Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 404 Venice Film Festival
"woke up!"

Brigitte Lin and Joey Wong tried to sit up straight despite their discomfort.

Maggie Cheung pushed open the door and came in, carrying a food cart with milk, sandwiches, steaks and fruit salad.

"Why have you brought breakfast?"

"Here's lunch! I know it's inconvenient for you to go down, so I brought the food to you. Eat and then continue to rest."

Maggie Cheung, with an apron wrapped around her slender waist, put her hands on her hips and laughed.

"How did you know? And how were you able to get up? I remember you were playing very wildly yesterday."

The two people in bed started drinking milk and eating sandwiches.

“I’ve been there, I’ve been through it too, but I’m used to it now, so it’s no problem.”

Maggie Cheung laughed.

"Where's Link? Has he gotten up?"

Joey Wong asked questions as she ate.

"Of course, he gets up before seven o'clock every day and never sleeps in, but he is quite busy with work, so he leaves as soon as he gets up."

"Is he made of iron? Most people would probably die from doing that kind of reckless behavior. How can he still get up early for work in the morning?"

Lin Qingxia exclaimed in surprise.

"He's a superman! A true superman. The more you spend time with him, the more you'll recognize that."

"We are really lucky to have met him."

Joey Wong smiled.

"Yes, Gong Lihui and I both think so. Okay, you guys take your time eating, and continue to rest after you finish. We'll talk again when you get up in the afternoon."

Maggie Cheung closed the door and left.

So we dated Superman?

Brigitte Lin and Joey Wong exchanged a glance and smiled gently, seeing the happiness and contentment on each other's faces.
-
After a chaotic night, Link returned to work feeling refreshed.

In its third week of release, Rush Hour grossed $2455 million in 2807 theaters across North America, a 31% drop from the previous week, bringing its total box office to $9498 million.

This week's box office champion is the romantic comedy "Tin Cup," starring Kevin Costner and Renée Russell. It grossed $2571 million in its opening weekend, which is a decent result and represents Kevin Costner's comeback after "Waterworld."

Films such as "Batman Forever," "The Internet," and "The Mask of Zorro" saw a decline in box office revenue, but they were still among the top ten.

Another piece of good news this week is that his film "Batman Forever" has officially surpassed $3 million at the box office, becoming the first film to gross over $3 million in North America this year.

Warner Bros. Pictures threw a big party to celebrate "Batman Forever" surpassing $3 million at the North American box office and $8 million at the global box office.

At the party, Miguel Goss and Richard Fox approached him to discuss the sequel.

The conditions are the same as in "Batman Forever".

If the North American box office exceeds $1 million, he will receive 5% of the North American box office revenue; if the North American box office exceeds $2 million, he will receive 10% of the North American box office revenue and 5% of the overseas box office revenue; if the North American box office exceeds $3 million, he will receive 10% of the global box office revenue; if the North American box office exceeds $4 million, he will receive 15% of the global box office revenue.

Link did not agree.

When he was discussing his salary with Richard Fox in Hawaii, his best-performing film was "Seven," which grossed $8.5 million worldwide.

His highest-grossing film to date is "The Sixth Sense," which grossed over $10 billion worldwide, and "Batman Forever," which grossed over $8 million worldwide.

His box office appeal is increasing, and his commercial value is also rising.

The original revenue sharing method is naturally no longer feasible.

His demand was that his salary would remain unchanged regardless of how much the sequel grossed: a base salary of $1000 million plus 20% of the global box office.

Miggos and Richard Fox did not agree, saying they would have to meet to discuss it.

Link wasn't in a hurry and continued to enjoy the party.
-
By the end of August, the 53rd Venice International Film Festival was approaching.

Link led a team to Venice to participate in the film festival.

This year, Guess What Films has three films participating in the festival: Link's "The English Patient," Wayne Wang's "Smoke," and Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights."

All three films received positive reviews after screening at the film festival, especially *The English Patient*, which garnered extremely high praise from European media. The Italian newspaper *La Stampa* lauded the film as the biggest surprise of the festival and Link's best film to date, comparing it to classics like *Roman Holiday*.

The Guardian praised it as a great love story, like one that had taken ten or twenty years to make.

The French newspaper Le Figaro praised "The English Patient" as a stunning feat of adapting literature into a film, marking a victory for pure cinema.

Moviegoers have given the film very positive reviews.

When "The English Patient" was screened for the second time at the film festival, the theater was packed and no one left early. When the film ended, the audience erupted in applause, which lasted for more than five minutes before quieting down.

"The English Patient is amazing! Juliet, I regret it, I should have pestered Link to act in this movie."

Sophie Marceau exclaimed.

"You mean you're trying to steal my role?"

Juliette Binoche looked at her with displeasure.

"Yes, your role doesn't seem difficult to play either."

Sophie Marceau smiled, pursing her lips.

“You’re wrong. It’s because I acted well that you think it’s not difficult to act. In reality, the filming process was very arduous. We traveled from Morocco to Tunisia, Egypt, and then to Italy and France to film on location, covering a distance of thousands of kilometers.”

Also, Link was very difficult to work with during filming. Everyone in the crew was criticized by him, and I was also severely reprimanded by him several times. He was really scary on set, like you would get beaten up if you didn't act well. The pressure was immense. If you have the chance to work with him once, you will never forget it.

Juliette Binoche complained.

Sophie Marceau smiled slightly, and when she saw Link coming over, she rushed over with a beaming smile, "Darling, Juliet said you bullied her on set, is that true?"

"It's true, I bullied every actor fairly on set."

Link hugged Sophie and laughed.

"That's too domineering! Aren't you worried that no one will want to cooperate with you in the future?"

Sophie Marceau looked up at him, a bright smile on her delicate face.

"Don't worry, I'm strict with the actors to help them get into character more quickly and immerse themselves in the story. I believe everyone can understand my good intentions."

"No way! We can perform very well even without your criticism, and your criticism will increase the pressure on the actors, which can sometimes have the opposite effect."

Juliet Binoche hummed softly.

"Really? Why didn't you say that while we were filming?"

"You're so serious, who would dare to contradict you?"

"Okay, I'll be more careful next time."

Link laughed.

At the film festival, he also met Julia Roberts, whose film "Michael Collins" was also participating in the festival. After meeting him, Julia praised "The English Patient" and expressed her strong desire to work with him.

Director Giuseppe Tornatore, one of the jury members at this year's Venice Film Festival, also came to watch the film.

Link chatted with him about the filming of "The Legend of 10". The film has now wrapped up shooting and is currently recording the soundtrack. Post-production is expected to be completed by around October.

At the film festival, James Schamus set his sights on the rights to the French film "The Little Orphan" and, on behalf of his company, spent $50 to buy it.

After a week of selection, 12 of the 138 films on display were shortlisted for the main competition.

This includes films such as *The English Patient*, *Smoke*, *Boogie Nights*, as well as French films like *The Little Orphan* and *Man and Woman's Guide to Love*, German film *Apocalypse*, British film *The Song of Kara*, and Italian film *The Seventh Chapter of the Pirates*.

On the afternoon of September 3, the Venice Film Festival awards ceremony was held at the Palais des Festivals on Lido Island. Link attended the ceremony with Monica Bellucci, Sophie Marceau, Yu Feihong, and others.

Ultimately, "The English Patient" won the Golden Lion for Best Film, Link won the Silver Lion for Best Director, and "Michael Collins," starring Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson, won the Best Actor award.

Four-year-old actress Vidor Siviso won the Best Actress award for her role in "Little Star," becoming the youngest winner in the history of the Venice Film Festival.

"Boogie Nights" won the Jury Special Award and the Best Screenplay Award.

"Smoke" won a minor award, the 'Elvira Notari Award'.

(End of this chapter)