When Celine Dion's heavenly song "My Heart Will Go On" came to an end, the hall was quiet for at least ten seconds. Then, a warm applause that seemed to be able to lift the roof rang through the hall. Everyone was cheering for the beautiful song.
Adriaan was also applauding. He had to admit that Dion had performed the song very well. Her voice was also very moving, but it was not irreplaceable. It was a pity that he currently had no one who could master this song. On the stage, Dion, who was wearing a black long-sleeved evening dress, was bowing and leaving the stage. She looked very elegant, especially the Heart of the Ocean that she had deliberately worn on her chest. It was shining, giving her a noble temperament.
The necklace that Dion was wearing now was different from the one she had worn in her previous life. When Cameron was shooting the movie, he had originally planned to make it into a prop. Although there were indeed several famous sapphire ornaments on the historical Titanic, which had been mentioned in the Titanic movie in the 1940s and used as a prop several times in the story, and Cameron had also referred to the Blue Diamond of Hope when designing it. But after all, he could not really borrow a sapphire necklace for filming.
He had originally planned to make it with blue zirconia glass and a platinum necklace, which would be enough to pass off as the real thing, and the cost would not exceed $10,000. But when Adriaan learned about it, he immediately waved his hand and privately funded a well-known jeweller in London. He chose a 170-carat Ceylon sapphire to make a real necklace worth $3.5 million and gave it to the crew.
Cameron had complained a lot about Adriaan. After the necklace was sent to the crew, every time he took it out for filming, he would tremble with fear of accidentally damaging it or even losing it. And after filming, he would put it in a safe and would not leave it outside for a second. Even so, the necklace thrown into the sea by Old Ruth was a replacement. Although Cameron had always been a perfectionist, he still criticized Old Ruth's actions in this case. The only good thing was that everyone's attention was particularly focused during the shooting, which greatly sped up the shooting progress of the scenes in which the necklace appeared.
The necklace that Celine Dion was supposed to wear when she sang at the Oscars was made by a jeweler who saw the business opportunity of the hot sale of the ship. After obtaining authorization, he specially made a sapphire necklace and entrusted her to wear it to the ceremony. He wanted to hype up the name of "Heart of the Sea". But now there was no chance. When Adriaan commissioned the London jeweller to make the necklace, he had signed a detailed contract with the other party and registered the trademark "Heart of the Ocean" early. And when promoting the ship, he had also used "a precious gemstone necklace for filming" as a gimmick. Everyone knew that the necklace in the movie was real, so the Heart of the Ocean could only be the one in his hand.
Let's get back to the main topic. I'll leave the female singers and the Heart of the Ocean to the back of my mind for now. Breaking the record is the most important thing right now.
"Titanic, 'My Heart Will Go On'!" After the nominated songs were performed by the singers in turn, the presenter announced the winner loudly. With the background music of the ship, there was another round of warm applause.
Although "Titanic" had been applauded eight times, this was the ninth time, but the applause this time was more enthusiastic than the previous times. Celine Dion's live performance was indispensable, but it also showed that "My Heart Will Go On" won the Best Song Award.
Next was the Best Adapted Screenplay Award. There was no doubt that "Luoyang Confidential" won this award. As a film that showed the retro style of the golden age of Hollywood, it was undoubtedly to the taste of the old men in Film School. Moreover, it was the 70th birthday of the Oscars. If "Titanic" had not been so shocking and aroused such a warm response, and the almost perfect combination of theme and special effects, "Luoyang Confidential" would definitely be the biggest winner this year.
Adriaan even thought that in ten years, when the Oscars were 80 years old, he would produce a black and white silent film depicting the lives of Hollywood actors in the 50s and 60s. The male lead would be like Clark Gable or Patrick Gawley, and the female lead would be like Vivien Leigh or Grace Kelly. He would definitely win the Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor and Actress awards.
According to the convention, after the Best Adapted Screenplay Award was the Best Original Screenplay Award. Adriaan immediately pulled himself together and began to concentrate. This was the most crucial step. Up until now, he had already won nine Academy Awards. As long as he won the Best Original Screenplay Award, he would basically break the record. However, if he did not win it, he could only pin his hopes on Gwyneth for Best Actress. Frankly speaking, it was quite difficult.
"It's okay. I'll definitely win it." Adriaan thought to himself. In order to win the Best Original Screenplay Award, he had been preparing for it for several years in advance.
However, there were always accidents in this world. Just when everyone thought that "Titanic" had a high chance of winning this prestigious award, the name that came out of the mouth of the presenter was, "Mark Ann Drew, James L. Brooks, 'As Good as Possible'!"
Adriaan's face immediately darkened. Then, he cursed in his heart, "What the hell." The original winner of this award was "Good Will Hunting", which was directed by a pair of gay friends. Unfortunately, this movie had only started shooting at the beginning of this year. Not only had the screenwriter been changed, but other than the two professors, Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgard, the other three important roles had also been changed.
The male lead was played by Rui Fan's younger brother, Jaquin Phoenix. The three brothers were all excellent actors. Since they had taken care of Rui Fan for so long, it was only right for them to help Jaquin. The male lead's best friend was played by Tori Maguire, the future Spiderman. He had already signed a contract with Zhang Heng for "Spiderman", which would start shooting soon. Before that, it was not a bad idea to give him such a role to practice. As for the female supporting role, it was the cute little Nada. Although she was relatively petite, she was very suitable for the role of a highly intelligent woman. Of course, after discussing with her parents, some scenes were deleted.
As for the original three actors, it had nothing to do with Adriaan. When he recommended Rui Fan to star in "Saving Private Ryan", he had already considered a problem. He discovered Denis, saved Rui Fan, and gave them the opportunity that should have belonged to someone else. This naturally squeezed out the living space of that person, just like how Adriaan had plagiarized countless scripts, which changed the fate of the original author.
In other words, the cake in his hands (as far as Adriaan knew, the movie that could sell well) was only so big. With one more person sharing the cake, someone was bound to get a smaller share. That way, everyone might not be able to eat their fill. But for the time being, he could not make the cake bigger to the point where everyone could eat their fill. So what should he do? He would kick out those who could have gotten a share of the cake, but had not yet, and he was not familiar with them. He would leave the cake to those who he had cultivated and those who were willing to stand firmly with him!
He had seen too many of such things in his previous life. Coupled with what he had seen in this life, as well as the goal he had set from the beginning, it was quite easy to do, and he did not feel guilty at all. Although he would occasionally find his conscience, such as finding the original director to direct, or providing opportunities for J. K. Rowling, and setting up a number of charity foundations, those were all based on huge profits.
So, since Rui Fan had replaced Matt Damon in "Saving Private Ryan", he could take away the rest. Anyway, he had never had any contact with Damon and Affleck. As for what would happen to them in the future, oh, that was not a worry. Since Kim Basinger could win the Best Supporting Actress award for "The Time", which Adriaan had no impression of, who knew if they could make a name for themselves with other movies? Don't forget, this was Hollywood.
Therefore, the script for "Good Will Hunting" was written by Adriaan early on. Then, just like before, they would spread its influence through various channels, and it would be best if everyone knew about it. Then, they would press on and choose the right time to produce it. It was an old-fashioned method, but it was very effective. Originally, Adriaan had planned to produce and release it in 1997, as he remembered, but when he was planning for "The Ship", he keenly realized something.
In other aspects, his reaction was similar to that of a normal person, at best a little better, but when it came to film production and women, no one could match him. Although he did not know that "The Ship" could break the record and get 15 nominations, he still delayed the production of the movie until next year to make way for "The Ship".
However, even so, the Best Original Screenplay did not fall into the hands of "Titanic", but "As Good as It Gets".
Adriaan also knew about "As Good as It Gets". Basically, he had seen and analyzed several Best Film Oscar nominations at the same time as "The Ship". Not surprisingly, Jack Nicholson would get the second Best Actor Oscar in his acting career. Originally, Adriaan had thought about it. Although none of the actors he was familiar with were suitable for the male lead role, the movie's box office earnings were also good.
But in the end, he gave up on this plan. There were already too many works that were related to him, and he had to share some of them, right? He had to tell other film companies that Hollywood could not do without him, and that those guys who wanted to share the cake could not be compared to Damon and the others. Therefore, Adriaan did not even think about making a script in advance, and completely let the work go. He did not expect to get such a result in the end.
"Don't worry, there are at least four more nominations." Cameron comforted him. Although Adriaan's expression changed very quickly, he still noticed it. "Maybe the next four awards will all be ours."
"I know," Adriaan answered briefly with a smile.
Four more? Oh, yes, in addition to Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress, there was also Best Makeup. He shook his head slightly in his heart, remembering that "Titanic" did not win this award.
However, things were just that interesting and unpredictable. At that moment, the voice of the guest presenter came from the stage, "Tina Ernsauer, Simon Thompson, 'Titanic'!"
Amid the surprise and admiration of the audience, Adriaan suddenly raised his head and looked at the stage in disbelief. The excited faces of Tina Ernsauer and Simon Thompson had occupied the entire screen, and the soundtrack of "The Ship" played again. This was the tenth Oscar that "Titanic" had won!
What … What was going on?! Adriaan was still in a daze. He only reacted when a hand patted him hard on the shoulder. While he was in a daze, Cameron had already stood up with the others to applaud and congratulate the two winners. He was the one who slapped them just now.
"Thank you, buddy. I suddenly feel a little dizzy," Adriaan thanked him in a low voice.
"It's normal. I can't believe it either. This is already the tenth one." Cameron laughed.
Adriaan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed as well. He put his arm around Cameron's shoulder and hammered him a few times before stopping.
"Did you get the wrong person, buddy? Shouldn't you be hugging the one on your left?" Cameron said with a grimace. Although the punches were not heavy, they were definitely not light either.
"No, no, no, my dear James, I'm hugging you. That's right." Adriaan turned his head and glanced at Gwyneth. The elegant lady, who was about to sit down, blushed and rolled her eyes at him.
"You're really too outstanding, James. No, this is not enough to express my feelings." He smiled and hammered Cameron a few more times before returning to his seat. Cameron rolled his eyes and sat down helplessly.
The reason why Adriaan lost his composure was, of course, not because Cameron was outstanding — how could he not know how outstanding this guy was — nor was it because the Ship was about to break the record. It was because fate was really strange.
Because in his memory, the movie that beat "Titanic" to win the Best Makeup Award was "Men in Black"! That's right, it was the movie in which Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones starred together. The movie was better than the novel. With those strange aliens of all shapes and sizes, it was only right that they beat the Ship and won the award.
However, after Adriaan intervened, not only did he let Monica play the female coroner in the first movie, but he also made the movie appear a year ahead of schedule. Therefore, the Ship had no rivals this year. Gloria Stewart's appearance as a centenarian was enough to impress people, not to mention there were so many other outstanding actors. So …
Adriaan delayed "Good Will Hunting" to pave the way for "Titanic", but unexpectedly, "As Good as It Gets" won the Best Original Screenplay. However, an unintentional move previously allowed the Ship to win the tenth award. Life was indeed like chocolate. Although Adriaan knew most of the flavors, there would always be times when he did not know. This was the beauty of life, wasn't it?
At this time, most of the awards had been given out. Only the four most important ones were left — the leading actor and actress, the director, and the film.
"Every time this happens, I always feel very sad. They always refuse to give me a seat, even if it's just a small one. Maybe they can set up an Oscar for Best Host." On the stage, Crystal began to sigh. He played the look of a resentful woman perfectly, and everyone could not help but laugh.
"But no matter how reluctant I am, I have to continue. Think about it from another perspective. No one has ever seen so many little golden men like me. Yes, come to the back of the stage and have a look. There are a lot of them in front of you. Oh, it's really satisfying." Crystal's mouth made everyone laugh again.
"Okay, let's invite the presenter up first. The next award is beckoning." As he spoke, he made a gesture of invitation. Jeffrey Rush, the winner of the previous Academy Award for Best Actor, walked onto the stage amidst the applause.
"It's an honor to be able to present this award. Please rest assured that I'm not Cuba, so I don't have to worry about offending anyone. Of course, ladies, please remember that it was not my intention not to announce your name, "Rush said in a serious manner. Rush said with a straight face, which immediately drew laughter from the crowd. The cameraman purposely gave Cuba Guding Jr. a shot, and he laughed happily too, especially when he saw himself on the big screen.
Gwyneth sat up straight. Her grip on Adriaan's hand tightened, and her breathing became heavier. She was a little excited, a little agitated, and a little nervous. Adriaan patted the back of her hand comfortingly and gave her an encouraging smile. Then, he continued to look at the stage.
The big screen was playing the movie clips of the nominees. Gwyneth's "Titanic", Helen Hunt's "As Good as It Gets", Julie Christie's "Wife Exchange", Judi Dench's "Mrs. Brown", and Helena Bonham Carter's "Wings of the Dove". After that, the heads of the five nominees appeared on the big screen respectively. Gwyneth was in the upper left corner, Julie Christie was in the upper right corner, Helena Bonham Carter was in the lower left corner, Judi Dench was in the lower right corner, and Helen Hunt was in the middle.
Judi Dench had only worked with Gwyneth in "Shakespeare in Love" last year, but now she was competing with her for Best Actress. Helena Bonham Carter and Helen Hunt had both lost their original roles because of Adriaan, and they were all taken by the same person. However, Helena Bonham Carter had just gained a new role. The only female role in the ongoing "Fight Club" was supposed to be hers.
Even so, they still appeared at this year's Oscars and were nominated. The inertia and changes of the world were really unpredictable. Therefore, there was no need to care about certain things. The only thing was whether Helena Bonham Carter would still be dating and engaged to Tim Burton.
"It's a difficult multiple-choice question. Unfortunately, we have to answer it eventually. Let's see who will be the winner in the end," Rush said as he opened the envelope in his hand.
The scene suddenly quieted down, and the expressions of the five women on the screen changed slightly. Gwyneth pursed her lips, and her chest rose and fell a lot faster.
"The winner of Best Actress is …"
