Chapter 350: Optimal Solution

Thinking he understood Cao Yang’s idea, Jeff Robinov was also very happy.

If Cao Yang succeeded and *Joker* could win major awards at the three major European film festivals or even the Oscars, it would be something worth celebrating extensively for both Warner Bros. and DC.

This would invisibly increase people’s inherent perception of *Batman* and give *Batman* another selling point—as long as it could win awards, they could release new *Joker* comics at that time.

Who said only comics could be adapted into movies? Movies could be adapted into comics just the same; as long as it could make money, it didn't matter who adapted whom.

"Cao, how confident are you in winning an award? I’m talking about the three major European film festivals or the Oscars."

Jeff Robinov was clearly interested. Not to mention the positive impact on *Batman* and the ability to release new comics, there was almost no movie that won an award at the three major European film festivals or the Oscars that lost money.

Even if the box office wasn't necessarily ideal, subsequent peripherals, disc rentals, or selling broadcast rights could all make the movie extremely profitable.

What’s more, to this day, Cao Yang had yet to have a movie with a very low box office.

Hearing Jeff Robinov’s words, Cao Yang was stunned for a moment, then realized that the other party might have misunderstood his meaning, thinking he wanted to shoot an arthouse film to win awards.

If Cao Yang said this movie could be a box office smash, Jeff Robinov might not necessarily believe him, and he would have to waste his breath explaining; it wasn't necessary.

Besides, there was another benefit to letting Jeff Robinov misunderstand.

That was, if Cao Yang shot a commercial-leaning movie focused on box office, his share would be lower. If he didn't include a valuation adjustment mechanism like in *Pirates of the Caribbean*, 13% of the total box office share was almost a visible ceiling.

Cao Yang would need at least two more hit movies to have a chance to break through this ceiling.

But arthouse films were different.

Arthouse films had lower investment and were aimed at awards, so the box office couldn't be too high, meaning Cao Yang’s share percentage would be much higher.

Like the previous *Juno* and the currently in-production *The Fault in Our Stars*, without personally directing, the adaptation rights plus producer and screenwriter credits allowed him to get a 20% share of the global box office.

So, if Jeff Robinov thought *Joker* was aimed at awards and was a pure arthouse film, then so be it.

Cao Yang considered it carefully and said to Jeff Robinov, "As for winning awards, if it’s the Venice Film Festival, I’m about 70% sure; the Cannes Film Festival, maybe 50%; as for the Oscars..."

Glancing at Jeff Robinov, Cao Yang continued, "If Warner Bros. fully cooperates with the award campaign, and if the movie campaigns before its wide release, it should also have a chance."

Regarding the three major European film festivals, the Venice Film Festival was the one Cao Yang was most confident about, followed by the Cannes Film Festival.

As for why he didn't mention the Berlin Film Festival... if *Joker* were under normal circumstances, combined with the backdrop of a financial crisis, the probability of winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival would not be low.

Unfortunately, this was Cao Yang’s movie; even if the Berlin Film Festival wanted to give Cao Yang a Golden Bear, the Europeans would put pressure on Berlin.

You could sweep awards at Venice and Cannes, but no European wanted to see a Chinese person win the Grand Slam of the three major European film festivals and become the fourth person in the world to do so.

Therefore, to sweep a Berlin Golden Bear, one needed the right timing and the right movie to be sure; this was also the tacit understanding between Cao Yang and Berlin Film Festival director Dieter Kosslick.

*Joker*... it had the artistry, but it lacked some political correctness.

As for the Oscars, Cao Yang specifically emphasized campaigning before the movie’s wide release. Otherwise, if it campaigned after a massive box office hit, because the box office was too high, it would be "discriminated" against, and the difficulty of winning would automatically increase by 10086.

Just like in the original timeline, *Joker* received nine nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards.

But because it campaigned after a massive box office explosion, it only won Best Actor and Best Original Score, while everything else went to others.

This time, Jeff Robinov was truly stunned.

Damn, is this human talk?

Every other word is 50%, 60%, 70% confidence; do you think the three major European film festivals and the Oscars are run by your family?

"Cao, are you serious?"

Jeff Robinov asked very seriously this time.

Cao Yang nodded, "I never joke about awards."

Damn it!

If Jeff Robinov weren't someone used to big scenes, these two words would have slipped out of his mouth.

"Cao, how much do you estimate this movie will cost to invest in?"

Jeff Robinov suppressed his inner restlessness and asked.

As the president of Warner Bros. Pictures, his business acumen was still quite good; at least he could test whether Cao Yang truly wanted to make this movie through the movie’s budget.

Cao Yang considered it carefully for a while; this movie had no big scenes, didn't need many special effects, and didn't need to hire big stars; it was just an ordinary narrative film.

The only thing that would cost more was probably his own salary as director and screenwriter.

In addition, all expenses and marketing costs for attending one of the three major European film festivals had to be included.

"60 million should be enough."

60 million?

I’ll fucking raise it to 80 million for you, as long as you can guarantee to shoot a high-quality award-campaigning film!

Of course, this was Jeff Robinov’s inner monologue; the movie’s budget as well as Cao Yang’s compensation and share were things that needed to be calculated and coordinated with the team.

"Cao, what other ideas do you have? Lay them all out."

Jeff Robinov said impatiently.

Actually, during the time before meeting Jeff Robinov, Cao Yang hadn't considered making a *Batman* or *Joker* movie.

These ideas were some wild thoughts from last year when Warner Bros. and Disney invited him at the same time; he didn't expect to use them now.

"Jeff, my idea is that the movie *Joker* should ideally be linked with the second *Batman* movie; release *Joker* after the second *Batman* is released."

Jeff Robinov nodded; he certainly understood these principles—preheating and promotion, and it could also pique the audience’s curiosity.

"Cao, have you ever thought about directing both *Batman* and *Joker* at the same time? Such a link would be more interesting, smoother, and could create a huge gimmick."

Jeff Robinov still hadn't given up and wanted to persuade Cao Yang to direct *Batman* again; this would actually be beneficial for both movies.

Cao Yang was also a bit hesitant for a moment.

Actually, there was no need to direct both movies at the same time; it wouldn't be too late to shoot *Joker* after finishing *Batman*.

*Batman* had a lot of special effects and a long production cycle, while *Joker* was not; perhaps *Joker* would be finished before the special effects for *Batman* were even completed.

But there was one point: if he directed this *Batman*, should he hire Heath Ledger?

In the US, the so-called death by drug overdose was very likely the kind of death everyone thought it was.

And clearly, this *Batman* movie marketed the deceased Heath Ledger, which was what made the movie go viral.

Without Heath Ledger, this movie couldn't have achieved that much box office.

If Cao Yang didn't direct it, he could ignore all of this and let things develop on their own.

But if he directed it, it would be hard to do it while knowing all of this.

If he was afraid that it wouldn't be easy to link them, there was actually a compromise: Cao Yang could write the script for *Batman*, which would also achieve the link.

However, if Warner Bros. still hired Nolan to direct *Batman*, it would likely lead to conflict.

Nolan was a man with ideas and was now a very famous director; would such a director honestly shoot according to someone else’s script?

It was hard.

(End of chapter)