Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 298 Cultivating Talent
On the plane, a dark-skinned young man with a large head was looking around. He wore a brown leather jacket and a thick gold chain around his neck, exuding a vulgar air. No one would guess from his first impression that he was an art-house director, let alone an internationally award-winning one!
Ning Hao was still quite excited. He really didn't expect that Wu Yuchen would suddenly single him out and take him to Hollywood to learn from him!
However, the thought of his terrible English made Ning Hao's face turn bitter again. English had always been his least favorite subject since he was in school.

About seven or eight years ago, when he was taking the entrance exam for the Academy of Arts and Crafts, he knew his English wasn't good. So he asked a friend at Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group to find someone who looked like him to take the exam for him. Ning Hao took the first two exams himself, and his friend took the English exam instead. The two of them shaved their heads and wore the same clothes. When the results were announced, Ning Hao saw that he scored in the thirties out of a possible 150.

Ning Hao said with a hint of helplessness, "It seems like your score is about the same as mine if I were to take the exam. If I chose A for all of them, the score would be about the same."

The other party apologized. Finally, the two men, who looked very alike, sat by the Fen River, finished a pack of cigarettes, and said goodbye on the spot.

Afterwards, Ning Hao took the entrance exams for the Film Academy, the Fashion Academy, the Opera Academy, and the Wuxi Light Industry College, but failed to get in due to his poor English. He was eventually fortunate enough to be admitted to the adult education program in film production at the Art Department of Beijing Normal University, which led him to become involved in film.

Ning Hao turned to a thin young man beside him and asked, "Senior Brother Chen, I'll be counting on you when we get to Hollywood, otherwise I'll be practically deaf and mute!"

Chen Er turned his head and looked Ning Hao up and down, then asked in surprise, "Didn't you travel all over the world last year? I thought your English would be top-notch!"

Ning Hao was admitted to Beijing Film Academy two years ago. Last year, he wrote a screenplay called "Incense" and secured 10 yuan in investment from Miracle Films. After the film was completed, it won many international awards, including the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, the Tokyo International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Ning Hao quickly shook his head: "No, no, I only learned that thanks to the producer. I only know how to say yes and no. I have to use hand gestures for the rest!"

Seeing that Ning Hao seemed genuine, Chen Er took out a notebook from his bag and handed it to Ning Hao: "This is a list of English vocabulary related to movies that I've compiled. If you really can't do it, memorize these first!"

Ning Hao took Chen Er's notebook, a worried look on his face. He never expected that even as a director, he would still have to learn English! He glanced at Wu Yuchen sitting in the front row. He couldn't afford not to learn; he couldn't let Director Wu's hard work go to waste!

Wu Yuchen didn't pay attention to what Ning Hao and Chen Er were whispering behind him. After staying in China for a while, it was time for him to return to America, since "The Pirate King" was still waiting for him there.

This time, I only had two more assistants with me. I had promised Han Sanping that I would cultivate more talent for Chinese-language films.

Actually, Han Sanping initially recommended Guan Hu and Lu Chuan to him.

Guan Hu has directed "Get on the Bus, Let's Go!", "Xi Shi's Eyes", and "Black Hole" in the past two years, while Lu Chuan gained considerable attention after "Looking for a Gun" last year. Both of them are considered to be among the more outstanding young directors.

However, Wu Yuchen didn't agree to Han Sanping's offer this time. It wasn't because the two were significantly older than him, nor because they were too artsy, but rather because they both had a certain air of public intellectualism. Guan Hu was slightly better, but Lu Chuan, with your "Nanjing, Nanjing!", even if you reflect on and discuss humanity, shouldn't you first get your stance straight?
If they were to take these two people to Hollywood for six months, wouldn't the sense of injustice be even stronger?
After thinking it over, Wu Yuchen was replaced by Ning Hao and Chen Er.

Chen Er was also Wu Yuchen's classmate. In the past few years, he first made short films and won many international awards. Last year, he made the feature film "The Third Person", which is considered extremely outstanding among directors under the age of 30.

Ning Hao's "Incense" from last year was also very inspired and achieved remarkable results.

Therefore, Han Sanping naturally had no objection to these two, simply assuming that Wu Yuchen wanted to cultivate younger talent. In reality, who Wu Yuchen wanted to mentor was entirely up to him; Han Sanping could only offer suggestions at most, but he was open to anyone with talent.

……

In Los Angeles, after settling Chen Er and Ning Hao in, Wu Yuchen was checking in with his agent, Carl: "How's 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' going?"

Carl smiled at Wu Yuchen and said, "Congratulations, Wu! Just yesterday, its North American box office successfully surpassed $100 million!"

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" had actually been released for several months before the Oscars. It started with limited screenings and then gradually expanded its screenings, especially after receiving an Oscar nomination, when it was shown in more than 600 theaters. Before the Oscars ceremony, it had already accumulated more than $4600 million in box office revenue.

Following the Oscars, and with the added boost from various Oscar accolades and the expansion of its theater count to 2000, the film grossed 24 million in its first week, 17 million in its second, and 12 million in its third. Yesterday, just as Wu Yuchen was en route to the theater, it surpassed 100 million.

Wu Yuchen smiled with satisfaction upon hearing this. To be honest, breaking $100 million in North America is indeed a good result. After all, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is only a foreign language film, and breaking $100 million really benefited a lot from the Oscars. In addition, the Iraq War, which is currently attracting a lot of attention, also drew the interest of many viewers in this anti-war film.

In contrast, there's the film *The Pianist*. Although it won the Oscar for Best Picture, many viewers expressed their aversion to it due to director Roman Polanski's controversial past, saying they didn't want to watch a film made by a "resilient criminal," even if it was an Oscar winner.

This resulted in "The Pianist" not performing very well at the North American box office, far behind "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas".

In fact, audiences generally have a certain mentality. If it's a commercial popcorn movie, audiences tend to have lower expectations of the filmmakers, knowing that these kinds of movies are just for fun and won't delve too deeply into the film's logic. But if it's an art film, many audiences subconsciously raise their standards and watch it with a more serious attitude, especially for realistic films like "The Pianist."

Wu Yuchen smiled noncommittally at this. Back during the awards season, he had also put a lot of effort into finding the media to vigorously promote Polanski's dark history, but he could only blame himself for that.

Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Wu Yuchen didn't immediately immerse himself in "The Pirate King." Instead, he had his agent, Carl, arrange for Chen Er and Ning Hao to visit the Hollywood studios first, while he took care of some personal matters.

At Miracle Pictures, Wu Yuchen looked at the young, somewhat immature Chinese face in front of him, flipping through the script in his hand, and felt that it was worth the trip he had made, because the person in front of him was none other than James Wan.

James Wan and his friend Leigh Whannell sat on the sofa, unable to contain their excitement. Before them stood a world-class director, Wu Yuchen!
You should know that he and his friend were the lowest-level newcomers in the industry. They came all the way from Australia to Hollywood to pursue their dreams, but all their resumes disappeared without a trace. They couldn't even find a job. The two were so poor that they could only squeeze into a basement and receive relief meals from church to survive.

However, a phone call from Miracle Pictures gave them a sense that their chance to change their fate might have arrived. And seeing Wu Yuchen engrossed in reading their script for "Jigsaw" filled them with such excitement they wanted to dance for joy!
However, in front of Wu Yuchen, they could only hide their excitement, afraid of disturbing him. Wu Yuchen was also feeling emotional; he hadn't even deliberately searched for it, yet the most classic horror film series in history, "Saw," had been delivered to him.

Not only is the movie itself exciting, but it is also a typical example of a small investment yielding huge returns, turning $1.2 million into over $100 million at the box office!

Wu Yuchen remembered that in his previous life, he read many American entertainment web novels, and many of the protagonists couldn't avoid this movie, choosing it as their debut work, which shows the trend.

A moment later, Wu Yuchen looked up, smiled, and said to the two of them, "Why did you submit this script to me? I've never directed a horror film before!"

Although "The Sixth Sense" is a ghost movie, it's not scary at all; at most, it's a suspenseful thriller.

Leigh Whannell and James Wan exchanged a glance, then Whannell said, "Director Wu, because you and James are both Chinese, we think our script might have a better chance of being approved..."

This is the benefit of having a great reputation; it can attract talented people from all walks of life to come and serve you, even though the two people in front of you are just down-on-their-luck and inexperienced newcomers.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "Congratulations to you all, you made the right choice. I really like Jigsaw!"

James Wan and Leigh Wonard could no longer contain themselves, their faces revealing excitement and joy.

"However, I will not be directing this movie myself."

It's not surprising that James Wan and Leigh Whannell are involved; it's practically impossible for a big-name director like Wu Yuchen to direct "Jigsaw."

There's actually a subtle hierarchy of disdain within the film industry, with directors of gore horror films generally considered to be at the bottom. It's often said that major awards look down on comedy films and comedic actors, but in reality, horror films are even harder to win awards than comedies.

Someone like Wu Yuchen, who has already reached the top of the director's pyramid, would never turn back to make such a bloody and terrifying film.

James Wan and Reignard dared not utter a sound, waiting for Wu Yuchen to decide their future fate.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "Wen, would you like to direct 'Jigsaw'?"

Wen Ziren looked on incredulously, completely unprepared for Wu Yuchen to ask such a question. He was a newcomer!

He stammered a little as he asked, "Me, me, to be the director?"

Wu Yuchen nodded and asked with a smile, "Yes, what's wrong? You don't want to turn your story into a movie yourself?"

"No, no, I'd love to! Thank you so much, Mr. Wu! I was just too excited! I will cherish this opportunity!" Wen Ziren bowed repeatedly to Wu Yuchen in gratitude.

At this moment, upon hearing Wu Yuchen's words, Reignard was happy for his friend Wen Ziren. However, at the same time, a wave of envy welled up in his heart. Indeed, it's always the people who take care of each other!
In Hollywood, forming cliques is very common. It's not just Jewish people helping each other; there are also Italian cliques, Irish cliques, and so on.

In Rewanal's eyes, his friend James Wan was taken in by Wu Yuchen, the leader of the Chinese gang, who was grooming him as one of his own. If he could seize this opportunity, he might be able to rise to prominence!
In fact, Reignar was not wrong, because Wu Yuchen did have this idea.

James Wan is truly a genius director. He didn't receive formal film education; he pursued his career entirely through self-study and personal interest. From *Saw* to *Dead Silence*, and later *Insidious* and *The Conjuring*, he's a master of horror films, constantly pushing boundaries and creating his own unique horror universe. The key is, his horror movies are incredibly profitable!

He later stepped outside his comfort zone, directing "Furious 7" and "Aquaman," both big-budget commercial successes. While Li An is incredibly famous in China, James Wan is actually valued even more highly by Hollywood's major studios. Hollywood is all about money!
With such talent, Wu Yuchen naturally wanted to bring him under his wing, so that his Miracle Pictures wouldn't be supported by him alone.

Wu Yuchen thought it was really a coincidence. He had just brought Ning Hao and Chen Er from China to train, and now he had encountered Wen Ziren, a talent worth cultivating, in America.

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but think of Li An again. He had received an invitation from Li An to attend the premiere of "The Incredible Hulk" in June.

After Li An won four Oscars for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," he took a break before taking on Universal's "Hulk" project. Haha, making money is never a bad thing!
However, Wu Yuchen knew that Li An was an art-house director at heart. He knew perfectly well that "The Hulk" was a superhero movie and should have been made in a popcorn movie style. But he couldn't help but add his own thoughts, wanting to explore the depth of the Hulk's character and make the film thought-provoking.

Screw thinking! Do audiences come to see superhero movies to think? They come for the thrill and the excitement!

So this "Hulk" movie will probably be just like the previous one, ending up with both poor reviews and low box office returns, and also ending Universal's Hulk dream.

Wu Yuchen doesn't plan to go see it in person either, mainly because he will be filming "The Pirate King" at sea at that time, so he won't have time to come back.

(End of this chapter)