Chapter 811 I Am Wolverine!

Like most of the time in the past, the five films nominated for best picture can be regarded as low-budget films, but the difference is that these five films have performed very differently at the box office. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button alone "The North American box office of US$104.52 million exceeded the sum of the box office of the other three films except "The Weakness".

As for "The Weakness", the cumulative North American box office has reached 285.76 million U.S. dollars. Even if there are less than 300 theaters in North America, it is not an extravagant hope that the final North American box office will exceed 300 million U.S. dollars.

However, the high box office of "The Weakness" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" will not help the film to win the award. Unless they can become "Titanic", otherwise they will inevitably be discriminated against by conservative judges when voting. .

On February 22nd, the Kodak Theater at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard once again became the center of the world film industry, and the noisy and glamorous maker of fame and fortune——Oscar Awards Ceremony [none][wrong] kicked off again The curtain is up.

Although the financial crisis has had an impact on Hollywood, the Oscars reflected it, but there is no difference from the past.

Perhaps some glamorous stars or studios have become black holes of debt, and they still have to show their best side on the red carpet.

For example, Nicolas Cage, the cousin of Sofia Coppola, just like in the past, because of various factors such as financial management, brokers and accountants, he is burdened with huge debts that are likely to be repaid in this life. In the past few years, even though he starred in Disney's big-selling "National Treasure" and "Ghost Rider" series, there is still no improvement. Now he almost accepts film appointments, which has faintly shown signs of being the king of bad movies.

The only thing that has improved is one of Ryan's foundations, which is one of Cage's biggest creditors, even for the sake of Sofia Coppola and Francis Coppola. The foundation will not excessively collect debts, and even reduced the interest on some of Cage's loans.

This is also beneficial. The Italian gang is also a big force in Hollywood. Regardless of whether Cage is an adult or has changed his surname, the Coppola family will definitely accept this kindness to a certain extent.

We are all smart people, some things can reach a tacit agreement even without saying it explicitly.

For example, Sofia Coppola took the initiative to call the Italian judges at the beginning of the awards season, and their votes are bound to be skewed.

For this year's and next year's goals. It can be said that Ryan has used most of the means that can be used within the rules.

Oscar's canvassing competition is fierce, even if it is so, he is not absolutely sure.

Hastily walked across the red carpet,

Ryan didn't enter the interview area at all, and the TV station of the broadcaster didn't come to disturb his boss, but focused on the most attractive female stars on the red carpet, especially the red carpet queen like Nicole.

"Hi, Stephen. Hi, George."

Enter the Kodak Theatre. Ryan saw two familiar figures in front of him, and hurried to catch up. The two were George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

The three greeted each other and walked into the VIP lounge next to them. There was still some time before the awards ceremony began, and we sat down and chatted.

"Ryan, you are really generous." George Lucas looked at Spielberg and joked. "Lucasfilm has also had difficulty in cash flow recently, can it continue to lend money?".

"As long as you need." Ryan naturally understood that this was a joke, he shrugged. Deliberately said, "George, I heard that you want to retire again, in this case, just sell Lucasfilm."

"I did have this kind of consideration." George Lucas seemed to be joking, "Do you want to take over?"

"As long as you are willing to sell."

After Ryan finished speaking, the three of them laughed. No one would take such words seriously, even if George Lucas had a good relationship with him, but the sale of assets involving billions of dollars would be more tempting than Disney , Presumably Lucasfilm will not think too much about the cooperation between the two parties over the years.

Except for a small number of commercial blockbusters under Walt Disney, which are in charge of the special effects department of Pixar Studios, most of the special effects production is outsourced to Industrial Light and Magic. From 2002 to now, the cooperation between them has been very pleasant.

"Ryan, I haven't thanked you yet."

Spielberg, who hadn't spoken much, suddenly spoke up, "I can't count how many times you've helped me."

"You have also helped me a lot." Ryan gestured with a statuette, "So, Stephen, next year's Oscars will be counted on you."

"Ryan, what you have to do is too difficult." George Lucas lowered his voice, "Don't forget that this is an industry completely dominated by men."

"So, I still have to ask you." Ryan said slowly, "George, she is your student in directing."

"Ryan, you seem to have forgotten." George Lucas laughed, "I'm not a member of the academy."

"Does Academy membership matter?". Ryan spread his hands and said.

True, George Lucas has never been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but no one can deny his influence.

"I've always liked and liked Nat very much." George Lucas squeezed the space between his brows, as if a little embarrassed, "She's a smart and motivated girl..."

"George." Ryan tapped the armrest of the chair lightly. "The feminist movement is getting stronger and stronger. I believe that with the academy maintaining a politically correct stance, the first female best director will appear soon. Then..."

His voice was not loud, but his tone was very serious, "Why isn't this person our Jewish?"

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were silent at the same time, and after half a minute passed, the two nodded slightly.

In fact, anyone who knows something about Hollywood will understand that even though the composition of this circle is becoming more and more mixed, some privileges really only belong to Jews.

After leaving the VIP lounge, Ryan walked into the main hall of the Kodak Theater, walked through the long aisle, and walked to the first two rows, where the crew of "Weakness" was located, and his seat was next to Nicole.

"Hey honey."

After sitting down, he looked at Nicole and said, "You look so beautiful."

"Thank you!" Nicole showed a reserved smile.

She was wearing a moon-white shoulderless low-cut evening dress, and her long hair dyed honey gold fell on her white shoulders, and her neck was gracefully bent into a wonderful arc, as beautiful as the goddess of the moon descending into the world.

"Where did you go?" Nicole asked.

"Meet George and Stephen." Ryan looked back at the two big directors sitting together, "Chat with them for a while."

"Looks like I'm going to say thank you to Stephen in person."

As part of Hollywood's top circle, she also knows a lot of things. "In any case, he is trying to get my votes."

"I've already said it for you." Ryan turned around and leaned into Nicole's ear, "Don't worry, although you won't see the final result, according to my statistics, your chances of winning the prize are at least 70% .”

Seventy percent can be said to be a very, very high probability. If it was just Ryan's own public relations, it would be 40 to 50 percent at most. Now that the power of DreamWorks, Paramount and Walt Disney has been combined, and external tactics are used in advance Get rid of the biggest competitor, and Nicole's possibility of winning the award will increase infinitely.

Of course, these things can't be hidden from those who are interested in the industry. The little friendship between him and Kate Winslet has disappeared since then.

People came to say hello one after another, and Ryan and Nicole changed the subject.

"I hear Kodak is in trouble."

Looking away from Cate Blanchett, Nicole said to Ryan, "They haven't paid the naming fee for the new phase of the Kodak Theater until now."

"Film is in decline." Ryan shook his head, "If Kodak does not transform, or if the transformation fails, the Kodak Theater will really change its name."

In his view, the decline of Kodak is inevitable. Their largest film business has been greatly impacted by digital technology. After losing the film market, their business volume in Hollywood, the largest film market, is also shrinking sharply.

Although many directors and producers are calling for the industry to pay attention to traditional film, the progress and development of technology will not stop because of this, and digital photography and digital projection have long occupied the mainstream of Hollywood.

Not to mention other advantages of digital technology, the cost alone will save a lot of money for producers and distributors.

Most typically, as the cost of copy production, which is the bulk of the distribution cost, it costs about 800 to 1,000 US dollars to print a 35mm film copy. There are about 3,500 theaters for mainstream commercial films, and the screens cost more than 8,000 yuan. The cost of copying alone That would cost around $7 million, but what about a digital copy?

Not even a tenth of the money was spent.

With such a huge gap, there is no need to think about which one the Hollywood manufacturers will choose.

Kodak has missed the best opportunity for transformation. They have no advantage in digital technology and are facing a patent cage, so they cannot easily turn around.

The sound of music on the stage interrupted Ryan's thoughts. The most eye-catching aspect of this awards ceremony was naturally the luxurious crystal waterfall composed of Swarovski. Infinitely close to the stage, even only a few steps away.

"Good evening and welcome to the annual Academy Awards, the biggest event in the film industry."

It was Hugh Jackman who came up from the backstage. Although he is not a comedian, he is versatile, and his ridicule is rarely close to Xiasanlu. The singing and dancing with Anne Hathaway is also a highlight.

Hugh Jackman, who has appeared in many operas, has a really good singing voice.

"I'm a wrestler, I'm Harvey Milk, I've been on Millionaire, I've read The Vulnerability."

He stood on the wrestling ring, raised his hands, and finally sang, "I am Wolverine!" (to be continued...)

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