Chapter 393

"... Following the box office and critical success of *Inception* last year, Director Cao Yang's new film, *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl*, has once again begun a global sweep, thanks to its imaginative story and positive word-of-mouth.

As of this report, this unique fantasy blockbuster has been in theaters for 24 days, grossing 340 million USD in North America, 420 million domestically, and 810 million USD worldwide, once again..."

Chen Kaige closed the newspaper. Sister Hong, sitting beside him, quickly took it, folded it neatly, and set it aside, unable to help but exclaim:

"Cao Yang is truly becoming more and more formidable. His previous film, *Inception*, grossed 900 million USD worldwide; this pirate film will likely push for 1 billion."

Afterward, she couldn't help but purse her lips, recalling those two days back in Los Angeles, "Zhang Baizhi"...

Chen Kaige lit a cigarette. Sister Hong glanced at him, but still took an ashtray and pushed it toward Old Chen.

"Cao Yang has also taken the wrong path..."

Old Chen said this, perhaps feeling that he himself was "deeply mired" in the whirlpool of commercial films and still struggling, making the remark feel somewhat inappropriate.

He paused, thinking that as Cao Yang's senior fellow apprentice, there was nothing inappropriate about saying these things.

"That kid Cao Yang has a very high sensitivity to art films and is skilled at cultivating actors. Now that he has plunged headfirst into Hollywood, focusing entirely on shooting commercial films, it is a waste of his artistic talent.

He should honestly settle down and shoot some films with significant artistic value for the country and the people; only then would he not be failing his talent."

Sister Hong rarely contradicted Old Chen, but hearing his words now, she was somewhat unconvinced.

Didn't you, Old Chen, also shoot *The Promise*? Why not allow Cao Yang to shoot *Inception* and *The New Pirates of the Caribbean*?

Moreover, whether it was *Inception* or *The New Pirates of the Caribbean*, both were films with double success in critical acclaim and box office, at least compared to *The Promise*...

"Didn't Cao Yang also shoot an art film domestically a while ago?"

Sister Hong did not directly contradict Old Chen, but still spoke in a roundabout way.

"With Cao Yang's current influence, the fact that he can still think about shooting art films means he hasn't forgotten his original intention."

Old Chen directly snuffed out his cigarette in the ashtray and said:

"I haven't paid much attention to that film of his; the title is *Manchester by the Sea*, right? Just hearing the name, it's a romance film. Can such a film deeply explore human nature? I still hold that view: romance films do not belong to the category of art films."

Sister Hong had the heart to refute him.

However, Old Chen had been busy shooting *Mei Lanfang* a while ago, and she had been keen on developing as a producer, so she had followed the crew the whole time, worrying about and learning the producer's work down to the smallest detail, and she really didn't know the content of *Manchester by the Sea*.

"Romance films can also become classics; isn't *Titanic* such a film?"

After saying this, Sister Hong built some psychological defense for herself in her heart: I am not contradicting Old Chen; I am just stating a fact.

Didn't your *Mei Lanfang* also incorporate quite a few romantic plotlines?

Of course, Sister Hong didn't say this last sentence.

Old Chen didn't say anything about Sister Hong's "rebellion."

Although he was somewhat unconvinced that *Titanic* could become a classic film, he really couldn't bring himself to say words of refutation.

After all, this film wasn't just about high box office; it also swept the Oscars and numerous awards. It was fine to disagree in his heart, but saying it out loud would be considered arrogant.

"Films cannot just look at the box office; looking only at the box office is walking down the wrong path."

Old Chen smacked his lips and emphasized: "Cao Yang still needs someone to remind him at all times; otherwise, young people are most easily lost in the complacency of high box office, and from then on, they will never be able to listen to others' opinions."

"Damn it!"

Sister Hong almost blurted it out, but such a thing was impossible to think about.

She couldn't help but think of "Zhang Baizhi's" experience again, and her legs rubbed together.

"Old Chen..."

After saying this, she looked at Chen Kaige with her watery eyes; anyone could see what she meant.

"We still have to change locations to continue filming tomorrow. It's been too tiring lately, and you've worked hard too; get some good rest."

Old Chen patted Sister Hong's hand. He didn't say a refusal, but the meaning was very clear.

However, perhaps feeling that sitting like this wasn't quite right, he subconsciously wanted to find something to do as an excuse, so he went to the study and opened the computer—well, pretending to handle some work matters.

Sister Hong looked at Old Chen's back and forced a smile, her expression somewhat unnatural.

She glanced at the bathroom, thinking about whether to go take a shower and relax, but unexpectedly, she heard Old Chen let out an "Eh."

Sister Hong thought something had happened and hurried into the study, only to see Old Chen looking at a news article on Sina Entertainment.

"... Due to the writers' strike, the 65th Golden Globe Awards did not hold an awards banquet, but instead held an unprecedented press conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

This Golden Globe Awards had no red carpet, no awards ceremony, no banquet or party, only an awkward press conference where the host announced the list of all award winners.

It is worth mentioning that this Golden Globe Awards was boycotted by the Screen Actors Guild, with no stars in attendance, including all the award winners who also did not attend.

According to informed sources, this Golden Globe Awards, which had no banquet or broadcast, suffered losses as high as 80 million USD, and this is without calculating some potential losses.

The following is the list of winners for the 65th Golden Globe Awards..."

Sister Hong finally understood why the usually steady Old Chen was surprised.

This was the Golden Globe Awards; regardless of the authority of the awards, if one only talks about influence, it is considered the film award second only to the Oscars in the US.

Didn't you see that because the awards banquet wasn't held, the direct economic loss reached as high as 80 million USD?

Such a highly influential Golden Globe Awards was actually forced to announce the list of winners in the form of a press conference due to the writers' strike; anyone would be surprised to see this.

"Didn't they say a while ago that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was communicating with the Screen Actors Guild?"

Sister Hong remembered the news from a while ago and couldn't help but say this.

Old Chen squinted his eyes without looking at the computer; he didn't pay attention to the list of winners below. Relatively speaking, who won wasn't news; the fact that the Golden Globes were forced to be held in this form was the real world-shaking news.

"Hmm, that means they didn't reach an agreement. Hehe, the biggest problem now isn't the Golden Globes, but the Oscars in over a month. If they are still boycotted by the Screen Actors Guild then, there will be a spectacle to watch."

"No way, right?"

Sister Hong said in surprise: "Will the Screen Actors Guild also boycott the Oscars?"

"Nothing is impossible. Before today, who could have imagined that the Screen Actors Guild would really boycott the Golden Globes to respond to the writers' strike?

I reckon that as long as the writers' strike continues, the Screen Actors Guild will also dare to boycott the Oscars for their common interests. Just wait and see."

Old Chen took out another cigarette, lit it, and took a long drag; his heart was truly filled with mixed feelings.

To tell the truth, Old Chen looked down on the Oscars and looked down on Hollywood commercial blockbusters.

In his heart, only the European Big Three, especially the Cannes Film Festival, were the halls of world art and the places where artists gathered.

And Hollywood and the Oscars were just some monsters and demons that only pursued profit.

Of course, Old Chen also admitted that he had once yearned for the bizarre Hollywood and had once wanted to go there to make a splash.

But this all had his own reasons.

He had already won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and had originally thought about pursuing higher art, but he didn't expect that the European Big Three had increasingly gone astray in recent years—they were actually all catering to Hollywood, either openly or secretly!

Since the European Big Three were all catering, Old Chen naturally wanted to go and see what was going on.

Although his venture into Hollywood failed, Old Chen considered himself to have seen through the essence of Hollywood, which is why he said they were monsters and demons that only pursued profit.

But if one could really gain a foothold in Hollywood...

Thinking of how his first venture into Hollywood ended in failure, Old Chen still felt somewhat melancholy.

"Eh?"

This time, the sound came from Sister Hong.

She was seen using the mouse to scroll down the webpage, her small mouth rounded in surprise, and she couldn't help but raise her voice and say:

"*The Fault in Our Stars* won Best Picture, *The New Pirates of the Caribbean* won Best Original Score, and, and *Sanctuary* directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang won Best Foreign Language Film!"

"Cough, cough cough..."

Old Chen couldn't help but cough in a series; Sister Hong's words caused him to be directly choked by the smoke.