Chapter 331

Lin Nan and the main cast reviewed the shots filmed on the first day on set.

In the dialogue part, when the female lawyer played by Naomi Watts, with an insightful and oppressive tone, repeatedly questioned whether there was any more concealment.

Leonardo showed incomparably wronged, manic, helpless, and aggrieved emotions, even his eye sockets turned red with frustration, having a feeling of being about to collapse.

"These are not enough to save you. If there really isn't anything else, or if there are other things, and you don't tell me, this defense attorney.

Then you can only wait for the police and the judge to convict you. Because there is no way to prove that someone else killed her..."

Naomi Watts intentionally or unintentionally threw a newspaper on the table, guiding Leonardo step by step, attacking his heart.

The latter subconsciously glanced at the newspaper, and what caught his eye was a piece of news.

News of a young man missing for several months, and there was even a life photo of that young man on it.

Finally, Leonardo in the shot opened his mouth and began to talk about what happened three months ago...

"The first lie always needs a second lie to round it off. Lin, your script is really fantastic!"

"Thanks for the praise, Jessica."

Lin Nan's gaze moved away from the camera and looked at Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts who were present.

This morning, the Academy announced the Oscar nomination list.

"Congratulations to you both for being nominated for the Best Actress award."

"In addition, our film hasn't finished filming yet, and quite a few film merchants and distribution companies have already come to inquire."

"Thank you, Lin."

The two said in unison, both in very good moods.

As they spoke, Lin Nan glanced at Leonardo, who seemed indifferent, and comforted him:

"Leon, there's still a long time; there will be opportunities, isn't that so?"

"I hope as you say. These old guys are always deliberately targeting me..."

Clearly, for this year's Oscars, Leonardo didn't even get a nomination.

"Get ready, in five minutes, we are going to start filming the second lie story."

"Mm, no problem."

A few minutes later, on a tree-lined path, filming began.

According to the memory described by the male lead played by Leonardo:

After the two had an affair out of town, he received a caring call from his wife and felt guilty, thinking about separating from his lover.

He drove the car, carrying his lover, and the two prepared to rush to the airport to go home.

In the car, he took the initiative to bring up the breakup, both sides were emotionally agitated, and the car speed increased.

At this time, a deer darted out in front, and the car collided with another car while swerving; the driver opposite was a young man.

The camera moved on a slider; in the shot, the young man was covered in blood, clearly already dead. The phone that fell on the seat was still receiving chat messages.

Leonardo took out his phone in a panic, about to call the police, but was stopped by the lover played by Jessica.

"No, you can't call the police; it's his responsibility, not wearing a seatbelt, texting while driving.

If you call the police, our relationship will be exposed; think about your wife, daughter, my husband, our respective careers..."

The male lead played by Leonardo was persuaded, and taking advantage of no one seeing, they prepared to leave quickly.

Time passed second by second, but the car just wouldn't start, clearly damaged by the collision.

At this time, a car drove over from afar; with the lover's quick wit, the two pretended to be the owners of the two cars, negotiating to resolve the traffic accident.

And the dead young man was laid down inside the car to avoid being seen.

"Hi, do you need help?" A middle-aged man passing by rolled down the window and asked.

"Thanks, no need. I hit his car, and we are negotiating to handle it."

Jessica Chastain answered hurriedly, her tone appearing a bit nervous, as if she hadn't recovered from the collision process she spoke of.

At this time, the phone of the dead young man left in the car rang, "Oh, it should be a call from the insurance company, I'll go answer it..."

Jessica Chastain ran over, hung up the young man's phone, and after saying a few words pretending to answer the phone, she put the phone into her own pocket.

Finally, she also used her body to block the blood flowing out of the car door gap to avoid being seen.

Just like that, the two fooled the other party. But the male lead was still a bit worried.

"He might have seen the corpse?"

"No, don't talk about this now; we must quickly dispose of the corpse; that person is a witness and might expose us.

You immediately drive this car to dispose of the corpse, and I will wait here for someone to repair the car... From now on, let's not see each other again; as you wish, it's over..."

Jessica's body and tone were both trembling, but she still arranged it decisively.

Lin Nan nodded with satisfaction, then signaled to the script supervisor.

"Cut, very good, let's film up to here for today."

Every year's Oscars, like the three major European film festivals, are the focus of attention for filmmakers worldwide.

Over in the country, they were also reporting on the nomination list.

Especially Lin Nan's film crew, both female actresses were nominated, which was unusually conspicuous.

Staying at Crystal Pictures, Lin Nan saw the email sent by Yue Jun, as well as domestic film information.

"*Lost in Thailand* broke 1.2 billion, with a total box office reaching 1.245 billion, earning one million daily; it is expected that 1.3 billion at the box office is hopeless."

"*Chinese Zodiac* total box office reported at 828 million; Jackie Chan spoke directly, hoping to break 900 million before exiting..."

*The Grandmaster*, which Wong Kar-wai spent 4 years on, was finally released in the mainland.

The first-day box office was 29.4 million, reaching his personal best result; the box office for one day exceeded the total box office of *2046*.

The entire Chinese film circle seemed to be flattering him.

"A director who can film *The Grandmaster* must also be a grandmaster!"

"Sharpening a sword for four years, meticulously crafted, craftsmanship spirit..."

However, compared to the collective flattery of the film and television circle, the internet was relatively more objective.

There were still quite a few viewers who felt that this film was a bit too dull.

In terms of word-of-mouth, although *The Grandmaster* was not bad, it was still far from the two films *Life of Pi* and *Back to 1942*; the reviews for the latter two were all overwhelmingly positive, with almost no dissent.

"She really managed to seize the opportunity to turn the tables!"

Lin Nan saw Little Zhang Ziyi's update.

For this film, and also for herself, International Zhang was simply working hard to promote it.

She was still in Hollywood, but on average, she posted at least two or three Weibo posts every hour, shouting desperately.

As one of the Academy judges, when accepting interviews from Hollywood media, she would also unintentionally mention *The Grandmaster*.

February's films had already started promotional warm-ups; that was the golden time for the New Year's slot and Spring Festival slot, and there was also Valentine's Day.

Several films like *Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons*, *Finding Mr. Right*, and *Hot Summer Days 2* would all appear.

Lin Nan thought for a while and replied to Yue Jun and Xue Xiaolu's email; the promotion for *Finding Mr. Right* could be increased.

As films of the same type, Little Zhang Ziyi's *Hot Summer Days 2* and Donnie Yen's *Together* didn't have much competitiveness in Lin Nan's view; Little Zhang Ziyi didn't have box office appeal, and Donnie Yen... acting in a romance film? Hilarious!

Liu Yifei called from Paris, her voice crisp: "It will take another day and a half. You'll be able to see me the day after tomorrow afternoon."

"Then I can only let Tang Mu take people to pick you up; I should be on set." Lin Nan said softly.

"It doesn't matter, you busy yourself. Also, I brought a gift back; he... Dad sent it to you."

Lin Nan really didn't expect to receive a gift from that person.

"Inexplicably looking forward to it, Xixi."

"I said quite a few good things for you. However, you actually never told me that you had already met!"

"That was all back when filming *Inception*. Alright, I'll chat with you when you come back; I'm going to the set."

"Mm, okay."

*The Invisible Guest* film crew.

According to the plot, the lover character played by Jessica, after delaying some car repair time, drove to the airport alone.

But the car broke down halfway, and while calling for help, she met an old man driving, Tom Berenger.

The latter used to be an automotive engineer and is now retired at home. He kindly helped, able to tow Jessica's car back for repairs.

The lover character played by Jessica couldn't refuse; she needed to hurry.

But the next thing made her feel creepy.

When she followed the old man back to the latter's home and was introduced to his wife, she saw a family photo and was immediately frightened.

Only then did she realize that the young man who died in the car accident yesterday was the only son of this couple...

And in her jacket pocket, she still had the phone of the young man who died in the car accident that she forgot to dispose of.

Over in the country.

Ceng Jia hung up Yue Jun's phone and turned to go to the makeup room to find Yang Mi.

According to the filming plan, the first two parts of *Tiny Times* would wrap up in mid-to-late February.

"Mimi, Director Yue and Director Xue Xiaolu notified us that we need to adjust the time to cooperate with the film's promotion."

Yang Mi nodded blankly, feeling a bit unreal.

The sentence Ceng Jia conveyed had another layer of meaning.

That is, Yang Mi herself was about to reach the time to part ways with Shanhai Media. 3 years passed really quickly.

"Mm, then let's go find Guo Dao and talk about it; we have to let him adjust my scenes and free up time."

A group of main actors from Taiwan and domestic supporting actors looked at Yang Mi and Ceng Jia chatting and laughing with Guo Jingming, all very envious.

Everyone knew that the only first-tier actress in the crew was Yang Mi, and she was the kind at the front.

Backed by Shanhai Media and Lin Nan Film Industry, the road ahead was smooth...

"No problem, I also like Director Xue's film. You just go ahead and run the promotion; I will help you stagger the scenes."

Guo Jingming said to Yang Mi and Ceng Jia with a smile on his face.

"Then thank you, Guo Dao."

Yang Mi and Ceng Jia thanked him.

"You're welcome, I wish your *Finding Mr. Right* box office a big success..."

For a time, several main actors spoke up to offer blessings. This kind of nice talk didn't cost anything.

Several main actors, when performing, even if they made mistakes, almost never exceeded five takes.

Most of the time, they could pass within one or two takes, which made the film's filming efficiency very high.

Lin Nan roughly estimated the time; this *The Invisible Guest* could definitely wrap up before the end of January.

Paul from Lionsgate unexpectedly ran to the set to visit; Lin Nan could vaguely guess the reason.

A crime drama film gathering top directors and top actors had a high probability of aiming for the Oscars.

Therefore, its release and distribution was a big business.

It just so happened that the bosses of this film were the director Lin Nan and the male lead Leonardo, who could both be seen when visiting the set.

"According to the Oscar rules, this film must be publicly released before the end of the year."

"Lin, Leon, hand it over to Lionsgate; we are friends."

During a break in filming, Paul mentioned it.

Lin Nan didn't have any opinion; he looked at Leonardo and cast an inquiring look.

The latter nodded: "Okay. However, I need as many theaters as possible."

"No problem, with your main cast lineup, theaters will also be very willing."

After Paul left, Leonardo muttered to Lin Nan:

"We have to discuss the public relations company and public relations expenses well; Lionsgate is not very outstanding in this regard."

Lin Nan couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard Leonardo say this.

How to put it? This is really obsessed!

Now the film is only half filmed, and he has already started thinking about Oscar public relations!

"Okay, listen to you, then we'll decide in the second half of the year."

Filming continued, and the sky gradually darkened.

When Tom Berenger was helping the lover played by Jessica repair the car, he saw an exquisite luxury men's lighter and felt it was quite strange.

It stands to reason that only successful men would carry this kind of thing with them.

But he remembered that on the way back with Jessica Chastain, during small talk, the other party said it was her sister's car.

He shook his head with a smile and didn't pay much attention.

Inside the house, Jessica Chastain was already very nervous; the hostess was calling her son's friends, but they all said they hadn't seen him.

Until Tom Berenger finished repairing the car and came in, reminding her to call her son directly. The hostess, who was Naomi Watts in another look, reacted.

Jessica hurriedly went to another room and hid the boy's phone in her pocket; everything was covered up just like that.

She also used the excuse of hurrying to leave directly.

Only an elderly couple was left, still contacting the friends of their son who "forgot to bring his phone," looking for him.

(End of chapter)