Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 546 Fighting between gods
This post went viral on the Reddit forum overnight.

Within 12 hours, the post reached the top of the trending page in the Reddit movie section. Within 24 hours, it had over 3000 comments and over 5 upvotes.

If the discussion were limited to Reddit, it would be fine, since rdddit's user base is quite limited these days.

However, what began as a discussion within a small Reddit community was then amplified by marketing accounts that routinely collect trending topics online. These accounts then reposted the content to mainstream social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, which have millions of users. Eager to stir up trouble, they used eye-catching titles such as "Girls, Be Prepared to Lose Your Virginity Before Watching This Movie" and "A Must-Watch for Couples! The Best Foreplay Movie is Born."

"DROP," an Oscar contender written by Roger and featuring Chen Nuo's splendid performance and profound themes, had all its heavy parts erased overnight by these people.

The remaining parts, which were originally just seasonings, have surprisingly become the main characters!
In this way, what was originally a poisonous fruit looks so fragrant that it gives one a feeling of euphoria.

When the Orpheum Art Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, announced that all screenings after 9 p.m. were "sold out" through the system, Will Stevenson, the theatre's 50-something-year-old scheduling manager, stared at the row of bright red "SOLD OUT" on the screen for a full ten seconds, almost thinking it was a system malfunction.

He remembered clearly that when "DROP" premiered two weeks prior, fewer than 30 theaters across Wisconsin were showing it, and those were all niche arthouse cinemas. Ultimately, their theater only managed a paltry 17 tickets for the first day's pre-sale.

It seems that the record of that "perfect boy" never missing a shot is about to be broken in this movie—I told you, how could there be a movie star in the world whose every movie is a box office hit!
But now, the backend data tells him:
In just half a day, all the shows after 9 pm were sold out? What the hell is going on?

Just as the Wisconsin scheduling manager was puzzled,
Jack Williamson, a young ranchman in Montana, also heard unbelievable news.

Two hours before his first date in 27 years of life, he finished the phone call and said incredulously:
"WTF! Are you serious?"

"Believe it or not. If I were you, I'd cancel that damn hurricane rescue ticket. Let me tell you, Liam might be able to save his daughter, but he definitely can't save you. Chen is our savior. Okay, that's all, I'm going again..."

After saying that, my friend hung up the phone.

Jack Williamson stared at the gradually dimming screen on his phone, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

Throughout his current bleak life, he has maintained two pillars of belief. Now, one of those pillars has vanished—is he now the only virgin over 25 left in the world?
He jumped up, rushed to the table, opened Fandango, North America's largest online ticketing website, and stared at the two pre-booked midnight screening tickets for "Taken 2" on the screen.
He didn't even blink before clicking cancel.

Immediately afterwards, his fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed in the new movie title: DROP.

Then, a poster that looked unsettling appeared.

When he booked the ticket, he saw this man's face covered in blood and tears, and without a second's hesitation, he immediately chose to skip it. But now...

The moment Jack clicked the confirm purchase button, he thought of Taken 2 again. In fact, he had been looking forward to this sequel for over a year! But now, he sighed and muttered, "Sorry, Liam, I really need to save myself now."

At that time in America, Jack was definitely not the only young person like him who went to the movies influenced by his friends or the internet.

Similarly, when they entered the movie theater and watched the first half, which left them somewhat bored, they arrived at the middle of the film and saw the young deliveryman accidentally walk into the dressing room of the top dancer—

Charlize Theron was sitting in front of the mirror, her two snow-white legs slightly crossed, applying lipstick.

She saw him through the mirror.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

The scene shifts to the young, unassuming foreign immigrant standing there, his face shadowed by the dim yellow light. It wasn't just Jack who admitted to himself that this Chinese man was damn handsome.

However, he immediately forgot about the movie. As Chen Nuo and Charlize began flirting, countless people in various theaters suddenly heard strange rustling sounds around them.

It was at this moment that Jack slowly reached his hand onto the leg of the chubby girl next to him...

The next morning at 8 a.m., he returned home and was so excited that he couldn't sleep. He turned on his computer, used his IMDB account to give it a five-star rating, and wrote: "Thank you, Chen. From today onwards, you are my mentor in life. I will always be grateful to you for pulling me back from the abyss of my right hand."

……

……

What does it mean to strike while the iron is hot?

This is striking while the iron is hot.

This surge of popularity caught Chen Nuo, Allison, and James Pritzker completely off guard.

The profound themes, artistic expressions, and cinematic language that Roger Ebert elaborated on in his film reviews are now ignored by everyone.

Even many film critics have started to go with the flow, catering to the tastes of the "Jacks" across the United States who are frantically racking up ratings on IMDb and fueled by hormones.

The phrase "best date movie of the year" is now a thing of the past; critics have begun to haile it as a thriller-erotic drama that surpasses Basic Instinct—an absolute commercial film.

The number of women moved by Chen Nuo's masturbation scene is probably greater than the number of men moved by Sharon Stone's scene in the police station where she crossed her legs and exposed her skirt.

As Richard Roper, a film critic with the second-most followers on American social media after Roger Ebert, quipped in his New York Times film review column:
"Pleasing men will make you angry at women. But pleasing women can win you the whole world. God bless Roger, he played a joke on everyone and brought this movie into the public eye. It seems that Durex should team up with theater owners to give No Chen an award. This October, he saved not only the film market, but also boring sex lives."

Roper's film review was shared by more than 10 people in less than 24 hours, becoming the most-clicked article in the digital edition of The New York Times that week.

By October 6, 2012,
Five days after its release, "DROP" has seen its IMDb rating soar to 9.1, ranking only behind a few films such as "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Godfather," "The Dark Knight," "Schindler's List," and "Pulp Fiction."

Two more days passed, and the day arrived on October 8, 2012.

The opening weekend box office results for "DROP" shattered the glasses of film critics and box office experts throughout Hollywood.

In its first week, the film grossed nearly $3000 million in just 1203 theaters, showing a clear trend of low opening followed by a strong finish.

Finally, the astonishing earning power of $25,000 per theater and the 65% occupancy rate forced everyone to admit that "a man who has been dubbed 'Mr. Perfect' by many theater managers, with his seven-year unblemished record in Hollywood, seems unlikely to suffer his first defeat today."

This was on the same day that the opening weekend box office figures for "Drop" were announced.

Its first Oscar NYC ad has been released.

On this day, many people's glasses lenses were shattered before they could be glued back on!
……

When Gao Yuanyuan opened the latest episode of "Variety" on October 9th and flipped through the pages to find the page she had been looking forward to for so long, she was taken aback at first glance.

Suddenly, she understood why the man had said he had a surprise for her on the phone last night.

Is this a surprise?

The central figure in the entire advertisement wasn't him at all, but a Chinese girl.

This girl's name may not be known to any American, but she does.

The girl's face occupies two-thirds of the image, her pitiful, autumn-water-like eyes particularly striking. She stands in a dimly lit doorway, talking to a man.

It's obvious that this is a still frame taken from a movie, because the whole image is very grainy and full of a unique cinematic texture. Even the fine hairs on the girl's face and the small pimple on her chin are clearly visible.

In the lower right corner of the image, only a small part of the man's face is visible, with only a faint outline of his jawline.

However, based on this silhouette alone, anyone who has seen the movie would surely recognize who he is.

On the left side of this screen are lines of film reviews that read:

"If it weren't for this girl, I would find it hard to imagine anyone else who could still show their charm under the male lead's dazzling aura."

—The New York Times

She is like a sip of sweet and sour fruit wine, the most unexpected and unmissable appetizer in the grand feast of "DROP".

—Los Angeles Times

A lovely, innocent Chinese girl displayed a level of acting skill on the big screen that was completely different from her unfamiliar name.

——Variety

I prefer Charlize Theron's scenes with Chan. In that dimly lit, cramped room, their mere eye contact was enough to ignite the atmosphere. —Rolling Stone

And in the middle of the image it says:

For your consideration
Best Supporting Actress — Janice Man
Below that was a row of large, bold characters.
"A great movie is not something one person can make. Here's what you should know about DROP."

Then there's the distribution company: A Pritzker Entertainment Production.
Gao Yuanyuan was genuinely surprised by what she saw.

Because she believes that if ten thousand male actors were to seize this opportunity to leave a particularly deep impression on the judges, they would all choose to promote themselves.

Especially since he paid for it himself.

However… Gao Yuanyuan smiled slightly, picked up the magazine and walked towards the hospital. No matter how he looked at it, it was originally one of the ten thousand and one people.

On the way, her thoughts drifted away from the advertisements, and she began to feel somewhat restless.

It's already two days late.

Could it be that--

……

……

Of course, Gao Yuanyuan wasn't the only one who saw this issue of the FYC ad.

She wasn't the only one who was surprised.

Tom Hanks was slightly taken aback when he saw the open copy of Variety magazine that Steven Spielberg had tossed in front of him.

“Interesting, isn’t it?” Steven Spielberg asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tom Hanks took out his reading glasses, put them on, and slowly read through the full-page advertisement inside. After a few seconds, he looked up and asked in a calm tone, "Have you seen the movie?"

“Not yet.” Steven Spielberg shook his head. “I was originally planning to wait until they sent the DVDs before the vote. But now, I’m thinking of going to the theater tomorrow.”

Tom Hanks raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why?"

"Because I heard some rumors that this time Mr. Perfect took out money to compete for the award. But look—he actually put up this ad for Best Supporting Actress first. I think either he's too confident, or he doesn't really want to win as much as he seems to. But either way, it has piqued my interest."

"Oh."

"So, what about you? Will you go to the movie?"

Tom Hanks shook his head and said, "No."

Stephen burst out laughing when he saw his reaction.

Tom Hanks gave a faint smile.

He knew what his old friend was laughing about.

Indeed, influenced by a certain person, Warner Bros. opted to postpone the North American release of "Cloud Atlas" from early October to early November, which greatly annoyed him. Because a late release coincided with the full-fledged awards season, it would significantly impact his chances of winning awards. This made it impossible for him to have any goodwill towards that person.

Furthermore, in this nomination, they are both contenders for Best Actor and are competitors. How could he possibly watch his competitor's film beforehand?
Tom Hanks assumed that the other party was aware of this as well, but a week later, he found himself receiving an invitation to a private screening.

At that moment, he had a copy of the latest issue of Variety, which had just been released on the 16th, open in his hand. Once again, the male lead was not featured, nor was the director.

Instead, it was an old man carrying a video camera.

Tom Hanks has been in Hollywood for 30 years, and he's forgotten which film last had a separate FYC (Final Year Award) for Best Cinematography—giving a dedicated FYC ad slot on an awards season variety show to such a technical award as Best Cinematography? That's just too extravagant.

Looking at the words "For your reference, best cinematography – Darius Congee" and the same bold text as the previous issue: "A great film cannot be made by one person..."

Tom Hanks stared at the line of text, then at the time and place on the invitation, and remained silent for a long time.

……

……

Is Tom Hanks coming?

"Here, his assistant has already informed us."

"Very good." Chen Nuo nodded in satisfaction.

Alison, who usually appeared confident and composed, asked with puzzlement, "I don't understand, Chen. You know, his collaboration with the Wachowski brothers on Cloud Atlas this year has a huge budget, and it just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month with a pretty good reception. They're hot contenders for this year's Oscars. Tom Hanks may be influential in the Screen Actors Guild, but this year, he'll only vote for himself no matter what. Why are we wasting our time on him?"

Chen Nuo smiled after hearing this.

He knew that Alison was absolutely right.
Trying to win over Tom Hanks seems utterly pointless, which is the normal thought for everyone these days.

Unless someone travels back in time like him and knows just how much the judges disliked the film "Cloud Atlas".

In his previous life, even with Tom Hanks personally involved in the FYC promotion and Warner Bros. spending millions of dollars on public relations, this highly anticipated sci-fi epic still failed to secure a single nomination and was completely shut out. He had even been dragged to see the movie by his ex-girlfriend from South Korea, and in the end, aside from Bae Doona's small breasts, he was completely confused and left with no other impression.

Chen Nuo felt that it wasn't impossible to make Tom Hanks realize his failure earlier in this life, so that he would give up public relations and vote for him.

Because this awards season has so many strong films competing for the nominations.

Besides their film *Drop*, there was also his Venice rival, Harvey Weinstein's *The Master*. This time, *The Master* was a complete transformation, because the whole world knows that the Oscars are Harvey Weinstein's home turf, where Harvey's influence might be greater than God's.

Besides the master, there's also Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," which was a critical and commercial success.
He personally helped Jennifer Lawrence win the Best Actress award for "Silver Linings Playbook," which was a huge success at the Shanghai International Film Festival.
Then there's *Les Misérables*, directed by Tom Hooper and starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and a whole host of other big names—a film that's incredibly popular in terms of both subject matter and cast.
And then there's Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron's ex-wife, who famously beat Avatar to a pulp with "The Hurt Locker," winning him a two-million-dollar prize from Harvey Dufresne's new film, "Zero Dark Thirty."
This includes Ben Affleck's brilliant Argo and Daniel Day-Lewis's legendary Lincoln.

Although "Lincoln" and "Argo" have not yet been released, some media outlets, after watching test screenings, have already declared that the 2012 awards season will be "the most brutal awards season in nearly a decade."

Chen Nuo knew perfectly well that this was no exaggeration, but an absolute fact. This year was a year of epic battles, an absolute golden year for the Oscars.

This led him to not only consider the shortlist, but also to focus his efforts, despite opposition, on awards he had previously paid little attention to, in order to ultimately win one.

Forget about Best Supporting Actress or Best Cinematography; even Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing will be featured in separate FYC commercials this time. Chen Nuo has already figured it out.

He paid for it himself.
It was agreed that after winning the award, James Pritzker would repay tenfold.
He didn't feel sorry at all!
However, he couldn't say that during the brief conversation before the private screening.

"Yes, that's right."

At this moment, he was sitting on the main stage of the Walter Reed Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, holding a microphone in his hand, with a sea of ​​dark audience seats in front of him.

The production team sent out 320 invitations for this screening, but the number of attendees exceeded 350!
Even more surprisingly—

Seated in the most prominent positions in the front row were not only Tom Hanks, but also Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Ang Lee, Kathryn Bigelow, Ben Aflake, and some producers from Warner Bros., Paramount, and Columbia Pictures!

In other words, aside from the crew of *The Master* who had already seen the film in Venice, and Daniel Day-Lewis, who is presumably currently in seclusion at an Irish blacksmith's shop,
All the major competitors this awards season are fucking here!

Most of these people didn't even have an invitation!
What does it mean to gather intelligence on the enemy? Chen Nuo thought this was blatant intelligence gathering!
So, when faced with Anne Hathaway's question, he certainly couldn't tell the truth. He smiled faintly and said, "Indeed, I don't really want all the focus to be on me alone. This isn't a movie that I can make by myself. I want to bring the focus back to the movie itself, rather than the direction that the entertainment media is hyping up. Otherwise, I don't think it's fair to the crew."

The host said, "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I think we'll stop our discussion with Chen here before the movie begins. We'll continue our conversation after the film. I'm sure you'll have even more questions then."

(End of this chapter)