Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 660: An advance preview of "The Martian"—what a pity.
"Mr. Marco Müller"

Upon hearing the heavily accented Italian English on the other end of the phone, Wu Chen raised an eyebrow slightly, showing a hint of curiosity.

He recalled that he had formally informed the Venice Organizing Committee through the production department of Starry Sky Pictures.
The final DCP copy of his new film, "The Warmest 30 Days of My Life," will be sent over in mid-August.

To make sure the other party knew, he repeated it again.

“Oh, Wu, of course I know about this situation.”

On the other end of the phone, Marco Müller's voice was full of enthusiasm, "I just wanted to ask you personally, how far along is your new film?"

Wu Chen glanced at the footage being rough-cut:

"We're still editing; we should be able to finish the rough cut in the next couple of days."

“That’s fantastic! Can I come to Beijing to see the sample footage in advance?” Marco Müller finally revealed the true purpose of his trip.

"Mr. Marco, is this really necessary?" Wu Chen asked, somewhat puzzled. "The finished film can be sent over in mid-month, so it won't delay your film selection process."

“Of course it’s necessary!” Marco Müller’s tone suddenly became somewhat solemn.

"Wu, we are about to announce the first batch of nominees for this year's Venice Film Festival."

If possible, I hope that you and your film can be included on this list as soon as possible.

"Oh?"

Wu Chen was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

He instantly understood that Marco Müller intended to fly over in person to preview the film.

He thought for a moment, then readily agreed: "OK, no problem. Welcome to the capital."

"Great! I'll be there the day after tomorrow!"

After hanging up the phone, Marco Müller, far away in Rome, breathed a long sigh of relief.

In order to preserve the glory of the Venice Film Festival, he has tried almost every possible method over the years.

Of the three major international film festivals today, Venice is actually the one that has the hardest time.

Berlin in February, right after the North American awards season at the beginning of the year, can immediately take over the heat after the Oscars and connect with the global spring film market;
Cannes in May and June goes without saying; the timing is perfect, as it hosts the world's largest film trading platform, making it a stage that all blockbusters and art films dream of.

Venice, however, is in an awkward situation in September.

First came the holiday season for major European film studios, then came the Toronto International Film Festival, which was gaining momentum and rising rapidly.

Backed by the vast North American market, Toronto is known as the "outpost of the Oscars," and its appeal to Hollywood is growing daily.

Venice, the world's oldest film festival, is facing a huge crisis of marginalization.
Now they need these world-renowned directors.
"Huh? You mean, the president of the Venice Film Festival, Marco Müller, is flying over in person the day after tomorrow to see the sample footage? Is he in such a hurry?"

Inside the villa, Liu Yifei was also somewhat surprised after hearing what Wu Chen had told her about this.

Immediately, an undisguised joy and anticipation appeared on her face.

"Maybe they're just eager to see if you're really suitable to be a movie queen."

Wu Chen smiled, reached out and pulled her into his arms, joking around.

"You're so annoying." Liu Yifei leaned against him and let out a coquettish sound, but her cheeks were slightly hot.

"Don't you want to lift the Volpi Cup with your own hands?"

Wu Chen lowered his head, looked at her bright phoenix eyes, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Well, there's still hope." Liu Yifei wrapped her arms around Wu Chen's waist, buried her face in his chest, and said in a muffled voice, "You can never have too many trophies. What about you?" "Me? It's fine with me whether I get one or not." Wu Chen chuckled. "Anyway, it would be great if I got one, but it doesn't matter if I don't. Of course, if they're willing to give me a few more Best Director awards, I wouldn't mind either."

The Volpi Trophy is the trophy awarded at the Venice Film Festival for Best Actor and Best Actress.

Whether he wants it or not is not a big deal.

If he has it, he can brag about it; if he doesn't, it won't affect him at all.

"Just so you can show off."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei couldn't help but raise her head and glare at him, but then smiled sweetly.

While the two were enjoying a leisurely and sweet time, the entire domestic film industry was turned upside down by another behemoth, which even set a record of breaking 100 million yuan in box office revenue on its opening day, giving the industry quite a fright.
"These Hollywood blockbusters shouldn't be allowed in! How are our domestic films supposed to survive if this continues?"

"Is Han Sanping actually going to schedule a release date? How can he let a movie like Transformers 3 be released during the summer season?"

"We work so hard to make a movie, and we can't even break 100 million at the box office. Others, on the other hand, break that mark in a single day."

This sparked a lot of discussion within the industry.

Many of the affected film companies naturally shifted the blame to China Film Group, refusing to admit that their films themselves had problems.

Entertainment media outlets, meanwhile, used the most eye-catching headlines to report on this historic moment.

The Chinese film market has officially entered the era of "breaking 100 million yuan in a single day"!

However, some people did the opposite, using the popularity of "Transformers 3" to promote their own films.

"The special effects of 'The Legend of the White Snake' are absolutely no less than those of 'Transformers 3'! Don't believe me? We'll see in theaters at the end of September!" Yang Zi of Juli Films appeared exceptionally confident during the interview.

These words really fooled some uninformed viewers.

Of course, those in the know simply scoff.

"Even if you spend 1.5 million on special effects for a movie with a total investment of 1 million, what level of special effects can you achieve?"

At this moment, in Han Sanping's office, he was on the phone with Wu Chen, feeling quite emotional.

"For the past two years, I've been thinking about when our domestic film market will break 100 million yuan in a single day."

"It's a pity about 'The Martian'. If it were based on the number of screens in the previous two years, this record might not belong to 'Transformers 3'."

"Chairman Han, let's let it break 100 million for now, and surpass that record this year." Wu Chen didn't care at all.

Records are meant to be broken; once a record is broken, people will only remember the new film.

"It's good that you have confidence." Han Sanping smiled upon hearing this.

If anyone else had said this, he would have been somewhat skeptical. But coming from Wu Chen, the credibility was completely different.

In particular, when he thought about Wu Chen's upcoming 3D sci-fi blockbuster "Interstellar" at the end of the year, he felt that this record might not be impossible to break.

"By the way, can Transformers 3 break Avatar's record?"

"It's difficult, but even with a billion-dollar budget, there's a chance of success. However, its staying power is definitely not as strong as Avatar!"

"A billion!"

Han Sanping felt a glimmer of hope.

When will Chinese films be able to break the 1 billion yuan mark?
(End of this chapter)