Chapter 898

"You should run for president, Eide." After taking a sip of the fine black tea, Kanber said. Although this place was considered a barren mountain, it was not difficult for the rich to set up a table to taste the best black tea from Darjeeling. There was even a fleet of cars serving them.

"In that case, I can't even pass the primaries." Adriaan, who was holding a cup of coffee, added with a smile.

"The president can also have a lover," Kanber said slyly. Campbell said cunningly. "Your insight is so outstanding. You can always grasp the crux of the matter and solve it from an unexpected angle. You are full of charm and good at speaking. You can always make people accept your ideas even if it seems impossible. Why is such a person not sitting in the White House? At least better than George W. Bush. "

"There has never been an example of a billionaire becoming a president, let alone the boss of a media group. That is not in line with the tradition of democracy and freedom." Adriaan shrugged. "So, Hollywood is more suitable for me."

Kanber laughed twice, took another sip of black tea, and then said, "Well, I can lobby for you and bring your views to them, but, like last year, I can't guarantee anything."

"No problem." Adriaan nodded immediately. "This sentence is enough."

After a few minutes of silence, Kanber patted the shotgun next to him. "Then let's continue. I still hope to finish a wild boar before the end of this hunt."

Although he kept saying that he couldn't guarantee anything, Adriaan didn't take it to heart at all. As long as the other party spoke, he basically had victory in his hands. To move a person or a group, he had to come up with something that the other party couldn't refuse. Then, what kind of thing couldn't be refused? It was very simple, uniqueness!

Except for Natalie, there was no other female star in Hollywood who was famous, had a good image, was a child star, and was highly educated. At the same time … was born in Jerusalem and grew up to three years old! It was needless to say what the Jews meant to the United States. Although the emperor's words were exaggerated, in terms of new television media, they were indeed powerful in Hollywood.

Therefore, Adriaan and AC Media received considerable support from Wall Street. His identity as a descendant of the Mayflower passengers made him very popular among the WASP. This could also be seen as a sign of their involvement in Hollywood.

Of course, this didn't mean that Adriaan had to go against the Jewish group. Although all kinds of competition were inevitable, at a higher level, everyone basically coexisted and thrived together. Therefore, Adriaan, who saw this, invested early in "Schindler's List" to gain the friendship of some Jews and had various cooperation with them, could be counted as their friend. Moreover, he was not destined to follow their lead. Therefore, he was able to his current position.

Now, his coronation was imminent. The 60th anniversary of the victory in World War II and the Holocaust theme "The Pianist" had won him the support of political correctness and the Jews. His merciless attacks on European films had tied the entire Hollywood film industry to him. Therefore, he wanted to recommend a template, a template that could perfectly represent the image of the Jews, to express his gratitude.

This wasn't giving an inch and taking a foot. Yes, Adriaan was indeed doing this for Natalie, but it was also in the interests of the Jewish group. Just being born in the Holy City, in Jerusalem, was enough, not to mention that she had lived there for three years. In addition, her parents were both Jewish, and her Jewish identity was much purer than those who only had half or less Jewish blood. Her great-grandmother also served as a spy for the Allies in World War II. She also played the lead role in the stage play "Annie's Diary." With all these connections and then publicity, Adriaan couldn't imagine the reason why the academy would reject him.

Yes, when the time comes, there will definitely be a lot of controversy, but so what? Anyway, because of Adriaan, when had the Oscars not been controversial all these years? And it wasn't like there hadn't been controversial awards in history. The key was still the interests.

Alright, overall, this hunt was quite enjoyable, but the necessary public relations and exchanges couldn't be missing. Adriaan had long been prepared to give up on the non-key awards. This was very useful. The Oscar nominations released at the end of the month fully proved this point. "The Pianist" and "Out of Control" received ten nominations together.

Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Editing were for "The Pianist," while Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing were for "Out of Control." Although one of the nominations overlapped, if counted separately, it could still be considered as ten nominations.

"Another step forward!" This was the first headline of the new issue of "The Hollywood Report" about the Oscars. Even if it didn't mention the name, the readers knew who it was referring to.

How many times had Miracle Director been nominated for Best Director? No one cared, just like no one cared how many times he had been nominated for a screenplay-related award. Everyone just wanted to know if he, who had already won the Best Director Award once in a row, could continue to win it, and … if Natalie Portman, who had once again shone brilliantly in his hands, could become the first person to win the Best Actress Award in a row.

"See, the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have all been bought over!" This kind of news was constantly circulating on the Internet.

Of course, it was still the same. For a media mogul, this was almost useless. Moreover, there were still many things worth paying attention to in this year's Oscar nomination list. A little digging would reveal very good news. For example, Nicole Kidman's name once again appeared in the Best Actress nomination list.

If you counted "American Beauty," so far, Nicole Kidman had received five Oscar nominations in seven years, and had won Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actress in a row. For a former flower vase, this achievement was amazing. If she kept up, she might surpass Katharine Hepburn and Merrill Streep to become the actress with the most Oscar nominations in history.

And the reason why she could achieve this achievement, in addition to the die-hard fans who clamored on the Internet that "divorcing Cruise was really the right thing to do," would more or less be able to guess a thing or two. The title of Miracle Girl was not just a title. Among the nominees for this year's Best Actress Oscar, in addition to Nicole who was nominated for "Crossing America," there was also Kate Beckinsale who was nominated for "The North Wind" and Keira Knightley who was nominated for "Pride and Prejudice."

The former also had the title of Miracle Girl. Under the media's excavation, her image in "Two Smoking Pipes" and "Memory Fragments" had been well known, and the "earliest" prefix had basically been established. And Lily was basically Adriaan's daughter, and many people even knew that he had more than one child. They also guessed that Monica and Sophie's daughters were all his. Unfortunately, for various reasons, it could not be published in the media.

As for the latter, although there was no clear evidence to prove that she had an affair with the Miracle Director, many reporters had taken photos of her and Adriaan talking intimately. With the playboy's consistent personality, it was almost impossible to say that there was no such thing. This was also why after "Out of Control," basically no one paid attention to whether the Miracle Director had slept with Natalie or not. For her to spend so much capital, it was almost impossible to say that there was no such thing.

Moreover, "Pride and Prejudice" was invested by Miramax, and the American distribution was also handled by them. There were even rumors in the United Kingdom that in addition to the female lead, Keira Knightley, was appointed by Adriaan, and the director, Joe White, was also appointed by him. All these signs were put together, and even if there was no such thing, the reporters could still make it up.

In short, when these names appeared on the nomination list, the media naturally came out with all kinds of analysis and reports. Then, with a little guidance, there were fewer reports that completely targeted Natalie and Adriaan, even though he had already made it clear that he wanted to send her to the Best Actress throne again.

Moreover, in addition to this, the Best Supporting Actress nomination also had Asian faces. That's right, Lin Zhiling and Yuki Nakama occupied a place on the list with "A Glass of Life" and "Tower of Babel," respectively.

There was no need to mention Lin Zhiling. There were three female characters in "A Glass of Life", and she was not the most outstanding one, so getting a nomination was only the result of public relations. Although Yuki Nakama also had public relations, acting was an important factor. She had not experienced Japanese dramas, nor had she acted in many comedies. Moreover, her performance in "Tower of Babel" was indeed outstanding. Coupled with last year's "Memoirs of a Geisha," she should have been nominated, so this year she got what she wanted.

As for Denis and Aniston, it was a pity that they did not get a nomination, be it for the male lead or the female lead. It was really a pity for the couple's wonderful performance.

The appearance of an Asian on the nomination list for the Acting Award was always something worth noting. Before Lin Chi-ling and Yuki-Hui, there were only seven Asian nominees, and this was when Ben Kingsley, who was only half Indian, was included. Now, not only had it increased to nine, but they were all actresses, and there were two of them at the same time. It was almost impossible not to attract the attention of the media.

Moreover, there were also Kirsten and Blanchett on the nomination list. Kirsten's nominated film was an inconspicuous independent film "June Bug," which was released at the end of September. The box office was quite average, but the reviews were good. On the other hand, Blanchett's film, "Notes on a Scandal," which was adapted from a documentary novel in 2003, was released in the United Kingdom and the United States at the same time in mid-December. It was "Notes on a Scandal," which was adapted from a documentary novel in 2003, and it was also starring Judi Dench, who was nominated for the Best Actress Award.

Blanchett's identity as a Miracle Girl aside, Kirsten, like Kyla, had been photographed talking intimately with Adriaan in public many times. He controlled himself well in this aspect. People in the industry were sure that he had a very ambiguous relationship with the Miracle Girls, but for young girls like Kirsten and Scarlet, they only thought that he had a one-night stand with them.

Needless to say, it would attract a lot of attention, and the pressure on Adriaan and Natalie would be even lighter. These reports seemed to be coming at them aggressively, but they were quickly neutralized. In reality, they only landed on them a few times, so Adriaan had enough time to slowly prepare for the final moment, and at the same time, to receive some good news.

Michael Bay had agreed to take over the sequel of "Transformers," which was within Adriaan's expectations, but also unexpected.

Although it was within his expectations, it was because Adriaan believed that the other party would agree sooner or later. Bay's biggest weakness was that he urgently needed a movie to revive his reputation. He used to be a commercial director, and he would still be a commercial director in the future, and what commercial directors worried about the most was losing commercial value.

He was different from people like Sam Raimi and David Fincher. The latter two were famous for their personalities, while Fincher still maintained his own character in the film industry. Although Raimi had changed his career to film the "Spider-Man" trilogy, the "Ghost Player" trilogy was still a rare cult movie. The result was that even if they encountered commercial failure, they could still raise the funds for the movie they wanted to make after a period of rest.

And Bay had become famous for commercial films from the beginning, so commercial value was very important to him. Without commercial value, he wouldn't be able to hold the tube firmly in his hands. And his few movies after the millennium were basically losing money, and he had even implicated DreamWorks, so now he was in urgent need of a commercial film that could sell well.

What could be more guaranteed than the sequel of "Transformers"? Reviews? Compared to them? This was not even worth mentioning compared to his own interests! Didn't the critics give him the title "Exploding Bay"? Didn't anyone mock him for only being able to make commercial films? What's more, it was Adriaan who personally spoke up and even used his connections at DreamWorks. After a long time, how could Bay not be tempted?

He had not expected it to be so fast. He had thought that it would take at least three weeks to persuade him, but who knew that Bay would agree in just half a month.

"You're right, Eide. No one can surpass Cameron, so there's no need to surpass him." Michael Bay had said this to him at the time, which had surprised Adriaan.

Since he wanted to persuade Bay to do something he did not want to do, it was impossible for him to tell him directly that he needed commercial films to restore his reputation. He could not surpass Cameron, and no one could surpass Cameron, so why should he surpass him? Especially the latter excuse, it was very convincing. Of course, the premise was that he had to admit that he could not surpass the other party.

This was not easy. Most of the time, from a rational point of view, he knew that he could not surpass someone, but it was difficult to admit it in front of others. He did not expect Bay to agree.

"I have always been very grateful for your help. I also think that there is no difference between commercial films and artistic films, so I will continue to pursue my own things," Michael Bay said.

This sentence solved Adriaan's doubts. Very good. Although Bay had some bad habits, at least he knew what he should do. Obviously, he had always remembered Adriaan's kindness in discovering him. He was also very happy that when Adriaan refuted the European filmmakers, he used him as an example. This was very famous. Although he would agree to it because of Adrian's growing influence, it was already good enough for him to do so.

Very good. This matter was settled. Adriaan immediately got people to start preparing the two sequels. Other than that, he was also preparing some new movies. It was not that he wanted to start a new movie, but that his goal was about to be achieved. No matter what the result was, there was no need to make any more movies. He planned to take a good rest for a while, so there would not be any plans for the time being.

So, in fact, preparing the new movies was for his woman. Now that he had more time, he could take it slow and choose more carefully.

"A doctor, a female doctor, and a history doctor. You have never played such a role before, right?" Adriaan hugged Zeta Jones from behind and looked at her in the mirror. "Stop taking pictures. You are recovering well."

"Does Virginia count?" Zeta Jones ignored him and continued to look at the mirror, posing in Adriaan's arms.

"Of course not. That should be classified as a thief." Adriaan moved closer to the back of her neck and took a deep breath.

"You really think I am suitable?" Zeta Jones turned around and asked with her head tilted.

"Very suitable!" Adriaan put on an exaggerated expression. "When this script was found from the pile of old papers, I regretted not producing it in the first place. But after thinking about the candidates carefully, I think it was a wise choice. If the production had been delayed for a year, we wouldn't have been able to find a suitable female lead. Now, you are the best candidate. "

"Don't try to lie to me, Eide." Zeta Jones snorted. "Don't tell me none of your women are suitable."

"If you look at it from a single aspect, there are many suitable. But it's different when you look at it all together. Everyone has their own things to do, so you are the most suitable," Adriaan said seriously.

After looking at him for a few seconds, Zeta Jones smiled and took a few steps back. She reached out to tidy up her clothes and turned around in front of him. "Do you really think I have recovered well?"

"Of course!" Adriaan laughed and gestured at her a few times. "Look at this figure. Full breasts, slender waist, round buttocks. It's no different from before."

"Can't you think of a few better adjectives?" Zeta Jones raised an eyebrow. "You used to be very good at describing women."

"Yes, that's right. But I think this is the only way to express my current mood." Adriaan smiled and moved closer to her. "I really, really want to press you to the ground now …"

"Julie is waiting for us downstairs. Come if you're not afraid of her anger!" Zeta Jones then puffed out his chest. "Oh, and Carice is going to be breast-fed soon."

"So what? The little one won't mind sharing some with daddy. "Adriaan narrowed his eyes and tried to make a perverted look.

"Very well. When Carice grows up, I'll tell her how you snatched her things." Zetajones rolled his eyes and immediately stomped out.