Chapter 404 Venice Film Festival
"woke up!"
Lin Qingxia and Wang Zuxian endured the discomfort and sat up straighter.
Maggie Cheung pushed open the door and came in, pushing a food cart with milk, sandwiches, steaks and fruit salad.
"Why did you bring breakfast?"
"Here's lunch! I know it's inconvenient for you to go down, so I brought the food to you. You can eat and continue to rest."
Maggie Cheung had an apron wrapped around her slender waist and smiled with her hands on her hips.
"How do you know? And how did you get up? I remember you played crazy yesterday too."
The two people on the bed began to drink milk and eat sandwiches.
"I've been through this before, and I've been through the same thing as you guys, but now I'm used to it, so naturally there's no problem with it."
Maggie Cheung laughed.
"Where's Link? Is he up?"
Joey Wong asked while eating.
"Of course, he gets up before seven every day and never sleeps in. But he's busy at work, so he leaves right after he gets up."
"Is he an iron man? Most people would probably die if they did that. How can he get up early in the morning to go to work?"
Lin Qingxia said in surprise.
"He is a superman! A true superman. You will recognize this more as you spend more time with him."
"Then we are really lucky to have met him."
Joey Wong laughed.
"Yes, Gong Li Huimin and I both think so. Okay, you guys take your time eating and then continue to rest. We'll talk again when you get up in the afternoon."
Maggie Cheung closed the door and left.
"So we had a date with Superman?"
Lin Qingxia and Wang Zuxian looked at each other, smiled gently, and saw the happiness and satisfaction on each other's faces.
——
After a confusing night, Link returned to work at the company feeling refreshed.
In its third week of release, "Rush Hour" earned $24.55 million in 2,807 theaters in North America, a 31% drop from the previous week, with a cumulative box office of $94.98 million.
This week's box office champion is the love movie "Tin Cup" starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo. It took in 25.71 million U.S. dollars in its first week, which is a pretty good result. It is Kevin Costner's comeback work after "Waterworld".
Although box office revenues for films such as "Batman Forever," "Net," and "The Mask of Zorro" declined, they are still among the top ten.
There is also good news this week. The box office of "Batman Forever" directed by him has officially exceeded 300 million US dollars, making it the first movie in North America this year to have a box office of over 300 million.
Warner Bros. Pictures held a big party to celebrate the fact that "Batman Forever" had grossed over $300 million in North America and over $800 million worldwide.
At the party Mig Goss and Richard Fox approached him to discuss the sequel.
The conditions are the same as for Batman Forever.
If the North American box office exceeds 100 million, he will be given 5% of the North American box office dividends; if the North American box office exceeds 200 million, he will get 10% of the North American box office dividends and 5% of the overseas box office dividends; if the North American box office exceeds 300 million US dollars, he will get 10% of the global box office dividends; if the North American box office exceeds 400 million, he will get 15% of the global box office dividends.
Link didn't agree.
When he and Richard Fox were discussing his salary in Hawaii, his best-selling film was "Se7en," which grossed $850 million worldwide.
His highest-grossing movies now are "The Sixth Sense", with a global box office of over 1 billion, and "Batman Forever", with a global box office of over 800 million.
His box office appeal is increasing, and so is his commercial value.
The original profit-sharing method naturally does not work.
His request is that no matter how much the sequel does at the box office, his salary will remain unchanged, which is a basic salary of US$10 million + 20% of the global box office.
Mig Goss and Richard Fox did not agree and said they would hold a meeting to discuss the matter.
Link was in no hurry and continued to enjoy the party.
——
At the end of August, the 53rd Venice International Film Festival arrives.
Link led the team to the water city of Venice to attend the film festival.
This year, there are three films from Guess Pictures participating in the exhibition, namely "The English Patient" directed by Link, "Smoke" directed by Wang Ying, and "Boogie Nights" directed by Thomas Anderson.
After being screened at the film festival, all three films received good reviews, especially "The English Patient", which received extremely high reviews in the European media.
Italy's La Stampa praised the film as the biggest surprise of this year's film festival and the best film since Link's debut, comparable to classics such as Roman Holiday.
The British newspaper The Guardian praised it as a great work of love, like a love story that took ten or twenty years to make.
France's Le Figaro praised The English Patient as an astonishing feat of literary adaptation and a pure cinematic triumph.
Fans also responded very positively to the film.
When "The English Patient" was screened for the second time at the film festival, the venue was packed and no one left early. At the end of the film, there was thunderous applause that lasted for more than five minutes before it died down.
"The English Patient is amazing! Juliet, I regret it now. I should have pestered Link to be in this movie."
Sophie Marceau exclaimed.
"You mean to steal the role from me?"
Juliette Binoche looked at her disapprovingly.
"Yes, your role doesn't look difficult to play either."
Sophie Marceau pursed her lips and smiled.
“You are wrong, because I act well, so you think it is not difficult to act. In fact, the filming process is very difficult. We traveled from Morocco to Tunisia, Egypt, Italy and France to shoot, covering thousands of kilometers.
Also, during filming, Link was very difficult to get along with. Everyone in the crew was criticized by Link, and I was severely scolded by him several times. He was really scary when filming on the crew, as if you would be beaten if you didn't perform well. The pressure was very high. If you have the time to work with him once, you will definitely remember it for a lifetime."
Juliette Binoche complained.
Sophie Marceau smiled slightly. Seeing Link coming over, she rushed over with a smile and said, "Dear, Juliet said that you bullied her on the set. Is that true?"
"It's true. I bully every actor in the crew fairly."
Link smiled while hugging Sophie.
"Too domineering! Aren't you worried that no one will be willing to cooperate with you in the future?"
Sophie Marceau looked up at him with a bright smile on her delicate face.
"Don't worry. I am strict with the actors to help them, so that they can get into the roles faster and better integrate into the plot. I believe everyone can understand my painstaking efforts."
"No way! We can perform well even if you don't criticize us. Your criticism will increase the pressure on the actors and sometimes have the opposite effect."
Juliette Binoche hums.
"Really? Why didn't you say anything during the filming?"
"You are so serious, who dares to refute your opinion?"
"Okay, I'll pay attention next time."
Link laughed.
At the film festival, he also met Julia Roberts, whose film "Michael Collins" was also participating in this year's film festival. After meeting him, Julia also praised "The English Patient" and expressed her desire to work with him.
There is also director Giuseppe Tornatore, one of the judges of this year's Venice Film Festival, who came to watch the movie.
Link talked to him about the filming of "The Legend of 1900". The film has been completed and the soundtrack is being recorded. Post-production will be completed around October.
At the film festival, James Shams took a fancy to the copyright of the French film "Little Lone Star" and bought it on behalf of the company for $500,000.
After a week of selection, 12 films out of the 138 participating films were shortlisted for the main competition unit.
Including "The English Patient", "Smoke", "Boogie Nights", as well as the French films "Little Lone Star" and "The Love Handbook for Men and Women", the German film "Apocalypse", the British film "Cara's Song", the Italian film "Pirates of the Caribbean: Chapter 7", etc.
On the afternoon of September 3, the Venice Film Festival Awards Ceremony was held at the Lido Island Film Palace. Link attended with Monica, Sophie Marceau, Yu Feihong and others.
In the end, "The English Patient" won the Golden Lion Award for Best Film, Link won the Silver Lion Award for Best Director, and "Michael Collins" starring Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson won the Best Actor Award.
Four-year-old actress Vidor Silvestro won the Best Actress Award for "Little Lone Star", becoming the youngest winner in the history of the Venice Film Festival.
"Boogie Nights" won the Special Jury Prize and the Best Screenplay Award.
"Smoke" won a small award, the 'Elvira Notari Award'.
(End of this chapter)
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