Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 413 Love Your Job and Be Dedicated
Anne Hathaway has been working very hard these past few days.

"I have a new movie."

Looking at Anne Hathaway, who was still working hard, Cao Yang couldn't help but think of her performance in "The Dirty Milk". Cao Yang suddenly felt that he might have become "Milk".

Although those scenes between her and Depp were initially filmed using camera tricks and perspective manipulation, they are now real.

Thinking of this, Cao Yang couldn't help but loosen his grip and remove his hand from her head.

However, Anne Hathaway didn't immediately raise her head. Instead, she waited for another ten seconds or so before pulling her head back, looking up, and blinking her big eyes as if they could speak.

"There are two female characters in it that suit you..."

Before Cao Yang could finish speaking, Anne Hathaway immediately went back to work, causing him to gasp and unable to say anything more.

Furthermore, Cao Yang didn't even need to use his hands this time; Anne Hathaway's breath-holding ability was truly outstanding.

Okay, I'll skip the 3,000 words here...

Anne Hathaway came out of the bathroom and asked with a smile, "Honey, you just said there's a new movie?"

"Yes, it's an art film, with a budget of about 7000 million US dollars," Cao Yang said casually, his eyes half-closed, a look that those who know, understand.

Anne Hathaway's eyes lit up: an art film with a budget of over 7000 million?

In Hollywood, this is considered top-tier resources.

“I just finalized the deal with Jim Carrey yesterday; he will be playing the male lead in this movie,” Cao Yang said again.

Anne Hathaway's eyes lit up again, and she couldn't help but widen them.

Although Jim Carrey is no longer at his peak and doesn't have the same appeal and popularity as Johnny Depp, he is still a globally renowned superstar, naturally attracting attention and generating buzz.

Well, he's definitely much better than Johnny Depp was when he made "The Dirty Milk".

"Honey, I just heard you say that there are two female characters who would be suitable for me?"

Anne Hathaway removed the towel from her body and threw it aside. She slowly crawled over from the foot of the bed, looking at Cao Yang with expectant eyes.

Cao Yang nodded and explained softly, "One is the male protagonist's imagined lover, and the other is the male protagonist's psychologist."

Before Anne Hathaway could even feel happy, Cao Yang lifted Anne Hathaway's chin with his hand and said, "However, like 'The Dirty Milk,' this movie is a men's film."

A male-dominated drama?
Anne Hathaway's face clearly showed disappointment.

A male-dominated film means that female characters will not have many scenes.

Her first film collaboration with Cao Yang was "The Dirty Milk," so she was well aware of the importance of female roles in it.

To say she's dispensable is an understatement; she's basically just a minor character to highlight the male lead's limited screen time.

Seeing Anne Hathaway's somewhat disappointed expression, Cao Yang smiled and said, "I estimate that after this movie is released, its impact will be much greater than that of 'The Dirty Milk,' and it should win a lot of awards. As for the box office..."

Seeing Anne Hathaway's curious expression, he reached out to help her with her little burden before continuing, "You might not believe it, but I estimate it's probably no less than 'Pirates of the Caribbean'."

"What? That's impossible."

Anne Hathaway's first reaction was disbelief.

What level of movie is "Pirates of the Caribbean: New Horizons"?

Since the invention of film, this is currently the third highest-grossing film worldwide, worth over $10 billion.

And what about this new movie?
It's just an art film.

How could an art film possibly reach a box office of $10 billion?

"A purely art-house film? Not an experimental film like Inception?"

Anne Hathaway suddenly remembered that some of Cao Yang's films were so-called experimental films. In the words of the three major European film festivals, they were films that explored human nature or reflected social issues, shot at the pace of commercial films.

However, in Hollywood, apart from the independent film circle that considers itself purely artistic, people don't recognize so-called experimental films.

You're either a commercial film aimed at box office success, or you're categorized as an art film vying for awards; there are no other types of films.

Furthermore, when an art film achieves excessively high box office returns, people automatically categorize it as a commercial film and will find ample reasons to do so.

"It's a pure art film with almost no special effects. I don't plan to use the digital cameras and 3D cameras that have become popular in the last two years. Instead, I will still use traditional film to shoot."

In addition, they also looked for some old streets to film on location, but only when none met their requirements were they set up at Warner's studio.

This is... really a traditional art film.

Anne Hathaway opened her mouth, still somewhat unable to believe it.

Cao Yang smiled but didn't offer much explanation.

Even if she explained it, Anne Hathaway might not understand.

The movie "Joker" grossed $10.4 billion worldwide after its release in 19. Don't think that it achieved this box office figure ten years later because the global box office market has grown.

That's a very one-sided view.

Cao Yang planned to wait for the 08 financial crisis to take effect before releasing "Joker" in 09.

09年全球总票房是299亿美元，19年全球总票房是410亿美元，相差了111亿美元。

Looking at the global box office figures for 09 and 19 alone, one would certainly think that the global box office market surged in 19, which led to the global box office success of "Joker".

Now, let's look at another set of data.

In 09, China's total box office revenue was 62 billion RMB, while in 19 it was 643 billion RMB. In other words, even without considering exchange rate fluctuations, China's total box office revenue increased by approximately 87 billion USD.

The total box office in North America in 09 was $105 billion, and the total box office in North America in 19 was $115 billion.

China's growth of $87 billion, plus North America's growth of $10 billion, totals $97 billion. The rest of the world combined only saw a growth of $14 billion.

Do you know how crazy Hollywood movies were in 2019?
The global box office of Avengers: Endgame is $27.97 billion.

The Lion King grossed $16.57 billion worldwide.

Frozen 2 grossed $12.28 billion.

Spider-Man: Far From Home grossed $11.32 billion.

Captain Marvel's total box office gross was $11.28 billion.

Toy Story 4 grossed $10.73 billion.

The total box office of "Joker" is $10.4 billion.

Aladdin grossed $10.38 billion.

……

It's worth noting that there are currently only three films worldwide that have grossed over $1 billion.

Despite the massive global box office success of Hollywood movies, the total global box office, excluding China and North America, only increased by $14 billion.

Based on this data, do you still think the global box office market has seen a significant increase?

It wasn't the global box office market that saw a surge, but rather the Chinese box office market. Almost all of the more than 10 billion dollars in global growth was captured by China.

However, although the domestic box office in 19 was almost catching up with that in North America, Joker was not released in China. Its global box office of $10.4 billion came from outside the Chinese market.

If Cao Yang directs "Joker," it will definitely be released in China.

Furthermore, the content of "Joker" perfectly aligns with the impending global financial crisis. This highly topical and timely film, directed by Cao Yang and starring Jim Carrey...

In addition, Warner Bros. has allocated a special fund of $1000 million for Oscar contention, and with Cao Yang and Nolan's collaboration on "The Batman 2" serving as pre-release "promotion," "Joker" has a much greater chance of becoming a huge hit than a flop.

While Anne Hathaway was skeptical that an art film could be a box office smash, she had great faith in Cao Yang's ability to win awards for his art films.

For Anne Hathaway, even if she's not the lead actress in a film that wins major awards at the three major European film festivals and an Oscar, it would enhance her resume and solidify her status.

As for which of the two female roles she will play, that will require careful consideration, taking into account which one is more memorable and more likely to generate buzz.

So, she once again pulled out all the stops to make Cao Yang more "memorable" of her.

Jim Carrey got the script for "Joker".

Before receiving the script for "Joker", both he and his two agents were somewhat worried.

It's no secret that Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, died in "The Dark Knight," a film co-starring Cao Yang and Christopher Nolan; it even became a hot news topic at one point.

There's a saying, "Death is the greatest tragedy," and this applies not only to China but also to the United States.

Everyone knows that as long as Heath Ledger's Joker has some qualities and strengths, those qualities are very likely to be amplified and become a "classic".

Even minor flaws will be overlooked; people will only focus on and look for the advantages.

Furthermore, how could a major Hollywood studio like Warner Bros. possibly turn a blind eye to Heath Ledger's death?

Finally, it's perfectly normal for these major Hollywood studios to capitalize on the traffic generated by "death" and profit from "human blood."

To this end, they might even engage in artificial hype and exaggeration, magnifying the actor's strengths and covering up their weaknesses, or finding special excuses.

For example, as the media mentioned, a rolled-up $20 bill, suspected to have been used as some kind of tool, was found in the apartment where Heath Ledger died.

It's well known that Heath Ledger suffered from insomnia and drug dependence—since he couldn't sleep, it's normal for him to play with dollars to pass the time, right? Well, on a $20 bill, no other ingredients can be detected.

As for the media reports that he abused drugs and was addicted to drugs.

That makes it even simpler.

Heath Ledger suffered from severe insomnia for a long time, and in order to maintain a high-intensity work schedule, such as during the filming of "The Dark Knight," he did not remove his makeup for 43 consecutive days...

Therefore, he gradually became dependent on multiple medications to help him sleep.

He could even hype up his dedication to his job by not removing his makeup for 43 days, all in order to play the role well.

Alternatively, you could find a friend for Heath Ledger to testify that he frequently called for help in the early hours of the morning due to insomnia and increased his medication dosage on his own...

The American Dream—ordinary people like to see inspirational figures like this.

He could even win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor if he could bring out the essence of the Joker – let alone comic book adaptations or blockbuster movies.

Death is a great loss, it's a great loss.

In this situation, Jim Carrey was very worried that audiences and the media would compare his Joker portrayal with Heath Ledger's Joker.

Heath Ledger's Joker is definitely all good points—automatic sympathy +10, acting skills +10, and empathy +10.
How can this compare?
Will he be nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award again?
However, Jim Carrey changed his mind after receiving the script.

"This is not the kind of script a comic book movie should have!"

This was Jim Carrey's first thought after reading the script for the first time.

"Comic book adaptations don't deserve this level of excellence!"

This is the thought that Jim Carrey had after watching it for the second time.

He summarized the script's general content in his own words: the story tells how Arthur gradually transforms from a poor, lowly person into a clown.

He went from being discriminated against and bullied to resisting, then to taking revenge, and finally to being reborn—yes, reborn.

This story is highly critical, not only attacking the wealthy and powerful figures represented by the Wayne Corporation, but also condemning people's indifference and lack of compassion.

The reason Gotham City is in such chaos is because of the prevailing circumstances: unemployment, with many people out of work. This is a recurring theme in the script.

Jim Carrey is still confused as to why director Cao Yang keeps mentioning this seemingly useless background—after all, aren't the bastards in Gotham City just characters from the comics? Why specifically mention unemployment?

However, he doesn't need to understand this.

Because the more he understood the script, the more excited he became.

This is completely outside the scope of Batman comics, okay?
If we didn't use the Batman setting, this could totally be set in reality!

Why use the Batman setting for such a great script? Doesn't that just make it harder to win awards?

The film's character development, its profound exploration of human nature, and its reflection of society... no matter how you look at it, it is a perfect traditional art film.

In particular, the entire film revolves around Arthur, using a series of dynamic events to drive Arthur's gradual transformation, leading to his ultimate metamorphosis.

This is an even more "unique" film than "The Dirty Milk," a male-centric movie entirely centered around the male protagonist.

Jim Carrey was excited.

After the initial excitement, he began to consider how he could more easily portray the male lead.

As for Heath Ledger's "Joker," let him go to hell... Forget it, Jim Carrey stopped himself in time; death is the greatest honor.

"lose weight!"

Jim Carrey's first thought was to match the character's physical appearance.

An artist who works hard all day long, has his own illness, and has to take care of his sick mother, it is impossible for such a person to be strong and obese.

Jim Carrey also has experience with this.

When filming "The Number 23" which was released last year, he lost 18 pounds to better fit the character.

He was 1.88 meters tall, but at the time he lost weight down to just over 70 kilograms (for ease of understanding, the pound unit commonly used by Americans is not used).

How much weight should I lose this time?

After reading the script many times, Jim Carrey's first words to Cao Yang were, "Director Cao Yang, I need to lose weight."

Cao Yang smiled.

This was exactly what he wanted to discuss with Jim Carrey.

"Sure, we'll use the production crew's name to hire a professional nutritionist and weight loss expert. I can give you three months to try and get your weight under control within a reasonable range."

Cao Yang thought for a moment and then said, "I'm not quite sure how much weight you need to lose. What I need is for you to be able to clearly see your ribs after you take off your shirt, so that you look thin and malnourished."

Then, Cao Yang looked into Jim Carrey's eyes and asked, "Can you do that?"

Jim Carrey nodded without hesitation.

"Of course, and I have experience. When filming 'Number 23,' I successfully lost 18 pounds in just one month."

“Very good. What I need is not only your weight loss over the next few months, but also time to give the crew acting instructions during this period. So, while you are losing weight, you also need to make sure you have the energy to do this.”

After hearing Cao Yang's words, Jim Carrey was already quite impatient.

Anyone who pays even a little attention to Cao Yang knows that before filming a movie, he sets aside time for directing, not for rehearsals like other directors.

As for the results, all those Best Actor and Best Actress awards are the result of thorough acting instruction.

Furthermore, anyone who isn't blind will be amazed by the performances of the actors who won Best Actor and Best Actress awards in the films directed by Cao Yang.

Jim Carrey couldn't wait to be a listener.

He seemed to see the Oscar statuette waving at him.

(End of this chapter)