The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

"Boss, the Venice International Film Festival has announced its nominations, and 'Lust, Caution' has been nominated!"

Bai Bing looked at Lin Bufan with excitement.

Unlike the Oscars, which announce nominations directly for each award category, the three major European film festivals only have nominations for the main competition and other categories such as the Horizons section.

"Lust, Caution" was nominated for the main competition, which has a total of eight awards.

These are Best New Actor, Special Jury Prize, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, Silver Lion for Best Director, Silver Lion for Grand Jury Prize, and finally, and most importantly, the Golden Lion for Best Film.

Currently, there are only four Chinese directors who have won the Golden Lion Award.

The first was Taiwanese director Hou Xiaoxian, who won the first Golden Lion Award for Chinese people in 89 with "A City of Sadness".

The second time was when Zhang Yimou won the Golden Lion Award in 92 for "The Story of Qiu Ju".

The third time was when Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang won the Golden Lion Award in 94 for "Vive L'Amour".

The fourth time was also Zhang Yimou, this time winning the Golden Lion Award for "Not One Less".

The fifth time was for Li An, who won the Golden Lion Award two years ago for his film "Brokeback Mountain".

Strictly speaking, Li An's film *Brokeback Mountain* was only directed by a Chinese director, unlike his previous films which were Chinese-language films.

Now, Lin Bufan's nomination for the Venice Film Festival with "Lust, Caution" has sparked much discussion online.

Lin Bufan has only one award to his name: the Academy Award for Best Director. It is undeniable that this award is very prestigious.

However, many people online still dislike Lin Bufan, saying that his winning the Academy Award for Best Director was just luck.

Otherwise, why hasn't he won a single domestic award in over a year?

Some people explain that Lin Bufan disdains competing for the three national gold medals, but many people still have many doubts about him.

Those in the academic circles, in particular, were very dissatisfied with Lin Bufan's decision not to participate in the three major domestic awards.

However, given that Lin Bufan had won the Oscar for Best Director, they didn't dare to go too far, only privately complaining that Lin Bufan was just lucky.

This time, Lin Bufan's "Lust, Caution" was shortlisted for the Venice International Film Festival, which was a slap in the face to some people.

"Where have those people gone who said Director Lin had lost his touch and was just relying on luck?"

"What's there to say? It's just a nomination, not a Golden Lion."

"Tch, just nominated? My friend, why don't you get other domestic directors nominated too? Getting nominated is a real skill."

"Lin Bufan won the Oscar for Best Director, and I heard that he was only given a symbolic nomination at Venice..."

"I heard it, it's just hearsay again. Tell me, who told you that?"

"Some people just can't stand seeing others do well, and they'll never admit someone is better than them. Don't get me wrong, I'm talking about certain directors in the industry..."

This time, the selection of "Lust, Caution" for the Venice International Film Festival has sparked much discussion online.

It's just that Weibo doesn't exist yet, otherwise, who knows how much of a commotion it would cause.

Speaking of Weibo, Lin Bufan had already entered the game. Zhewei Capital is now the largest shareholder of Sina Group and will become the largest shareholder of Weibo in the future.

However, since people are still using keypad phones and haven't entered the touchscreen era, it's not the right time for Weibo to appear yet.

……

The nominations for the Venice International Film Festival were announced on July 10, while the first Transformers movie was released on the 11th.

The movie "Transformers" became an instant hit as soon as it was released.

Even when Lin Bufan was filming on set, he could hear people discussing the movie.

"Thankfully, 'Night at the Museum' has been postponed!"

Lin Bufan felt somewhat fortunate.

No one knew better than him how terrifying the film's box office performance was.

Originally, "Night at the Museum" was scheduled to be released on the 13th, but in order to avoid competing with "Transformers", the release date in China has been postponed to next month, August 13th.

Of course, the release date remains unchanged internationally.

When the time came to the 13th.

"Boss, it's Carter on the phone!"

While Lin Bufan was taking a break during filming, Bai Bing called him.

"Hello!"

Lin Bufan answered the phone.

"Boss, good news!"

On the other end of the phone, Carter's voice was full of excitement.

"Night at the Museum grossed 4120 million on its opening day..."

So tall?

In the previous life, when "Night at the Museum" was released, it only grossed 3043 million on its opening day, but eventually grossed 5.7 million US dollars worldwide.

However, it now appears that the opening day box office increased by more than ten million US dollars, and the final box office is very likely to exceed 6 million US dollars.

The total investment for this movie was only $1 million, and it only needs $2.5 million in box office revenue to break even. The rest of the profits are all profit.

Conservative estimates suggest that it could earn at least $1 million.

"Continue to increase publicity efforts!"

The movie has just been released, which is the perfect time to rake in the box office revenue.

"Yes, boss!"

After hanging up the phone, Lin Bufan closed his eyes and did some calculations.

Filming for "How Long Will I Love U" is progressing well and is expected to wrap up by mid-next month. Post-production is expected to be completed in about a week.

At the end of the month, I will fly directly to Venice to attend the film festival.

After the film festival ends, he will have to go to Hollywood to check on the progress of the film.

We've always communicated via mobile phone; to see how the production is going, he needs to go and check it out in person.

"Boss, it's Director Chen on the phone!"

Shortly after Carter hung up, Bai Bing picked up the phone again.

Lin Bufan stood up and took the phone from Bai Bing: "Hello, Lao Chen!"

"I did it! Old Lin, I did it..."

Chen Kaige's excited voice came through the phone.

As the two got to know each other better, they gradually became close friends despite their age difference. One called the other "Old Chen," and the other called the other "Old Lin," without regard to age.

Congratulations, Old Chen!

Lin Bufan sincerely congratulated Chen Kaige.

Since "The Promise", Chen Kaige has been questioned by the outside world until he later went to Hollywood to film this movie through Lin Bufan's connections.

However, the movie was never released, so we don't know whether it was a success or a failure, and we can't prove its worth.

Now, with the movie's release and its opening day box office of over 40 million US dollars, it speaks for itself; Old Chen is capable.

"Old Lin, I've booked a table for tonight, you absolutely have to come!"

After saying that, Chen Kaige hung up the phone.

Lin Bufan shook his head slightly as he looked at the phone that had been hung up. An alluring figure involuntarily surfaced in his mind; it had been a long time since he had seen her.