I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 620: Jean Reno or Old Jiang?

Liu Jin ultimately did not contact Pierre Jeunet.

However, he learned from Isabelle Adjani that Genet had actually rejected the project.

reason?

It wasn't that he didn't think highly of "The Bélier Family".

In fact, he really liked the story.

"As you know, Jeunet is not a new director; he has his own personality."

If you hadn't mentioned Huppert, Javier, or Renault that day, he would most likely have agreed to take on the project.

"Does he have a grudge against Isabelle Huppert and the others?"

"That's not..."

Adjani hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "He feels that you don't give him enough respect."

"what?"

"You immediately decided on the female lead and the male and female supporting actors, which made him feel that his authority as a director was threatened."

As you know, he mentored an Oscar-winning actor and has achieved a certain status in Hollywood, and in France, he's among the top directors. He doesn't even have the power to choose actors, which makes him somewhat dissatisfied.

"I understand!"

"He felt that his power was not even as great as mine."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jin fell silent.

He's too obsessed with "The Bélier Family"!

So much so that he ignored Jean-Pierre Jeunet's feelings.

When Isabelle Adjani was directing *The Chorus*, Liu Jin only finalized the casting of Binoche; he didn't interfere with the other roles, leaving the decision to Adjani herself. However, when he approached Jeunet, he secured several main roles in one go! Jeunet is not Adjani; his experience and status far surpass Adjani's.

Liu Jin's behavior did indeed make him feel dissatisfied.

However, he didn't want to break off relations, so he used Isabelle Adjani's words to refuse Liu Jin's invitation.

Liu Jin scratched his head and gave a wry smile.

This is indeed his problem!

He's getting a little cocky!
Or rather, he has become somewhat oblivious to the feelings of directors.

“Okay, I understand! Isabel, please apologize to Jeunet for me.”

"It's good that you're not angry; it was just a small misunderstanding."

How are things on your end?

"Everything is going well; we've already completed one-third of the story."

"Okay, then I won't bother you anymore."

Liu Jin hung up the phone.

……

I originally thought things would go smoothly, but I never expected that my own actions would lead to the current predicament.

Fortunately, Liu Jin has already filed a report.

He decided to find Olivier Assayas, Maggie Cheung's ex-husband.

Many people feel that Maggie Cheung made a bad choice by marrying Olivier.

After all, Olivier Assayas was a foreigner to the Chinese, and they had never even heard of him.

To be honest, Liu Jin thinks Zhang Manyu is very lucky to have married Olivier.

It was Olivier's film "Clean" that earned Maggie Cheung the title of Best Actress at Cannes.

Olivier Assayas was born in Paris in 1955 and is a Jew of the Common Tricolor.

He directed his first short film in 1979.

Later, he worked as an editor for the famous French film magazine "Cahiers du Cinéma", where he planned a special issue titled "Made in Hong Kong", which detailed the history of Hong Kong films and played a very important role in promoting Hong Kong films in Europe.

To put it simply, he has a very positive view of Chinese-language films.

He has filmed documentaries for Hou Hsiao-hsien and Christopher Doyle, and has only done one episode introducing Taiwanese films.

That was filmed in 2014.

The film was directed by Xie Qingling, with Olivier serving as producer and even making a cameo appearance.

That episode featured renowned directors such as Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jia Zhangke, and Hirokazu Kore-eda...

Since 1986, Olivier has officially become a director, and for the past twenty years, he has enjoyed a very high reputation and status in France.

Last year, he assembled more than 20 directors to plan a compilation film.

It's the movie "I Love You, Paris," which tells one story in each of the eighteen arrondissements of Paris, making a total of eighteen short stories.

These anthology films are very popular.

In 08, Jiang Wen was invited to America's New York to emulate "I Love You, Paris" and filmed "New York, I Love You," a film co-directed by twelve international directors.

In the future, Olivier will collaborate with many Hollywood stars and will remain a top director until 2025, just before Liu Jin's rebirth.

Liu Jin carefully investigated Olivier's information before contacting him.

During the phone call, he was very candid, recounting the story of "The Bélier Family" to Olivier and inviting him to direct it.

He told Olivier about inviting Huppert.

Olivier didn't seem to mind, after all, he and Isabelle had been partners for many years. However, when it came to the supporting actor role, he unexpectedly gave up on Jean Reno after hearing Liu Jin mention Jean Reno and Jiang Wen.

"I greatly admire Jiang's temperament and acting skills."

However, his Jiang-style dialogue... sometimes, is too sharp and over-the-top, stealing the spotlight. But in this film, he plays a deaf-mute character, requiring him to deliver an even more outstanding performance. Personally, I think he's more suitable than Jean Reno.

Moreover, this movie should be released in China.

Comparatively speaking, Jiang's influence is stronger than Jean Reno's.

Liu Jin smiled and said, "This is not something I need to consider; it's all up to you to decide."

"Alright, I hope I can have a good talk with Jiang and see if we can get him to come to Paris?"

"of course can!"

Liu Jin thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "So who would you like to be the producer?"

"How is Bruno Pésery?"

"Are you very familiar with him?"

“A veteran producer, I’ve worked with him three times, and it was always a very pleasant experience.”

"I will contact him."

"That's settled then. I'll make the most of my time to familiarize myself with the story again, and then finish the script as soon as possible."

"Then I'm sorry to trouble you!"

"Amos, you're too kind!"

Olivier is not only an excellent director, but also an excellent screenwriter.

He had previously won the César Award for Best Screenplay, so Liu Jin felt very reassured entrusting the script to him.

But this Bruno Peselli he mentioned...

Liu Jin had heard of his name, but wasn't very familiar with him.

But since Olivier had chosen this person, Liu Jin didn't mind letting him serve as the producer.

However, when it came to contacting Bruno for work, Liu Jin thought about it and decided to ask Emmanuel to be the introducer, since they knew him better.

Actually, if Emmanuelle hadn't been making "La Vie en Rose," Lau Chin would have preferred her to be the producer.

After settling things off with Olivier, Liu Jin called Jiang Wen and asked him to find some time to go to Paris and see Olivier.

I don't know what Lao Jiang was thinking, that he would be so enthusiastic about participating in the film.

Actually, it's not impossible for Bélier to become of Chinese descent.

After all, the number of people of Chinese descent in France is not small...

……

A few days later, Emmanuel replied that Bruno Peselli had agreed to be the producer.

Just then, Mela returned from America, so Liu Jin asked Mela to take over the rest of the business and go talk to Olivier and Bruno about the contract.

"I'm your manager, but I feel like I'm almost becoming your assistant!"

Mela complained.

But Liu Jin could tell that she didn't actually dislike this kind of life.

……

Celestial, continue learning sign language.

Meanwhile, Han Shanping also had people from China Film Group come to France and sign a contract with Liu Jin.

China Film Group acquired a 30% investment in "The Bélier Family," which amounted to $7.5 million.

In the original timeline, the Bellier family's investment was only 1300 million.

The main problem is that neither the director nor the actors are very famous.

In this timeline, setting aside other factors, the combined directorial fee of Olivier and Isabelle Huppert's salary would amount to approximately six million US dollars. And that's with Jiang Wen in the lead role; if Jean Reno were cast, the cost would likely be even higher.

Therefore, this version of "The Bélier Family" in this timeline cost $24 million.

SNEG Films actually invested eight million dollars, while the remaining investment of nearly nine million dollars was shared by the Coppola family's Metropolitan and Las Vegas film investment funds. Essentially, all aspects of the relationship were taken into account.

After handling these matters, Liu Jin stopped asking about them.

Because the new semester has already begun!
"Columbia University has sent you an exchange program invitation, inviting you to join the exchange student program between the University of Toulouse II and Columbia University this year."

Less than a week after Liu Jin returned to school, Professor Michelle handed him an application form.

"Should I go?"

"Why not?"

Michelle Ranke laughed and said, "Going to experience America's literary atmosphere is also a good choice."

The key point is that Liu Jin was invited by Columbia University to be on the exchange student list this time.

This is also a good thing for Toulouse II.

After all, Liu Jin, who created Notre Dame de Paris and Les Misérables, has become a calling card for Toulouse II University.

Not only Columbia University, but also many other internationally renowned schools have sent invitations.

……

(End of this chapter)