China Entertainment started in 2004

Chapter 680: La La Land Released

"Of course!" Wang Shu answered seriously.

Anne Hathaway pouted her lips when she heard this. Although she didn't respond, her expression showed disbelief.

Wang Shu was too lazy to explain this.

Because even if he explained, he couldn't explain it clearly.

Although the heroine of "La La Land" in the original timeline was Stone, no one except him knew about it.

Anne Hathaway looked at him and pouted, "Didn't you say before that I'm also suitable?"

"So in your heart, Emma is more suitable than me?"

“Is it more suitable or more important?”

Wang Shu felt very uncomfortable when hearing this, thinking, beautiful girl, you have a boyfriend, how can you ask other men such a question so openly?
Is he a scumbag?

"Annie, you and Emma are both excellent actresses."

“Before La La Land, didn’t you star in Interstellar?”

"Emma is also my friend, and she is also very suitable for the role in the script, so..."

His tone was helpless, but even though he didn't finish, Anne Hathaway understood.

She and Stone each starred in a movie, she starred in "Interstellar" and Stone starred in "La La Land".

After hearing this, she didn't want to continue.

Although she did want to star in both films, Wang Shu also said that Emma was also his friend...

Anne Hathaway curled her lips and didn't say anything else.

After the two finished dinner, Anne Hathaway followed Wang Shu to his apartment.

I stayed there for more than two hours before leaving.

In the next few days, both Lao Mo Jie and Kristen came to congratulate Wang Shu on his nomination for the Golden Globe Award.

Stone's nomination for Best Actress at the Golden Globe Awards had a huge impact on them, making them realize that even if Wang Shu found a small actor, he could still get a nomination for a film award.

You can even win a prize!
In other words, if they also collaborate with Wang Shu on art films, they will also have such opportunities.

…………

domestic.

Ever since the Golden Globe Award nominations were announced, Fan Binbin has been in a bad mood.

Ever since she starred in "La La Land", she has been looking forward to being nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Award at the American Television and Film Golden Globe Awards or even the Academy Awards.

Alas, in the end, I failed to achieve my wish.

It is said that the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

She is in a particularly bad mood now because of the greater disappointment she feels.

For her, even if she is only nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, it will be enough to raise her status to a higher level in China.

Not only that, it would also be a good thing to slap Huayi in the face and feel proud.

how...

"Oh~" Fan Binbin sighed in his heart.

She knew very well that Wang Shu's ability was enough to produce an international film queen.

But the key is how to collaborate with Wang Shu to play the leading role in the art film directed by him.

Thinking of Stone's nomination for the Golden Globe, her eyes became dim.

Maybe the way I treated Wang Shu in the past was wrong.

Sometimes, there is no need to beat around the bush, simple and rough methods may work wonders!
…………

On December 12, the crew of "La La Land" held a premiere in Los Angeles.

As an art film, the premiere was not large in scale. Only the actors from the crew attended and then had a brief interaction with the media.

Perhaps the small scale of the premiere of "La La Land" is not only due to the art film, but also because of the cast.

If the film is starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Anne Hathaway and others, there is nothing wrong with holding a larger premiere.

It can be starred by the current actors such as Stone. Except for Ryan Gosling who has some fame, the others are all small-time actors.

With a cast like this, there's no need for a big premiere.

After all, the purpose of art films is to win awards, and box office is not the priority.

Plus, holding a large-scale premiere costs money, which is also unnecessary.

For example, when the national film director Zhang Yimou made a commercial film, the premiere was extremely grand.

When you're making art films, the premieres are much smaller.

The premiere was followed by a dinner party.

Whether it is Stone Sister, Fan Binbin, or Lily Coslin, they are all wearing the same costumes in the movie.

"La La Land" held its premiere in Los Angeles, and Fan Binbin naturally would not miss the opportunity to appear in front of the American media cameras.

Therefore, even though she had a busy schedule, she still squeezed out time to come to Los Angeles.

However, I couldn't stay in Los Angeles for long because of my schedule and had to catch a plane back home after the premiere.

"Director Wang, I have a plane to catch, so I'll leave first."

At the dinner, Fan Binbin found Wang Shu and said.

"Well, be careful on the road." Wang Shu said politely with concern.

Hearing this, Fan Binbin smiled back, then leaned close to his ear and said with a smile, "I'll wait for you in Beijing."

After saying that, she smiled beautifully, turned around and left gracefully.

Wang Shu looked at Fan Binbin's back and smiled.

……

In the early morning of December 12st, "La La Land" was officially released in American cinemas.

January 2011, 1, New Year's Day.

The box office revenue of "La La Land" was released yesterday, 1000 million US dollars.

As an art film, earning tens of millions of dollars on the first day is already a huge success. But for a great director like Wang Shu, it is a little disappointing.

Because "La La Land" had been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards before its release, he did not miss the opportunity and marketed it.

As a result, there was only 1000 million US dollars on the first day.

Although it is very good, we can only hope that the subsequent word-of-mouth will lead to an explosion in the box office.

In the original timeline, La La Land's North American box office was $3.42 million.

Now there are only 1000 million US dollars on the first day, it doesn’t look like it will reach 3.42 million.

However, nothing is certain. It only took in 1000 million US dollars on the first day, but perhaps word of mouth will drive strong box office growth afterwards.

However, Wang Shu is not too concerned about whether the box office will continue to grow strongly.

Because the cost of "La La Land" was only more than 20 million US dollars, according to the rough calculation of three times the investment, it only needs 70 to 80 million US dollars in box office to break even.

With 1000 million US dollars on the first day, it is certain that the box office will exceed million.

Therefore, "La La Land" will definitely not lose money.

As for how much money an art film can make in the end, Wang Shu doesn't care too much.

His main purpose in making this film was to win the Oscar.

With the release of "La La Land", many reviews about the movie appeared on the Internet.

For example, a Chinese film critic living in Los Angeles wrote this after he paid money to watch La La Land in the cinema: "To be honest, at first I was deeply skeptical about young Chinese directors making musicals... well, I was very skeptical."

"Later, La La Land was not only nominated for the Best Picture at the Golden Globe Awards, but Wang Shudu was also nominated for Best Director. I realized something was wrong, so I bought a ticket and went to the cinema."

"As we all know, musicals are no longer as common as they were in the 30s to 60s. Although we still see a few every one or two years, these few musicals are mostly stagnant and can no longer recover the innocence and romance of their heyday."

"I watched La La Land in the cinema and found that it used the traditional Hollywood musical format and the musical techniques of French director Jacques Demy to tell a popular love story."

"Everything from the costumes to the songs to the choreography creates a nostalgic tone that reminds people of the musicals of the past. But it still feels modern enough so as not to alienate contemporary audiences."

“The spirit of exploration of musicals also extends to the story level. La La Land uses sub-genres of musicals (including: traditional MGM musicals, Warner musicals, big jazz and contemporary band films, concert films) to complement each other in various sections. It has heritage, can bring about the evolution of the genre, and has the accumulation of historical heritage. At the same time, they can serve the theme of love, achieving both internal and external cultivation.”

"Director Wang Shu should know how to preserve the style of the past while looking forward. The male protagonist Seba is just such a music fan who misses the good old days. Compared with those outstanding contemporary musicians, he is in an awkward situation - he is obsessed with traditional jazz and cannot extricate himself."

"What Seba, who formed a band in the film, said to him was very telling: 'I know it's different (referring to contemporary bands), but you say you want to save jazz, but how can you save it if no one listens? Jazz is dying because of people like you. You perform in front of 90-year-olds at the Lighthouse Café, but where are the children? Where are the young people? You are obsessed with Kenny Clark and Thelonious Monk, who are innovators. How can you be an innovator if you stick to tradition? You cling to the past, but jazz is about the future.'"

"There is something else behind this statement. The film also uses jazz to tell the future of musicals. Contemporary musicals should not stick to the old ways. They should innovate while maintaining traditions, allowing people to breathe fresh air, bring hope and glory, and have a sparkling and lively vitality. This is why they were once so popular."

"Compared to other genres, musicals are probably the most fond of talking about love, but the difference is that the characters are all good at singing and dancing."

"Musicals also rely most heavily on formulaic creative routines, and are therefore often criticized as 'childish and ridiculous'."

"This view obviously misses the charm of telling stories through song and dance."

"The difficulty of a musical lies in striking a balance between the story and the music. La La Land successfully integrates the music into the story, driving the story forward and replacing the dialogue."

"However, nowadays, there are almost no stars who can sing, dance and act. Ryan and Emma are both non-professional dancers, so they can only perform simple dance moves."

"Fortunately, the director knows how to use the image to its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, and the effect still looks very good."

"In the play, the four seasons are used to represent the different stages of love and career, exploring the individual's compromise and persistence in them, as well as their inability to have both."

"The two actually used love to build confidence in each other's careers (dreams)."

“The tragic ending avoids the naive depiction of happy endings in traditional musicals, which only exist in fairy tales. The final fantasy happy ending is a mirror, detached from reality but also reflecting reality.”

"Using song and dance to express fantasy and dream is a common trick in musicals. It can make up for regrets, tell the gap between dreams and reality, and deepen the healing power of music."

"Since ancient times, musicals have loved fantasy and spectacle, because most of the time, they are the externalization of the inner world of the characters."

"In the final analysis, the tender dreams of musicals are incompatible with the real world. This is why musicals moved from the streets to the mountains and grasslands, from mines and schools to dance halls in the late 60s. After the emergence of large-scale naturalistic musicals, they gradually went downhill."

"Because touching the truth would destroy its original romantic nature."

“Of course, La La Land is a film designed for music lovers. The director also included his own interest in jazz in it, which was really fun.”

“While imitating the gestures of its predecessors, the film is also able to continue their spirit, being cinephilic, retro and innovative.”

"I looked it up after I saw the movie."

“I discovered that not only was the script of La La Land written by Wang Shu, but the music for the interludes was also composed by Wang Shu.”

"If it was any other director, I would never believe it."

“But Wang Shu…it’s well known that he wrote songs for Taylor and it topped the Billboard charts.”

“This shows that Wang Shu is capable of composing these interlude soundtracks.”

"At first I doubted that he, a Chinese director, could make a good musical."

"Now it seems that I underestimated his talent."

"Wang Shu not only shoots musicals, but he also composes the music for the interludes."

“Maybe Wang Shu not only has this talent, but also works hard.”

"I think many people understand that Wang Shu has been in Hollywood for three years. He did not try to make musicals when he first came to Hollywood, but only after two or three years."

"Maybe he has been learning since he came to Hollywood, and then he presented this La La Land."

“Perhaps, it is precisely because he is a Chinese director that he can make musicals differently.”

“Only then can we present a La La Land like this.”

“Really, as a musical, it’s amazing.”

"No wonder it was nominated for the Golden Globe Awards for Best Director and Best Picture. The film is truly outstanding!"

"I've said before that although musicals are declining, there are still two or three of them every year,"

"But without exception, they are all mediocre."

"This shows that the thinking of American directors in making musicals has become rigid. Apart from using the formula to present a clichéd and mediocre movie, nothing has changed."

"Wang Shu was able to make such a stunning musical, presumably because he is from China and his thinking is not rigid!"

…………

Wang Shu happened to see this film review on his computer in his apartment and silently gave it a thumbs up.

What this person said is correct. American musicals have been declining for so many years. There are two or three musicals every year, but few of them make a splash. It is precisely because the thinking of American musical directors has become rigid...

And he is the new brain.

New brains are smart!
(End of this chapter)