Full-time actor

Chapter 556 [121] The second person in the country! The issue price is second only to Zhang Yimou!
Best Actor Award: Koichi Sato for "Pray to the Snow"!
Special Jury Prize: Hans Canosa's "Conversations with Women"!
……

The awarding of two major prizes in a row made Chen Yu's heart tremble; this year's Tokyo Film Emperor was once again won by a Japanese actor, and the Special Jury Award, which was second only to the final grand prize, was given to a British-American co-production.

This is also the film that won her the Best Actress award.

"There are still three prizes left, right?"

Chen Yu asked Huo Jianqi beside him, and Huo Jianqi nodded: "Yes, Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Director and Best Film!"

Huo Jianqi will not be able to get the Lifetime Achievement Award because he is not old enough.

The only film that didn't win any award, "The Village", has a good chance of winning Best Director and Best Picture. Huo Jianqi would be satisfied with either of these two awards, so he looked a little excited.

"Director Huo, congratulations!"

The organizer took the initiative to call him and asked him to stay, so it was obvious that Huo Jianqi could win the prize.

There are three Chinese films shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Eastern Film Festival. "The Two of Us" just won the Best Actress award, and Yang Yazhou won the Best Artistic Contribution. Originally, Chen Yu felt that "The Village" should have won this award, but now it has missed it, which means that Huo Jianqi will win other awards.

As each award was presented, the answer became increasingly clear.

The winner of the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement is also a Chinese director - Hou Hsiao-hsien from Taiwan.

This time, Dongying Huaxia Film can be said to have achieved a historic harvest, which is equivalent to Huaxia's home court; Zhang Yimou's tendency to serve as the chairman of the jury is indeed obvious to outsiders.

This is extremely disadvantageous for him to serve as the chairman of an international jury.

According to historical records, he will serve as the chairman of the jury of the Venice Film Festival the year after next. This looks very uncertain!
The awards were all given to their own people, and European foreigners also have to consider the cost of hiring Zhang Yimou.

“Best Director!”

Jiang Wen held the winning card on the stage and slowly pulled it out.

Chen Yu stood up and walked backstage to the award ceremony.

The final Golden Kylin Award has been changed to the Tokyo Sakura Award starting this year and will be presented by Chen Yulai; and this name change also officially heralds the turning point of the Tokyo Film Festival from prosperity to decline; the good Golden Kylin has been changed to the Sakura Award.

Up to this point, the Tokyo Film Festival has been getting worse year by year. After 2010, it even launched a "special award" for China, and in 2015, the Golden Crane Award was established.

All kinds of cool operations where you can win prizes by paying money.

"Huo Jianqi, "Village in Summer and Autumn"!"

Hearing Jiang Wen's magnetic voice coming from the front desk, Chen Yu in the award ceremony channel couldn't help but clench his fist and wave.

Best Director, Huo Jianqi!
This award is more suitable for him than artistic contribution.

Artistic contribution is for the film in question. As for individual awards, the Best Director award is a greater help to the director.

"If the final grand prize is still a Chinese film, then Lao Mouzi will be giving away a lot of money this time!"

As Chen Yu was thinking about this, he took the letter representing the final Sakura Grand Prize from the emcee and walked onto the stage gracefully and proudly.

He was wearing a well-ironed suit, his usual short haircut, and an extremely masculine and handsome face. As soon as he stepped onto the stage, the audience burst into loud and cheering applause. The best award was presented by Chen Yu, the most popular person in Dongying. It took a while for the entire venue to fall completely silent.

"Sakura Grand Prize - Yoshitaro Negishi's "Praying to the Snow"!"

Chen Yu opened the envelope, held the microphone in his hand with a slight smile, and announced the list of winners.

Zhang Yimou still has to give the organizer some face.

"Devote All To Snow" is one of only two Japanese films shortlisted for this year's Tokyo Film Awards. The other one did not win any award, but this one won the Best Actor and Best Picture awards; it took home the two most prestigious awards.

On the Chinese side, three films won Best Actress, Best Director and Best Artistic Contribution awards.

Lifetime Achievement and Audience Award, which are not included in the main competition awards.

So from this perspective, Zhang Yimou still had to make some choices.

At this point, the 12-day 18th Tokyo International Film Festival has come to a successful conclusion.

Chen Yu was being interviewed by reporters backstage. Of course, Zhang Yimou, Huo Jianqi and others were also present. Although Liu Yifei and Ma Liwen did not win any awards, they were also surrounded by reporters. The entire backstage of the Tokyo Film Festival looked like China was playing at home.

Everyone was very satisfied with this trip to Eastern Film.

After the interview, Zhang Yimou invited everyone from China who were attending the award ceremony to celebrate together.

Since the “Chairman” had spoken, it was embarrassing for everyone to refuse.

Pang Liwei had already arranged a dinner in advance at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Roppongi Hills; of course, it was not paid for by Zhang Yimou, but by the sponsor of Dongying. Chen Yu saw many familiar figures.

The premiere of "Extraction" in the afternoon was a huge hit. The original price was around 3000 million US dollars, but now it is estimated to be 4000 million.

Everything is market feedback after the film is released.

Distributors understand the market best, and the group of female audiences in the cinema in the afternoon was the best proof of this.

Chen Yu's work "The Escape Plan" is not only for men, but women should receive special attention as well; it also has great educational significance in terms of family.

Its audience is huge.

When it comes down to it, a movie's reputation and the appeal of its actors come second to its genre.

No matter how strong Chen Yu's box office appeal is, he can't possibly make 1 million yuan at the box office with an art film; there are many movies with good reputations that fail.

But genre can dominate the basic foundation of a movie.

It's this movie that will attract so many people to go to the cinema to watch it; even if it's a terrible movie, its box office may be able to beat a highly acclaimed art film. The market is sometimes so ruthless, and it has nothing to do with the amount of investment.

Commercial films and comedies have always been the kings of the genre box office.

And among the kings, the market is further subdivided.

Comedy films also depend on the audience. Family films are always the mainstream in the market; while action films are the largest genre because they can attract women and families.

Therefore, the market for Chen Yu's new film is very broad. Coupled with the word-of-mouth after watching the movie, the market forecast certainly has new predictions.

Not to mention United Artists, Columbia, 20th Century Fox, and even Jiang Zhiqiang all called Chen Yu.

They wanted to obtain the European and American distribution rights of "Extraction", and the price was set at around 4000 million!
In addition to owning a distribution company, Jiang Zhiqiang actually also represents the sales of many European and American films in Asia, so he naturally has channels.

But of course all this has nothing to do with Chen Yu. He has handed over the distribution rights of the film to Yang Lu.

He has to rush to Sanya early tomorrow morning.

The day after tomorrow is the Golden Rooster Awards ceremony, and both he and Liu Yifei have to attend.

And it's not just him. Basically all the Chinese filmmakers participating in the Eastern Film Awards had to go together, including Zhang Yimou. After all, it was the centenary of Chinese cinema, and this year's Golden Rooster Awards was held very grandly. Basically all the people who could be invited were invited, including filmmakers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong.

Especially those from Hong Kong and Taiwan's Li An, who are going to participate in the Golden Horse Awards, will definitely not come. Moreover, directors like Li An have always been afraid of politics. To put it nicely, they are trying to protect themselves, but in fact, their stance is vague.

And most of the directors in Taiwan are like this, the more extreme ones are cheating.

However, it is not that there is no representation.

Ke Shouliang and his son, one was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and the other for Best Newcomer; if nothing unexpected happened, both of them would attend the event; and the next day, they would have to return to Taiwan to continue participating in the Golden Horse Awards.

Because of the Golden Horse Awards, they were also shortlisted.

This year's Golden Rooster Awards are more or less politically correct, but no one thinks it is inappropriate because this is the "feature" of this award!
You say it has no gold content, but it is getting higher and higher; you say it has a high gold content, but it is not that great.

The key is still difficult to get.

This makes it look particularly golden.

In fact, Chen Yu was just going through the motions because Chang Li asked him to go, so he had to participate well. Moreover, the secretary-general of the jury this time was a senior from the Central Academy of Drama, so he had to give him face.

China is a society that values ​​personal relationships, and Chen Yu is certainly no exception.

... "Chen Yu, your movie this time should be able to sell for a high price!"

"Is this your first time starring in a commercial film independently?"

Zhang Weiping suddenly walked in front of Chen Yu. Of course, he was indispensable at Zhang Yimou's cocktail party.

"Yes, Mr. Zhang, this is my first time starring in a leading role!"

"It's none of my business what the price is!"

Chen Yu toasted him with a glass, and Zhang Weiping shook his head: "It can't be lower, I just asked for you, and the conservative estimate is 4000 million!"

At this price, he is definitely the second best in the country.

Even Chen Kaige's films couldn't be sold for such a high price. "The Promise" only sold for 3000 million. Only Zhang Yimou's films could be sold for more than 5000 million US dollars.

"more or less!"

Chen Yu doesn't need to be humble. When he met Zhang Weiping two years ago, he must have lowered his posture, but there is really no need to do so now. If you do too much, people will just think you are pretending.

Now he does have the ability.

"That's amazing, it's only been a few years?"

"When I asked you to be the lead actor in House of Flying Daggers two years ago, I knew you would be a great talent!"

"But I didn't expect that he would become so famous so quickly... He has even won the Grand Slam Best Actor Award!"

Zhang Weiping smiled, and his words were full of reminiscence of the past; this was setting a trap for others, and Chen Yu could understand what he meant. When drinking water, one should not forget the person who dug the well. Don't forget that he got ahead by relying on the movie invested by the other party.

Chen Yu remained calm and nodded: "Yes, I also want to thank Director Zhang and Mr. Zhang for the opportunity!"

"Haha, no, you are the one who has the ability!"

"Forget it, let's not talk about this!"

Zhang Weiping took a sip of champagne and said, "I heard from Yimou that your schedule is until the end of next year?"

"Yep!"

"what happened?"

Chen Yu took the initiative to talk, and Zhang Weiping sighed: "Yimou's new film, I want to work with you again. Before, you said you didn't have the schedule, so he didn't think much about it, but I was thinking, can we make a new film and refresh the domestic box office again!"

"At least, break the box office record of Titanic, right?"

The current domestic box office record for domestic films is still "House of Flying Daggers" with 3.15 million yuan. The second is "Kung Fu" with 3.03 million yuan. Both are movies starring Chen Yu!
But the total domestic box office of "Titanic" is 3.6 million!
Who among those who make movies doesn’t want to break this record?
Chen Yu understood what Zhang Weiping meant.

"Mr. Zhang, Director Zhang told me before that I really want to work with him, but the earliest schedule will be the end of next year!"

"I know Director Zhang's energy and dedication, I definitely can't delay his filming progress..."

In fact, Chen Yu didn't want to act in "Curse of the Golden Flower". This drama is different from "House of Flying Daggers"; "House of Flying Daggers" was a bad drama in its previous life because of editing and a series of changes, such as the sudden death of Mei Yanfang and the injury of one of the leading actors Jin Chengwu.

The script and the filming could really save it.

But there is really no way to change the fate of "Curse of the Golden Flower", not even if Chen Yu changes the script, and of course Zhang Yimou won't let him change it.

This script is an adaptation of "Thunderstorm", the first famous Chinese drama in history. Who would dare to change such a mature script?
This is enough to show Zhang Yimou's ambition.

He thought that such a mature book would take off if it was modified a little bit.

But unexpectedly, although the box office took off, Zhang Yimou's reputation suffered the first Waterloo in history.

It is true that Thunderstorm is a classic drama, but there is something wrong with your modification... Mainly because Zhang Yimou wanted to shoot the grand war scenes, and he added a lot of his own plots to the script of Thunderstorm.

This is hard to break down.

"The progress of the shooting is easy to talk about. As long as you agree, we can negotiate!"

"I've read Yimou's new script, and there's a role in it that's really suitable for you. It can be said to be tailor-made for you. Besides you, I'm going to invite Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, and Zhou Jielun, who's very popular recently. This is his first time filming on the big screen!"

"Is this lineup luxurious enough?"

Zhang Weiping smiled, and his face looked very contented.

Chen Yu knew which role he was going to play, the eldest prince played by Liu Huohua. He had many rival scenes with Gong Li and Zhou Runfa, and it seemed that he even had passionate scenes with Gong Li.

Because the two people had an affair.

I just don’t know whether this is Zhang Weiping’s plan or Zhang Yimou’s idea.

Of course, this is not a big difference.

Zhang Yimou definitely wanted him to play the role, but I don’t know whether he asked Zhang Weiping to be a lobbyist or Zhang Weiping came directly.

"Both film remuneration and dividends are fine!"

"How about, think about it?"

Zhang Weiping patted Chen Yu on the shoulder, and Chen Yu smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, the pay and dividends don't matter. I can even act for free, but Director Zhang may not agree to that by the end of next year!"

"Of course I am willing to do that. We won't start filming until April or May next year!"

"At worst, I can do the post-production first, and then reshoot when you are in place!"

Zhang Weiping was determined to get Chen Yu into this situation.

But Chen Yu knew that Zhang Yimou definitely didn't have the time to wait.

Because at the end of next year, he will be the chief director of the 08 Olympic Games and will have no time to make a movie at all, so he must finish filming before that.

"Okay, then have someone send me the script when the time comes!"

"But I can't guarantee the time. If there is a conflict in the schedule, Mr. Zhang, you have to prepare in advance!"

Chen Yu tried to procrastinate, and Zhang Weiping obviously didn't think much about it. He just thought Chen Yu agreed and breathed a sigh of relief: "What about the pay and dividends?"

"Just talk to my agency!"

"I'll be responsible for signing the contract!"

"Ok!"

Of course Zhang Weiping would not believe what Chen Yu had just said. Even if Chen Yu did not want remuneration or dividends, he would not do that.

Speaking of business, Zhang Weiping does have this credibility.

Because he knew very well that by bringing Chen Yu into Zhang Yimou's new film, the box office would not only break the record of "Titanic", but would also easily surpass "House of Flying Daggers"; the investment amount for this new film was also the highest in history.

And the lineup is equally luxurious.

The number one in the Chinese music scene, the number one in the film industry, the number one female star with international influence, the number three Chinese male star in Hollywood... This lineup has basically reached a base of 2 million.

……

The dinner lasted until the early morning before everyone dispersed.

After returning to the hotel, Chen Yu and Liu Yifei did nothing, which was rare. They just hugged each other and fell asleep.

After waking up the next day, after meeting Jiang Wen, Huo Jianqi and others, everyone rushed to Tokyo Airport.

There is no direct flight from Tokyo to Sanya. This time, the Golden Rooster Awards will be held in Sanya, so the group has to transfer in Shanghai.

(End of this chapter)