Chapter 410: Dedication and Professionalism

These past few days, Anne Hathaway has been working very diligently.

"I have a new movie."

Cao Yang looked at Anne Hathaway, who was still working hard, and couldn't help but think of her performance in *Brokeback Mountain* back then; suddenly, Cao Yang wondered if he had become "Milk."

Although those scenes with Depp back then were just shot using forced perspective and camera angles, this time, it is for real.

Thinking of this, Cao Yang couldn't help but loosen his grip and take his hand away from her head.

However, Anne Hathaway didn't lift her head immediately; she stayed like that for another ten seconds or so before pulling back, looking up, and blinking her large eyes, which seemed as if they could speak.

"There are two female roles in it that would suit you..."

Before Cao Yang could finish his sentence, Anne Hathaway immediately threw herself back into work, making him gasp, and the rest of his words were left unspoken.

Furthermore, this time Cao Yang didn't even need to use his hands; Anne Hathaway's breath-holding ability was truly outstanding.

Fine, three thousand words omitted here...

Anne Hathaway came out of the washroom and asked with a smile, "Honey, you said earlier that you have a new movie?"

"Yes, it's an art-house film with a budget of about 70 million dollars," Cao Yang said nonchalantly, his eyes half-closed; those who understand, understand this state.

Anne Hathaway's eyes lit up. An art-house film with a budget of over 70 million?

In Hollywood, that counts as top-tier resources.

"I just finished talking to Jim Carrey yesterday; he will play the lead in this film," Cao Yang added.

Anne Hathaway's eyes lit up again, and she couldn't help but widen them.

Although Jim Carrey is no longer at his peak and lacks the drawing power and popularity of Depp, he is still a world-famous superstar, naturally carrying buzz and attention.

Well, at least much better than Depp was when filming *Brokeback Mountain*.

"Honey, I heard you say earlier that there are two female roles that suit me?"

Anne Hathaway pulled off her bath towel, threw it aside, crawled slowly from the foot of the bed, and looked at Cao Yang with eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Cao Yang nodded and explained softly, "One is the lover in the protagonist's imagination, and the other is the protagonist's psychiatrist."

Before Anne Hathaway could be happy, Cao Yang used his hand to lift the chin of Anne Hathaway, who had already crawled over, and said, "However, this film, like *Brokeback Mountain*, is a man's movie."

A man's movie?

A look of disappointment was clearly visible on Anne Hathaway's face.

A man's movie means the female roles in the film won't have much screen time.

The first film she collaborated on with Cao Yang was *Brokeback Mountain*, so she naturally understood the weight of the female roles in such films.

Not to say they were dispensable, but they were just small foils to set off the protagonist, with little screen time.

Seeing Anne Hathaway's disappointed expression, Cao Yang smiled and said, "I estimate that after this film is released, its influence will be much greater than *Brokeback Mountain*, and there should be no shortage of awards. As for the box office..."

Watching Anne Hathaway reveal a curious little expression, he reached out to support her little burdens before continuing, "You might not believe it if I told you, but I estimate it likely won't be lower than *Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End*."

"What? That's impossible."

Anne Hathaway's first reaction was disbelief.

What level of film is *Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End*?

Since the invention of film, it is currently the third highest-grossing film in the world, in the 1 billion dollar range.

And this new film?

Just an art-house film.

How could an art-house film reach a box office of 1 billion dollars?

"A pure art-house film? Not an experimental film like *Inception*?"

Anne Hathaway suddenly remembered that some of Cao Yang's films were so-called experimental films; in the words of the three major European film festivals, they were films that used the pacing of commercial movies to dig into human nature or reflect social aspects.

However, in Hollywood, except for the small circle of independent filmmakers who pride themselves on being pure art, people do not recognize so-called experimental films.

You are either a commercial film for the box office, or you are categorized as an art-house film for awards; there are no other types of films.

Furthermore, when an art-house film's box office is too high, people automatically categorize it as a commercial film and will find sufficient reasons to justify it.

"A pure art-house film, almost no special effects. I don't plan to use the digital cameras and 3D cameras that have been popular in the last two years, but will instead use traditional film."

"Additionally, for the exterior shots, I've found some old streets and plan to shoot on location. Only if there's nothing that meets the requirements will I build sets at the Warner base."

That is... truly a traditional art-house film.

Anne Hathaway opened her mouth, still unable to believe it.

Cao Yang smiled and didn't offer much explanation.

Even if he explained, Anne Hathaway might not necessarily understand.

The film *Joker*, after its release in 2019, achieved a global box office of 1.04 billion dollars. Don't think that getting this box office ten years later is because the global box office market grew.

Thinking that way is too one-sided.

Cao Yang plans to wait for the 2008 financial crisis to ferment and have *Joker* released in 2009.

The global total box office in 2009 was 29.9 billion dollars, and the global total box office in 2019 was 41 billion dollars, a difference of 11.1 billion dollars.

Looking only at the 2009 and 2019 global box office results, one would certainly think that the 2019 global box office market grew significantly, which led to *Joker*'s massive global box office success.

Then, let's look at another set of data.

China's total box office in 2009 was 6.2 billion RMB, while China's total box office in 2019 was 64.3 billion RMB; that is to say, even without considering exchange rate changes, China's total box office grew by nearly 8.7 billion dollars.

North America's total box office in 2009 was 10.5 billion dollars, and North America's total box office in 2019 was 11.5 billion dollars.

China's growth of 8.7 billion dollars, plus North America's growth of 1 billion dollars, is 9.7 billion; the rest of the world combined only grew by 1.4 billion.

Do you know how crazy Hollywood movies were in 2019?

The global total box office of *Avengers: Endgame* was 2.797 billion dollars.

The global total box office of *The Lion King* was 1.657 billion dollars.

The total box office of *Frozen II* was 1.228 billion dollars.

The total box office of *Spider-Man: Far From Home* was 1.132 billion dollars.

The total box office of *Captain Marvel* was 1.128 billion dollars.

The total box office of *Toy Story 4* was 1.073 billion dollars.

The total box office of *Joker* was 1.04 billion dollars.

The total box office of *Aladdin* was 1.038 billion dollars.

You have to know that currently, there are only 3 films in the world with a total box office exceeding 1 billion dollars.

Even with such crazy global "harvesting" by Hollywood films, outside of China and North America, the global total box office only grew by 1.4 billion dollars.

Combining these data, do you still think the global box office market grew significantly?

It wasn't the global box office market that grew significantly; it was the Chinese box office market that grew significantly. The more than 10 billion dollars of global growth was almost entirely covered by China.

However, although the domestic box office was about to catch up to North America in 2019, *Joker* was not released domestically; the 1.04 billion dollar global box office it achieved was the box office outside of the Chinese market.

And if Cao Yang directed *Joker*, it could definitely be released domestically.

Plus, the content of the *Joker* film is incredibly fitting for the upcoming global financial crisis; such a "topical" film full of buzz, directed by Cao Yang, with Jim Carrey starring...

Additionally, Warner specifically set aside 10 million dollars in special funds for the Oscar campaign, and there is the "pre-promotion" of *The Dark Knight* which Cao Yang and Nolan collaborated on.