China Entertainment started in 2004

On the eve of the release of "Interstellar", Wang Shu not only returned to China to record a talk show, but also appeared on the cover of Time magazine with the leading actors Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain.

Not only that, in fact, before October, Paramount Chairman Brad Grey held several private internal screenings in advance, and presented the film in 10mm IMAX version. Big directors including Li An and Edgar Wright attended the internal screenings to warm up for the film's release.

Moreover, because this is a film directed by Wang Shu, Paramount and Yikeshu Company distinguished the differences between China and other regions in the trailer, and will release a China-exclusive version of the trailer two days before the release, revealing more movie content.

At the same time, as a Chinese distributor, China Film Group has also put a lot of effort into domestic promotion.

Soon, the Asian press conference for "Interstellar" will be held in Shanghai.

At that time, director Wang Shu will attend the press conference with starring actors Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway.

This is the only stop in Asia for the film's global tour, and it is also the first time for the two Hollywood celebrities to visit China to do the final work to warm up the film.

At the same time as the film was released, the "space chair" that simulated the driving environment selected by Wang Shu, that is, the "Interstellar" virtual reality experience, was launched in five countries around the world, and Beijing would become one of them.

Generally speaking, a producer's film marketing is nothing more than a large number of public appearances by the entire creative team, frequent interviews on TV or in magazines, etc. These marketing methods often suddenly disappear as if being completely extinguished by a basin of cold water after the premiere day, and the subsequent box office performance of the film depends purely on word of mouth.

But "Interstellar" is different. The film will be promoted as the "brain-burning science" work of the year, relying on the vast amount of physics knowledge and difficult-to-pronounce professional vocabulary that Professor Kipp brings to "Interstellar".

At the same time, some means will be used to make relevant physics popular science posts, "expert" analysis posts, etc. appear on the Internet.

The success of a movie has a lot to do with publicity.

As a blockbuster movie, "Interstellar" will be promoted in various ways.

High-IQ movies can make the audience think and feel, and at the same time can arouse widespread discussion among fans, which provides fertile ground for product placement.

However, unlike other Hollywood blockbusters, the advertising placements in the "High IQ" series of films are mainly luxury goods, cars, and airplanes.

In "Interstellar", the watch, which is used as a key clue, is implanted with an advertisement for Hamilton watches.

Other placements include Red Wing's work boots and the luxury brand founded by Wang Shu.

This was an opportunity to make the deceptive luxury brand he had previously founded seem more genuine and more deceptive through the product placement in "Interstellar".

……

On October 10, Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey and others came to China's Magic City to promote "Interstellar".

Anne Hathaway is well-known in China and has a large fan base. As soon as she arrived in Shanghai, she was invited to participate in some media interviews.

Media: "Director Wang Shu has always been good at using the camera to show ideas related to time and space, and Interstellar has taken this to the extreme. In Wang Shu's own words, if there must be a villain, it is time."

"Annie, as far as we know, the character you play in the film, Dr. Brand, is an astronaut and explorer who travels through time and space to reach outer space with the mission of saving humanity. Can you tell us about it?"

Anne Hathaway smiled and said: "My dream since childhood is to be an astronaut. This movie feels like a dream come true."

"But in order to be able to play the role of an astronaut in the movie, I also paid a lot, and the first thing I paid was physical training."

"To be honest, although I was very excited when I put on the space suit for the first time, I soon felt that it was really heavy and powerful."

Anne underwent extensive fitness training during filming so that her body could withstand the pressure of the space suit.

Then, the media asked her about her role this time which was very different from her previous weak "girl next door" image.

Anne Hathaway laughed: "Weak? Haha, I'm a 'tomboy'!"

She was telling the truth. Although "The Princess Diaries" gave her the screen image of a sweet princess and "The Devil Wears Prada" gave her the image of a girl next door, she is not like that in person.

I am a funny guy and a bit pretentious.

At the same time, there is also a common problem among many beautiful women, which is being too selfish.

But this is in daily life. If she is working or doing it for work, she will restrain these bad habits.

The media then asked why Anne Hathaway participated in "Interstellar".

Anne Hathaway smiled and said: "Paramount called me and asked if I would like to play a role in Shue's new movie. I immediately said yes! Paramount also asked me: 'Don't you want to ask about the content and role?'"

"I said everyone knows which Shu's new film is, and Shu is a very talented director, especially when it comes to making science fiction films."

"I was actually very excited when I received the call, because many people knew that the new film that Paramount was preparing was a collaboration with Shu, and that the script was also written by Shu."

"After the casting was announced, many people were interested in the film."

"I didn't expect that the tree would choose me in the end."

Media: "What does the story of Interstellar mean to you?"

Anne Hathaway: "It was soul-stirring. I was deeply attracted to it. I was amazed by the science fiction concept in the film, and the emotional elements were also very powerful. This is a very emotional story. I like every aspect of it."

Media: "You play an excellent scientist, but at the same time she also has the most ordinary people's weaknesses, shortcomings and persistence in love. This should be a very beautiful role, right?"

Anne Hathaway: "Yes, it's a very beautiful character. It took me a while to get to know her. She was a very strong character at first, and it took me a while to understand where her strength came from."

"I feel like we're all vulnerable deep down inside, and I feel like her strength is just a mask for her fears, and she has to face her fears on this journey, and this journey has made her humble, and that's something I'm very interested in exploring, because from my personal experience, when you learn to be humble, you can learn, and you can really start to grow and change."

The media then asked: "Are you confident that you can compete for the Oscar for Best Actress with the role of Dr. Brand?"

Anne Hathaway smiled and gave a negative answer: "No! This is not a role that can lead you to win an Oscar. She plays an important role in the movie, but it does not mean that there is a lot of room for me to play my acting skills and win an award."

At this point, she smiled slyly and added humorously: "But in order to give everyone more positive energy, I should say that everything is possible."

This statement actually revealed that she really wanted to win the Oscar for Best Actress through this role, but "Interstellar" is a commercial film. On the Oscar stage, it is extremely difficult to compete for the Best Actor and Best Actress awards with a commercial film.

Anne Hathaway knew this and immediately gave a negative answer.

But she also had some extravagant hopes in her heart, so she added another sentence at the end.

Media: "Overall, how would you describe this filming experience?"

Anne Hathaway: "Very good. I feel very lucky. I have had many wonderful filming experiences. Not all of them are good, but most of them are. Filming this film has changed me a little. I don't know if it is influenced by the theme of the film or the cooperation with Matthew. I know Matthew has a great influence on me. He has always been an actor who has received much media attention and is very talented, but he still lives a down-to-earth life. His kindness moves you, and then you see the tree. He should be the greatest director alive..."

……

10 month 27 day.

Wang Shu, Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey appeared at the "Interstellar" press conference in Shanghai.

As with previous foreign film launches, the two leading actors were particularly enthusiastic about China and said that this was their first visit to mainland China.

In fact, in the original timeline, Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey just greeted politely and said that it was their first time in mainland China, and they were not very enthusiastic.

This time it was different because Wang Shu was the director, and he seemed very enthusiastic even though it was his first time.

The reason was that it was a press conference for a foreign language film, and it would be a bit bad to make it too grand.

There are some things that you should pay attention to, otherwise you will fall into the ditch if you are not careful.

There were no more fancy or gimmicky segments in the press conference. After a few warm-up questions from the host, the group interview began quickly.

When faced with questions about the plot, Wang Shu remained tight-lipped. When asked by the media what the ending of the film meant, Wang Shu directly refused to answer the question.

Some media directly told Wang Shu that the film might be too obscure, and that the overly profound astronomical theories and concepts in the film would seriously affect the viewing interest of ordinary audiences.

Wang Shu countered with an example: "When watching 007 dismantle a nuclear bomb, do viewers want to understand the structure of the nuclear bomb? No! All they need to understand is 'if Bond doesn't dismantle it, the nuclear bomb will explode'. The same is true for this film. You don't have to study the theories in the film. Just enjoy the process of watching the film."

Later, some media enthusiastically promoted "The Three-Body Problem", which is regarded as a masterpiece by domestic science fiction fans, to Wang Shu, but Wang Shu did not comment on this.

He is also planning to bring "The Wandering Earth" to the big screen in the future.

Even without any domestic media recommendations, he was still interested in Xiao Liu's works.

In response to reporters' questions, two actors, Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey, talked about their experience of working with Wang Shu in the film.

Matthew said that his character is both a father and an astronaut, which is actually a very complex character, and Wang Shu always helps him get into the state on the set in a very meticulous manner, no matter how noisy the environment around him is.

When the media asked why Matthew McConaughey was favored by Wang Shu when DiCaprio, Matt Damon and others also had ideas about the male lead of "Interstellar"?

Matthew McConaughey spread his hands and said, "I don't know, actually. When I received a call from Paramount, saying that they invited me to star in this movie, I also knew that Leon, Matt and others were interested in this movie, which showed that this movie must be an excellent work, so I agreed without thinking twice."

Wang Shu was listening at the side and couldn't help but feel that the reporter's question was a bit presumptuous.

Although he is a big director, Matthew McConaughey is also a big-name Hollywood star. Even if he doesn't work with him, there will be many big projects looking for him to cooperate, so it can't be said that he is favored.

Fortunately, Matthew McConaughey was quite considerate.

Meanwhile, Anne Hathaway, who has many fans in China, talked about her experience wearing a space suit just like she did in an interview in North America: "I was very excited when I first put it on, but after 40 minutes it felt very heavy, and it was very difficult when I tried to run in it."

Anne Hathaway said that she had to apply for a fitness coach to exercise for the film, which enabled her to complete the filming smoothly.

As an actor from Disney, Anne Hathaway not only has good acting skills, but also has many fans in China.

This is thanks to the sweet princess image she has created since her debut, but now she is trying her best to get rid of this image and has achieved considerable results.

However, the movie for which she is best known by Chinese audiences is "The Devil Wears Prada".

She gained fans because of her girl-next-door image in this movie, and then learned about her sweet princess image since her debut.

Since the press conference was held in China, it was natural that the media would ask the creators some questions with Chinese characteristics.

The media asked Hathaway whether she would participate in some movies with Chinese elements. Hathaway said: "I will only cooperate with professional filmmakers and excellent projects, whether it has Chinese elements or not. Of course, if Shu invites me, I think I will not refuse."

After hearing the answer, the media asked Wang Shu again: "Director Wang, will you invite Annie to star in a Chinese-language film in the future?"

Wang Shu smiled and replied: "If there is a chance, I think I will."

This is just a polite remark, and everyone can hear it, but media reporters just pretend not to hear it and don't take it seriously.

At the same time, he asked, "Director Wang, will you make a movie with Chinese elements in Hollywood in the future?"

Wang Shu heard this and repeated what he said at the beginning: "If there is a chance, I should be able to do it."

The media reporter did not ask any more questions, but instead asked which Chinese movie Anne Hathaway and others liked?
Faced with this question, Anne Hathaway said without hesitation: "The Piano Tuner."

Then he added, "I read the English version first, and then the Chinese version."

Matthew McConaughey responded: "Me too."

In the original timeline, the two had never watched a Chinese film and knew nothing about it.

Only Nolan has seen Zhang Yimou's "Ju Dou". As for Director Chen, who praised Nolan's "Interstellar" to the sky, Nolan has never seen his movie at all... (End of this chapter)