Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 261 An Amazing Director
Flattery works everywhere, including in the United States.

A famous director praised them, and even though they are world-class actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon both had smiles on their faces the whole time.

They had met Chen Shouzhe several times, at the Golden Globe Awards, the Oscars, Hollywood dinners, and so on.

Chen Shouzhe gave them the feeling of mystery, a mysterious director from a mysterious country.

They first heard the name Chen Shouzhe when it was in "2012," a successful co-produced disaster film.

Then Chen Shouzhe seemed to have unlocked a cheat code, making movies one after another, and even producing "The Man from Earth," which set a historical record.

He made a film with the highest return on investment at the lowest cost. In the United States, Chen Shouzhe is a miracle. That's why many film and television companies want to work with him.

Which investment firm could refuse a director who can generate box office revenue?

If Chen Shouzhe had invited them in the past, they might have approached the negotiations with a profit-driven mindset, and might not have even come forward themselves, but instead delegated the task to the company or their agents; they were the real experts at negotiating.

Things are different now. Chen Shouzhe has won Oscars for Best Director and Best Screenplay, which means that he has the ability to compete for Oscars.

No actor can resist awards, and Leonardo DiCaprio has won an Oscar.

However, his award seemed more like something he begged for.

That's right, it was done by begging.

The Academy held him back for over twenty years. He was nominated countless times, but missed out every time, until he finally won his own Oscar a couple of years ago.

However, everyone thought that award was begged for, because Leonardo DiCaprio won it by humiliating himself, eating raw meat, and making himself look ugly in various ways. If he hadn't won it by then, he probably would have given up on the Oscars.

He has no shortage of acting skills, but what he lacks is an Oscar. Even though he already has one, he still hopes to win another one honorably. No one would complain about having too few awards.

Matt Damon goes without saying; he hasn't won an Oscar for Best Actor yet, and he's even more eager to win one.

This might be his chance, but he's still worried about competing with Leonardo DiCaprio, since DiCaprio is much more famous than him, even in China.

They still believe that Chen Shou invited them out to dinner to select a main character from among them.

When the guests arrived, the restaurant started serving the food, and they chatted while eating.

Leonardo opened a bottle of fine wine, and the three of them toasted each other.

"Director Chen, when... should we... see the script?" Matt suddenly asked in Chinese.

"You can speak Chinese?" Chen Shou looked at Matt in shock.

“Haha, I learned it from a Chinese actress named Sally,” Matt said.

“Sally?”

Chen Shou began to ponder. A domestic actress named Sally—it's normal for actresses to have English names, like the cult leader's wife, who has a particularly trendy English name. Hold on…

“Her Chinese name is Tian Tian,” Matt explained.

"Oh, it's Tian Tian. I know her, she's my junior." Chen Shouzhe suddenly remembered her. Tian Tian had quite a few resources. Although Lu Zheng had once approached Chen Shouzhe for the female lead in Stephen Chow's movie, he later gave it to Yang Mi. They had run into each other several times since then, and Chen Shouzhe had even seen Tian Tian at the celebration banquet before coming here.

However, Lu Zheng is no longer involved in the film and television industry.

He wasn't originally from the film and television industry, but from another circle. He was entrusted by Tian Tian's family to help Tian Tian realize her dream of becoming an actress.

As a result, Lu Zheng kept providing resources without considering whether Tian Tian could handle it, her acting skills, or what kind of subjects she was suitable for. He just wanted to provide resources, good resources, and big resources.

Chen Shouzhe has never collaborated with them. After all, with so many actors, who would want to give their resources to outsiders?

Even though Tian Tian isn't an outsider, she's from his hometown. Lu Zheng is still a director of Wanda Pictures. As Chen Shouzhe's most important partner, Wanda should logically give her priority.

Unfortunately, her relationship with Chen Shouzhe was just so-so, and since she had no shortage of resources, even if she mentioned it, it wouldn't be on Chen Shouzhe's radar.

“I brought Matt’s script. Do you want to read it now?” Chen Shou asked with a smile.

"Is that okay?" Matt asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Reading a script in a public place like this?" Leonardo put down his knife and fork and laughed.

“Under the starry sky, I think it’s fine, and the lighting is good too.” Chen Shou took out two prepared scripts from his briefcase and handed them to the two of them.

“I’m going to try and snatch Leo this time,” Matt laughed.

“Let’s give it a try and see who can land Director Chen’s role.” Leonardo smiled.

Chen Shouzhe was completely confused, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized what was going on and laughed, "Hahaha, sorry, my manager didn't explain it clearly to you. This time I'm not just inviting one of you, but both of you. You should read the script first; it'll be very interesting."

The two were taken aback. If they were both going to act, who would play the lead role?
The two of them opened the script and started reading at the same time. The waiter continued to serve the dishes, but neither of them had any appetite. Instead, they started talking while holding the script.

The two of them didn't stop eating at all until the very end, forcing the waiter to stop and bring more food, otherwise they would blame the waiter if the food didn't taste good later.

The two were so engrossed in reading the script that they were noticed by other people in the restaurant, some of whom even streamed it online.

[The Asian man gave Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon a book that looked like a contract. They started reading it. Could it be a script?]

The text and accompanying picture appeared on social media, and her previous post already had many comments.

The first result was a message explaining science to her.

"You don't even know that the winners of the Oscars for Best Screenplay and Best Director at the beginning of this year are Chen Shouzhe, from China, a great director. He's having dinner with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon right now, they definitely have a collaborative project, and he'll probably invite them to star in his new movie."

"Is a world-renowned director going to collaborate with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon? I'm suddenly really looking forward to it."

"Let me give you a brief introduction to this director's films released in the United States. His famous disaster trilogy includes 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, and The Impossible. His science fiction films include The Man from Earth, The Martian, WALL-E, and Gravity. He also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for The Pursuit of Happyness, and the blockbuster films Fast & Furious, The Matrix, and Saw. Yes, all the films you see here were written by this director, and he also directed many of them himself. He is a remarkable international director."

Upon seeing the netizens' explanation, the blogger's eyes widened, and she handed her phone to her friend next to her. Her friend was also shocked after reading it, because they had seen almost all of the movies featured on the screen.

It's surprising that they were all made by the same person. No wonder Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon stood up and greeted Chen Shou with smiles and great respect.

(End of this chapter)