Chapter 359: Old Tang Wants Mines, Brother Nuo Zhuge Liang

"Owe him a thank you?"

"I thank his mother, a motherfucker!"

"This bitch-born piece of shit!"

"We have no cards in our hands? We have so many cards in our hands we can't even finish playing them. All the Twilight fans in the US and the world are our supporters!"

"He actually wants the board of directors to change people? Change who! Who can replace me?"

The September issue of "Vanity Fair," released yesterday, lay open on the Summit Entertainment president's desk.

Although the pages had been crumpled just now, the photo on the other side hadn't suffered along with the text version. The smooth pages reflected the bright lights.

Friedman's gaze moved away from Will Stenson's furious old face.

It moved to the photo on the opened page.

He knew this photo was the work of Patrick Demarchelier.

This French master photographer had been Princess Diana's personal photographer since 1988, until Diana passed away in 1997.

Since then, he had shot works for numerous A-list stars, supermodels, and celebrities, and had also shot advertisements for numerous high-luxury brands.

As the photographer currently most favored by "Vanity Fair," the work shot in China this time might not count for much in his entire photography career.

However, in this year's "Vanity Fair" magazine, it should be the most eye-catching issue.

In the photo, a black-haired, black-eyed Chinese man was wearing a dark gray suede jacket, paired with a black turtleneck T-shirt, dark blue jeans, black cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat on his head.

His eyebrows had been thickened, his eyeliner drawn slightly deeper, and his hair grabbed a bit messily.

He was dressed very much like an Eastern cowboy who had walked out of a Western film.

The scene was Patrick's consistent minimalist style, a pure black curtain in the background, a gray carpet on the ground, and an old leather sofa and an industrial-style floor lamp placed beside it.

The light was hit very hard, the shadows were drawn very long, highlighting the man's facial lines and eyes.

His legs were casually resting on the armrest of the sofa, leaning against the sofa, hands in his pockets, his eyes staring coldly into the distance, the corners of his mouth slightly slanted, as if mocking something.

This issue, whether it was the theme or the cover introduction text, formed a sharp contrast with the woman who had a close relationship with him in the July issue.

"Emma Stone's Hot Summer."

"You may not know her yet, but from today until the end of August, she will have three big movies released—including 'Help'—so you will."

What a humble way of saying it.

Emma Stone was actually already a rising Hollywood star.

She had three movies released in succession this year and was the youngest Cannes Best Actress in history.

But Vanity Fair just liked this kind of tone.

Using a low-key evaluation of the current issue's character to highlight the magazine's high-end taste.

By now in September, although the title was still short, very much in line with Patrick's hard-core cowboy shooting theme—THE RULE-BREAKER: NUO CHEN (Rule Breaker: Chen Nuo).

However, the introduction was full of arrogance: "From the streets of Beijing to the peaks of Hollywood, he broke all the rules with his acting."

Friedman felt that, apart from the interview content, perhaps this was the real reason for Will Stenson's rage.

The old cowboy from Texas saw his rival wearing cowboy clothes and even appearing on Hollywood's top-tier magazine, which was equivalent to having his wife and daughter raped in front of him, or even worse.

Will Stenson's eyes looked over, "Luo Bo, this bitch-born, he actually dared to publish our contract details. Why, does he think we're afraid to sue him in court! Luo Bo, do you think he knows something?"

Luo Bo Friedman lowered his head in deep thought, looking completely serious, and one couldn't tell at all that when he provided clues to Warner's TMZ, he had accidentally left the email address of a certain Summit Entertainment management person inside.

"I don't know, maybe, perhaps. After all, he is now closely connected with Warner. You know Warner's energy. I can only guarantee that I absolutely didn't reveal any flaws. Will, I hate him even more than you."

Will Stenson's face was livid, saying: "I don't doubt you, I just... fuck him, forget it, even if he published it, so what? I don't think this has much impact on us, he just took so much money from us. On the contrary, everything is confirmed now. He admitted it to the whole world in Vanity Fair. I believe this will only make his situation worse."

Luo Bo Friedman echoed with a laugh: "Yes, that's right. I think he's an idiot. What 'every cent he earned is what he deserves.' Fuck, without Twilight, he's nothing."

Will Stenson laughed and said: "Yes, Luo Bo, who would think that he deserves to take so much money? I dare say except for himself, no one else."

However, just three days later, the facts slapped Will Stenson hard in the face.

On October 1st, while attending a charity and environmental protection event, popular Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio was asked about Chen Nuo, who had become a hot topic again because of the "Vanity Fair" interview, and his remuneration.

No one expected him to answer, but this time, the Hollywood superstar talked eloquently to the camera: "We are actors, every cent is written in the contract. I don't think there's anything unfair about this. Compared to movie companies, we really don't earn much. It's not just because Chen and I are friends that I say this."

On October 2nd, on the red carpet of a fashion event in Paris, Angelina Jolie also said to the camera: "Chen's talent is there, his success is not based on luck, but on strength. 120 million? I personally think he is worth it. I have read his interview, and I have also seen the contract he signed, and I think it is fair."

On the same day, backstage at the Toronto Film Festival, Ellen Page took the initiative to talk about this matter in a conversation with reporters, and said a lot in one breath: "Chen is the most hardworking actor I have ever seen, he is worth that money. I respect him very much, and filming a movie with him was the most pleasant experience of my life. I am looking forward to the promotional period, because I can travel the world with him. On this matter, I stand 100% on his side. Fuck Summit Entertainment, you insulted a real actor."

At an independent film premiere in New York, Quentin Tarantino laughed strangely and threw out a sentence: "Every actor has a price. You think he's worth it, so you give him a big contract. I think Chen is the guy worth that quote. Everything about my new film is not yet determined."

While promoting a new film released that month in London, Hollywood star Emma Stone, who had just appeared in Vanity Fair, was asked about her old partner's recent turmoil, and she smiled and said: "When I collaborated with Chen, no one in America knew him yet. But at that time, I knew that one day he would become a big star. I saw the Vanity Fair interview, and I can only say he is really great, and made a decision I couldn't imagine. I am very happy that he won in the end, and the money he earned is a reward for his courage."

Finally, at the scene of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on NBC, Ryan Reynolds was asked about this topic after answering the divorce turmoil, and he grinned and said: "I know he earned 120 million. Damn, to be honest, I regret it now, I didn't let him treat me to roast whole lamb in China back then... But I don't think there's any problem, the only problem is that I'm fucking jealous, I also want to earn that much!"

Many Hollywood actors who had remained silent on this matter in the past, for some reason, suddenly erupted with many voices in these few days.

The only different tone came from Scarlett Johansson, who posted an suggestive tweet on her Twitter: "The high remuneration of some male actors may exacerbate the gender pay gap in Hollywood."

However, the discussions among producers were divided into two factions.

Harvey Weinstein said in an interview with "Variety": "I saw his true colors long ago, this is definitely a robbery, I sympathize with Summit Entertainment very much."

There was also a producer who had participated in the filming of Nolan's new film, who also claimed that Chen Nuo was a bully on set, and every cent given to him was a crime.

On the other hand, people like the new Netflix vice president and the Warner vice president supported him one after another.

On October 4th, after listening to the public opinion report from the relevant department, the atmosphere in the Summit Entertainment conference room was dead silent.

Will Stenson, Luo Bo Friedman, and some other Summit Entertainment executives didn't speak for a while.

Finally, the female executive in charge of public opinion and publicity coughed and said: "In short, overall, the current public opinion is very unfavorable to our company. My suggestion is, Will, we should have a chat with Chen. After all, we have common interests with him in Twilight, and we shouldn't make such a scene in front of the media."

Will Stenson said fiercely, "That's exactly what he wants us to do. He mobilized so many of his friends, he is exactly trying to put pressure on us. But I dare say, he will absolutely not succeed."

The woman frowned: "Will, we can all see this, but the people speaking out for him now are not ordinary people. His friends are not some plumber in Ohio! They are Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie! They can influence many people's views! Don't hesitate, Will. I'm worried that such voices will reach the ears of the Actors Guild and give them more ideas."

Will Stenson shook his head: "No, no, no, as long as I am still sitting in this chair, I will never bow my head first. Anna, you should know me, no one can make a cowboy admit defeat. What you need to do now is to think of a way to fight back, not to ask me to surrender voluntarily."

Anna opened her mouth, and finally nodded helplessly: "OK, I know, Will."

That afternoon, Anna was sitting behind her desk, carefully considering Summit Entertainment's next response.

She prepared to avoid the important and focus on the trivial, expressing to the public Summit Entertainment's desire to renew the contract with the other party. She wanted to say that they were willing to sign an agreement with the other party under any convenient premise. But the premise was that the other party also showed a certain amount of respect.

Anna felt that this should be able to win the favor of some Twilight fans, thereby throwing the pressure to the other party, and also throwing the responsibility of not renewing the contract to the other party.

But how to write it specifically, she, who graduated from Cornell University with a major in public communication, had to be extremely cautious.

But just then, one of her subordinates pushed open the door of her office, looking serious, and said: "Anna, Chen issued a statement."

Anna looked up sharply: "Where? Where was it issued?"

"On his FB account."

"Have you seen it?"

"Yes."

"What does it say?" Anna typed the URL into her laptop while logging into her FB account.

"He says he is the Pope of the New Century."

"What?" Anna, who was typing her password, was stunned, her fingers on the keyboard paused, and she looked up in surprise: "He dares to say that?"

"Yes, he dares."

Anna laughed suddenly, interrupting: "Shit, finally he made a bad move, I dare say, many people are unwilling to see an Eastern face call himself the Pope. Very good, this should be our opportunity. He is too arrogant, haha, finally revealed a flaw. We want to..."

"Wait, let me finish, Anna." The man wearing glasses showed a helpless bitter smile, "He is a very cunning guy, very good at inciting the emotions of his fans, and very carefully avoiding all minefields, playing a trick of killing two birds with one stone. I can only say, this Chinese man, he really, really knows how to use social media. You'll understand when you look, Anna."

Anna frowned tightly, continued to log into her account, the page refreshed, clicked on the person she followed, and then she looked at the latest update of Chen Nuo's account.

"Fuck," Anna muttered.

"The essence of fan economy is religious war, and creators are the Popes of the new generation. Those CEOs who are still using Excel tables to calculate the value of artists will eventually be nailed to the cross of the old era. Time is eternal, and never forgives."

It was full of postmodern flavor, even with the feeling of poetry, and it went quite well with the Gothic-style photo he posted this time.

Dark church background, mottled stone walls, a gloomy cross standing in the center, the man in the black suit had half his face hidden in the shadows, just like a ghostly blurred figure, only a silhouette could be seen. But his right wrist clearly revealed a golden watch.

In the lower right corner of the entire poster, there was a logo combining a crown and Rolex.

Anna muttered: "This is an advertisement?" "Yes, Rolex's. This perfectly avoids controversy... Rolex's crown allows him to call himself the Pope or King, both can be seen as marketing means, and this text can also be completely seen as a very appropriate advertisement."

"But his fans, including everyone, obviously know what he is implying, what he wants to do."

"He wants to tie Will, us, and the entire Summit Entertainment to the cross and burn them. We are the bumpkins in his mouth who only know how to use Excel tables to calculate the value of art."

"Anna, before I came up to find you, I noticed that the front desk phone has started to explode."

"I don't want to know at all what those teenage fans will say this time, because I dare to bet, it must be much more vulgar and barbaric than when Twilight 1 was released last time."

"Because... this time it was launched by their leader herself."

Not just the phone.

In the comment section below this personal update, there were countless fanatical comments proving that, indeed, Chen Nuo's fans had been incited.

Just like when they cursed Polanski back then.

"What's wrong with Summit Entertainment? How dare they treat Nuo Chen like this!"

"They don't understand him at all. They just use our Edward, but don't want to give him an extra cent. This is a war, we have to defeat them!"

"Summit can't just try to suppress him like this, we won't tolerate this kind of thing!"

"Summit Entertainment is simply too unreasonable. They have to apologize to him now! Girls, start calling them now!"

"That's right, call them! And we should launch a comprehensive boycott of them. Let them know we're not messing around!"

Qi Yuntian was on the sofa, holding a laptop, looking at the comments above, and shook his head speechlessly, "What kind of fans do you have abroad, their combat power is too weak. If it were on Weibo, they would have dug up Will Stenson's ancestral grave in minutes."

His voice was not small, but the little girl sleeping on the small bed beside him was not woken up.

Chen Nuo shook his head and said: "It's impossible to openly ask them to protest on the street, or sit-in at the entrance of Summit Entertainment? That would be counterproductive. Now public sympathy points are our chips. However, those who don't like me still don't like me. Can't give them a handle. This is not what I said, it's what the manager of J. Walter Thompson said. I think it makes sense."

"Do you think that manager wants to sleep with you? Staying up until the early morning every day to discuss copy with you, Rolex doesn't pay them overtime. I think should you..."

Chen Nuo didn't say a word, grabbed the lumbar pillow beside him and threw it at this person with a belly full of dirty thoughts.

Qi Yuntian reached out to grab it, but didn't catch it. The lumbar pillow bounced off his hand and fell into the small bed beside him.

The little girl who was sleeping sweetly was woken up by the smash, but she didn't cry, was stunned for a moment, rubbed her eyes and sat up.

This little girl was only about two or three years old, very small, with a pair of dark eyes embedded in her round little face, the corners of her eyes slightly upturned, her skin a bit dark, her hair sparse, and the ends of her hair slightly withered and yellow.

Qi Yuntian's craftsmanship was terrible, he tied her a crooked little bun, and after sleeping, a few strands were still sticking to her face.

She looked at Chen Nuo and Qi Yuntian blankly, blinking her eyes, not crying, quiet like a little porcelain doll.

"Ouch, awake? Your Uncle Chen threw it, and it hit you." Qi Yuntian picked up the girl and held her in his arms. To be honest, the posture was very non-standard and very awkward, but he held her quite tightly.

The girl reached out, grabbed Qi Yuntian's chin, opened her mouth, and laughed silently.

Qi Yuntian was also amused, and teased her chin with his fingers.

Chen Nuo watched them for a while and asked: "Is the cochlear implant thing confirmed, when will the surgery be?"

"Australia has already shipped it, the surgery should be done next week."

"What about after that?"

"Go to the hospital every two weeks for follow-up adjustments. After about half a year of debugging, language training can begin. The doctor said Xiaoyu'er is not yet three years old, so it should be in time. After training, compared to normal people, it won't be much worse."

Chen Nuo said "um" and said: "Come, let me hold her."

As a result, as soon as Chen Nuo took her from Qi Yuntian's hands, the little girl started crying immediately.

Chen Nuo had no choice but to return her to Qi Yuntian, angrily: "Little ungrateful thing."

The little girl was adopted by Qi Yuntian from a welfare home in Sichuan last month, currently about 2 years old, with congenital hearing impairment.

The adoption process was quite complicated. As a single male on the ID card, Qi Yuntian was not qualified to adopt, so although the girl's surname was Qi, her household registration was hung on the Chen family's household registration book, becoming the adopted daughter of Chen Bicheng and Pan Chengrong.

The name was taken by Chen Nuo, and her name was Qi Chuyu.

When naming her, the Chen family and Qi Yuntian discussed for a long time, and finally Chen Nuo popped out this name and argued to convince everyone.

Chu, is "charming." Yu, is "surviving a disaster," "having abundance every year," which has both blessings and deep meaning, as well as expectations, much better than the "Wan" or "Jiao" they took.

While coaxing little Chuyu, the two returned to the main topic.

"Inception cannot be released as scheduled, the chain reaction is that it is very likely that its share will not have arrived by September next year, and we must raise 200 million US dollars to buy FB shares. By the way, what date is it in September?"

Qi Yuntian's memory was as good as ever, "The contract date is September 22nd."

"September 22nd, Nolan said the fastest is July release, or later. So... in more than a month, the share definitely won't arrive. So we can only rely on the income from Twilight. The box office share of Twilight 3 can be tens of millions of dollars, and then take the contract of the last two parts to the bank for a loan. Otherwise... even if I open my mouth to Old Chen, he can't take out so much money."

Qi Yuntian frowned and said: "What if that old bastard Will Stenson is stubborn and doesn't loosen his mouth?"

Chen Nuo thought for a while and said: "Why don't I go talk to the consultant again? I suspect this old boy hid a hand this time and didn't use his full strength. The few moves made so far don't feel like extreme pressure. At least it's still a bit short of dealing with Will Stenson."

Qi Yuntian nodded thoughtfully and said: "I also feel this way, do you think he took a fancy to your family's mine? Didn't you brag to him last time that your dad has many mines in his hands? I saw his eyes were a bit wrong. He looked like he wanted to share a piece of the pie."

Chen Nuo was a bit embarrassed.

At the celebration banquet in New York at that time, Old Tang successfully completed the suggestion in FB's hands, and bragged triumphantly that he had never lost in his life.

He had drunk some wine at the time, couldn't stand his arrogance, so he was unconvinced and bragged a few words for his father. He also described his father's career with the same exaggerated method as Old Tang.

This old boy has been thinking about it?

Not necessarily, right?

As it turned out, it really was.

In the subsequent conference call he held with him, the voice from New York said: "Chen, didn't you say last time... I think this is a guarantee for our long-term cooperation, with my investment, we can..."

Can your mother's head.

Chen Nuo hung up the phone without listening to the end.

Not to mention that the policy doesn't allow it, nor that it doesn't exist at all, even if it were allowed, even if it really existed, I would sell the mine to you?

Then I might as well surrender directly.

Do you really think you are Tang the Butcher, and I can't eat hairy pigs without you?

But facts proved that Summit Entertainment under the leadership of Will Stenson was really a wild boar with hard hair.

Even if Chen Nuo and the others found the American Actors Guild, let them release the word, threatening to list Summit Entertainment on the "high-risk partner" blacklist, threatening to boycott its subsequent projects.

But Santa Monica remained silent and unmoved.

Until they found Hollywood insider Lori Eisner to help them plan, and as a result, Lori woke them up.

90% of Summit Entertainment's value is in the Twilight project, it has no subsequent projects.

Threatening it from this aspect is like threatening a eunuch, making him have no descendants.

It would be strange if it were useful.

Therefore, if you want Summit to surrender and return to the negotiating table, you must return to the Twilight project itself.

This time, Chen Nuo and Qi Yuntian were really in a bit of trouble.

Until October 15, 2010, the day before the Hundred Flowers Award ceremony held in Jiangyin, Jiangsu, Qi Yuntian suddenly received a call from Summit Entertainment in a hotel in Jiangyin.

After answering the phone, Qi Yuntian stared at Chen Nuo in a trance, as if he didn't know him, without saying a word, looking him up and down.

Making Chen Nuo feel a bit hairy.

"What's the situation, speak!"

"Brother Nuo, tell the truth, did you think of it early? You've been anxious and busy for this period of time, feeling like you can't wait to sell yourself to Old Tang's daughter, were you just teasing me?"

". Um, cough, why do you say that?"

"Summit Entertainment asked us to go to the US as soon as possible, they softened."

"Why?"

"Do you still want to pretend? Brother Nuo?"

". Hehe, I just want to hear you say it."

"The Twilight 3 you finished filming earlier had too many bloody scenes, and in the pre-screening process, it was warned by those former members of the CARA (Classification and Rating Administration) that there were too many violent and bloody scenes, and it might not be classified as PG this time, but would be classified as R. They have no way, they need you to reshoot now, otherwise if this news spreads, the bank will make them completely finished. Brother Nuo, I fuck, are you really taking one step and seeing three steps? I remember when you were filming, we hadn't fallen out with them yet, right? Damn, Brother Nuo, are you really Zhuge Liang?"

". Hehe, hahaha, hahahahahaha. Otherwise, what do you think? Otherwise, how could I play the three visits to the thatched cottage? You don't understand, what was the panic before, that was all pretending, this is all under the control of this Zhuge Nuo!"

(End of this chapter)