The Best Director

Chapter 417: Chapter 417 Support!

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“That’s the magic of Yang!”

Wang Yang’s deliberate screen-grabbing behavior had fans excitedly cheering and jumping for joy. Will Smith, Heath Ledger, Rachel McAdams… compared to them, Yang’s detractors were simply clowns! The match hadn’t even begun, and they had already been toyed with by the marvelous Yang, giving them every reason to shiver in fear. Of course, the “clown” should have been Ledger, as moviegoers had witnessed this daddy’s crazy side in ‘Firefly,’ and they believed his performance in ‘The Dark Knight’ must be absolutely brilliant! This anticipation had moviegoers on the edge of their seats.

Riding high on his touching performance in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness,’ Will Smith became the second African American Best Actor in Oscar history. However, following this achievement, he saw little success. ‘Men in Black 2,’ ‘Bad Boys II,’ ‘I, Robot,’ ‘Shark Tale,’ and others were all box office hits but flopped with critics, with Rotten Tomatoes freshness ratings of 39%, 23%, 36%, and 58% respectively. Only earlier this year did ‘The Whole World’s Enemy’ break his bad movie streak with a freshness rating of 69%.

This time he was set to star in Yang’s ‘I Am Legend,’ and no one was happier than Smith’s fans – a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars wouldn’t be too much, right?! Yang’s fans were equally thrilled. Long before Smith became good friends with Robert Downey Jr., he was already a great partner of Yang’s.

It’s well known that Rachel McAdams and Wang Yang are close, just how close is something only the two of them know. Together, they built their reputations from the ground up. As the phenomenal Yang conquered the globe, Rachel received numerous film offers, the majority of which she turned down. The ones she didn’t, like ‘Fantastic Four,’ flopped miserably, yet she could still shine in the few successful films. Now as Rachel transformed from Invisible Woman to Pepper Potts, her fans were naturally ecstatic as long as Yang was involved, but could ‘Iron Man’ really succeed?

Regardless, Rachel, Ledger, and others firmly placed themselves in Wang Yang’s camp. Their statements were strong and definitive. If ‘I Am Legend,’ ‘Iron Man,’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ were to fail, those comments would no doubt be dug up and mocked. Could such an event occur?

“They’ll definitely regret their words today, saying, ‘I made a mistake’ then,” the Yang critics said with defiance in their voices. Yet, no one dared to step forward to challenge, leaving a mark on their blogs for posterity? Who knows if Wang Yang would continue to be marvelous? By then, it would be too late to delete the evidence. This match was destined to follow the rhythm set by Yang’s fans, and now it was their time to celebrate! Bounce said, “Did you see the energy of the marvelous Yang? Did you see his determination? That’s what he’s showing.” Jackpot said, “Haters beware, keep your identities hidden, or he will kick your ass.” Hunter said, “In fact, I’ve already publicly supported Yang among my friends; how smart I must be!”…

More and more people openly supported Wang Yang in their social circles, clearly stating their stance! Die-hard fans like Evelyn and Clair had done so early on, and some of Yang’s friends in the industry like Zachary Levi and Michael Pitt also joined the ranks with clear positions. Yang’s fans could enjoy their Thanksgiving even more cheerfully and freely.

From November 18 to 24, the North American box office champion was unsurprisingly clinched by ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,’ with an average of $37,917 across 3,858 theaters. This movie, with a production budget of $150 million, $50 million in print and advertising costs, raked in $146 million in its opening week, with a freshness rating of 87% and an audience approval of 74%. It signified the year’s first blockbuster explosion. The biographical music film ‘Walk the Line,’ on a modest budget of $28 million, also had a respectable opening week with $34.79 million, an impressive Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating of 82%, and performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon highly praised, placing them as strong contenders for next year’s Oscars.

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In a joyous atmosphere, this year’s Thanksgiving arrived, and Jessica’s worries of many days did not come true. Her belly was still big and round with the baby’s due date being ordinary, and she finally exhaled in relief. Early in the morning before getting out of bed, Wang Yang heard her praising the baby with endless admiration, “You really are Mommy’s good girl! So good! You’re too adorable. You know Mommy doesn’t want you to be born today, and you think the same, right? My angel, you’re so good…”

Wang Yang dare not say much, fearing being scolded and spoiling the day’s mood. In truth, he really thought it would be nice for the baby to be born on Thanksgiving, so they could celebrate the baby’s birthday and their love anniversary together. He could even tell the baby, “After Mommy and Daddy shared a kiss, an angel sent you to us, LOVE+KISS=BABY.” How interesting. He then heard Jessica, still by his side, continuing to speak softly, “Baby, then stay a few more days, okay? Just a few more days! Don’t rush to see the world—be born on December 12th! December 12th! Have we decided? Agreed! Mommy loves you.”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Sweetheart, looks like the baby will be named Twelve, huh?” Wang Yang asked as he opened his eyes. He had prepared many names for the baby, depending on which day she was born. For instance, the list for December 12th included Twelve. Jessica rolled her eyes at him, “That name is reserved for our twelfth baby.” Wang Yang looked surprised, “That many, OK… How about Ocean for the oldest?” Knowing he was referencing “Ocean’s Twelve,” Jessica couldn’t help but laugh, “No good, the baby kicked me! She’s protesting.”

The couple laughed and chatted in bed for a while. With Wang Yang’s help, Jessica slowly rose, only to see a greeting card with a red heart on it, placed on the nightstand. It wasn’t for Thanksgiving; it was for their love anniversary! Wang Yang let out an “ah-oh,” and Jessica, surprised and delighted, reached for it, “Wow! Baby, when did you put it there? I didn’t see it last night.” Wang Yang, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, laughed, “I have no idea. By that time, you were sleeping like a log… like Snow White.” Jessica rolled her beautiful eyes at him, then gave him a peck on the cheek.

“I love it…” Opening the card, Jessica read the handwritten sweet nothings, and once again, her heart swelled with love. That’s why she didn’t want the baby to be born on this day—it was a holiday for the family, as well as for the two of them. If it were also the baby’s day, Yang would definitely focus most on the baby, and she would too… In fact, she feared the baby being overlooked and also that their love anniversary would vanish, but the baby was really behaving. Thinking all this and seeing “I will always love you” in the card, Jessica couldn’t help but lean in for a kiss, to which Wang Yang passionately responded.

This year, as the chef, Wang Yang took charge of the Thanksgiving feast, fully displaying his culinary talents. Whether at the dinner table or during the post-meal chat, laughter was ceaseless, and the baby was the center of everyone’s attention. The grandparents-to-be, as well as the aunts and uncles in waiting, all eagerly anticipated the little angel’s arrival.

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” continued to lead the North American box office with $63.1 million from November 25th to December 1st; this week’s five new movies “Yours, Mine & Ours” (Paramount), “Rent” (Sony/Columbia), “Ex-Girlfriend” (New Line), “Derailed” (Lionsgate), and “Deadly Christmas Night” (Focus) met different fates, overall described as “all botched.” Their Rotten Tomatoes freshness scores were, respectively, 6%, 46%, 42%, 14%, 46%, without any standout performance at the box office, with average per-theater earnings ranging from $3,000 to $6,000. All five distributors took a financial hit.

By its fifth week, “Saw III” remained in just 1521 theaters, following last week’s $7.68 million (-46.8%) take, this week it grossed another $4.19 million (-45.4%), bringing the North American total to $106.6 million; together with the already earned $32.3 million overseas, the worldwide box office currently stands at $138.9 million.

As December approached and the year neared its end, the film industry’s atmosphere seemed to shift overnight. Blockbusters vying for the Christmas slot and arthouse films contending for award season flooded in; not to mention the onslaught of awards—the National Society of Film Critics Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards… The movie companies pulled out all the stops for box office success and award nominations, undoubtedly a time for promotion! Promotion! The buzz in media and among fans, the impressions of jurors, and the influence of the films…

This year, Firefly Films played its hand with three major films: “Firefly,” “Brokeback Mountain,” and “500 Days of Summer.”

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No need to mention just how popular “Firefly” is, if it doesn’t get the Golden Globe nominations it deserves, Wang Yang’s fans and sci-fi cowboy fans would definitely storm the headquarters of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and tear everyone to shreds. Despite this, Flame’s promotion and campaigning for “Firefly” won’t be the least bit sloppy. With a production budget of $200 million, advertising expenses of $100 million, nearly $1.8 billion in global box office, and 15 million DVD sets sold, Flame wouldn’t mind spending another twenty or thirty million dollars on the award season.

The peak periods for cinema releases and DVD sales have all passed, and this investment is unlikely to generate returns. However, influenced by Wang Yang, the executives at Flame don’t care. They only know that “Firefly” and its team need these awards and honors! Flame will not allow it to be ignored. “Brokeback Mountain” was the same, holding a shiny Golden Lion as it made its triumphant return to North America, capturing glory amid controversy; “500 Days of Summer” might seem like it’s just playing around, but that’s absolutely not the case. Flame is well aware of its unique charm, and this love story is bound to make a huge impact on the Golden Globes’ Musical/Comedy category!

All three films are enjoying grand treatment. Flame’s public relations department has sent beautifully crafted DVDs of the films to the judges of the “big three Oscar indicators,” complete with commentaries from the creators. Additionally, they’ve organized campaigning events such as press conferences, movie release cocktail parties, and screening sessions for judges, all to create an overwhelming promotional blitz. Flame is the craziest company during the award season. In the past, even when the wallet was not bulging, they spared no expense and were never outdone. Now, with deeper pockets, they are even less polite. Smash it! This indeed makes people like the Weinstein brothers take deep breaths again and again. This black hole, this madman…

Once upon a time, Miramax was at the behest of the Weinstein brothers (in October, the Weinstein brothers left Miramax to establish The Weinstein Company, with a mass exodus of top executives from Miramax), they changed the operational rules of the award season, showing that it was possible to spend so much money on campaigning and actually earn it back; today, Wang Yang and Flame Films have once again changed the rules, showing that it is possible to spend money to the point of operating at a loss, and even if successful, it would take a very long time to break even, and that’s alright. Of course, the unchangeable rule is that even the worst films, no matter how much money is thrown at them, are hard to make a success.

The three films officially set out on their journey. After three years, Wang Yang once again leads the creators and crew to participate in the award season, cooperating with campaign activities. And now, driving on the road, one can occasionally see outdoor advertisements for “Firefly,” with huge posters emblazoned with the names of the awards it’s aiming for: Golden Globe Best Picture Drama, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song.

“Support the amazing Yang! ‘Firefly’ is definitely going to get 6 nominations! Sweep this year’s award season!” Wang Yang’s fans’ support can already be found spreading online, visible in various award forums and on sites like Yahoo Entertainment’s polls, “Firefly” has the highest call. Take a look at what the first two films in film history with global box offices over $1 billion, “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings 3,” have achieved? Next up is “Firefly’s” SHOW-TIME!

The latest hot topic among Wang Yang fans and moviegoers is, of course, how many Golden Globe nominations will “Firefly” get? How many nominations will the amazing Yang get? And how many nominations will Flame Films receive?

This year’s 77th National Review Association Award will be announced on the morning of December 12th, and the 63rd Golden Globe nominations will be released in the early hours of December 13th, followed by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards…

Being able to send out encrypted DVDs of the film, the post-production of “500 Days of Summer” was completed at the end of November. Although this 120-minute film has not been sent for MPAA rating review yet, it’s not likely to change. The film’s promotion has also entered the final sprint before its release, with 30-second TV trailers playing non-stop, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Natalie Portman recording talk shows, and posters printed with “Directed by Wang Yang” plastered everywhere…

As Wang Yang was about to become a father, “500 Days of Summer” turned him into a figure resembling a playboy, with gossip tabloids digging eagerly into his love life and magazines listing odd rankings such as Variety’s “Top 10 Beautiful Women Admirers of the Amazing Yang”.

Included, of course, was the number one admirer, Natalie Portman, with an admiration index of 10/10: “The rumors about Natalie Portman and the Amazing Yang are like a bottle of red wine, growing richer with time.” The magazine spoke of Wang Yang’s deep infatuation from his youth, the up-and-coming genius pairing, the intimate on-set photos, the well-known profound friendship, and then to Portman’s confession on the Oscar stage last year, “I like you so much, guy”, followed by her role in “500 Days of Summer”, which has shades of Wang Yang’s love life… Who says their rumors aren’t like red wine?

However, this ranking is about admiration rather than gossip. After all, the Amazing Yang is a married family man, so Variety listed some of Portman’s “admiring moments”—numerous occasions of praise and behavior. Rachel McAdams is also listed second, admiration index 10/10, and her latest admiring moment was: “I think it’s not just me who thinks this, you could give yourself to him.” The magazine mentioned that McAdams has acted in three of Wang Yang’s directed films, and their close friendship predates everyone else’s, once even rumored to be a fling. The biographical drama “Best Director” will also feature their story.

Third place, Annie Darren, admiration index 9/10; fourth place, Anne Hathaway, admiration index 9/10; fifth place, Scarlett Johansson, admiration index 8/10; sixth place, Charlize Theron, admiration index 8/10; seventh place, Megan Fox, admiration index 7.5/10…

Variety listed the classic admiring moments of these women—Darren said, “Without the encouragement of the Amazing Yang, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Johansson said, “Sometimes I even get jealous of Jessica”, and Theron also thanked Wang Yang on the Oscar stage… The article, adorned with pictures, concluded, “Seeing Yang’s admirers, the pressure on Jessica Alba is self-evident, but clearly, she has the wisdom to make the Amazing Yang home-loving, and they are about to welcome their first child.”

No matter what, the final sentence of the feature is indisputable. The outside world is unclear about the exact due date for Jessica, but the impending arrival of number 5 has Wang Yang and her on edge, the baby could be born at any moment! Seeing no signs from her, Wang Yang manages to attend some promotional work absent-mindedly, spending the rest of his time by his wife’s side, his phone often ringing with callers including Natalie asking “Has Jess given birth yet?” She said, “When the baby is born, remember to let me know!” Wang Yang naturally responded, “How could I not let you know? You’ll be in the loop!” Rachel also inquired, among other things, about the baby’s name.

The week of December 2-8 quietly passed, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” retained the North American box office crown for a third week with $24.41 million, while Charlize Theron’s sci-fi new film “Warrior Woman” backed by a $62 million budget failed, with a rotten tomatoes triple score of 10%/11% and 47%, and a pitiful $15.65 million opening week box office (an average of $6,003 per theater), the “Oscar Best Actress Curse” in effect, Theron faced a “Catwoman”-style debacle like that of Halle Berry.

The highly-anticipated family fantasy film “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” with a whopping $180 million budget premiered on the 9th, and Jessica, several days past her due date, still hadn’t given birth, which delighted her, as she grew closer to her “ideal baby birth date” of December 12th.

“Ah—,” there was a sudden exclamation of surprise in the spacious and elegant living room, thud thud thud thud! Wang Yang hurriedly rushed over from the kitchen side, wearing a floral apron, still holding a spatula in his hand, “What’s up?! What’s going on!? Are you going into labor?” Jessica, sitting on the sofa, looked at him with an innocent expression and shook her head, “No, I just remembered… I forgot to weigh myself today.” (