Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 511 A Foolish Persistence

Back in Los Angeles, Cao Yang spent two weeks shooting at the Disney studio without receiving a call from Theron. It seemed that Theron really had no intention of asking him for help.

Does Theron really want to maintain a "pure" friendship without any other factors involved?

Cao Yang still didn't quite understand Theron's thoughts.

For Cao Yang, this was an extremely simple matter, as long as Theron spoke up, and it wouldn't affect Cao Yang's opinion of Theron.

However, Theron seems very stubborn, or perhaps this is just the personality of an independent woman?
As Cao Yang had expected, two days earlier, Jon Favreau, the director of "Iron Man," had already failed to persuade Gwyneth Paltrow to sign a long-term contract.

Even if Jon Favreau did go to Spielberg, it only made Gwyneth Paltrow take a small step back, which is not really a concession.

Jon Favreau stammered out the two additional conditions proposed by Gwyneth Paltrow.

If you really want her to sign a long-term contract, in addition to negotiating box office revenue and profit sharing separately, she also proposed that "Little Pepper" should have her own movie.

This condition doesn't seem too unreasonable.

After all, before seeing or anticipating the influence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Gwyneth Paltrow, as an Oscar-winning actress, was willing to "condescend" to sign a long-term contract to play a supporting role, which must mean she wanted to "turn the supporting role into a leading role."

This goal can be achieved simply by releasing a movie starring "Little Pepper".

In fact, Cao Yang could accept this condition.

Making a movie specifically for "Little Pepper" wouldn't be difficult.

When Pepper Potts first appeared in Marvel comics, she was Tony Stark's personal assistant. Later, she became the CEO of Stark Industries and was Iron Man's most trusted person, but she was not his partner.

In the comics, Pepper Potts was already working at Stark Industries when Tony's father, Howard Stark, was still alive, and she had a crush on Tony all along.

She was initially unable to develop a relationship with Tony because he concealed his identity as Iron Man, but later accepted the advances of Tony's bodyguard, Happy, and married him...

In fact, Marvel has a large number of comic book characters, as well as a large number of comic book authors and sequel writers. The character settings of many characters are very confusing, and their behavior is inconsistent.

Let alone minor characters like "Pepper Potts," even some "superheroes" have contradictory settings in different comic book versions.

Therefore, once the Marvel Cinematic Universe is established, even if some "minor" characters are not filmed according to the original comics, no so-called fans will stand up to object.

Just like "Pepper Potts," in later movies like "The Avengers," she has long deviated from the original comics and has even been developed into a "superhero."

Therefore, it wouldn't be difficult to make a standalone coming-of-age film for "Little Pepper".

However, Gwyneth Paltrow's second condition was a bit excessive and presumptuous.

In addition to filming her own solo movie as "Little Chili", she also wants Cao Yang to tailor a movie for her to compete for the Oscar for Best Actress again!
Both Cao Yang and Jon Favreau could probably guess Gwyneth Paltrow's intentions and understand why she would make this request.

As an Oscar "water queen" who is frequently mentioned and compared by the media, Gwyneth Paltrow certainly wants to win an uncontroversial Oscar for Best Actress.

Although I don't know how strong her idea is, it definitely has that connotation.

Cao Yang can understand and empathize with him.

But I disagree—who the hell do you think you are? You expect me to tailor-make a movie just for you?
Don't even mention you, just ask your godfather Spielberg if he dares to ask me that question.
Do you think your face is big, or are your two mouths edged with gold?

Cao Yang directly told Jon Favreau, the director of "Iron Man," to stop wasting his time and just find a replacement actor.

This time, Jon Favreau didn't say anything either. He also felt that Gwyneth Paltrow's appetite was too big and simply absurd.

Cao Yang decided to give Theron another week. If she still didn't call, then it meant she wasn't meant for the role.

However, Gwyneth Paltrow's words, and Marco Müller's words at the airport when he returned from Venice, made Cao Yang seriously consider the possibility of shooting an art film.

According to the schedule, Cao Yang has about two months between "New Pirates of the Caribbean" and "2012", which he plans to film next year.

Two months seems far from enough time to complete a film.

But it's not actually calculated that way on the surface.

First of all, some art films are shot very quickly, with many taking only about a month to shoot. However, with the addition of pre-production and post-production, it may take three months or more.

However, provided there is sufficient funding, the actors don't cause any trouble, and filming goes smoothly, three months is definitely enough time for many art films without large-scale scenes.

Given Cao Yang's current status and his team, he doesn't need to worry about the pre-production preparations at all. Whatever kind of filming environment or location he needs, his team and the production company he works with will definitely provide everything he needs.

In other words, his new movie could be ready during the production of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2".

In terms of filming and post-production, it will be faster than the normally planned filming schedule.

Therefore, given a suitable theme, he could have easily completed a "simple" art film that didn't require grand scenes or special effects before making "2012".

Therefore, the key is to have suitable subject matter.

This needs careful consideration; ideally, it should be a film about women.

Since coming to Hollywood to produce films, he has produced three Oscar winners for Best Actor, including Johnny Depp with two wins, Jim Carrey with one win, and Mark Ruffalo with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

These individual awards were all given to male celebrities, not a single female celebrity.

This undermines Cao Yang's signature skill—besides Hollywood, he has produced numerous international film queens!

It's time to crown an Oscar-winning actress.

Of course, this was just Cao Yang's joking idea.

In fact, since Oscar president Sid Garnier's term expired in August of this year, Cao Yang has understood that, barring any special circumstances, he is unlikely to be treated "fairly" by the Oscars again.

Oscar might deliberately try to suppress him.

After all, the awards he has won at the Oscars are already quite remarkable, breaking records in both Best Picture and Best Screenplay.

When Sid Garnier was in office, he had worked with Cao Yang and represented Columbia Pictures as the executive producer of Cao Yang's "District 9".

In addition, given his close relationship with Tom Rothman and the fact that Cao Yang has worked with all six major Hollywood studios, the Oscars have always been quite fair to Cao Yang, without discriminating against him simply because he is Chinese.

Just this August, Sid Garnier stepped down as president of the Academy and president of the Academy Awards, and the newly elected president is Tom Sherac.

Initially, Cao Yang only knew that the new chairman was originally the co-founder of a medium-sized film production company.

However, he learned through his old friend Tom Rothman and Disney CEO Robert Iger that the new chairman was actually someone pushed up by 20th Century Fox.

Sid Ganis is from Colombia and served as an executive in Colombia for many years.

This year's Oscars chairmanship should be someone from 20th Century Fox.

Tom Sherac's situation is similar to Sid Garnier's, except that he worked at 20th Century Fox for many years.

He started from the grassroots distribution department and rose through the ranks thanks to his outstanding abilities, eventually serving as the North American Distribution President and North American Marketing President for 20th Century Fox.

Later, he even rose to the position of Executive Vice President of 20th Century Fox, fully involved in the company's decision-making and operational management.

During his time at 20th Century Fox, he was deeply involved in and led the distribution and marketing of many important film projects.

His credits include numerous blockbuster and critically acclaimed films such as the Star Wars series, the Home Alone series, the X-Men series, Cast Away, and Fight Club. It's fair to say he made a significant contribution to 20th Century Fox's success in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 21st century.

Tom Sherac bears the deep imprint of 20th Century Fox.

Most importantly, Cao Yang was not familiar with Tom Sherac.

However, one advantage is that after Tom Sherac left 20th Century Fox, the production company he co-founded, Revolutionary Films, has always had its distribution handled by Sony, and they have a distribution agreement.

In other words, Tom Sherac should also have a good relationship with Sony Columbia.

After all, distribution involves real interests, and Tom Sherac couldn't afford to offend Sony Columbia and fall out with them.

Cao Yang has always maintained a relationship with Sony Columbia, and the upcoming film "2012" is a collaboration with Columbia.

Therefore, if Cao Yang wants to produce art films and compete for Oscars without being "targeted," collaborating with two partners would be the best option.

One is a company affiliated with Sony Columbia, and the other is a company affiliated with 20th Century Fox.

While filming "New Pirates of the Caribbean," Cao Yang slowly considered potential themes, and before he knew it, another week had passed.

To Cao Yang's surprise and somewhat inexplicable feeling, Theron still did not contact him.

It's worth noting that a week ago, news broke that Iron Man 2 was missing a female lead – Pepper Potts, who is technically a supporting character but is nominally the female lead.

It's similar to Charlize Theron's role in "The Road".

However, the first Iron Man film grossed over $5 million worldwide, making it a huge success. The level of attention this sequel will receive is certainly incomparable to that of The Road.

On the other hand, as a second-generation star with Spielberg as her godfather, Gwyneth Paltrow has never lacked resources, so it's normal that she might look down on roles like "Pepper Potts".

But Theron is different.

She's in a very awkward situation right now. She's basically not going to get the lead role in any A-list production, but she can't take on supporting or villainous roles either, as that would lower her current commercial value.

In other words, Theron is short of resources.

The production budget for "Iron Man 2" was nearly $2 million, which is far beyond what a typical A-list production can achieve.

However, since "Pepper Potts" is still nominally the female lead, it will not reduce Charlize Theron's commercial value.

Even under these circumstances, Theron didn't make any contact.

Not only Cao Yang couldn't understand it, but even Theron's agent, Jeremy Barber, couldn't understand it either.

“Charlie, I think you should reconsider. It’s a big production worth nearly $2 million. If it becomes a huge hit, it will definitely boost your career. Besides, it’s a movie produced by Cao Yang and it’s a sequel.”

Jeremy Barber earnestly advised again.

He didn't understand why Theron, despite having principles in the past, was still extremely interested in such high-budget, top-tier resources.

Besides, she's not in a good position right now, and it's a movie produced by Cao Yang, who is also her friend. Isn't this a golden opportunity?
When did Charlize Theron become so stubborn, just like that jerk Johnny Depp?

Depp's stubbornness is because he has the right to be willful, but Charlize Theron is in an awkward situation, with almost no suitable resources left. She's just "holding on" to maintain her status. What right do you have to be willful?

“Jeremy, I’ve already said I won’t compete for this movie. Cao Yang and I are good friends, and I don’t want him to think that I’m only getting close to him for his resources because of a movie. That would change the nature of the situation.”

Theron shook his head and refused again.

Jeremy Barber suddenly felt a toothache; he now truly understood how Tracy Jacobs felt.

Perhaps Tracy Jacobs felt even more powerless than herself when facing Depp.

No, it should be the same powerlessness.

"Charlie, I know you and Cao Yang are good friends, but Depp is also good friends with Cao Yang, and I've never seen him refuse Cao Yang's movies."

"Okay, in that case, we can learn from Depp and offer a discounted fee, which won't damage your relationship."

Jeremy Barber once again earnestly advised him.

“Jeremy, I’ll say it again, I’m not going to compete for this movie. I’m not like Depp, you don’t understand.”

Charlize Theron refused once again.

"I……"

At that moment, Jeremy Barber really wanted to swear.

How the hell are you different? I already said you can learn from that bastard Depp, and I'd even give you a friendly price, or even lower than that!

But why did you refuse so decisively?

Could it be that Cao Yang has feelings for you, but you look down on him, which is why you rejected movies related to him?
Please, that's Cao Yang!

In Hollywood, with just a snap of the fingers, countless young and beautiful, charming and alluring, or currently popular actresses, including various award-winning actresses, would automatically book rooms and send themselves to your door.

And you, Charlize Theron, a female star who can no longer get good resources and is about to fade into obscurity, what gives you the right to refuse?
"I'm sorry, Jeremy, please don't push me anymore, okay?"

After saying that, Charlize Theron pushed open the door and walked out.

"Snapped!"

Jeremy Barber kicked the chair, then clutched his foot and gasped for breath, which only fueled his anger.

Unfortunately, he had nowhere to vent his anger.

Charlize Theron walked out and let out a long sigh of relief.

Does she not want the role of "Pepper Potts" in Iron Man 2? Of course not!
To be honest, she really wanted this role; it was a film that could very well extend her commercial value.

Furthermore, she was very confident that as long as she made a phone call to Cao Yang, the role would be hers, easily within her grasp.

But she just didn't want to!

She didn't want her relationship with Cao Yang to become a transaction.

She didn't want Cao Yang to think that she was maintaining a relationship with him just for his resources.

She didn't know why she had this thought, or when it started.

This idea may seem ridiculous.

It might seem naive.

Perhaps it will not be understood.

But she just didn't want to!

People are sometimes just strange like that!
(End of this chapter)