Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 554 in Cannes

The news that Li Qiutang was going to make an art film spread from Cannes back to China, sparking considerable discussion, mostly skepticism.

Genre film fans and art film fans are two distinct groups.

Li Qiutang's fans are also full of expectations for his first art film, believing that he dares to break through his own limitations: "He just made a box office champion like 'Mojin: The Lost Legend' and his reputation is at its peak. He doesn't really need to touch an art film that he is not familiar with, but he still did it. What is this if not courage?"

"I'll watch everything Li Qiutang films!"

However, art-house film fans or audiences who dislike Li Qiutang believe that Li Qiutang's move is a publicity stunt: "Don't listen to his talk about changing the format to chat with the audience. He is just like Feng Xiaogang, trying to prove that he is not just a money-grubber and that he can also pretend to be an artist."

"Once people have money, they want to appear cultured."

"His starting point was wrong; he could never make a good art film."

At this point, Li Qiutang's large fan base was clearly no match for these dissenting voices, because Li Qiutang's sudden shift to art films left his fans uncertain.

Fortunately, Li Qiutang is currently far away in Cannes, so these controversies do not affect him.

Domestic moviegoers didn't believe in him, but many actors in the industry wanted to try their luck in Li Qiutang's film.

Li Bingbing, who was also in Cannes, took advantage of the opportunity to inquire about (and try to secure) the rights to "The Butterfly Lovers" from Li Qiutang during a dinner hosted by Autumn Films for Chinese-language journalists in Cannes.

"What's your film about?" Li Bingbing had a successful precedent. She spent more than two years working on "Mirage" and finally succeeded. Although it was a pity that the director of this film was not Li Qiutang, she could tell from her perspective that such a script would not be bad if it were directed by Xin Yukun. Therefore, she did not mind spending another 2-3 years working on "The Butterfly Lovers".

Because Li Bingbing won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress, it was Li Qiutang who brought her that success, so she has a subtle trust in Li Qiutang.

"It's about the family life of a couple." Li Qiutang is really tight-lipped; he says this to everyone. Last night, his wife interrogated him for a long time, demanding that he produce the script, but Li Qiutang refused to comply even at the cost of his life.

"How old are this couple?" Li Bingbing needed to know if he could play the role.

"In my early thirties, married for only a few years, and without children yet." This was the last thing Li Qiutang could say.

Li Bingbing was secretly delighted; the age was suitable for her, and she could act.

"Why did you suddenly want to make art films?" Li Bingbing also wanted to know.

"I don't distinguish between art films and genre films; they're all movies. If I want to tell a story like 'In Time,' I'll make 'In Time.' If I want to tell a story like 'The Butterfly Lovers,' I'll make 'The Butterfly Lovers.' I don't consider whether it's an art film or a commercial film."

Then Li Qiutang started to ignore "The Butterfly Lovers" and started talking nonsense and rambling on with Li Bingbing.

He said he hadn't even seen the finished film of "Mirage" yet, but "Sister Bingbing, your acting skills are definitely good, I know that without even watching it."

They also said that *The Nest* would definitely be a huge hit—Li Bingbing came to Cannes to promote *The Nest*. "Those foreigners said you're the 'Lara Croft of the East'."

Li Bingbing laughed and said, "Isn't the Laura of the East your Yifei?" Last year, when "Mojin: The Lost Legend" came to Cannes for promotion, they also promoted Liu Yifei with this same name.

"Hey, this kind of advertising, whoever uses it owns it," Li Qiutang said with a smile.

Both of them were very busy, so they ate something quickly and left.

Ironically, in the trading market, "The Butterfly Lovers" sold better than "The Meg".

Arthouse film buyers knew that *The Butterfly Lovers* was Li Qiutang's new work and were betting that he would create another *In Time* phenomenon, with distributors readily offering deposits to support Li Qiutang in making the film. However, commercial film buyers, especially those in North America, knew that *The Meg* was a project abandoned 20 years ago, and now that it had fallen into Qiutang's hands as a Sino-US co-production, they weren't interested. The key issue was that Qiutang couldn't provide concrete progress reports: how well the pre-production was going, whether the cast was finalized, when filming would begin, and the expected release date—Qiutang couldn't provide any of this information.

How can film producers trust you?
"The Butterfly Lovers" received $100 million in advance payments from five film companies in just three days, which is enough to raise the funds for preparation and start filming.

At the trade market, a Fox producer sent a message through Fall's staff requesting to see Li Qiutang, saying he had "something very surprising" to tell her.

The staff thought he wanted to buy the North American distribution rights to "The Butterfly Lovers" and said they could make the decision, but Fox said that wasn't the topic of discussion; it was about work related to Li Qiutang herself.

The staff then asked if there was any collaboration involved, requiring funding and venue support from China, but the Fox producer insisted on meeting Li Qiutang before discussing it further.

There was no other way, so the staff had to ask Li Qiutang for help.

Li Qiutang met with the Fox producer at a roadside table, filled with questions.

The two chatted as they ate. The older white man had actually seen most of Li Qiutang's movies, saying that his favorites were "The Invisible Guest" and last year's "Mojin: The Lost Legend": "Both movies were made so well."

He added, "Lee, you should come to Hollywood and develop your career, just like your compatriot James Wan."

Li Qiutang really wanted to tell him that Wen Ziren had no connection with China except that he was of Chinese descent, but she held back.

“Now, a great opportunity is in front of you, and Fox is willing to help you.” He said, pushing a thin sheet of paper over. “Lee, you are a genius director. The Chinese market is too small. You should come to Hollywood.”

The cover of the document has two words printed on it: The Predator.

It means predator or plunderer.

In the film industry, it's called Predator.

"Fox is making a new Predator and is looking for a suitable director. Lee, I've seen all your movies, and you've won a Golden Globe. If you're willing, I can recommend you to Fox to direct the new Predator, and I believe you can do a great job."

To be honest, this is a great opportunity, and most directors would have accepted it.

But Li Qiutang wouldn't have it. He could be the boss in domestic film crews, and producers and supervisors had to listen to him. But when he went to Hollywood to make films, he would have to start from scratch and be someone else's grandson.

Therefore, Li Qiutang had to find a reason to refuse Fox.

"I want the final cut of the film."

That's enough.

Fox would never hand over the final cut of such an important IP as "Predator" to a "newcomer" director.

Seeing that the producer was getting popular, Li Qiutang said, "I won't make films that I can't decide on myself."

“Lee, I will give your opinion a good consideration, but please think about it carefully. This is a great opportunity. You could become the next Ang Lee.” He finally remembered that there was another Ang Lee in Hollywood who was closer to him.

"Okay, I'll consider it." Li Qiutang took a sip of coffee; the coffee was quite good today.

(End of this chapter)