Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 146 Ask Wu Chen to Lead the Way
Time passed quietly.

Wu Chen was far away in North America, and he vaguely heard the news in China about the upcoming release of "The Promise", but the news was too weak to shake the lively atmosphere brought by the Golden Globe nominations.

Zhang Ziyi was nominated for Best Actress in a Feature Film for her role in Memoirs of a Geisha. This news quickly caused a huge sensation in China, and Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet also gained popularity, and industry opinion was once again boiling.
Because this is the first time that a domestic actor has been nominated for the highest-level film awards in the United States (Golden Globe Awards and Oscars).

Zhang Weiping stared at the reports and saw Zhang Ziyi's rising fame abroad. He was filled with indignation: "I said from the beginning that we should have Zhang Ziyi, but you insisted on Gong Li."

Zhang Yi frowned slightly, but her tone was remarkably firm: "Back then on the Great Wall, I promised Gong Li that I would let her play the role of the Empress once in her lifetime. This is non-negotiable."

Seeing Zhang Yimou's rare determination, Zhang Weiping softened his tone, but then turned to complain about Chow Yun-fat:

"What about Chow Yun-fat? He's barely making it in Hollywood, so why is he getting 40 million? And he even wants us to prepare a luxury RV for him, and to make it convenient for his wife to visit him on set and use the restroom. He really doesn't know what's good for him!"

Zhang Weiping became increasingly angry as he spoke, and took this opportunity to shout, "Old Zhang, you just don't know how to choose a cast. There's no value for money at all. We're a commercial blockbuster, costing over 300 million yuan. Just imagine how many people can buy tickets for them?
How many young people can be attracted by the old-fashioned pairing of Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li? I feel I have to choose one."

After complaining, Zhang Weiping turned around and walked out without giving Zhang Yi any time to react.

On the other hand, Wu Chen has moved to Savannah, Georgia, and the filming is coming to an end.

At this moment, his cell phone rang, and Han Sanping's excited yet regretful voice came from the phone:
"'Stone' has officially surpassed 50 million!
Unfortunately, the pirated version came out yesterday. If it had been released two days later, it would have easily reached 70 million, but now it's probably only around 60 million."

"Compared to other movies, ours is slow to react to piracy." Wu Chen didn't care much. Compared to Cheng Long's "The Myth" which was pirated in three days, "Stone" was released on the ninth day, which was already reaping the benefits of its lack of fame.

You have to know that despite such a fierce box office performance in the first three days of "The Myth", it finally stopped at less than 100 million yuan, earning only 97 million yuan. Piracy played an important role in this.

Han Sanping sighed, then added, "By the way, the premiere of 'The Promise' is in a few days. Will you be able to come back in time?"

"My work here only finished on the 20th." Wu Chen smiled. "First of all, congratulations to 'The Promise' for its huge success."

"Row!"

Han Sanping saw this and knew that Wu Chen really couldn't spare the time. However, Wu Chen could dodge it, but Ning Hao and others would have a hard time.
Invitations from China Film Group have been sent out densely to the industry, and the grand premiere is unstoppable.

However, what Han Sanping didn't know was that the once-popular Brother Chen Kai had fallen flat on his face as a small host.

At this time, in the conference room of Guangguang Media, Li Xiaoping was discussing the stage setting of "Black Peony" with Zhang Qiang, Xiang Zhuo and Chen Guowei.

As noon approached, Li Xiaoping stood up and said with a smile, "It's almost time. Guangguang has prepared a light meal for everyone. Let's continue chatting after we finish eating!"

Guangxian put all its efforts into the production of Black Peony. As Wang Changtian's confidant, Li Xiaoping naturally knew how much importance her boss attached to it.

Just as everyone entered the hall, they saw a group of media workers coming back with depressed faces. The slightly plump woman in the middle had red eyes, obviously she had just cried.

Li Xiaoping's expression changed slightly, her brows furrowed slightly, and then she quickly stepped forward in her high heels:
"What's going on? Aren't we going to interview Director Chen Kaige? I remember it was scheduled for an hour.

Liu Yan, you are the host, you tell me what happened."

Liu Yan pursed her lips and lowered her head in silence. The young man carrying the camera next to her couldn't help but speak:

"Mr. Li, let me speak for you. Liu Yan just asked Director Chen if the final result of 'The Promise' is not as good as expected, will it hurt his pride?

Then Director Chen got furious, saying we were agents, with ulterior motives, purely to irritate him, like asking a baby if it would die just after it was one month old!

He paused and muttered, "We interviewed Director Ning Hao before and asked similar questions. Director Ning was fine, so why is Director Chen..."

Xiang Zhuo and Chen Guowei on the side exchanged a glance, both revealing an expression of amazement. Xiang Zhuo lowered his voice and approached Zhang Qiang and said:

"Brother Zhang, is Director Chen usually like this?"

Zhang Qiang's expression was subtle, and he didn't know how to answer for a moment. He could only cough dryly and said vaguely, "Well, Director Chen has always had a straightforward personality."

"Brother Chen is not that stingy." Xiang Zhuo muttered softly, and Chen Guowei nodded repeatedly.

After hearing this, Zhang Qiang didn't dare to say anything more, for fear that it would get out and cause trouble. If it got to Brother Chen Kai's ears, it would be troublesome. At this time, Han Sanping would probably point at him and scold him.

Seeing this, Liu Yan raised her head nervously, her eyes full of worry, and asked in a low voice: "Boss Li, can I still stay in the company?"

She had just signed a contract with Guangguang as a host when she encountered this incident on the fifth day.

If she said a few words to such a big director, her future would be bleak.

Li Xiaoping saw her nervous look, sighed, reached out and gently patted her shoulder, and comforted her:

"Don't worry, Director Chen is such a big director, he won't target you specifically. Just do your job well and be more careful in the future."

There is nothing Light Media can do about this. Light Media is still a little unknown in the film and television industry. If it had not participated in Wu Chen's "Black Peony", probably few people in the industry would know that Light Media has entered the film and television industry.

However, the news spread quickly, and for a time, "Brother Chen Kai scolded the young reporter" and "Brother Chen Kai publicly protected his shortcomings" dominated the headlines of major entertainment news.

However, this little episode cannot shake the strong momentum of "The Promise".

The grand premiere was held as scheduled, starring stars from China, Japan and South Korea, with a Palme d'Or director at the helm and an astonishing investment of 3.5 million RMB.
Major media outlets and film critics have been praising it profusely, and the overwhelming positive reviews have almost filled up all the major entertainment pages. It seems that there is no possibility of "The Promise" failing.

As expected, "The Promise" easily broke the 20 million box office, with no negative reviews, only praise.

Ning Hao flipped through the newspaper repeatedly, his expression filled with confusion and bewilderment. He couldn't help but mutter, "This isn't scientific. Could it be that I'm mistaken?"

But the good times didn't last long. Starting from the next day, the online comments suddenly changed direction, and a wave of curses came.

The print media are fence-sitters, and upon seeing this, they quickly turned around and switched sides. The sharp negative reports quickly overshadowed the previous praise.

On the morning of the third day, in the China Film Office Building, Han Sanping looked at the thick stack of newspapers on his desk with a dark face.

He was about to explode when Gao Chengsheng knocked on the door and came in hurriedly, reporting in a low voice with a serious expression:

"Mr. Han, news has come from North America that the Weinstein Company has decided to shelve the preview plan for The Promise in Los Angeles."

When Han Sanping heard this, his brows knitted together: "What do they mean?"

Previews in Los Angeles were a crucial step in the Oscar race, but now that step has been shelved, what's the point of aiming for an Oscar? Gao Chengsheng shook his head, "I don't know yet. I just received a message from the Weinstein Company."

He didn't know whether this could be considered a blessing in disguise. As soon as the domestic reputation began to collapse, the Weinstein Company in North America began to back down.

"Okay, go out now. I'll talk to them." Han Sanping rubbed his eyebrows and waved his hand.

Gao Chengsheng had just turned to leave when he suddenly remembered something. He stopped and turned back to ask, "Boss Han, Chen Hong is still asking when you're free?"

Han Sanping was furious when he heard this and couldn't help but curse:
"Damn it, when there's a problem, you only know to come to me. None of you have the ability to solve the problem!"

At the same time, on the other side of the ocean in Savannah, Georgia, Wu Chen's filming was coming to an end, and the atmosphere on the set had become much more relaxed.

Jason Blum stood beside Wu Chen, flipping through the only page left of the shooting schedule in his hand, looking excited and satisfied.

This film, which has the potential to win an Oscar, is only one day away from completion.

"Wu, this movie is going to be finished tomorrow. Do you want me to invite some media over to warm up our movie in advance?" Jason suggested eagerly.

Wu Chen had just finished a scene, took a sip of water, and after a moment of thought, shook his head:
"Forget it, there's no rush now. We can still have time to promote it after we finish post-production and find a suitable distributor. If we suddenly launch a campaign then, the effect might be even better."

Jason nodded in agreement, then thought of the news he had just received and couldn't help but say:
"By the way, I just received a message. Is there a famous director in your country who has just made a new movie called, what is it, 'The Master of the Flower Armor'?
I heard the Weinstein Company is preparing to terminate its North American distribution agreement."

"Huh?" Wu Chen was stunned when he heard this, then realized that this was the translated title of "The Promise" when it was released in North America. He casually asked, "Why?"

Jason shrugged, showing a helpless expression:

“I heard that after watching the film internally, Weinstein Company felt that the film was average and they had no idea what the director was trying to say.

The company felt that it was a waste of resources for this film to compete for an Oscar, but the film company insisted on going for an award, and there was some unpleasantness between the two sides."

"Okay!" Wu Chen remained silent and didn't care much about it.

The next day, Get Out wrapped filming in a quiet town in Savannah with little fanfare.

There was no noisy ceremony and no media onlookers.

After Wu Chen and Jason returned to Los Angeles, they immediately started post-production.

For a purely commercial blockbuster like "Now You See Me", Wu Chen is not worried about editing issues, because those senior editors know better than him what the audience likes to watch, and there will be no problem in controlling the rhythm.

But "Get Out" is different. Its editing largely determines the film's horror quality.

Wu Chen specifically told Jason that after the initial and final cuts of the film were completed, he must notify him to personally review them.

After resting in Los Angeles for a day and a half, Wu Chen immediately boarded an international flight back to China.

In Beijing, inside the China Film Building, the atmosphere in Han Sanping's office was solemn.

Han Sanping, Chen Kaige and Chen Hong sat on the sofa, all in silence, their faces looking very ugly.

Since the release of "The Promise", negative reviews from the outside world have come in like a tide, and the three of them no longer have the confidence and composure they had before the premiere.

Chen Hong looked nervous and finally spoke first: "Boss Han, regarding the domestic reputation issue, do we need to..."

Han Sanping immediately waved his hand and interrupted her impatiently:
"Let's not talk about reputation issues today. Even if China Film Group takes action now, it can't do much to save the situation. Traditional media can still be controlled, but with the internet and forums being so developed now, it's impossible to shut people up."

As he spoke, he thought of the online promotion of "Crazy Stone" and sighed in his heart, thinking that young people really know what young people like.

Han Sanping took a deep breath, looked up at Chen Kaige and said:
"Today we are going to discuss the North American distribution of The Promise.

I just received confirmed news that the Weinstein Company has clearly stated that it will no longer invest resources to support "The Promise" in its Oscar bid.

The films they were betting on changed to Mrs. Henderson Presents and Mrs. Doubtfire.”

As soon as the words fell, Chen Kaige and Chen Hong's faces became even gloomier. Chen Kaige could no longer sit still and said anxiously:

"Mr. Han, the North American release of The Promise is related to the country's best foreign language film.

It doesn’t matter if domestic audiences don’t understand it for now, they will understand it sooner or later!
I believe that the Oscar voters will understand what I want to express."

Han Sanping sighed, his eyes full of fatigue: "Then tell me, who else can we find in North America now?"

This incident did make him very unhappy, but there was nothing he could do about it. The relationship between China Film Group and North America was just like that.

This question made Chen Kaige silent.

If MGM was still around, he might have contacted them. Although he lost more than 20 million US dollars, at least he had filmed a movie there.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Chen Hong tentatively asked, "Mr. Han, what do you think?"

She knew that the other party was still obsessed with the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and at this time she had to rely on Han Sanping.

Han Sanping rubbed his temples, frowning, "Our connections in North America may not be as good as Wu Chen's.

Wait for Wu Chen to come back and see if he can help connect us. Let's try again with another company."

Chen Kaige remained silent upon hearing this. He felt uncomfortable, but he had no choice but to nod silently.

Han Sanping turned around and shouted out the door, "Chengsheng!"

"Has Director Wu been contacted?"

"Mr. Han, we haven't been able to get in touch with him yet. My phone was turned off when I called just now. I guess Director Wu might be on the plane back to China." Gao Chengsheng answered cautiously.

"Okay, tell me when you get in touch."

(End of this chapter)