The struggles of a failed college entrance exam candidate in Hong Kong entertainment

Chapter 86 Brother Nan, who are you going to promote for the Oscar for Best Director?

The 20th-century version of "Con Air" (from 1992 to 1993) still used Cage as the male lead, which was decided upon following the collaboration on "Dynasty Warriors".

The American version of Warriors raked in over $1.7 million at the box office despite not having a strong Japanese market.

This project propelled Cage to instant fame.

This guy was also a key figure who helped accelerate the development of the two versions (Dynasty Warriors) in the Southern Jiangsu region.

Su Nan and Cage weren't particularly close, but they could be considered ordinary friends.

The other party came to him alone because they had something to do, and he felt embarrassed to ask John to come along?

Nicolas Cage smiled gently, though a little nervously. "Sue, you've proven your screenwriting ability and vision time and again."

""

"I heard that you also selected and recommended Jack Chen's script for (Speed) to him."

"I'm just starting out in terms of box office appeal, but I still really want to win the Oscar for Best Actor."

"I'm visiting today hoping you can help me choose a good project."

"If there's any chance, I can help you endorse Skyworth's hand-cranked emergency radio in the US and Europe for only $2 a year."

Southern Jiangsu, [”

Ah Hong, who was listening in next to Brother Nan, was also surprised.

Is a year's worth of endorsement in the US worth one dollar? (Unparalleled) Former Cage's commercial value is limited.

She can only be considered an ordinary rising star, with some fame but still far from being a top star.

A blockbuster video that teaches you how to print US dollars, taking over the global videotape market.

It's easy to shoot GG (a type of video game), but it will cost another sum of money to advertise on TV. However, it's quite effective in promoting Skyworth products and earning US dollars.

The customer base in the United States that needs hand-cranked emergency radios is much larger than that in island nations.

Su Nan said, "I can feel your determination to win Best Actor. This kind of project is hard to come by, but it's not that difficult either."

Two years later, Cage won the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Actor thanks to his departure from Las Vegas.

This movie is adapted from the novel of the same name published in the United States in 1990.

Excluding Cage's salary, the total investment was three to four million US dollars, and the US box office grossed 3200 million dollars.

At first glance, it seems to be a masterpiece that excels in all aspects.

But the strangest thing about this project is that the novel is essentially the original author's suicide declaration.

In 1994, just two weeks after selling the film and television adaptation rights to the novel, the original author committed suicide with a gun. He was a patient suffering from severe depression.

Moreover, after its publication in 90, the original novel did not sell well until the movie was released in 95; it was a very niche and unpopular book.

It's the kind of obscure book you'd ask about in ten bookstores and nine of them wouldn't know the title!

The person who first bought the adaptation rights went to Hollywood to promote it, but no one paid any attention.

The original novel was too dark and despairing, and Cage's film is also a work in which there is almost no reason to live.

If Su Nan were to make arrangements now, he could buy the film and television adaptation rights for ten or twenty thousand US dollars, with production costs of several million dollars.

They could make a profit by selling the film to 20th Century Studios and then selling it exclusively to Europe and America.

He wasn't sure if buying the film/television adaptation rights in advance would cause the original author to commit suicide again.

However, he was too lazy to pay much attention to it, as he was an American writer suffering from severe depression.

Su Nan realized this was an opportunity to promote a director, regardless of who the Chinese director was, by making a film based on the original work.

It wouldn't be difficult for Cage to get an Oscar nomination for Best Director when he's in charge.

If we do this project well, we'll be vying for the award several years earlier than Li An!

Of course, Skyworth can't compete for awards on its own; it has to partner with major Hollywood studios.

If you only need to be nominated and not win a real trophy, it's much easier.

John's interest was piqued. "Su, do you have your own ideas? Something like (Dynasty Warriors) or have you found a good script?"

"We can continue to cooperate."

Su Nan won the 93 Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for her film "Peerless".

John's projects are all about getting into the Oscars, regardless of box office performance.

This means they won't have to worry about not making money from videotape sales and rentals.

Many actors and professionals worldwide rent and buy videotapes to watch and learn from them repeatedly.

Su Nan chuckled, "You guys need to give me some time to slowly gather ideas, whether it's gathering inspiration or looking for scripts."

John nodded excitedly, "Definitely, good things come to those who wait."

"Sue, we are just the film division, but the 20th century also had its own television network group."

"Once Cage gets your radio show aired and it's broadcast on TV networks, I can help you buy more prime airtime slots for less money."

Twentieth Century was acquired by Murdoch a few years ago.

Old Murdoch also built the fourth largest television network platform in the United States, which is not the same field.

But John also knew some people from the same film and television team under Lao Mo.

Su Nan nodded, "Give me a month or two, take it slow."

I really want Nicolas Cage to win an award; his acting is pretty much there, and he has his own network of connections.

Besides the (Leaving Las Vegas) project, there's also a 30% chance of operating (When Happiness Knocks on the Door).

(Happiness) was also adapted into a film and television series after it became a bestseller.

The original story had already happened long ago, but the author hadn't published an autobiography yet.

They said there's a 30% chance the guy in "The Knock on the Door" is Black, while Nicholas is white.

The Wolf of Wall Street is the film that has been nominated for a series of Oscars, including Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture.

The person who experienced this story firsthand is also creating his own crazy tale.

After Belfort entered Wall Street in 87, he was frantically using fraudulent marketing to build his own wealth empire.

He was originally imprisoned in 1997 in a private prison.

After his release from prison, he published his bestselling autobiography in 2007, and in the early 10s, Leonardo DiCaprio adapted the novel into a film in which he starred, grossing $3 million worldwide.

After a few jokes, Su Nan handed over the night scene filming (of the hacker) to Xu Ke, Yuan Heping and others.

He went to a restaurant to treat John and Cage to dinner.

A few more days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was February 12th.

(The hacker) booted up smoothly. When the crew was having lunch, Su Nan received a report from his assistant that Zhang Yimou and Gong Li had arrived.

He nodded to go pick him up, and Ah Hong asked in surprise, "Brother Nan, are you planning to push him to the Oscar for Best Director?"

"I heard that after Document No. 3 was released, Chen Peisi went into business and founded Dadao Film Industry."

"There are also rumors that Tang Guoqiang is leaving the August First Film Studio. Is Director Zhang happy about that?"

Ah Hong has been working hard on the film set. A few days ago, when Cage visited and asked Brother Nan for advice on a new project aimed at the Oscars, she was the first to know.

Su Nan has been talking about this privately these past few days, including praising Chinese directors for their Oscar bids.

Ah Hong initially thought that Brother Nan would choose a Hong Kong director, sign a long-term contract to promote him, similar to Hung Po.

Su Nan said with delight, "This is a further step towards embracing the mainland market, but it will be difficult to make a big box office profit within a few years."

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"But while you were flooding the home market with videotapes, GG's endorsement sales jumped from one or two million a year to five or six million."

A scale of tens of millions.

"Try signing Lao Zhang; he has considerable influence in mainland China."

As long as the storyboard is nearly perfect, the tone of the film can be set.

Any one of the many ordinary, somewhat famous directors could try to win the Oscar for Best Director.

It's not necessary to choose Zhang Yimou. After thinking it over, Su Nan extended an offer to Zhang Yimou. The more powerful the collaboration, the more beneficial it would be for Skyworth as a whole.

If China Film Group could have co-produced the first three Matrix films, they could have easily grossed 90 million, 2 million, and then another 3 million RMB in the mid-to-late 2s.

Su Nan herself and the lead actors have also directly ascended to a near-divine status!

With the release of Document No. 3 in January 1993, the mainland film and television industry underwent a major change, and well-known figures such as Chen Peisi and Tang Guoqiang successively left the industry.

Specifically, Zhang Yimou started his collaboration with Zhang Weiping with "Keep Cool" (a popular TV show).

In 97, Zhang Yimou officially became the art director of New Pictures.

However, his personnel records have always been with the Western Guangdong Film Studio.

In the early to mid-2010s, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping had a falling out, which shocked the entire internet with the over-birth case.

All that can be said about Su Nan is that Zhang Yimou was fined 748 million yuan for having more children than allowed.

This is also closely related to the fact that he was the honorary factory director of the Western Guangdong Factory.

From the 90s to the 00s, some state-owned enterprise employees or teachers who had more children than allowed could be dismissed.

He talked to Zhang Yimou? Zhang Yimou is over 70 years old and still working diligently as a director and producer.

To support Liu Haocun, they even had to pile up snow on the spot.

For those in the film and television industry who are known for their outrageous and shocking plot twists.

Zhang Yimou has had several relationships in his life, and the stain of having more children than allowed is as minor and insignificant as Hong Xin and Jiao Enjun's love-struck tendencies.

Southern Jiangsu invited Zhang Yimou for the first time; let's give it a try.

He arranged for someone to lead a team to the United States to buy the novel adaptation rights (out of Las Vegas).

He used to stay in the United States for more than half a year, always accompanied by bodyguards.

The bodyguards who have been there can hire a few translators/lawyers to find the original author and buy out the adaptation rights for ten or twenty thousand dollars.

A moment later, Su Nan and A Hong met the person, found a motorhome outside the film crew's location, and also arranged a batch of boxed meals.

With a simple and polite smile, Su Nan sat in the RV seat and said, "Director Zhang, congratulations on being the first to clear all three major European countries."

"I still have work to do this afternoon, so I'll offer you a toast with tea instead of wine."

As soon as Chen Hong finished pouring the tea, Su Nan raised his cup in a gesture of greeting.

Zhang Yimou's emotional intelligence is also quite high. He jokingly congratulated Nan Ge on winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and then on being nominated for Best Actor and Best Director for "Project Gutenberg".

After being in the industry for so long, Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghum) won the Berlin International Golden Bear Award.

(Ju Dou) won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

"Raise the Red Lantern" was nominated for the Venice Golden Lion and won the Venice Silver Lion, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for the second time.

If the global film industry were a card game, Zhang Yimou would only be missing an Oscar!

After clinking glasses and drinking tea, Su Nan smiled and said, "This year, Skyworth plans to produce another movie in collaboration with 20th Century Fox in the United States."

"It's a project to get Nicolas Cage to win the Oscar for Best Actor."

"But if we do a good job of connecting the 20th century with Cage, we have a great chance of being nominated for Best Director."

"To actually win the Best Director award, you would probably have to spend several million dollars to make it happen, and the chances are only 50%."

"If the script is well-written, Xu Ke, Wang Jing, or Du Qifeng would all have a chance of being nominated for the role."

"I wonder if Director Zhang would be interested in joining Skyworth and riding the wave of 'going to sea' (entrepreneurship)?"

Upon hearing this, Gong Li's breathing became heavy, and she readily agreed to help Zhang Yimou.

The two are still in a romantic relationship.

If anyone else said that, who in the industry would believe you? But Mr. Su and Director Su from Hong Kong Island are truly different.

This is the director of "Dynasty Warriors" which bombed the world and "Kung Fu Hustle" which also earned HK$100 million.

After a moment of surprise, Zhang Yimou poured tea and asked, "Why did President Su take a liking to me? I'm better at filming some limited-edition mainland Chinese subjects."

"I'm not very familiar with stories about modern urbanization, and I haven't been to the United States much."

Su Nan also refused to be a riddle-maker, saying, "(The Matrix) is a series of films. We can negotiate with mainland cinemas to share revenue after the film's release, although the money is not easy to obtain."

"But as long as the box office numbers are higher and look better, that's a good thing."

"Director Zhang has considerable influence in mainland China, and he needs to maintain and preserve his influence in this industry."

"If your fee for joining Skyworth is market-based, Ms. Gong must have received some offers for Hong Kong films, right?"

"After Director Zhang joins the team, his salary will definitely be calculated in units of tens of thousands."

Gong Li nodded excitedly, "I took on Win's Entertainment's (Flirting Scholar), which is considered a summer blockbuster."

"His salary was a whopping HK$100 million! That shocked me."

In this alternate reality (God of Gamblers 2: The Shanghai Bund), the female lead was snatched away by Rosamund Kwan.

But Gong Li also won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival through her involvement in the "The Story of Qiu Ju" lawsuit.

This is of great value.

Her relationship was originally affiliated with the Central Academy of Drama, but the film offers she received from Hong Kong were all on a per-episode basis.

Old Zhang also smiled, a complicated smile. "Thank you for your high regard, President Su. This matter is a bit too big; I need to think about it for a while."

"Even if I want to leave the factory, it's very likely they won't let me go."

"Also, it's not that I'm ungrateful. The factory has been kind to me, and even if I really want to win an Oscar, I don't want to be an ingrate."

"If we can sign a separate unit contract with Skyworth outside of the factory's projects, we can consider 10 or 15 units."

Zhang Yimou and New Pictures have embarked on a stable collaboration that has lasted for more than a decade.

Later, Zhang Weiping interfered in and caused trouble for his film projects, which Zhang Yimou eventually accepted.

It was related to Zhang Weiping's investment (Let's Talk It Out) in the mid-90s when he had no acting opportunities.

But he has no acting opportunities and no one to invest in or support him? Didn't he still have (living) (rock-a-bye baby) in 94 and 95?

This film lost money after it was made; the cinema distribution system is quite chaotic.

Similar to Chen Peisi's complaint that before he went into business, he only had one mother-in-law, but after starting his own company, he had dozens more.

Each one sold loses money, and they can't even be sold for US dollars overseas.

In addition, he was heartbroken after breaking up with Gong Li, and it was Zhang Weiping's investment (Let's talk things out) that laid the foundation for a stable partnership that has lasted for more than ten years.

Su Nan smiled and invited the group to eat boxed lunches. "Important matters definitely need to be discussed slowly. Director Zhang, please consider it. My new film, which is aiming for the Oscars, is only just beginning to take shape."

Zhang Yimou didn't want to be an ingrate and leave the Guangdong Film Studio, so he continued to work there.

His future involvement with New Pictures would be equivalent to taking a leave of absence without pay during the wave of people leaving their jobs to start businesses.

After discussing this important matter, they started eating. Ah Hong and Gong Li quickly finished their meal and left.

Zhang Yimou began consulting with great interest, but Su Nanfang declined to reveal the exact type of the Oscar-nominated project or its story outline.

From the early to mid-90s until (Hero), Zhang Yimou's ambitions for the Oscars have always been very high.

Su Nan didn't hide anything either, telling the story of a dark, hopeless, suicidal film about a person with depression.

This can set the tone and style of the film.

The project's adaptation rights were originally bought and sold to various Hollywood studios, but no film companies were interested.

It's fine to talk about the general tone without mentioning names.

Outside the RV, Gong Li looked around and curiously tugged at Ah Hong, "Sister Hong, you and President Su? I heard you're dating three people at once, when are you getting married?"

Ah Hong was stunned. "I don't know. I don't know if he's willing to live with me for the rest of his life."

"If you stay there for a long time, you'll find that even if you get a marriage certificate, there will be groups of people outside who want to challenge you, one after another."

Now it was Gong Li's turn to remain silent.

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The main reason she will break up with Zhang Yimou next year is that she has always wanted to get married, but Zhang Yimou has always refused.