Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 354 Change of Thoughts
Christopher Nolan was born in London, England, and is not yet 37 years old, making him a promising young director.

He currently enjoys a decent reputation and influence in Hollywood, and is categorized as a commercial film director with a strong auteur style.

Cao Yang may have been influenced by later generations and naturally assumed that Nolan, as a highly individualistic Hollywood director, would definitely not make movies according to other people's scripts and intentions.

His idea is accurate to a certain extent.

Look at the films Nolan made from the beginning of his career, including the three short films and one feature film before he came to Hollywood. He was the director and screenwriter for all of them, and he also edited and filmed them himself.

After coming to Hollywood, he directed and wrote the films "Fallen Fragments," "Batman Begins," and "The Prestige."

However, Cao Yang overlooked one point.

Nolan is not yet a director who rose to fame with "The Dark Knight," which grossed over a billion dollars worldwide.

He's not the director who achieved legendary status with films like Inception and Interstellar.

To date, he has only made four films in Hollywood. His breakthrough film, "Fragments," although critically acclaimed, only grossed $4000 million at the box office.

The second installment, "Day and Night," had a budget of $4600 million, but only grossed $1.1 million worldwide.

The third installment, "Batman Begins," had a budget of $1.7 million and grossed $3.7 million worldwide. While it received decent reviews, it didn't make much money at the box office.

This is also why Warner Bros. had objections—Batman is the most popular superhero in the US, with a large fan base, and this box office performance simply did not meet their expectations.

The latest film, The Prestige, in particular, has received consistently positive reviews, but with a budget of over 4000 million, it barely grossed 1 million worldwide.

This is a classic example of something that receives critical acclaim but doesn't sell well.

Warner Bros. executives also had a major headache dealing with Nolan.

Starting with Nolan's second film, "Day and Night," all of his subsequent films were produced and financed by Warner Bros.

Even if you don't make money at the box office, it's still good if you win awards.

However, I'm sorry, but I didn't win a single award, neither in the three major European awards nor the Oscars.

To put it bluntly, Nolan has an exceptional storytelling ability and is incredibly creative, which makes his films very well-received by audiences. However, his films are essentially commercial films, making it somewhat difficult for him to win awards.

Currently, Warner Bros.' view of Nolan can be accurately described with the word "chicken rib"—tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away.

Nolan is also very clear about his situation.

He is now in a very awkward position.

One step forward, and he might become a big director of mainstream commercial films.

If you can't overcome this hurdle, you're very likely to become one of Hollywood's many commercial film directors, and your chances of making a comeback will increase exponentially.

This is not alarmist.

He has been working with Warner Bros. for the past few years. If Warner Bros. stops working with him and stops investing in him, given his decent reputation, there are many film companies that would give him opportunities.

However, he was certain that no film company would give him a budget exceeding $1 million.

why?
Because his most recent movie only grossed 1 million yuan.

Because his movies don't make money.

Because he doesn't have any awards.

Nolan could even imagine the fate he might face next: an investment of 40 to 50 million, a box office of around 100 million, an investment of 50 to 60 million, a box office of around 100 million... and so on, in a never-ending cycle.

Basically, he shouldn't lack investment, but it's also difficult for him to get large investments.

Therefore, it's best to continue working with Warner Bros.

Only Warner Bros. was willing to give him a chance and invest heavily.

Nolan is somewhat resistant to filming entirely according to someone else's script, but it also depends on who the other person is.

If it were Cao Yang, deep down he wouldn't be too resistant, and even somewhat expectant.

To put it bluntly, his current status is incomparable to Cao Yang's. He believes that collaborating with Cao Yang is a good opportunity for him.

When Cao Yang received a call from Warner Bros. Pictures president Jeff Robinoff, saying that Nolan was willing to collaborate and direct the second Batman film, Cao Yang was somewhat surprised.

He asked, "Jeff, does director Christopher know that this movie is going to be filmed according to the script I wrote? That is to say, as the director, he doesn't have much power, and he can't even participate in the editing."

Cao Yang's words left Jeff Robinoff somewhat confused.

"Of course he knows all this. Isn't it normal not to give him editing rights?"

Jeff Robinoff was wondering when Nolan ever had final cut rights on a film. Even if he was the director and screenwriter, he couldn't; at most, he could only offer suggestions.

Cao Yang paused for a moment, then chuckled to himself, "Okay, Jeff, I understand. I'll inform Bellman right away and have him go to Warner."

After hanging up the phone, Fatty Bing next to me asked with a smile, "Has Warner Bros. found a director for that Batman movie you weren't keen on directing?"

She knew about this and was well aware that Cao Yang was not very willing to direct "The Batman".

A while ago, Behrman often came here to report on the negotiations to Cao Yang. Cao Yang didn't intend to hide it from Pang Bing, so Pang Bing learned quite a bit about the new movie.

For this, Fat Bing has many feelings.

A film with an investment of nearly two hundred million US dollars and a broad fan base would be highly sought after by any director.

These kinds of movies are quite "stable" to a certain extent, with a much higher chance of success than ordinary movies. They are also big-budget productions with huge investments, so if they succeed, it's easy for them to rise to stardom.

Warner Bros. really wants Cao Yang to direct. Berman revealed that Warner Bros. would offer much more lenient terms if Cao Yang were willing to direct.

However, Cao Yang was not tempted.

"Yes, it's the same director as the last Batman movie, Christopher Nolan."

Cao Yang said with a smile.

Fat Bing didn't have any particular feelings about the name. She thought for a moment and asked, "Is this director very famous? I've heard of his name, but I don't seem to remember anything special about him."

He hasn't had any major box office hits or any notable awards; he's really nothing special, just a promising young director in Hollywood.

Cao Yang thought about it for a moment and agreed, "Well, there's really nothing special about it right now."

"He was the director of the previous Batman film, so having him continue directing will maintain the consistency and integrity of the film's style."

Cao Yang had originally intended to joke that once the second Batman movie was released, you would see that he was still somewhat special.

However, he then thought that if the film were to sell as well as it did in his previous life, Nolan would certainly receive more attention, but he would likely take the credit for it.

Who has more fame and influence? Warner Bros. will definitely focus on promoting itself when promoting its movies.

Fat Bing then thought of another question.

"Aren't you planning to make this a co-production with Warner Bros.?"

Should we make it a co-production?
Forget it. When Warner Bros. gets ruthless, they'll even swindle their own parent company, let alone other companies.

Okay, Warner Bros. isn't stupid, they probably wouldn't go too far as to cheat China Film Group, but knowing they shouldn't cheat them, how could they possibly be willing to make a co-production?

At least "Batman" will definitely not be a co-production.

"Joker" is a possibility, after all, Warner Bros. positions this film as an art film aiming for awards, not for box office success.

In recent years, with the Chinese box office market growing significantly every year, Hollywood film companies, including Warner Bros., are certainly willing to maintain good relations with China Film Group.

China Film Group holds the power of life and death over imported films, so it still wields considerable influence.

Of course, this is contingent on China's film market being attractive enough, a condition that China can meet.

Cao Yang called Berman and said that a director for "The Batman" had been found, and Nolan was willing to take over. He asked Cao Yang to continue pushing the project forward with Warner Bros. He also asked Cao Yang to mention the co-production of "Joker" and to explain the benefits to Warner Bros. At the very least, co-productions are not subject to import restrictions and do not take up import quotas.

In other words, as long as it becomes a co-production, "Joker" will definitely be released in China, and given Cao Yang's influence, the box office is unlikely to be low.

It seems like a win-win situation, requiring only the relinquishment of a small portion of the investment.

Fat Bing stayed in the US for another week before going back.

With the global success of "Inception," her status rose rapidly, becoming almost on par with Zhang Ziyi.

Recently, she won five Oscars for "Inception." Although Bingbing didn't get any of them and didn't receive any nominations for Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress, she still benefited a lot.

In her latest offer for commercial endorsements, she directly surpassed Zhang Ziyi.

Whether it can be stabilized remains to be seen.

It's difficult to pinpoint the current status of active female celebrities in China. As we all know, there are five of the "Four Great Qingyi" (female roles in Peking Opera), four of the "Three Great Huadan" (female roles in Peking Opera), plus Bingbing, who is even more difficult to categorize.

Calling Bingbing a "qingyi" (a type of female role in Peking Opera) is problematic for two reasons: firstly, there are too many "qingyi," and secondly, she hasn't won any major awards—while Zhang Ziyi has been racking up awards like crazy in recent years, at least winning the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress, as well as the Golden Rooster Award and the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress in mainland China.

It's not right to categorize Fan Bingbing as a leading actress; her international fame far surpasses that of other leading actresses, and her film salaries and endorsement fees are on a completely different level.

Therefore, some busybodies have proposed the terms "Four Great Qingyi Actresses," "Two Great International Actresses," and "Four Great Huadan Actresses."

Among them, the two "international" figures refer to Zhang Ziyi and Bingbing, which means that Zhang Ziyi is being kicked out of the ranks of the "Four Great Actresses".

Zhang Ziyi, of course, wouldn't stand for it—damn it, I worked so hard to take on art films a couple of years ago, and the sacrifices I made are beyond what outsiders can understand. I finally won the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actress and the Golden Rooster Awards Best Actress, all to keep my "Qingyi" (a type of female role in Peking Opera) title.

You fucking kicked me like that?

How can it be!

Fat Bing is nothing, does she even have a big prize?
no?
Without a major award, why should they be ranked alongside us, the Four Great Qingyi Actresses?

Hmph, I despise these vulgar women who flaunt their status without any awards.

Cao Yang has been extremely busy lately.

He not only had to do post-production work on "Pirates of the Caribbean" and keep an eye on the progress of special effects, but also had to follow up on the post-production of "The Fault in Our Stars".

"The Fault in Our Stars" began preparations last October, started filming in December, and was completed in February.

Cao Yang was filming "New Pirates of the Caribbean" until February, then went to Berlin in early February, returned to China for a few days, and then went to the Oscars. He was indeed too busy to be in two places at once.

It wasn't until March that I started working on "The Fault in Our Stars," explaining to the editor what I wanted and asking them to create a rough draft.

This movie doesn't have any grand scenes or special effects; it relies mainly on emotional manipulation.

Therefore, the background music is also crucial.

Good background music, combined with the plot, can definitely evoke empathy. In this movie, it's designed to bring tears to your eyes and make you cry.

However, for a genre like "The Fault in Our Stars," which is a variation of romance, going overboard with the sentimentality is unacceptable—romance films have always been a target of "discrimination" at film festivals and are not favored by judges.

Of course, if you're playing with twisted love, that's a different story altogether; it's the "real" art of exploring human nature, and it's easy to win awards.

Therefore, you can often see some rather perverse romance films in the three major European cities.

For example, the husband takes his wife to meet her lover in a French film.

For example, women are like fountains, bursting forth at any moment, then flowing into the stream at their feet, fattening up many fish in the water. This is a film about everyday life.

For example, there are films about relationships that occurred between close relatives, followed by either regret or forgiveness, or even continued... These are common themes in many of the films that entered the three major European competition sections.

There are many similar ones.

In short, pure love stories are not well-received at film festivals; only those that are creative and unique have a chance to win awards.

"The Fault in Our Stars" was the last film that Tom Rothman, executive director of Columbia Pictures, spearheaded before he went to Sony Pictures as global vice president, and it was definitely aimed at winning awards.

However, the love between cancer patients does not fall into the category of "perverted". On the contrary, their love is more pure. It is one of the films that is not favored by the judges. It is easy to get a nomination, but to win an award, you have to do some good work.

Cao Yang and Tom Rothman each offered many ideas for this purpose.

Tom Rothman once told Cao Yang that he and Oscar president Sid Garnier are very good friends, a fact Cao Yang witnessed at this year's Oscars.

To be honest, Cao Yang never expected that "Inception" would win five Oscars. Oscar chairman Sid Garnier did play a significant role in this.

However, Tom Rothman's last film in Columbia Pictures was not about getting an Oscar nomination or a few minor awards.

So Cao Yang asked Tom Rothman how much Sid Garnier could help.

Tom Rothman thought for a moment and said, "Sid's successful election as president of the college was the result of Columbia's full support, and I was also in charge of this matter."

Perhaps feeling that this wasn't enough to show his relationship with Sid Garnier, Tom Rothman paused for a moment, then said meaningfully:

"Sid previously served as the vice chairman of Columbia Pictures, where he was responsible for marketing and distribution for a period of time."

Just one year and three months into his term, the board of directors removed him from his position as vice chairman and gave him the position of deputy director of the production department. At that time, you were about to produce "District 9", so I made him the executive producer.

After you finished filming this movie, he left Columbia Pictures… and you know what happened next: he unexpectedly won the election for president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, becoming the president of the Oscars.”

Tom Rothman didn't say much, but there was a lot hidden in his words.

Cao Yang hadn't expected that Sid Garnier had also served as the vice chairman of Columbia Pictures, and was in charge of the company's marketing and distribution, which was a huge amount of power.

He was dismissed from his position after only one year and three months, which shows that something significant happened during that time, leading to his demotion to deputy director of the production department.

Regardless of what has happened during this time, Cao Yang is certain that Tom Rothman and Sid Garnier must have a very good relationship, either as "partners" or true friends.

At least it's clear that Tom Roseman helped Sid Garnier when he was in trouble.

Fearing he would be "embarrassed" in the production department, they sent him to work as the executive producer on Cao Yang's film "District 9" for a while, allowing him to hide away for a period of time.

Tom Rothman likely played a significant role in Sid Garnier's campaign for president of the Academy.

In short, their relationship is probably better than it appears.

A community of shared interests?

Cao Yang didn't know exactly what happened, and Tom Rothman didn't explain further, but one thing was certain: as long as there was a plausible reason, "The Fault in Our Stars" should be able to win a major award.

Is there a plausible reason?

Cao Yang thought of a certain domestic film that invited young people who had experienced heartbreak to tell their stories through a "Stories of Heartbreak" event, which was then filmed and uploaded to video websites.

This content resonated widely on social media, generating a positive word-of-mouth effect...

Although their marketing is aimed at box office revenue and has nothing to do with awards, could they create a sensation and win awards by making slight modifications?

"Tom, I remember April 29th is World Wishing Day, which aims to help critically ill children realize their wishes and spread hope and strength."

Cao Yang glanced at Tom Rothman and said, "We can contact the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the organization that initiated World Make-A-Wish Day, and join forces with them to hold a large-scale Make-A-Wish Day event."

Find more children and teenagers suffering from serious illnesses, fulfill their wishes, film the videos, and post them on the website to call on people to donate and help them.

Then we'll promise the media that, in addition to using a portion of the box office revenue to help them fulfill their wishes, we'll also help them receive better medical care..."

Tom Rothman's eyes lit up; he thought Cao Yang's idea was brilliant and fit the theme of the movie quite well.

Once the momentum and influence are established, the film will be considered to have been "gilded," and winning awards will be the will of the people.

At that point, the movie won't be a romance anymore, but an inspirational film that gives hope and strength to critically ill patients and encourages them to live on!
Romance movies are not popular, but inspirational movies are what the judges like.

(End of this chapter)