Chapter 374: More Popular

Cheng Long has been waiting for news in Jingcheng for the past few days.

Furthermore, he and his team have also reached a consensus over these past few days.

If Cao Yang’s new film uses him as the male lead, he can forgo a share of the profits and even his salary, but he cannot say this publicly.

His team’s advice is that he can invest 15 million into Cao Yang’s new film in the name of a new company, or in the name of the Cheng Long Emperor Motion Pictures company, which Cheng Long co-founded with Emperor Group.

This 15 million will be used entirely as Cheng Long’s salary, and this 15 million investment will not claim film copyright or a share of the mainland box office.

If possible, obtaining the distribution rights for Xiangjiang would be best; if not, just receiving a share of the Xiangjiang profits will suffice.

This is, in fact, a compromise.

Given Cheng Long’s status and influence as an international superstar, if he were to join without a salary or for a very low salary, it would not only disrupt his market rate but also make people think he is "too sycophantic."

It would be detrimental to his image.

And 15 million is a relatively "reasonable" figure.

For the film *The Forbidden Kingdom* that Cheng Long just finished shooting with Li Lianjie, both he and Li Lianjie received a salary of 10 million USD.

But that film was a commercial production, so the salary only serves as a reference.

When stars participate in art-house films, they almost always halve their salaries, and when participating in art-house films by great directors, especially those with a chance at awards, they will take an even deeper discount on that halved salary.

According to the current exchange rate, 10 million USD is over 60 million RMB; halving it makes it over 30 million, and with a further discount, 15 million is a reasonable salary that won't damage his image.

After all, it is well known that since Director Cao began his career, every art-house film he has shot has been award-winning, and they are all prestigious awards at that.

Participating in Director Cao’s art-house films, with a salary halved and then discounted further, is considered a consensus and standard practice among stars.

Even superstars like Depp and DiCaprio are no exception.

Even so, a crowd of big stars still flock to him.

Especially given Cheng Long’s current awkward situation, in order to establish a connection and build a good relationship with Cao Yang, and to give himself some "dignity," this is no longer just a matter of lowering his salary.

As the saying goes, opportunity favors the prepared mind.

Cheng Long did everything he could, and he obtained this opportunity.

The method he discussed with his team was very satisfactory to Cao Yang, the Qingying Studio, and China Film.

Since Cheng Long made such a significant concession—practically equivalent to working for free—Cao Yang finally made the call to hand over the Xiangjiang distribution rights for him to manage.

The current box office market in Xiangjiang, how should one put it, is pretty much stone-cold, but perhaps it can occasionally show signs of life.

Thus, the cast for *Love in the Seaside City*, also known as *Manchester by the Sea*, is mostly in place.

Well, actually, the role of the male lead’s ex-wife is still missing.

Cao Yang originally wanted Sister Hong to play this role; she would have a high probability of winning a Best Supporting Actress award or something similar domestically with this role.

However, when visiting the set of *Forever Enthralled*, the things Sister Hong said to Cao Yang on the way made him hesitate, so he didn't end up inviting her.

Back in Los Angeles, one could say it was all a blur... well, that was "Baizhi."

But right now, Sister Hong looks a bit resentful, which makes things difficult.

If he let Sister Hong play the role of the ex-wife, and then they went to Xiangjiang to film and ran into "Baizhi," it wouldn't be that Cao Yang lacked confidence in himself; he just lacked confidence in the feng shui of the Beijing Film Academy’s directing department.

Forget it, forget it.

Doing something out of line with men and women abroad is one thing, but domestically, one must keep a respectful distance from married women or women with boyfriends.

After all, the feng shui of the Beijing Film Academy’s directing department is too poor; it easily affects those who come from that department.

Let the desireless Yu Feihong take this role; she is the only one with an open schedule right now.

Naturally, there are people following up on the film’s preparation work; what Cao Yang needs to do now is gather the actors with more significant parts and give them a symbolic lecture on the script.

The reason it is called symbolic is that Cao Yang never intended to lecture for long; he expects it to take about ten days, mainly to let everyone familiarize themselves with the film’s plot and their respective roles.

Old Tian has started to get busy.

*Pieta* has been scheduled for November 1st, a little over a month away, but Old Tian has been appearing frequently in media reports with several main actors like Fu Dalong and Hui Yinghong.

Old Tian is quite proactive this time; he has the awards and his status has risen, so the only thing he thinks about now is for *Pieta* to have a higher box office.

A few years ago, Old Tian would have been dismissive and scornful of box office numbers, but with the changes in the film industry’s atmosphere over the years and his rising status, his perspective on the issue has naturally changed.

Different positions and heights truly can change a person’s vision and perspective.

It wasn't until Cheng Long joined the crew and attended Cao Yang’s pre-filming script lecture that he saw the complete script for the first time.

It can’t be said it was the first time he saw the complete script; it was the first time he saw the script at all, and the first time he knew what story this film was about.

Of course, there are still a few directors in the country who, even when the actors have joined the crew, might not necessarily understand the script or know what the director wants to shoot.

For example, Wang Jiawei, or Jiang Wen.

But for Cheng Long, this was indeed the first time he had insisted on acting in a film while knowing almost nothing—not knowing what the film was about, not knowing the specific investment, not knowing who the other actors were, and so on.

From the time Cheng Long received the script in the morning until nearly twelve at night, he read it several times before finally confirming what the film was about.

It was precisely because he suspected he hadn't understood or had missed something after the first read that he kept reading it until midnight.

Once he was sure he understood the content of the script, he felt lost.

This script... is too counter-intuitive.

According to the general trajectory of a script, shouldn't the male lead be "reformed" by his nephew, or see hope through his nephew, and then walk out of the gloom, out of his self-isolation, and out of his self-punishment?

Shouldn't he eventually reconcile with life?

That is the normal thought process, the normal plot progression, right!

How can a film be "depressing" from start to finish!

Even for an art-house film, there shouldn't be a total lack of hope!

Is it really okay to film it like this? It’s too "depressing."

If this were any other director, even Zhang Yimou, Cheng Long would immediately go to discuss the plot with the director—you at least have to let people see a glimmer of hope.

But the director and screenwriter of this film is Cao Yang, which made Cheng Long keep his thoughts on discussing it to himself.

Yet these thoughts churned repeatedly in his heart, leaving him truly unable to let go; he didn't even know why he felt so unsettled, but in short, there was a lump in his chest he couldn't shake, to the point where he suffered from total insomnia.

The next day, after Cao Yang finished lecturing the actors, he kept Cheng Long behind and asked, "You have a general understanding of the film’s content now, right?"

Cheng Long’s eyes were a bit red; he nodded and said, "I received the script yesterday morning and read it until... very late. I read it several times and have a general idea of the content."

"Is there anything you don't understand or grasp? If there is, just speak up. If you have doubts and suspicions in your heart, you certainly won't be able to immerse yourself in the filming."

Cao Yang said.

If one has doubts about the film and suspicions or differing views on the content, even if one can enter the role, it requires much more immersion to achieve the effect.

This is the experience Cao Yang has summarized.

Cheng Long hesitated for a moment, but since Director Cao had said so, he felt it was perfectly normal to ask about the parts he didn't understand, right?

Hmm, this isn't questioning him.

So, Cheng Long tried to use as tactful a tone as possible and said, "Director Cao, the male lead realizes his mistake and has punished himself for his negligence for so many years; shouldn't there be a glimmer of hope for his redemption?"

Cao Yang didn't explain too much, but instead said, "Did you notice in the script that the male lead went out to buy things when the house caught fire?"

Cheng Long was stunned for a moment; he had certainly read that part, but he hadn't paid much attention to the details—by the way, does this have anything to do with the question he wanted to ask?

However, he still took out the script, quickly flipped to that part, and saw it written: After the male lead’s party with friends at home was interrupted by his wife, the friends left tactfully.

He thought about it repeatedly and felt his wife was also reasonable; after all, the children were so young and should rest early.

But he also felt a bit sorry for his friends and felt guilty toward them.

While he was cleaning up the wine bottles and cigarette butts on the floor, his wife asked if he had bought diapers when he came back today, saying there weren't enough left at home.

He then remembered that he had been too busy with the small gathering with friends and had forgotten about it.

So, in his haste, he left the trash—the wine bottles, cigarette butts, and tissues—in the wastebasket by the sofa, didn't get around to throwing it out, and hurried out to buy them.

By the time he bought them and returned, he found the house was already engulfed in flames...

The police investigation report afterward showed that an unextinguished cigarette butt had ignited the tissues, and the remaining brandy and other alcohols were exactly the type that ignite easily.

Thus, the fire burning in the wastebasket spread to the sofa next to it, thereby igniting the entire house.

"He feels he is the culprit who caused all of this, that it was because of his negligence that the three children were burned to death, so he has never been able to walk out of it." Cheng Long closed the script and said softly.

But since he committed an unforgivable mistake, why can't he be given a glimmer of hope and sunshine?

"The protagonist is a kind person. His wife lost her temper in public and interrupted his gathering with friends, and he felt guilty toward his friends.

But he didn't blame his wife, feeling that it was indeed too late and it had affected the children’s rest... The kinder a person is, the more they will self-condemn and feel guilty, the harder it is for them to walk out, and the harder it is for them to forgive themselves."

Cao Yang sighed, shook his head, and then added with some emotion, "Precisely because he is kind."

"Kind?"

Cheng Long was a bit lost.

He had seen all kinds of people in Xiangjiang and had seen even more outrageous people in Hollywood, but truly kind people—it’s not that they don't exist, but they are very rare.

Kind people are more easily bullied, but they also have more empathy.

So, after seeing kind people receive no good rewards, Cheng Long had constantly warned himself that he could be slick, he could be loyal to his brothers, and he could even have empathy, but he could not be kind for no reason.

So, is this human nature?

At this moment, Cheng Long felt as if he had attained enlightenment.

"Director Cao, I understand. You want to use the perspective of such a kind character to explore the good and evil of human nature, to explore self-punishment and redemption, and to explore deeper levels of self-awareness, responsibility, and free will!"

The protagonist’s self-awareness is that he is guilty, which can also be seen from when he tried to grab the officer’s gun at the police station to commit suicide, and all of this stems from his sense of responsibility.

He has the freedom to live in guilt and not forgive himself; this is the embodiment of everyone’s free will."

After speaking, Cheng Long looked at Cao Yang with immense admiration.

Director Cao is truly amazing; no wonder the films he shoots, whether art-house or commercial, are all classic films.

Cao Yang looked up at the sky, then nodded.

"Your analysis is very good. Remember these points you analyzed; hmm, it will help you better immerse yourself in the character."

Ending the conversation with Cheng Long, Cao Yang felt a bit of emotion; human potential is truly infinite, and imagination is also infinite... it’s really good.

On October 2nd, Cao Yang, accompanied by Cheng Long, Yu Feihong, Zhu Yilong, and Old Tian, along with several main and supporting actors including Yang Mi and Jing Tian, held the opening press conference for *Manchester by the Sea*.

As for why Yang Mi and Jing Tian were brought along, Yang Mi was actually just a tag-along, while Jing Tian was brought out to get some exposure.

Someone had dumped 20 million into the project, asking for no copyright and no profit sharing; they only required that on certain occasions, such as press conferences or film festivals, Jing Tian be brought out to show her face.

If you think this seems too superficial and beneath the dignity of a great director like Cao Da.

You can understand it as someone spending 20 million to place an advertisement in the film, only requiring the "product" to make an appearance at special occasions like press conferences and film festivals.

And this "product" is Jing Tian.

At first, Cao Yang didn't want to do something he didn't want to do for a mere 20 million.

Then, when they persuaded him, they used the explanation above.

Cao Yang thought about it: someone is paying 20 million to buy a product placement ad, only requiring appearances at specific occasions—would he be willing?

The answer is, as long as it doesn't affect the film's plot or cause discomfort to the audience's senses, Cao Yang is willing to accept it.

And would bringing Big Sweetie to a press conference or a film festival affect the film?

Of course not!

It’s not like he has to change the plot for her.

It’s just a matter of convenience.

Since there’s no impact, he agreed.

This press conference was held in Jingcheng; the film has many indoor scenes, which were shot at the Beiyingchang studios.

Cao Yang joining forces with Cheng Long—the top director in China, the most famous international director, teaming up with the top film star in China, the most famous Chinese star in Hollywood—this combination is absolutely a blockbuster-level event.

Therefore, the small press conference venue was packed with media reporters; this undoubtedly counts as the most explosive entertainment news of the year.

"Director Cao, we noticed that *The Fault in Our Stars*, which you produced and wrote in Hollywood, grossed 200 million USD in North America. That was a very moving romance film.

And *Manchester by the Sea* also looks like an incredibly wonderful romantic love film. Are you trying to replicate the success of *The Fault in Our Stars* domestically?"

During the Q&A session, the reporter who was called upon stood up and asked.

Cheng Long almost laughed out loud.

*Manchester by the Sea* is an incredibly wonderful romantic love film?

Well, judging by the name, it certainly is.

I hope you can walk out of the cinema smiling when the time comes.

"*The Fault in Our Stars* is unique, and *Manchester by the Sea* is also unique. They cannot be compared together. I can only say these are two completely different films."

Cao Yang replied.

He had spoken, but it was as if he had said nothing at all.

The reporters also assumed that *Manchester by the Sea* must be a different type of romantic love film than *The Fault in Our Stars*.

You can't blame the reporters for thinking that; *Manchester by the Sea*, just listen to the name—it sounds romantic, doesn't it?

"Director Cao, does your collaboration with Cheng Long mean that this romance film is full of comedy and fighting elements?"

Another reporter who was called upon asked.

You can't blame him for thinking that either; what is Cheng Long's label?

An action-comedy star.

Using specially designed action to create comedic effects.

Cao Yang thought for a moment; there is no comedy, and as for fighting, the male lead has two scenes where he gets into conflicts with others—does that count as fighting?

"This is a brand-new attempt. I hope it will satisfy you when the time comes."

Upon hearing this, the reporters couldn't help but think: does Director Cao's answer mean he is trying to incorporate comedy and fighting elements?

It's very possible.

"Big Brother Cheng Long, I would like to ask, regarding your first collaboration with Director Cao, is there anything you would like to say?"

A reporter from Xiangjiang asked.

Cheng Long readjusted the microphone in front of him to bring it closer, and he leaned his body forward as well.

With that, the microphone was almost poking his mouth.

"Director Cao is the director I respect the most, and also the director I most want to work with. Being chosen by Director Cao this time is my honor."

He glanced at the reporters below, especially some from Xiangjiang, and continued:

"You might not have been stationed in Hollywood and don't quite understand Director Cao Yang's influence. Let's put it this way: you all know Director Spielberg, right?

In today's Hollywood, if you were to interview those stars or superstars and ask them if they want to work with Director Cao Yang or Director Spielberg, they might say: both."

After saying this, seeing the reporters below looking thoughtful, he continued:

"However, what I want to say is, what if this question only had one option?"

He laughed and said in a joking tone: "Perhaps the actresses who want to win awards would mostly choose the young and handsome Director Cao Yang."

The reporters below also laughed along.

However, some reporters were lost in thought.

As everyone knows, the few films Cao Yang went to Hollywood to shoot did not promote any actresses.

Instead, he helped Depp win two consecutive Oscars for Best Actor, and Mark Ruffalo win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in *Milk*.

Cheng Long said actresses are more willing to choose Cao Yang for the sake of awards, but what about actors? Cao Yang promoted male stars in Hollywood.

Does this mean that in Hollywood, compared to Spielberg, both male and female stars are more willing to choose Cao Yang?

This thought couldn't help but shock the perceptive reporters.

Is this true?

They looked at Cheng Long.

It was just that Cheng Long had high emotional intelligence; he didn't make a direct comparison to give that answer, but instead adopted this approach.

So, unknowingly, Director Cao has already become a more popular director than Spielberg!

Being more popular with stars, does that also mean he has greater influence?

(End of chapter)