Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 348 359 [Planning for next year's Oscars! The plastic sisters' rematch] Please subscribe
Ten minutes later.

The number of guests on the red carpet gradually decreased.

After welcoming the last group of guests, Li Yishu, Amy and Harvey walked into the theater.

A few minutes later.

"Chicago" officially premiered.

In fact, most people are not optimistic about a Chinese person making an American musical, especially the Broadway classic "Chicago".

Among them was the president of the academy, Arthur Miller.

I was invited here this time purely to see what "Chicago" shot by the Chinese is like.

However, as the movie slowly played out, the American 1930s era style and the perfect and classic songs and dances made Arthur Miller abandon his previous ideas and start watching the movie seriously.

There are many people who think like him.

After watching the first ten minutes of the film, most of the film critics, as well as the invited stars, producers, and directors, were immersed in the world of musicals that had not been seen in Hollywood for many years.

"Lee, we succeeded." Harvey had been observing the expressions of Arthur Miller and other old white men. Seeing their changes from suspicion and disdain at the beginning to seriousness and joy now, he knew that the movie was a success.

"Huh?" Li Yishu looked at him puzzledly.

“Arthur Miller, they love it.”

Harvey said excitedly, "The majority of the Academy members are over 50 years old. Most of them have experienced the glorious era of musicals. Your film Chicago is very much to their liking. I believe that it will be no problem for you to win a major award at the Oscars next year!"

There are only four major awards at the Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor/Actress.

It is unlikely to win the Best Actor/Actress award, as Nao and Cindy are not good at acting. Tom Hanks only won the Oscar this year, so it is basically impossible for him to win next year.

Then there are only Best Picture and Best Director!
Although I have already won the three European awards, as well as the Cannes Best Director Award, the Venice Silver Lion Award, and the Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Film Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival...

But if she wins another Oscar for Best Picture or Best Director, it will also be a good resume for Lee Yi-su.

In the next ten years...

No, in the next twenty years, until 2015, the influence of the Oscars will gradually spread to the whole world along with Hollywood movies.

If Lee Yi-su can win an Oscar, then for at least the next twenty years, the title of Godfather of Asian films will be well-deserved.

There is no way around it. The strength of the film industry is there. Hollywood movies will show an upward trend in the next 20 years. And it is not just an ordinary increase, it can be said to be sweeping the world. The big ship a few years later will push Hollywood movies to the whole world.

Li Yishu's base is in China and also in Asia, and the most critical ones are naturally East Asia and Southeast Asia.

An Oscar award is crucial to Li Yishu's future development.

After figuring this out, Li Yishu smiled and said, "Harvey, I believe you have the ability to push our movie to the Oscars and win the award!"

"Haha, no problem, Lee, your movie is amazing, Chicago will definitely be included in the Oscars tomorrow!"

Ever since Pulp Fiction successfully received multiple Oscar nominations, not only did the box office soar, but the video tape market also exploded. Harvey saw his future fortune, which was the Oscars!
"Chicago" has half of his investment in it, and the quality of the film is there. The director Lee Yi-su is also a world-renowned international director. If he wins an Oscar next year, the related peripheral products will surely sell like hot cakes.

After all, watching a musical like this at home and in a cinema are two completely different experiences.

The two chatted in low voices for a few words and then began to watch the movie seriously.

Li Yishu is also looking for problems in the movie. It is slightly different from the previous version. Naomi Watts' acting is okay, but Cindy's acting is much worse. Fortunately, this is a musical, and her dancing is very complete, coupled with her supermodel figure, which makes people excited after watching it.

That’s enough, because Tom Hanks is the backup in terms of acting.

The movie was 114 minutes long, less than two hours, and it ended very quickly.

Li Yishu, Harvey and other leading actors took the stage to take their bows.

"Lee, you made an excellent musical." Arthur Miller encouraged: "It's hard to imagine that you, a Chinese, can make such a wonderful musical. This is the best musical I have seen in the past ten years!"

"Maybe it's because I've watched a lot of musicals from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I'm full of longing for the Hollywood of that era, but I know that such an era is gone forever and may only remain in our memories."

Kind words don't cost money, so Li Yishu will naturally not be stingy with his kind words.

"Yes, that was the best of times," said Arthur Miller.

When people get old, they tend to be nostalgic, especially an octogenarian like Arthur Miller, who longs for that era.

Because at that time he was young and full of energy, not like he is now, with an old body. Although he was respected and 18-year-old blonde beauties would come to him just by waving his hand, his life was like a puddle of mud.

Nostalgia comes and goes as it pleases. Arthur Miller asked curiously, "Lee, did you make this movie because you yearn for that era?"

Li Yishu spread his hands and said, "Yes, I want to experience that era, so there is such a movie. Chairman Miller, you are someone who has experienced that golden age, which is enviable. I want to ask you, does this movie restore part of that era?"

"great!"

Arthur Miller agreed: "Not only part of it has been restored, but a large part. The only thing missing may be that you have not experienced that era. Perhaps you can read a book I wrote, "The Golden Age of Hollywood"

"No problem, President Miller. I will read your work later. I will read it carefully. Maybe it can give me inspiration for the second part?"

"Is your next movie a musical?"

"I have this idea, but Chairman Miller should know that this is the era of special effects blockbusters. I have to be responsible for the company and investors."

"Yeah, in this era of commercial films, all of them are special effects blockbusters, which is disgusting."

Arthur Miller made no secret of his disgust for special effects movies. The movies of his era relied entirely on the actors' acting skills, which was completely different from this era, where all kinds of special effects are piled up to fill people's eyes.

After chatting for a while, perhaps because of his age, after watching a two-hour movie, Arthur Miller looked obviously tired and said goodbye with the help of his assistant.

Li Yishu smiled and turned back to Amy and said, "Amy, your research is correct. Arthur Miller really hates special effects movies."

"It's not just him. I checked and found that almost all the high-ranking officials in the academy are old white men over 50 or 60 years old. They generally hate special effects movies."

Amy heard the term "old white men" from Li Yishu. When they were talking about the older people in the academy, Li Yishu blurted out a bunch of old white men.

This word really describes it perfectly!

Amy has now gotten used to saying it, calling him "old white man".

She asked curiously, "Boss, I saw you had a good chat with Arthur Miller. Do we really have a chance to win an Oscar next year?"

"Do you hope or not?"

"Of course I hope so. This is not only an honor for the boss, but the most important thing is that it can be directly reflected in the commercial value." Amy said seriously: "I have checked. The Oscar-winning films are mainly the best picture and best director movies. Almost after winning the award, these works have a large increase in video tapes and other peripherals. This year's "Forrest Gump" is like this. I talked to the people at Blockbuster. From the day of the award to now, not only has the video tape of "Forrest Gump" sold well, but the rental market has also increased greatly."

"I hope to win a prize." Li Yishu nodded. Of course he hoped to win a prize. Not only could he make money, but most importantly he would get an extra big prize, an Oscar. In the future, in terms of the level of awards, there would probably be few people in the world who could compare with him.

Harvey came over at the reception and asked, "How was the chat?"

"Not bad." Li Yishu turned around and shook his hand. "Harvey, the rest of the publicity work will be handed over to you and Amy. I will accompany the crew to participate in the promotion for a week, and then I will have to return to China to participate in the production of other projects."

Harvey said, "Lee, you really should stay in Hollywood. With your directing ability and my marketing ability, I believe that if we join forces, we can definitely take America by storm!"

Li Yishu laughed and said, "There will definitely be a chance for us to overthrow Harvey in the United States in the future."

"Then I'll be waiting for this opportunity!"

The movie's previous previews were very good, and today's live premiere was even better. Harvey just chatted with a lot of old white men and film critics. The movie is great, and you can't tell at all that it was shot by an Asian director.

The reviews were very high. If Lee Ye-su wasn't a foreign director, this film would probably have been praised to the sky.

After chatting with Harvey for a few more minutes, the group set off for a nearby hotel.

The crew had already booked a banquet room in a nearby hotel to hold the cocktail party.

As the director, Lee Yi-shu was naturally present throughout the whole process and communicated with many film critics. From them, she learned that "Chicago" received extremely high reviews, which made Lee Yi-shu very satisfied.

In this day and age, the influence of North American film critics is still very strong, and most movie fans will look at the critics' reviews of a movie and decide whether to go to see it.

"Chicago" itself satisfies the nostalgia of these old white men in their forties and fifties about the golden age of Hollywood. The quality of the film is also perfect. They received a large sum of writing fees before coming, and they promised with confidence that they would write a good film review after returning.

The cocktail party lasted until ten o'clock.

The guests left one after another.

Harvey came over: "Lee, I have a date, see you tomorrow."

Looking at the unfamiliar beauty leaning against Harvey, Li Yishu smiled and nodded: "See you tomorrow."

After watching the other person leave, Li Yishu turned back and said to Amy, "Amy, I'll leave the rest to you."

"No problem, boss. You can go back first."

"Ah."

Li Yishu nodded, looked at Monica who was walking towards them, took her hand and left.

Naomi Watts, who was not far away, saw this scene and retracted her steps when she was about to walk over.

Nicole Kidman saw this scene and asked with a twinkling look in her eyes: "Nawo, are you familiar with that Chinese director?"

"not bad."

Naomi Watts also admires Nicole Kidman's courage. She almost had a falling out with her last year, but unexpectedly she took the initiative to ask to attend the premiere this time.

"Can you give me his contact information?" Nicole said with a smile, "Tom worked with him on a commercial a few years ago. He admired Lee's directing ability and has always wanted to work with him again."

Seeing Nicole being so proactive, Naomi Watts became alert. She had finally managed to get a close friend, and she didn't want to be snatched away by this vixen Nicole.

God knows whether Tom wants to cooperate or Nicole herself wants to cooperate.

Naomi Watts said: "Sorry Nicole, I have to ask, you know, these big directors don't like their contact information to be leaked."

"Then remember to ask for me."

Nicole smiled brightly, but in her heart she was cursing bitch, fuck, bastard...

"The party is over, I have to go back. I'm driving. Do you want to come with me?"

"No, Tom will come and get me."

"I envy you so much for having Tom."

"Yes, he has always been my pride. By the way, Nawo, I wish your new film a big hit."

"Thank you."

The plastic sisters complimented each other for a few words, and then Naomi Watts turned and walked out.

Nicole looked at the other person's back as she left, muttering and cursing, "Bitch! You're just a little follower. You climbed into the bed of that Chinese director to get the leading actress position. You're a shameless stinking whore!"

After a long scolding, Nicole felt much better. She took out her cell phone from her bag and called her dear Tom. Listening to the woman's laughter on the other end of the phone, her face looked very bad, but she still said, "Tom, the party is over, can you come pick me up?"

"I'm sorry Nicole, I'm talking to the producer about our next new play. Didn't you drive? Or should I ask the driver to pick you up?"

"Forget it, just work hard and I'll take the bus back by myself."

After hanging up the phone, Nicole looked very unhappy. She was proud to marry Tom, but she overestimated the appeal of her looks to men.

In other words, behind every goddess, there is a man who is about to vomit.

Tom is a superstar, so he faces too many temptations, and what Hollywood is not short of is beautiful women.

The following week.

Li Yishu has been promoting the drama with the crew, from Los Angeles to New York, to San Francisco... and other major cities.

Thanks to the high praise from film critics, musicals like "Chicago" have attracted a group of older movie fans.

The film grossed $3700 million in its first weekend.

This number is already high.

After all, it is a musical, and most young people are not interested in such a singing and dancing movie.

Even if you are interested, you will only plan to buy the video tape and take it home later to watch the sexy supermodels dance to satisfy your fantasy about supermodels.

In the second week, the box office dropped sharply to only over 2000 million.

But if nothing unexpected happens, it should not be a problem for the movie to break 8000 million US dollars at the North American box office.

(End of this chapter)