Chapter 348: Exploring and Contrasting

Something even more unacceptable to Gong Li followed.

"Darling, you and Director Cao Yang are both Chinese, you must know each other well, right? Can you invite him out for a meal? It would be best if you could interact often and become good friends with him."

Speaking of this, Vivi Nevo was clearly very excited.

Foreigners are generally more direct when they speak, so Vivi Nevo didn't beat around the bush with Gong Li and explained directly:

"Director Cao Yang is one of the most influential directors in Hollywood. His films have never failed; he is one of the few directors who can balance art and commerce."

In other words, his films can win awards and achieve exceptionally good box office results, which is a very, very remarkable thing.

Vivi Nevo wrapped an arm around Gong Li's waist, and his hand stroked her waist a few times as he continued at a very fast pace:

"You might not know this, but in Hollywood, Director Cao Yang is a very difficult person to reach. The guys who want to invest in his films, to put it bluntly, could line up from Los Angeles to San Francisco."

The seven major Hollywood film companies are all waving checks and offering very generous terms just to invest in his films, while small and medium-sized film companies don't even have such an opportunity.

Think about it, as long as we can become good friends with Director Cao Yang, maybe we can invest a little when he starts a new film; this is almost a guaranteed profit without any risk."

Gong Li thought about it; it did seem that Cao Yang had never failed. Anywhere in the world, including Hollywood and China, people would certainly have a kind of blind superstition about such a director.

"Can't we just invest in his films directly? As long as we give him more director's fees..."

Gong Li said tentatively.

She was a smart person—she wouldn't have reached her current status if she weren't—and these words would certainly be able to test some of Vivi Nevo's influence, or at least reveal some clues.

After what just happened, Gong Li felt she needed to re-evaluate the weight of her boyfriend.

"Ha, darling, what are you thinking about?"

Vivi Nevo's hand moved down from Gong Li's waist, stopped near her buttocks, and gave them a pinch.

"Do you know how much he can get for directing a film in Hollywood?"

"How much?"

Gong Li was a bit curious.

She knew the approximate salaries of Hollywood stars, but a director's salary was hard to say, and the compensation structure for big directors was also a bit complicated.

However, in Gong Li's estimation, Cao Yang's income from shooting a film could be on par with a big Hollywood star; getting over ten million US dollars would be the ceiling.

You have to know that when converted to RMB, that's about 100 million, something domestic directors wouldn't even dare to imagine.

"His producer, director, and screenwriter fees combined are very expensive; he is currently one of the top three directors in Hollywood."

Looking at Gong Li's surprised expression, Vivi Nevo continued: "Of course, compared to his profit-sharing, these are not worth mentioning. Do you know what his share percentage in *Inception* is?"

"How much?"

Gong Li asked somewhat mechanically. How much is the top three in Hollywood director salaries?

"A 13% share!"

Looking at Gong Li's shocked expression, Vivi Nevo added: "It's 13% of the total box office, plus 13% of all subsequent peripheral revenue!"

Gong Li's brain went boom, and she was momentarily dazed.

She vaguely remembered that the global box office for *Inception* was 900 million US dollars. How much is 13%? It should be over 100 million US dollars, right?

How much is that in RMB?

Nearly 1 billion, right?

For one film, Cao Yang could actually get 1 billion?!

And that's not even counting the subsequent peripheral revenue, which is also a very large number.

Gong Li fell silent and felt extremely regretful.

If I had been able to land Cao Yang back then...

Gong Li couldn't help but glance at her boyfriend, and then at Cao Yang, who was chatting with the president of Warner Bros. Pictures in the corner.

One was old, short, and ugly, and also had a strong body odor.

The other was young, handsome, and wealthy, and possessed a status that was extremely high even in Hollywood. This could be seen from his equal conversation with the Warner president, and her own boyfriend's somewhat "sucking up" attitude.

Gong Li was lost at this moment.

"Darling."

Gong Li only felt the hand just above her buttocks act up again, and then she saw her boyfriend smiling and saying to her:

"That girl is also from China, right? She was able to become a main character in *Inception* and was brought to attend the Oscar ceremony and banquet; her relationship with Director Cao Yang must be extraordinary."

"Let's go, let's go build a relationship with her first and see if we can approach from the side and circuitously become good friends with Director Cao Yang."

Gong Li turned her head to look and couldn't help but frown.

Isn't that Fatty Bing?

What qualifications does she have to make me take the initiative to approach her?

To put it bluntly, before Fatty Bing appeared in *Inception*, she had already become a non-entity, almost to the point of being forgotten.

Even when she was at her most popular before, she was incomparable to me!

A bitch who got lucky, and you want me to take the initiative to talk to her? Take the initiative to build a relationship?

How is that possible!

Isn't this lowering my own status?

I am one of the four great actresses in the country; what is Fatty Bing? What awards does she have? Why should she be on equal footing with me?

Before Gong Li could refuse, she felt her waist tighten and was led by her boyfriend toward Fatty Bing.

At this moment, Gong Li only felt the world go dark, and she felt like dying.

Jeff Robinov, the president of Warner Bros. Pictures, came to find Cao Yang, still bringing up the old matter, wanting to invite Cao Yang to direct the *Batman* sequel.

Currently, Warner Bros. had already passed a resolution internally to film the second *Batman*.

However, the disagreement arose because although the first *Batman* directed by Nolan had good word-of-mouth, its profits were far below expectations.

Therefore, in the choice of the second director, the senior management of Warner Bros. split into two factions.

One faction believed that inviting Cao Yang to direct was the best choice, and the reason was also very sufficient: Cao Yang had never failed, and his box office results were getting higher and higher.

The other faction believed that Cao Yang was not American and must lack an understanding of *Batman*, and might not understand what this comic meant to Americans.

Plus, he was still doing post-production for *New Pirates of the Caribbean*; who knew when he would have an opening? Or he might take a break for half a year or a year after *New Pirates of the Caribbean* was released, which is what many big directors would do.

It would be better to continue to invite Nolan to direct; after all, his first one had good word-of-mouth, and with that foundation, the second one wouldn't be too bad.

Jeff Robinov was inclined toward the faction that wanted to invite Cao Yang to direct.

Still the same saying: before a director fails, many people are very superstitious about him.

Of course, Jeff Robinov also knew that big directors had many opinions about directing other people's sequels and generally were unwilling to do it.

However, *Batman* was different; it was a comic-adapted film with a comic foundation. Even if it was filmed again, it wouldn't be counted as a sequel, but rather filming a new story from the comics.

This was what Jeff Robinov said to persuade Cao Yang; he was afraid that Cao Yang would think it was a sequel and thus become resistant.

In fact, Cao Yang didn't have much interest in directing *Batman*, but he had great interest in filming the *Batman* spin-off, *Joker*.

*Joker* could film complex human nature, gradually becoming cruel, ruthless, and even evil from a character who was initially weak, pitiful, and extremely repressed inside.

What made him become like this?

It could also reveal how the social economic collapse led to chaotic order and a widening gap between the rich and the poor; there were many points to explore.

This was a process of human transformation; the Joker's life was a tragedy. He started by pursuing comedy, but tragedy ran through his entire life, and he ended in tragedy.

It was an art-house film with extreme artistic quality and room for exploration.

(End of chapter)