Beverly Hills, The Ritz-Carlton.

The 85th Oscar Nominees Luncheon is taking place.

Academy President Tom Sherak and host Natalie Portman stepped onto the podium, facing the big screen in the background, ready to announce this year's nominees.

Martin sat at a table in the middle of the front, smiling easily and without pressure.

David Fincher next to him had a tense face and his palms were full of sweat, and of course he wanted a perfect result for this last trip to the Oscars.

And the nomination is the ticket to the award.

In contrast, Graham and Louise, who are producers, are less stressed.

The two are representatives of the investor, and the reason why there is no pressure is because the film performed well enough at the box office.

"Escape from Tehran" is still being shown in North American theaters until the end of the Oscars, and the North American box office surpassed the $200 million mark as early as last month.

Today, the North American box office has accumulated $223 million, which is good enough for the production cost of $60 million.

However, the response of the film overseas is much worse, after all, this is a very politically correct American main theme movie.

"Escape from Tehran" has been released in some overseas markets such as Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

To this day, the overseas box office has not exceeded $100 million.

Including Martin, the crew wants to win something at the Oscars.

The Oscars still have a great influence overseas, and winning the heavyweight Oscar awards, the commercial income in the overseas market can skyrocket.

Immediately adjacent to Martin's table was the "Lincoln" crew headed by Spielberg.

Martin glanced at Daniel Day-Lewis, who was sitting next to Spielberg, the academy darling who had already won numerous awards for Best Performance at the Outpost Awards.

The Oscar winner is a certainty.

This artist's artistic achievements in performance are extremely high, but in daily life, it is not to mention.

As a representative of the Methodist School, it is said that during the filming of "Lincoln", Daniel Day-Lewis regarded himself as Lincoln throughout the whole process, and also signed a proclamation for the emancipation of blacks on the set......

Behind the "Lincoln" crew, where the "Life of Pi" crew was located, Ang Lee and Jill Nate were a little nervous.

Although he has done a lot of crisis public relations and continues to attack his main competitor "Escape from Tehran", except for the false reports accusing the opponent of the content at the beginning, he has been responding passively in the follow-up, and he can't raise his head by being beaten.

Both of them were running out of confidence.

Ang Lee looked at Martin and David Fincher in front of him and shook his head secretly.

Even though there is no evidence that Martin Davis is responsible for the bad things that happened to the performance of "Life of Pi", he believes that it was the other party.

Ang Lee had a feeling that this man was even more difficult to handle than Harvey Weinstein.

On the podium, Tom Sherak and Natalie Portman began to announce the nominees.

"Nominated for Best Sound Editing, "Skyfall", "Life of Pi", "Anna Karenina", "Django Unchained" ......"

"The nominees for Best Visual Effects are, Life of Pi, The Avengers, Snow White and the Hunter, The Hobbit, ......"

"The nominees for Best Art Direction were, "Life of Pi", "The Hobbit", "Lincoln" ......"

After being nominated for a number of technical awards, Life of Pi was subsequently nominated for Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Ang Lee and Jill Nett, who were originally nervous, unconsciously raised their heads and felt that their films were good again.

The two looked at each other and saw the same thing in each other's eyes: "The mailgate and the ensuing VFX spectacle report didn't seem to have as much impact as expected?" ”

Jill Nate put out fires everywhere during this time, and he also had a fire in his heart, but no one put it out for him.

He couldn't help but whisper to Ang Lee: "If we can get the Best Director and Best Film nominations as planned, after the luncheon, you will accompany me to talk to Martin Davis and David Fincher." ”

This is not in line with Ang Lee's usual style of hiding behind the scenes, he frowned slightly: "It's not good to do this, right?" ”

Jill Nate shook his head slightly, Ang Lee has always liked to hide.

The nature of doing things and purpose is deeply hidden.

Tom Sherak announced the nomination for Best Actor at this time, and Martin Davis was once again nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for "Escape from Tehran".

But both Ang Lee and Jill Nate are well aware that this bastard just won last year, and the role of Tony Mendes is not a breakthrough, and it is unlikely that he will win again.

Then, it came to the crucial nominations for Best Director and Best Film.

The first to be announced was the nomination for Best Director.

Li Ang looked up at the big screen and pricked up his ears.

"The nominees for Best Director are, David Fincher, Steven Spielberg, David Russell, Michael Haneke, Bey Zeitlin!"

Ang Lee didn't hear his name, and looked at the director's name displayed on the big screen and the title of the corresponding work, without his name, and there was no title of "Life of Pi".

The raised head hung down slightly, and Ang Lee sighed softly, the second time he hit the best director, and he failed like this?

Among the best film nominations announced next, there was also no "Life of Pi"!

Jill Nett's hand, which he placed under the table, gripped the chair arm firmly.

Although it was nominated for a series of technical awards, the most important ones were Best Director and Best Film, and Life of Pi failed to win this year's awards.

Those technical award nominations, even if they bring all the little golden statuettes back, are not as good as a Best Supporting Actor and Actress performance award.

Not to mention the best director and best film in the four major awards.

Li An also felt very uncomfortable, and in his opinion, this was the second time he had fallen at the hands of Martin Davis.

Last time, "Brokeback Mountain" lost the best movie.

After the announcement of the list of nominees, Ang Lee said, "Let's go." ”

Gil-Nett nodded, "There's no need to stay here anymore. He said to his fellow tablemates, "Those who have been nominated, go and take a group photo in a moment." ”

Ang Lee was the first to stand up and look at the crew of "Escape from Tehran" in front of him, and instead of going through the front door, he walked towards the back, and there was another door in the banquet hall.

Jill Nate followed, walking out in silence, and it wasn't until he was out of the ballroom that he said, "Nearly 10 million dollars in PR bills." ”

Ang Lee's face was not good-looking.

The two of them must give an explanation to the producer and distributor about this matter.

The filmmaker took out resources to impact the Oscars, but the two direct responsible persons messed up.

The two came out of the hotel, ignored the reporters gathered around, got into the car, and asked the driver to go back to Century City.

Jill Nate said: "'Escape from Tehran' is going to be the biggest winner. ”

"I can't stop it." Ang Lee is well aware of this.

Of course, they can continue to find ways to discredit that film, but in order to create a certain amount of momentum in the guise of public opinion, they must invest a lot of money.

The filmmaker will definitely not invest money.

Out of your own pocket? Ang Lee is not stupid.

Jill Nate sighed: "I am unwilling to do so much and get such a result." ”

Li An smiled bitterly: "I'm not reconciled, but what else?" We'll just have to wait and see, and if there's the right opportunity, you can get a little bit of Martin Davis or David Fincher. ”

Jill Neph nodded: "That's all it can be." ”

Ang Lee held back for several years before he came out with this "Youth Pi", but he was extremely tolerant and knew that he couldn't afford to provoke someone of Martin Davis' level without a suitable opportunity.

This breath can only be held for the time being.

…………

In the hotel banquet hall, the crew of "Escape from Tehran" was jubilant.

Martin hugged David Fincher, Graham and Louise in celebration, and high-fived Tony Mendes, who had come over to watch.

These are just to boost the morale of the next stage of the prize, not to mention the champagne at halftime.

"Escape from Tehran" received not many nominations, with only five nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.

Each one is heavy, and even the best adapted screenplay and best editing are heavyweights in small awards.

David Fincher was quite excited and said to Martin: "If I can win the Oscar this time, what projects do you have in the future, even if you come to me, it will not be a problem." ”

Martin said with a smile: "For the time being, it's only 'Split'. ”

At this point, he suddenly remembered the Joker, this type of film seems to be more in line with David Fincher's style.

Don't be in a hurry now, it's not too late to talk after the project script is released.

At the beginning of 2013, with the joint promotion of Martin, Nolan and Warner Pictures, DC Pictures decided to make a separate "Joker" movie.

The project has been pushed to the Warner Bros. Review Committee, and once it is given the green light, it will be officially approved and announced to the public.

At the end of the luncheon, all the nominees, including Martin and David Fincher, came to the hotel lobby to take a group photo of the nominees.

This is a regular annual event for the Oscar nominees' luncheon.

Corresponding to this is the envy and disappointment of those who were not nominated.

Martin had heard from the Warren Beatty couple that the film school was preparing to reform the nominees' luncheon, which would later announce the nominees in advance, and then the nominees' luncheon would become only for the nominees.

In this way, the college can not only save money on banquets, but also avoid some embarrassing scenes.

After the group photo was taken, Martin, Spielberg, and Daniel Day-Lewis, who were standing in the C position, chatted a few words.

Martin didn't ask the latter for advice, the two had completely different styles, and Daniel Day-Lewis's way of acting without going crazy didn't suit him.

Instead, Spielberg specifically said to Martin: "There are suitable opportunities in the future, let's work together." ”

On this occasion, of course, Martin will say beautiful words: "Steven, you are my dream director, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. Aliens, Jurassic Park, I grew up watching your movies." ”

The two chatted for a short time.

(End of chapter)