Chapter 817 This year is another bumper harvest for Lu Yanhe.
Tucker Ortiz was holding a thick book in his arms and a cell phone in his other hand, talking to his mother.
"I have to go see 'Get Out' with my classmates tonight."
Since her son went to the United States, Anna White has been calling Tucker Ortiz almost every day.
Tucker Ortiz has been a fan of Lu Yanhe ever since Lu Yanhe stayed at their house for two weeks last December.
As a film critic and film magazine editor, Anna White often talks about movies with her son. At that time, Tucker Ortiz didn't yet show any signs of being a "film fan" about Lu Yanhe. Now it's different; he watches every project Lu Yanhe is involved in, whether it's a movie or a TV series, whether he's the lead actor or the screenwriter.
Then, discussions about Lu Yanhe's films and television dramas gradually became an important part of their conversations.
Anna White asked, "Is the movie 'Get Out' popular among your classmates?"
“Yeah, it’s generating a lot of buzz,” Tucker Ortiz said. “Especially a lot of Black students at school are paying attention to this movie. I’ve seen trailers for it playing on the cafeteria TV screens when I’m eating.”
Anna White was somewhat surprised.
"Is this movie being promoted so heavily?"
Getting a movie trailer into Harvard University's dining hall isn't something that can be done simply by spending money.
But what Anna White didn't expect was that the film company would actually think of promoting the film on university campuses.
However, Anna White felt that this approach was the right one.
Because what this movie needs most is—
Social discussion.
Anna White has already seen the film at the Jose Film Festival. To be honest, she doesn't particularly like this type of film; in her opinion, it's a typical American, Hollywood movie. However, she also admits that the film is indeed well-made, finding a widely existing yet largely overlooked point in the American thriller genre, and creatively "re-emerging" the extinct concept of "black slavery" in the contemporary era.
The story's inherent value blends perfectly with the male lead's performance.
With Murken Sorge's skillful directing, the film flows seamlessly from beginning to end, maintaining a high degree of consistency in style and pacing. Even if the film wasn't Anna White's cup of tea, it must be admitted that it was very well made.
Such films are unlikely to be popular at film festivals, but they are very likely to win awards during the North American awards season led by the Oscars.
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"Get Out" was scheduled to be shown in 4,109 theaters by D19.
Films that can secure a premiere in more than 4,000 theaters are generally considered top-tier films from various film companies.
Lily Williams is the only well-known actress in the film; the others are relatively unknown.
She and co-star Will Holland participated in many promotional events, and throughout the promotional trip, the two praised each other highly.
Lily Williams even said, "I think his performance in the film might be worthy of an Oscar nomination."
As a result, she was ridiculed by some people who said that Lily Williams would say anything to promote the movie.
Will Hollande was just a nobody. Although the film received generally positive reviews from critics after its world premiere at the Jose Film Festival, making him a rising star, it's fair to say that Black actors are easily overlooked during awards season, let alone a newcomer like him.
Once the film began its wide theatrical run, everything changed—
The scene of Will Hollande sitting in a chair, "mind-controlled," and losing control of his tears was used by D19 as promotional material and began to be widely disseminated on social media platforms.
The scene from the Investiture of the Gods.
A single glance from him could send chills down your spine.
The movie "Get Out" has also sparked a viral discussion online.
The Black people... were all shocked.
In this day and age, there is actually a horror movie that plunges Black people back into the terrifying state of slavery!
Even though modern Black people haven't personally experienced that era of slavery, the shadow passed down from their ancestors' bloodline and historical culture still looms over them, allowing them to project themselves onto that era.
On Friday, its opening day, the film grossed over $12 million in North America. It rose slightly the following day to $13.5 million, and on Sunday, it slipped a little but still grossed $10.15 million, bringing its opening weekend to over $35 million!
The box office was a huge success.
What's even more explosive is the online buzz and discussion.
Due to public opinion, this became a movie that almost every Black person would definitely want to see.
Seeing the phenomenal success of Get Out, other film companies couldn't help but say sourly, "First Get Out played the Asian card, and now Get Out plays the Black card. I think D19 and Lu Yanhe should play the race card in every movie from now on. It always works."
If it's sour, then of course it can only be sour.
If anyone thinks that playing this kind of card can also generate huge sales, then they should follow suit.
After The Mist, didn't other companies try to play the Asian card?
Of course I tried, but it didn't work.
Therefore, billboards that are not designed based on the movie's content are essentially just self-entertaining attempts to generate publicity.
D19 has finally officially announced that it will be promoting Get Out this year's awards season.
At this point, the awards season had officially begun its fierce competition.
The sudden appearance of this film in the fray naturally attracted the attention of other films.
In particular, Will Hollande's performance in the Best Actor category received unanimous praise from critics.
Black actors wield considerable influence in Hollywood, but compared to white actors, they face significant challenges in gaining recognition. When one does manage to rise to prominence, they typically receive widespread support from the entire Black community.
Will Hollande is clearly in this situation.
Not to mention, he rose to fame with just one movie.
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Five days after the film's release in North America, Lu Yanhe, along with Will Hollande and Lily Williams, participated in the most-watched morning show in the United States.
The live interview lasted a total of twenty minutes.
A live stream alone typically attracts 9 million viewers, not to mention the subsequent reach.
This is also because the movie "Get Out" has been so popular in the past five days, generating enough discussion, that it was able to be featured on this program.
A 20-minute live interview isn't actually that long, and you can't ask that many questions.
In these live interviews, the other party usually provides an interview outline. Of course, hosts of morning shows often disregard the interview outline and don't follow the script.
Although Lu Yanhe's team was well aware that they didn't need to prepare any answers for him, because Lu Yanhe's answers were always better and more brilliant than theirs, at Chen Ziyan and Wang Biao's request, Lu Yanhe's PR team would still prepare a draft. At the same time, Lu Yanhe's PR team was also specifically responsible for conducting background investigations on each of these events.
For example, the most eye-catching event of this morning show in the past few years, and some information that the morning show host Lu Yanhe needs to know and understand.
Information is extremely important.
Fortunately, the recording of this morning show did not get out of control.
The host only asked one question that was not on the outline.
"Lily, you said before that Will Smith could be nominated for Best Actor at this year's Oscars for 'Get Out.' Do you still think so?"
Lily Williams paused for a moment, then immediately laughed and said, "Yes, I still think so. To be honest, when I was reading the script, the Chris I imagined (the name of the male protagonist in the movie) was completely different from the Chris that Will created in the end. Will created a character that made me feel disgusted and angry at the character I was playing. You know, as actors, we often have to find an emotional logic for our performance, even if it's a bad guy. Only in this way can the character become real and three-dimensional. So, acting with him was very painful for me."
Lu Yanhe was indeed pleasantly surprised to hear Lily Williams say that.
“Lily is right. I also think Will deserves an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. His performance was based on my script, but he added to it in a fuller, more reasonable and even better way than I expected. As an actor myself, I understand how rare such talent and ability are.”
Will Hollande suddenly exclaimed, his voice trembling with emotion, "Oh My God!" and covered his face with his hands.
Lu Yanhe and Lili both looked over, somewhat at a loss.
The same goes for the host.
Will Hollande's eyes even reddened.
Lily immediately hugged Will.
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Will Hollande's "tearful" moment went viral on social media that day.
Subsequently, D19 revealed the behind-the-scenes story of how Will Holland successfully landed Get Out through Variety magazine.
The difficulties a male actor who has never starred in a movie and has no fame won the role by defeating a group of competitors, including well-known actors, because of his outstanding performance in the audition, are self-evident.
However, after Murken Sorge took a liking to him, he nervously asked Lu Yanhe for his opinion, worried that Lu Yanhe would not agree to such an actor starring in his script. But after watching the audition clip, Lu Yanhe nodded without hesitation.
They then contacted Lily Williams—
Because she was cast earlier and is a well-known and popular actress, it would be problematic if she were unwilling to work with such an unknown actor.
Lily Williams nodded without hesitation.
This is the story that D19 wanted to convey—
Will Hollande won the role by captivating everyone with his acting skills. And similarly, everyone chose him without hesitation, contrary to expectations, because he was the best.
"It turns out he's the perfect actor," said Murken Sorge. "He's a kind guy. On set, he was always worried he wasn't doing enough because he'd often experienced unfair treatment on set in the past. He never said anything, though I only heard about it from others. Even now that he's famous, he still doesn't talk about it. Lily, Lu, and I all hope this film will bring him to the world's attention because he's found an extremely precious and suitable role, and he hasn't let the role down. I don't want his performance, which is second to none, to be overlooked and become a hidden gem just because this film is a thriller."
With several well-known, powerful, and influential collaborators speaking out in such a high-profile manner for Will Hollande, coupled with the high level of attention the film itself received, Will Hollande's ranking on the Oscar Best Actor nomination prediction list quickly jumped to fourth place.
With Will Hollande as the entry point, this film officially joins the battle of the North American awards season.
They then shifted their focus to Asia and began promoting their products and services there.
The last stop is China.
This film does not involve ghosts and can be shown in mainland China.
The film itself has garnered a lot of attention – from Lu Yanhe's screenwriting to its global box office performance, as well as recent discussions about Will Hollande's performance, all of which have made many movie fans in China eagerly anticipate its release.
In China, Get Out received treatment that almost no other foreign film could get—it passed censorship and was scheduled for release in just two weeks, and the crew came to China to promote it just the day before the film was released.
Other film companies are green with envy.
But they can't be reasoned with.
Lu Yanhe's films have been getting the green light from the censorship department for quite some time now.
They spoke with great confidence and conviction.
Lu Yanhe has been able to propel Chinese films forward and help them reach new heights overseas. What's wrong with giving such filmmakers some support within the rules?
Get Out is making huge box office successes worldwide.
The original film grossed $175 million in North America and around $256 million worldwide.
At the time, the film was not released in China. In North America, it was only shown in more than 2,000 theaters. Of course, it performed very well. It grossed about $10 million on its opening weekend Saturday, and in the third week, it still grossed more than $8 million on Saturday. Therefore, the final box office in North America was very high.
This time, with the appeal of renowned horror director Murken Sorge and the established fanbase rallied by screenwriter Lu Yanhe, the film performed much better than the original in markets outside North America.
In China, the box office is expected to reach around 300 million yuan, which is roughly 45 million US dollars.
Three weeks after its North American release, Get Out had grossed over $300 million worldwide, surpassing the box office performance of the original film.
The Golden Globe Awards have also released their nominations, with Get Out receiving five nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay, making it a strong contender in the top tier of the awards season.
Lily Williams never expected to receive a Best Actress nomination—
This is a classic case of the play protecting the person.
This is also related to the fact that the Golden Globe nominations are divided into two categories, with a total of ten nominations for Best Actress.
Besides this film, Huang Feng was also nominated for Best Actor again for his role in "Home Alone 2".
This is exactly the kind of "superstar guaranteed spot" that the Golden Globes arrange every year to grab attention and viewership.
Huang Feng is incredibly famous, the kind of fame that only he has.
Surprisingly, thanks to HP's PR efforts, "2 Broke Girls" and "Friends," which regained Maxine's support, were both nominated for Best Musical or Comedy Series.
Chinese media outlets have widely reported that this year is another bumper harvest for the Luyan River.
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actually--
Does the Golden Globe Award favor Lu Yanhe?
I can't say it isn't.
However, if they truly favored it, Friends wouldn't have been absent from the nominations after losing Maxine's PR team.
Lu Yanhe's greatest success in Hollywood lies in the fact that through these works, he has gained several solid and powerful allies. Driven by common interests, they have created a film and television empire that appears to be dominated by Lu Yanhe.
Others, unaware of the situation, simply felt that Lu Yanhe was being favored and treated with special affection.
This favor and special treatment will bring Lu Yanhe even more benefits.
“It’s just that ‘The Wind Rises’ hasn’t been scheduled for release yet, otherwise, you might have been nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor again.” Darren Wilson said this to Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe: "Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
Darren Wilson said, "It's not impossible, it's not hopeless. The momentum that Get Out is showing during awards season once again demonstrates your prestige among Academy members. They will pay attention to any film that is yours, let alone one that won Best Actor at Venice."
(End of this chapter)
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