Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 286 The Arrival of War
"Sister Li, what's the situation in China right now?" Wu Yuchen asked with concern.

"You mean SARS? I heard it's quite serious in Guangdong province, but in Beijing, people seem to be eating and drinking as usual. However, I heard that cinemas are going to be closed. Is it that serious?"

Wu Yuchen shook his head after hearing this. SARS was discovered in Guangdong last December, but it wasn't taken seriously, and the prevention and control level hasn't been raised to this day. Real panic will only erupt when large-scale transmission and deaths occur in Beijing and Hong Kong, which is expected within the next two months.

However, Wu Yuchen can't possibly be a prophet and make predictions, so he can only remind those around him now:

"Sister Li, you should still tell your family to be more careful, stock up on food and supplies, and stay home as much as possible. This infectious disease is not something to be taken lightly!"

Seeing that Wu Yuchen was like this, Gong Li nodded in agreement and kept it in mind.

Gong Li then added with a smile, "Director Wu, there's a lot of discussion about this year's Oscars in China right now, especially since everyone knows that our film reflects the history of the War of Resistance against Japan, it's even more exciting!"

To be honest, since Wu Yuchen's "Love" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had already won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film twice, many people's Oscar obsession wasn't as strong as it was the first time. That's human nature; what we can't have always stirs our desires. Once we've had it, it doesn't seem so precious anymore, and we can't be as enthusiastic as we were before winning it.

However, this time, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is anti-war and exposes the crimes of Japan, which immediately ignited everyone's passion!

Although everyone here is a seasoned veteran of anti-Japanese war films and television dramas, this is the first time that an anti-Japanese film has made it to the international stage, especially to the Oscars. How could this not make the public excited?
Although "Hero" also made it to the Oscars this year, its Oscar bid can't compare to that of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." After all, the two films have different themes in the minds of the Chinese people, and their significance is completely incomparable.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "So, Sister Li, we have to do our best this time and bring back as many surprises as possible to the people of the whole country!"

Gong Li responded with a smile: "Then I'll work hard with Director Wu this time!"

To be fair, Wu Yuchen naturally hoped that Gong Li could win the Best Supporting Actress award this time. However, Gong Li also has a strong opponent this time, Meryl Streep, who is known as "Aunt Meryl" by Chinese movie fans. She received two nominations for Best Supporting Actress this time for "Adaptation" and "The Hours". "The Hours" is also a work by Wu Yuchen, so he really can't openly show too much favoritism.

Fortunately, the PR teams for "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and "The Hours" are separate, so it all comes down to who has the better skills for this award.

Wu Yuchen shouldn't interfere too much in the Best Supporting Actress competition between Gong Li and Meryl Streep, but he can still make decisions regarding his own awards.

"Wu, are you sure you want us to give up the Best Director award?" Fox's PR team asked Wu Yuchen again.

“Yes, Hans. I apologize for saying this, but I have to choose between the two films. ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ is more likely, after all, the current social trend is anti-war.”

For Wu Yuchen, he could accept winning Best Director for any film, but it's a different story for the two film crews. Winning Best Director would obviously bring better publicity and higher box office returns for the film.

Wu Yuchen definitely needs to abandon one side to avoid a situation where he fights against himself and splits the votes. And it's quite obvious that "The Hours" is the one being abandoned.

Fox's PR team was naturally disappointed by Wu Yuchen's decision, but they had no choice but to accept it. Following Wu Yuchen's advice, they then shifted all their PR efforts to the two most prestigious awards: Best Picture and Best Actress.

However, this raises a problem: Wu Yuchen and the Fox team need to decide where to allocate the main public relations resources. This is because Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Connelly are both nominated for Best Actress for "The Hours."

If public relations resources are really split between the two of them, there is a high chance that neither of them will benefit, and someone else will end up getting the better deal.

That evening, Jennifer Connelly nestled in Wu Yuchen's arms, looking like a pear blossom in the rain.

Wu Yuchen put his arm around her and comforted her, "Hey, Jenny, isn't this what we agreed on a long time ago? Whoever performs well will ultimately receive the most resources."

In the film *The Hours*, Jennifer Connelly and Nicole Kidman had roughly equal screen time. When submitting her application, director Wu Yuchen asked her whether she wanted Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress. Having already won Best Supporting Actress the previous year, Jennifer Connelly naturally chose Best Actress.

Wu Yuchen had made an agreement with the two women at the time: he would support whoever was nominated. If they were both nominated, then he would allocate more resources to whoever performed better and had a greater chance of being nominated.

Nicole Kidman, who gave a remarkable performance in "Moulin Rouge!" last year but lost to a black actor, clearly has a lot of sympathy for him and is a strong contender in many of this year's Oscar preludes. Therefore, Wu Yuchen and the Fox team naturally chose Nicole Kidman.

Jennifer Connelly knew this, but at this moment she was filled with resentment; the opportunity was right in front of her. She pleaded tearfully, "But, Wu, I might still have hope, if..."

At this moment, Nicole Kidman interrupted her with a laugh: "Alright, Jenny, that's how the game is. Since you made your choice, you have to be able to play it!"

"Nicole! Damn it! Don't get too cocky. You only have a 20% chance, and you might end up with nothing!" Jennifer Connelly cursed like a loser.

Nicole Kidman wanted to gloat a bit more as the victor, but Wu Yuchen gave her a light pinch on the butt to shut her up and stop provoking Jennifer Connelly. She then reluctantly fell silent.

Wu Yuchen comforted Jennifer Connelly, saying, "Jennifer, let's leave it at that this time. Being nominated for Best Actress is already an honor, and it will earn you points in the eyes of many judges. There will be other opportunities in the future~"

Jennifer Connelly clung to Wu Yuchen's arm, her eyes brimming with tears, and asked, "Wu, you'll help me in the future, won't you?"

Wu Yuchen gently wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes and said with a smile, "Of course~"

But then Nicole Kidman snuggled into Wu Yuchen's arms, hooking her arms around his neck, her eyes filled with allure: "Wu, the person who needs your help right now is me~"

However, she was quickly pushed down by Jennifer Connelly: "Damn it, Nicole, you bitch, I'm going to teach you a lesson tonight!" Wu Yuchen watched as one beautiful woman tore open the clothes of another, revealing a scene of spring in the room. This sight delighted him, and he couldn't help but join in.

……

A few days later, Spielberg rubbed his temples wearily and asked Wu Yuchen, "Wu, is it really not you? We're on the same side, you don't need to hide anything from me."

Wu Yuchen frowned and said, "Steven, do you think I need to do this? I've already asked you to act as the middleman, why would I need to go through all this trouble?"

The two were talking about the recent surge of negative news surrounding Roman Polanski, the director of "The Pianist." Many media outlets and reports have echoed the same sentiment: "The Pianist is a good film, but scum like Polanski doesn't deserve awards!"

Wu Yuchen then spread his hands at Spielberg and said, "Steven, I'm not the only one nominated for Best Director. Martin Scorsese is also trying to prevent Polanski from winning!"

“Okay, okay, Wu, I shouldn’t have doubted you, it’s just that some of my compatriots have come to me to deal with this matter, which is giving me some trouble.”

Wu Yuchen softened his tone and said, "To be frank, you should have expected this to happen after the list was announced. After all, Polanski did something like this, so he was bound to get caught in a media storm, which proves the will of the people. He really shouldn't have been in the Best Director competition."

“I know what you mean, Wu, I will persuade them.”

After Spielberg left, Wu Yuchen smirked. He didn't know if the other Best Director nominees, like Martin Scorsese, had pulled any tricks up their sleeves, but he certainly had. However, he hadn't used DreamWorks people; he'd had Disney people do it, so Spielberg was unaware of it yet.

As he said, Polanski himself has a big stain on his record and is still a criminal. He doesn't dare to set foot in America. If he shows even the slightest sign of trouble, a bunch of media outlets will follow up and criticize him.

Although Spielberg was tasked with sowing discord among the Jewish community, Wu Yuchen wouldn't place all his hopes on Spielberg's verbal sparring; that would be too naive. Every means to weaken the competition was essential!
……

After the Oscar nominations were announced, Hollywood became even more lively and bustling. Following Gong Li, Wu Yuchen also saw Zhang Yimou arrive in Hollywood.

In his previous life, Miramax didn't care about "Hero" at all, focusing all their energy on "Chicago". At that time, "Hero" didn't make much of a splash in North America and didn't expand its theatrical release. Zhang Yimou didn't do any public relations in Hollywood at all, only showing up at the awards ceremony.

This time, Sony's public relations efforts were quite reliable. They not only helped "Hero" get nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, but also received several other nominations, including Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, and Best Cinematography. As a result, Zhang Yimou simply came to participate in the public relations activities arranged by Sony. After all, he made "Hero" with the goal of winning an Oscar!
From this perspective, Wu Yuchen and Zhang Yimou are actually competitors, since they're both aiming for Best Foreign Language Film. However, Wu Yuchen is extremely confident; if he can't beat Zhang Yimou at the Oscars, then he's wasted his time in Hollywood these past few years!

……

Huang Xiaoming was overjoyed the moment he stepped off the plane. As a member of F4, this wasn't his first time in America, but this time was different—he was there to attend the Academy Awards!

Huang Xiaoming is about to walk the Oscar red carpet and a red carpet. How many of his domestic peers can compare to him? He's far ahead!
Upon arriving at the hotel, Huang Xiaoming couldn't wait to visit his mentor, Wu Yuchen. However, when he got there, he saw Wu Yuchen standing with a group of people, staring intently at the large television screen.

Huang Xiaoming looked over and saw that on the television, US President George W. Bush was giving a speech. The content was not complicated, and he was officially starting military operations against Iraq.

Huang Xiaoming was stunned. He was in America, had just gotten off the plane, and was about to start fighting?

The group of people around Wu Yuchen couldn't help but start talking amongst themselves:
"Damn it, war is really coming!"

"We should have known long ago that we couldn't stop these politicians at all!"

"With the Oscars ceremony just around the corner, will this be affected?"

In truth, everyone was mentally prepared for the outbreak of this war, after all, it had been brewing for so long, and the United States had even issued an ultimatum to Iraq, so war was inevitable. However, when the war actually broke out, many people still couldn't help but curse.

What everyone is really concerned about is whether the Oscars ceremony, which is closely related to them, will be canceled or postponed as a result.

It's important to know that celebrities' schedules are usually set in advance. If they are postponed, it will be very troublesome to reschedule. Getting thousands of people together again at different times is really difficult. If the postponement is delayed, many people will definitely not be able to attend, and the star power will be greatly diminished.

However, there are indeed precedents for postponement in the history of the Oscars: in 1937, Los Angeles was hit by floods and torrential rains, forcing the Oscars ceremony to be postponed for a week; in 1968, the Oscars ceremony was postponed after the assassination of black leader Martin Luther King Jr.; and in 1981, the Oscars ceremony was postponed after the assassination of President Reagan.

However, some argue that as long as the war doesn't reach American soil, the Oscars ceremony won't be affected. After all, how many wars has the United States fought in the past seventy years? When has the Oscars ever been postponed due to war?
A moment later, Wu Yuchen's phone rang. After answering it for a while, he said to the people around him, "The Academy just announced that this year's Academy Awards ceremony will not be canceled or postponed due to the Iraq War..."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Although most of them were shouting against the war, what they were really concerned about was whether their own interests would be affected.

For example, Huang Xiaoming was relieved at this moment, realizing that his trip had not been in vain.

However, Wu Yuchen then added: "But due to the outbreak of war, the Oscar red carpet event was canceled."

Huang Xiaoming was stunned again upon hearing this. His Oscar red carpet appearance was over?

……

(End of this chapter)