The Best Director

Chapter 311: Chapter 311: Some Rejoice, Some Lament

Since 1980, there haven’t been many racing movies released in North American cinemas. Including “Furious Cars,” there have been only 18. The lowest-grossing one was the ’89 version of “Catch Me If You Can,” which earned a mere $3,686 after screening in only four theaters for one week. The frontrunner is “The Fast and the Furious,” which debuted in the summer of ’01, with $144 million in North America and $207 million worldwide. The second place goes to 2003’s “2 Fast 2 Furious,” with $127 million in North America and $236 million worldwide.

In recent years, other racing movies have failed in North America. The German film “Speed Storm,” brought in by The Union Films in ’03, earned only $56,000 after a week-long screening in 86 theaters; and in 2001, “Driven,” starring Sylvester Stallone and released two months before “The Fast and the Furious,” only made a dismal $32.72 million in North America and $54.74 million worldwide. This was a heavy blow for Franchise Pictures and several other independent companies that had invested a production budget of $94 million.

In other words, “The Fast and the Furious” is currently the only successful franchise, so how will they kick off the third installment in the face of the second one’s hefty $76 million budget? Universal Pictures is still considering it. However, now they don’t have time to think it over as Firefly Films has aggressively attacked the market position of “The Fast and the Furious” franchise and seems to have succeeded, taking the top spot in weekly box office revenue on its opening week! And it even knocked “Harry Potter 3” to the ground in the following week.

The dazzling jewel-studded crown belongs to “Furious Cars,” which reaped $60.41 million across 3,025 theaters, only slightly less than the $64.9 million opening of “2 Fast 2 Furious” and surpassing the $57.81 million of “The Fast and the Furious.” It also triumphed over both in terms of critical reception. Yahoo Entertainment ranked it saying, “With ‘Furious Cars,’ all other movies’ racing scenes look like mere child’s play. With Wang Yang’s magical assistance, Justin Lin pushed his commercial directorial debut to the max—simply explosive! It is surely one of the strongest contenders for the top three box office spots for the coming weeks.”

Another Chinese champion director is born, 33-year-old Lin Yibin! His formal education, solid, robust foundational skills, crazy action sequence designs, directorial spiritual energy, and most importantly, his outstanding commercial ability have allowed him to shatter Hollywood’s bamboo ceiling with this victory. Although he can’t associate with the “idol” or “star” images due to factors like his age, appearance, and personality, he has already entered the ranks of directors under 40, sought after by a host of film companies and producers for their new projects.

How far can he go? Naturally, it depends on the subsequent performance of “Furious Cars.” Not only director Lin Yibin’s title has dramatically changed but also screenwriter Chris Morgan, the “useless” Dwayne Johnson, “box office poison” Eliza Dushku, and newcomers Chris Evans and Erin Green.

Some are jubilant, others woeful—it’s not the second place “Harry Potter 3” with $49.83 million, nor the third place “Shrek 2” with $34.66 million. Maybe it’s the fourth place “Interstellar Legends 2” with only $33.08 million or the sixth place “Clone Wife” with $30.25 million, not even the fifth place “Garfield” with $31.01 million.

Amidst the beautiful, sunny weather, on the rooftop balcony of a Malibu beach villa, the latest North American box office rankings for June 11 to 17 revealed on a laptop screen. In 54th place, “New York Minute” took in just $66,000 in 58 theaters, totaling a cumulative gross of $8.54 million, a failure among failures. Compared to the Olsen twins’ accomplishments in TV, music albums, and children’s books, this seemed even more humiliating.

Ashley Olsen once again complained in frustration, “I told you there was a problem with the script, a problem with the director, and this is what you called OK! Week six, a weekly box office of $66,000.”

“Weren’t you not going to look anymore?” Mary-Kate Olsen, who was sunbathing beside her, looked surprised as she turned to her sister born only two minutes before her and innocently sipped her chilled juice, “Why didn’t I hear you argue about it then?” Ashley Olsen continued to grumble, “What a foolish mistake by those evil Asians!” Mary-Kate Olsen, however, dismissed it with a twist of her mouth, “The problem isn’t there. We underestimated movie-making… Sigh, why didn’t you have Wang Yang write the script for us, or direct at that time?”

According to post-screening data from Warner Brothers, a horrifying 83% of “New York Minute”‘s audience consisted of girls under the age of 11. What does that mean? It means that markets such as teenagers, adults, middle-aged, and seniors simply disregard the Olsen sisters, or even don’t recognize them. On one hand, they are big stars, but on the other hand, they have no “box office draw,” just a handful of child fans without much spending power for movies.

No producer or distributor will hail them as popular stars any longer, they are stars but not movie stars, and there are no twin lead roles specially tailored for them, unless they invest themselves. But can Dualstar Entertainment withstand another “New York Minute”?

Listening to her sister’s continuous sarcasm and thinking of this made Ashley Olsen not in the mood to retort. Didn’t Dualstar Entertainment want it? But the biggest name they could attract was about Danny Gordon. The amazing Wang Yang? No hope before, even less now. She sighed, “I’m tired of acting, I’m not playing anymore, it’s not fun.” The fact that 83% of their audience are girls under 11 also made her realize, Dualstar’s future is not in movies, but in children’s business.

Mary Kate Olsen didn’t care much and smacked her lips, “Then let’s not play anymore.” She casually asked, “Who won the title?” Ashley glanced at the screen, “Who else but Wang Yang.”

“Oh, an Asian.” Mary Kate Olsen cursed softly, damn it! That idiot Wang Yang again, what’s he even worth, making all that noise…If it weren’t for him, would “New York Minute” have been such a disaster? Would Dualstar have been forced to apologize? Remembering that she had felt a bit of goodwill towards him before, Mary Kate felt nauseated, then something else came to mind, and she suddenly perked up, “Isn’t there a new 21 Blackjack movie, how did it do?”

“Lucky Card Player” grossed $10.24 million across 3,051 cinemas, landing it in 8th place, the lowest of the five new releases. Notably, it had a strong first-day opening of $5.61 million, with a total of $4.62 million over the following six days. Yahoo Entertainment’s review read, “Faced with its embarrassingly bad reviews, who would still pay to torture themselves? If we are to compare it to ’21’, that would truly be an act of hubris.”

“Oh, what a waste of space…” Hearing the results read out flatly by Ashley Olsen, Mary Kate Olsen immediately cursed in disappointment, failing to cause even the slightest trouble or threat! Who could take care of that idiot? As she spoke, she thought, “The good news is, we can mock Drew Barrymore, that annoying ghoul, that bitch.” Who could clean up? That new movie this week wasn’t directed by him, right? He’s already in a fix. Mary Kate laughed, “That what… ‘Firefly’, it’s doomed! A Chinaman’s chance.”

The term A Chinaman’s Chance is a racially offensive phrase meaning “no chance at all.” However, Ashley Olsen didn’t care. She knew that ever since Wang Yang had made fun of them, Mary Kate had felt very resentful and hateful. “Firefly” is a Chinaman’s chance? Maybe. Ashley replied, “You better not make a habit of talking like this, we still need to maintain our image, don’t ruin our fashion brand.” Mary Kate pointed to her own cheek and gave a slight smile, “This is a Chinaxican smile, ugh…”

Chinaxican means a person of Chinese and Mexican descent, an unfriendly slang term, naturally mocking the marriage between Wang Yang and Jessica Alba. Ashley Olsen shook her head with a smile, “It’s precisely because of these childish antics of yours.” Mary Kate retorted scornfully, “Don’t talk as if you’re not part of it.”

“Ah ah—” The living room was filled with angry shouting, Drew Barrymore’s crazed yelling gradually ceased as she gasped for air and cursed, “They tricked me! Motherfucker! A crappy movie! All of them bastards!” As the outside world had speculated, she was indeed very disappointed and furious, how could this happen! It was all that damn 21 Blackjack movie, a film that was praised left and right, with Natalie Portman almost getting an Oscar nomination for Best Actress; now she was being ridiculed by the whole world again!

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Fuck! This is infuriating! Drew Barrymore stood with her hands on her hips, grinding her teeth for a moment, before suddenly rushing to grab the telephone handset and punching in her agent’s number, then she started to rant loudly, “I want to star in ‘Firefly’! You go and ask! NO!? No chance?! Oh my God! Why did I even hire you as my agent? Calm down!? You gave me a pile of shit! A pile of shit!! Even better and more trendy than ‘MIT-21-TEAM’… Oh yes, Motherfucker! I don’t care about all that, I——want——to——act——in Wang Yang’s movie!!”

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‘Troy’ had just broken the hundred-million mark in North American box office after five weeks of release, ranking tenth this week in 2,003 theaters with 3.06 million. The most infuriating thing was the “Gym Cinema Awards” shattering Oscar dreams… after nine months of filming! It was a harsh blow. Brad Pitt was very irritable these days, especially this morning after hearing the news of the box office breaking a billion. When he found out that ‘Furious Cars’ had taken the crown and Jennifer Aniston commented with a laugh, “Isn’t that produced by Wang Yang? That young man is incredible.” Brad Pitt flew into a rage.

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“Of course!!! Wang Yang is the best!” Brad Pitt couldn’t contain his anger any longer and shouted as he overturned the sofa, “Damn it, even now you’re mocking me!” Perhaps he regretted it, but now was not the time to bring up ‘Firefly’ or Wang Yang in front of him. Just hearing it made him especially frustrated and angry. Inferno Films also had the adaptation rights for ‘Infernal Affairs’ in their grasp. Why did every single thing and everyone seem to be against him!

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Watching her husband throwing a tantrum in the living room, breathing heavily with anger, Jennifer Aniston was stunned. What happened? Beyond feeling wronged and angry, she became a little furious herself: “What’s gotten into you? Did I hurt your pride? Are you competing with a 24-year-old kid?”

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“Think what you want… disgusting!” Brad Pitt muttered gloomily as he walked towards the bathroom. It wasn’t about pride. Did Brad Pitt need to be jealous of anyone? He was just very annoyed, and he’d had enough of this depressing and tiresome life where nothing went his way. Thankfully, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ would start filming in August, so he wouldn’t have to face that person all day long. 20th Century Fox had scheduled ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ for release in June 2005, facing off against ‘Batman’ and ‘Firefly’. With a loud thud, he shut the bathroom door, Brad Pitt sighed, ‘Firefly’…

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In Alberta, Canada, under the clear, deep blue sky, the vast southern plains teemed with life. Grass swayed in the breeze, bison roamed, and cowboys raced their horses. However, the ‘Firefly’ crew had finished filming on the plains and had now moved to the Kananaskis Valley. This place was not just home to Brokeback Mountain but would also feature “Serenity Valley.” It was a tranquil green valley with sporadic forests covering the slopes, and a large blue river flowing at the foot of the right-hand slope.

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Even though this was Serenity Valley, where Captain Mal and his crew faced their final battle, “The Battle of Serenity Valley,” this valley wouldn’t be shown 100% real on the big screen. These scenes all needed post-production CGI work, stitched together with various other terrains such as plains, mountains and rivers, based on need. Some were even processed entirely against a green screen, creating Wang Yang’s ideal “Serenity Valley” effect.

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He needed this hill and valley—especially the shots of gazing into the sky from the mountaintop—but this place couldn’t give him the supernatural effects of plains surrounded by mountains and forests, and rivers winding through them—a blend of the Western and the Eastern.

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Currently, the crew was busy with today’s shooting schedule. “The Battle of Serenity Valley” was one of the scenes in ‘Firefly’ shot on IMAX film, so recently, the crew welcomed a massive arrival, one of only three in the world: the “MSM-9802” model IMAX camera. Unlike the lighter and more common MKII-LW camera, the MSM-9802, which was much more expensive and insured for a total of half a million US dollars, could load a thousand feet of IMAX film, double the capacity of the MKII-LW, allowing for three minutes of 24 frames/sec footage to be shot at once.

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Let’s not even talk about how the cost of shooting on 65mm IMAX film is four times that of standard 35mm film; if there were any NG (No Good) takes, it meant burning money and changing the film reels. And while the MKII-LW camera weighed 46 pounds (20.8 kilograms), the MSM-9802 weighed 132 pounds (60 kilograms)—and that’s just the camera itself. Add the similarly heavy film magazine, and expect Ray Fiest to carry it around on his shoulder? Don’t make me laugh.

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Now, even moving the camera was tremendously difficult. During the past couple of days, when shooting some downward-angled shots, they barely managed to control the behemoth— it almost crashed.

Why didn’t they use the MKII-LW camera that could shoot for 1.5 minutes at a time? Because in reality, the MSM-9802’s three-minute film magazines couldn’t be completely filled each time, they needed to leave some extra for post-production processing. Thus, essentially, they were changing the film mag every minute. Wang Yang and Valery Pfister felt like they were reliving their childhoods, reminiscing those days playing with Super8, the speed of changing its film reels was no slower than this.

“Be careful! Be careful!”

On the vast hillside, Valery Pfister directed the camera crew to haul the MSM-9802 camera uphill. The camera truck carrying it ascended gradually, never daring to rush or be sloppy, fearing a roll-back or even a turnover. If this equipment were alive, the entire crew would be serving this little princess. Meanwhile, Wang Yang stood on a hilltop with a viewfinder, intent that every time they used IMAX film, it had to be perfect, it had to satisfy—because to shoot just one minute of footage, another week of post-production was needed before it was considered complete.

There were no blue gloves for this scene, and the only Serenity crew member present was “Zoe,” played by Gina Torres. However, the main cast turned out in full force today. Robert Downey Jr. looked at the script with a beaming smile in the actors’ rest area, his mood exceptionally bright. Jessica, who followed the set every day whether she had scenes or not, sat by the river in the valley since she wasn’t scheduled to act today. She didn’t look at the script but listened to the continuous flowing water and eagerly sketched a baby’s room in the sketchbook in her hands, the ethereal surroundings providing her with endless inspiration.

“Hmm…” Jessica shook her pencil. Maybe it would be better to paint a pattern of blue sky and white clouds on the wall by the door?

“Sweetheart, do I look handsome?” After finishing the camera crew’s preparatory work, Wang Yang strolled around the set in the costume of a rugged, independent soldier styled in cowboy fashion, refined by the makeup team, then came over to show off. The character he was to play was Captain Mal’s former comrade “Tornado,” also known as Dodo. Tornado later responded to Captain Mal’s call to rally the old comrades and joined the assault on the Alliance satellite to broadcast the “Reavers’ planet” truth signal.

Today’s filming would mark the end of the Battle of Serenity Valley, with the independents’ defeat and surrender. Of course, he had a scene in it, which was also the reason “Heath” Ledger, Michael Pitt, Ellen Page, and other leads all gathered on set—to see how the director would botch his own takes with IMAX film, no less.

“Handsome!” Jessica looked up, her heart skipping a beat as she bit the end of her pencil, “Wow…” Wang Yang tugged at his collar and puffed out his chest, feeling pretty good about himself, and laughed, “Every boy has a dream of being a soldier, eh?” Jessica’s eyes widened, “Me too! I dreamt of being in the air force when I was a kid.”

“Really? Then you’d definitely be the most beautiful pilot.” Wang Yang pulled over a chair and sat down, casually glancing around. Seeing no one paying attention, he took a deep breath, “I’m so nervous! I’m really afraid of messing up, what should I do…?” (