Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 510 Unable to Speak

Theron had not originally planned to come to Venice.

Although her film "The Road" was selected for the main competition at the Venice Film Festival, her role was somewhat awkward.

Despite being described as the female lead, the main focus of the film is entirely on the escape of the "father and son".

However, she, the nominal female protagonist and the boy's mother, committed suicide by shooting herself early on because she was unwilling to face the crisis of the apocalypse.

The reason she was chosen as the female lead is because she is a big star who has won an Oscar.

However, only Theron herself knows just how awkward her situation is right now.

To put it bluntly, she's past her prime!

On the one hand, her failure to reach the 20 million mark in recent years has led to her being perceived as not being able to carry the box office, which has backfired somewhat.

On the other hand, there's the issue of age, which is a problem most Hollywood actresses face.

It's really awkward for a female celebrity to reach her thirties.

At her age, she can no longer play those roles that are only popular with young, sexy girls, but she's not a superstar either, so she's labeled as someone who can't carry the box office on her own. Therefore, A-list productions wouldn't consider her for the lead role.

What's more awkward for her than other actresses is that Charlize Theron is a Berlin Film Festival Best Actress winner and an Oscar winner. To maintain her commercial value, she can't "lower herself" to play supporting roles or villains, which means she gets even fewer opportunities.

Like this film, "The Road," which had a budget of less than $2000 million, her role didn't offer much room for development. It was essentially an art film, so her appearance in it wasn't considered a "downgrade."

These kinds of movies are all she can take on now.

Just like her agent told her, she should first try to get noticed at various film festivals and magazines to maintain her popularity, and things will be better in a couple of years...

What do you mean by "it will be fine in two years"?

Because if nothing unexpected happens, her popularity will drop significantly in two years, and she will completely lose her status as a top-tier star, or rather, she will only have the title of a top-tier star.

The result will be a significant decrease in commercial value, at which point it won't matter anymore—you can accept supporting roles and villains without any scruples.

In other words, she will "hold on" for two or three years, the longer the better, until she can no longer maintain any semblance of dignity.

This is the case without any unexpected events.

If one of the films she starred in during that period, such as "The Way Back Home," which was in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival, wins the Golden Lion, and she also wins the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, then her "status" will increase significantly.

It's hard to say what will happen in the commercial film industry, but in the art film industry, her status as a top star will last a long time, and her commercial value will continue as well.

Of course, the best-case scenario would be winning another Oscar for Best Actress.

Or, "The Way Back" could be a box office hit.

However, it is clear that this is unlikely to be achieved.

Her role in "The Way Back Home" is unlikely to earn her the Venice Film Festival Best Actress award or the Oscar for Best Actress.

Charlize Theron is well aware of this, which is why she doesn't want to come to Venice.

When news broke that Cao Yang was coming to Venice, her agent, Jeremy Barber, immediately called her, urging her to drop everything and attend the closing ceremony of the Venice Film Festival.

Jeremy Barber only knew that Theron and Cao Yang had a good relationship and that she had even made a cameo appearance in District 9.

He didn't know the specifics of the relationship between Theron and Cao Yang. He had asked Theron before, and Theron only said that they were friends.

Jeremy Barber brought Charlize Theron to Venice not because of Cao Yang, but because if Cao Yang could go to Venice, countless media outlets from all over the world would follow, and consequently, many celebrities would also go.

This is also a great opportunity for Theron to be reported by media around the world, which could slow down the decline in her popularity.

"Sometimes, the relationship between good friends can be more than just that of good friends."

When Theron came to Venice, his agent Jeremy Barber gave him a cryptic message.

As a fellow UTA agent, Jeremy Barber used to have Charlize Theron as a player, and he doesn't envy Tracy Jacobs, even though Tracy Jacobs is Depp's agent.

The reason is simple: Depp is an eccentric with a very strange personality, and his agent has no way to change his decisions.

For a regular celebrity, their manager could easily control them.

But Depp already had Tim Burton as a benefactor, so he wasn't lacking in resources at all.

Later, he became Cao Yang's go-to actor and won the Oscar for Best Actor for two consecutive years, becoming a superstar in the 20 million club.

His agency and agent had no choice but to treat him like their own father.

For this reason, Tracy Jacobs often complained internally about it, saying that she was practically Depp's slave.

Jeremy Barber even gloated for a while, saying that compared to Depp, Theron was practically a good boy.

But now, Jeremy Barber thinks differently.

Looking back now, he's certain that Tracy Jacobs was just showing off!

Yes, she must be subtly showing off!
It's just that I and everyone else in the company were too stupid to see through that bitch's bragging.

With the hit movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" to keep his star status, and with Cao Yang and Tim Burton as his backers, he never has to worry about losing his status like Charlize Theron!
For at least ten years, that stinky woman Tracy Jacobs won't have to go through the trouble of finding resources for Depp, won't have to worry about Depp's commercial value, and won't have to care about anything at all!

All you have to do is lie quietly at home and wait to collect commissions from Depp's salary and commercial value.

Is there anything better than this?

So after thinking it over, Jeremy Barber decided to give Theron a hint.

He didn't crave for Theron to become Cao Yang's girlfriend or anything like that; he just wanted their relationship to go beyond friendship and last for a few years—at least until Theron's looks faded or Cao Yang got tired of her.

Then Charlize Theron's status as a top-tier superstar can continue for many more years.

Even if Theron becomes as disobedient as Depp, that's fine too. Jeremy Barber also wants to lie down like Tracy Jacobs.

Who the hell doesn't want to make money while lying down? Cao Yang was somewhat aware of Theron's situation.

This is also why he had previously considered giving "Black Widow" to Theron.

In fact, Cao Yang had been waiting for a phone call. He wanted Theron to call him so that he could make appropriate arrangements for Theron.

After all, no matter what, his relationship with Theron was just that of "good" friends, unlike that of Li Xiaoran, Yu Feihong, Gao Yuanyuan, Dong Xuan, and Pang Bing.

It wasn't that Cao Yang was heartless, but rather that Theron's status was somewhat special. She was nominally a top Hollywood actress, and assigning her a role "casually" might displease her and her agency.

Only if Theron speaks up can he make appropriate arrangements in a more legitimate and justifiable way.

For example, Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's assistant in Iron Man 2.

Although Pepper Potts is not a main character in the Avengers, nor is she a "hero," she still has a lot of screen time—Pepper Potts can also appear in any movie where Iron Man appears.

The role was originally intended for Gwyneth Paltrow, who is also an Oscar-winning actress and won the award five years earlier than Charlize Theron.

Although Gwyneth Paltrow was dubbed the "Water Queen" by the media, and her victory over Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett to win the Oscar for Best Actress was the biggest upset of the year, it did not diminish her status in the slightest.

In addition, she has a producer and director father, as well as an extremely powerful godfather—Spielberg, so she almost never has to worry about resources.

This is also why Gwyneth Paltrow directly refused Cao Yang's request that any character from "Iron Man 2" who would appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future sign a long-term contract.

In Gwyneth Paltrow's opinion, "Pepper Potts" is just a supporting character. Among Marvel's many heroes, she is just someone who does odd jobs for "Iron Man," and there is no way she will ever have a solo movie.

Given that, how could an Oscar-winning actress possibly sign a ten-month contract for a supporting role?
Even if the producer is Cao Yang, it won't work.

Her godfather is Spielberg, whose influence is no less than Cao Yang's, so Cao Yang's name doesn't intimidate her.

Therefore, her conditions were that her salary for the second Iron Man movie must be 50% higher than that of the first movie, and she would not sign a long-term contract.

If her role is a Marvel hero, she might get a solo movie in the future. Maybe she'll take a gamble and hope that Cao Yang can make the Marvel series a success, thus securing a long-term contract.

"Little Chili" is clearly impossible.

There's no need to put all your eggs in one basket; it's not like she'll run out of resources after leaving "Iron Man 2".

However, Jon Favreau, the director of "Iron Man," feels that it is better to keep the original cast and crew, and he is trying to persuade Gwyneth Paltrow to sign a long-term contract.

Cheng Jianye told Cao Yang that Jon Favreau even planned to talk to Spielberg about it, as Spielberg could influence Gwyneth Paltrow to some extent.

Cao Yang was not optimistic about this matter.

She was born into a privileged environment and grew up smoothly without experiencing any setbacks in her life. She had no shortage of resources, connections, or even boyfriends... She even gave Brad Pitt a hat while they were dating.

Such a person will not compromise easily.

Therefore, Cao Yang considered that as long as Theron asked, he would give the role to Theron.

Despite not being a Marvel superhero, "Pepper Potts" is a very popular character, and she has even helped Charlize Theron maintain her status as a top-tier actress for over a decade.

Of course, this is all predicated on Theron taking the initiative to speak up.

Theron did speak up that night, several times.

However, even after Theron left Venice, she never mentioned asking Cao Yang for help, which made Cao Yang somewhat puzzled about what Theron was thinking.

Logically speaking, the two have known each other for many years and have always had a good relationship.

Does Theron simply want to maintain this "pure" relationship and not want to involve any other factors?

Cao Yang couldn't quite understand it.

Charlize Theron left Venice a day earlier than Cao Yang. A high-end luxury brand she endorses will be holding a launch event in Milan, which she is required to attend.

Cao Yang is still the same as always; in the two days following the Venice Film Festival, he has several parties to attend.

These are all private gatherings within a small European circle. Now that he has won one of the three Grand Slam titles in Europe, his influence is different from before. He is now one of the few people with the greatest influence in this small circle.

After attending several private gatherings that he couldn't miss, Cao Yang received many more invitations, including one in Europe full of producers and investors, but he declined them.

He didn't stay in Venice long; "Pirates of the Caribbean" was waiting for him.

Mark Müller personally escorted him to the airport.

While waiting for his flight, Old Ma said with a smile, "Cao Yang, I remember you haven't brought a film to Venice for several years. You've been to Berlin twice in the last two years, though. Last time I met Dieter Koslick, that old guy even bragged to me that Berlin's influence index surpasses that of Venice."

Old Ma glanced at Cao Yang's reaction, and only after confirming that Cao Yang was not displeased did he continue, "We are good brothers. You now have two Golden Lions. I think you should consider adding another one?"

Three gold lions—that's a record-breaking achievement! Breaking a record always makes you go down in history, don't you think?

Perhaps feeling that this explanation was somewhat unconvincing, Old Ma simply stated directly:

"Forget it, I'll be honest. Venice's influence is still declining, mainly because it overlaps with the Toronto International Film Festival."

A few years ago, Venice certainly wouldn't have taken Toronto seriously, but things are different now.

As the Toronto International Film Festival's influence expands, more and more Hollywood films and stars are coming to the festival. In fact, it's not just Hollywood; many films from around the world that originally wanted to come to Venice are now choosing to go to Toronto instead. This has had a significant impact on Venice.

My ambitions are actually not that great; I didn't say I necessarily wanted to revitalize the Venice Film Festival and make it one of the three most influential film festivals in Europe.

My idea is actually very simple: as long as my influence doesn't decline too much during my re-election years, that's fine. Of course, it would be best if I could maintain my current level of influence. That's my biggest wish.

But I know that if the news of your visit to Venice hadn't spread this year, my first year of re-election would have been a disgrace.

I know you're very busy and can't possibly take a long time off to be the president of the jury in Venice, so I was thinking that whenever you have some free time, you could make an art film and come to Venice. That would be my biggest wish.

Cao Yang didn't refuse immediately, but he didn't agree either. He just thought for a moment and said, "I'll see how my schedule goes. I'll keep this in mind."

"Haha, that's great, but we'll still go according to your schedule so as not to cause you any trouble."

Even after Cao Yang boarded the plane and left, Lao Ma was still pondering: What does it mean to keep this matter in mind? Does it mean he agreed or not?
(End of this chapter)