It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 109 Even the fastest AE86 can't catch up with Natsuki in a Mercedes... (Seeking monthly votes)
"The nominations for the 77th Academy Awards have been announced. Congratulations to director Lu Rui for being nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for 'The Prestige'!"

"Zhao Xiaoding, the cinematographer of 'House of Flying Daggers,' has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography."

"The 24th Hong Kong Film Awards have announced their nominations. The romantic comedy film 'Hitch,' directed by Zhao Peng, has been nominated for six awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor."

"The Film Bureau has announced the latest batch of approved scripts, including 'Fearless,' 'The Myth,' 'Rob-B-Hood,' and 'Taken'..."

"Following China Film Stellar Media, Shanghai United, and New Film Alliance, Wanda Cinemas has been officially approved for establishment!"

"..."

...

On his way back to the company from the airport, Lü Rui got a general idea of ​​the recent developments in the domestic film and television industry.

As expected, Kung Fu Emperor's "Danny the Dog" was not imported to China.

However, even though he was heavily criticized by netizens, Li Lianjie still officially announced his new film "Huo Yuanjia".

Thanks to the popularity they had built up before, they had many supporters.

On the other hand, Jackie Chan's "The Myth" and "Rob-B-Hood" are also major focuses of attention in the industry.

In addition, there was news of Oscar and Hong Kong Film Awards nominations.

With Warner Bros.' involvement, "The Prestige" was successfully nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, no one should be able to compete with Lü Rui for this award.

In contrast, Zhang Weiping had previously boasted that "House of Flying Daggers" would definitely be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, but after the nominations were announced, it was only nominated for Best Cinematography.

In an instant, his face was slapped repeatedly!

He was quite clever; seeing that the reporters were all surrounding him, he simply disappeared into the new screen and didn't show his face.

At the Hong Kong Film Awards, the most talked-about film this year wasn't actually "Hitch," but rather "Kung Fu Hustle."

The former received only 6 nominations, while the latter received as many as 15!
Mainland media outlets are speculating whether Stephen Chow can achieve a grand slam this time, sweeping all the major awards?

After all, in terms of quality and performance alone, no other film released at the same time could match it.

Movies like "New Police Story," "2046," and "One Night in Mongkok" are far inferior to "Kung Fu Hustle" in terms of popularity, box office, buzz, and critical acclaim.

Logically speaking, Stephen Chow should be unbeatable at the Hong Kong Film Awards this year.

This is also the prediction made by major media outlets.

However, in Lü Rui's memory, after "Shaolin Soccer," Stephen Chow seemed to have been completely "abandoned" by the Hong Kong Film Awards...

The conflict between Star Overseas and China Star is almost an open secret in the Hong Kong entertainment circle, and coincidentally, the latter has intricate connections with the Hong Kong Film Awards.

As he was thinking, Zhao Peng, who was driving, suddenly asked expectantly, "Brother Rui, you said 'Hitch' received 6 nominations, is there a chance it will win an award?"

Lu Rui didn't want to discourage him, but the reality was that the chances of "Hitch" winning an award were almost zero!

Hong Kong's capitalists have always been driven by profit.

The reason for awarding the prize to "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" was simply to use Ruishijie's channels to make money in the north.

They all had such wonderful ideas, but in the end, they were ruthlessly stopped at the door by Lü Rui.

Enraged, they harbored a deep grudge against Ruishijie.

Therefore, barring any unforeseen circumstances, "Hitch" is unlikely to win any awards.

"Don't have too high expectations. Just treat it as a trip to broaden your horizons."

Lu Rui put it very tactfully, but Zhao Peng understood instantly!

Although he was somewhat disappointed, he took it in stride: "Take what you can, it's no big deal if you don't. If I get it, I'm lucky; if I lose it, it's fate."

After thinking it through, he suddenly changed the subject: "Brother Rui, you don't know, a lot of people have come out of industry this year. You know Jay Chou, the singer, right? He's also made a movie, I think it's something about racing..."

"Ok, I know."

Lu Rui nodded, feeling a strange mix of emotions.

What's the point of driving an AE86 as fast as you can? Can it catch up with Natsuki in a Mercedes?

Rolls-Royces speed by on the main thoroughfare of the capital.

Lu Rui sat in the passenger seat, legs crossed, glanced at the Spirit of Ecstasy emblem on the hood, and a calm expression appeared on his face.

A Mercedes could take Natsuki away, let alone his Rolls-Royce?

Even if his future father-in-law or mother-in-law is a bit materialistic, he has enough confidence!
...

Compared to other headlines, the news of Wanda Cinemas' approval did not attract much attention.

After all, Wanda currently only has a handful of cinemas and has not yet expanded on a large scale.

But Lü Rui paid close attention to this.

Because he knew that from this moment on, Wanda Cinemas would expand rapidly and grow into a leading cinema chain in China and even the world, relying on Wanda Plazas!

Such a speed of development is difficult for others to replicate.

Although Lü Rui was envious, he also understood that with his current financial resources, he simply could not afford to set up a cinema chain on such a large scale as Wanda.

Of course, there are also fast-track options, such as acquiring Golden Harvest, which was looking to sell its cinema chains!
However, this path is not suitable for him at the moment.

Golden Harvest Cinemas' strength is undeniable, but its influence is more concentrated in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.

Ruishijie's reach is not yet far enough. Rather than risking everything to acquire Golden Harvest and struggling to survive on someone else's turf, it would be better to start from the mainland.

After all, the funds required to acquire Golden Harvest were not a small amount; spending that much money would have been enough for him to lay a solid foundation in mainland China.

His current plan is to first acquire a small to medium-sized cinema chain without affecting the company's operations, and then gradually expand...

Back at Ruishijie, Lü Rui didn't even have time to adjust to the time difference before being overwhelmed by a massive amount of documents. His secretary, Liang Lulu, stood in front of his desk, informing him one by one which documents he needed to sign and stamp.

It's already the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, and there are only two days left until the holiday.

Given the company's good revenue performance last year, Lü Rui generously approved a bonus of three times the normal amount.

Liang Lulu, who was standing next to her, stared with admiration and couldn't help but exclaim, "Boss, you're so handsome!"

Lu Rui paused, turned to look at her, and teased, "Tell me, what's so handsome about me?"

"He's handsome everywhere, especially when he's signing off on payments and distributing salaries and bonuses!"

"If you don't get paid or receive bonuses and are forced to work overtime, are you secretly cursing me, Lü the Skinflint, in your hearts?"

"No way! How could that be! You're the best boss in the world!"

Liang Lulu quickly waved her hand, but her slightly evasive eyes still betrayed her true intentions.

Lu Rui chuckled, seemingly unconcerned.

What employee in this world doesn't gossip about their boss behind their back?
Secretaries and assistants, in particular, are the busiest on weekdays, with almost no free time, and they complain the most!
"You worked hard last year. I'll talk to the finance department and give you an extra bonus."

"Wow! Boss, you're so cool!"

"Alright, stop flattering me." Lu Rui withdrew his gaze, signing and stamping the documents as he asked, "During my absence, did the company encounter any problems?"

Liang Lulu thought for a moment and gently shook her head: "There's no problem, it's just that the number of people joining keeps increasing, and Manager Hou is constantly recruiting."

"Well, I know that."

When this matter was brought up, Lü Rui's expression became inexplicably strange.

Hou Hongliang specifically spoke with him when recruiting, and received his approval.

However, almost all the people recruited were originally from the original Yamakage Film Studio.

In other words, the Shandong Film Studio is practically being "plucked bald"!

Since Hou Hongliang, Kong Sheng and others came to Ruishijie, they have introduced a lot of people from the original Shandong Film Studio team, and they are all the backbone who are frustrated and unfulfilled.

If they keep digging like this, Shanying Film Studio might not have many people left to do the actual work; all that will be left are a bunch of leaders sitting in offices.

It's unclear whether Shanying is indifferent or unaware, but there has been no movement from them so far.

...

Once you get into a busy state, you often don't realize that several hours have already passed.

Sure enough, when Lü Rui finished signing the documents and checked the time, it was already past seven o'clock.

The sky outside the window was already dark, and the neon lights were flashing incessantly.

He stood up, stretched, handed the documents to Liang Lulu to organize, and then went out of the office to stretch his legs.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I got near the conference room, I saw a large number of people gathered behind the open door.

"Ning Hao?" Lu Rui called out as he walked to the door.

The next second, the previously noisy meeting room fell silent, and everyone turned to look at the door.

Ning Hao was the first to react, stepping out from the crowd and greeting him with a smile: "Director Lü, when did you come back from Hollywood?"

"I arrived at the company at noon."

As Lü Rui responded, he glanced at the other people in the conference room with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

Ning Hao explained, "These are the actors I selected for 'Crazy Stone.' I called them over today to explain some things, and filming will officially begin after the New Year."

As they spoke, everyone in the conference room came over to greet them.

Ning Hao then introduced them: "This is Guo Tao, who plays Bao Shihong... Liu Hua, who plays Dao Ge in the film... Xu Zheng, who plays the villain Boss Feng... Huang Bo, who plays Hei Pi..."

After the introductions, Lü Rui was surprised to discover that the main creators of the film, Guo Tao and Liu Hua, were both graduates of the Central Academy of Drama.

The villain Xu Zheng is from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, while the international thief Lian Jin comes from Hong Kong's TVB.

Only Huang Bo, who played Hei Pi, is from the Beijing Film Academy, but he studied dubbing in the acting department, not as an undergraduate.

While greeting everyone, Lü Rui glanced at Ning Hao silently.

As expected of a director who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, he hasn't lost his "fine traditions".

After saying hello, Lü Rui couldn't just turn around and leave.

Since they had run into each other, Ning Hao simply instructed someone to book a table at a nearby hotel. Once he finished his work, he would invite everyone to have a meal together before leaving.

No one present refused.

Xu Zheng had other things to do that evening, but when he heard that Lü Rui was going to treat him to a meal, he declined his other engagements without hesitation.

"Director Lü, let me toast you. It's a pleasure to meet you, please take good care of me..."

Compared to Guo Tao and Liu Hua's somewhat reserved demeanor, Xu Zheng and Huang Bo were in a completely different state.

The two became very familiar with each other, and the toasts and flattery never stopped, with no two phrases being the same, all of them being pleasant and pleasant-sounding words.

Having high emotional intelligence is undoubtedly a good thing in the entertainment industry. However, sometimes being too shrewd and calculating can not necessarily be a good thing...

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Lü Rui rushed home on the last day before the Lunar New Year.

Everyone in the company except for those on duty has been given the day off.

He's been busy all year, it's time for him to come back and rest for a few days.

However, to his surprise, as soon as he got home and opened the door, he saw someone he hadn't seen for a while sitting on the living room sofa...

(End of this chapter)