[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr":3,"chapter-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-350":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Academic Director: Reborn in the Film Industry",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2297350,4493,"Chapter 350: Optimal Solution","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-350",350,"\u003Cp>Thinking he understood Cao Yang’s idea, Jeff Robinov was also very happy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cao, how confident are you in winning an award? I’m talking about the three major European film festivals or the Oscars.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the box office wasn't necessarily ideal, subsequent peripherals, disc rentals, or selling broadcast rights could all make the movie extremely profitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What’s more, to this day, Cao Yang had yet to have a movie with a very low box office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, there was another benefit to letting Jeff Robinov misunderstand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang would need at least two more hit movies to have a chance to break through this ceiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But arthouse films were different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, if Jeff Robinov thought *Joker* was aimed at awards and was a pure arthouse film, then so be it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Joker*... it had the artistry, but it lacked some political correctness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like in the original timeline, *Joker* received nine nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Jeff Robinov was truly stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn, is this human talk?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cao, are you serious?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jeff Robinov asked very seriously this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang nodded, \"I never joke about awards.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Jeff Robinov weren't someone used to big scenes, these two words would have slipped out of his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cao, how much do you estimate this movie will cost to invest in?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jeff Robinov suppressed his inner restlessness and asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing that would cost more was probably his own salary as director and screenwriter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition, all expenses and marketing costs for attending one of the three major European film festivals had to be included.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"60 million should be enough.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>60 million?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’ll fucking raise it to 80 million for you, as long as you can guarantee to shoot a high-quality award-campaigning film!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cao, what other ideas do you have? Lay them all out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jeff Robinov said impatiently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, during the time before meeting Jeff Robinov, Cao Yang hadn't considered making a *Batman* or *Joker* movie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jeff Robinov nodded; he certainly understood these principles—preheating and promotion, and it could also pique the audience’s curiosity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang was also a bit hesitant for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there was one point: if he directed this *Batman*, should he hire Heath Ledger?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the US, the so-called death by drug overdose was very likely the kind of death everyone thought it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And clearly, this *Batman* movie marketed the deceased Heath Ledger, which was what made the movie go viral.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without Heath Ledger, this movie couldn't have achieved that much box office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Cao Yang didn't direct it, he could ignore all of this and let things develop on their own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if he directed it, it would be hard to do it while knowing all of this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, if Warner Bros. still hired Nolan to direct *Batman*, it would likely lead to conflict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1423,"2026-06-20T05:36:33.260Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","3070c63b5afced3af1efd336a18666fe7b226d5c7aea8c7a62e080f0696f043f","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-351","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-349",411,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-cover.jpg"]