Chapter 222 Left Hand Hits Right Hand

After listening to Wu Yuchen's explanation, several people present at Sony really felt that it made sense. Stan Lee opened his mouth and wanted to explain the importance of Mary Jane to Peter Parker. After all, this was a character he created. But when he saw Wu Yuchen and thought that Wu Yuchen was now the major shareholder of Marvel, he also Stop this thought.

One of Sony's people said: "Okay, let's not consider Christen. What do you think of the other ones?"

Director Sam Raimi, who just got involved, said positively: "I think Alicia Witt is very suitable. She is not only beautiful, but also very popular nowadays, and she has natural brown-red hair. She is simply Mary Jane herself!"

Suddenly, everyone's attention was drawn to the actress just mentioned.

Wu Yuchen also looked at Alicia Witt's information. To be honest, if he hadn't come to the United States this time, he wouldn't have known about this actress at all. But in fact, she was quite popular in the United States at this time. She had acted in She is not very famous in movies, but she is very popular in TV series and is a popular first-line actor in the old and American HBO series.

However, Wu Yuchen was not panicked by this. Thinking of Anne Hathaway's meticulous and considerate service to him in the past two days, he raised his eyebrows. Director Wu is not a ruthless person!

"Alicia Witt looks pretty good, but there's a problem."

Sam Remy heard this and immediately asked: "What?"

Several other people also looked at Wu Yuchen.

"Age. Alicia Witt is 25 years old this year. She can play the first part, but our "Spider-Man" will be filmed in three parts. By the third part, she will probably be in her 30s. It's not appropriate to play Mary Jane again. We can't just look at this one, but we have to make long-term plans for the trilogy!"

Sam Raimi actually thinks that even if the actress is over 30 years old, the makeup problem is not a big one. However, although he was confirmed as the director, he has just joined. Compared with Wu Yuchen, the producer and project initiator, it is still The man spoke softly and did not refute Wu Yuchen again.

Several people at Sony thought about it and felt that if they were considering a trilogy, they should choose a younger one. They simply asked Wu Yuchen: "Wu, which actress do you think is the most suitable?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and took out a piece of information and showed it to everyone: "Anne Hathaway is 18 years old, just about the age to go to college, and she is very beautiful. She fully meets the requirements of a vase role!"

Several other people looked at each other, some were thinking, others had doubts: "But, she seems to be a newcomer who has just debuted, and has no reputation at all. Wouldn't it be inappropriate for her to be the heroine?"

Wu Yuchen shook his finger and emphasized again:

"No, no, think about what I said at the beginning, who is the focus of "Spider-Man"? It's Peter Parker, not Mary Jane. 99.9% of the audience comes to see Spider-Man, not Mary Jane, so find a The role of a famous actress playing Mary Jane is not as important as you think. In contrast, a young, beautiful and suitable Mary Jane is more attractive."

You guys look at me, and I look at you, and it seems that what Wu Yuchen said is right, mainly because of his very confident and determined attitude, coupled with Wu Yuchen's past achievements and the reputation of the screenwriter and project sponsor. His identity makes people unconsciously think that what he said makes sense.

…

In the room, Anne Hathaway's excitement was palpable, and she threw herself into Wu Yuchen's arms: "Really? Is it really confirmed that I am the one who plays Mary Jane?!"

"Of course, do you think I will still lie to you? Your agent will receive the news tomorrow at the latest."

"Awesome! I really love you so much!" After saying that, Anne Hathaway wrapped her legs around Wu Yuchen's waist and gave her a passionate kiss.

Anne Hathaway feels that this is the most correct decision she has made since she was born. Although her family's conditions are relatively good, they are just above the middle class and cannot provide her with any resources or connections in Hollywood. After one year in the industry, she has deeply realized that without resources and connections, it is difficult to get good opportunities based on her appearance alone.

The fastest shortcut for an actress in Hollywood is her body. This is already public information, not even a secret. Even outsiders know it. And Anne Hathaway's appearance is undoubtedly a great bargaining chip, so she naturally has to choose a good target to devote her life to. Wu Yuchen, who is young and handsome and holds great power, is naturally the best choice. The result proved that her choice was absolutely correct!

After a moment, their lips parted. Wu Yuchen held baby Annie in his arms with both hands: "Annie, when "Spider-Man" is released, you will become famous all over the world~"

When Anne Hathaway heard this, she also showed an expression of endless reverie, imagining that she would become a popular superstar, then step into the Hollywood front line, and become the second big-mouthed Hollywood star like Julia Roberts.

When Wu Yuchen saw her like this, he knew what she was thinking, but he didn't mind if the girl had more dreams. If she didn't pursue her dreams, how could she take the initiative to come to him to sacrifice herself and beg him?

She is just a girlfriend of Spider-Man. Anne Hathaway will be exposed to the whole world and will gain a lot of popularity, but to be honest, that's it. The role of Mary Jane is actually not likable.

Male viewers like all male-centered female protagonists, but Mary Jane has always been in contact with other men, and her love for Spider-Man Peter Parker is also very limited. Male viewers are bored by her.

Female audiences like heroines who are excellent, capable, brave, resourceful, and decisive to save the day at critical moments. Obviously, Mary Jane is not. Apart from being good-looking, she is not good in all aspects. She only screams at critical moments, which will make female audiences bored.

Therefore, it would be a foolish dream to get into the front line with this role. Let alone the front line, it would be good to become a second line in Hollywood. Moreover, if she acted in movies other than "Spider-Man", she would only get a third-line treatment at most. .

Wu Yuchen will not tell this girl this for the time being. When the time comes, if she wants to continue to make progress, she will have to continue to please him and continue to beg him. Anne Hathaway is only 18 years old now, and she still has a long time to bloom. He will have plenty of opportunities to play with her slowly in the next ten years~

Since Wu Yuchen came to Hollywood, he has been clean and tidy. He has rejected many similar actresses who want to devote themselves to him. He has only provided personal guidance to three of them: Gretchen, Jennifer Connelly and Anne Hathaway.

Among them, Gretchen played a role during the period of "Black Hole Frequency", and then broke up with her. He has no intention of continuing. However, he plans to pursue art direction for these two beauties, Jennifer Connelly and Anne Hathaway, for a long time. Jennifer Connelly should still have several years to bloom, and Anne Hathaway even longer.

Thinking of these two women, Wu Yuchen smiled. If there is a chance in the future, he plans to put the two women together to compare, which one of these two big white sheep is fairer~

Next, in addition to the male and female protagonists, all the supporting roles of "Spider-Man" were also selected. James Franco was originally auditioned for the male protagonist Spider-Man, but ended up becoming Spider-Man's rich second-generation good friend.

The shooting is not that fast. There are still a lot of things to do. The selection of shooting locations, Spider-Man's clothes, the design and manufacture of the villain's Green Goblin suit, and various other matters must be arranged first, and the male protagonist must also be given. Tobey Maguire left enough training time, and director Sam Raimi needed to fully communicate with all parties, so the start of filming was scheduled for after February next year.

This is quite what Wu Yuchen wants. The longer the progress is, the more time he will have. Time has entered November, and the special effects of "Pirate King" on his side are almost completed. After all, some of the special effects were done while filming. The editing on his side is almost completed now. Once the special effects are completed, then The only remaining work is the soundtrack, which should be completed before the end of this year, and I can go home for the New Year as scheduled.

But today, Wu Yuchen specially found a Chinese restaurant and held a banquet to entertain a group of travel-worn guests.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Come on, this is a fairly authentic Chinese restaurant I found here in Los Angeles. You guys have a try~"

"Thank you so much, Director Wu. We have been traveling here for so long. It's really uncomfortable to eat those banquet meals served by foreigners. I miss Chinese food so much! Only now can I experience what Director Wu meant when you said that Oscar public relations suffered. Director Wu worked really hard last year. It's over!" Jiang Zhiqiang said, clasping his fists at Wu Yuchen.

"Haha, fortunately, my hardship is not in vain."

Wu Yuchen turned to Li An again and said:

"Director Li, congratulations. It won the audience vote award in Toronto, the most loved film at the New York Film Festival, and the response from the audience in the theater I saw today was great. The film critics also had a very good impression of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." , it seems there is hope this time!”

Li An quickly said modestly:

"No, Director Wu, you are commending me. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" received a lot of criticism when it was released in China. I am still frightened. I don't dare to think too much. Let's see if I can be nominated first!"

Yes, after "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was released in the Chinese region a few months ago, its box office reputation suffered a double blow.

In terms of box office, it was 15 million yuan in mainland China, 14 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong Island, and 60 million Taiwan dollars in Bay Area, which translates to about 14 million yuan. In other words, the total box office of the three Chinese-speaking regions is only about 45 million, and it is estimated that only 15 million will fall into the hands of investors. And what about investing? It’s $15 million!

If this movie didn't have the Oscar bonus and the contribution of the American people, it would really be a shame!

Why is this movie so cold in the Chinese-speaking area?

Because it didn't meet everyone's expectations, the audience wanted to see what this martial arts movie with an investment of over 100 million yuan would be like, but they found that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was not martial arts at all!

What is the martial arts that the public expects?

It's the light of swords and shadows, it's pleasure and grudges!

It is to despise the powerful and punish the traitors and eradicate the evil!

It is righteousness that pervades the sky, eliminating violence and bringing peace and justice!

He is loyal, righteous and courageous, doing justice for heaven!

It is a free and happy life that is not restricted by the imperial court, and it is recognized as the spirit of Guo Jing's hero "A great chivalrous person serves the country and the people" and helps the world.

However, Li An's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is neither happy nor happy. Li Mubai and Yu Xiulian have always cooperated with the Baylor House, which represents the official. Their world is full of helplessness.

In fact, several martial arts writers who have become popular in modern times, such as Jin Yong and Gu Long, their popular novels themselves are also cool writing routines, but they are not as novice and straightforward as later online novels.

But "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" didn't feel exciting at all. In the end, none of the protagonists died well, and the audience didn't even have an outlet to vent their emotions. As a result, after watching it, they were even a little confused. What are these things?

This caused unanimous complaints from the audience and the media. The plot was dull, the rhythm was poor, and the protagonist was unlikable...

When everyone goes into the cinema, what they want to see for two hours is a refreshing martial arts, not a tangled thing like yours. How many people have the heart to carefully savor the inner emotional entanglements of the protagonist?

Therefore, not only did the box office suffer, but public opinion even directly attacked "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for what the hell was it?

This naturally made Li An very depressed. He put a lot of effort into filming "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". He also specifically asked the actors to speak Mandarin, not just for foreigners. He was also very particular about the details. Unexpectedly, he was All kinds of spray.

Fortunately, the film is blooming inside and outside the wall. Various Western film festivals and awards have given "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" high praise, which made Li An feel better and put all his hopes on the Oscar.

"Director Li, there is no need to be modest. Judging from my experience, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has great hopes this year. Nowadays, everyone is a result-oriented person. As long as you win the Oscar, the public opinion and wind direction in the country will turn around. of."

Wu Yuchen smiled and encouraged Li An. When he originally invested in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", it was partly for the Oscars and partly for its high box office.

Because he already won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language last year, the first Chinese-language Oscar was snatched away from him, so he doesn’t value the Oscar honor of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” that much. What he cares about now is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" can bring in box office revenue. 200 million US dollars, 10 times more than everyone expected!

This time "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" still went to Wanwan for review.

It's not that Wu Yuchen doesn't want to fight for it, but there are many films in mainland China competing for this spot to be submitted for Oscar review. Especially after Wu Yuchen won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the beginning of the year, a group of directors became more active. Many people want to imitate the style of "Love" and win awards. Therefore, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", a film produced by Li An, could not get a place to be submitted for review in mainland China.

Then Wu Yuchen wanted to arrange for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to be submitted to Hong Kong Island for review. After all, the investors Little White Bear Pictures and Jiang Zhiqiang's Anle Pictures are both Hong Kong companies, and there is also Tony Leung, the Hong Kong actor, completely I was able to go to Hong Kong Island for review, but I still couldn’t make the trip. Because the Hong Kong Island Film Association disdains "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", the one they will submit for Oscar consideration this year is "In the Mood for Love" by King of Sunglasses.

Wu Yuchen also sighed, "You don't want the honor I brought to you. In the end, I had no choice but to let Li An return to Wanwan with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for review.

At this time, Li An suddenly asked Wu Yuchen: "Director Wu, will you go to this year's Golden Horse Awards?"

"Um?"

Wu Yuchen smiled when he heard this, and then asked: "What, the Golden Horse Awards asked you to be a lobbyist?"

Last year, "Donkey Gets Water" won the Golden Horse Award. However, because it involved political reasons and it was a direct satire on the Alliance Party, it was not awarded the Best Picture and Best Director awards, but was given a The best actress went to Gong Li, and the best screenplay went to Wu Yuchen. Of course, Wu Yuchen didn't go to participate because he was busy competing for the Olympics.

Li An explained to Wu Yuchen: "The Golden Horse Awards have reached a consensus with the Information Bureau on the 'three principles of no politicians coming on stage, no speeches, and no awards'. I really want to invite you, Director Wu, to come this year."

Wu Yuchen chuckled. Isn't this because after he won the Oscar, his status was instantly stable and he became the number one Chinese director. Many people complained that last year's Golden Horse Awards did not award the award to "Donkey Gets Water". This year She probably just wanted to invite him over to make amends.

Wu Yuchen thought for a while and smiled at Li An and asked: "Director Li, if I go, won't I have to fight "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"?"

Li An shook his head and said: "Director Wu, I didn't apply for the Golden Horse Award this year. It's not too late to participate next year~"

Wu Yuchen was a little surprised when he heard this. He remembered that he participated in the Golden Horse "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in his previous life and won multiple awards.

Jiang Zhiqiang said with a smile on the side: "Director Wu, this discerning person will know at a glance that I will definitely give it to you this year. If you win the Oscar but can't win the Golden Horse, then don't do it!"

Wu Yuchen thought about it. It seems that under his influence, Li An simply did not sign up for this year's Golden Horse, but changed it to next year.

Wu Yuchen thought for a while and said: "Look at the time I have here. If I can finish "Pirate King", I will go there."

To be honest, a Golden Horse Award is no longer a bonus to him. At most, it is just an extra trophy in the collection cabinet. On the contrary, "Pirate King" is more important to him, and he must make this his top priority.

Li An smiled bitterly in his heart. It seemed that the Golden Horse Awards Organizing Committee's entrustment of him as a lobbyist would not succeed. This year's Golden Horse Awards will be held very early. It will be held on December 2. It will only take half a month. Wu Yu estimated that Chen can't go either.

However, he could just say a word about this kind of thing, and repeated advice would be annoying, so Li An didn't mention it any more, and instead exchanged experiences with Wu Yuchen about competing in the Olympics.

…

On December 2, the 37th Golden Horse Awards went on as scheduled. Wu Yuchen was not present, but the two awards for Best Film and Best Director were still awarded to "Love". Cai Yinong, who was there on his behalf, also came on stage to read for him. acceptance speech.

Wu Yuchen also smiled after receiving Cai Yinong's call. It seemed that the Golden Horse Awards were sincere. When he was free next time, he would give it a try and go again.

During this period, he also paid attention to the situation of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". It can be said that it is unrivaled in the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and it also won the Best Director twice.

At the same time, Wu Yuchen also saw another movie he invested in, "Dupin Network". This movie is also undergoing Oscar publicity, and director Soderbergh is Li An's direct competitor for Best Director.

Wu Yuchen smiled when he saw this situation. This time he really hit his right hand with his left hand. However, according to the situation in his previous life, there is a high probability that Soderbergh will still be there, because he has another film "Never Compromise" that is also very popular, and will get him double nominations for Best Director. In addition, his Jewish identity and his work in With his qualifications in Hollywood, his ability to attract votes is still stronger than that of Li An.

But two days later, his good mood was ruined.

"Wu, I have a friend here who wants to meet you~"

David Geffen, one of the three giants of DreamWorks, asked Wu Yuchen out. Now Wu Yuchen is cooperating with DreamWorks, so he must give him face.

However, when Wu Yuchen followed David Geffen into a private room and saw a fat man with a fleshy face, he felt a little less beautiful.

"Wu, you are really hard to get an appointment with! It takes Torgeffen to invite you out!" This person was none other than Harvey Weinstein, who had previously wanted to ask Wu Yuchen to meet.

Looking at the fat figure who stood up with a smile and opened his arms, walking over to hug him, Wu Yuchen simply reached out and shook hands with him:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weinstein, I'm really busy right now. The post-production of "Pirates" and the preparations for "Spider-Man" have already made me so busy that I rarely have free time."

Harvey Weinstein couldn't hug him, so he stretched out his hand to shake Wu Yuchen's hand:

"Well, of course I know, operating two billion-dollar productions at the same time, and I heard that you also planned a trilogy for "Spider-Man", that's awesome!"

David Geffen smiled and said to Wu Yuchen: "You should have heard of Harvey. He is very good at making independent films, and he is even better at Oscar public relations. You can have a good exchange. But before that, I think we You can try this very good Italian food first~”

The Italian food in this restaurant is indeed delicious, but Wu Yuchen's mind is not on the food. He is wondering what Harvey's plan is to ask him out again and again.

A few people chatted while eating, and then moved on to the romance of Hollywood.

"Wu, I've seen the newly chosen heroine of "Spider-Man" and I have to say that you have a very good sense!"

Harvey smiled at Wu Yuchen and winked, making an expression that every man would understand.

"Anne's conditions are very good and she is very suitable for the role of Mary Jane." Wu Yuchen responded with a smile.

"Wu, if you like this type of actress, I can introduce you to more in the future. Believe me, you will definitely be satisfied~"

But Wu Yuchen didn't want to communicate these things with this guy: "Thank you, but I think Harvey you have misunderstood."

Harvey spread his hands: "Hey, Wu, there are no outsiders here. It is only natural that we producers and actresses have some intimate relationships. There is nothing to hide~"