novellhall Chapter 165 Hollywood's Bargaining Chip, The Movie Emperor Who Broke His Contract
Chapter 165 Hollywood's Bargaining Chip, The Movie Emperor Who Broke His Contract
Yanying Culture, Top Floor Reception Room.
The teapot contains top-quality pre-Qingming Longjing tea.
Zhou Zhengming sat on a rosewood chair, dressed in an elegant Tang suit with dark patterns, leisurely twirling two walnuts in his hands.
His agent, Wang Kai, sat beside him with a professional smile on his face.
Chen Yan pushed open the door and came in, with Su Wan following behind, holding the fax refusing to perform.
"Director Chen, I have long admired your name. I apologize for the intrusion and disturbance today."
Zhou Zhengming stopped playing with the walnuts, stood up, and struck a very confident pose.
Chen Yan walked to the head seat and sat down without any formalities.
"Teacher Zhou, you've read the script, and our previous communication went smoothly. I need an explanation for this fax today."
Chen Yan leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on Zhou Zhengming's face.
Wang Kai immediately said, "Director Chen, I'm so sorry. Teacher Zhengming's back injury has recently flared up again. There are several night scenes in 'Thunder' that take place in a mine, and the environment is too harsh. The doctor has strictly forbidden it. We had no choice."
Chen Yan didn't look at Wang Kai; his gaze remained fixed on Zhou Zhengming.
"What kind of show is Miramax putting on for you?"
Wang Kai's smile froze, and Zhou Zhengming's action of playing with walnuts also paused for a moment.
Zhou Zhengming sighed and sat down again.
He put down the walnuts, abandoned his seniority, and adopted a sincere and open tone.
"Director Chen, since you've found out, I won't beat around the bush anymore."
"Mr. Harvey personally called me from overseas. It's an action blockbuster produced by Martin Scorsese, 'The Abyss.' I'm playing a Chinese second male lead, with a salary of three million US dollars, and it's a global release."
Zhou Zhengming picked up his teacup and blew on the floating leaves.
"Chen Yan, you are still young and have a bright future. But you have to understand us old folks. I've won every award in China, and at this age, my biggest wish is to go international. It's an honor for the Chinese. Mr. Harvey's exclusivity clause is indeed domineering, but I can't give up this opportunity."
Chen Yan took the prepared letter of intent from Su Wan and placed it on the table.
"The second male lead, a Chinese actor."
Chen Yan tapped her finger lightly on the table. "Teacher Zhou, have you read the complete script of 'The Abyss'?"
Zhou Zhengming frowned: "So far, I've only looked at the outline and the character biographies."
"Then let me tell you how Hollywood portrays this Chinese second male lead."
Chen Yan leaned forward slightly. "He's either a mob boss who runs a laundromat in Chinatown and secretly does smuggling, or a fortune teller who spouts Eastern metaphysics and provides mysterious guidance to the white male lead. His screen time won't exceed fifteen minutes, and he'll definitely die in the end to save the white protagonist. This is the 'glory' Hollywood gives to Chinese people."
Zhou Zhengming's face darkened, and his lips tightened.
"Harvey paid three million dollars to buy you, not because of your acting skills."
Chen Yan picked up the letter of intent. "He's just buying a politically correct vase, and incidentally, using this vase to smash my doorstep into Venice."
Chen Yan pinched the edge of the letter of intent, folded it in half, and then folded it in half again.
The paper made a crisp folding sound.
"Rip—"
He tore the letter of intent into pieces along the creases and casually threw it into the wastebasket at his feet.
"Director Chen, what do you mean by this?"
Wang Kai stood up, his face ashen.
"The meaning is simple: those who walk different paths cannot make plans together."
Chen Yan stood up. "An actor who is led by the nose by capital cannot portray the man-eating wolf in 'Thunder.' Professor Zhou, I wish you a bright future in Hollywood."
Chen Yan turned and walked towards the door.
"Chen Yan".
Zhou Zhengming called out to him from behind, his voice deep, "You're certainly riding high in the domestic film industry, but you don't call the shots in the film world. If you offend Harvey, your 'Thunder' won't even get past the Venice Film Festival. Without me, where are you going to find a male lead who can carry this film?"
Chen Yan stopped walking without turning around.
"That's none of Teacher Zhou's concern."
He pushed open the door and went out.
In the office, Lin Shufen sat in Chen Yan's seat, flipping through the documents on the desk.
Seeing Chen Yan and Su Wan come in, she threw the documents on the table.
"Zhou Zhengming is gone?"
Lin Shufen lit a cigarette.
"I'm gone."
Su Wan replied.
Lin Shufen sneered: "You're asking for it. You think you can fly high just by clinging to Hollywood's coattails. Chen Yan, just say the word. Jinghai Film and Television now controls 70% of the publicity and distribution channels in the north. I can make a few phone calls and ruin half of his domestic endorsements and subsequent film contracts, forcing him to come back and sign contracts."
Chen Yan walked to the water dispenser and filled a glass with cold water.
"Need not."
He finished the water in his glass. "You can't force a relationship. His heart has already wandered off. Forcing him to stay on set will only ruin the show."
"So what do you plan to do?"
Lin Shufen exhaled a puff of smoke. "Without a top-tier male lead, how are you going to explain things to Venice?"
The computer emitted a "ding" sound.
Su Wan walked to her desk and opened her email. An encrypted email with the official logo of the Venice Film Festival was in her inbox.
The sender was Marco Müller, president of the Venice Film Festival.
Su Wan quickly scanned the French emails, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
"Director Chen, bad news."
Su Wan turned her head. "Marc Muller's private emails."
Chen Yan walked over and looked at the screen.
"read."
"Harvey joined forces with three veteran European producers to submit a letter of protest to the organizing committee. They demanded that the committee cancel our reserved spot in the main competition, citing the fact that the core creative team for 'Thunder' had not yet been determined and the production progress was unclear."
Lin Shufen stubbed out her cigarette and stood up.
"Marc Muller couldn't withstand the pressure."
Su Wan pointed to the last paragraph of the email, "The organizing committee has voted internally and given us a final deadline: two weeks. Within two weeks, we must submit a five-minute sample clip containing the male lead's core scenes. Otherwise, our reserved spot will be forfeited."
In two weeks, they found the male lead, did the makeup, set up the crew, filmed, and edited.
This is an impossible task in the conventional process of the film industry.
Chen Yan looked at the French text on the screen without saying anything.
Harvey's series of deadly moves, one after another, precisely struck at the Achilles' heel of "Thunder".
"I'm going to Europe."
Su Wan picked up her coat. "I'll take all of Yanying's overseas distribution contracts and use our promises of screenings in domestic theaters to lobby those three producers. If we can divide them, Marco Müller will have a reason to help us buy time."
Chen Yan looked into her resolute eyes.
"Be careful. Once you land, have Pierre send security with you."
Su Wan nodded and quickly left.
Lin Shufen looked at Chen Yan: "Su Wan went to stall for time. What about you? You've rejected all the qualified male actors in China. Are you going to go out on the street and grab someone to play the role?"
Chen Yan walked to the bookshelf and opened the bottom drawer.
Inside were various old VHS videotapes and yellowed newspapers.
"If the conventional path doesn't work, then we'll use a dimensional reduction attack."
Chen Yan pulled out an unlabeled videotape from inside. "The actor I'm looking for isn't the one who plays a villain."
"I'm looking for a real villain."