Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 293 Getting Serious
For the domestic premiere of "Inception", General Manager Han of China Film Group once discussed with Cao Yang whether to hold a grand, unconventional premiere.

The so-called unconventional approach is like films such as "Hero" and "The Promise," which spend 20 to 30 million yuan to invite some big-name guests and use public opinion and gimmicks to create suspense and promote the film.

Cao Yang said it was unnecessary; the production cost of 15 billion yuan was the biggest publicity gimmick, and there was absolutely no need for anything fancy.

In addition, the name "Cao Yang" is one of the biggest guarantees that audiences will be drawn to the cinema.

President Han thought it made sense. So let's skip the fancy stuff and stick to tradition. Let's invite some film critics and familiar celebrities for a grand traditional premiere ceremony.

Domestic actors, including those from Hong Kong and Taiwan who have developed their careers in China, racked their brains and used every means at their disposal just to attend the premiere. One reason was Cao Yang's status and influence, and the other was pure curiosity.

Therefore, the media were truly amazed by what they saw on the red carpet at the premiere, as there were far more celebrities and big names than at any film festival.

It's unclear what methods Zhang Ziyi used, but recently the domestic media haven't mentioned much about her "returning" to the ranks of the Four Great Actresses.

It's possible that the continuous press releases about Zhang Ziyi made her one of the "Four Dan Actresses," thus eliminating Zhang Ziyi's place. After all, there can't be five "Four Dan Actresses," right?

It's possible that after Zhang Ziyi won two Hundred Flowers Awards and one Golden Rooster Award, as well as the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress, and a whole bunch of foreign nobodies, she barely made it into the ranks of the Four Great Actresses.
Who knows.

Therefore, five of the four most famous female impersonators in China attended the event tonight.

Since it's a traditional premiere, it's the same old thing: a live broadcast on Princess 6, with the director, actors, and representative staff members going on stage to talk about filming.

During the interview segment, Cao Yang said, "You should interview the actors more. What is there to interview me about behind the scenes?"

As a result, almost all the reporters focused on Leonardo DiCaprio, making everyone else just background noise.

Well, Leonardo DiCaprio's popularity is incomparable to that of Nicky Wu and Fan Bingbing. Even if Fan Bingbing is dressed stunningly today, she's still just a nobody. Everyone wants to interview Leonardo DiCaprio.

Fortunately, we had arranged for "our own people" to ask Wu Qihua and Pang Bing two questions beforehand, which avoided an awkward situation.

Xiao Gangpao came with his wife, Xu Fan. While all the reporters were scrambling to interview Leonardo DiCaprio, he said to Xu Fan with obvious envy:
"That kid surnamed Cao is something else now. Even Leonardo DiCaprio is willing to play a supporting role. It shouldn't be like this. Johnny Depp shouldn't have as much influence as Leonardo DiCaprio, right?"

"What supporting role? Isn't it clearly written? That's called a special lead role, which is a cameo appearance."

Xu Fan corrected him.

She rolled her eyes at the little cannon and whispered, "How do you know Depp isn't as influential as Leonardo DiCaprio? He's only like that in China, right?"

Johnny Depp won the Oscar for Best Actor two years in a row, so his status in the film industry is definitely higher than Leonardo DiCaprio's, who didn't win any major awards. Isn't that how it is in China and Europe? Those who win big awards look down on those who win smaller awards, and those who win smaller awards look down on those who don't win any awards...

Then, she noticed that Little Cannon's expression was getting more and more awkward. He pursed his lips and stopped talking.

Little Cannon then brought his own situation into play; he was someone who was looked down upon within the industry.

"Let's watch a movie."

Little Cannon said in a muffled voice.

Just then, the interview segment ended, and the final movie screening began, marking the end of Princess Six's live stream.

The story of Inception is very simple.

Johnny Depp plays the male protagonist, who, at the behest of his employer (played by Wu Qihua), leads his friends to implant an idea into the dream of his employer's rival, a wealthy second-generation heir played by Leonardo DiCaprio, so that he can destroy his father's business.

To pull off this deal, Depp and his dream-stealing team delved deeper and deeper into the rich kid's dream, constructing realistic scenes like cities, hotels, snowfields, and oceans in each layer to make the recipient unaware that it was a dream. A very simple story, yet it took two and a half hours to tell.

During this time, as the streets of Paris and the distance began to flip like origami, not only did the two actors in the film show expressions of disbelief, but gasps and exclamations also rang out continuously at the premiere.

"Fuck..."

Well, when Chinese people are shocked, they often use this interjection to express their inner turmoil.

"Damn, you can do that?"

Little Cannon couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, his eyes widening as he stared blankly at the scene in the movie.

Zhang Yimou is here today too.

Since being appointed as the chief director of the Olympics in April, he has been busy planning the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics while also working on his film "Curse of the Golden Flower".

I came here today for two reasons: first, to see how Cao Yang's big-budget film turned out; and second, to relax my tense nerves.

Seeing the city on screen folding like paper, he couldn't help but sit up straight from his languid state. This movie seemed even more imaginative than he had imagined.

Chen Kaige and Chen Hong also came, and they sat together.

At this moment, Lao Chen couldn't help but sit up straight. In his mind, a movie with an investment of 1.8 million US dollars would definitely have to be made into a commercial blockbuster in order to achieve box office success, with the story and core themes being weakened as much as possible and the focus on visual expression.

He now understands all too well the pressure of box office success.

With a budget of only 3 million, "The Promise" didn't dare to explore human nature too deeply in the film. It could only dabble in it as much as possible, while also focusing on the visuals. How much more so for "Inception," which had a budget of 15 billion?

Little did he expect that Cao Yang had indeed put effort into the visuals, but the visuals were quite different from what he had imagined. This kind of imaginative innovation made him feel somewhat inferior.

"what……"

Sister Hong covered her mouth and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. However, her exclamation was not abrupt, because everyone was amazed by this idea.

She couldn't help but look at Cao Yang not far away. This guy was not only full of energy and had amazing stamina... but he was also constantly innovating. He was really amazing!
As the plot unfolds, everyone stares intently, their eyes wide, focused on the movie, afraid that if they lose focus even slightly, they won't understand what's coming next.

Two and a half hours is a long time.

Two and a half hours is also very short.

When the screening of "Inception" ended and the lights in the auditorium came on, almost everyone in the audience sat in their seats, staring blankly at the screen, not at the credits, but trying to recall what had just happened.

"That spinning top never stopped, right? So, has it finally returned to normal?"

Someone suddenly said something, and the voice sounded very abrupt in the quiet auditorium.

Everyone then realized they were back to reality.

Thunderous applause erupted.

Lasts forever!

(End of this chapter)