Chapter 173: The Season Belonging to the Movies

"The Palme d'Or?" Murphy shook his head. "How would I know who will win?"

Jonah Hill and James Franco stopped bickering, and along with Seth Rogen, all turned their attention towards Murphy, who scratched his head, "I don't know who will win, but I do know that we definitely won't be getting the Palme d'Or."

Their response was several raised middle fingers.

"Planet Terror" was just for exhibition and didn't participate in the competition, so it had nothing to do with the Palme d'Or.

"Didn't you attend several competition film symposiums with Erica before we arrived?" Robert Downey Jr. didn't give up, "Didn't you see any promising works?"

After completing the related procedures, Murphy indeed watched several internal symposiums of competition films, including David Cronenberg's "Nightmare of the Butterfly", Marco Bellocchio's "The Hour of Religion", and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's "The Son of Others", among six or seven others.

These films couldn't be said to be mediocre, but most were far from Murphy's aesthetic.

"The Pianist," Murphy finally gave an answer, "This was the most fluent storyline I've seen in the past few days, and the director is Roman Polanski. As long as the film's publicity doesn't make any blunders, I think it has a high chance of winning the Palme d'Or."

"Him?" Seth Rogen scratched his head, "The Palme d'Or given to a..."

"You're so naive, Seth!" Robert Downey Jr. pointed at him, mocking, "Do you think film achievements have anything to do with that?"

Seth Rogen, puzzled, "But his reputation is too bad..."

"That's not a problem," Murphy took over the conversation, "Not to mention that this is France, one of Roman Polanski's homelands, even if 'The Pianist' competes in the Oscars during North America's awards season, I believe it would still be one of the hot films."

The others, not having seen the film, could not judge the truth of his words.

Robert Downey Jr., who had been in the circle the longest, pondered for a while and agreed, "Not considering the film itself, if Roman Polanski competes in the Oscars, the past issues don't count for much in Hollywood."

He reminded, "Don't forget, he's a Jew! And a survivor from the Nazi concentration camps!"

Hearing this, the others closed their mouths. Although none present had ties to Hollywood's Jewish clubs, they all knew the powerful influence of Jews in Hollywood.

Claiming that these Jewish forces in Hollywood decide some people's fate might be an exaggeration, but meddling in various matters is very easy for them.

Especially when targeting someone collectively, the power they unleash is truly terrifying. Think about it; even Roman Polanski, who is publicly wanted by the US Department of Justice, can be celebrated as the best director at the Oscars.

Murphy couldn't afford to provoke them, nor did he want to stir up Hollywood's biggest power circle.

As the Cannes Film Festival kicked off, Murphy also began preparing for the exhibition of "Planet Terror", and in his free time, he also toured around. Compared to the previously quiet seaside town, Cannes was now bustling.

Apart from the film-related factors, the local government annually invests a huge sum of money and goes to great lengths to host the film festival for reasons beyond just the event itself.

During the festival, celebrities, media, filmmakers, and even ordinary people from all over the world flock to the venue. The thousands of visitors significantly boost the local tourism industry and other related industries like hotels and restaurants, greatly enhancing the area's visibility.

With a permanent population of about 70,000, Cannes attracts at least 60,000 film industry professionals and 200,000 visitors during the festival. Local hotels are booked half a year in advance, and the food and tourism industries benefit immensely.

Within the 11 days of the festival, the Cannes Film Festival can generate a direct economic value of 200 million euros and an indirect value of up to 700 million euros; it also creates 3,000 jobs, with returns far exceeding the costs. In just over ten days, some businesses earn enough for an entire year.

Walking on the streets of Cannes, Murphy saw tourists from all over the world everywhere, hearing languages he couldn't understand, and discussions about movies were omnipresent. When news spread of an outstanding film screening, people swarmed to it like a tide.

Regardless of how the organizing committee profits, regardless of the commercial elements behind the film festival, Cannes now belongs solely to the movies. This is a season completely taken over by cinema!

Passing by a cinema, Murphy saw a long queue of people waiting and stopped to watch for a while, learning that the upcoming screening was Monica Bellucci's new film "Irreversible". Due to the film's promotion mentioning Monica Bellucci's genuine and brutal ten-minute rape scene early on, it had already garnered widespread attention in Cannes, and many film enthusiasts were eager to catch a glimpse.

Judging by the long line in front of this cinema, the film's promotional marketing seems to be extremely successful.

Similarly, this also reflects the heavy tastes of Cannes.

Watching the enthusiastic crowd, Murphy hoped "Planet Terror" could also attract such attention.

In fact, from the time a contract was signed with the PR firm, "Planet Terror" began its promotion in Cannes, and early on, they released a nude poster of the female lead, Jessica Chastain, and arranged an interview for Jessica Chastain, Robert Downey Jr., and James Franco, the three main actors.

Perhaps zombie films don't quite suit the tastes of the French people and media, as the promotion didn't stir up much enthusiasm in Cannes.

On the contrary, the British media, just across the English Channel from France, paid more attention to this film than Monica Bellucci's rape scene.

Zombie films have a certain audience in the West, but with the content and patterns basically fixed, only new innovations can truly attract people.

Before attracting viewers, the first step for the film is to attract buyers from distribution companies around the world.

Aside from a few overseas markets like Israel, where distribution rights had already been pre-sold, the film festival agent in collaboration with Miramax contacted a large number of overseas film companies. Whether these companies are attracted is crucial for the film to profit from more overseas markets.

Even for Miramax, promoting "Planet Terror" to as many overseas markets as possible requires partners.

On the fourth day of the Cannes Film Festival, the global premiere of "Planet Terror" began.

Miramax put a lot of effort into the premiere, which was held at the Lumière Theatre, the main venue of the festival. Thanks to early cooperation agreements with the festival agent and PR firm, nearly 300 journalists from over 100 media outlets worldwide appeared at the red carpet in front of the festival palace.

Although it couldn't compare with the opening ceremony and hot competition films like "The Pianist", such a premiere scale could rank high in this year's Cannes Film Festival.

As required by the promotion, Robert Downey Jr. and Jessica Chastain, the leading male and female actors, walked the red carpet together, flaunting charm; James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Seth Rogen advanced together, promoting the brotherhood among the main actors; Murphy walked alone, using the contrast between his age and directorial status to create a topic; Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the Weinstein brothers, walked at the back...

Compared to the director and producers, the real media focus was still on the actors, especially Robert Downey Jr. and Jessica Chastain.

Robert Downey Jr. has considerable fame, and Jessica Chastain's red hair, fair skin, and sexy figure are all eye-catching.

The cameras constantly circled around them.

Of course, there were not a few reporters and cameramen targeting Murphy, and the flashing lights made his eyes somewhat uncomfortable.

Fortunately, after "Saw", Murphy had experienced such arrangements and was not a newcomer in this regard. Following the advice of Bill Ross and the media agent Grace, he showed a sunny and friendly smile, constantly waving to the surrounding.

However, the surrounding fans remained silent upon seeing him, neither cheering nor jeering, as if he were just an ordinary passerby.

Perhaps Murphy had some fame in North America, and some fans might recognize him and know what works he had directed, but in Cannes, across the Atlantic, these were of no use.

In the end, he was still a director who had just made a name for himself, and it was normal to have no international fame.

While waving to the surrounding, Murphy walked to the steps leading to the Lumière Theatre. The crew members who had walked ahead were mostly waiting at the bottom of the steps, where a special interview area was set up. Some media reporters selected by the PR company had come over, ready to interview Murphy and the film's main actors.

Twenty or so reporters were divided into several groups, with the most people surrounding Robert Downey Jr. and Jessica Chastain, followed by James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Seth Rogen, and the least around Murphy and the Weinstein brothers.

This could be considered a true reflection of the entertainment industry's focus.

In this era, not many media were willing to make a big deal out of a director. The film's promotion and marketing were more centered around the actors or other topics.

The reporters who approached Murphy seemed to be doing it as a formality, with their focus not really on him or "Planet Terror". The questions asked were more related to his age.

After all, the obvious contrast between his appearance of being in his early twenties and the director of a Cannes Film Festival official selection feature film was quite striking.

This was also Miramax's main promotional point for Murphy—the super new work of a 22-year-old genius director!

After the interviews, Murphy climbed the high steps and stood in front of the sponsor's billboard for a group photo with the crew. After the photo session, Erica Stenberg came over with a few people, all wanting to meet this young director.

___________________

(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)

If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters

Read Ahead

Patreon.com/INNIT