Chapter 497: Chapter 497: The Magical Director
“Nominated for Best Director are: Clint Eastwood for ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’; Stephen Frears for ‘The Queen’; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for ‘Babel’; Martin Scorsese for ‘Blood Diamond’;” Lorraine Nicholson paused before smiling and reading on, “and, Wang Yang for ‘The Deceased’.”
When his name was mentioned and his smiling face appeared on the big screen, Yang’s fans erupted in cheers; two consecutive years being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director! The miraculous Yang had done it with ease. Heath Ledger, Michael Pitt, Natalie, and the rest of ‘The Deceased’ crew were all clapping and laughing. Despite their full trust in Wang Yang, the members from both teams breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn’t messed up, they hadn’t messed up! It was a grand performance of a lifetime.
“Yay—!” Seeing the familiar face, Keke pointed at the TV with great mirth, eyes curving into crescents, “Daddy!! Yeeha, hahaha—” Jessica raised her double thumbs to the sky, laughing with her head tilted back; Wang Yang made a face at Keke, then another, and another…
As the nomination ceremony drew to a close, the media scrambled to report the news, and the words “Flame Films” could be found in every article, as it once again became the biggest winner with the most nominations.
‘The Deceased’ reaped a rich harvest: seven nominations across five categories including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Ledger, Pitt), and Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Nicholson, Wahlberg). Likely because of their smaller roles, Natalie and Natalie didn’t receive nominations, sparing a competition.
‘Little Miss Sunshine’ also shone with two splendid nominations: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Supporting Actress (young Abigail). With her brilliant performance in ‘Mamma Mia!’, Meryl Streep grabbed another nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. For her, nominations are as easy as reaching into a bag; ‘The Illusionist’ and ‘The Prestige’, however, didn’t land any, though it’s believed that at the Oscars, which includes technical categories, these films may perform differently.
In the television categories, the popular sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ continued to excel with a nomination for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, with Jim Parsons nominated once again; ‘Desperate Housewives’ bagged three nominations including Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, and Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman); while the phenomenal new series ‘Firefly’ made the cut for Best Television Series – Drama and Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama (Nathan Fillion).
Flame Films secured a total of 19 nominations at this Golden Globes, with 10 in movie categories and 9 in television categories, maintaining strong award season prowess! It is worth noting that among these nominations are four for ultimate major awards, naturally signifying the company’s peak level in movie and television production and distribution.
With seven nominations each, ‘The Deceased’ and ‘Babel’ lead the pack, followed by ‘Dreamgirls’ with five nominations. Everyone knew that unless the judges collectively lost their minds, ‘The Deceased’ would be a cinematic classic! Yahoo user Rosemary remarked, “Oh my God, it’s unbelievable that this was a simultaneous shoot! What can stop the crazed, miraculous Yang?!” Marissa said, “You just can’t stop loving him, the magical director!”…
The nomination performance of ‘Magical Director’ wasn’t quite impressive, just making it into the Best Screenplay category, with David Fincher still missing out on his first Golden Globe for Best Director. However, it’s far too early to say what it will achieve at the Oscars, especially since it hasn’t been released yet. Many critics and Academy members, as well as guild members, haven’t seen it, but if it is a good film, the effect it creates will certainly not be insignificant.
However, as of now, in the first round of ‘The Deceased’ vs ‘Magical Director’, Wang Yang clearly wins.
Yahoo Entertainment covered the event with the headline “Miraculous Yang’s storm strikes again!” At just 26 years old, the miraculous Yang has already accumulated four Golden Globe Best Director nominations (2/4), an undeniable frenzy. The voters must be having headaches while casting their ballots once again; Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and San Francisco Chronicle among others published reports on the country. Bright and early, many cheerful filmmakers were interviewed by the media and expressed their thoughts.
“I’m very excited and overjoyed, it’s truly unbelievable,” said Heath Ledger, who was chasing after a second consecutive Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama nod amid a flurry of flashbulbs. After expressing his feelings, he especially praised and thanked Wang Yang, “I think all this started when they approached me for ‘Brokeback Mountain’. Yang changed so much for me.” When talking about his expectations, he said, “My opponents are very strong, especially since I know how tough Michael Pitt can be. Competing with them makes things very uncertain, I hope to win the trophy.”
If anything changed for the marvelous Wang Yang, it surely lay in his approach to interpersonal encounters, and although he might still giggle foolishly on stage, when it came to media interviews, he had certainly become much more composed.
“Right now, I feel like I’m dreaming. This is what I have always hoped for and strived towards. It’s a bit unbelievable,” said Michael Pitt, overwhelmed by emotions as he was nominated for such a prestigious award for the first time, repeatedly expressing his astonishment. He said, “I immediately sent Yang a text to thank and congratulate him. He made this possible for me, and I wasn’t shy about it! I owe him a lot.” When it came to future prospects, he said, “I don’t know, my mind is a blank right now, I still haven’t digested this news. I just feel that everyone has the strength to win an award, and I am most aware of how great Heath Ledger’s performance was.”
Movie fans could only sigh in admiration, as they seemed to have learned to speak with the same style as the marvelous Yang—it was as if they had all rehearsed their lines in advance.
“I’m very pleased to see ‘The Deceased’ garner 7 nominations. We’ve been through a lot of difficulty and it seems we’ve done fairly well,” said Wang Yang, who held three nominations himself, during an interview with the Los Angeles Times. He stated, “I can’t help but thank the entire crew for their hard work, for completing the movie in such a short preparation period, shooting schedule, and post-production period. It wasn’t easy, especially since ‘Infernal Affairs’ is such an excellent film, standing like a mountain before us that we had to climb! It has propelled us forward.”
As this list of nominees became the talk of the media, movie fans across the three regions of China felt proud and anticipatory. ‘Infernal Affairs’ was indeed ‘Infernal Affairs’, stepping into Hollywood and leading the charge at the Golden Globe Awards—it was amazing! They also wondered how the marvelous Yang would adapt it?
Flame Films had already swiftly dispatched copies of ‘The Deceased’ to the MPAA and relevant organizations around the world for review, securing an R rating as expected, quite far from either an NC-17 or PG-13 rating.
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The Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) was one of the first to get a sneak peek. In fact, Flame Films and China Film had long agreed that as long as there were no political problems or violations of relevant laws and regulations, the film would be imported. The most objectionable aspect in the 125 minutes of footage was a slew of profanities, which could be omitted in the subtitles. The end result was a cut of slightly over two minutes of “non-essential viewing experience” violent scenes, paving the way for the movie to hit mainland screens as a unique addition to the New Year’s film roster.
However, ‘I Am Legend’ ran into significant trouble. There was no precedent for importing zombie films in mainland cinemas, and the SARFT had an even greater dislike for post-apocalyptic genre films. If the whole world was doomed, what about China? It was nonsensical! These ideological matters were too complex, and most of the time, even if the director was the marvelous Yang, exceptions could not be made. Hence, news like “Mainland audiences may miss out on ‘I Am Legend’” had already been reported several times. A spokesperson for China Film responded that any issues would only be determined upon reviewing the film, and no final decision had been reached at this point.
Meanwhile, the authorities were deliberating on the matter, convening several meetings about it. Clearly, the outcome of their discussions would affect Flame Films’ promotional strategy and efforts for ‘I Am Legend’ in Asia and globally.
For example, Flame Films’ latest promotional poster series for ‘I Am Legend’ was freshly released, adopting a localized approach. They selected landmarks such as Hong Kong, Tokyo Tower, London Bridge, Seoul, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, depicting these sites in their post-apocalyptic desolate state on the posters, thereby conveying an urgent sense of impending doom to audiences worldwide. If possible, Flame Films also wanted to create a poster with Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower, and perhaps even Beijing’s landmarks…
From December 8-14, the box office champion in North America belonged to ‘Apocalypto’ with $20.2 million. Mel Gibson’s new work not only lacked the explosive power of ‘The Passion of the Christ’ from two years prior, but its Rotten Tomatoes index was even lower at 65%/58%/79%, leading to a sense of disappointment for Icon Productions.
Coming in second was ‘The Prestige,’ which continued across 2,879 theatres in its second week with a -45.3% downturn in box office performance, taking in $19.56 million for a North American cumulative gross of $55.32 million. ‘The Holiday’ took third place; despite being a star-studded blockbuster, it faced a dismal defeat. Although it had a Rotten Tomatoes index indicative of audience satisfaction at 47%/47%/81%, its opening week box office was just $17.11 million, and Sony/Columbia could only hope for a good performance in overseas markets.
Even worse off was the $100 million production ‘Blood Diamond’. This R-rated adventure film with Scorsese + Leonardo received applause at 92%/90%/90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Scorsese was praised for returning to peak form, yet its opening week box office summed up to just $16.58 million, averaging $8,680 across 1,910 cinemas. It seemed that the general public was not interested in the heavy topic of African diamond smuggling. However, with such positive reviews and not yet having opened in any overseas markets, Warner Bros. still had hope for a global box office of $200 million, which would be considered a contented success.
As the week of December 15-21 approached, the festive atmosphere of Christmas intensified, with the releases of ‘Eragon’ and ‘Charlotte’s Web’. Following on that day, countless movie fans flooded into theaters—’The Marvelous Director’ had premiered!
“Two tickets for ‘The Amazing Director,’ please!” “I’ll take one!” The portly ticket seller mechanically took the money and handed the tickets to the customers—two tickets, one ticket, two tickets, four tickets… He suddenly realized and woke up to the fact that the woman who had just left looked familiar. Was that Natalie Portman!?
All across North America, 2,850 theaters showed this PG-13 biographical drama. The tickets sold could be bundled into bunches. The audience included Evelyn, Claire, Alice, and other fans of Yang, film critics, friends of Yang, and even some detractors of Yang. Of course, most were ordinary moviegoers out for a date and a movie because this well-known biographical story was interesting. If you were to group them by age, the young people would certainly be in the majority, whether they were older youth the same age as the Amazing Director or youths like the fresh-faced youngsters from the ’98 version of The Amazing Director.
Recently, Wang Yang really made us proud. There was no doubt that the nomination performance of ‘The Deceased’ spiked interest in ‘The Amazing Director,’ and its significance didn’t need much explanation; the youngest and second-youngest Best Director Oscar nominees, the most box-office-drawing Amazing Director, the youngest billionaire, the youngest…
Then there’s the miracle business that’s been growing increasingly larger, the boss of Flame Movies, and an IT trendsetter who cannot be overlooked… As TIME Magazine put it, he is a living legend. Not just that, he’s a symbolic figure for Asian Americans and even a groundbreaking figure for Asians worldwide. He shattered a plethora of racial prejudice labels and redefined the image of Asian boys, just like People magazine said, “Millions of girls across America want to marry him,” and that may well be an understatement.
The source story of the film is a supernatural phenomenon that this generation has experienced together. Even now, after more than eight years, countless people still vividly remember those few weeks when ‘Paranormal Activity’ exploded on the scene, sending America into a frenzy as young people packed the theaters!
Wang Yang wasn’t just any director. He had already become an American idol, one of the most shining public figures in the country. How could a magical director like him, facing adversity and setbacks, create all of this? His love triangle with his current wife and a dear female friend only adds to the interest, right?
This was precisely the case, especially since Magical Yang had such a well-known public image and was an incredibly charismatic person. From the beginning, how ‘The Amazing Director’ would portray ‘Wang Yang’ was a great challenge, and casting was the hardest part.
After an extensive search, the production team finally settled on a newcomer Chinese-American actor through a massive audition event. The 19-year-old Allen Leong, a second-generation immigrant from mainland China, was a top student at Brown University—not in the performing arts, but in business.
Like many actors’ stories, Allen Leong had a passion for acting from a young age, with some experience in community and high school stage plays, and dabbled in the drama club at university. But what came next was different; his acting experience was not extensive, and he never thought about becoming an actor or a star. If it weren’t for the audition, he might never have appeared on the big screen. Now things were different.
“Ken Leung’s brother?” netizens asked at the time. Of course not. Allen Leong was a handsome, tall hunk, otherwise, ‘The Amazing Director’ would not have chosen him, but more crucial were his acting talent, confidence, and courage, which completely moved David Fincher.
After he officially signed the movie contract, Allen Leong suddenly went from an ordinary college student to the center of attention. First came skepticism, nitpicking, ridicule, mockery—he wasn’t as handsome as Yang, not as buff as Yang, didn’t have Yang’s attractive smile… Fans and detractors alike put heavy pressure on him, with only a small portion of fans expressing satisfaction. But Allen Leong was a very low-key individual. He quietly bore the pressure from all sides, knowing that only by portraying the idol Magical Yang well would he gain acceptance.
As for ‘The Amazing Director,’ Wang Yang’s initial attitude was indifferent. He wouldn’t authorize it, collaborate, or offer any help, but he wasn’t someone who couldn’t take a joke. He was merely concerned the movie might cause trouble and hassle for his family and friends, which would be cool otherwise. But once the cast was decided, his attitude gradually changed. It wasn’t that he became involved, yet he did have a conversation with Allen Leong.
In that conversation, he didn’t talk about his own mindset at the time, or what kind of person Wang Yang was in 1998. Because he understood that ‘The Amazing Director’ didn’t need a documentary-like Wang Yang but a dramatic Wang Yang, the “Wang Yang” penned by Ben Mezrich and Aaron Sorkin, framed by David Fincher’s lens. His advice might instead trouble the young man, and even too much conversation could. So the real Wang Yang simply emphasized encouragement: “Do well in your acting!”
This was another non-action movie with an Asian lead following “MIT-21-TEAM,” boasting a production budget of $50 million that set a new record, and even more remarkably, the character was a “leader,” an ethnic lead on the big screen experiencing love and flexing power—a significant breakthrough indeed.
If it wouldn’t cause any trouble or just a minor inconvenience, Wang Yang was very willing to see “Supernatural Phenomenon” succeed and was even keener to see Allen Leong continue his acting journey, grow into a fine actor, and contribute more positive Asian representations on both the big and small screens. After all, he knew he would always make some stories with Chinese leads and having only one Daniel Wu was certainly not enough.
The cast of “Supernatural Phenomenon” included many people, but aside from Wang Yang, what everyone cared about most was not Zachary Levi or anyone else, but the two charming young female leads.
Playing Jessica and Rachel wasn’t simply a good thing nor a bad thing. Although it meant earning a moniker like “Little Jessica” or “Little Rachel,” it could lead to severe consequences. First, you would offend Wang Yang’s camp, but with Hollywood being so vast and with so many independent studios, what would it mean to offend someone? Mel Gibson continued to make “Apocalypto” after offending the entire Jewish community; popularity is what mattered most. And everyone thought that Bigshot Yang wouldn’t be so petty—he understood the difference between actors and producers.
So the more serious issue was actually the second point: what kind of impact would this role bring? Keep in mind, this wasn’t about playing Hepburn, Monroe, Garbo or those who have passed on—this was about playing a character in her golden age with extreme popularity!
This circumstance had never occurred before; no one knew what it would be like. However, agents generally believed that since this was a drama and not a mimicry show, what endowed the character with a soul wasn’t the real-life figure, but the scriptwriter, director, and actors. There was no need to worry about being unable to shake off the influence or being called an “imitator” of someone else. On the contrary, “Supernatural Phenomenon” could bring the fame needed to suddenly become a big star. Even if the film tanked or the performance was subpar—just look at Megan Fox! Thus, the number of actresses competing for the role was substantial.
Finally, at the age of 19, Camilla Belle beat out people like Nina Dobrev and secured the role of Jessica. A child star who became the face of a baby formula commercial at just nine months old, then a child model, and taking on her first TV role at seven before making her screen debut at nine, she seemed to have an impressive start. In reality, there were too many people like her, too many who ended up mediocre, like the Olsen twins who could never become movie stars.
But Camilla Belle wasn’t that bad. This year, her first leading role in the horror movie “When a Stranger Calls” grossed $47.86 million in North America and $66.96 million worldwide, which was quite a success considering its $15 million production budget.
In terms of youthful beauty, Camilla was more than qualified, but her Jessica had a very different aura, particularly her smile, which wasn’t the sweet type. This became a highly debated topic among fans. However, “Supernatural Phenomenon” was clearly aiming for a controversial effect—it had never stopped its promotions and managed to garner high interest with little cost. Controlling Bigshot Yang meant controlling popularity—which meant whatever you did would likely turn out well.
For the role of Rachel, the victor was Ashley Tisdale, the 21-year-old actress whose certain traits were very much like Rachel’s. She, too, was a child star whose role as the high school queen “Regina George” in “Mean Girls” marked the peak of her career so far, and prior to that, she had participated in the film “Death Illusion,” later acquired and distributed by Flame. The skepticism from her fans was whether she could portray Rachel convincingly. Hopefully, she wouldn’t end up being worse than the naive Rachel in “Paranormal Activity”!
“Hehe!” The screening room was almost full, Natalie sat down in her seat with a large bucket of popcorn and a sneaky smile, wearing a baseball cap as if afraid of being recognized. She had promised Wang Yang to seriously consider not watching this movie… Oh Bigshot Yang, sorry about that!
Never underestimate a heart full of gossip, especially when the gossip concerns someone you know. Members of the Yang Gang called their friends to join them at the cinema, along with employees from Flame—they weren’t about to miss their BOSS’s impressive feats…
Soon, the screening room quieted down as the audience looked expectantly at the big screen, eager for the show to start! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to support it by voting for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)