Chapter 298: Cultivating Talent

On the plane, a dark-skinned young man with a big head was looking around. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and a big gold chain around his neck, exuding a sense of vulgarity. The first impression others had of him would definitely not be that he was a director engaged in artistic creation. And he was a director who won awards internationally for shooting art films!

Ning Hao was still a little excited at this time. He really didn't expect that he would be suddenly named by Wu Yuchen to take him to Hollywood to learn by his side!

However, thinking of his terrible English, Ning Hao's face showed bitterness again. Since he was in school, the subject he hated most was English.

About seven or eight years ago, when he took the exam for the Academy of Arts and Design, he knew his English was not good. Therefore, he asked a friend to find someone who looked like him in Taiyuan Iron and Steel to take the exam for him. The first two subjects were taken by Ning Hao himself, and when taking the English exam, he let that brother go up. The two shaved the same head and wore the same clothes. After the results were announced, Ning Hao took a look; out of 150 points, he scored 30-something.

Ning Hao was a little helpless: "You seem to be about the same as me going to the exam. If I choose A for everything, it's about this number."

The other party expressed his apologies. Finally, the two people who looked very similar sat by the Fen River, finished a box of cigarettes, and said goodbye on the spot.

Afterwards, Ning Hao took the exams for the Film Academy, the Institute of Fashion, the Academy of Chinese Opera, and Wuxi Light Industry one after another, but because his English was poor, he didn't pass any of them. Finally, he luckily passed the adult education of the Art Department of Beijing Normal University, majoring in film and television production, which allowed Ning Hao to have a relationship with film.

Ning Hao asked a thin young man beside him: "Senior Brother Chen, when we get to Hollywood, I'll rely on you, otherwise I'll become half a deaf-mute!"

Chen Er turned his head and looked at Ning Hao, and couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Didn't you wander around foreign countries for a big circle last year? I thought your English should be great!"

Ning Hao passed the Beijing Film Academy the year before last, and last year he wrote a script *Incense*, pulled 100,000 yuan of investment from Miracle Film and Television, and after it was shot, he won many awards internationally, such as the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, the Tokyo Film Festival, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Ning Hao shook his head hurriedly: "No, no, that was all relying on the producer to lead. I only know yes and no, and the rest all have to rely on hand gestures!"

Chen Er saw Ning Hao like this and it didn't seem to be fake. He took out a notebook from his bag and handed it to Ning Hao: "This is the English vocabulary related to film that I summarized. If it really doesn't work, you memorize these first!"

Ning Hao took Chen Er's notebook, and his face showed worry. He didn't expect that now that he had become a director, he still had to continue learning English! He looked at Wu Yuchen sitting in the front row. He had to learn it; he couldn't waste Wu Dao's painstaking efforts!

Wu Yuchen didn't care what Ning Hao and Chen Er were whispering about behind him. After staying in the country for a period of time on this trip, it was time to return to America. After all, *Pirates of the Caribbean* was still waiting for him there.

It was just that there were two more followers accompanying him this time, as he had promised Han Sanping before to cultivate more talents for Chinese-language films.

In fact, at first, Han Sanping recommended Guan Hu and Lu Chuan to him.

Guan Hu had shot *Get in the Car, Go! *, *Eyes of Xi Shi*, and *Black Hole* one after another in the past two years, while Lu Chuan had received considerable attention after *The Missing Gun* last year. Both of these people could be considered outstanding among young directors.

However, Wu Yuchen didn't agree to Han Sanping this time. It wasn't because these two were much older than him, nor because they were too artistic, but because both of them had a bit of a "public intellectual" flavor. Guan Hu was slightly better, but Lu Chuan, regarding your *City of Life and Death*, no matter how you reflect and discuss human nature, you should have set your position right first, right?

If he really took these two to Hollywood for half a year, wouldn't the "public intellectual" flavor be even stronger?

After thinking about it, Wu Yuchen changed to Ning Hao and Chen Er.

Chen Er was still Wu Yuchen's classmate. A few years ago, he first shot short films and won many awards internationally. Last year, he shot the feature film *The Third Person*, which could be considered extremely outstanding among directors under 30.

And Ning Hao's *Incense* last year was also very spiritual and had achievements that could be shown.

Therefore, Han Sanping naturally had no opinion on these two, just thinking that Wu Yuchen wanted to cultivate younger ones. In fact, who Wu Yuchen was willing to take depended entirely on his own wishes. Han Sanping could only suggest at most; as long as they were talents, he was fine with it.

Los Angeles. After settling Chen Er and Ning Hao, Wu Yuchen was understanding the situation with his agent Carl: "How is *The Boy in the Striped Pajamas*?"

Carl smiled at Wu Yuchen: "Congratulations, Wu, just yesterday, its North American box office successfully exceeded 100 million!"

*The Boy in the Striped Pajamas* had actually been released for several months before the Oscars. It started with limited screenings, then gradually expanded the scope of screenings, especially after receiving an Oscar nomination, it expanded to more than 600 theaters. Before the Oscar ceremony, it had already accumulated more than 46 million in box office.

And after the Oscars, with the blessing of various Oscar honors and the expansion of the number of theaters to 2,000, it took 24 million in the first week, 17 million in the second week, and 12 million in the third week. Yesterday, on the way Wu Yuchen flew over, it just broke 100 million.

Wu Yuchen also showed a satisfied smile upon hearing this. To be honest, breaking 100 million in North America was indeed a good result. After all, *The Boy in the Striped Pajamas* was just a foreign language film. Being able to break 100 million was really borrowing a lot of the Oscar's light, and there was also the reason for the Iraq War, which was quite eye-catching now, attracting many viewers' interest in this anti-war film.

In contrast was the film *The Pianist*. Although it won the Oscar for Best Picture, because of the director Polanski's black history, many viewers expressed disgust, saying they didn't want to watch a movie shot by a "rapist," even if it was the Oscar Best Picture.

This led to the fact that the box office performance of *The Pianist* in North America was actually not very good, completely incomparable to *The Boy in the Striped Pajamas*.

In fact, viewers generally have a psychology. If it is a commercial popcorn movie, viewers actually have relatively low requirements for the creators of the movie. Everyone knows that watching this kind of movie is just for fun, and they won't delve too much into the logic of the movie. But if it is an art film, many viewers subconsciously raise their standards and will also watch the movie with a more serious attitude, especially for realistic films like *The Pianist*.

Wu Yuchen smiled noncommittally at this. During the awards season, he also spent a lot of effort to find the media to vigorously publicize Polanski's black history, but that could only blame himself.

After arriving in Los Angeles, Wu Yuchen didn't immediately throw himself into *Pirates of the Caribbean*. He let his agent Carl arrange for someone to take Chen Er and Ning Hao to visit the Hollywood studio first, and he had to deal with some of his own things.

Miracle Film. Wu Yuchen looked at the young, somewhat immature Chinese face in front of him, flipped through the script in his hand, and felt that his trip was worth it, because the person in front of him was James Wan.

James Wan and his good friend Leigh Whannell were a little restless on the sofa, unable to hide their excitement. The person in front of them was the world's top director, Wu Yuchen!

You know, he and his friend were the lowest-level newcomers in the circle. They traveled from Australia to Hollywood to chase their dreams. The resumes they submitted sank into the sea, and it was even difficult to find a job. The two were so poor that they could only squeeze in the basement and go to the church to receive relief meals.

However, when a phone call from Miracle Film hit them, it made them feel that the opportunity to change their destiny might have come. And when they saw Wu Yuchen holding the *Saw* script they created and reading it with relish, it simply made them so excited that they wanted to dance!

It was just that in front of Wu Yuchen at this time, they could only hide this excitement in their hearts, for fear of disturbing the other party.

Wu Yuchen was actually sighing at this time. He didn't deliberately look for it, but he didn't expect that the super classic horror series *Saw* would be delivered to his hands.

*Saw* was not only wonderful in itself, but also a very typical representative of using small to win big, exchanging 1.2 million US dollars for over 100 million US dollars in box office!

Wu Yuchen remembered the American entertainment online novels he had read in his past life. Many protagonists could not bypass this movie and chose it as their debut work, which showed its importance.

A moment later, Wu Yuchen raised his head and said to the two with a smile: "Why did you submit this script to me? I have never shot this kind of horror movie~"

Although *The Sixth Sense* was a ghost movie, it was not scary at all, at most it could be considered suspense and thriller.

Leigh Whannell and James Wan looked at each other and then said: "Respected Wu Dao, because Wan and I think that you and Wan are both Chinese, perhaps the probability of our script passing will be greater..."

This is the benefit of having a big reputation; it can attract all kinds of sages to take the initiative to invest, although the two people in front of them were just down-and-out newcomers without any experience.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Congratulations to you, you made the right choice. I like *Saw* very much!"

James Wan and Leigh Whannell could no longer hold back, and their faces showed excitement and joy.

"However, I will not shoot this movie myself."

James Wan and Leigh Whannell were not surprised. It was basically impossible for a big director like Wu Yuchen to direct *Saw*.

In fact, there is a vague chain of contempt in the film industry. Directors of bloody horror films are basically at the bottom. It is said that major awards despise comedies and comedy actors, but in fact, horror films are harder to win awards than comedies.

A figure like Wu Yuchen who has already stood at the top of the director's pyramid cannot turn back to shoot this kind of bloody horror movie.

James Wan and Leigh Whannell didn't dare to make a sound at this time, waiting for Wu Yuchen to decide their future destiny.

Wu Yuchen smiled: "Wan, do you want to be the director of *Saw*?"

James Wan had an unbelievable look in his eyes, completely unexpected that Wu Yuchen would ask this question. He was a newcomer!

He asked stammeringly: "I, I come to be the director?"

Wu Yuchen nodded and asked with a smile: "Yes, why, are you unwilling to turn the story you created into a movie with your own hands?"

"No, no, I am very willing! Thank you very much, Mr. Wu! I was just too excited for a moment! I will cherish this opportunity very much!" James Wan bowed to Wu Yuchen repeatedly to thank him.

At this time, Leigh Whannell was also happy for his good friend James Wan when he heard Wu Yuchen's words. However, at the same time, a wave of envy surged in his heart. Sure enough, it was still their own people taking care of their own people!

In Hollywood, things like huddling together are very common. Not only do Jews help each other, but there are also the Italian gang, the Irish gang, etc.

And in Leigh Whannell's eyes, his good friend James Wan was accepted by the boss of the Chinese gang, Wu Yuchen, and was cultivated as his own person. If he could seize this opportunity, maybe he could fly to greatness!

In fact, Leigh Whannell really didn't think wrong, because Wu Yuchen really had this idea.

This guy James Wan can really be called a genius director. He has not received systematic education in film, and he has embarked on the path of film by relying on his own minor and interests. From *Saw* to *Dead Silence*, and then to the later *Insidious* and *The Conjuring*, he is really a master in horror films, and he is constantly breaking through, which can be considered to have created his own horror universe world. The key is that his horror films are really super profitable!

Later, he also stepped out of his comfort zone and shot *Furious 7* and *Aquaman*. The two big commercial productions were also very successful at the box office. Don't look at Ang Lee's reputation in China being particularly loud, but in fact, James Wan's value in the eyes of those big studios in Hollywood is higher than Ang Lee's. Hollywood looks at money!

For such a talent, Wu Yuchen naturally wants to take him under his command, so that his Miracle Film is not just supported by him alone.

Thinking about it, Wu Yuchen also felt that it was a coincidence. He had just brought Ning Hao and Chen Er from the country for cultivation, and he met James Wan, a talent worth cultivating, in America.

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but think of Ang Lee. He had also received his invitation to attend the premiere of *Hulk* in June.

After Ang Lee won four Oscars for *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, he rested for a while and then took over Universal's *Hulk* project. Haha, making money, it's not shameful!

However, Wu Yuchen knew that Ang Lee was an art director at heart. He knew that *Hulk* was a superhero movie, and he could just shoot it according to the rhythm of a popcorn movie. But he couldn't help but add his own thinking to it, wanting to dig into the character depth of Hulk and make the movie have thinking.

Thinking your sister, are viewers coming to watch superheroes for thinking? People are coming for the fun and the pleasure!

So this *Hulk* is estimated to be the same as in the past life, welcoming the ending of both reputation and box office flopping after release, and also breaking Universal's Hulk dream.

Wu Yuchen didn't plan to go see it himself. The main reason was that he should be shooting *Pirates of the Caribbean* on the sea at that time, so how could he have time to run back? ===== CHAPTER 299 =====