The distribution rights of "Heroes" in North America were handed over to Miramax. This Disney-owned film company has always been known for releasing independent films with high artistic quality. It is currently one of the most important independent film producers in North America.
In fact, Columbia Pictures, which had a branch in Beijing at the beginning, was also very interested in the movie "Heroes" and even offered higher terms than Miramax. However, in the context of the strategy of "rushing to the Olympics" and cultural development, "Heroes" finally chose Miramax, which has stronger lobbying capabilities in Hollywood.
Miramax's marketing operations are very successful, and its films have repeatedly won awards at various film festivals every year. Since the company was founded, it has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture more than ten times, including "Shakespeare in Love" and "The English Patient". It's a success. Moreover, this company has also successfully promoted famous directors such as Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino.
The "Harvey" Zhang Yimou mentioned at this time was Harvey Weinstein, the CEO of this company.
Hearing Zhang Yimou mention Harvey, Zhang Weiping's originally proud face suddenly turned gloomy. He shook his head and said, "He still insists on waiting until the Oscars are announced before discussing the release of the movie."
Originally, since the Oscar shortlist was announced and "Heroes" was on the list, the filmmakers wanted to use it as a gimmick to release it in North America. But Harvey was ambitious and wanted to wait until the Oscars were announced.
The reason is simple. Harvey is a big hit. Once "Hero" wins an award, the box office will be a blowout. But Zhang Weiping didn't think so. As an investor, he was more concerned about how to recover his investment as soon as possible.
The total investment of "Hero" is 30 million US dollars. The domestic box office of 248 million is far from enough. Just like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" the year before last, the largest box office market has to be in North America.
But Harvey didn't care. He was just an agent for distribution and there was no cost pressure. He made a lot of money by taking a chance. Even if "Hero" didn't win the award, he had nothing to lose, it was just a postponement of the release.
But Zhang Weiping immediately smiled and said: "Anyway, we still have a great chance of winning this time."
This sentence is not just self-comfort, at least being able to win the Silver Bear Award in Berlin this time has given him a lot of confidence.
But Zhang Yimou didn't think so. Back then, his "Ju Dou" and "Raise the Red Lantern" were both nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but in the end they both failed.
Although this time it is run by Miramax, which is very good at lobbying, Zhang Yimou is still unsure. He hesitated and said: "This time Miramax not only has one movie for us, but also "Chicago". I I'm worried that they won't focus on us."
"..."
Zhang Weiping didn't say anything anymore. This was also what he was most worried about.
After a while, he said bitterly: "Who the hell said that foreigners are the most honest and the ones who recognize the most contracts? I think that fat guy Harvey is a liar."
…
At noon on February 19, Li Tang's flight arrived at the Capital Airport in Beijing. He walked out quickly carrying a backpack and dragging his suitcase.
"Teacher Li!"
Before he could raise his head to look at the person who came to pick him up, his arm was held by someone. At the same time as he smelled a familiar fragrance, Fan Xiaopang's laughing voice could be heard in his ears.
As soon as he turned his head, he saw the big and smart eyes on the face wearing a mask.
"Why are you here?"
"Can't I come pick you up?"
"No, just wait for me at home. You have to make the trip yourself!"
Hearing the word "home", Xiaopang suddenly smiled and raised his eyebrows, hugged Li Tang's arm and said coquettishly: "Oh, I just want to see you as soon as possible."
"Okay, okay, okay, let's go."
Li Tang still looked around cautiously, fearing that another reporter would be hiding in a corner to take photos.
"Don't worry, there are no reporters. I just observed it secretly." Xiaopang's big, talkative eyes shone like a chicken thief.
She seemed to be very smart today. She didn't even mention the unpleasant thing that happened before. She just held Li Tang's arm and walked forward quickly like a normal person, with excitement in her steps.
"Wow, what's going on? You bought a new car too!"
Looking at the brand new Mercedes-Benz with Beijing F license plate and four eyes in front of him, Li Tang couldn't help but exclaimed.
"You have worked hard all year, let's reward yourself. Hey, you just said that I also bought a new car. What do you mean? Who bought a new car?"
"Oh, didn't our company just buy an Audi?" Li Tang reacted quickly and said quickly knowing that he had accidentally spilled the beans.
Fortunately, after the money arrived last month, in order to offset the profit, the company added a new car. Originally, Zeng Jia wanted to buy a Grand Cherokee, which is now very popular in the capital, and let her boss drive it, which would be very cool. But Li Tang thought it was too ostentatious, so he proposed a relatively low-key Audi A6 2.4 executive sedan.
The top trim level of this car is just over 500,000 yuan, and the base price is 600,000 yuan, which is not much different from the Grand Cherokee.
Li Tang said again: "Your car isn't cheap, is it?"
These days, Mercedes-Benz does not have so-called joint venture cars. They are all imported cars. This four-eyed Mercedes-Benz model E280 can definitely be regarded as a luxury car.
"It's similar to your Audi. Come on, get in the car and feel it."
Compared with Li Tang's low profile, Xiaopang is quite vain. Her favorite car is Mercedes-Benz. Daben has been the ceiling of luxury cars in the minds of Chinese people for a long time.
Today is a working day, and there was a bit of a traffic jam on the busy airport expressway as we approached the city. We stopped and stopped along the way, but Xiaopang’s little mouth never stopped chattering about interesting things about the filming of "The Big Dye Shop".
"Da Ranfang" is produced by Shanying, and it also tells the story of a Shandong industrialist. Therefore, although it was filmed in Shanghai, almost all the extras and the main creators behind the scenes are from Shandong.
Although Xiaopang was just a guest appearance, and the filming only lasted for more than ten days, as a daughter of Shandong, she felt a rare sense of intimacy.
When Da Ben drove into the alley, he attracted many neighbors to watch.
These days, the streets are full of Jetta, Fukang, Xiali and yellow cars. For ordinary people, big cars are not common.
"Hey, the big star bought a new car?"
"It's not mine, this is a friend's car."
"Xiao Li, long time no see. Happy New Year!"
"Aunt Wang, happy New Year!"
When Little Fatty got out of the cab, the group of aunts wearing red hoops immediately said enthusiastically: "It turns out to be Bingbing! Let me tell you, how could Xiao Li break up with Bingbing?"
Someone among them whispered: "Hey, haven't you seen the photo published in the newspaper? Xiao Li is hugging someone."
"What's all the fuss about? In these days of openness, cuddling between men and women is nothing new."
Li Tang was inevitably a little embarrassed when he listened to the aunts talking indifferently, but Xiaopang greeted the aunts with a victor's smile.
She has lived here for several years and has long been familiar with these aunts. This group of aunts is very conscientious. Whenever they see someone sneaking around with a camera, they always drive them away. Even if they couldn't run away for a while, they would still follow and monitor them all the way until they couldn't stand up to the aunts' anti-thief eyes and fled.
In short, the fact that Li Tang and Xiao Pang have never been exposed while living in the courtyard for so many years is also due to the contributions of these aunts.
Of course, this has a lot to do with the fact that the two of them are good people and usually try to win over each other with small favors.
I exchanged pleasantries with these aunts at the door for a long time before entering the house.
"The house was cleaned a year ago, and I tidied it up again this morning. Oh, by the way, you're hungry. The groceries have been bought. I can cook two dishes quickly. You go back to the house and rest for a while."
Xiaopang deliberately showed his virtuous side in front of Li Tang.
how to say?
After the last scandal, she learned a painful lesson. If you don't want to break up, then do your best to be yourself, otherwise no matter how much trouble you make, it won't help, and you may even push the man into the arms of others.
If Xiaopang took the initiative to pick her up at the airport today, and Li Tang felt that she was deliberately showing off her new car, then from the exchange between the two along the way to now, Li Tang felt that Xiaopang seemed to be a different person, and he felt a little strange.
Seeing Li Tang looking at him blankly, Xiaopang was secretly proud. He pursed his lips and smiled and said, "Why are you standing there blankly? Go into the house and clean up."
As he said that, he pretended to take the suitcase from his hand.
"Oh, no, the box is full of vegetables, so you don't need to cook." Li Tang said hurriedly.
The original plan was to stay at home for a few more days and take care of some work matters. He is currently on leave without pay in his original unit, and he also has to pay tens of thousands of yuan in management fees every year.
But something unexpected happened this time. After hurriedly handling the work at work, he set off in a hurry. Lao Li felt sorry for his son and was afraid that his son would not be able to eat well in the capital, so he packed his suitcase.
Li Tang dragged the box into the kitchen in the east wing. There was a big table set up with sauced beef, sauced duck, drunken chicken, fried fish, Sixi roasted bran, semi-finished meatballs, dried winter bamboo shoots, malanggan, etc.
"Cut some beef with soy sauce, and the drunken chicken is also very delicious. Just bake it in the microwave with Sixi Braised Braised Rice."
It’s been a long time since I tasted Uncle Li’s cooking. Xiaopang was drooling just looking at it.
"Let's make some more soup."
"Okay, what kind of soup do you want to cook?"
"Salt vegetables and tofu soup, I'll make it."
Li Tang saw a piece of marinated tofu that Xiaopang had bought this morning in the refrigerator. His father also happened to bring a box of stir-fried shredded pork with shredded snow mustard and bamboo shoots. This is a home-cooked dish in their hometown, used for noodles or as a side dish. The porridge is absolutely the best, and it's also great for making tofu soup.
Just like in the TV series "The Granary of the World" that was broadcast on CCTV last year, the Qiantang magistrate Wang Ganju sang two lines happily while eating pickles and tofu: "After eating pickles and rolled tofu, the emperor is not as good as me!" "
"Teacher Li, can you really cook now?"
Although Li Tang had told her on the phone that he was learning to cook on the set, Xiaopang still found it a bit unbelievable.
"It's just a pickle and tofu soup, it's nothing. I'll show you my skills during dinner." Li Tang couldn't help but sneer.
In fact, learning to cook is like many things. It is often between wanting to learn and not wanting to learn. If you want to learn, you will definitely learn it, and you will never tire of it. Li Tang is like this now. During the past few days at home, he even went to his own restaurant to secretly show his hand. At least the guests didn't find anything wrong.
After cutting half a catty of beef, half a drunken chicken, a plate of Sixi roasted bran, and a bowl of pickled vegetables and tofu cooked by Li Tang himself, the two of them had a nice drink.
After dinner, it was natural to review the long-lost script.
After scoring twice, the satisfied little fat man lay on his side next to Li Tang, while drawing circles on his chest, he said: "Is this really the new movie Director Zhang Yimou is looking for you for?"
"The director didn't say anything clearly on the phone. He just said that he wanted to talk to me. Anyway, he will know when he gets there tomorrow."
Although Li Tang felt that this matter was close to the truth, he still didn't finish his words.
"well--"
The little fat man sighed quietly, turned over, looked up at the ceiling, and said with sadness: "When can I make movies again?"
Now she doesn't even dare to expect to be able to act in a film directed by Zhang Yimou, she just wants to have another chance to appear on the big screen.
"Didn't you just take on a new drama? Don't worry, there will be a chance." Li Tang comforted him.
I have to say that Xiaopang is indeed a bit embarrassed at the moment. Hairun, who is currently working closely with her agent Chang Jihong, is mainly engaged in TV dramas. If she wants to transition to the big screen, it may not be an easy task.
Of course, this is not absolute. For example, Liu Ye, who is also under Chang Jihong's banner, is the Golden Horse Best Actor, and has constant film appointments. Compared with Xiaopang, not only is he not popular enough, his acting skills are also not very good.
"By the way, when will your new drama start shooting?" Li Tang asked again.
"Next month, the specific date hasn't been decided yet." Xiaopang said lazily, looking uninterested.
Li Tang stretched out his hand and gently scratched the bridge of her nose, and said with a smile: "You, don't look at the heights of mountains. Where did the energy to finish "Jade Guanyin" go? Didn't you say last time? "One Meter of Sunshine" is Hai Run's big drama this year. Since you are given a chance, you have to perform well."
"I know, but..."
The little fat man hesitated to speak, his expression showed anxiety.
"But there's something wrong with my mentality, right?" Li Tang continued.
"Well……"
Xiaopang was stunned for a moment, turned to look at Li Tang, and said hesitantly: "Maybe."
Li Tang can probably understand Xiaopang's mentality at this time. It's just that the drama "Jade Guanyin" has been competing for roles and various preparations since the year before last, to filming, and now it is about to be broadcast. It has been almost three years since the drama "Jade Guanyin" was launched.
Although she felt that she had put a lot of effort into "Jade Guanyin" and tried her best, the closer it was to be aired, the more anxious she became, fearing that it would suffer a disaster like the last Haiyan drama she starred in.
Moreover, the flowering period of an actress is very short. How many three years can it last?
Especially seeing that the "Four Little Actresses" whom she has always regarded as her target in the past two years have frequently appeared in masterpieces, including Li Tang's ex-girlfriend. Thinking about when she was filming "Youth on the Move", her popularity was still higher than hers. But now everyone has moved into Hong Kong. From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, two Lunar New Year movies were released.
Although the roles she plays are all secondary female leads, the actors she collaborates with are all Hong Kong's first-line stars such as Andy Lau, Koo Tin Lok, Zhang Baizhi, Sammi Cheng and other big stars in Hong Kong.
Because of the blessing of these two New Year movies, some people on the Internet have already shouted "Four Days and One Ice". This ice is Li Binbin's ice, not her Fan Binbin's ice.
This was really hard for her to accept.
(End of chapter)
