Chapter 272

Xu Can threw down a few words and left the room coldly.

Ivanka instinctively reached out to keep this man, but the words on her lips could not be spoken.

Only her bare, tender arm remained, hanging powerlessly in mid-air.

Xu Can was naturally confident; soon the funds for "Dying to Survive" and "Source Code" would be recovered,

plus the upcoming release of "Captain America",

Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" would sell massively, and new albums from Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga would launch...

Within half a year, his cash flow would be abundant again, enough to shoot multiple blockbusters with a $200 million budget simultaneously.

At most, he would work a bit harder during this period and invest less in blockbusters.

Xu Can's Galaxy Entertainment had sufficient reserves; even company expenses did not need to be cut.

Employee salaries, bonuses, and benefits would be paid as usual; treatment on set would not be lowered by a single bit.

As a boss, if one is willing to give subordinates sufficiently good treatment, they will naturally be inspired to fight for him with full morale.

Therefore, after the casting for "Interstellar" was completed, the shooting schedule remained unchanged.

Let Ivanka do whatever she wants; after all, she had nothing to do with this film from the start.

Leaving the hotel, Xu Can went to the company again.

Xu Can's main base was in Hollywood, but occasionally there were demands for Chinese-language films or Chinese actors.

To better connect resources on both sides, Xu Can bought a small two-story building opposite the Beijing Film Academy campus to serve as an office.

Although housing prices had risen these two years, this building was less than 10,000 RMB per square meter, with a total price of only 3 million RMB.

If this were ten years later, it would probably add a zero directly, becoming 30 million.

It was in this small Western-style building that Xu Can registered the Beijing Galaxy Entertainment Media Co., Ltd.

Ning Hao also participated as a shareholder, mainly helping Xu Can connect with some mainland affairs.

Besides that, he also pulled in several others to participate.

For example, the former deputy director of "Dying to Survive", Wen Wen Muye,

and the new director Han Han Tongsheng, who would later direct "Animal World", "A Little Red Flower", and "The Best of Times",

and Yang Yu, known online as Jiaozi, an animation director who was nominated for the Berlin Film Festival with the animated short film "Kick a Big Watermelon".

They were all willing to work for Xu Can, striving to learn a thing or two from him.

Besides that, the company also had two interns, preparing to train with the "Interstellar" crew.

One was Gongger, a contestant from "Super Boy" who participated in the film's music team.

The other was a graduate student from the Beijing Film Academy, Xu Can's fellow alumnus, Guo Fan.

Seeing these two at the company, Xu Can was stunned; how had Ning Hao managed to recruit the entire main creative team of "The Wandering Earth"?

"Director Xu." Seeing Xu Can, Guo Fan and Gongger were like fans meeting their idol, their expressions extremely excited.

Xu Can nodded politely with a smile, thinking that later he would have a chance to chat with them about concepts like "The Wandering Earth" and "The Three-Body Problem".

As for now, "Interstellar" was still waiting to be filmed.

After comprehensive consideration, it was finally decided that Gao Yuanyuan would play the adult Murph, and Liu Liu Tianxian would play the young Murph.

The father-in-law would be played by the veteran actor Han Han Tongsheng, and the CNSA head by the national first-class actor, the old man Jiao Huang.

The black physicist waiting alone in the space capsule for 23 years would be played by the currently unknown Zhang Songwen;

the astronaut Doyle, swept away by the giant wave, would be played by the original foreigner, Wei Si Bentley;

the astronaut rescued on the ice planet would still be Ma Te Damon;

plus Anne Hathaway playing Amelia, the casting for the "Interstellar" crew was finally complete.

With everything settled, one of the producers, Christopher Nolan, also couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Originally, when you proposed having Jonathan write this script, I was still thinking about directing it myself."

"But now it seems it has to be you; I cannot control this grand story for the time being, plus there is the matter of "Inception"..."

Nolan was not being polite; he genuinely felt that only Xu Can could film "Interstellar".

He probably needed a few more years of practice; he could just use this opportunity to learn more from Xu Can.

"I believe you will definitely be able to do it later." Xu Can had hijacked the man's film, so he could only pat Nolan's shoulder to comfort him.

Speaking of which, the post-production of "Inception" was already complete and had passed the review of the North American Film Association, rated PG-13.

The film, originally scheduled to release alongside "Dying to Survive", due to overly complex special effects, was now roughly set for early May or late May.

It could basically avoid clashing with "Captain America 1", splitting the summer box office together, leaving no chance for other film companies.

"By the way, do you need me to contact the actress for one of the female leads?" Nolan suggested.

"I'll do it myself."

Xu Can would have to face this woman sooner or later; it was better to be straightforward and make a phone call immediately.

It was already early morning in North America, but Anne Hathaway answered the phone instantly.

"You finally remembered me..." Anne's tone was somewhat resentful.

"I have always been thinking of you."

"Liar."

Anne Hathaway pouted, but inside she felt a little delighted.

"Casting is confirmed; we will first shoot some scenes at the Los Angeles studio, then go to Northwest China, and Iceland."

"Okay, send the specific schedule to my email."

"Not talking about salary? You'll just work for me for free?" Xu Can asked with an amused smile.

"Zero salary is also fine." Anne Hathaway suddenly used a sweet voice, "As long as you accompany me."

"Uh, I'll have the producer in charge talk to your agent about the specific salary later."

Xu Can immediately switched to a businesslike attitude.

"I knew it..." Anne Hathaway sighed lightly, "If there's nothing else, I'm going to sleep."

"Alright, goodnight."

"... Goodnight, see you next week."

Though very reluctant, Anne Hathaway ruthlessly hung up the phone.

She put her eye mask back on, set down her phone, and lay in bed.

Before Xu Can called, she had been very sleepy,

but now she seemed to have insomnia, with a delayed inability to fall asleep.

"Honey, did you miss me!"

"I think about you every day."

"Hehehe, me too."

Unlike Anne Hathaway, Taylor Swift was like a happy puppy; facing Xu Can's sweet talk, she beamed with joy and pounced to reward him with a kiss.

Wearing high heels, she didn't even need to stand on tiptoes; she was almost as tall as Xu Can.

For an ordinary man, standing next to Taylor Swift would create really huge pressure.

Before flying back to Los Santos, Xu Can made a stop in Barcelona.

Every day when she had free time, "Meimei" would make over a dozen phone calls.

Although they had been dating for so long, originally everything had been quite normal.

Since Sister Stone declared her love at the Oscars and she made a high-profile declaration of love at her concert,

"Meimei" had become very clingy again.

Fortunately, this clinginess didn't disturb Xu Can's work; she handled the degree of it quite well, leaving Xu Can with no resentment at all.

So, Xu Can specifically took a detour to see "Meimei."

Not seeing her for a few days, he indeed missed her quite a bit.

Today was the third stop of "Meimei's" global tour; she had changed into a sparkling performance outfit, the visual effect being quite cool.

"You're going to perform in this later?"

"Yes, the costume team decided on this performance outfit."

"No, change into a more conservative one."

Xu Can frowned.

Such a cool outfit could only be for him to see; he was unwilling to let "Meimei" wear this in front of the whole world.