China Entertainment started in 2004

Chapter 266 Invited to Cannes

The ninth day of the Lunar New Year is another day of socializing.

After that, Wang Shu led the editing work of "Terror Cruise" in the company.

Similar to the three idol dramas "Witch in Suit", "My Love from the Star" and "Secret Garden", Wang Shu did not edit the whole process himself, but left it to the company to handle, and the final revision was finalized.

This method saves him a lot of work.

"Terror Cruise" is a movie with an investment of more than 100 million, which is even more important. In addition, it is a movie with a relatively brain-burning reincarnation setting. Different people will edit it with different effects.

Therefore, he edited the film himself.

Just a few days later, the person in charge of the Cannes International Film Festival in country Z took the initiative to contact him.

"Mr. Wang Shu, on behalf of the organizers of the Cannes International Film Festival, I sincerely invite you to attend the grand ceremony to be held in May this year." The person in charge of Country Z said politely.

He took the initiative to make an appointment with Wang Shu at a coffee shop.

"I heard that this year's Cannes Film Festival seems to be a 60th anniversary celebration?" Wang Shu did not agree directly, but asked rhetorically.

The person in charge of Country Z said with a smile, "Yes, this year is Cannes' 60th birthday."

"So, filmmakers from all over the world want to participate in this film festival this year, and the organizers sincerely invite famous filmmakers from all over the world to attend."

"The film you directed last year won the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes, and the heroine in the film won the Outstanding Actress Award."

"Directors like you are very welcome at the Cannes Film Festival."

"The organizer heard that you directed another film this year that cost a lot of money and is in post-production, so it wants to invite you to bring your film to this year's film festival."

The person in charge was very polite in his words and demeanor, and did not look arrogant.

Likewise, there is no groveling gesture.

"I make a commercial film." Wang Shu was confused. He didn't think the Cannes Film Festival organizing committee didn't know about it.

The person in charge of Country Z smiled when he heard this. He understood the meaning of Wang Shu's words and immediately explained, "So, the organizer invites you to participate in the non-competition section and invites you to bring your new film to the exhibition."

The activities of the Cannes Film Festival are divided into six units, namely "Formal Competition", "Directors' Fortnight", "A Special Attention", "International Film Critics Week", "New Looks in French Cinema" and "Side Market Exhibition" .

Except for the formal competition, the other five units are all non-competition units.

In the main competition unit, there are two groups of judges who judge feature films and short films respectively. They are composed of people from the film and cultural circles from various countries. The candidates are all well-known directors, actors, screenwriters, film critics, soundtrack composers, etc. One of them serves as President.

And, determine the winner of the Palme d'Or.

The non-competitive part focuses on promoting new talents. Among them, "Directors' Fortnight" and "A Special Attention" have discovered many directors with great potential or achievements.

Among them, the "Directors' Fortnight" unit of the Cannes Film Festival is called the director's professional unit. It was founded in Cannes in 1968 by Truffaut, the leader of the French New Wave film, to resist the increasingly commercialized Cannes International Film Festival at that time.

The "Special Attention" unit was born in 1972. Different from the main competition unit where masters gather, this unit aims to introduce "original and different" works brought by new international filmmakers.

"International Film Critics Week" was born in 1962. It is the first secondary unit created after the Cannes Film Festival introduced the power of the "French National Association of Critics" and is known as the "eldest daughter" of the Cannes Film Festival.

The "Film Critics Week" unit has a separate award. The films participating in the screening and competition of this unit must be the director's first or second feature film or short film, which is somewhat similar to the "Debut Award" established by other film festivals.

In addition, there are also "Short Film Unit" and "Film Cornerstone".

The Cannes "Short Film Unit" is one of the official competition units of Cannes, and the "Cinema Cornerstone" is the student work unit founded by Chairman Gil Jacobs in 1998. The two "share" the same jury composed of people.

If Wang Shu goes to the Cannes Film Festival with "Horror Cruise", with his honor as the winner of the previous year, there will be a sideshow.

Then, he can choose one of "Special Attention", "Directors' Fortnight" and "International Film Critics Week" to participate.

Of course, he can also not participate and only bring "Terror Cruise" to the exhibition.

As for whether the organizer will hold a separate film festival specially for him, it is not certain.

After all, he is not the winner of the Palme d'Or, and he is far behind in terms of honors.

Coupled with the 60th anniversary of Cannes, there are too many films participating in the exhibition and the competition is fierce.

But no matter what, the Cannes Film Festival is an opportunity to promote "Terror Cruise" to the world.

"Terror Cruise" will not only be released in the mainland, but will be released worldwide.

If you can go to the Cannes Film Festival to participate in the exhibition, it will be of great benefit to international publicity.

And, it's still free.

Last year, when Wang Shu attended the Cannes Film Festival, Feng Xiaogang took his "The Night Banquet" to promote it. He spent several million to hold a dance party on the beach and invited many internationally renowned filmmakers to attend.

In addition to Feng Xiaogang, there are also many directors and actors on Hong Kong Island who bring movies to promote.

They didn't have any films to participate in the competition, they just licked their faces and went to the exhibition.

Cannes is a huge stage where films can gain worldwide attention.

Even if it won't be released globally, it will still be an opportunity to sell the film.

This time, Wang Shu received an unsolicited invitation from the organizers of Cannes.

To be honest, he was moved.

Because the Cannes Film Festival brings together filmmakers, copyright dealers, film and television tycoons, related practitioners, tourists, etc. from all over the world, it is equivalent to an extremely high-quality opportunity to promote "Terror Cruise" internationally. And, it’s a free opportunity.

Of course, if it costs millions to hold a dance party like Feng Xiaogang went to Cannes to promote "The Night Banquet", it will definitely cost money.

It’s just that the opportunity to go to Cannes to promote the film is free.

Wang Shu pondered and said: "We are scheduled to release the movie on May 1st, and the Cannes Film Festival is in mid-May, so there is a time conflict."

The person in charge of Country Z said with a smile: "As long as the film is not released outside the mainland market of Z before May 5, there will be no problem."

现在已经是3月2日，距离5月16日只有两个半月的时间，负责人道出了5月16日，即是戛纳电影节的开幕日期。

When Wang Shu heard this, he already felt the sincerity of the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival, and immediately responded with a smile: "In that case, see you in Cannes."

"See you in Cannes." The person in charge of Country Z was very happy with Wang Shu's cheerfulness and said with a smile.

On December 2005, 12, "The Promise" directed by Chen Kaige was released in China.

After a month and a half, he was still invited to participate in the non-competition section of the Berlin International Film Festival in early February.

"Terror Cruise" directed by Wang Shu was only released half a month in advance.

The two chatted for a while and then left one after another.

After this meeting, the next step is for the staff of both parties to contact each other to further determine the itinerary.

After Wang Shu returned to the company, he called Han Sanping.

"Director Han, I have good news for you." Wang Shu said with a smile.

"What good news?" Han Sanping was confused, wondering whether Wang Shu had changed his mind and not made art films but commercial films?

Thinking of this, my eyes light up, it is indeed good news!

He has been suffering from headaches for the past few days.

I wanted to make a big splash, but at first glance, there were no outstanding commercial film directors in the mainland to work with.

Looking left and right, there is no more powerful commercial film director than Wang Shu.

Only the director from Hong Kong Island is left.

And the director from Hong Kong Island.

Han Sanping felt depressed when he thought of this.

"Red Cliff", invested by China Film and directed by Wu Yutai, has been in preparation since 2004 and will finally start shooting this year.

It's just not pleasant.

At the end of last year, "The Golden Armor" was released, with a box office of 2.9 million.

Chow Yun-fat is one of the leading actors.

Seeing the success of "The City of Gold", China Film Group invited Chow Yun-fat to play the role of Zhou Yu in "Red Cliff".

Who is Chow Yun-fat?

He is an actor who has been in Hollywood.

Even if you can't make it in Hollywood, you are still an actor who has made it in Hollywood!

His salary contract is based on the Hollywood model, and his salary for starring in "Red Cliff" is three times that of starring in "The Golden Armor".

Before "The Golden Armor", he really couldn't survive in Hollywood and ran back to China in despair.

Then, Zhang Yimou's movie "The Golden Armor" earned 2.9 million domestic box office, which instantly raised his net worth.

In addition, the director of "Red Cliff" is Hong Kong director Ng Yu-tak. He was eager to work with Chow Yun-fat, and then the crew invited him with a price three times higher than the salary of "The Golden Armor".

China Film Group, as an investor, was not happy and demanded a reduction in remuneration.

The two sides began to argue.

Wang Shu didn't hide it, and said directly: "Today, the person in charge of the Cannes Film Festival in China met with me and invited me to bring "Horror Cruise" to the competition."

"Isn't "Terror Cruise" a commercial film?" Han Sanping didn't react for a moment when he heard this.

"I was invited to participate in the non-competitive unit, not the competitive unit." Wang Shu explained in a timely manner.

Han Sanping was suddenly enlightened when he heard this, and then he laughed and said: "Okay, the organizer of Cannes took the initiative to invite me, but ordinary people don't get this treatment."

"This is not just about winning a small award last year and winning a Cannes Best Actress. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival. The organizer wanted to make it grander, so they sent me an invitation." Wang Shu also said Not boasting, but speaking in a low-key manner.

"Then the release date will be postponed?" Han Sanping asked thoughtfully.

The stage of the Cannes Film Festival is an excellent opportunity to promote a movie. This kind of thing is completely pie-in-the-sky and must not be missed.

Even if the movie’s release date is changed and postponed, you can’t miss it.

He understands this.

(End of this chapter)