Chapter 387: Not Simple at All

Cao Yang had long since seen through these people in Hollywood.

As long as there are mutual interests, everyone is a good friend, a good brother; everything is fine and dandy.

But for the sake of their own interests, they can betray their good friends and brothers at any time.

On this point, these Americans cannot compare to Marco Müller, the chairman of the Venice Film Festival.

Perhaps because he studied in China in his early years and experienced the simplicity of the people during that special period, he is still very principled and very caring toward Chinese-language films and filmmakers.

Although Cao Yang’s "Manchester by the Sea" was already finished, he did not immediately go to the U.S. to promote "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which was set to be released in about twenty days.

Staying behind was not for the submission of "Manchester by the Sea" for review.

To be honest, with his current status, even if the film really had some non-compliant parts, it certainly wouldn't be like other films, sent back without explaining what needed to be changed or how specifically to change it.

The most likely scenario is that Director Tong of the Film Bureau would call Cao Yang personally to ask him to come over and discuss whether keeping those scenes would have a negative impact on society...

By the way, Director Tong is also at the deputy ministerial level.

Before serving as the director of the Film Bureau, he served as a Party official, chairman, and general manager of China Film Group.

During his time as chairman and general manager of China Film Group, Han Zong was the vice chairman and deputy general manager.

The reason Cao Yang was not in a hurry to go to the U.S. was, first, he was afraid of being used by that group from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, so he decided to wait and see for a few days before going.

Second, "Assembly," for which he served as producer and credited screenwriter, was set to be released nationwide on December 1st, and since he was in the country, he certainly had to attend the premiere of "Assembly."

There were several film companies that invested in "Assembly," but because of Cao Yang's involvement, there were four main investors: China Film Group, Youth Film Studio, Huayi Brothers, and Hong Kong's Media Asia.

Nowadays, Han Zong of China Film Group and Cao Yang are considered staunch allies; as long as it is a film Cao Yang participates in, he will mostly pull Youth Film Studio and China Film Group into it.

Han Zong is grateful for this, and his feelings toward Cao Yang are similar to those of Hou Keming from the Beijing Film Academy; the two are considered completely tied to Cao Yang.

Of course, their benefits are certainly very significant.

The reason Old Hou could sit in and firmly hold the position of top leader at the Beijing Film Academy is because of his relationship with Cao Yang—his eye-catching political achievements were almost all obtained because of Cao Yang.

The reason Han Zong could sit in the position of chairman and general manager ahead of schedule is also because of his relationship with Cao Yang—the awards from the three major European festivals, the Oscar awards, and the money earned from investing in Hollywood films, these political achievements are equally useful for Han Zong.

Huayi and Media Asia originally planned to release "Assembly" on December 20th, because on December 13th, "The Warlords," starring international action superstar Li Lianjie, was set to be released.

This film gathered big names like Li Lianjie, Liu Dehua, and Jin Chengwu; Huayi and Hong Kong's Media Asia felt that it would be better to release "Assembly" after "The Warlords" had been out for a week and the hype had "passed."

Actually, to put it bluntly, it was still because this was Xiao Gangpao's first time directing a war-themed film, and there were no big names from Hong Kong or Taiwan involved, so they had no confidence in Xiao Gangpao.

After all, "The Warlords" claimed an investment of 40 million U.S. dollars; when this film was approved last year, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the RMB was still 8.0226, which converts to an investment of 320 million RMB.

Why was the production cost of this film so high?

Even if Li Lianjie took 100 million in salary, Liu Dehua 16 million, Jin Chengwu 12 million, and Xu Jinglei 2 million... the salaries of all the actors added up to just a little over 130 million, accounting for about 40% of the total cost.

But after deducting the actors' salaries, did this film need to spend nearly 200 million on filming and post-production?

Heh.

However, to tell the truth, "The Warlords" is indeed a rare good film; it is the best film in which Chen Kexin combined his transition from art-house films to commercial films.

Perhaps because he started as an art-house director and is good at exploring human nature, the development of the characters' humanity in "The Warlords" is very brilliant.

This film can basically be considered the pinnacle of the acting careers of Li Lianjie, Liu Dehua, and Jin Chengwu.

The investment in "Assembly" was only over 80 million RMB; compared to "The Warlords," no one felt that "Assembly" could compete with "The Warlords" at the box office, even if it was produced by Cao Yang.

However, when Huayi and Media Asia learned that "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," directed by Cao Yang, would be released in China on December 21st, they once wanted to push the release date of "Assembly" to next year.

In the end, Xiao Gangpao insisted, so they moved the release date of "Assembly" up to December 1st.

Everyone knows that film premieres related to Cao Yang generally don't have messy things happen; they follow tradition and are held the day before the film's release.

And for the premiere of "Assembly," after Xiao Gangpao asked for Cao Yang's opinion, he didn't play any tricks and set it for November 30th.

In Xiao Gangpao's words, when Cao Yang's films are released, there is no need to play tricks at the premiere; the films I collaborate on with Cao Yang are 1+1 greater than 3, so there is even less need to play gimmicks and tricks.

Don't look at Xiao Gangpao as being a bit shameless when he is sucking up and flattering people, but Cao Yang understands him; he just knows how to endure, and is actually a very sensitive person.

Being shameless and knowing how to endure are essential qualities for many successful people.

This is also one of the reasons why Xiao Gangpao could go from a "nobody" to the successful big director he is now.

Cao Yang knew very well that if he participated in the premiere as a producer and screenwriter, as one of the main creators of "Assembly," then there would be nothing left for Xiao Gangpao; he would absolutely steal all his thunder.

But did Cao Yang need that kind of thunder? Of course not.

So, Cao Yang told Xiao Gangpao that he would attend the premiere as a "guest."

Xiao Gangpao was silent for a moment, and finally just said faintly, "Director Cao, if you have anything in the future, just say the word."

The premiere of "Assembly" was held at the Workers' Stadium, and a great many stars came that day, including Ge You, Zhang Guoli, Liu Ye, Huang Xiaoming, Sun Honglei, Li Xiaoran, Fatty Bing, Skinny Bing, Zhang Liangying, Shang Wenjie, Yi Nengjing, and so on.

There were also Zhao Benshan, Fan Wei, and others who rushed over specifically.

In terms of directors, there were Xu Ke, Wang Xiaoshuai, Zhang Yang, and others.

Han Zong also came, but he came with Cao Yang; the guests had almost all arrived before Han Zong and Cao Yang finally appeared.

Although "Assembly" didn't play any tricks at the premiere, it was quite original in terms of the screen used for the screening.

The thousands of audience members at the scene witnessed the largest giant screen in the history of Chinese cinema; this specially made screen, four stories high and with an area equivalent to a standard basketball court, looked absolutely breathtaking.

Especially the 11.1-channel sound effect restored by special technology at the scene, which made the war scenes with bullets flying and artillery fire filling the sky strike the hearts of the audience along with the floor trembling beneath their feet.

"How about it, awesome, right?"

Xiao Gangpao grinned, showing off this big screen to Cao Yang.

"This is also the reason why I insisted on holding the premiere at the Workers' Stadium. We don't play those flashy premiere ceremonies like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, nor do we sing and dance at the premiere and just not show the movie, creating some bullshit mystery.

We follow tradition and don't do anything special, but setting up an extra-large screen and moving the battlefield to the Workers' Stadium, it's necessary to create a little shock."

It was shocking, but for the audience sitting close, because the screen was too big, it was a bit unfriendly.

"When are you going to the U.S.?"

Xiao Gangpao asked again.

Then he leaned his body toward Cao Yang and whispered, "Do you need me to step in personally and hype it up to suppress the Hong Kong guy's momentum, so that his film doesn't gain traction and affect the box office of your 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'?"

As an industry insider, Xiao Gangpao knew it clearly in his heart.