In Los Angeles in June, the weather was as hot as a stove, and on a hot summer day, several staff members took their luggage from two RVs and pushed them one by one to the luggage compartment of the plane under the command of the captain of the business jet.

It hadn't rained in Los Angeles for more than two months, and when Duke got out of the car, he felt that the air he had inhaled in his lungs seemed to be burning, so he lowered the brim of his hat, took off the sunglasses hanging in his pocket, and put them in front of his eyes.

The RV door has been pushed open again, Tina? Fei walked over with her phone.

"I've already contacted the people over there." She habitually stood slightly behind Duke, "The organizing committee and the Warner branch will go to pick up the plane." ”

Duke nodded, and took the lead in getting on his business jet, in fact, it was only him and Tina who actually went there? That's it.

Liam, for example? Nissen and other members of the crew will still stay in North America to make announcements and do publicity, after all, it is not the future, the capacity of the opposite market is not large enough for him to pull the entire crew over, North America is still the most important foundation, and it is also the largest box office market.

In fact, Duke doesn't care if anyone picks him up, but the opposite side is a veritable state of etiquette, and he attaches great importance to the etiquette of ushering in.

The plane quickly climbed into the sky, and when it entered a stable state of flight, there were flight attendants for Duke and Tina? Fei brought two cold drinks.

Tina? Fei took a sip of the juice and said to Duke, who was sitting across from him, "I think we should bring a translator, although I can speak some Japanese." But not Chinese. ”

"Formal occasions they will provide translations." Duke didn't care much, "Privately, I'm the best translator." ”

"Do you know Chinese?" Tina? Fei asked curiously.

She had never seen Duke speak Chinese. I haven't seen him study Chinese either.

"I studied for a while when I was in school."

This is not a lie, Duke once took Chinese, it is not easy to graduate from college, you must take enough credits, since he has an advantage, of course he will take Chinese courses, which can also find a reason to be able to listen to Chinese in the future.

But any language has been left behind for too long. can become rusty, and Duke is no exception, without enough practice. His level is indeed higher than that of most foreigners, but he can't do it if he wants to be as smooth as he once was.

And after graduating from university, he never used Chinese to communicate with people again.

It's been a long journey. Sleep is the best way to pass the time. But after the plane landed and took off in Hawaii, Duke couldn't sleep anymore, opened his eyes and looked at Tina, who was sitting opposite with her eyes closed? Fei got up and took the notebook, and simply flipped through the recent email.

How many are from Charles? Rowan, after the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy ended, he, as a producer, has been much more relaxed, and in recent years, he has been in a state of half-work and half-rest. Thanks to Robin? Grande is going to be in charge of the Harry Potter series for a long time, Charles? Rowan will continue to work on Duke's new projects.

The new project has long been approved by Warner Bros. Although the project has not yet been established, Charles? Rowan had already begun to make contact with some people at Duke's behest.

The production team will use Duke's many years of working with people, and the contact is mainly from the actors, especially the starring blues? Wayne's candidate.

Duke's preference is still Christian? Bell, Charles? Rowan is also talking to the other party's agent, but as in the past, Duke will not hang himself from any tree, Ben? Affleck, Ivan? McGregor, Michael? Fassbinder and Gerrard? Butler is also a potential candidate.

Even, Duke returned to Leonardo? DiCaprio called, and if Xiao Li was willing to act, he would immediately throw away the other actors.

It's a pity that, as Xiao Li said to him before, after "Titanic", he did not have much pursuit in business.

At present, all contacts are in the most rudimentary stage, in addition to the fame, ability and temperament of the actors themselves, price is also the focus of Duke's consideration.

If Christian? Bell refused the invitation, and Duke would not be reluctant, this is Hollywood, who will play Lord Wayne, the difference is really not very big.

After returning to North America after completing this event, Duke is ready to determine the actor first, for the simple reason that whoever plays Bruce? Wayne, who has to go through a long period of fitness and fighting training.

And an email from Marvel, Kevin, the president of Marvel Studios? Feige asked him for his opinion on when the first Marvel movie series should start.

After more than two years of preparation, Marvel has sorted out a relatively complete plan for the future, and in the case of the continued success of "Spider-Man" and "X-Men", the management is a little impatient, and they urgently ask Duke, Marvel's largest shareholder, to escort the first movie of the Marvel series.

Duke hasn't made up his mind yet, after all, the new Batman debut will distract most of his energy in the next year.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy has just been a huge success, and Duke can't afford to neglect the rest of the work.

After reading the email for a while, thinking about the movie plans of Marvel and DC, Duke didn't know when he fell asleep again, and when he woke up, he was already covered with a blanket on his body, sitting opposite Tina? Faye was drinking coffee to refresh herself.

"Coming soon?" Duke asked, taking off the blanket.

Tina? Fei put down the coffee cup, reached out to take the blanket, handed it to the flight attendant who came over, and said, "There is still half an hour." ”

Half an hour later, the business jet did fly to Shanghai Airport, but like most of the world's most heavily trafficked cities, the plane hovered in the air for more than 20 minutes before landing on the ground.

All the customs clearance procedures are handled by a special person, and when everything is busy, Duke and Tina? Fei dragged his luggage and walked out of the airport passage.

As soon as he walked out, Duke saw a conspicuous banner - warmly welcome to Duke, the Oscar-winning director? Mr. Rosenberg at the Shanghai Film Festival!

Under the banner was crowded with reporters, and several of them were the first to see him and Tina? After Fei, she hurriedly greeted her.

"Hi, Phil."

At the forefront was the head of Warner Bros. Greater China, Duke knew him and greeted him familiarly, "I haven't seen you for a long time." ”

"yes." Phil shook Duke's hand, "You're now the number one box office player in the world and the best director at the Oscar." ”

After that, he talked to Tina again? Faye shook her hand, "Hello, Tina. ”

There were a lot of reporters around, and the flashing lights were lit up fast enough, but these people were stopped by the security personnel, and Phil turned to Duke to introduce the two Chinese representatives, "Duke, this is Mr. Ma Liangyu, the vice chairman of the organizing committee of the film festival. This is Mr. Li Yuming, the secretary general of the organizing committee. ”

"Mr. Lee, Mr. Ma, this is Director Rosenberg, and this is Tina, the CEO of Duke Pictures? Miss Fei. ”

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

Duke spoke some sandwiched Chinese, and after the two heard it, they were slightly stunned, and then returned to normal, after all, they are not ordinary people, and their faces are as usual with Duke and Tina? Filipino shakes hands.

After a brief introduction, the group, escorted by many security personnel, got into three cars and left the airport and drove towards the city.

Duke stayed at the Peace Hotel on the Bund, and after arriving at the hotel, because of the jet lag, he just had a brief chat with the two of them, politely declined each other's dinner invitations, and prepared to sleep.

As he gets older, he shows no signs of declining physical strength and energy, but Duke still pays great attention to his maintenance.

This sleep intermittently slept until the next morning, and since there were still a few days left for the opening of the film festival, Duke was not in a hurry to go out, but let Tina? The Philippines is in constant communication with the festival organizers, as well as with China Film Group and Warner Greater China, in order to determine the itinerary for the next few days.

Now that he has come here, Duke doesn't plan to just show up and go back, although it is still far from the explosion of the market here, but he has to be familiar with fans and people who are interested in movies here.

It's not the 90s anymore, and directors have an increasing influence on film marketing, and even some directors can attract a large number of brain-dead fans, in this populous country, brain-dead fans alone can often stand up to a film's box office.

This time, Duke is not looking at the present, but on the future.

"The itinerary has been decided."

Duke is done, Tina? Fei had already arrived in his suite, holding a plan and said, "You have to attend the opening ceremony of the film festival first." ”

Not surprisingly, at a time when the war on terror is in full swing, Sino-US relations are in a relative honeymoon period, and if it weren't for the fact that there were no works to be screened at the festival, Duke believed that the organizing committee would have invited him to be a member of the jury.

"This was followed by a Sino-US Film Forum, as well as a formal dinner jointly organized by Shanghai City officials and China Film Group."

Tina? Seeing that Duke had no objections, Fei continued, "Finally, there is a TV interview and a lecture at the university. ”

The two sides have communicated before, Tina? Fei made a final confirmation, "The TV station has a talk show from the other party's national TV station and a program with a female host who studied in the United States to choose from, and three universities have sent you a formal invitation......

Duke didn't even think about it, and said, "Push down the official TV station." ”

This is not prejudice, it is just the need for political correctness, he is a mainstream director who can no longer be mainstream, and he will only accept an exclusive interview with the national TV here unless his head is in water.

"What about the university?" Tina? Fei said the names of the three schools.

"We're not going north anymore." Duke thought for a moment, "It's all right." ”

Almost all of the activities were scheduled on Shanghai's side, and Duke didn't want to fly north anymore. (To be continued......)