Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 502 Taking advantage of the situation
Inside the cabin, warm yellow overhead lights shone on the seats on both sides of the aisle, while the deep roar of the engine and the occasional sound of airflow provided background accompaniment.

Jiang Wen was holding a thick newspaper in his hand.

"Hehe, the American media is pretty sassy, ​​huh?"

He reached out and tapped the middle of the page, where a bold black headline immediately caught his eye:
[The Golden Globes are pathetic; this year there's no "Slumdog Millionaire," only two billionaires—Cameron and Wu Chen!]

Wu Chen glanced up and smiled faintly: "Just jealousy."

It must be said that the media in every country are incredibly flamboyant, at least in terms of their "extraordinary" talent in headlines.

“What they said isn’t entirely wrong,” Jiang Wen smiled, then suddenly changed the subject, “By the way, did your theaters already know that Avatar 2D was going to be pulled from theaters to make way for Confucius?”

"We received news that the film was going to be taken off the screen, but we didn't make way for anyone."

Wu Chen spoke very clearly, which Jiang Wen found utterly disdainful.

"Come on, there's no one else here."
However, "Confucius" is quite resilient; the creators and distributors are probably confident that it can at least compete with "Avatar."

Meanwhile, in domestic entertainment news, before the Golden Globe Awards buzz had even died down, another piece of news had already made it to the front page.

The 2D version of Avatar was pulled from theaters ahead of schedule.

Various speculations abound, and the media's tone unanimously points in one direction: this is to make room for "Confucius".

The bureau has issued a special explanation for this.

"Avatar is primarily 3D, with a very small proportion of 2D, so its early removal from theaters is in line with market trends."

However, the film scheduling says it all.

On its opening day, "Confucius" had more screenings than "Avatar".

"I am not afraid."

"I won't watch Avatar, I'll only watch Confucius among the Lunar New Year films."

The creators of "Confucius," including Hu Mei and Chow Yun-fat, were full of confidence throughout the interview, which excited the industry.

With many films moving their release dates to February to avoid competing with Avatar, "Confucius" stands out for its courage and shoulders the responsibility of blocking Avatar's dominance.

But reality is harsh.

When Wu Chen and Jiang Wen returned safely from Los Angeles and landed at Beijing Capital International Airport, in addition to congratulating "The Martian" on winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Film, the media also discussed "Confucius".

"Director Wu, Director Jiang, what are your thoughts on 'Confucius' failing to gross over ten million yuan on its opening day?"

"As a domestic blockbuster that was supposed to compete with Avatar, Confucius received a lot of negative reviews on its opening day. Does this mean that domestic films are unable to compete with Hollywood blockbusters?"

"Director Wu, the first batch of shortlisted films for Berlin has been announced. Zhang Yimou's 'A Simple Noodle Story' and Wang Quan'an's 'Reunion' have been selected for the main competition. Is it still possible for your '1939' to make it to Berlin?"

"."

Wu Chen smiled, his tone steady:

"First of all, we haven't read 'Confucius' yet, so we won't comment on it."

Secondly, congratulations to Director Zhang and Director Wang. Post-production on *1939* is progressing rapidly, but whether it can go to Berlin depends on whether it can be completed to a high standard. We will not sacrifice quality to rush to the film festival.

After saying that, he waved his hand slightly, indicating that the interview was over.

"Less than ten million on the first day? That's a huge loss." Jiang Wen muttered to Wu Chen as they walked. "I thought it would be twenty or thirty million. The quality is terrible."

I don't know whether to praise their courage or not, considering the cost was 1.5 million.

Given these costs, and with poor box office performance and reviews on its opening day, it was inevitable that "Confucius" would suffer a huge loss.

Of course, China Film Group lost more money, because it was one of the main controlling parties.

When Wu Chen pushed open the door, he saw Han Sanping sitting on the sofa, his brows furrowed as if covered in frost. A thick daily box office report was spread out on the table, the numbers highlighted in red were glaringly obvious—"Confucius" grossed less than ten million on its opening day.

"It doesn't make sense."

"Chairman Han, we got the Golden Globe trophy back. We went to get a replica made, which delayed our flight."

Wu Chen ignored him, casually opened his travel bag, and took out the trophy.

When Hu Mei was preparing to film "Confucius," he first hinted that he would portray Confucius as a martial artist and have sex scenes, which basically doomed the film to be of poor quality.

Chow Yun-fat has never even read the Analects of Confucius.

Various bizarre and outrageous actions continued.
Han Sanping's gaze was immediately drawn to it, and he reached out and stroked it for a moment, which dispelled his depressed mood.

"Put it in the office?" Wu Chen suggested with a smile.

“That’s still too high-profile. A few days is enough.” Han Sanping smiled brightly, then suddenly thought of something, “Will ‘1939’ be completed? The deadline is fast approaching.”

"I can do it a few days later, but it's hard to say."

Upon hearing this, Han Sanping suddenly slapped his forehead: "I almost forgot, you big directors don't use the ordinary passage."

"Chairman Han, the way you're saying it makes it sound like I'm getting special privileges," Wu Chen said with a laugh.

It has to be said that the Berlin Film Festival, celebrating its 60th anniversary, is generating increasingly enthusiastic news.

Many domestic films were shortlisted or participated in the exhibition.

In addition to "A Simple Noodle Story", "Reunion" and Wu Chen's unfinished "1939", "Echoes of the Rainbow" and "Little Big Soldier" are also participating in the "New Generation Competition Award" and film festival screenings.

The latest news from Berlin indicates that Yu Nan, China's queen of art-house films, will also be a jury member at this year's Berlin Film Festival.

When Wu Chen told Yuan Xiaoqin that the film might be shown at the Berlin Film Festival, she became unhappy.

"Why does this film festival have to be held during the Spring Festival of all times? So, what you promised me last year is just ruined now?"

Wu Chen put the phone on speakerphone, and Liu Yifei covered her mouth and chuckled to herself.

She heard with her own ears that Wu Chen promised to go back home for the Chinese New Year last year, and that several people would go back together.

Seeing Wu Chen's pleading eyes, Liu Yifei slowly raised one finger.

This is clearly a requirement.

"This is outrageous! They're taking advantage of our misfortune!"

Wu Chen opened his mouth to speak, and Liu Yifei smiled even sweeter, raising another finger. Wu Chen quickly covered his mouth with both hands, only showing her one finger, and then nodded vigorously.

"whee."

Liu Yifei laughed out loud, and then continued the conversation on the other end of the phone, saying, "Auntie, it's not a disaster. We'll go back in a few days. Even if we don't go to Berlin, we'll still go back as planned."

Wu Chen was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.

What a loss, how could he forget about it so easily?

He could have gone back for a few days. The editing work is meticulous and there's someone watching over it. He's not someone who needs to be in the editing room every minute.

Yuan Xiaoqin was clearly happy and kept asking when the two would be back.

"It's a loss, it's a loss, it doesn't count, it doesn't count this time."

"You call yourself a big director? How can you go back on your word?"

Liu Yifei nestled into Wu Chen's arms, her little fists gently pounding her chest, her eyes wide open, and her lips slightly pouting, as if she were about to cry at any moment.
(End of this chapter)