Before Simon ended his overseas trip, the 50th Cannes Film Festival in 1997 officially opened on May 14.
50th birthday is of great significance.
Under the planning of the Cannes Organizing Committee, the number of registered films, the scale of the festival and the number of guests was unprecedented. Tourists from all over the world also crowded the small town of Cannes to capacity.
On the other hand, this Cannes Film Festival is also another effort of Daenerys Entertainment.
First of all, among the 21 films shortlisted for the main competition this time, there are only two films directly produced by labels under Daenerys Entertainment, directed by James Mangold, Mia Kirschner and Angelique "The Girl Who Moved" starring Na Jolie and "Six Pigs" directed by new British director Peter Cattaneau.
In addition, the new film "Unexpected Spring" by Canadian director Atom Egoyan, which was produced by an independent film company and the rights of which were quietly purchased by Daenerys Entertainment, has also entered the main competition.
Simon really liked Egoyan's "Sex Club" three years ago. Mia Kirschner was the heroine of that film. This time "Unexpected Spring" is also a very good low-cost drama. piece.
Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment actually has three films shortlisted for the Cannes main competition.
Now that three movies have been launched, Daenerys Entertainment certainly does not intend to leave empty-handed this time.
Since preparations for the new film festival began a few months ago, Daenerys Entertainment has begun to quietly exert its influence. In addition to the operation of the film itself, including the selection of judges this time, Daenerys Entertainment has directly or intervened indirectly.
Let’s just say that the 10 judges this time, Hollywood’s Tim Burton, actress Mira Sorvino, China’s Gong Huang, and British director Mike Lee, are all Daenerys Entertainment can directly impose Influenced candidates. Besides, Isabelle Adjani, the chairman of the jury this time, is definitely not the kind of filmmaker who is inexperienced.
Half of the ten people can speak, and the outcome is basically certain.
Simon's goal this time is to hit the highest Palme d'Or with "Six Pigs".
Although this film, which once achieved miracles at the British box office, is more of a comedy in style, through the absurd story of several unemployed workers trying to pursue a career as gigolos, it indirectly criticizes the social status quo of the British industrial recession that has resulted in a large number of people being unemployed. There is no humanistic connotation in it at all. More than any other film.
Therefore, it will not be out of the ordinary for "Six Pigs" to win the Palme d'Or.
It has already broken the British box office record. If it is supported by the Palme d'Or this time, the film will perform even better at the box office in other markets outside the UK.
Then there's "The Girl Who Moved Souls."
Winona Ryder's version of "The Lost Lady" had no other highlights except for Angelina Jolie's crazy performance.
This time, Simon changed the heroine from Winona Ryder to Mia Kirschner, who is born with a neurotic atmosphere. Compared to the original Angelina Jolie, this time Mia Kirschner It can be said that Na is in tit-for-tat with Julie, and successfully achieves a balance with Julie with a contradictory neurosis that is both introverted and extroverted.
Coupled with the fact that Simon personally checked the film this time, the quality of the film has significantly improved compared to before.
Now that "Six Pigs" has set its sights on the Palme d'Or, "The Lost Girl" will certainly not try to get involved in the three core awards. The main goal is the Actor Award.
No matter which one wins, Mia or Julie, it will be of great benefit to the film's release at the end of August.
In addition to these shortlisted films, there is also "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" which Simon is more interested in privately.
Cannes.
At the Cannes Film Palace on the seaside of the small town, on the afternoon of Saturday, May 17, the premiere of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was very lively, although no competition units were declared.
Li Youhu, who was wearing a Gucci gold low-cut dress, got off the concierge car and looked at the huge "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" poster above the Cinema Palace, and then at the densely packed media and media on both sides of the red carpet outside the Debussy Hall. Movie fans, listening to the cheers in their ears, suddenly felt that the difficult filming last year, which was so painful that they almost didn't want to live, was completely worth it.
When the director and the other two leading actors got off the car one after another, Li Youhu stepped forward and stepped onto the red carpet with everyone. Then he stopped to take pictures at the instruction of the assistant on the side of the red carpet. The dense flash lights were a bit dazzling. .
After taking the photo, as soon as he left the red carpet and entered the movie palace, Li Youhu felt like he was immediately looking forward to the next time.
However, when entering the screening hall and the premiere started, Li Youhu became anxious again.
Li Youhu still understands that filmmakers rely on movies to speak for themselves.
What if the audience doesn’t like the movie
So, during the next two hours, when most people in the auditorium were focused on the big screen, Li Youhu's attention frequently turned to the surroundings, repeatedly and unintentionally gauging the reactions of the surrounding audiences. She raised her ears and listened to the voices coming from around her. Even if the light was dim, even she could barely understand French.
When the subtitles finally started to rise, Li Youhu thought that since no one was booing, it should be... pretty good.
All right.
This idea is really useless.
When the lights came on and warm applause erupted in the screening hall, Li Youhu was still a little unsure. Was he being polite
Until the short interactive session that follows.
Li Youhu went on stage with the director and other major creators. Facing the enthusiastic questions from the media and the audience, Li Youhu finally felt relieved after listening to the real-time translation by the waitress beside him.
These people obviously approve of the movie.
In this case, the film should do well at the box office in Europe and the United States.
It was already evening when the premiere ended.
There will be an official reception for Daenerys Entertainment later.
When Li Youhu left the movie palace, she did not rush to the party hotel immediately. Instead, she and Teacher Yu who accompanied her this time returned to a mansion owned by someone in the west of the city, mainly to change clothes and have something to eat. , after all, the cocktail party waiting later is definitely not suitable for feasting.
After entering the door, he spread his hands and let the waitress help him take off his expensive dress. Li Youhu threw himself on the sofa in the living room wearing only his underwear. He was both excited and a little tired. He stretched his body wantonly and saw Yu The teacher sat down next to him and said with a smile: "Sister Yu, are you envious?"
Teacher Yu, who could only enter the theater as a general audience to watch the movie just now, rolled his eyes at her, took a sip of the soda water handed by the waitress, and said, "You'd better change your clothes quickly."
"There's no rush," Li Youhu sat up, crossed his legs on the sofa, and said, "We'll go over after dinner. I'm very hungry."
Teacher Yu was noncommittal.
Li Youhu, who was almost bypassed, turned back and asked: "Sister Yu, why don't you become a star with me? What's there to do in that performing arts school?"
After filming "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" last year, Li Youhu took advantage of the opportunity and signed a contract with Jinshu. Later, he also participated in a story unit of "Kangxi Private Interview", and is about to start filming "Love Call Transfer" in China. "I got a role in "The Movie". Although, the money she earned from participating in these film and television projects was not as much as the living expenses the man gave her, but overall it was still quite fulfilling.
Li Youhu also understood that he was just one of many lovers that he could not count, and he had to rely on himself in the end.
As for Teacher Yu, when he was pressed into bed by someone, he gained another identity. Then, after teaching Li Youhu’s acting class, and when the stall at Jinshu gradually opened up, he got another identity from the man. A job as the director of the Jinshu Performing Arts School to be opened in Suzhou.
Not the principal.
The main reason is that Teacher Yu himself does not want to stand in front of the stage.
So after Simon followed the corporatization model of Western private schools, Teacher Yu became the shareholder and chairman of Jinshu Performing Arts School and was responsible for the preparation of the school. Before going abroad, he briefly worked as a class teacher at Beijing Film Academy. In addition, even Teacher Yu himself understood that this was just a proxy and nominal role. Many people helped with the formal preparations, so he agreed.
Hearing what Li Youhu said at this time, Teacher Yu felt somewhat resentful: "He asked me to do it, can I not do it?"
"Tsk, tsk, then break up with him," Li Youhu said with encouragement in his tone, "That way you don't have to do anything."
Teacher Yu was speechless for a moment.
She had always felt that she was a very independent woman in the past, but now, looking at the mansion next to her, the team of meticulous waiters, and the luxurious private jet she took when she came to France, she really... felt a little reluctant to part with it. In any case, even though we didn't have much contact with him, that man was not annoying at all.
When Li Youhu saw Teacher Yu like this, he immediately laughed and simply fell back on the sofa, twisting his slender body and continuing to laugh.
Teacher Yu, whose face turned red without realizing it, became angry with embarrassment. He rushed forward and started tickling her: "You like to laugh, right? I'll let you laugh as much as you want."
"Hahaha, ah, it's itchy, haha, Sister Yu, I was wrong, I know you are reluctant to break up with Simon, I shouldn't have advised you, ah, haha, it's really wrong, it's really wrong, please spare me."
After some fun, Li Youhu temporarily put on a set of casual home clothes sent by the maid. When he heard that dinner was ready, he walked to the restaurant with Teacher Yu and said, "He seemed to have gone to China a few days ago."
Teacher Yu suddenly opened his eyes slightly, thinking that the girl next to him was going to make fun of him. Seeing her serious expression, he said in disbelief: "How do you know?"
"At the Guofeng Art Troupe, they told me that he has been in Suzhou for the past few days. If we had known about it, we wouldn't have rushed to France."
Li Youhu said, feeling more and more regretful.
She finished filming "Kangxi Private Interview" a few days ago, and the next "Love Call Transfer" will not start filming until the end of the month. Since there is this gap, she simply came to Cannes in advance and planned to play for a while. Teacher Yu also Likewise, the two have been in France for more than a week.
Unexpectedly, I happened to miss the man.
Teacher Yu also felt a little regretful. A certain thought could not help but appear in his mind, but out of reserve, he did not blurt it out.
Li Youhu was not so reserved. When he came to the restaurant, he just sat down and said to Teacher Yu who was sitting opposite: "Shall we go to North America together in a few days?"
Teacher Yu felt guilty: "What are you going to do?"
Li Youhu also became troubled again.
Teacher Yu's question, to be precise, should be 'how to do it'.
They couldn't come directly to the door. Thinking about the scene, it would be weird if they didn't get beaten up. As for proactively contacting him to seek a meeting, Li Youhu had hinted at it more than once in private emails over the past six months, but unfortunately nothing came of it. Moreover, it is not just her, but the girls who are still in the Guofeng Art Troupe, Zhu Momo, several of their models, and even some other women she knows are basically like this.
There's nothing we can do about it.
In the final analysis, it is because there are too many women around someone, or because he is too busy on weekdays. After all, the Westeros system is so huge, with trillions of dollars. It is scary to think about such a business empire. It's strange that there aren't many things going on.
As for them, although they never see him, their current life is extremely luxurious and comfortable, and there is no shortage of things to do, but it is not so empty and boring that they want to change their feelings.
In this case, just don't think too much about it.
After dinner, the two women changed into evening dresses suitable for the party and rushed to the city again.
Arriving at the Daenerys entertainment party, there were already crowds of people here, and many of them were faces that could only be seen on the big screen. Fortunately, because there was a man standing behind him, facing these once-unexpected faces, Both Li Youhu and Teacher Yu were able to treat the inaccessible masters calmly, and even had a sense of superiority.
After all, their men are the pinnacle of this circle.
These days, thanks to the coordination of Daenerys' entertainment team, the two women have met a lot of people. They don't get together all the time. Each of them brings a maid who acts as a translator to socialize in the crowd. Li Youhu soon meets to Ang Lee, who was chatting with Ira Deutschman, president of Highgate Pictures.
Seeing Li Youhu walking forward, they both greeted him politely. Li Youhu responded with a smile and said, "Li, and Ella, you just seemed to be talking about the box office of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"? "
I brought a translator because I am incompetent in other languages such as French. After all, after studying for so long, I can still understand a lot of English.
Ella Deutschman did not hide anything and nodded: "Yes, Gaomen's team has just completed a batch of questionnaires from the afternoon premiere. Combined with some of our previous internal test screenings, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" "The box office should be very good."
Li Youhu is even more curious. She also knows that she has little hope of winning Oscars and other awards in the West. Therefore, if she wants to gain a higher reputation, her core reliance is on box office: "Ella, how much do you think you can collect? I am Say, like North America?”
"It's not less than 50 million," Ella Deutschman said with a smile: "North America is experiencing a Kung Fu craze right now. Previously, our "Taken" and "The Iron Monkey" were selling very well. Yesterday, in North America, Jack Cheng's new film "Police Story 4" was released at the same time, and the box office on the first day was also quite impressive. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is cooler than Jack and Jet's modern kung fu. According to the results we obtained from the previous test screenings, 50 million shouldn’t be a problem.”
The production cost of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is US$15 million. If North America earns US$50 million, it will already start to make a profit.
Li Youhu can still easily calculate such a small account, and she also knows that a Chinese film can sell 50 million in North America, which is quite outstanding, but it is not satisfactory after all: "Ella, only 50 million, I mean , is it possible to exceed 100 million?"
Ella Deutschman shook her head: "I'm really not sure about this, Miss Li. All we can confirm now is that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a very good movie, a good movie, to be more accurate. Some, a good movie that is recognized by ordinary audiences is just a foundation. As for how high the box office can be, it depends on subsequent announcements."
Li Youhu asked: "Isn't Daenerys Entertainment's promotion the best in Hollywood?"
"Of course. Therefore, after combining feedback from all aspects, I dare to say that the box office expectation is 50 million. For "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", we all should know that this is already very rare. As for higher, it is phenomenal. , in this case, in addition to excellent publicity, it even depends on luck. Therefore, the film industry is like a casino. No matter how good a card counter is, people can only increase their winning rate. No one knows how much they can win in the end. .”
Li Youhu nodded subconsciously and thought of someone again: "I think Simon should be different."
Ella Deutschman was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, the boss is an anomaly, no one can deny this."