago. And now she knows exactly what she has to do. As Darcy dashes out the door, Trudy calls out a request that her love be passed along to Felicia as well.

Quick as a hiccup, Darcy's at her friend's door. But it is a still salty Felicia who answers it. She doesn't understand what they have to talk about and won't let Darcy in. So Darcy offers her apology right there on the stoop. Explaining how horribly wrong she has been. The talk with her mom. The whole nine yards. Seeing Darcy's sincerity, Felicia gives her friend a big hug and all is forgiven. Darcy expressing relief and saying how she never wants to be a Natalie.

This statement leaves Felicia confused. So Darcy suggests Felicia come over a study session and promises to explain. Felicia agrees and heads back inside her house to seek permission as the story ends and we fade to the credits.

RUNTIME: 90 minutes

RATING: PG

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