Chapter 360

The closer it gets to the time of the Beijing Olympics, the greater the pressure on Old Mouzi.

It seems that there is still a whole year left until August 8th next year for preparation and rehearsal, but such a large project, and it is related to the country's image, how can it be so easy.

But under such pressure, he still accepted the position of chairman of the jury for this year's Venice Film Festival.

No way, human feelings, the more social status a person has, the more they will value them.

Old Mouzi has won the Venice Golden Lion twice, "The Story of Qiu Ju" in 1992 and "Not One Less" in 1999.

Especially the second "Not One Less," that movie was first sent to Cannes, and after withdrawing from the competition because of the national flag, it was then submitted to Venice.

No matter what purpose Venice had, they just gave the Golden Lion to you.

This is a huge favor.

In the film circle, no matter who looks at it, Old Mouzi is considered a direct descendant of Venice.

Coupled with the fact that Venice Film Festival Chairman Marco Müller was good friends with Old Tian, Old Mouzi, and others when he was studying in China.

So, when Marco Müller sent an invitation to Old Mouzi, Old Mouzi really couldn't refuse.

However, Old Mouzi also explained the situation to Old Ma: he can be the chairman of the jury for the Venice Film Festival, but because he is busy with the Olympics, he can only give ten days or so.

It's about the same as when Cao Yang was the chairman of the jury for the Berlin Film Festival this year. Old Mouzi can only go to Venice a few days before the film festival opens.

This is of course no problem.

What Old Ma wants is Old Mouzi's influence. As long as it can increase the attention of the Venice Film Festival, anything is fine.

Old Ma got his wish, but when the list of nominations for the Venice main competition unit came out, Old Mouzi felt that he had been "tricked."

Look at these Chinese-language films that have been nominated.

Old Tian's "Pieta."

Old Mouzi and Old Tian are both from the 78th class of the Beijing Film Academy. Old Tian is in the Directing Department, and Old Mouzi is in the Photography Department. Their relationship has always been quite good.

The photographers for Old Tian's graduation work "Small Courtyard" were Old Mouzi, Hou Yong, and Lv Le.

Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution."

Old Mouzi has always kept in touch with Ang Lee. The two are good friends. When International Zhang was able to star in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," it was recommended by Old Mouzi.

Jiang Wen's "The Sun Also Rises."

"Red Sorghum," which Old Mouzi won the Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear Award for, starred Jiang Wen. He also acted in Old Mouzi's "Keep Cool."

And Zhuang Yuxin's "Tooth of Love."

As people from the Beijing Film Academy, a little care is appropriate, right? The current Beijing Film Academy is a bit alternative. Those graduates who have interned in movies following Cao Yang are very united, and Cao Yang has become the signboard of the Beijing Film Academy.

This has led to the Beijing Film Academy, from bottom to top, starting to unite, which has already affected these "veterans" of their 78th class.

And Lee Kang-sheng's "Help Me Eros" from Taiwan.

As Chinese, should we help?

Old Mouzi is worried.

The Venice Film Festival main competition unit only has those few awards; it's impossible to give them all to Chinese-language films, right?

What's more, although Old Mouzi is the chairman of the jury, he really doesn't have that much power. Not to mention the Golden Lion, other larger awards may not necessarily be decided by him.

If there is no support in the jury, everyone will tear each other apart for a long time for any award.

It just so happens that there is the most headache-inducing one.

Old Mouzi received a call from Ang Lee.

After hanging up the phone, Old Mouzi almost couldn't help but throw the phone. If the occasion wasn't wrong, he was discussing some details of Olympic programs with people, he would definitely swear.

Rubbing his eyebrows, Old Mouzi still couldn't help but scold Ang Lee severely in his heart.

Damn, you dared to film without getting all the copyrights in your hands. You are really awesome.

What can I do? I don't know that company that holds part of the copyright.

In addition, you damn don't fear playing off; you dared to participate in the Venice Film Festival without full copyright. This is the most headache-inducing thing.

If this matter is not handled well, it will be a scandal of the Venice Film Festival. By then, I, this chairman of the jury, will definitely also have my reputation damaged.

Sigh, what to do?

Should I expose it to the film festival officials now?

Forget it, forget it, whatever, I'll just pretend I don't know about this. Anyway, even if it is exposed, it depends on when it is exposed.

If it is before the film festival, it has nothing to do with me.

If it is after the awards... damn, as long as I don't give "Lust, Caution" an award, it still has nothing to do with me!

Let's wait and see.

Old Mouzi resisted the headache and walked to the office, continuing to discuss the details of Olympic programs with people.

Cao Yang has specifically paid attention to two things these days: one is whether there is any big "material" exposed at the Venice Film Festival; the other is the wish-granting activity of "The Fault in Our Stars."

There is no news from Venice yet. Cao Yang estimates that the best time for Old Ma to take action is mid-to-late August, which is a few days before the film festival opens, so that more attention can be attracted.

For the second thing, Tom Rothman didn't let the seriously ill children or adolescents say they were dissatisfied with the realized wishes, but deliberately changed to a very cumbersome wish.

This wish is not difficult to realize, but it takes time — travel. As everyone knows, this is the most time-consuming wish and also the most reasonable wish to extend time.

So, this wish took five days.

In this way, when the last person's wish is realized, the release time of "The Fault in Our Stars" is exactly Friday, August 10th.

Among the movies released in North America on this day, there are not many threats. The biggest threat is Cheng Long's "Rush Hour 3."

It's really a coincidence. Cheng Long's most representative "Rush Hour" in Hollywood, and it is the third sequel, is released on August 10th.

"Rush Hour" can be considered a very successful movie. The investment for the first two parts was not high, and the global box office added up to nearly 600 million US dollars.

Precisely because of the success of the first two parts, "Rush Hour 3" has always been difficult to produce.

The reason is actually very simple. In Hollywood, as long as it is a successful sequel movie, the lead actor's salary is not a matter of doubling, and they often ask for a share from the producer, wanting to "grab" the cake from the producer's mouth.

So, after "Rush Hour 2" got a global box office of 350 million US dollars in 2001, the producer wanted to film a sequel immediately, and both lead actors also wanted to film a sequel immediately.

Under the situation where all three parties wanted to strike while the iron was hot and launch a sequel... the sequel was difficult to produce.

The main reason is still the old problem: the treatment cannot be negotiated.

From 2001 to 2006, Cheng Long basically had no movies to film in Hollywood, and the other lead actor, Chris Tucker, also basically became a has-been, with no movies to film for several years.

Under such circumstances, "Rush Hour 3" was finally negotiated.

But even under such circumstances, Cheng Long was still dissatisfied with the 20 million US dollar offer given by the producer, and finally negotiated a salary of 15 million US dollars plus a 15% box office share.

And the other black lead actor, Chris Tucker, was even more exaggerated. Even as a has-been, he was dissatisfied with the 30 million US dollar salary given by the producer, and finally negotiated 20 million US dollars plus a 20% share.

In this way, the production cost of "Rush Hour 3" increased to 140 million US dollars.

If the third part had been filmed immediately after "Rush Hour 2" was released in 2001, the possibility of a big hit would have been very high.

But times have changed. After all, six years have passed. Even if "Rush Hour" has a group of loyal fans globally, no one can be sure how the movie's performance will be.

However, after all, it is a movie that has been a hit, and it is a sequel, so it naturally has a fan base. Many institutions still gave a global box office forecast of about 400 million US dollars.

The premiere of "Rush Hour 3" was held relatively early, on July 30th at the Hollywood Chinese Theatre.

Because Cao Yang was in Los Angeles, Cheng Long sent an invitation to Cao Yang.

Although "Rush Hour 3" will be released on the same day as "The Fault in Our Stars," forming a substantial competitive relationship.

However, whether it is Cheng Long or others, it is estimated that no one will think that the two movies are in a competitive relationship.

After all, one is an A-level big production with an investment of 140 million US dollars, and the other is just an art-house film with an investment of 10 million. No matter how you look at it, they are not in the same grade.

Of course, everyone also knows that "The Fault in Our Stars" has high attention and high popularity, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is aimed at the Oscars.

The premiere of "The Fault in Our Stars" is not on the same day as "Rush Hour 3," but on the day the last wish is realized.

After Cao Yang received Cheng Long's invitation, he considered it and went.

At the premiere of "Rush Hour 3," director Brett Ratner, lead actors Chris Tucker, Cheng Long, as well as Zhang Jingchu, Japanese male star Hiroyuki Sanada, and Japanese female star Yuki Kudoh all appeared in grand costumes. Cheng Long appeared on the red carpet in a white silk martial arts suit. His fans are mostly young people, mostly attracted by his "kung fu."

When Cao Yang arrived, he just saw Cheng Long greeting and thanking thousands of fans on stage, and then high-fiving fans one by one along the street, attracting crazy screams from fans.

Except for Asian audiences, most of the fans present were young people in the United States.

After Cheng Long saw Cao Yang, he said directly to the fans on the scene: "Let us welcome the most influential director in Hollywood, the director most liked by the public, Cao Dao Yang, who has filmed countless classic movies!"

His fans obviously also saw Cao Yang. There are almost no young people who don't know Cao Yang.

"Cao, I like all your movies, especially 'Inception,' it's just too cool!"

A young man shouted loudly.

Following his words, these young groups reacted, and then shouted messily. Because it was too noisy, they couldn't hear what they were shouting.

Cheng Long obviously couldn't control the scene anymore.

He smiled bitterly and pressed down with his hand, signaling many times, but still couldn't.

Finally, he could only make an apologetic gesture and walk towards Cao Yang not far away.

"It can be seen that these young people in the United States still like your kung fu movies very much."

Cao Yang said to Cheng Long while walking.

Cheng Long smiled and shook his head, "Old, can't fight anymore. The biggest limitation of kung fu stars is here. When you are old and can't fight, these fans of yours will change to another one who can fight without hesitation."

The two were talking and came to the lobby of the theater.

Cheng Long originally wanted to introduce everyone, but unexpectedly, Bob Shaye, the founder of New Line Cinema who came to participate in the premiere today, had his eyes light up and took the lead in greeting Cao Yang.

"Hey, Cao, very happy to see you, thank you for coming to participate in the premiere."

The copyright of "Rush Hour" is in New Line and has always been invested by New Line.

As the founder of New Line Cinema, Bob Shaye had high expectations for "Rush Hour 3," so he also came to participate in the premiere.

Bob Shaye's pressure has been very high these two years.

In 1993, New Line was acquired by TV giant Turner and then merged into the Time Warner Group.

But New Line President Bob Shaye still enjoyed the company's independent management rights, so for a long time, the company's operations, film production, and marketing remained independent.

A few years ago, because the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was a big hit, Bob Shaye's New Line was still very comfortable. At that time, he even dared to slam the table with Warner CEO Barry Meyer.

That's how tough he was.

But there is a saying that prosperity leads to decline.

In the few years since "Lord of the Rings 3," New Line has never produced a big hit movie, and it's good if it doesn't lose money every year.

Especially these two years, New Line started to lose money.

This caused Warner's dissatisfaction — giving you the power of independent management, you can make money, of course, but if you lose money, then what independent management!

Warner is already discussing merging New Line completely into the Warner system.

Bob Shaye of course doesn't want New Line to be completely merged into Warner. If that happens, he will definitely be kicked out and leave New Line, which he founded 40 years ago.

So, Bob Shaye's biggest idea now is for the company to produce a hit as soon as possible to seal Warner's idea.

After seeing Cao Yang today, he immediately had another idea. If he could cooperate with Cao Yang, whether it was producing a movie with a big box office hit or a movie that won awards, he could temporarily stabilize Warner.

"Hey, Bob, long time no see."

Cao Yang was a bit uncomfortable with Bob Shaye's enthusiasm. You are an old white man, full of the unique smell of white people, and you didn't shake hands, but hugged me directly. What does that mean?

Are we very familiar?

"Cao, what are your plans next? Why don't we make an appointment to talk about cooperation? Don't worry, New Line will definitely give you a price higher than the market."

Bob Shaye didn't care whether it was abrupt or not. To tell the truth, if he hadn't met by chance today, he really wouldn't have the chance to talk to Cao Yang about cooperation.

Cao Yang looked at Bob Shaye with some surprise. Is it so direct?

"Sorry Bob, I already have plans next, it's still a movie in cooperation with Warner."

Cao Yang indirectly refused.

Bob Shaye frowned, looking a bit disappointed.

However, as the founder of New Line, who could lead New Line for forty years without being submerged in the tide of the market, Bob Shaye still had a set.

"Cao, there are many ways to cooperate. You can cooperate with Fox Searchlight on 'Juno,' you can cooperate with Columbia on 'The Fault in Our Stars,' and I believe you can also cooperate with New Line on other movies."

Bob Shaye changed his thinking. Since Cao Yang couldn't direct, then cooperating as a producer and screenwriter is also fine.

"Bob, I don't have any plans yet. How about we talk after 'The Fault in Our Stars' is released?"

Cao Yang said with a smile.

Bob Shaye was a bit helpless, but cooperation is not forced; it depends on sincerity.

As long as there is a chance, he believes his sincerity will definitely move Cao Yang.

"Cao Dao, long time no see."

After others greeted Cao Yang, Zhang Jingchu walked over and shook hands while bending over.

She wore a golden strapless small dress today, and her hair was also put up with golden headwear, looking... really hard to describe.

Don't know what she was thinking, isn't it good to take the pure route?

"Long time no see."

Cao Yang shook hands with her with a smile and didn't say much.

"Cao Dao, there is something I want to ask you for advice."

When the premiere activity ended, Cheng Long came to Cao Yang's side and took Cao Yang to a quiet place.

"Cao Dao, to tell you the truth, 'Rush Hour 3' poured a lot of my hard work, and I also want more people to see this movie."

Cheng Long said with a very serious expression: "However, the movie was stuck in our domestic censorship and couldn't pass. Can you help?"

Today's premiere was just an activity and didn't show the movie. Cao Yang didn't remember the content of "Rush Hour 3" for a while.

"What is the saying?"

"The saying revealed inside the Film Bureau is insulting to China. Heaven and conscience, if it were really an insulting movie, even if you gave me more money, I wouldn't film it. This is a matter of principle."

Cheng Long said solemnly.

"I don't know the content of the movie. Let's talk after I watch it."

Cao Yang didn't say much. The two words "insulting to China" are very heavy. If it were really known to be insulting to China and Cheng Long still took it, he wouldn't be set up as a typical example later and given so many identities.

However, I still have to see what's going on. Sometimes it's not necessarily the common ways that are called "insulting to China." Sometimes inadvertent content, if the impact is bad, can also be counted as "insulting to China."

"That's good, I'll ask the company for a tape. When are you free, let you see it?"

Cheng Long hurriedly struck while the iron was hot, afraid that Cao Yang was just perfunctory.

Whether he can turn around in Hollywood and whether he can expand his influence in the country again depends on this "Rush Hour 3." But if it can't be released in the country, then what influence is there to talk about?

Just saying how much it sold at the box office abroad is actually very empty.

Only by selling big in the country can one have enough influence.

"Okay, better late than never, let's do it tonight."

Cao Yang thought for a moment and then asked: "Where to watch? New Line Company or your home?"

Then he smiled and said: "If you are not afraid of the film source leaking, I don't mind watching it at my home. I have a full set of equipment there, and it just so happens that a few of us fellow villagers get together."

"Haha, no problem, let's get together tonight."

Cheng Long said with a big laugh, Cao Yang's words were exactly what he wanted.

(End of this chapter)