Chapter 342: Not Lonely

Chen Nuo asked a few more questions and found that the shareholding agreement, articles of association, etc., had all been changed, and the money had long been transferred.

Since the wood was already carved into a boat, Chen Nuo decided not to say anything more.

It was just that Liu Yifei was still talking excitedly on the other end of the phone.

The girl said she didn't tell anyone about this animation studio investment.

It wasn't that she didn't want to tell, but that President Watermelon had urged her repeatedly when signing the agreement not to tell anyone.

Although he took her money, he didn't want to use her fame to get business, nor did he want to make a big fuss because of her.

He just wanted to recruit soldiers and horses to make animation well, cultivate a team from small to large, accumulate experience, lay a good foundation for making an animated feature film in the future, and didn't want to attract anyone's attention.

Liu Yifei said it as if it were true, but Chen Nuo didn't take in a single word.

Animated feature film.

Is it *Boonie Bears*, *Monkey King: Hero Is Back*, or *Ne Zha*?

Unfortunately, none of them were made by a company called Chocolate.

This is the "Northern Myanmar-style" routine of drawing a big pie first, then slowly planning, slowly asking for money, making people sink deeper and deeper.

And, can the shares be hidden?

Wait a few years for Tianyancha to come out, as long as someone interested wants to check, hehe.

But Chen Nuo didn't intend to blame the other party.

Because these cognitions of his were all based on insights from more than 10 years later.

One can only blame the scammers for being too cunning; one cannot say the victims are too stupid. There is no such logic of victim-blaming in the world.

He listened patiently before saying: "Forget about this one million. If he asks you for money again in the future, even if it's 100 yuan, you must tell me."

"Oh." Liu Yifei promised, and then realized something, "Chen Nuo, do you think I shouldn't have invested?"

Chen Nuo said perfunctorily: "Not necessarily, actually starting a business is a good thing. Anyway... let's talk when we meet."

Mentioning meeting, Liu Yifei's originally low mood became happy again,

urging Chen Nuo repeatedly to tell her as soon as the time was set, and then they were clingy for two sentences before hanging up the phone.

Chen Nuo stayed in California for a total of four days.

During these few days, the progress of the contract negotiations could be described as extremely unsmooth.

Actually, on the day he arrived, there were some signs.

The next day, Summit Entertainment tore off its gentle mask.

Afterwards, the two sides went back and forth at the negotiating table, neither giving an inch.

Chen Nuo saw that if he waited any longer, he was afraid he would miss the start date of *Twilight 3*.

So he left Qi Yuntian and the legal team to continue haggling with Summit Entertainment here, and booked a flight to Vancouver with Brother Linghu himself.

You know, they were talking about the *Twilight 4* contract, which had nothing to do with *Twilight 3*. One thing at a time; living a second life, Chen Nuo still knew how to prioritize the big picture.

Fortunately, before coming, he and Qi Yuntian had also thought that this contract would definitely be a tug-of-war. So, bringing the lawyers along was definitely a wise move.

"It was definitely premeditated. Son of a bitch, this greedy Oriental vampire! Fuck, why did we think this Chinese kid was a good person? Luo Bo, this is his true face!"

In the Summit president's office, current Summit CEO Will Stenson was cursing loudly. Opposite him was former CEO Luo Bo Friedman, who had been invited again.

As a Jew, Luo Bo Friedman had a hint of surprise on his face, saying sincerely: "I really didn't expect him to ask for such a high price."

Will Stenson, this old Texas cowboy, was full of anger, saying: "Who could have thought? This son of a bitch is as greedy as a great white shark. This time, he actually wants to tear off a bigger piece of flesh from us! Honestly, several times in the conference room, I was glad I wasn't holding a gun!"

Luo Bo Friedman looked at Will, lit a cigar, and said: "Calm down, Will."

"20 million USD, plus 15% of the box office share, four days, they won't even give up 1%. How do you expect me to calm down?" Will Stenson said through gritted teeth.

Luo Bo Friedman nodded silently, responding: "It's indeed excessive, this is much more than before."

Will continued: "He simply treats himself as Tang Mu Cruise and *Twilight* as *Mission: Impossible*! But Tang Mu Cruise was already a big star before *Mission: Impossible*. And if he didn't have *Twilight*, what is he in Hollywood! Nothing!"

Luo Bo Friedman was no stranger to this tone.

In fact, he was accused like this at the board meeting back then.

In front of those Texas oil merchants, it seemed like the Oscar Best Supporting Actor and *The Dark Knight* didn't exist.

And he, Luo Bo Friedman, just found a yellow-skinned homeless man on the side of the road to play Edward and gave him a contract worth 50 million USD.

A long time had passed, and even when Luo Bo Friedman recalled this kind of thing, he could laugh, and even nod and admit: "Indeed, *Twilight* made him."

Will nodded heavily and said again: "And, honestly, Luo Bo, I remember what you said last time."

"But I originally planned to give him some commission."

"20 million USD, plus 2% of the box office share, that's not a small amount. You know he already earned so much money from us before! I thought he should be content. But I didn't expect this genuine vampire to treat us like this!"

It was still the same tone.

It seemed the success of *Twilight* was entirely the credit of the huge fan base of *Twilight*.

But God is my witness, even I, who hate him the most, have to admit that if it weren't for hiring that damn bastard, *Twilight* would never be what it is now.

When *The Twilight Saga: New Moon* finished its run with a box office of 898 million, film companies around the world had already regarded *Twilight* as an epic fantasy film series on par with *Harry Potter*.

In the face of long-term interests such as DVD sales, video rental, and peripheral sales, how could the *Twilight* copyright in their hands be measured by a mere tens of millions of dollars?

Indeed, due to his misjudgment at the time, Summit suffered losses in short-term money.

But in the long run, the company would only get more.

So, this was definitely not a losing deal.

These were the words he used to defend himself at the board meeting.

But who could listen?

No one.

At that moment, Luo Bo Friedman hated himself immensely. In order to better control the company, the various shareholders he built with his own hands were all Texas oil guys like Will Stenson or real estate developers from New Jersey.

A bunch of sons of bitches.

They had money, but knew nothing about the film industry. They thought films were like oil or houses, clearly priced, money for goods. Their vision was terribly short-sighted.

Finally, it led to him having to step down gloomily.

However, fortunately, he still had a chance now.

Luo Bo Friedman showed approval: "I have always held this view; we should give him a taste of his own medicine, otherwise he will become more and more greedy. Now you should realize it, right? However, Will, have you considered it, are you sure it's now?"

"Yes, I completely believe you now, Luo Bo. So I really need your help immensely. Why can't it be now? I really can't wait to tear off his greedy face."

"He went to film *Twilight*."

"So what? Afraid he won't act well under pressure and ruin the film? Hehe, Luo Bo, that motherfucker won three European Best Actor awards; although I haven't seen any of his works, if I were still worried about him not acting well now, I would be a stupid donkey!"

Luo Bo Friedman laughed and said: "No, I mean, aren't you afraid he'll go on strike?"

Will Stenson froze for a moment and said: "Will he?"

Will he? Of course he will! You idiot. What kind of person do you think that Chinese kid is? You stab him in the ass, and he'll still obediently film for you to make money?

At this moment, Luo Bo Friedman reaffirmed his belief that he must return to the CEO throne, otherwise, his company would definitely be defeated by these idiots.

For this, he would spare no cost.

Luo Bo smiled: "I don't know. But for the sake of insurance, I suggest waiting until he finishes filming. When he finishes the last shot, I guess the champagne for the celebration hasn't been finished yet. At that time, BOOOOOOM!!! How about it?"

Will Stenson's eyes lit up and said: "So you already have a way."

"Yes, Will. Actually, it's very simple; we need to be tougher, to make him feel that we would rather break up than let him take advantage."

"Tell me, Luo Bo, what should we do?"

"Expose him." Luo Bo Friedman said lightly.

"Expose?"

"That's right. Know about what happened at the Oscars not long ago? I bet the whole world is curious about his pay for *Twilight*. If we expose how much money he received at this time, and spread the word that the contract for the last *Twilight* film is blocked because he asked for too much... then who do you think public opinion will stand with?"

Will Stenson froze for a moment, his eyes flickering for a few seconds, "But..."

"No 'buts'. Will, believe me, still the same sentence, he needs *Twilight* more than we do. He also needs a public image more. He will definitely yield."

Will Stenson pondered for a while and said: "Yes, as long as that bad seed doesn't want to destroy his clean and pure image, he will definitely come back to sign the contract and let us speak for him!"

Luo Bo Friedman smoked his cigar again, smiling in the swirling smoke: "That's right, that's it. Actually, whether in Hollywood or the football and basketball world, these are conventional means. Nothing strange. Many times, we all do this."

Will stood up and walked back and forth, gritting his teeth: "Just do it! This time, I'll make sure he doesn't get a single cent of commission. I swear, I want that greedy Chinese kid to know, I want him to know whose territory this is, what is called respect!! I want him to obediently bow in front of me and say to me, 'Sorry, Mr. Stenson, I was wrong'!"

At this time, Luo Bo Friedman, in the smoke of the cigar, couldn't help but think of what his wife, Susan Friedman, the brand director of Harry Winston, said on the pillow not long ago.

The gist was that after nearly two years of cooperation, the King of Diamonds was very satisfied with its global spokesperson.

After deeper observation, Winston felt that the Chinese boy's inner nature was very consistent with the Winston brand.

Low-key on the surface, but tough on the inside, unshakable.

Renewing the contract was almost a certainty.

So, would that Chinese boy yield?

He didn't think so.

Moreover, in this seemingly flawless plan, there was actually a huge misunderstanding, something beyond the cognition of these oil guys and real estate developers' pig brains and straight intestines.

By then... as long as that Chinese man wasn't stupid to the core.

Then these damn bumpkins would naturally know what Luo Bo Friedman had said,

every word was the truth!

When Luo Bo Friedman was plotting in Summit Entertainment CEO Will Stenson's office, Chen Nuo was preparing to board an American Airlines flight to Vancouver, talking on the phone with Leonardo DiCaprio.

On the phone, Leo was full of complaints.

Back in Berlin, the two agreed to return to Los Angeles to party to their heart's content and be a pair of "party animals."

But Chen Nuo left, and the plan was ruined, causing Leo to have to call the party company to cancel the order again.

Chen Nuo could only apologize repeatedly on the phone, saying that when he bought a house in Los Angeles, he would be the host.

He explained that he really couldn't spare the time this time.

After *Inception* wrapped, he stayed in Los Angeles for just one day, then flew to California to talk about the contract without stopping, and even found time to rush to a photo studio contacted by Harry Winston to shoot the 2010 new spokesperson poster, busy until dizzy.

After Leo snorted a few times to show forgiveness, he told Chen Nuo on the phone that he finally decided to give up the plan to film in China and planned to rest for a while to recharge for the cooperation with Chen Nuo and Quentin next year.

Chen Nuo didn't believe it at all after hearing it, but didn't persuade him either.

He laughed and said to the phone: "Really? But TMZ said in the news yesterday that you..."

Before he could finish, Leo interrupted anxiously on the other end: "That's all nonsense."

Originally Chen Nuo also thought it was nonsense.

TMZ said that after Leo broke up with Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli this year, he completely let himself go and frequented nightclubs every day. The night before last, someone broke the news that they saw him partying until late at night in a Miami nightclub, and finally left alone with 20 women, and then disappeared.

Based on Chen Nuo's understanding of "Little" Leo, it shouldn't be possible.

But now?

He was a bit unsure.

Damn, this is using both hands and feet.

After boarding the plane, there was nothing to talk about with Brother Linghu.

During the two-hour flight, Chen Nuo couldn't sleep, so he asked the American Airlines flight attendant auntie for two magazines to read.

He didn't know if it was because she recognized who he was,

in short, that smiling flight attendant auntie brought a magazine very suitable for the Hollywood star in first class.

The current issue of *Variety*.

The cover person was none other than Harvey Weinstein with a smile, and the caption was "The Oscar ruler intending to return."

Chen Nuo didn't know if this represented that this unkillable old dog Harvey had returned to Hollywood's mainstream vision. However, in the interview inside the magazine, content related to him appeared in many places unexpectedly.

First, the new film produced by The Weinstein Company, *The King's Speech*, which will be released in the UK in the second half of the year, will participate in the 2011 Oscar race.

This should collide with *Inception*.

Secondly, Harvey talked about the bet with him at the Oscars, thinking it was just a harmless little win or loss. Many remarks from the outside world were too exaggerated. But he also admitted that the relationship between the two of them was indeed not friends.

Finally, Harvey also talked about his few award-winning films under the reporter's questioning, and even gave comments.

*The Mute's House*, "The exploitation of the poor is bone-chilling,"

*The Dark Knight*, "An unprecedented hero movie,"

*Mother*, "The reversed script is fascinating,"

*Under the Hawthorn Tree*, "Haven't seen it yet, but it should have the same attributes,"

The conclusion is probably that Chen Nuo has a very good eye for choosing films, nothing more.

Praising on the surface while disparaging in secret, it was much stronger than Polanski.

The key was that it was quite on point, worthy of someone who started by picking films at major film festivals.

In Chen Nuo's view, this should be this fat guy creating momentum for the Oscar battle between *The King's Speech* and *Inception* next year.

Don't say it's too early.

In 1999, this fat guy stuffed the PR draft of *Shakespeare in Love* into the breakfast cereal box of an Academy judge months in advance, which could be said to be unscrupulous in letting Gwyneth Paltrow win the Oscar Best Actress.

This had almost become a legend.

Looking down on Harvey's means of publicity and momentum creation was equivalent to looking down on the countless filmmakers who had been defeated by him over the years.

But this time...

It seems that his consecutive wins at Cannes and Berlin also made Harvey a bit wary, right?

Chen Nuo laughed twice while reading the magazine.

"Mr. Chen, what would you like to drink?"

At this time, someone said from the side. This time it wasn't the auntie, but a brown-haired, brown-eyed BBW flight attendant.

"A cup of coffee, thank you."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

After a while, pure handmade coffee came.

When he took it, Chen Nuo had something extra in his hand.

This big, plump beautiful flight attendant smiled at him nonchalantly: "Mr. Chen, do you need anything else?"

". Hmm, no more. Thank you."

The flight attendant left, and Chen Nuo opened the note in his hand to look.

As expected.

A name and a phone number, and a lip print.

He crumpled it casually and continued reading the magazine.

Harvey made defensive moves against him before seeing the film.

Unfortunately, this time it was a waste of this guy's painstaking efforts.

*Inception* is definitely not a "Best Actor" movie.

Compared to Best Actor, this film entrusts more of the resentment that keeps Christopher Nolan and James Cameron awake at night.

What does it have to do with him?

Except for money.

*The Twilight Saga: Eclipse*, this time the director was changed again,

The reason given by Summit Entertainment a few months ago was that the director of the second part, Chris Weitz, and the start time of the third part had a schedule conflict, forcing him to hand over the megaphone.

Actually?

Chen Nuo knew the real reason.

It was that the original author, Stephenie Meyer, was not satisfied with the style of the second part.

She thought that Chris Weitz, this American Pie director, made *Twilight 2: New Moon* too sunny, resulting in insufficient artistry, so she put pressure on Summit Entertainment.

Although *Twilight 2* grossed 898 million globally, on par with the second, third, and fourth parts of the *Harry Potter* series, this result still couldn't satisfy the female writer's ambition to surpass J. K. Rowling. The actors' performance was impeccable, so the spearhead naturally pointed at the director.

Thus, David Slade, who was good at thriller and dark styles and had directed *Hard Candy* and *30 Days of Night*, took office in this part, aiming to reverse the film's direction.

Coincidentally, *Hard Candy* was Ellen Page's breakout work, and David Slade was the second director she collaborated with.

Previously, after the news of *Twilight 3* changing directors hit entertainment news, Ellen muttered to Chen Nuo on set, saying that David Slade's personality was a bit eccentric and paranoid.

Sure enough, a few days after filming started, everyone from the female lead Kristen Stewart to the male second lead Jacob couldn't take it.

First of all, David Slade's requirements for the actors' performance style were extremely extreme, and his demands for filming details reached the point of nitpicking.

In a scene in the forest, Jacob had to stop suddenly while running and talk to Bella.

Slade not only had requirements for the werewolf actor's range of motion and stopping position. He even NG-ed him several times because of his breathing rhythm. He thought Taylor's breathing sound wasn't urgent enough and couldn't reflect the werewolf's state after running.

For these idol actors, could they take this?

Kristen Stewart was the same.

In an indoor dialogue scene with Chen Nuo, Slade felt she wasn't natural enough and repeatedly asked her to adjust. A simple dialogue scene was shot dozens of times, becoming like Wong Kar-wai, so much so that Kristen Stewart almost went on strike.

Not only were the requirements for actors high, but it was the same in other aspects.

In order to pursue the filming effect in his mind, this person often changed the filming plan temporarily and extended the filming time.

Once, a scene originally planned to wrap up in the afternoon had to be re-shot because he was dissatisfied with the lighting effect, requiring waiting until the specific lighting conditions in the evening. This caused a group of actors to wait from daytime until evening, unable to rest in between, and had to keep their state.

Regarding these practices, Chen Nuo felt he did it too right.

It was high time to give these idol drama actors some intensity.

Otherwise, how could there be texture?

What's wrong with suffering a bit?

He was the same, okay.

There was a scene where David Slade told him he wanted to show the hunger of Edward after not sucking blood for a long time. According to the final result of the two's discussion, he was required to fast for 36 hours.

But Chen Nuo had no opinion and shrugged, agreeing.

After filming that scene, from the female lead and male second lead to Luo Bo Pattinson, no one dared to say anything anymore.

If things were just like this, then Chen Nuo felt this director was indeed found correctly.

But maybe it was because he knew why he was invited to direct.

David Slade was determined to make *Twilight 3* walk on the boundary between PG-13 and R-rated.

In the handling of some shots, Chen Nuo felt it was too dark and bloody, very un-PG-13, and very likely to encounter problems with the rating committee later.

For example, in the scene where Victoria was killed, this person insisted on the neck breaking and black blood spraying, using a lot of blood plasma, which was very likely to exceed the standard. There was even a close-up shot of the exposed trachea.

And when he sucked blood and fought, in this part, he wore makeup with full black pupils and bulging veins like a zombie, completely different from the first two parts.

It wasn't just him who felt there was a problem, but he didn't speak, and others didn't dare to say anything.

And Chen Nuo finally decided to forget it and shut up.

On one hand, he felt that this serious director indeed brought a lot of different fresh things to the film.

This was very necessary for a series of films that had already been filmed twice.

You can't really rely on his face to earn box office from beginning to end, right?

Even if he was the third most sexy face in the world in the 2009 People magazine, it was impossible.

So, in his view, David Slade's transformation of *Twilight* was like Nolan's transformation of *Batman* back then.

He naturally had a good impression and didn't want to stop it.

On the other hand, if there really was a problem, according to the production process of *Twilight*, in the pre-screening rough cut stage, rating consultants would bring it up.

At that time, shots that were too violent would be cut if they needed to be cut, and re-shot if they needed to be re-shot, so it wouldn't be a big problem.

Anyway, after he finished filming *Twilight*, besides guest-starring in *No Man's Land* in the second half of this year, he currently had no other arrangements. He was almost in a vacation state for half a year, and had plenty of time.

So he simply kept his duty as an actor, completely different from when filming the second part, not even going to the monitor a few times, letting David Slade play to his heart's content.

When there was filming, he went to film.

When there was no filming,

he would walk around Vancouver with Liu Yifei.

Looking at the sky and the sea together during the day, taking a walk, and sleeping together at night,

this life was not lonely at all.

Liu Yifei came on the fourth day after he arrived in Vancouver.

Alone, with just one assistant, Liu Xiaoli didn't follow.

Originally saying she would stay for a week and then return to China, it ended up being dragged on and on.

Later, Chen Nuo was too lazy to urge her.

Actually, there wasn't much for her to do when she went back.

In the past year or two, the Chinese-language circle was experiencing a script famine. Big productions were crowded to film historical dramas like *Three Kingdoms*, which were incompatible with her style, so it was really hard to pick.

Small-cost idol dramas were scrambling to find her.

But in 2010, major TV stations were in a peak period of remakes, and bad dramas were emerging one after another.

For example, *Fall in Love*, which plagiarized *Autumn in My Heart*, *Love You* which remade the Taiwanese version of *Fated to Love You*... there weren't many original scripts, and even the lines had a Taiwanese accent and a Korean flavor, and the movies were about the same, one worse than the other.

In the first half of the year, Huanxin Company only took a Japanese TV series for her.

Speaking of which, Liu Yifei's popularity in the Japanese market was really not low now.

That SK-II outdoor advertisement in Shinsaibashi, Osaka, had quite a few Chinese tourists checking in and taking photos, and Chen Nuo had brushed it on Sina Weibo several times.

So, when this new TBS drama came over while he was filming *Inception*, Li Jing and Liu Xiaoli looked at the cast and script and felt it was good, so they decided on it.

Acting in a crime investigation drama with Hiroshi Abe, called *Tokyo Mystery Case File*.

However, that was also a matter for November in the second half of the year. It was still early, so there was indeed no need to rush.

Liu Yifei raised her hand and waved in front of his eyes, "What are you thinking about?"

"Thinking about when someone is coming..."

Liu Yifei raised her hand and looked at the Tissot watch she endorsed on her wrist, "Ten more minutes until three o'clock... ah, here. Sister Bingbing! Here!"

Liu Yifei stood up from the chair in the open-air cafe, her gaze locked on the graceful figure walking over not far away, her face blooming with a brilliant smile.

She enthusiastically raised her hand high.

I saw a slightly bloated figure and a moist, fair melon-seed face on the edge of the street entering Chen Nuo's eyes.

Fan Bingbing, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, raised the corners of her mouth slightly and also raised her hand to wave at them.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 343 =====