The richest person in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 336 The reason behind the award: Disney, the "voluntary"

“The winner of the Grand Jury Prize is”

When the jury chairman Emil Kusturica announced the award, many of the winning crews became nervous.

Many people realized that there were still two major awards left, but only one "Child" had not been won.

It is absolutely impossible for the "Grand Jury Prize" and the "Palme d'Or" to be awarded to the same film.

In other words, there will be several rare "double awards" at this year's Cannes Palme d'Or!
Now it depends on which award each major crew will win.

If "The Child" wins the Jury Prize, then all other films that have already won awards will have the opportunity to compete for Cannes' highest award - the Palme d'Or.

If the Grand Jury Prize had gone to another film that had already won the award, the Palme d'Or would undoubtedly have gone to "The Child."

So at this moment, everyone at the scene became nervous.

".Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne, The Child, congratulations!"

"GOOD!"

"YES!"

"This is the most beautiful thing!"

Many film directors and actors cheered quietly, which made the two directors of "The Child", which won the Grand Jury Prize, feel a little uncomfortable.

It's not that they don't know what other people are thinking.

They guessed what others had guessed.

Originally they thought that the jury would use the Grand Jury Prize as one of the "double awards" to give to other films.

I didn't expect that this year's jury would play such a big game and actually give out the Palme d'Or as one of the two awards.

Among them, their crew has the least chance of competing for the Palme d'Or.

How could this not make them feel uncomfortable?

The atmosphere on the scene suddenly reversed.

Just now, it was the people in the "Children" crew who were nervous, but now everyone except them is nervous and excited.

"What are you nervous about?"

Liu Yifei had just recovered from her loss when she felt Zhang Chen's taut arms.

Didn’t you agree not to be nervous?
Why are you still nervous when you have already received the award?
"We still have a chance to win the Palme d'Or."

Zhang Chen explained in a low voice.

It is undeniable that he has been piqued by this Cannes Film Festival which is full of surprises, and now he has a strong sense of anticipation.

This made him feel like he was back in 98, when he was waiting for the awards to be announced at the Grammy Awards.

8 years later, I’m back, this feeling is back.

"Finally, the winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival is..."

Liu Yifei finally reacted after listening to Zhang Chen's explanation.

“Love Zhang Chen, Love Zhang Chen, Love.”

She clasped her hands together at her brows, closed her eyes and began to chant something.

This time, not only Zhang Chen noticed Liu Yifei's "spell", but even Wu Yanshu, Lan Tianye, Tian Zhuangzhuang, and her biological mother Liu Xiaoli next to her also looked over.

This spell is very interesting when read continuously.

But no one was in the mood to tease the little girl at this time.

Everyone in the crew looked at the stage nervously.

"The film that won the Palme d'Or is"

"Love Zhang Chen, congratulations to Leon!"

"yeah!"

The first person to cheer was the little girl who chanted the spell.

She jumped up from her seat, hugged Zhang Chen's head who was still sitting on his seat, and cheered.

Zhang Chen's entire face was pressed into the little girl's arms, and he could only reach out to the sides with his hands to express his feeling of being suffocated.

Fortunately, Liu Xiaoli had been paying attention to her daughter's behavior since she jumped up.

Fortunately, nothing too rude was done.

At this time, everyone in the "Love" crew stood up, and people from other crews also stood up and applauded the biggest dark horse of this year.

Although Zhang Chen is a new director, the quality of the movie "Love" is indeed worthy of winning the Palme d'Or.

This world superstar and rookie director, who is only in his early 20s, deserves their respect.

"Okay, you're suffocating your brother to death."

Seeing that her daughter had not let Zhang Chen go, Liu Xiaoli had to stop her herself.

If nothing is done to stop it, Zhang Chen will probably become the first director to be suffocated to death by a woman at the Cannes Film Festival.

"Ah?" Liu Yifei looked down at Zhang Chen's head, and quickly let go and said, "Are you okay?"

"Breathe—breathe—"

After Zhang Chen left the little girl's facial cleanser, he took a deep breath.

He almost fainted from lack of oxygen.

I didn't expect that Xiaoxiao against A would be so terrifying!
There was no time for him to savor it now: "Let's go and receive the award together."

The Palme d'Or belongs to the producer and the entire crew.

Zhang Chen took the lead, and Tian Zhuangzhuang, Wu Yanshu, Lan Tianye, Liu Xiaoli, and all the crew members including photography, lighting, and makeup followed behind him.

When they stood on the stage as a huge group, many regular visitors to the Cannes Film Festival thought of the Chinese who stood on the stage last time.

That was 12 years ago.

It was Chen Kai's first time attending the Cannes Film Festival and he won the Palme d'Or.

He also stood on this stage with Zhang Guorong, the now-popular superstar in Asia, and Gong Li, the darling of the three major European film festivals.

In a blink of an eye, 12 years have passed, and Zhang Chen is about to win China's second Palme d'Or trophy with his film debut.

On stage
Emil Kusturica, the chairman of the jury of this year's Cannes Film Festival, held the Palme d'Or trophy in both hands and handed it to Zhang Chen with a smile: "Say hello to Robert Iger for me."

Robert Iger?
Zhang Chen raised his eyebrows, without asking any further questions, smiled and took the trophy and walked to the center of the stage.

"I really didn't expect that I would win the Palme d'Or."

"From the beginning, I came to this year's Cannes with a learning mentality, but I didn't expect Cannes to give me such a big surprise."

Jacob, the president of the film festival, stood up at the right time and asked a question: "Leon, we really want to know if there is any difference between you coming to Cannes and you going to the Grammy Awards?"

“It’s annoying!”

Zhang Chen's words made everyone, who were originally smiling, stunned.

"Because the Grammys only require me to go on the day, and then I can hold a party at home with the trophy in the evening."

"Hahahaha"

The guests who reacted applauded Zhang Chen's humor.

Indeed, the Grammy Awards do not require a lengthy screening or a complicated selection process. All awards will be determined before the singers arrive.

The nearly two weeks of Grammy screenings and awards ceremonies, plus the time it takes to sell copyrights after the awards are announced, are indeed more tiring than the Grammys.

"But it's all worth it." Zhang Chen held up the trophy and looked at the people in his crew. "This trophy is the result of the hard work of everyone in our crew. Without their efforts, there would be no trophy. I have to thank them!"

Zhang Chen suddenly stopped smiling at this point, and said in a heavy tone: "I shouldn't say thank you, but I should say regret. I regret that a certain plot prototype in my movie couldn't see me shouting for her."

Many people who have recently read reports about Zhang Chen’s movies have remained silent.

The poor man who died early because of the search for an unscrupulous hospital
I wonder if she passed away as elegantly and gracefully as the heroine in the movie?

What was originally a cheerful speech of thanks fell into silence after Zhang Chen finished speaking.

After Zhang Chen glanced at the entire silent theater, he led all the crew members off the stage.

"Zhang Chen, you are so cruel!"

Tian Zhuangzhuang followed behind Zhang Chen and sighed softly.

"Where is this?"

Zhang Chen sneered with his back to the crowd.

"Leon, I wonder if you are satisfied with the gift I gave you?"

Robert Iger, the one Emil Kusturica mentioned just now at the award ceremony.

He only remembered it after this person entered Zhang Chen's reception room.

This should be the CEO who will take charge of Disney next year?
"Mr. Iger, why are you here?" Although he is not the CEO of Disney yet, the current one is not far from leaving.

What's more, Robert in front of him has been the chairman of Disney since 00, and his status is enough for Zhang Chen to pay attention to.

"I want to buy the North American distribution rights of "Love" from you, Leon."

"Then?"

Zhang Chen didn't believe that Robert Iger came here just for this little thing.

When he calculated the time, he suddenly realized.

Sure enough, Robert Iger's words confirmed Zhang Chen's guess: "I want to talk to you about Pixar."

"cooperate?"

“No, Disney wants to buy Pixar.”

“This is not something I can decide alone.”

“We have enough sincerity.”

Robert Iger means business.

The relationship between the current Disney CEO and Pixar has become strained.

But Pixar's animated filmmakers are some of the most popular in the world right now.

Disney's board of directors couldn't bear to give up such good IPs.

In their view, a company that can make money for them is a good company, regardless of whether the CEO’s ideas conflict with Pixar.

Since you don’t want to cooperate with Pixar, then you will be replaced as CEO.

Robert Iger is the candidate nominated by the Disney board of directors to succeed the CEO.

The first thing he had to do was to repair the relationship between Disney and Pixar, and if possible, take Pixar directly into his hands.

Originally, since he and Jobs were both Apple shareholders, it would have been more convenient for him to talk to Jobs.

But a few years ago, Pixar was transferred from Jobs to the hands of the big star Zhang Chen.

This news made headlines in North America, but ordinary people rarely pay attention to things happening in the financial circle.

What's more, the current CEO of Pixar is still Steve Jobs, so Zhang Chen, the major shareholder behind the scenes, is even less noticeable.

"I wonder what Mr. Iger's offer is?"

"At $50 per share, Disney certainly doesn't have that much cash, so we will use additional shares to make the acquisition."

Currently, Pixar Animation's stock price is approximately $62 per share, with a total market value of approximately $77 billion.

At $50 per share, the total price is equivalent to $62 billion.

Zhang Chen spent $18 billion to buy 50% of Jobs' shares. Now, according to Disney's offer, it is worth $31 billion, with a return rate of 72%.
Although the return rate of this transaction is a bit lower than Zhang Chen’s previous returns of several hundred percent, it still depends on the base.

This deal allowed Zhang Chen to earn $13 billion in a short period of time!
However, this price is still quite different from what Zhang Chen remembered Disney paid for its acquisition of Pixar Animation.

"Mr. Iger, this is not something I can decide alone."

"I know, I came here today just to show our sincerity to Lyon."

"Palme d'Or?" Zhang Chen raised his eyebrows.

"Correct!"

"Mr. Iger, you have tarnished my art." Zhang Chen pretended to be angry.

"I don't know about Lyon's art, how about we Disney buy out the North American distribution for $2000 million?"

"Mr. Eager understands art."

The two held hands tightly and smiled at each other.

Art?

How can it be as attractive as the US dollar?
“By the way, I heard that Leon has something upsetting in the country recently?”

After Robert Iger basically achieved his original intention of meeting with Zhang Chen, he brought up another matter.

"Which one is Mr. Eager talking about?"

"That poor Bai and the regrettable Li."

"Will Mr. Eager help these two poor men get justice?"

"Of course, we have always been defenders of morality!"

Zhang Chen could only smile and did not reply.

Disney's morality?

They have always made it their mission to discredit and spread rumors about Zhang Chen and the people in this area.

Helping Zhang Chen this time is exactly what they are willing to do.

That's it.

On the evening of May 5, Zhang Chen finally finished the distribution issue of "Love" and boarded the plane back to China.

In just one day and one night, he met with countless film buyers, which also made him realize how popular his movie is currently.

"It's scary!"

Liu Yifei has the most say in this matter. She saw with her own eyes how Zhang Chen was begged by the film buyers to sell the distribution rights.

What those people said was more humble and flattering than the other.

She really couldn't imagine how those Westerners learned those Chinese words.

"Handsome Zhang Chen", "Kind Zhang Chen", "Brave Zhang Chen"

These are still easy to explain, but some are quite outrageous.

"Giant Zhang Chen", "Merciful Zhang Chen", "Beautiful Zhang Chen"

"It's scary, but at least these guys' wallets didn't disappoint."

Zhang Chen collapsed on the leather massage seat of "Sissi", looked at the strings of numbers and closed his eyes contentedly.

"Tell me, how much did it sell for?"

Zhang Chen raised a finger.

"1000 million US dollars?!" Liu Yifei exclaimed.

The total production cost of this movie is only 1000 million RMB.

It increased 8 times in one transaction?
"Change to another unit."

"1000 million RMB?"

"Stupid, the word 'wan' was changed!"

"Hiss——" Liu Yifei took a breath of cold air. 80 times?!

“Dividends!”

"Why?"

"If it weren't for my prayers, you might not have won the Palme d'Or!"

Zhang Chen stood up and rolled his eyes at Liu Yifei who was acting righteously.

His movie won the award because Disney wanted to buy his stocks, the chairman of the jury had a good impression of him, and a small part because of John Woo.

Liu Yifei?
"By the way, what were you mumbling about at that time?"

"Love Zhang Chen, what's wrong?"

"I don't love it, so I don't get any dividends."

"Hmph, if you don't want to give it to me, then don't give it to me," Liu Yifei muttered and sat back in her seat.

Zhang Chen looked at the little girl with surprise.

Is the sun coming out in the west?

Classmate Liu actually stopped arguing with him.

Strange, really strange!
"It seems that what your father said is still effective, right?"

Liu Xiaoli's slightly angry voice reached Zhang Chen's ears.

Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this.

Is there something wrong?
　In January 06, Disney will initiate the decision to acquire Pixar Animation.

　　Now that I've won the Palme d'Or, it's not too much to ask for a monthly ticket, right?