China Entertainment started from cutting off the Hu in 1995

Chapter 283 Smiling Mickey Mouse

Wu Yuchen smiled after hanging up the phone. In fact, if he were to make an objective evaluation, some of the comments on "Hero" would be reasonable, such as criticizing the script for being superficial and the plot for being weak.

However, as a commercial blockbuster, "Hero" is still worthy of recognition in many aspects. Just in terms of visual effects, it has killed many Chinese-language films in seconds. Many scenes in the movie are full of Chinese classical charm and artistic conception, which are not something that everyone can shoot.

Even if there are some shortcomings, it really won't be criticized like this.

Wu Yuchen had something in his heart that he didn't say before, that is, you, Lao Mouzi, don't socialize too much. If you were as good as Kaizi and had many connections, you wouldn't be in the current situation.

Think about what Kaizi's "The Promise" was like? As a result, after it was released, it was still able to maintain all the praises on the surface. It was not until an article "A Murder Case Caused by a Bun" that the emperor's new clothes were exposed. If Lao Mouzi had half the connections of Kaizi, how could "Hero" be criticized like this?

Speaking of Chen Kaizi, he tried his own Hollywood journey last year and cooperated with MGM to shoot a suspense thriller called "Fatal Tenderness". The production cost was 30 million US dollars. It was released in North America in September and finally had a global box office of 7.77 million, which ended in failure.

In other words, Kaizi's first movie to enter Hollywood failed, and this road was basically cut off. But this matter was not mentioned in China, and few people knew about it.

Originally, Chen Kaizi wanted to go to Hollywood to catch up with Wu Yuchen. But the Hollywood journey failed, while Lao Mouzi's "Hero" in China was harvesting box office one after another. Although "Hero" was criticized fiercely, it did not affect the box office to rise, which made Kaizi see it in his eyes and anxious in his heart!

Wu Yuchen surpassed him, and you Zhang Yimou also wanted to reverse Tiangang?

Since the road to Hollywood was cut off, and now everyone likes to watch martial arts movies so much, then he Chen Kaizi will also get involved. Wu Yuchen can shoot it, Lao Mouzi can shoot it, can't he Chen Kaizi shoot it?

But Kaizi doesn't plan to make a simple martial arts movie. He wants to be superior in innate ability. He wants to make a fantasy movie! You guys can fly over the eaves and walk on the walls, but I can fly around directly. My strength level is much higher than "Hero" and "Blade of the Assassin"!

But this time he has to prepare carefully and put together a luxurious lineup. He wants both box office and awards, and commercial and artistic development!

...

For "Hero" and Lao Mouzi, Wu Yuchen just made a phone call to greet them. His main energy is now focused on the Oscars.

"Best Director, "Gangs of New York", Martin Scorsese!"

At the Golden Globe Awards ceremony, Wu Yuchen watched Martin Scorsese happily walk up to the stage to receive the award and give his acceptance speech.

This "Gangs of New York" is starred by Leo. Martin Scorsese has been fond of shooting gangster-themed movies for decades and is known as the master of gangster movies in Hollywood. At the same time, Martin Scorsese has been nominated for Best Director twice for "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas". His Oscar points are not lower than Wu Yuchen's. In terms of qualifications, he is far superior to Wu Yuchen. In terms of connections, he is also one of Wu Yuchen's rivals this time.

Although the Golden Globe Award is not a weather vane for the Oscars, but is voted by a group of media reporters, Wu Yuchen will not relax his vigilance against Martin Scorsese. He does not want to make a deal with Spielberg to resolve the threat of "The Pianist" and finally make wedding clothes for Martin Scorsese.

Just like last year, it took a lot of effort to resolve Harvey and "Chicago", but the Best Director award fell into the hands of Ridley Scott. Martin Scorsese is not inferior to Ridley Scott.

However, Wu Yuchen will not belittle himself. This time, his "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" has won the Best Foreign Language Film. Moreover, in the previous large and small film critics awards, Wu Yuchen has also reaped a lot of rewards, not inferior to Martin Scorsese. The popularity of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and "The Hours" has completely risen.

"Best Drama Film, The Hours!"

Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Connelly, who were beside Wu Yuchen, hugged Wu Yuchen. This time, Nicole Kidman also won the Best Actress Award at the Golden Globe Awards, and The Hours won the Best Film Award, which added another chapter to her resume.

Amid the applause of the audience, Wu Yuchen also calmly went on stage to receive the award.

Although the Golden Globe Awards cannot be compared with the Oscars, they are still influential, and they are created by a group of media reporters. Coming to receive the award is also giving face to the uncrowned king.

At the banquet after the awards ceremony, everyone was eating, drinking, and socializing. On Wu Yuchen's side, someone came up with a glass of wine.

"Wu, congratulations! Both of your films are great, and the awards are well deserved!"

Wu Yuchen clinked his glasses with the visitor: "Thank you for your compliment, Mr. Stringer~"

Wu Yuchen looked at Howard Stringer in front of him, and information about him emerged. The other party had served as the CEO of Sony Columbia a few years ago, and then he was promoted. He is now the vice chairman of the entire Sony Group and the general manager of Sony Group's business in North America.

Howard Stringer then changed the subject:

"Wu, I know you are making a full effort to win the Oscars. I think you will achieve very good results in this Oscar. However, awards are important, but box office and commercial interests are sometimes more important. I hope you can spare some time and energy for Spider-Man."

Wu Yuchen also understood the other party's intention. The first "Spider-Man" created a high box office of 825 million US dollars, not to mention peripheral and various copyright income, which simply drove Sony crazy. Even if 30% is given to Marvel, that is more than Sony has made from all other movies combined in the past year!

After acquiring Columbia and paying a lot of tuition fees, Sony slowly gained a foothold. It was only after Howard took over to lead the reform in 1997 that it began to gradually make profits. And this "Spider-Man" is a real hit for Sony. It not only revived Sony Columbia's glory, but also made a lot of profits, and it can be regarded as a family heirloom! So it’s no wonder that Howard Stringer, Sony North America, is taking the lead.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Mr. Stringer, in fact, I have been paying attention to the sequel of "Spider-Man". Do you want to talk about the issue of the male protagonist Tobey Maguire?"

Originally, the sequel to "Spider-Man" had been planned to start filming in February, but last week Tobey Maguire's agent suddenly said that he had injured his back, which disrupted the crew's filming plans.

Howard Stringer nodded: "Hmm, he has now affected the preparation of the sequel. I don't want any surprises in the sequel. Do you guys have any plans?"

"Mr. Stringer, I'm asking the crew to contact Jake Gyllenhaal."

Howard Stringer frowned when he heard this: "You want to change the leading actor? This may not be a good choice for "Spider-Man"."

Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his head and said: "No, no, director Remy and I don't want to change the male lead. We are very satisfied with Tobey Maguire's performance. But to be honest, our attitude towards him and his agent Not satisfied.”

Unlike when Depp participated in "Pirates", because "Spider-Man" itself is an IP movie and not original, Tobey Maguire signed a trilogy contract when he joined the "Spider-Man" project.

Of course, his salary for this trilogy is not static, there will be a considerable increase for each film. For example, his salary for the first film was US$4 million, but for the second film it rose to the range of 10-15 million.

15 million is actually a top-tier salary in Hollywood, but unfortunately the first "Spider-Man" did so well at the box office and made so much money that anyone who watched it would be jealous.

Therefore, Tobey Maguire wanted to renegotiate with the producers and proposed a treatment of 25 million or 10% of the North American box office. It is definitely impossible for Sony and Wu Yuchen to agree to him, otherwise wouldn't the original contract be in vain?

With a contract, Tobey Maguire naturally can't be reasonable. As a result, he resorted to the technique of injuring his back before filming started. To be honest, this kind of trick is very offensive, especially when it is about to disrupt the crew's plans before filming.

"Actually, the back injury is just an excuse. In the final analysis, their goal is to increase the salary. But we cannot let them succeed in this way. We must express our tough attitude to the outside world. If we compromise, we will make them feel that we He is weak and can be bullied, and he will definitely be more open-minded in the third part.

Mr. Stringer, what we are competing for now is patience. We hold the contract and have the initiative. Now I want to invite other suitable actors to replace him.

Don't worry, Tobey Maguire is nothing without "Spider-Man". He and his agent also know this and will bow their heads and return to the set. "

After hearing what Wu Yuchen said, Howard Stringer nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Okay, Wu, I believe you can solve this matter. The sequel of "Spider-Man" will continue to achieve dazzling results~"

"Of course!" the two said, clinking their wine glasses again.

Howard Stringer seemed to suddenly think of something and said, "By the way, Wu, there is something I think I need to tell you~"

"Oh? What?" Wu Yuchen asked.

"I had received a call from a director of Sony over at Neon. He wanted me to mobilize the power of Sony in North America to discredit your "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and prevent you from competing for the Oscar."

Wu Yuchen narrowed his eyes after hearing this, but since the other party said it so frankly, he probably didn't have any ill intentions towards him.

As expected, Howard smiled and continued: "Don't worry, Wu, I have rejected him. You are our closest partner at Sony Columbia, and we will not do anything to damage our friendly relationship."

After hearing this, Wu Yuchen thanked him directly: "Thank you, Mr. Stringer!"

"Little things. If you need anything, just ask~" After Howard finished speaking, he felt that his goal for the day had been achieved, so he left with a smile.

Looking at Howard's back, Wu Yuchen took a sip of red wine. His strategy of building good relationships in Hollywood in the past two years is indeed correct. If it were not for the common interest of "Spider-Man" with Sony this time, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" would have really encountered a lot of resistance.

In fact, Sony, as Neon's representative multinational consortium, has broken away from the categories of left and right. In other words, even though there are leftists and rightists among its directors, the nature of Sony's own large capital determines that its top priority is to pursue profits.

Neon's biggest influence in Hollywood is Sony. Now that even Sony is on the side of Wu Yuchen, it is destined that they will not be able to make a big splash.

He, Wu Yuchen, has not been fooling around in vain these past few years!

Thinking of this, Wu Yuchen felt relieved. The Golden Globe Awards is a somewhat influential award. This time "The Hours" won Best Picture and Best Actress. Naturally, Wu Yuchen took the two leading ladies to celebrate the night.

And the very next day, another person that Wu Yuchen didn't expect came to the door, Disney's new CEO, Robert Iger.

Seeing the smiling Robert Egger, Wu Yuchen remembered one of his nicknames in his previous life: Smiling Mickey Mouse.

Perhaps it's because the previous Eisner was a tyrant, so the new leader chosen by Disney this time is a president who always has a kind smile, making people think he is a good old man.

But it would be wrong to think that good old Robert Egger looks weak and can be bullied. This guy is quite capable. In a previous life, Disney reached its peak under the leadership of Robert Iger, first acquiring Pixar, then Marvel, and finally even Fox, making Disney a behemoth with a market value of hundreds of billions of dollars. Hollywood is worthy of its name. Big brother.

As soon as he saw Justin Wu, Robert Iger stood up to greet him and extended his hand: "Wu, nice to meet you! Congratulations on your great harvest at yesterday's Golden Globe Awards!"

But Wu Yuchen did not shake hands with him. He just nodded and replied lightly: "Thank you."

Then he asked directly: "Mr. Egger, why are you here today? I don't think my relationship with Disney is good enough for you to come and congratulate me in person."

As the CEO of Disney, Robert Iger did not show any dissatisfaction with Wu Yuchen's neglect, and still maintained a kind smile: "Just call me Robert. Wu, I am here today only for one thing, and that is to talk to you. make friends!"

Wu Yuchen was slightly stunned when he heard this and looked at Robert Egger. The feud between Wu Yuchen and Disney is well known throughout Hollywood. It has been made public since "Pirate King" versus "Pearl Harbor". And he personally participated in ousting former Disney president Michael Eisner!

Now Robert Iger, the new CEO of Disney, comes and wants to be friends with him?

Thinking of this, Wu Yuchen smiled and joked: "Robert, if you are thanking me because I kicked Eisner off the stage, then there is no need. I am just happy for myself!"

Robert immediately responded with a smile: "Oh, it seems there is one more reason for us to become friends! I really want to sincerely thank you, otherwise I might not be able to sit in this seat now~"

Wu Yuchen thought to himself that the guy in front of him was indeed interesting, and he was not simple at all. A Disney CEO could always keep his attitude so low, and he, a person who had always had a bad feeling towards Disney, couldn't help but want to continue talking to him. Worthy of being "Smiling Mickey Mouse"!