director of the millennium

After giving Zhang Guorong full confidence, Wu Yuan left the Light and Shadow Times Editing Center with the original disc of "Bruce Lee".

After returning home and spending some time with his wife, he said goodbye to the mother and daughter without any spare time and set off for Los Angeles again.

Time is running out!
"Bruce Lee" will be released in North American art theaters in December, and all the arrangements and publicity work cannot be done without him.

The main actors of the crew had already been waiting for him in Los Angeles.

And Wu Yuan also had another purpose in his trip to North America, which was to receive the company's new aircraft.

Because they are mature business jets and the Gulfstream production line has never stopped, even though they are privately customized, the two private jets ordered by Wu Yuan were completed and ready for delivery in less than half a year.

With the help of Gulfstream, two crew members have been recruited for him and the aircraft is ready for use at any time.

Wu Yuan's trip to North America this time, in addition to promoting "Bruce Lee" to win awards, also needed to complete the follow-up delivery of two aircraft and apply for a flight back to China.

He takes this matter very seriously, even to the same degree as Bruce Lee's award-winning campaign.

Because Wu Yuan is very clear that by February next year, the country will be in a state of panic and the situation of strict entry and exit will be very complicated.

If Wu Yuan remembers correctly, in February, the sudden "black swan" shattered everyone's expectations and hopes, and the filmmakers finally made a difficult decision, and all seven Spring Festival movies were withdrawn.

The fact that the film industry acted in this way shows how serious the social situation was at that time.

If you wanted to take a commercial flight at that time, it would be easy to not be able to buy a ticket.

Whether it is domestic flights or international flights, a large number of them have been canceled or quarantined upon landing. In the most difficult times, the entire airport will stop operating.

But it is different when taking a private plane. Although it is still subject to strict inspection, because private planes are not considered "public transportation", the inspection is relatively relaxed. Wu Yuan can also travel back and forth between the two sides of the Pacific Ocean as he wishes when there are no regular flights.

It’s not that Wu Yuan has to make trouble during this sensitive period. It’s just that the Oscars ceremony happens to be held in February, the most stressful time.

This is also his last movie before the "cold winter of the film industry" comes, and he has to grit his teeth and make it.

But everything has two sides, good and bad.

If it could really win an Oscar this time, because there would be basically no movies being released in China at that time, "Bruce Lee" would naturally become the most anticipated movie.

The situation can be seen in the original time and space. "Parasite", which won the Best Picture at this year's Oscars, has received so much attention in China that it can be regarded as the most watched award-winning film in the past 10 Oscars.

Of course, this is also related to the gimmick that "Parasite" is the first Asian film to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

But "Bruce Lee" is also a movie directed by an Asian director, and a Chinese director at that, and it tells the story of a legendary Chinese filmmaker. Whether it will attract attention in other countries is not the case, but at least in China, the attention it will receive from winning the award will definitely exceed that of "Parasite".

This is also a good thing for Wu Yuan.

After all, the domestic film industry will be completely shut down in the next two years or so. If he can become the last director to "stand out" before the film industry's cold winter, when the film industry recovers in two or three years, Guangying Times and Wu Yuan will be the most anticipated by movie fans, and the company's upward momentum will not be interrupted.

You know, in the past two years, countless film companies have gone bankrupt, and countless film companies have been unable to recover after experiencing this "black swan", falling directly from the first- and second-tier film companies to outside the eighteenth line.

Wu Yuan doesn't want the Light and Shadow Era to become a part of it! On December 2019, 12, Wu Yuan arrived in Los Angeles.

Without staying for too long, after reuniting with the crew, Wu Yuan immediately took the crew members to another city in the United States, New York.

"Bruce Lee" will hold its first critics' preview here, at the famous Film Forum art cinema.

Film Forum is a non-profit art cinema with half of its films being new and half being old, with the new and old film sections each being managed by two famous film planners.

Film Forum was established in 1970 and over the years has focused on premiering new independent films, re-screenings of restored films and screenings of foreign art films.

Art theaters have a long history in New York. They have developed along with art films. Different theaters have formed their own style and reputation, and have accumulated a considerable number of loyal audiences.

Some are independent, and some are national chains.

Because of the fierce competition, every art cinema is working hard to create its own characteristics.

Of course the most important feature is the choice of which films are shown, and it is best to grab exclusive screenings, including exclusive screenings of classic films and exclusive screenings of the latest films.

Arthouse cinemas often have longer queues than commercial cinemas.

They usually occupy the third or fourth floor of a smaller building, or are located entirely underground, and have multiple screening rooms (usually no more than six), as well as popcorn (several art house theaters are famous for their uniquely flavored popcorn) and a variety of drinks and food.

Most of these art cinemas take a unique approach. They rarely show popular commercial films, but they are very fond of art films. They are a movie-watching paradise specially created for art film lovers.

Basically every art house theater in New York has exclusive films.

The screening arrangements of art cinemas are very flexible, and schedulers will extend or shorten the screening time depending on the popularity of the films being screened.

For example, Godard’s Goodbye to Language ran in New York’s art theaters for more than half a year.

After being rated as one of the top ten films of the year by various film critics, Jia Zhangke's A Touch of Sin was also screened at the Film Forum for a long time, which indirectly proves the influence of film critics on art theaters and audiences.

In fact, many domestic art films, including classic old movies, are often shown in art theaters in North America, especially in New York.

For example, "Suzhou River" and "Farewell My Concubine" are still frequently screened in many New York art cinemas. Sometimes there is no admission fee and you can watch them for free.

Most of these are directors of art films who cooperate with these theaters and license their films to them for free.

Well, this kind of thing is unthinkable in the field of commercial films, but it is very normal in the field of art films. After all, profit has never been the first requirement of art films. Allowing more people to appreciate the beauty of film art is the first requirement of art films.

This time, Wu Yuan's new work "Bruce Lee" has signed an exclusive agreement with Film Forum. It will be exclusively screened in this art theater for half a month, and then screened on a small scale in about 100 art theaters across the United States. Finally, it will be screened on a large scale in North America after the Oscars.

This is the normal release route for most award-winning movies, and Wu Yuan naturally has to follow it.

After all, local tycoons like Disney are the professionals in this area, and Wu Yuan only needs to be a puppet and follow instructions!
So, on December 12, the day after arriving in New York, the first critics' screening of Bruce Lee was held in New York in a low-key manner. (End of this chapter)