The Nolan Brothers

"What is it? Zucker, do you know these two young boys?"

Sitting to the side, Candy watched as Zucker stared with keen interest at the two young men fooling around.

Upon hearing this, Zucker denied it on the spot.

Just kidding, how could Zucker possibly know them right now?

Of course, that didn't count his previous life.

These two brothers weren't famous yet, but in ten years, there wouldn't be a single person in all of Hollywood who didn't know their names!

The older brother was Christopher Nolan;

The younger brother was Jonathan Nolan.

Especially the older brother, Christopher Nolan, whose future would resonate across the globe.

The The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, and so on—which of these films wasn't a household name?

As a director, even in China, netizens referred to him as the great Master Nolan.

Of course, as for Dunkirk, which was released in China, let's just leave that aside. It was essentially a history of the British retreating in defeat, yet it was filmed as if it were a strategic victory, which led to a boycott by many domestic netizens. Well, Zucker himself didn't like it either.

The younger brother, Jonathan Nolan, was a writer and screenwriter. Although his reputation wasn't as loud as his brother's, his participation in the adaptation of The Dark Knight also spoke to his extraordinary talent.

"Huh?"

"That's not right, Zucker!"

"The you I know is the type who wouldn't get up early without a profit. These two brothers look like ordinary people; how could they catch your attention?"

"Could it be that they have some special identity?"

Candy, standing to the side, began to chatter and speculate incessantly. Even Victor and Martha, who were nearby, became curious.

"Heh!"

Zucker deliberately looked at Candy with a rather disdainful gaze, wearing an expression that said, "You are so naive." This expression nearly made Candy die of anger.

Without further ado, Zucker ignored Candy and stood up, walking straight toward the Nolan brothers.

"Uh... hello, sir. Is there something you need?" Christopher Nolan looked at Zucker with confusion.

"Hello, you two. I am Zucker Wald, the owner of a Hollywood film production company. I just heard you discussing movies and filming techniques. If I'm not mistaken, you hope to work in film production in the future. If you're interested, I don't mind offering you both a job. Oh, here is my business card; it has my phone number on it. Don't look at me like that; I'm not a con artist. You can call to verify it," Zucker said.

Hearing this, the Nolan brothers were both stunned.

The owner of a Hollywood film company?

Is he really that young?

That's right, even though Zucker provided a business card, the two brothers still thought Zucker was a scammer. It wasn't their fault for being suspicious; it was just that Zucker was too young.

Any normal person would have this kind of guard up.

"Uh, it's nice to meet you."

Even though the Nolan brothers suspected Zucker was a fraud, they didn't call him out directly.

Afterward, the three of them made awkward small talk for a few minutes until Victor, Candy, and Martha walked over to explain the situation. Only then did the two brothers believe that Zucker was truly the owner of a Hollywood film company.

He wasn't lying to them!

From their conversation, Zucker also learned why the Nolan brothers were at the airport.

The 25-year-old Christopher Nolan was currently studying English literature at University College London, while his 20-year-old brother, Jonathan Nolan, was attending Georgetown University in Washington. He had flown over from America just to visit his older brother.

A while later.

Martha suddenly reminded him: "Boss, our plane is about to take off."

Hearing this, Zucker said with deep regret: "Oh, this damn plane, taking off at a time like this. It's a pity we can't talk more. Um, may I be so bold as to ask for your phone numbers? Of course, what I mean is, if you two have the ambition to enter Hollywood, please be sure to contact me! Remember! Remember!"

"Thank you!"

The Nolan brothers thanked him quickly, their expressions showing some excitement.

They were both still young men, not yet the great masters of the future. How could they not be excited to have a Hollywood film company owner value them so highly?

If it weren't for the fact that the older brother, Christopher Nolan, was currently filming the movie Following and hadn't graduated yet, he probably would have gone to Hollywood with Zucker right then and there.

"The movie Following? Once you finish the final cut, come straight to Hollywood to find me, and I'll help you arrange things," Zucker said, appearing very generous.

Following was Nolan's debut feature.

Zucker had learned about it in his previous life; the budget was less than 6,000 dollars, and the box office wasn't high, only around 400,000 dollars.

However, after Nolan entered Hollywood in 2000, his first directed film, Memento, had a budget of 5 million dollars, grossed over 39 million dollars worldwide, and won the Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure Film, along with two Oscar nominations, making him an overnight success.

Facing the generous Zucker, the Nolan brothers expressed their thanks once more and stated that they would definitely go to Hollywood to find Zucker in the future.

After returning to Los Angeles, everyone went home.

Zucker didn't stay idle either. In order to raise funds for the filming of Spider-Man, Zucker worked his tail off, using every means at his disposal to make money like his life depended on it.

And so, just ten days later, the rookie director Zucker had managed to churn out four scripts in one go. They were the films Wrong Turn, The Sixth Sense, Hard Candy, and Juno.

Of course, all four scripts were rough drafts that still required the company's screenwriters to further refine and flesh them out.

The system was playing dead, so Zucker had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it himself.

These ten days of secluded hard work had nearly exhausted Zucker to death. The four films Zucker chose shared a common trait: they were low-budget, making them suitable for the current Wald Pictures.

1. The Wrong Turn film series could be considered a classic example of 21st-century Hollywood slasher horror.

The content of the films in this series was roughly the same, consisting of nothing more than a group of reckless American youths going on a trip into the wild, encountering forest cannibals, and then being brutally slaughtered and eaten using tools like barbed wire, tree trunks, and kitchen knives.

"I remember the budget for each film in this series never exceeded two million dollars, or even less."

"It can be prioritized."

In truth, Zucker didn't remember the box office performance of Wrong Turn 1 after its release, but before he transmigrated, he had watched all eight films in the series.

That alone was enough to prove that the Wrong Turn series was profitable!

The Sixth Sense was even more outstanding.

Although its production budget was higher, reaching 40 million dollars, it was the second-highest-grossing film in North America in 1999, with a North American box office of 293 million dollars, a global box office of 670 million dollars, and it even received an Oscars nomination for Best Picture.

"The box office is mouth-watering, but I don't have the money! Better put it aside for now."

Hard Candy was also a low-budget film, expected to be completed for less than one million dollars.

This film wasn't actually very famous, and its final box office was only a little over six million dollars. However, as a niche film, it still held considerable influence. The movie was essentially a story similar to Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, except in this film, Little Red Riding Hood kills the Big Bad Wolf and proceeds to castrate him.

"Hmm, low cost, low difficulty, worth considering."

Juno was quite famous, primarily telling the story of an underage girl who gets pregnant out of wedlock; upon its release in 2007, it sparked widespread discussion.

The box office was even more insane!

The film took only 35 days to shoot with a production budget of 6.5 million dollars, yet it raked in 230 million dollars at the global box office.

After some deliberation, Zucker packed up the four movie scripts and set off for Wald Pictures.